Chapter 189: Watching the Drama

The air battle lasted about half an hour. In the end, the attacking Japan aircraft group was completely smashed and fled in panic. The battle report came in: in this engagement, a total of 21 Japan planes were shot down, 50 Japan pilots were killed, we also suffered losses, but achieved an overwhelming victory!

"April 29" air battle great victory! The news instantly spread across the nation, its morale‑boosting effect not at all inferior to the Taierzhuang ground victory.

The bloody battles at Taierzhuang and Yuwang Mountain, especially the great victory in the "April 29" air battle, quickly attracted widespread attention from the International Community.

The West, led by Britain and France, was surprised by the tenacious combat power displayed by the Huaxia Army. Newspapers began to report more positive news about Huaxia's resistance, and the assessment improved. Yet their official stance remained cautious; appeasement policies and trade interests with Japan still held sway, and substantive aid was scant. Nevertheless, Huaxia's performance undeniably began to alter their prediction that "Huaxia would soon capitulate".

The Soviet Union's Iron Man closely monitored the situation on the Eastern front. The victory at Taierzhuang and the outstanding performance of Soviet pilots in the Jiangcheng air battle showed the Soviet leadership the value of holding back Japan and preventing its northward threat to Siberia. The resilience on the Huaxia battlefield aligned with the Soviet Union's strategic interests.

On May 5, at the Shancheng principal's residence, while celebrating the victory, the harsh reality remained unchanged. The Huaxia Army had suffered massive attrition in the ongoing bloody battles, and weapons, ammunition, fuel, medicine and other supplies were extremely scarce. The principal deeply understood that without foreign aid, a prolonged resistance could not be sustained.

He sat at his desk and personally drafted a Document to the Soviet Union's supreme leader, the Iron Man. He chose his words carefully, both to convey the resolve of the resistance and the achievements already attained, and to explicitly request assistance.

"... Our forces have dealt heavy blows to the enemy at Taierzhuang, Jiangcheng and elsewhere, yet in a prolonged resistance the consumption of supplies has become enormous, and weapons and ammunition are especially lacking. Your country's sympathy and aid are a vital pillar of our resolve to resist. Hereby we earnestly request Your Excellency to consider expanding assistance to our military supplies, and to provide guidance on the concrete methods of exchanging arms and goods between our two nations, so that we may sustain a lasting resistance and jointly repel aggression..."

After the Document was sent, the principal let out a long sigh, but the worry in his brows did not dissipate. He placed his hope in the northern red giant, yet International Community politics are treacherous, and how the Iron Man will respond and how much aid he can provide remain unknown.

The rear‑line populace was immersed in the joy and hope brought by the victory news; donations of money and goods, and the surge of enlistment and participation in combat rose again. Students organized propaganda squads, workers labored hard, and the literary world produced a great many uplifting works. The heroic deeds of Taierzhuang, Yuwang Mountain and the Jiangcheng air battle were widely celebrated.

However, at the front, especially in units such as Li Nian'an's Fifth Army that had just endured bloody battles and were now resting and resupplying in the rear, the atmosphere was entirely different. The garrison hospital was packed with wounded, the newly arrived recruits needed time to train and integrate, and the lost equipment urgently required replacement. Under the glory of victory, the soldiers felt more a remembrance of fallen comrades and a heavy foreboding of even more brutal future battles.

Li Nian'an inspected the troops undergoing training, and said to Qiu Qingquan and Dai Anlan: "We won at Taierzhuang, but look at these fresh faces; think of the brothers lying in the hospital and buried in the earth... the war must be fought battle after battle, the blood must keep flowing drop by drop. Tell the men below to seize every moment for training; the devils will not give us much breathing room."

On May 6, at the Japan Tokyo headquarters joint conference, the atmosphere was completely different from the arrogant, invincible tone of the previous months, replaced by a suppressed heaviness and a smoldering anger. A massive East Asia map was spread on the long table, with blue arrows representing the Japan army's advance appearing sluggish and chaotic over Xuzhou, Jiangcheng and other areas. The Army General Staff and the Imperial Japanese Navy command's General Officers sat on opposite sides, the air between them cold enough to freeze.

