Chapter 1 Chang Kai-shek's Instructions

Chang Kai-shek could only instruct Dai Li once again to contact Lin Fan as soon as possible, and to prevent the Special Operations Brigade from defecting to the Japanese at all costs.

Now, Chang Kai-shek was no longer so concerned about the Special Operations Brigade occupying Ningguo. As long as they didn't defect to the Japanese, everything could be negotiated.

Dai Li had people in both the Special Operations Brigade and Jurong. After inquiring around Jurong, he learned that Lin Fan was indeed not in Jurong but had gone to Guangde to direct the fighting.

This relieved him a little.

To express his attitude, Chang Kai-shek ordered Li Pin's troops to immediately retreat and disengage from the Special Operations Brigade.

However, under the current circumstances, Li Pin's troops had already been beaten back repeatedly; they were already retreating.

Now, with Chang Kai-shek's order, Li Pin was finally relieved and immediately ordered Tong Zimin to withdraw the 25th Army from Tianmu Mountain, abandoning the defense of Eastern Tianmu Mountain.

The Nationalist army's defense line retreated, completely withdrawing from Ningguo County. At the same time, he sent an open telegram to the Special Operations Brigade.

The telegram claimed that the 23rd Army and the 25th Army had originally intended to assist the Special Operations Brigade in jointly resisting the Japanese attack.

However, a problem with communication between the two sides caused this misunderstanding. To show the sincerity of the Nationalist army, they would voluntarily withdraw to create space, avoiding further misunderstandings.

At this time, the reporters invited by Li Xian had arrived at the battlefield. The scenes of fierce fighting could be seen everywhere on the defense lines of the Special Operations Brigade in Heye Mountain and Eastern Tianmu Mountain.

The defense lines were riddled with shell craters, and the permanent fortifications were covered with bullet marks. There were also many prisoners of war in Guangde and Anji.

From the mouths of these prisoners, all the reporters heard were orders from their superiors to attack and occupy Guangde and Anji.

Many reports stated that when the Japanese attacked Jurong, the Nationalist army cooperated with the Japanese in attacking Jurong and actively restarted the civil war.

Mass demonstrations broke out all over the country. The newspapers controlled by Chang Kai-shek, with one voice, insisted that this was a misunderstanding.

The interviews in the reports were all fabricated and not factual. The united national anti-Japanese front was the only way to resist the Japanese and achieve victory. Some local forces had now grown stronger and wanted to break away from the control of the central government, which was why they deliberately staged such a scene.

While the outside world was in turmoil, Dai Li finally met Lin Fan in Anji. After exchanging greetings, he said, "The President has a personal letter that he entrusted me to deliver to you."

Lin Fan opened the letter, read it, and said, "The President doesn't understand me; he never has. His worries are unnecessary.

The Special Operations Brigade will not negotiate with the Japanese. We will not negotiate with them until they have fully withdrawn from our country.

Our demand is not the President's idea of returning to the state before the July 7th Incident. Our goal has never changed: the Japanese must withdraw comprehensively from the three northeastern provinces, from Ryukyu, and from Goryeo, and return to their own islands.

If they don't go back, we will drive them back.

As for the President wanting to attack Jurong, we are not afraid! The Special Operations Brigade dares to take root in Jurong and has never been afraid of any force.

Whether it's open attacks or covert schemes, we'll take them all.

As for this incident, you provoked it. Since President Chang says it was a misunderstanding, we will treat it as a misunderstanding.

To avoid such misunderstandings from happening again in the future, I demand that all the Nationalist troops in the four counties of Ningguo, Lin'an, Fuyang, and Tonglu be withdrawn and replaced by the Special Operations Brigade."

After saying so much, Dai Li had not expressed his opinion on any of the previous statements, and he actually agreed with them in his heart.

But when Lin Fan said the last sentence, he immediately said, "Brigade Commander Lin is wholeheartedly devoted to the country, and I know that.

This was indeed a misunderstanding. Before I came, the President said that it would be good if both sides could clarify the misunderstanding.

Both sides should return to the state before the misunderstanding. Everyone should still be as close as before, jointly resisting the Japanese."

Lin Fan said impassively, "If you don't voluntarily withdraw from these four counties, I will take them myself.

In addition, there is one more thing I need Mr. Dai to inform your subordinates in Jurong about:

No one in Jurong is allowed to harm Jurong's industrial production and civilian facilities. This is our bottom line.

