Chapter 210: Scapegoat Conference 2

When Du Yuming was mentioned, everyone's gaze turned to him again. He was the former Kuomintang Xuzhou "Anti‑Bandit Chief" Deputy Commander-in-Chief, and one of the actual commanders on the National Army side in the Huaihai Campaign.

Du Yuming sighed, rose slowly, and said, "Since everyone is speaking, I'll speak too. Why did we lose? The root cause lies with the old man."

The mess hall fell silent at once. Although everyone harbored resentment toward the old man, Du Yuming was the first to say it outright in front of the director.

"After I arrived in Xuzhou, I originally drafted a plan to withdraw to Bengbu and concentrate forces," Du Yuming said calmly, each word clear. "But the old man sent seven consecutive handwritten telegrams, forcing me to change the plan and go relieve Huang Wei's Corps—at that time the Red Army had already set a pocket formation, so rescuing would be walking into a net! I sent telegrams three or five times to explain, yet the old man would not listen and insisted on a 'inside‑outside encirclement.'"

He paused, then continued: "After the troops were surrounded at City Gate Village, all food and ammunition depended on air drops. But the old man's air force could not meet the demand; the soldiers were starving to the point of eating bark and killing their warhorses, and morale sank terribly. The airdropped supplies often fell into Red Army positions—once twenty crates of canned food were dropped, nineteen drifted into the Red Army's side! How could we fight this battle?"

Several officers from Du Yuming's former group nodded repeatedly, clearly sharing the same experience.

"There is also the faction issue," Du Yuming said, looking at Qiu Qingquan's subordinates. "Qiu Qingquan's 2nd Corps belongs to the Central Army's direct line, Li Mi's 13th Corps has a Yunnan Army background, Sun Yuanliang's 16th Corps is Sichuan Army—each corps has its own faction and they do not cooperate. They held back during the rescue, and each fled during the breakout. Sun Yuanliang's corps broke out alone and was completely annihilated. Although I am Deputy Commander-in-Chief, I could not command them at all!"

This remark provoked dissatisfaction among Li Mi's subordinates. A former Division Commander of the 13th Corps stood up: "Officer Du, the statement cannot be taken that way! Your breakout plan was too hasty, lacking a unified time and route, and you also had us cover Qiu Qingquan's corps' retreat—resulting in us becoming the sacrificial victims while they fled!"

"Exactly!" another officer echoed, "The relief of Huang Wei's encirclement was the old man's death‑order, but if Officer Du truly had courage, he should have disobeyed and withdrawn, rather than blindly follow! You yourself also have a problem of indecisive decision‑making!"

Du Yuming gave a wry smile: "Disobey? Do you know the consequences of disobeying? The old man even dared to deal with Bai Chongxi and Li Zongren; I, a Huangpu student, dare to disobey?"

Du Yuming's words were like opening a floodgate; the mess hall erupted into noise at once. Over two hundred people, belonging to different factions and units, began to settle old scores.

Wang Yaowu said slowly, "If you ask me, the fundamental reason for our failure is poor intelligence work. I defended Jinan, the Liberation Army had already reached the city walls, yet headquarters told me 'reinforcements are arriving soon.' So where are the reinforcements?"

A staff officer from the former Kuomintang Ministry of Defense's Second Department spoke up: "Commander Wang, the statement cannot be made like that. Our intelligence system also works hard, but the Liberation Army's secrecy is well‑done, and they have a strong popular base; the common people all help them. Of the ten spies we sent out, eight never returned, and those who did brought inaccurate intelligence— the Liberation Army even deliberately spreads false news!"

"Then can't you analyze?" someone retorted.

"Analyze? How to analyze? The old man only hears what he wants! We said the Liberation Army might be gathering in Xuzhou, the old man said 'Impossible, they just finished fighting in Jinan and need to rest.' We said Huang Wei's Corps' route was dangerous, the principal said 'Revolutionary soldiers fear no sacrifice'! How are we supposed to play this?"

