LRAB Chapter 77 The Restoration of Fujian
Chapter 77 The Restoration of Fujian
Chapter 74 Bloodless Victory! The Newly Formed Second Division Reaps the Rewards Across Provinces
Outside Fuzhou city.
early morning.
The thin mist had not yet dissipated, and the mountains on both sides of the Minjiang River were faintly visible in the fog, like an unfinished ink painting.
The sentry on the city wall yawned, rubbed his eyes, and habitually glanced north.
Then he froze.
On the official road to the north, a long black dragon was slowly approaching.
That was no ordinary marching force.
At the forefront were six armored personnel carriers, with MG34 machine guns mounted on their low, heavy steel bodies, their tracks making a dull rumble as they rolled over the gravel road.
Behind the armored vehicles were neat columns of infantry.
German-style steel helmets, gray-green military uniforms, Mauser rifles, and leather boots clicking in unison on the ground.
Further on were rows of 105mm howitzers towed behind trucks. The dark muzzles pointed skyward, like cast iron fingers.
The tail of the procession disappeared into the depths of the mist, and its beginning could not be seen at all.
The sentry's legs began to go weak.
He threw away his pipe and scrambled down the city wall.
"Report! Report! Troops are coming from the north! So many troops! And armored vehicles and cannons!"
The city defense command headquarters was instantly in an uproar.
……
The commander of Fuzhou's city defense was named Zhao Dehai.
He was in his forties and had originally been a brigade commander under Sun Yuanfeng. After Sun Yuanfeng collapsed from coughing up blood, two brigade commanders from southern Fujian defected to Guangdong, and the regimental commander from western Fujian directly led his troops to desert, leaving him alone to guard Fuzhou City.
I have a total of three thousand people under my command.
Of these three thousand men, half were conscripts recently recruited from the countryside, who hadn't even handled a gun properly. The other half, though veterans of the Beiyang Army, hadn't received their pay for three months.
Morale?
Forget it.
Zhao Dehai stood on the city wall and looked through his binoculars for thirty seconds.
Then his hands started to tremble.
"This...this is a German-equipped engineer?!"
The adjutant next to him was also watching.
"Commander, look at that flag. 'Southeast Front Army Independent Armored Brigade.' Below it are two more flags, one that reads 'National Defense Army Newly Formed Second Division,' and the other that reads 'Zhejiang Province Newly Formed First Army Division.'"
Zhao Dehai nearly dropped the binoculars.
Three numbers.
That means there are at least three divisions of troops outside the city.
Even if each division only has five thousand people, that's still fifteen thousand.
Fifteen thousand fully armed German elite troops against his three thousand half-starved ragtag soldiers.
Five to one.
Moreover, they have armored vehicles, heavy machine guns, and 105mm howitzers.
What does he have?
Hundreds of Hanyang rifles and a few outdated mortars.
Zhao Dehai swallowed.
"Who are these people? Whose flag are they flying?"
The adjutant leaned closer and lowered his voice.
"Commander... I just saw the person standing on the command vehicle ahead."
"Who?"
"It is General Zang Keping."
Zhao Dehai's body swayed suddenly.
Zang Keping.
That name is quite familiar in Fujian's military circles.
A year ago, Zang Keping was a brigade commander in the Anhui clique of the Beiyang Army. He and Yang Yanzhao were among the few generals from Fujian who were also part of the Anhui clique. However, they were driven out of Fujian by Sun Yuanfeng and several other forces during a turf war with the Zhili-Anhui faction. They were in dire straits, fleeing with their remaining troops across mountains to Jiangxi, where they were pursued and intercepted by the Jiangxi military governor. If it weren't for the kindness of Chen Yuhe, the military governor of Zhejiang, who was known as the "Mountain Marshal," and his defection to Chen's army, they would likely be long dead by now.
But it's different now.
Zang Keping is now the commander of the Chen Family Army's Independent Armored Brigade.
He has tanks, armored vehicles, and MG34 machine guns under his command.
Zhao Dehai heard about what happened in Nanjing.
Four flour factories, two hours, thirty-one Japanese ronin, not one left alive.
Ma Zhongnan's 1,400 elite troops all knelt down at the sight of tanks.
Zhao Dehai suddenly felt his legs become even weaker.
……
outside the city.
Zang Keping stood on the roof of the armored vehicle.
He was wearing a crisp gray-green military uniform with the Southeast Army rank insignia on his chest, and his beret was pulled low.
But his eyes looked completely different from a year ago.
When he fled this land in a sorry state a year ago, he was just a defeated general with nowhere to turn.