Deputy Chief of the Army spoke first, striving to keep his tone steady yet unable to hide a hint of awkwardness: "Gentlemen, although in the Taierzhuang sector our Army units were overconfident and advanced rashly, suffering a temporary setback, and the encirclement of Xuzhou was not fully successful, the blows we dealt to the Chinese Army's main force were heavy! In the battle of Yuwang Mountain we have already heavily damaged its Yunnan elite troops. Strategically overall, our forces still hold the initiative..."

"Hold the initiative?" a Vice Admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy command cut in bluntly, his finger drumming on the table, tone full of sarcasm, "Deputy Chief, allow me to be frank! 'Temporary setback'? Taierzhuang lost a detachment, Xuzhou let a boiled duck fly away— is that merely a 'setback'? Jiangcheng! On April 29, our Navy's elite aviation forces, in order to restore the Army's face, carried out a long‑range strike; the result? Twenty‑one aircraft were shot down, fifty outstanding Imperial pilots were shattered! Among them were several 'stars' with kill records! Is this the so‑called 'holding the initiative' synergy the Army boasts about?"

Those words were like salt on a wound; the faces of the Army General Officers instantly turned extremely grim. A young Army officer leapt to his feet, glaring at the counterpart: "Is the Navy mocking the Army's heroic fight? Taierzhuang's terrain is complex, the Chinese Army has concentrated its most elite German‑armed units and has solid city defenses; our soldiers fought in a blood‑soaked melee, suffering equally heavy casualties! Meanwhile the Navy, always bragging about 'air superiority', ended up being so badly defeated over Jiangcheng, against the Chinese and Russian pilots' inferior aircraft! What about air superiority? Where's the promised clearing of obstacles for the ground troops?"

"Baka!" the Navy Vice Admiral also slammed the table, "Army idiots! If it weren't for your sluggish progress on land, unable to crush the Chinese Army's resistance core, why should our Navy aviation risk such a long‑range offensive? Our fighters are prepared for the Empire's maritime frontier and decisive battles, not to mop up your Army's failures! Moreover, according to the battle reports, the Chinese Air Force's combat power has improved, clearly receiving substantial aid from the Soviet Union! What does that indicate? It shows that the Army's operations on the Huaxia mainland have not only failed to quickly subdue the Chinese, but have drawn the Russian bear deeper into Far‑East affairs! This is a major strategic blunder!"

Seeing the argument about to erupt into mutual insults, the meeting's Chief of General Staff, with a grim face, coughed forcefully: "Enough! What about the dignity of Imperial soldiers? Is this the time to assign blame and point fingers at each other?!"

The hall fell silent for a moment, but the invisible high wall between the Navy and the Army grew even thicker due to this series of setbacks. The Navy resented the Army's prolonged indecision in the Huaxia quagmire, which tied up and drained naval resources, and feared the Soviet influence might use the opportunity to move south. The Army, in turn, bitterly despised the Navy's idle by‑standing and sarcastic taunts, believing the Navy's unwillingness to fully support was what caused the ground war to tighten.

Chief of General Staff Shen He swept his gaze over the assembled, and said slowly: "The losses in the Taierzhuang and Jiangcheng air battles must be faced head‑on. Yet this does not mean the Chinese Army has gained the ability to reverse the war. On the contrary, it exposes several of our strategic and tactical problems: underestimating the enemy, insufficient coordination, and under‑estimating the Chinese Army's fighting will and the likelihood of it obtaining foreign aid."

He paused, his voice turning cold and hard: "His Majesty and the Cabinet are awaiting the next plan. Argument is useless. The current priority is: First, summarize the lessons, especially re‑evaluating the combat power of the Chinese Army's new units led by the German‑armed Fifth Army and the Soviet aid they have received. Second, adjust the subsequent operational strategy. Although Xuzhou did not achieve a complete encirclement, it heavily damaged the Chinese Army's main force, forcing its westward retreat. Our next objective must be clear—Jiangcheng! Capture Jiangcheng, destroy the Chinese government's wartime hub, cut off its Yangtze River supply line, and force the Kuomintang regime to collapse or surrender! In this battle, the Navy and Army must cooperate with utmost sincerity, and must never again give the Chinese any chance of luck!"

"Hai!" the leaders of both forces replied in unison, but the forced tone and the gap between them were clearly audible.

The meeting finally concluded in an unharmonious atmosphere. The Navy and the Army each left carrying resentment toward the other and deeper anxieties.