Chapter 28: A Carefully Woven Dream-Guerra de Resistência: Começo com uma divisão, enfrentando cem mil invasores japoneses!(Palavras que silenciam o mundo.)

Before long, a local journalist from Jin Province, clutching a camera, stood up abruptly and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Chairman Yan, what do you mean by that? We are all completely confused by your words!"

"Are you not planning to abandon the elders and fellow countrymen of Jin and hide yourself on the south bank of the Yellow River?"

The stone cast into the water created a thousand ripples. Many locals hidden among the reporters also shouted in righteous indignation:

"Exactly! Exactly!"

"Go be a coward!"

"You are a disgrace to the people of Jin!"

Faced with the overwhelming barrage of scolding and accusations, Chairman Yan appeared surprisingly calm; there was not a trace of anger on his face. Only when the noise at the scene subsided slightly did he let out a long sigh and slowly begin to explain.

"Alas, you all do not know the truth."

"The reason why our Jin-Sui Army was defeated so quickly is that there are traitors in our ranks."

"Therefore, in order to ferret out these traitors and deceive the Japanese devils, I convened the previous operational meeting."

"But..."

Seeing this, Yang Aiyuan hurriedly stepped forward and shouted indignantly, "Elders and fellow countrymen of Jin, compatriots from all over the country, our Commander-in-Chief has unspeakable hidden difficulties!"

"Xingru, Xingru, say no more, say no more," Yan said, shaking his head helplessly. "The matter has been botched; there is nothing to say!"

Yang Aiyuan, appearing highly agitated, continued to shout loudly, "No, Commander! Things have reached this point; if we don't reveal the truth now, our Jin-Sui Army is finished!"

After saying this, he turned sharply to face the crowd below and explained, "Everyone, think about it. Our Jin-Sui Army has men and guns aplenty! We have the support of our fellow countrymen in Jin and our compatriots from across the nation. Even if the Japanese are powerful, we shouldn't have been defeated so quickly, right?"

Hearing this, many nodded slightly in agreement. Before the conflict between the Jin-Sui Army and the Japanese, both the locals of Jin and the people of Daxia from other regions had believed this would be a protracted war. Yet, after only a little over a month, most of Jin Province was on the verge of falling. Who could accept that?

"Alas!" Yang Aiyuan gritted his teeth, his face full of heartbreak. "It is all because there are some pig-like, dog-like traitors hiding within our Jin-Sui Army!"

"It is this group of bastards, who have forgotten their roots and betrayed their country, who have repeatedly leaked our operational plans to the enemy. That is why our Jin-Sui Army and our brother units have suffered such a crushing defeat!"

"Because of this, the Commander-in-Chief has been unable to eat or sleep, and his health has suffered greatly."

"If we don't catch these traitors lurking among us, no matter how perfect or tight our defenses in the three cities of Changye are, it will all be in vain!"

"For this reason, the Commander-in-Chief contacted me specifically to deploy a plan to lure the snake out of its hole."

"Lure the snake out of its hole?" the reporter who had been listening quietly asked at the opportune moment. "Lure the snake out? General Yang, may I ask what exactly this plan is?"

At the mention of this, a smile finally appeared on Yang Aiyuan's face.

"On the surface, the Commander-in-Chief arranged for the main force of our Jin-Sui Army to retreat south during the operational meeting, abandoning the three cities of Changye."

"But in reality, we let the traitors pass this information to the Japanese to deceive them, making them believe that our Jin-Sui Army was truly retreating without a fight."

"To further convince the Japanese that we were truly retreating, the Commander-in-Chief risked being labeled a traitor by having the unsuspecting Chen Shikang deliver the retreat news and the defense maps of the three cities to the enemy."

"At the same time, the 61st and 83rd Armies did indeed retreat south across the Yellow River."

"With these three pieces of evidence, no matter how cunning the Japanese are, they will absolutely believe that our Jin-Sui Army is retreating south!"

Someone asked in confusion, "But if the defenses are known to the Japanese, and you no longer have the 61st and 83rd Armies, what will you use to defend Changye?"

"Who said we were going to defend it?" Yang Aiyuan shook his head dismissively, then clenched his fists and shouted excitedly, "We are going to fight our way back to Taiyuan!"

Suddenly, everyone in the audience was stunned. Fight back to Taiyuan? What a joke—today is not April Fools' Day! If you're going to brag, at least make it somewhat believable!

Observing their skeptical expressions, Yang Aiyuan nodded and continued, "Although there are 100,000 Japanese soldiers invading Southern Jin this time, their main force moved south after the fall of Taiyuan."

"The Japanese troops left behind to continue the invasion of Southern Jin are, aside from a few elite units, all second-line troops. Their main task is to maintain order in the occupied areas. In terms of combat effectiveness, they are far inferior to the main Japanese force that attacked Taiyuan."

"And that fool, Terauchi Juichi, greedy for merit, wanted to defeat our Jin-Sui Army in one stroke. He gathered most of the Japanese soldiers in Jin Province, Taiyuan being no exception!"

"This gave us our opportunity!"

Before the crowd could grasp the full picture, Yang Aiyuan said excitedly, "Terauchi Juichi gathered his main force at the front, so his rear must be empty! Crossing the Yellow River to the south is a retreat, but heading north is an advance!"

At this, someone finally understood Yang Aiyuan's meaning.

"I understand!" a reporter from Shu exclaimed excitedly. "The Japanese think the main force of the Jin-Sui Army has retreated south of the Yellow River, but in reality, you intend to use that misinformation to cross the Yellow River from elsewhere and head north. You're going to launch a surprise attack on Taiyuan and catch them off guard!"

"Exactly!" Yang Aiyuan nodded emphatically. "With their rear on fire, the Japanese will surely fall into chaos and rush back to save Taiyuan. At that point, our army will attack from the front and rear, and the Japanese defeat will be certain!"

Yang Aiyuan's narrative sounded wonderful, but to those who understood military affairs, it was full of holes. If nothing else, how to return to the north bank silently from other Yellow River crossings was an almost impossible goal. The Japanese were not blind, and they held absolute air superiority; how could they fail to detect the movement of the Jin-Sui Army?

However, the people present were just amateur reporters and onlookers. This beautiful fantasy was more than enough to fool them. As for any questioning of the plan's feasibility once the news spread, the die would already be cast. The public would not care about the opinions of a few skeptics.

"Alas, what a pity!" Yang Aiyuan sighed helplessly. He then shouted with a touch of rage, "But now! Our meticulously prepared operational plan has been ruined by that bastard, Liu Jianguo!"