Chapter Seventy-four: Sitting in a Row and Dividing the Cake

  At 21 years old, he became the commander of an independent brigade? His military rank was directly promoted from lieutenant colonel to senior colonel? For Ou Yangyun's qualifications, it is really too unmatched. After the 29th Army entered Hebei, expansion and reorganization were inevitable. At its peak in history, the 29th Army had a total of 48 regiments, which means there were 48 regimental commanders among them. These people included famous generals and fierce warriors (the 29th Army seemed to have produced many of these, possibly due to General Feng Yuxiang being the founder of the Northwestern Army). As traditional Chinese military men, they emphasized loyalty, righteousness, benevolence, and bravery. In history, figures such as Zhang Zizhong, Feng Zhi'an, Zhao Dengyu, and Ji Xingwen held high the banner of the Northwestern Army because of their traditional values. Ou Yangyun, an outsider with no military experience, relied on some clever tricks to rise to a high position. Not only did others not accept him, but he himself also felt that this official position was somewhat laughable. An independent brigade is called a "brigade" in name, but it actually belongs to the division level, and its commander is equivalent to a division commander. At 21 years old, becoming a division commander would truly be unprecedented (except for some special circumstances). As the saying goes, "the higher you climb, the harder you fall." In the 29th Army, he did not have anyone he could truly rely on, and his power was too weak. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, doing anything was like walking on thin ice; if he made a mistake, he would be criticized by thousands.

  Li Tieshu, Gu Lianyun and even Ouyang Yun himself all realized this point. For Ouyang Yun, being able to grasp a bit more of the military is naturally a good thing, but the attitude still needs to be made.

  The next day, at the 29th Army military meeting described by him as "dividing cakes", when Song Zheyuan publicly read out the appointment, he again expressed his inability to do so and hoped that the army would reconsider.

  It's interesting to say that at this meeting, except for Ouyang Yun being a senior colonel, the lowest military rank of others was also lieutenant general, which can be called a grand gathering of generals.

  Among the many generals, only Feng Zhian had met Ouyang Yun before, but he arrived extremely late. Before the meeting, others saw Ouyang Yun holding a notebook, asking one person to sign something and another to pour tea, plus his military rank was still lieutenant colonel, so they all thought he was either a staff officer or a deputy officer of the military department, and no one thought that he might also be one of the attendees. When Guo Biao announced the start of the meeting, everyone saw him sitting down at the end seat, and several people who didn't hide their faces widened their eyes, whispering to each other, "This kid is so impolite! What is he doing here? A secretary? He should be sitting at the side table!"

  There were a few who knew the news, such as Feng Zhi'an and Zhang Zizhong. The former was familiar with Ouyang Yun, while the latter only found out at this moment that this young officer who had been worshiping him was actually one of the "Anti-Japanese Heroes" of the time, the commander of the Student Army Corps, and was about to be promoted to brigade commander. He couldn't help but take a closer look at him, judging that he was no more than 25 years old, shaking his head secretly, thinking that Commander-in-Chief was really being reckless, this was still just a big kid! Putting nearly ten thousand troops under his command? Unbelievable! As he was sighing in secret, Song Zheyuan and Qin Dechun walked into the conference room.

  Everyone stood up simultaneously and saluted, shouting: "Commander! Deputy Commander!" "We have seen the Commander and Deputy Commander."

  Song Zheyuan smiled and waved his hand, saying: "Everyone sit down." He himself sat in the first place, waited for Qin Dechun to sit down, used a smiling gaze to sweep over everyone's face one by one, then pointed at Ouyang Yun and said: "Ouyang, you're the new face here, introduce yourself."

  Ouyang Yun stood up, gave a handsome military salute: "Yes!" He said: "I am Ouyang Yun, currently acting as the deputy commander of the Academic Army, please instruct me, generals!" After finishing speaking, he raised his hand and turned his upper body to give a military salute to everyone.

  Song Zheyuan said, "What a deputy commander, from today on you are the colonel and brigade commander of the Independent Regiment of Learning Soldiers. Come, let me introduce you to these generals." He began introducing them one by one, starting with his left hand.

  "Deputy Commander Qin Dechun, our 29th Army's strategist." Qin Dechun was a tall and thin man, he smiled and nodded at Ouyang Yun. Ouyang Yun immediately saluted him and said: "Nice to meet you, Deputy Commander Qin."

  Song Zheyuan pointed to a middle-aged man of medium build with two sword-shaped eyebrows and said, "Chief of Staff Zhang Weifan." Ouyang Yun immediately saluted Zhang Weifan again and said, "Please instruct me, Chief of Staff!" Zhang Weifan nodded slightly.

  Then comes Zhang Zizhong, Feng Zhian...

  All the generals present, except for Qin Dechun who appeared last with Song Zheyuan, had already gotten signatures from Ouyang Yun and were considered to have made his acquaintance. Song Zheyuan's correction of Ouyang Yun's words was shocking, leaving many people in disbelief. Just as Song Zheyuan finished introducing everyone, Zhang Zizhong took the lead in questioning Ouyang Yun: "General Ouyang, how old are you this year?"