This time, nearly a hundred of Mr. Dai's subordinates blew up two of our hydroelectric power stations, seven textile factories, two steel plants, and five steel rolling mills, causing us huge economic losses.

These losses total two million yuan. Please have Mr. Dai pay the bill!"

"Brigade Commander Lin, you misunderstand. I have never sent anyone to sabotage Jurong. If Brigade Commander Lin gives me some time, I will investigate this matter and guarantee to give Brigade Commander Lin an explanation."

Lin Fan said, "Is one hour enough?"

Dai Li knew that Lin Fan was asking him to leave, and immediately said, "I will come to see the Brigade Commander tomorrow, and I will definitely bring the results of the investigation then."

"We have already entered Ningguo and are preparing to advance towards Lin'an. Please tell President Chang to have the Nationalist troops in Lin'an relocate in an orderly manner to avoid causing another misunderstanding."

"Brigade Commander Lin! Why must we, being of the same stock, inflict such suffering on each other?"

"The ancients said: 'Brothers may quarrel at home, but they unite against external aggression!' This time, our army is fighting against four Japanese divisions, and you stabbed us in the back.

All my combat plans against the Japanese have been ruined. Just today, all four Japanese divisions have retreated.

President Chang has given the Japanese a good cover this time, stabbing his own subordinates in the back and allowing the Japanese to retreat safely.

Do you think I would dare to fight the Japanese if my rear didn't have enough strategic space?"

Dai Li stopped talking and left with a look of shame.

He immediately sent a telegram to Chang Kai-shek, reporting in detail the content of his meeting with Lin Fan today, and requesting Chang Kai-shek to make a decision.

When Chang Kai-shek saw the telegram, he was very gratified by Lin Fan's previous statements, but when he saw Lin Fan's subsequent request for the four counties as the strategic space for the Jurong base area, and also demanded two million yuan in compensation, he immediately became angry: "Damn it! He's actually extorting me."

At this time, he completely forgot that he had taken the initiative to provoke this incident, and he also forgot that the Special Operations Brigade had sent him a hundred planes during the Battle of Wuhan.

One hundred planes, at a minimum price of 300,000 foreign exchange per plane, was worth 30 million foreign exchange, far exceeding the 2 million compensation demanded this time.

In fact, the compensation amount of two million was not large, but it was extremely insulting.

Chang Kai-shek summoned his staff to discuss: What should be done about this matter?

At the meeting, the staff unanimously believed that suppressing and restricting the Special Operations Brigade was necessary, but this concession was also necessary.

Because Lin Fan was right: without the containment of the four Japanese divisions, the current forces in the Jurong base area were enough to seize those four county towns.

Accepting the four county towns for defense in the Jurong base area could also share some of the pressure on the Nationalist army fighting the Japanese in the Hangzhou direction.

Thinking only of the good things, this could be considered a good thing!

As for compensating that bit of money, everyone automatically ignored it; there was no need to discuss it, just give it.

A storm was resolved in this way. Overnight, there were no more reports about this incident in the major newspapers.

People are good at forgetting, and everyone slowly forgot about this matter.

But the aftermath of this incident would never stop.

Lin Fan did not leave Jurong to return to the Huiyang or Lunan base area front lines, even though the Lunan base area was also being raided by the Japanese at this time.

However, half of the aviation brigade stationed in Jurong was transferred to Xuzhou to strengthen the air power of the Lunan base area.

Chen Sichuan was stationed in Xuzhou, commanding the anti-“mopping up” operations in the Lunan and Jiangbei base areas. Gu Xiuming, who used to be his company commander, had no objections to accepting his leadership.

Although the regimental commanders of the other regiments were promoted at the same time as Chen Sichuan, Chen Sichuan was in the First Regiment, the elite among the elite.

These regimental commanders had no objections to accepting Chen Sichuan's leadership. More importantly, the Lunan base area led by Gu Xiuming now had far greater strength than any other regiment, and since he was willing to accept Chen Sichuan's leadership, what objections could the other regiments have?

Lin Fan completely relinquished command of Jiangbei and Lunan. His main focus now was to reorganize the combat effectiveness of the regiments in Jurong.

According to the latest plan, the Special Operations Brigade would conduct a unified adjustment of cadres this time. Many of the old 15th Regiment's grassroots company and platoon-level cadres would be transferred back from the front lines to Jurong to serve as the main commanders of the regiments here.

The commanders from Jurong would be transferred to the front lines to serve as deputy positions.