He's back now.
They returned with tanks, artillery, and three full divisions of troops.
Returning home in glory.
His lips curled slightly upward, but there was no smile in his eyes.
"Send a message to the city."
He said to the communications soldier next to him.
The communications soldier picked up a tin megaphone.
Zang Keping took it himself.
He took a deep breath and, facing the direction of the Fuzhou city wall, spoke in a loud voice as clear as a bell.
"Brothers on the city wall, listen up! I am Zang Keping!"
"I fought in Fujian a year ago; the older brothers here should recognize me!"
"Today, I am acting on the orders of Commander-in-Chief Chen of the Southeast Army to lead my troops into Fujian and take over the military and political administration of the entire province!"
"Brothers in the city, you haven't been paid for three months! Sun Yuanfeng has fallen, and nobody cares about you anymore! But the Chen family army will!"
"Anyone who lays down their weapons and opens the city gates will be incorporated into the army and given three months' back pay! Those with military merit will be given priority for promotion!"
"A stubborn resistance..."
He paused for a moment.
Then he waved his hand behind him.
All six armored vehicles started their engines simultaneously.
The thunderous roar shook the ground.
Twelve MG34 machine guns simultaneously pulled their bolts.
The "click" sound was chillingly crisp in the thin mist.
Zang Keping's voice suddenly turned cold.
"I don't need to say anything more, do I?"
There was silence on the city wall for about ten seconds.
then.
A white flag was seen protruding from the city gate tower.
It shook like a sieve.
Immediately afterwards, the city gate slowly opened with a heavy creaking sound.
Zhao Dehai, accompanied by his adjutant and several staff officers, walked out of the city gate with his shirt off and hands raised above his head.
He had no pistol at his waist, his military cap was off, and his hair was a mess in the morning breeze.
When he reached Zang Keping, he knelt down with a thud.
"General Zang... General Zang! The brothers don't want to fight anymore! We are willing to surrender!"
Zang Keping looked down at him for a few seconds.
"stand up."
Zhao Dehai stood up, trembling.
"The Chen family army doesn't follow that approach."
Zang Keping placed the loudspeaker on the armored vehicle. "Your men assemble at the drill ground, surrender their weapons, and register. Those who wish to stay will receive pay, new uniforms, and be incorporated into the National Defense Army. Those who do not wish to stay will be given travel expenses to go home."
Zhao Dehai nodded repeatedly. "We're willing! We're all willing! All the brothers are willing!"
Zang Keping didn't look at him again.
He looked up at the mottled city walls of Fuzhou and the old flags that had been torn down from the city towers.
"Go into town."
……
Within three days.
Chen's army took over the entire Fujian province with overwhelming force.
The three thousand troops defending Fuzhou were incorporated into the local forces.
The garrison in Quanzhou, led by the deputy commander of the city's defense, took the initiative to contact and surrender.
When a regimental commander in Zhangzhou heard that Zang Keping had arrived, he sent someone overnight to deliver a letter of surrender and a complete list of local military equipment.
The coastal defense battalion in Xiamen was the most courageous. They held out for half a day.
Half a day later, an artillery battalion of the newly formed 2nd Division towed six 105mm howitzers to the opposite hilltop.
The cannons were aimed at the barracks.
The battalion commander of the coastal defense battalion glanced at the six dark cannon muzzles and remained silent for three minutes.
Then he opened the camp gate himself.
This is the end.
The entire province of Fujian has been pacified.
Chen's army did not fire a single shot and lost a single soldier.
Zang Keping stood in the main hall of the Fujian Military Governor's Mansion.
What he was standing on was a fragment of the grand master's chair that Sun Yuanfeng had once sat in.
He personally raised the Chen family army's flag and the Eighteen-Star Iron-Blood Army Flag together on the flagpole of the Governor's Mansion.
The two flags fluttered in the wind on the Minjiang River.
He took out his telegram book and wrote a line:
"Fujian has been pacified. 11,000 garrison troops have been incorporated. More than 8,000 rifles, 42 mortars, and various types of ammunition have been captured. The remaining forces of Sun Yuanfeng's elite Central Reorganized Second and Third Divisions have fled to Jiangxi Province. The Governor's Office, provincial treasury, and arsenal have all been taken over. Zang Keping."
The telegram was sent at 3 p.m.
Three hours later, the news exploded like a bomb in the telegraph rooms of major powers across the country.
Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Anhui, and Fujian.
The five provinces are connected in one area south of the Yangtze River.
Chen Zijun, 23 years old.
Lord of the Southeast.
True to its name.