I really came here to fight against Japan

The leader of the Eastward Brigade said: "If I were the commander of this unit, I would just rush across the bridge and seize control of the wooden bridge.

Otherwise, I would build a few more floating bridges upstream and downstream of Sanli River.

In this way, the defenders in Taizhou City would have enough extra troops to guard the Sanlihe defense line.

And this is what’s strange about this Sichuan Army.

They were always in a threatening manner when they rushed to Taizhou.

But they stopped on the opposite side of Sanlihe to build fortifications, which was totally unreasonable.

The person in charge there is their commander Lu Xilai.

They are also an old troop of the Sichuan Army. Can they not do this military deployment?

There is also the Sichuan Army in our Huangqiao area, which is also very interesting.

Although their troops blocked our connection with Taizhou City, we were unable to take care of ourselves.

But the position they were in was more like a defense against the Japanese in the direction of Yangzhou."

"Hey, there is such an arrangement. Let me take a look too!"

The commander of the Eastward Detachment also looked at the battle map on the table.

"Yes, I think so. Comrade Chief of Staff, do you think this Sichuan Army Corps is our friend?"

The chief of staff said, "You never know. Who knows, maybe they are your old friends in Sichuan, helping you secretly."

The commander of the Eastward Brigade laughed and said, “I can’t do this, but it would be okay if the boss was here.

I don't have such a big face in the Sichuan Army."

Chief of Staff: "Commander, how is Chairman Han from Jiangsu Province? I heard he wants to see you."

Commander: “I have already talked to him about the post-war situation this morning.

What he said makes sense. There is actually no point in detaining him.

By then, the capital will have to send someone to replace him, and will also send troops to retaliate against our Eastward Detachment.

This would go against the original intention of our detachment to move eastward to fight against the Japanese.

So I have agreed to his request and will release him early tomorrow morning.

Not only did we return the prisoners and some weapons and equipment to him, but we also returned the Taizhou city that we had just occupied to him.

But now the young division of the Sichuan Army has done this to us.

I can’t let them go, or it will seem like we are afraid of the national army.”

At this time, a staff officer came in and said that he had something to report.

"Report to the commander. Our detachment just received a telegram from Commander Jiangnan."

The commander took the telegram, took a look at it, shook his head, and passed the telegram to the other two detachment leaders.

“They want me to release Chairman Han, and they want me to cooperate with the united front.

We must not allow the temporary capital to pin the crime of creating friction and undermining the united front on our New Fourth Army.

My comrade leader, we have been fighting the Japanese for more than three years, and we have been cooperating with them for more than three years.

But these Kuomintang troops, when have they ever cooperated with us? "

The staff officer said, "Commander, here is another piece of information passed to us by an insider.

It is said that Commander Song Wenwan, who is affiliated with the Gansu Theater of the National Army, has flown to Jiangsu at noon today.

Now he is leading his Jiangnan Militia Second Division towards the outskirts of Huangqiao.

I estimate them to be around nine o'clock tonight.

We will reach the newly built position of the Sichuan Army He Wentuan."

Chief of Staff: "The Jiangnan Militia Division in charge of the war? The secondary capital is really generous this time!

I heard that the number of people in their division is unknown, but at its lowest, there may be more than 10,000 people.

When there were many of them, some people said they had seen them, and one division could have more than 40,000 people.

I don’t know if they are just bragging.”

Song Wenwan: There must be 30,000 troops, as for whether there will be 40,000...

That depends on whether the militia divisions below have concealed the truth from Guan Zhan.

However, there were definitely times when there were more than 10,000 people, and that was because they all put on the uniforms of the New Fourth Army and went to fight the Japanese.

The detachment commander said: "I know this Guan Zhan, he is also a graduate of the old Whampoa Military Academy.

He had a very good relationship with the temporary capital, but his attitude towards our New Fourth Army was very unfriendly.

But they usually treat our New Fourth Army troops.

But it has never caused us any substantial harm.

Guan Zhan now has six militia divisions, a Sichuan Army Youth Division, and a Navy Marine Division under his command.

He claimed that he had 100,000 troops under his command, but I think his Jiangnan Group has over 200,000 troops.

Another thing is that our troops often pick up some weapons and ammunition from the positions where the militia divisions withdraw.

Although I asked the soldiers to suppress this matter.

But I have always suspected that it was inside the Jiangnan Militia Division.

We have always had our own comrades quietly providing assistance to our New Fourth Army."

The Chief of Staff said: "This time, let Commander-in-Chief Song Wenwan personally take action in the auxiliary capital.

Could it be that they have some private suspicions about their militia division?"

Commander: "I heard that Song Wenwan went to our old district in Jiangxi three or five years ago.

There I participated in the brutal suppression of the people in our Soviet area.

He also arrested many of our comrades and fellow villagers, and finally took them back to Gannan to work for him."

Chief of Staff: "Humph, if it weren't for fighting the Japanese, I really want to kill him right now."

Commander: "This guy is still very capable of fighting the Japanese. Now we can do some calculations.

The number of Japanese soldiers who died under his direct command was no less than 100,000.

I heard that the two victories in the air defense of the temporary capital were both due to his planning.

I heard from above that as long as he doesn't do anything that would alienate himself from the people.

Just based on his contribution to the war of resistance, the grudge between us can be resolved."

The chief of staff wanted to say something else, but the call from the front came back.

"Report to the commander, a man named Song Wenwan from the Nationalist Army's militia division has arrived at the outer position of Huangqiao.

He said he was the commander-in-chief of the Gansu War Zone and asked to negotiate with you regarding Chairman Han’s matter.

He said that he would arrange a military tent in the middle of the position and only invite you and the detachment commander to attend.

He also said that he and his wife would be the ones attending the negotiations, and if you don’t dare to come, you don’t have to come.”

The commander hung up the phone and told them what had happened.

Chief of Staff: “Hey, he’s quite good at picking people.

But what does it mean that he brought his wife to the negotiations?

Comrade Commander, I still feel that this matter is tinged with weirdness.

It's too dangerous for you two to go over there, why don't you let me go first and test his bottom line to see what he wants to do? "

Commander: "No need, my comrade, let me and the detachment commander go together!

There are 30,000 to 40,000 people here today. If they really wanted to take action, they would have done it long ago. Why wait until now? "

After he finished speaking, he made arrangements for the chief of staff and the troops in Taizhou city.

Let them be ready to break out at any time to prevent the guerrilla division from betraying them and attacking them.

After completing the arrangements, he and the detachment commander brought a guard squad with them.

He rode straight to the position of the Jiangnan Guerrilla Division outside Huangqiao Town.