Regimental commanders like Ji Wuguo and Ji Wujia, who had fought tough battles, would not be adjusted this time, but the officers at all levels under them would be strengthened significantly.

Furthermore, these two regiments were transferred to Jiangbei to participate in the war.

The purpose of this adjustment was only one: everything should be based on actual combat. Every soldier in the Special Operations Brigade's regiments had to go to the battlefield and be tempered there.

The Special Operations Brigade discovered the shortcomings in the construction of the rear troops during this anti-encirclement and suppression campaign and had been busy supplementing combat power.

Commander of the Central China Expeditionary Army, Yan Junliu, had already given up on the combat effectiveness of his four divisions: they were simply unable to pose a threat to the Jurong base area.

Since this was the case, he shifted his focus back to the area around the recently concluded Wuhan battlefield. When attacking Wuhan, the Japanese focused their main efforts on Wuhan in order to make Chang Kai-shek surrender as soon as possible.

They did not deeply occupy most of the areas in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Now they discovered that although Wuhan had been occupied, completely cutting off Chang Kai-shek's strategic point for north-south transportation, the troops led by Chang Kai-shek had not collapsed, and none of the troops under his command, composed of various warlords, had stood up to oppose his leadership.

The operations in Jurong had also failed to achieve the planned results. Although they had created a rift between the Special Operations Brigade and Chang Kai-shek, these two groups had not completely turned against each other.

In order to maintain transportation on the Yangtze River's waterways and land routes, and also to dampen the anti-Japanese sentiment of the entire country, Yan Junliu decided to occupy Nanchang.

This time, Okamura Neiji led the 11th Army, consisting of the 6th Division, the 101st Division, the 106th Division, the 116th Division, and artillery, cavalry, engineers, and naval infantry, a total of 120,000 Japanese troops, to attack Nanchang.

The 6th Division had just lost two battalions in Jurong and was immediately transferred back from Nanjing to its starting point, Jiujiang.

After replenishing its troops here, it traveled from Jiujiang by rail to Yongxiu, and then by road back to Pengxi and Daqiao, attacking Wuning and Henglu, which were occupied by the Nationalist army.

The 106th Division advanced south along the Xiushui River, while the 101st and 116th Divisions first went down to Wucheng from Poyang Lake, and then advanced all the way south to Nanchang.

At this time, the Special Operations Brigade was busy transporting the adjusted officers and soldiers into place. The Yangtze River waterway was unusually busy these days, with Japanese warships busy transporting supplies upstream.

The Special Operations Brigade was busy transporting officers and soldiers to and from both sides of the Yangtze River. The Jurong base area had a regular force of fifty regiments.

This time, Lin Fan reorganized the defense lines of the various units in Jurong: Yang Daren's regiment was augmented by nine regiments to form the Tangshan Defense Command, responsible for defending the line from Wuhu, Ma'anshan, Moling Pass, Chunhua, Tangshan to Jintan, and Zhenjiang.

Zhen Danxiao's regiment was augmented by nine regiments to form the Deqing Defense Command, responsible for defending the line from Lin'an, Deqing, Ningguo, and Xuancheng.

Pan Yongshan established the Guangde Defense Command, under which were ten infantry regiments, one Guangde Aviation Brigade, and four gunboat squadrons. It was responsible for supporting the defense of Huzhou, Changxing, Yixing, Wujin, Liyang, Guangde, and Anji, as well as providing air support to the various defense lines.

Guan Guoyi established the Jurong Defense Command, under which were ten infantry regiments and one Jurong Aviation Brigade, responsible for protecting the Jurong-Xuancheng-Gaoxun industrial zone and providing air support to the various defense lines.

Ji Wudi established the Jurong General Reserve Team, with ten infantry regiments under it, and formed a special operations brigade, responsible for special operations outside of Jurong and serving as a combat reserve force.

The adjustments in the other base areas would not be changed for the time being. After this adjustment, the units were strengthened from squad leaders to regimental commanders, all of whom were transferred back from the battlefield.

The main forces of the Special Operations Brigade were very satisfied with this adjustment. The officers and soldiers of the various main regiments who were brave in combat were promoted and received pay raises in this adjustment.

In particular, most of the officers and soldiers of the old 15th Regiment, which was first established, were promoted in this adjustment.

The only ones who had not changed were the regimental commanders of the main regiments. Lin Fan made a special trip to Xuzhou to convene a meeting of senior cadres at the regimental commander level, where he laid out his ideas for the Special Operations Brigade's future operations.

