Chapter 401: Speaking Nonsense with Eyes Wide Open

Reporter Zhang himself also wanted to pay a visit to see who exactly in the Sichuan Army came up with such shocking headlines; this person really is a business genius.

The shocking headlines of the Sichuan News were thought up by Yu Hua; at the time, after this newspaper was started, its sales in Sichuan Province were very low.

Ever since Yu Hua used such shocking headlines—things like the distortion of human nature, the loss of morality, and so on—once such headlines appeared, they immediately caught the attention of many common people.

The Sichuan News suddenly became popular, with sales surging both inside and outside the province, and it also earned a considerable amount of silver dollars for the Sichuan Army.

Within the crowd, the people from the Central Statistics Bureau and the Military Statistics Bureau saw the Sichuan Army playing this video footage, and many of their faces turned green!

The Sichuan Army... actually doesn't play by the rules, using such tactics.

Wang Laoyezi, and even the local notables, had fled from outside the pass into Shandong Province during the September 18 Incident; because Wang Laoyezi had good connections, he quickly gained a firm foothold in Lincheng, Shandong Province.

For a moment, all the common people cheered, shouting "Sichuan Army is mighty... Sichuan Army is mighty..."

Wang Mingzhang mentioned Ning Xin, and Yu Hua misses her quite a bit now; after all, he had left shortly after they were newly married, and he hadn't even had time to dote on his wife yet!

"Hurry up and uncover the red cloth, let us take a look at the physical evidence the Sichuan Army has prepared, and see if it can completely convince us!"

"We annihilated the Japanese Army's Chongteng Detachment and the Yamashita Regiment, and captured countless firearms and ammunition."

This Sichuan Army came prepared; they previously deliberately publicized and under-reported their battle results, making people think the Sichuan Army had killed few enemies and had reported higher numbers, but who knew they had actually reported lower numbers.

Under the red cloth, one could see dozens of military swords; some common people who didn't know the truth shouted: "Tch! I thought it was something else? So it's just military swords?"

Wang Mingzhang patted Yu Hua on the shoulder: "Brother Yu, for this batch of military swords to be transported from Sichuan Province to Lincheng so quickly, the Fujian Province Company contributed quite a bit."

These few young men also recognized Wang Laoyezi, and seeing the old man scold them, everyone shut their mouths.

"All of this is fake; the Sichuan Army had already thought up such a strategy, everyone must not believe it."

Sun Zhen reached out his hand, signaling for the noisy crowd to quiet down: "Ladies and gentlemen!"

As for the non-commissioned officers' command swords, among this pile of copper-colored, silver-white, and ivory-colored military swords, they appeared very inconspicuous.

"And your wife, having the Fujian Province Company specially approve a dedicated train, solved a big problem for our Sichuan Army."

"The key is that this Sichuan Army even teased us for a long time, keeping us in suspense, and now they just give us these few broken military swords!"

Everyone had thought that Sun Zhen would uncover the red cloth after he finished speaking, but after Sun Zhen finished, he deliberately paused, which made everyone feel restless.

Are they just shouting with their mouths? Is this all fake? But they just played video footage, and now they are throwing out physical military swords; calling it fake again is truly a bit far-fetched.

Seeing that everyone's curiosity had been piqued, Sun Zhen smiled: "Fine, since everyone is curious, then let us uncover the red cloth and take a look."

Otherwise, where would so many military swords have come from?!

The people from the Central Statistics Bureau and the Military Statistics Bureau saw the Sichuan Army throw out so many military swords, and their faces turned livid; with this physical evidence thrown out, how could they continue to incite the common people now?

"And a large number of prisoners from the Chongteng Detachment!"

Soon, the common people also began to praise the Sichuan Army; Sun Zhen stood on the stage, and hearing the praises of the common people, his face was filled with a joyful smile.

Now that the Sichuan Army has brought out so many military swords, that is enough to show that in the battle in Jin Province, the Sichuan Army really didn't lie.