A department chief of the former Kuomintang Joint Logistics Commander raised his hand: "Let me talk about logistics. In the Huaihai Campaign, we nominally had 800,000 troops, but how many were actually under‑strength and receiving only empty rations? About a third, I guess. Moreover, military food was repeatedly deducted. Of the supplies shipped to the front, only about half actually reached the soldiers' mouths!"

"Exactly, exactly!" several quartermasters echoed, "Soldiers fighting on empty stomachs—it's no wonder they can't win!"

"And equipment," a tank corps commander said, "American‑made tanks are fine, but fuel supply can't keep up! Halfway through the battle they run out of fuel and become iron coffins! The Liberation Army captured tanks can still be used because they have the masses to transport oil!"

A Major General from the former Kuomintang political work system sighed: "If we talk about failure, political work is the big issue. We shouted 'Bandit Suppression' every day—did the common people hear it? The Liberation Army shouted 'Strike the landlords and divide the land,' and the people ran after them. The Liberation Army recruited, and the people queued to sign up. Public sentiment is clearly on the other side."

Someone whispered, "Isn't it because we ourselves caused it? The requisition of the big staff's five sons, soaring prices, the people can't make a living…"

"Shh—lower your voice!"

The arguing went on for almost an hour, then the noise gradually faded. Everyone said they were tired and realized the shouting was meaningless— the battle had already been lost, the people were already locked up, what could more shouting achieve?

At this moment, Li Yuxuan rose slowly.

The mess hall fell completely silent. Everyone looked at the old senior officer, the old instructor.

Li Yuxuan scanned the crowd, his gaze sweeping over Huang Wei, Du Yuming, Wang Yaowu, Song Xilian… each face in turn. He stared for a long time, long enough that some people lowered their heads, unwilling to meet his eyes.

"Is everyone done speaking?" Li Yuxuan asked, his voice low but each word striking the heart.

No one answered.

"I've listened for a while and understood one thing," Li Yuxuan said, "Huang Baitao's death—blame Liu Zhi's poor command, blame Qiu Qingquan's ineffective rescue, blame the 44th Army for lagging, blame the old man for changing orders morning and evening—but not blame Huang Baitao himself."

The officer on Huang Wei's side lowered his head.

"The Huang Wei Corps was encircled; blame the old man for a poor route choice, blame Liao Yunzhou's uprising, blame the subordinates for not obeying orders—but not blame Huang Wei himself."

Du Yuming gave a wry smile.

"The Du Yuming group collapsed; blame the old man for remote command, blame the air force's inaccurate airdrops, blame factional infighting—of course, also blame Du Yuming himself for some responsibility, but the main issues lie with others."

Li Yuxuan paused, inhaled deeply: "With the Kuomintang's several‑million‑strong army, after a few years of retreat to Taiwan, so many generals died or were captured—doesn't a single person bear the main responsibility? Is it all others' fault? Bad luck? The Red Army just got lucky?"

The mess hall was dead silent. The whir of the ceiling fan sounded especially harsh.

"I was just thinking," Li Yuxuan continued, "maybe it's because I, as a teacher, didn't teach well, that you lost the battle. Now that I've heard you, I understand—"

He raised his voice, each word deliberate: "It's not that I taught poorly! It's that you never learned! I taught you 'A soldier's duty is to protect the nation,' what did you learn? Grabbing money! Power struggles! Infighting! I taught you 'Love the troops as your own children,' what did you learn? Cutting soldiers' pay! Recruiting youths by force! I taught you 'Tactics must be flexible,' what did you learn? Blindly copying doctrine! Blind obedience!"

With each sentence his voice rose a notch. By the end, he was almost shouting.

"At this rate, if the Kuomintang doesn't fall, it's downright unreasonable!"

Those words landed like a heavy hammer on everyone's hearts. Many officers lowered their heads, some with reddened eyes.

Li Yuxuan looked at these once‑storm‑ruling, now dust‑covered students and subordinates, and a deep sorrow rose in his heart. He shook his head, his voice lowering: "History has turned a new page. Soldiers of the Old Era must either adapt to the New Era or be abandoned by it—think carefully."