Chapter 59: The Entire Nation Goes Wild! The Headmaster's Micro-Management!

Mountain City.

"Extra! Extra! Staggering and glorious victory!"

"In the Zhicheng Campaign, the Eighth Route Army completely annihilated over forty-five thousand elite Japanese aggressors!"

"The gateway to Shanxi province is wide open! Vast expanses of national territory have been recovered!"

"An Eighth Route Army pilot engaged in single-handed aerial combat, shooting down twenty Japanese bombers!"

"The glory of the nation! The most unprecedented victory since the War of Resistance!"

……

Once verified with certainty, the propaganda machinery of the rear base swung into operation at maximum speed!

The sharpest pens挥毫泼墨 (flourished their brushes), churning out passionate and inspiring reports of victory that, like a prairie fire, rapidly swept across the entire nation!

For a time, the whole country rejoiced!

In streets and alleys, people ran to tell each other the news, their eyes brimming with grateful tears.

Of course, with one exception.

。。。

The Huangshan Official Residence.

The Generalissimo sat expressionlessly behind his desk, holding the victory report from the north, every word of which struck like thunder.

A throng of Party and State dignitaries stood in tense silence before the desk, each holding their breath, eyes fixed downward, not daring to let out a loud gasp.

Director Dai, in particular, pressed himself as far as possible into the shadows at the very rear of the crowd, wishing he could simply vanish.

At this moment, his mood was that of being roasted over an open fire.

Initially, he had been full of confidence, believing he could bring that merchant named Lin in for questioning. Yet after a period of investigation, he had come up completely empty-handed.

That fellow surnamed Lin seemed to have popped right out of a crack in a stone.

What alarmed Director Dai even more was how on earth the other party had transported massive quantities of supplies into the Taihang and Taiyue mountainous regions.

He had dispatched men to search and inquire throughout the Taihang area, only to find absolutely nothing!

And now they had even produced airplanes!

This bewildering and incredible capability sent a succession of chills down Director Dai's spine.

Was someone on the side of the Japanese devils lending a hand, or was someone on their own side assisting?

"Heh..."

A low, ambiguous chuckle shattered the dead silence.

The Generalissimo lifted his eyelids, his gaze slowly sweeping across the crowd, the corners of his mouth twitching into an elusive curve—whether in irony or self-mockery, it was impossible to tell.

"Gentlemen, would you like to hear how things are phrased in the north?"

Without waiting for any response, the Generalissimo tossed the newspaper directly to General He, who stood closest:

"Read it! Without missing a single character, read it aloud!"

"Let everyone listen carefully! Hear just how formidable our 'friendly forces' in the north are!"

"Yes!"

With an extremely unsightly expression on his face, General He picked up the newspaper from the floor and began to read with utmost reluctance:

"Today, our anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians of Taihang and Taiyue, armed with an iron-clad will and fearless sacrifice, have achieved an unprecedented and magnificent victory in Zhicheng of Shanxi province and the surrounding battlefields!

Hereby proclaimed to the entire nation, to comfort our fallen heroes, to boost military morale, and to strike terror into the hearts of the enemy!

Our dauntless and heroic sons of the Eighth Route Army, with the staunch and all-out support of the broad masses of the people, laid an inescapable net on the outskirts of Zhicheng, engaging in a life-or-death decisive battle with the arrogant and despotic main force of the Japanese 36th Division!

In this battle, our forces killed, wounded, and captured a total of over forty-five thousand enemy officers and men, ranging from the Japanese Lieutenant General Division Commander downward!

The enemy's so-called 'Steel Division,' the 36th Division, has been thoroughly, cleanly, and completely annihilated by us!

This marks the greatest feat since the beginning of the War of Resistance wherein our forces have wiped out an entire organic division of the Japanese aggressors in a single campaign!

Just as our military and civilians were celebrating our triumph on the ground, the Japanese chieftain Toshio Tada, burning with rage and humiliation, gathered twenty Type 97 heavy bombers in a vain attempt to carry out an extermination bombing against the military and civilians of Zhicheng!

Yet, heaven protects China! Our loyal ally and patriotic visionary, Mr. Lin, at the critical juncture of peril, generously donated new-style jet fighters which have already been secretly delivered!

At this hair-trigger moment, our aviation prodigy, Comrade Wang Zhihang, rose to the occasion under orders, taking off solo to engage an enemy twenty times his superior!

With his superb skills and fearless courage, Comrade Wang Zhihang shot down all twenty incoming enemy aircraft without a single one escaping!

