The Republic-Era Senior General

At twenty, Xiao Fei led the household retainers through the villages of Hunan. Every young, strapping lad who caught his eye was offered ten silver dollars as a signing bonus to join him on a life of excitement and danger. Hunan was full of mountains and rivers, so naturally, bandits who robbed and pillaged were everywhere. Without exception, these men became his real-world training ground. They learned to fight amid the flames of war and drew lessons from every battle. With iron will, courage, and strict discipline, they opened factories and established schools, showing every sign of a revival.

One day, a letter arrived. After careful thought, he bade farewell to his parents and headed south, arriving at the later-renowned Whampoa Military Academy. There, amid the hostility and obstruction of a host of warlords, he threw his support behind the revolutionary school. He himself was notorious for being strict to the point of being a bastard.

First the Northern Expedition, then campaigns in the south, the encirclement and suppression of the Red Army, fierce battles in Shanghai, brutal fighting along the defense lines, a breakout from the siege of Nanjing, a northward advance to Xuzhou, a retreat to the Dabie Mountains, and resistance every step of the way to Wuhan and Nanchang. Then he went abroad with the 200th Division to fight the Japanese. He fought fiercely at Tongu and at Yenangyaung, leading the Expeditionary Force in its retreat to India...