"What use does this thing have? Does this even count as physical evidence?"

"Fake!" Some hardliners arranged by Dai Chunfeng shouted wildly: "This is all fake! The Sichuan Army forged the video footage; fellow countrymen, you must not be deceived by the Sichuan Army."

"This Sichuan Army is truly a fierce tiger; they actually wiped out so many Japanese troops and captured so many military swords."

"These are all the little devils' command swords; so many military swords are enough to show that the Sichuan Army annihilated many Japanese troops, especially these general-level swords, which cannot be obtained casually."

Following that, a platoon of the Sichuan Army was seen carrying something covered by a red cloth onto the podium. Many people also stretched their necks, wanting to see what the Sichuan Army was playing at, to actually cover it with a red cloth?

Quite a few people were also attracted by the spectacle created by the Sichuan Army, and they were also very curious about what was under the red cloth?!

Sun Zhen spoke in riddles: "Ladies and gentlemen, are you very curious? What is under this red cloth?"

"Some time ago, our Sichuan Army achieved a great victory in Teng County!"

Seeing Wang Laoyezi say this, many common people also knew that Wang Laoyezi came from outside the pass and was knowledgeable; since the old man said so, there was no major problem with the Sichuan Army's battle results in annihilating the enemy.

Moreover, Wang Laoyezi also briefly explained that the Japanese Army lieutenant-level command swords had copper-colored hilts, the field officer-level command swords had silver-white hilts, and the general-level swords were made of ivory.

"Here, I have another piece of good news to tell everyone!"

Upon hearing "good news," many common people focused their attention and locked their gazes firmly on Sun Zhen.

Sun Zhen saw that this group of hardliners would not give up, and sneered: "Fake? I think some people are just telling lies with their eyes open. You don't believe the video footage? That's fine, let's look at the physical evidence next."

Some common people shouted: "Stop keeping us in suspense, what is inside?"

Wang Laoyezi said clearly: "These military swords, I have just looked at them; there are major, lieutenant colonel, colonel, and even general-level swords inside."

The Sichuan Army was actually still holding back a big move; releasing it now was undoubtedly a battering ram, smashing Dai Chunfeng's people until they were about to vomit blood and die.

"That's right... that's right..."

The corners of Sun Zhen's mouth lifted slightly: "Ladies and gentlemen, to prevent anyone from saying that our Sichuan Army is reporting false battle results again, this time, we will first go to the warehouse to see the mountain of Japanese-style weapons."

When the people from the Central Statistics Bureau and the Military Statistics Bureau heard this news, their complexions became even uglier.

Upon hearing this, Yu Hua nodded: "The Xiao Family has always been very supportive."

The cheers of the common people grew louder and louder, and the people from the Central Statistics Bureau and the Military Statistics Bureau were also very depressed.

Especially the command swords of the Japanese Army field officers and above, all of which were bestowed by the Emperor; this is a symbol of status and position, and also a symbol of honor for Japanese Army officers.

Saying this, Wang Laoyezi sighed with emotion: "It seems that the world has misunderstood the Sichuan Army!"

As Sun Zhen spoke, he walked forward and then uncovered the red cloth!

In an instant, the eyes of countless people looked toward the red cloth.

"Exactly... exactly..."

Wang Laoyezi, who was sitting in the audience, saw this group of people grumbling, and he shouted loudly: "You bunch of youngsters, you don't know a damn thing; if you don't understand, don't blather on!"

"Then, we will go to the prisoner-of-war camp to see the soldiers of the Chongteng Detachment captured by our Sichuan Army! Fellow reporter friends, you can take pictures; you must help our Sichuan Army publicize this."

Sun Zhen said they could take pictures this time because, after many reporters arrived in Lincheng, the Sichuan Army set up areas where reporters could move around; within the reporters' activity range, they could take pictures, but outside this range, it was not allowed.

(End of chapter)