Chapter 32: One Cannot Serve Both Country and Home; Loyalty and Filial Piety Cannot Be Perfected Together!

Yuanping Town, Northern Shanxi.
Before the sun could cast its light across the land, the earth was already stained crimson with blood. The city wall, nearly twenty feet high, had been pulverized by Japanese artillery. The breach alone spanned over ten meters. The area around the wall was littered with corpses scattered in disarray—some in yellow uniforms, decapitated; others in grey, their bodies torn and mangled. The smoke of battle had yet to disperse, and the air hung heavy with a nauseating mixture of gunpowder and the stench of blood.

Just as the soldiers braced themselves for the next Japanese assault, screams suddenly erupted from the medical unit in the rear. Chief of Staff Gu Tai immediately led the guard platoon to provide reinforcements. In the early hours of the morning, a detachment of Japanese soldiers had infiltrated the medical unit. Out of over two hundred soldiers, doctors, and nurses, none were spared. Soldiers had their chests pierced by bayonets, officers were decapitated, and nurses were gang-raped and disemboweled. Blood soaked the ground.

Hearing the commotion, the soldiers of the guard platoon charged forward with chests bared, launching a desperate, suicidal counter-attack. The air was filled with the sounds of gunfire, explosions, and war cries. Chief of Staff Gu Tai, teeth gritted, was overcome with fury. Under the gaze of his men, the thin, gaunt Chief of Staff rushed forward and kicked the Japanese corpses again and again, screaming, "Animals! You animals!"

Jiang Yuzhen, Commander of the 196th Brigade, arrived at the scene, his eyes bloodshot with rage. He roared through gritted teeth, "I will make them pay in blood!" He ordered, "The wounded must be protected by a suicide squad. If we cannot spare the men, they stay in the city; we will live and die together! Furthermore, execute every Japanese prisoner. Make those damned animals pay for their blood debts!"

Defending Yuanping was an elite Grade-A combat brigade under the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army: the 196th Brigade of the 34th Army—a trump card under Yan Xishan. Commander Jiang Yuzhen was the son of a poor peasant from Heze, Shandong. He lost his father at birth and was raised through hardship by his mother. He joined the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army at nineteen, known for his endurance and bravery in battle. He later earned the favor of his superiors, attending the Shanxi First Brigade Officer School and the advanced courses at the Central Military Academy. Jiang Yuzhen was a "fierce general" who always led from the front; he had once been struck by enemy fire, losing a lobe of his lung in the process. Before being stationed in Yuanping, they were building a defensive line at Niangziguan. The collapse of the northern Shanxi front had forced Yan Xishan to pull troops from everywhere. The defensive layout at Xinkou was far from complete, and it would take at least a week for troops from Shaanxi and Hebei to arrive, while the Japanese mechanized units could reach Xinkou in a day or two. Facing this crisis, Jiang Yuzhen took the command, vowing that the 196th Brigade would stand or fall with Yuanping to buy time for the defenders at Xinkou.

Seven days later.
At the first light of dawn, the soldiers, who had been preparing to retreat, looked to their commander. Jiang Yuzhen held a new military order in his hands. It contained only one brief sentence: "Hold Yuanping for three more days!"

Chief of Staff Gu Tai, his waist wrapped in blood-soaked bandages, wept openly. "Hold for three more days? We can barely hold for three minutes, let alone three hours. Our company and platoon leaders have been rotated out several times, and our entire structure is in tatters. How can we possibly hold for three more days?"

Jiang Yuzhen, a giant of a man over six feet tall and weighing over two hundred pounds, bit down so hard his molars cracked. His arm tensed instinctively, the immense pressure snapping the wooden staff he used as a cane. He looked deeply at his men and raised his right hand in a salute. Then, in his thick Heze accent, he declared, "Military orders are like mountains. For the sake of the national resistance, we must hold even if it is impossible. I, Jiang Yuzhen, will live and die with you, my brothers!"

Gu Tai stepped forward and whispered, "Commander, your wife just passed away. With your mother elderly and your children young, how can your family go on?"

Before the war broke out, Jiang Yuzhen had just brought his frail, elderly mother and three young daughters to Yangquan. His wife had died of illness three months prior. It was his mother who had raised him. Before departing for the front, knowing the odds were slim, he spent a sleepless night kneeling before his mother’s bed, weeping uncontrollably as he performed the three kowtows. His mother wiped away his tears and said, "Go, my son. Since ancient times, one cannot serve both family and country with equal devotion. You have a duty to kill the enemy and serve the nation. Go with peace of mind. I will see to it that your children are raised." That night, Jiang Yuzhen had whispered instructions to his three children over and over, touching their faces repeatedly. He took them to their mother's grave to pile earth, burn incense, and kowtow. Then, he mounted his horse and rode away without looking back.

The Japanese were driven mad. A single town, Yuanping, had held them off for seven full days! For seven days, the fighting was horrific. Jiang Yuzhen, baring his chest and carrying grenades, fought alongside his men in every charge. Chief of Staff Gu Tai did the same; both were wounded. The Japanese brought in aircraft, artillery, tanks, armored vehicles, suicide squads, and poison gas. The enemy had breached the city; the situation was critical. With the Xinkou defense not yet ready, Yan Xishan was frantic, but he had no more troops to deploy.

After a moment, Yan Xishan took a deep breath. "Send an urgent telegram to Chu Yunfei’s 358th Regiment. Order them to reinforce Yuanping Town at full speed!"
"Yes, sir!"

The order was given, and Yan Xishan sank back into his chair. Chu Yunfei was a man of impeccable loyalty. The 358th Regiment was the sharpest blade in his arsenal. Yuanping! With Xinkou not yet ready, Yuanping could not be lost! For the sake of Taiyuan and the people of Shanxi!

"Commander, an urgent telegram from Officer Yan."
"Read it."
"Reinforce Yuanping at full speed."
Chu Yunfei frowned. The telegram was short, but every word carried the weight of a mountain.
"Commander, Guoxian has fallen, Yuanping is surrounded, and the Xinkou defense line is not yet deployed..."
Chu Yunfei gestured, and Sun Ming stepped forward to spread out the operational map. With a grave expression, Chu Yunfei traced the locations of the 358th Regiment's units.
"The unit closest to Yuanping is our Third Battalion, sixty kilometers away. Order the cavalry company to reinforce Yuanping immediately. Send cavalry messengers to order all units to pivot toward Yuanping at once."
"Yes, sir!"

Sun Ming left to carry out the orders. Fang Ligong adjusted his glasses and said, "Commander, the 196th Brigade is stationed in Yuanping. According to the previously announced plan, they should have withdrawn a day ago."

Xinkou was the only mountain pass and barrier outside of Taiyuan. If Xinkou fell, Taiyuan would be defenseless. If they could hold the line at Xinkou and Niangziguan, most of Shanxi could be saved.

"Plans can never keep up with changes. Even the elite 14th Group Army cannot reorganize and build a defensive line in such a short time."
Fang Ligong whispered a final plea, "Commander, it is reported that the forces attacking Xinkou are two Japanese mixed brigades and a portion of the 5th Division, totaling about twenty thousand troops..."
"We train for a thousand days to use them for a single moment. Military orders are like mountains, and military law is merciless. Execute the order."
"Yes, sir!"