In the future, each base area would establish defense zones like Jurong.

After reassuring his subordinates, it was already April 1939. During this period, although the Nationalist army resisted every step of the way, it eventually lost Nanchang due to improper weapons and equipment and defense line arrangements.

The Nationalist army suffered heavy casualties in the campaign. The Japanese occupation of Nanchang completely cut off the railway transportation between the Third Theater and the rear, and military supplies and the evacuation of the wounded could only rely on the highways of Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces.

At that time, highway transportation was often harassed by Japanese planes, which made it impossible for the ammunition supplies urgently needed by the Ninth Theater to be delivered in time.

Under these circumstances, Xue Yue, the acting commander of the Ninth Theater, suggested sending the wounded to the Jurong base area for treatment.

He knew Lin Fan well and knew that he was a pure soldier. He also knew the capabilities of the Special Operations Brigade: they could organize bomber groups to carry out transoceanic expeditions to the Japanese mainland, and flying 500 kilometers to pick up the wounded was no problem.

The commander of the Ninth Theater was Chen Cheng, and Xue Yue was only the acting commander. Regardless of their views on Lin Fan, at least their own wounded soldiers should be treated well; otherwise, who would dare to fight desperately on the battlefield?

Chen Cheng was Chang Kai-shek's most trusted person. When he proposed to Chang Kai-shek to have the Special Operations Brigade receive the wounded for treatment in Jurong, this suggestion was immediately approved.

But how to tell the Special Operations Brigade about this? In the end, Li Zongren, commander of the Fifth Theater, issued an order to the Special Operations Brigade, ordering the Special Operations Brigade to send transport planes to Shanggao to pick up the wounded.

This order was vague, neither saying how many planes the Special Operations Brigade should send nor how many wounded they should pick up.

After receiving the order, there were two voices within the Special Operations Brigade: the Nationalist army stabbed us in the back not long ago, and now they want us to rescue the wounded; we definitely can't go.

This voice became almost a unified opinion among the cadres in Jurong, and even Li Xian held this view. Li Xian couldn't help but be angry.

The fifty regiments he had established, with so much energy and financial resources invested, had not fallen behind when fighting the Japanese, but they were caught off guard by the Nationalist army.

This was because they initially thought everyone was compatriots, and the soldiers relaxed their vigilance; now they would definitely not be fooled.

If we can't afford to offend them, we can avoid them!

All the cadres in Jurong had this idea: they used to be so good to these Nationalist troops, their neighbors, but now they hated them even more.

The opinions of the entire military were surprisingly consistent: listen to the brigade commander!

Lin Fan had to first work on Li Xian: "What was our original intention when we established the Special Operations Brigade?"

"To fight the Japanese!"

After saying these words, Li Xian already knew what Lin Fan was thinking. He was silent for a while and said, "Okay! I agree to receive the wounded."

Now Li Xian's attitude represented the attitude of the local people in Jurong.

Within the troops, Ji Wudi's attitude was quite clear: "As long as it's about fighting the Japanese, she will unconditionally support it."

Of course, Zhen Danxiao, Yang Daren, Guan Guohao, and Pan Yongshan also absolutely supported Lin Fan.

When the second meeting was held to discuss this issue, Lin Fan spoke: "Comrades! When we walked out of Sihang Warehouse, we had only one goal: to fight the Japanese!

Our goal has not changed until now. We were betrayed some time ago, but this does not mean that we have to change our original intention.

Our main contradiction now is still the contradiction between the entire nation and the Japanese, so as long as it's about fighting the Japanese, we must support it.

I did so in the past, I am doing so now, and we will continue to do so in the future."

After unifying their thoughts, the next question was how to go.

Although Lin Fan agreed to receive the wounded, how to pick them up was a problem. He could no longer be like before, taking an infantry regiment and airdropping to the front lines without any precautions against the Nationalist army.

Lin Fan proposed: "The Ninth Theater should completely transfer the defense of Shanggao Airport to the Special Operations Brigade.

The Special Operations Brigade will send troops to garrison the airport, so as to ensure the safe take-off and landing of the planes."

This request was not excessive. This time, Xue Yue raised a question: "The supplies for the Special Operations Brigade's soldiers need to be borne by the Special Operations Brigade."

He explained: "Due to the railway interruption, the logistics supply for the entire Ninth Theater is now reduced by half, and it is really impossible to bear the supply of the Special Operations Brigade's troops."