Chapter Thirty-Seven: He Is Ye the Tiger!

"Elder Wu?"

The elderly man who had just claimed that Sun Weiguo and Zhang Qun were making a fuss out of nothing spoke up in surprise, "Why have you come here in person?"

Wu Shanhe.

One of the few remaining Generals of the Dragon Kingdom.

Although Wu Shanhe no longer held any active military posts and was effectively in retirement, no one dared to disregard his opinions.

"It’s all because of these two young pups."

Wu Shanhe raised his hand and pointed at Sun Weiguo and Zhang Qun. "These two called me up, insisting that I come, claiming that if I didn't, I would surely regret it."

Sun Weiguo and Zhang Qun looked embarrassed.

They were already in their seventies or eighties, yet in Wu Shanhe's words, they were referred to as "young pups."

In reality, it was not just Sun Weiguo and Zhang Qun. Everyone present, in the presence of Wu Shanhe, was nothing more than a "greenhorn."

"Little Zhang, what exactly is going on? To drag this old bag of bones out here."

Wu Shanhe's gaze fell upon Zhang Qun.

"It’s for the commissioning of a veteran of the War of Resistance," Zhang Qun said with a smile. "You tell me, with such a momentous occasion, could you really not come?"

"The commissioning of a War of Resistance veteran?"

A look of confusion appeared on Wu Shanhe's face.

The commissioning of a veteran certainly didn't require him to step in. However, he understood in his heart that if it were truly that simple, Sun Weiguo and Zhang Qun would not have called him personally.

"Fine, since I'm already here, let's take a look," Wu Shanhe said, stepping forward. "I'll consider it a bit of entertainment."

The elderly man with a cane who had been sitting in the main seat immediately stood up and offered his chair to Wu Shanhe. Wu Shanhe did not decline and sat down.

The elderly man with the cane sat to Wu Shanhe's left and looked at him, "Elder Wu, shall I begin?"

"Yes, don't mind me," Wu Shanhe waved his hand, his eyes already drawn to the file lying on the table before him.

At a single glance, Wu Shanhe’s body trembled.

For in the name column of the file, the three characters "Ye Hengzhi" were written!

Wu Shanhe was stunned, a thought crossing his mind that even he found hard to believe.

***

He reached out his hand and grabbed the file.

Seeing that Wu Shanhe wanted to examine the file, the man with the cane did not stop him, but instead said to the others, "Everyone, before you arrived here, I had already finished reading the file of this War of Resistance veteran."

"As for the materials, they are being copied as we speak and will be in your hands shortly. Before that, I can share my thoughts with you."

"It is quite remarkable. He participated in no fewer than a thousand battles, both large and small. Although the file contains records of reprimands and demotions, according to Old Sun and Old Zhang, those negative records have actually been cleared, so they are not included in the final assessment."

"Furthermore, Zhao Ming of the Eastern Theater Command suggested commissioning this veteran as a Senior Colonel. I personally feel that is unfair; a Major General rank would perhaps be more fitting for all that this veteran has achieved."

"Major General? How could that be enough?" Sun Weiguo interjected without hesitation. "I am a Lieutenant General, and he... how could he only be a Major General!"

"Old Sun!" The man with the cane frowned, looking at Sun Weiguo. "It was already an exception that you and Old Zhang were allowed in to observe; do not continue to violate discipline!"

The others nodded slowly.

"Major General is fine."

"In '55, a large number of officers were commissioned. Since this person was not commissioned then, he must not have had any major achievements."

"However, looking at the reactions of Old Sun and Old Zhang, they must know this veteran. Perhaps a Lieutenant General rank would be acceptable."

"Is that necessary? Let's stick with Major General."

The group began to discuss.

Just then, a voice, filled with absolute conviction, rang out.

"General, or perhaps... Marshal."

The discussion in the conference room ceased instantly. Every gaze turned toward Wu Shanhe.

General! Or even... Marshal?!

Since the founding of the Dragon Kingdom, there had been very few Marshals. What merit did this veteran have to warrant Wu Shanhe suggesting the rank of Marshal?

It was only at this moment that the others noticed Wu Shanhe’s eyes were filled with tears.

Wu Shanhe ignored their stares and looked at Sun Weiguo and Zhang Qun. "You two little brats, you didn't tell me about something this big!"

"Political Commissar, we just wanted to give you a surprise," Zhang Qun said with a radiant smile. "Old Sun did the same to me back in the day."

Let’s re-introduce him.

Wu Shanhe.

The Political Commissar of the Independent Regiment once led by Ye Yuan, who later, due to his many meritorious services, was commissioned as a General after the founding of the nation.

The others looked at the three of them, completely bewildered, having no idea what kind of riddle they were speaking in.

***

Wu Shanhe, however, had a smile in his eyes as he swept his gaze over the others. "At your age, how can you still be so careless? Even if you couldn't read the contents of the file, couldn't you have looked at the name on it?"

The men mentioned by Wu Shanhe looked embarrassed. They stood up and went to his side, peering at the file.

"Ye Hengzhi..."

"Hiss! Ye Hengzhi—that is the name of our old Regimental Commander!"

"My God! The old commander is still alive?!"

The faces of the men were filled with disbelief. They never expected that the person nominated for commissioning was their old commander, Ye Hengzhi!

The others remained bewildered.

One of them paused, then muttered quietly, "Ye Hengzhi... that sounds like the person whom 'Number One' used to call 'The Tiger'!"

The others realized it too.

They had all heard the name Ye Yuan at some point. However, the Independent Regiment led by Ye Yuan was a special force, and thus rarely coordinated with other friendly units.

"It's him!"

"Based on merit, he deserves the rank of General!"

"Forget a General—if those battle records of his are all true, even a Marshal's rank would not be excessive!"

"Is he still alive? I haven't heard anything about him since 1949."

The crowd buzzed with discussion, talking about a man who had long since become a legend.

"Political Commissar, how about that? I told you that you would regret it if you didn't come," Sun Weiguo said, smiling at Wu Shanhe.

"You little brat, keeping it from me all this time. And I even secretly gave you my potatoes back then," Wu Shanhe joked, feigning anger.

Sun Weiguo just chuckled, saying nothing.

"Ye... he is Ye the Tiger!"

The man with the cane finally realized it, too. No wonder the name had felt so familiar when he first saw it.

If it was Ye the Tiger...

Then there was no problem at all.