The formidable enemy on the ground has been crushed, and the threat from the skies completely swept away!

The various units of our Eighth Route Army, their morale surging like a rainbow, seized the momentum of the great victory to sweep through the remnants of the enemy and puppet army strongholds entrenched in the Taihang and Taiyue mountains like autumn leaves driven by the wind, launching a comprehensive all-out offensive!

Zhicheng is liberated! Tun County is liberated! Xiang County is liberated! Li County is liberated……

This battle proves that the Japanese aggressors are already at the end of their tether!

Their so-called 'invincible' myth has utterly collapsed before our heroic military and civilians!

The mighty creative power of the Chinese nation in the War of Resistance is erupting like a volcano, unstoppable!

The dawn of victory is clearly visible!

Compatriots, let us polish our weapons and advance on the crest of victory!

Final victory shall undoubtedly belong to the great Chinese nation!

Long live... the Chinese nation!"

Finishing the final two characters, General He powerlessly dropped his hands.

The room fell into a silence so profound that the dropping of a needle could be heard.

"Crack!"

The Generalissimo slammed his hand fiercely onto the desk.

"Mother's *%@#..."

The wrath that had been building up for so long erupted violently like an active volcano!

For the next half-hour or so, the study echoed with the Generalissimo's furious cursing, laced with his heavy accent.

"Incompetence in bandit suppression," "utter failure in intelligence," "sitting idly by while others grow strong"...

The faces of the high-ranking officials turned ashen, cold sweat pouring down their backs as they buried their heads even lower.

Not until his throat was parched from shouting did the Generalissimo manage to recover a shred of his composure.

"Alright, all of you out. Go back and reflect deeply!" The Generalissimo waved his hand, as if shooing away a swarm of flies.

As if granted a reprieve from death, the men bowed and hastily retreated, their footsteps hurried and panicked.

"He, Gu, Dai... the three of you stay."

The bodies of the three named individuals stiffened. They had no choice but to halt their steps and continue bearing the brunt of the Generalissimo's fury.

Leaning on his cane, the Generalissimo stood up and slowly paced over to the window. "Speak, all of you. What are your thoughts?"

General He took a deep breath and stepped forward. "Generalissimo, our top priority right now is to find out how the Eighth Route Army managed to pull this off! Such a massive victory must have something peculiar behind it!"

General Gu chimed in, "Indeed. To my knowledge, the total number of Eighth Route troops currently entrenched in the Taihang and Taiyue regions is no more than twenty to thirty thousand. It is utterly impossible for them to devour a Class-A division!"

The Generalissimo nodded; this was precisely what truly troubled him.

His opponent had scored such a resounding victory, yet he had not received even the slightest advance notice, nor was he clear on the actual process.

At this mention, Director Dai began to break out in cold sweat.

He had no choice but to bite the bullet and speak up. "Generalissimo, this subordinate previously received some intelligence indicating that the merchant named Lin delivered a weapon of immense destructive power to the Eighth Route Army not long ago. I am still investigating the specific details.

However, this subordinate dares to venture a guess that this unprecedented victory by the Eighth Route Army is very likely due to this weapon!"

The Generalissimo turned his head to look at Director Dai. "Again with that fellow surnamed Lin?"

Director Dai nodded. "Precisely. Roughly ten days ago, that fellow surnamed Lin delivered another large batch of weapons and equipment to the Eighth Route Army. However, this time the Eighth Route kept their mouths tightly sealed; my men are still investigating exactly what weapons were involved."

However, the Generalissimo's focus was not on the weapons; he cared more about the supply lines.

"A large batch of weapons and equipment? Where did he get them, and how were they smuggled in?"

Director Dai shook his head. "As for that... this subordinate is still investigating!"

The Generalissimo's mind began to spin frantically.

With the Japanese devils' frenzied sweeping operations on the outside, and his own... on the inside...

How could anyone possibly smuggle massive quantities of supplies in secretly?

Unless... someone was cooperating with them!

At this thought, the Generalissimo looked at General He. "Old He, you make a trip there. Relieve Old Wei and take his place as Acting Commander of the First War Zone!"

"Yes!" General He snapped to attention and saluted.

The Generalissimo then looked at Director Dai. "Investigate all details of this battle as quickly as possible!"

"Yes!" Director Dai snapped to attention and saluted.

"And that fellow surnamed Lin—make sure you bring him back to me!"

With that, the Generalissimo turned his back and looked out the window.

"If you cannot bring him back, dispose of him!"