  "Twenty-one."

  "Hmm!" At this, not only Zhang Zizhong who asked the question, but also others including Zhang Weibiao were stunned. Zhang Weibiao was the first to come back to his senses, he looked at the expressions of his old comrades-in-arms, then turned to Song Zheyuan, seeing that he had been smiling all along, and coughed, saying: "General, isn't this a bit too young? He hasn't even been a regimental commander for long... in terms of commanding troops..." He didn't finish what he was going to say, but the meaning was already very clear. If they let Ou Yang Yun, an outsider, become the division commander, then many of the old-timers among the 29th Army's regimental commanders would definitely have opinions about it - in short, it would be hard for him to win their respect!

  Song Zheyuan didn't wait for him to finish, looking at the crowd and asking: "Does everyone know the predecessor of the Student Army Corps? - The 25th Division's student training class, with only over 200 people. Under the leadership of Ou Yang, they have already annihilated over 400 devils. The first time was when the Japanese ambushed the Student Army Corps in Tianjin, and all the participating Japanese troops were Mei Zhen's elite garrison troops. The second time was in Baycun Village, where Shi You San colluded with the Japanese to make a fuss about the North China Autonomous Region, but was defeated by Ou Yang's ambush. Over 2,700 people, more than 200 devils were annihilated, and Shi You San was captured alive. In both battles, the casualties of the Student Army Corps were only in single digits - doesn't everyone know Shi You San? He is also an old general of our Northwestern Army, but he couldn't withstand a blow from Ou Yang? Being an official and leading troops, as long as you can kill enemies on the battlefield, understand strategy, and control your troops, age and experience will only grow!"

  Except for Feng Zhi'an and Qin Dechun, everyone else present did not know about these matters. After Song Zheyuan said this, the gaze of over 200 people towards Ouyang Yun changed - with casualties in single digits, they annihilated over 400 Japanese devils and captured Ishii Shiro alive. Even if it were them, they wouldn't dare guarantee such a victory. This "Anti-Japanese Hero Duo" truly lives up to its name!

  Zhang Weihuan sighed and leaned back in his chair, saying: "The younger generation is indeed to be feared!" He then turned to Song Zheyuan and said: "Congratulations, General! The 29th Army has gained another fierce general!"

  He said that, and others didn't dare say anything else. Ou Yang Yun's appointment was thus settled without any further ado.

  After a while, Song Zheyuan said: "Brothers, when we were reorganized by General Zhang at the beginning, did you ever think that our 29th Army would have such a day?!"

  The 29th Army was just formed at that time, and it was undoubtedly the most difficult period for the troops. Everyone remembered the miserable situation back then and thought about the current prosperity, and they couldn't help but let out a sigh of emotion.

  Zhang Zizhong said: "Yes! Zhang Mou has been following Mr. Feng on the road of revolution, and has experienced more than 100 battles, big and small. But that period in Shanxi was the most embarrassing. Who would have thought that we would have such glory today - now we have air reconnaissance, and over 50,000 officers and soldiers, so we don't need to rely on others for a living anymore."

  Many generals expressed their opinions, and the atmosphere in the conference room became unprecedentedly warm for a while.

  Song Zheyuan's mood seemed quite good, and after everyone had spoken, he waved his hand and said: "Everyone seems to be very optimistic about the future prospects, but I want to remind you that for now, our army has only obtained the name of garrisoning Hebei. To truly turn Hebei into a source of soldiers and supplies for our army, there is still much work to be done. After the National Government withdrew from all of Hebei, many local government departments were left with nothing but an empty shell - this requires a large number of people to fill in. Also, has everyone noticed that while we nominally control two places, in reality it's only partially so? Please take a look at the map."

  Kuo Piao pulled open the curtain behind Song Zheyuan, revealing a brand new map of North China. Song began to explain the current situation in North China point by point based on the map.

  "Gentlemen, look, the areas of Chahar and Jehol are nominally non-military zones, but the Japanese have airplanes and can carry out air raids. Moreover, their army's mechanization is highly advanced, and these regions have well-developed rail and highway transportation networks. If war were to break out, I guarantee that they would need only about a day's time to cross over these areas and launch a direct attack on our controlled territories - so this non-military zone business is actually aimed at our 29th Army..."

  The map is very intuitive, and even if Song Zheyuan doesn't explain it, those present can see that the 29th Army now controls a large area of land. However, if they were to fight against the Japanese devils, they would be surrounded on three sides - the naval forces from Tianjin, the army from Rehe and Chade, and their retreat routes seem to have two paths through Shanxi and Shandong. But Shandong is adjacent to the sea and is also the territory of Han Fuqu, who may not be good at military affairs but guards his own territory tightly; as for crossing into Shanxi, the 29th Army originated from Shanxi and understands the character of Yan Xishan. The crucial point is, once they lose control of Wingchak, where can the 29th Army go?

  It seems that the 29th Army is now like a lone child hanging outside the plate, with a sense of fighting alone. So, how to preserve its own strength in this situation and not fall down is a matter worth considering.