Podcasts about Fortification

Last time we spoke about the battle of Shanggao. From late March to early April 1940, Japanese forces attacked Shanggao in Jiangxi with a multi‑pronged offensive. Chinese commanders used elastic defense and coordinated counter-moves, trading space for time through layered positions until the Japanese advanced into prepared strongpoints. As the 34th Division moved toward the town, assaults repeatedly hit ridges and bridge lines held by the 74th Corps. Heavy air strikes caused chaos, but timely flank redeployments prevented a decisive breakthrough. During the crisis around March 21–24, Chinese units maneuvered an encirclement and executed a controlled breakout at the critical moment. After intense fighting and bombing, the Japanese were routed and fell back to their original positions. The wider war did not change, yet Shanggao proved that disciplined Chinese planning could reverse Japanese offensives against superior initiative and numbers.   #207 Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. By the spring of 1941, the War of Resistance against Japan had been grinding for nearly four years, and the map of China looked increasingly like a wound. Japan controlled the coastal cities, the major river valleys, and most of the productive lowland plains of the north and east. The Nationalist government had retreated far inland to Chongqing, governing a rump state of mountainous hinterland, foreign sympathies, and diminishing resources. The war had long since ceased to look like a conventional conflict between organized fronts and had settled into something grimmer and more ambiguous — a slow war of attrition fought in the mud and rocks of the Chinese interior, punctuated by Japanese offensives designed not to end the war but to compress it, to squeeze the Nationalists tighter with each season until surrender became a rational calculation rather than a humiliation. Japan had tried other methods first. In the late 1930s, Tokyo made serious overtures to Chiang Kai-shek's government, proposing a negotiated settlement that would see China aligned with Japan and the puppet Wang Jingwei government elevated as the vehicle for that arrangement. Chiang refused. He had gambled, and would continue to gamble, that the war in Europe would eventually draw in the Western powers, that American patience with Japanese aggression would run out, and that time was ultimately on China's side. The strategy required suffering in the present to buy survival in the future. Germany's invasion of Poland in September 1939 and the subsequent expansion of war across Europe only reinforced Japan's desire to accelerate its operations in China before the international situation made them impossible. By 1940, Japan signaled it intended to resolve the "China Incident" — the bureaucratic euphemism it used to avoid officially acknowledging that it was fighting a full-scale war — once and for all. The question was where. The front was hundreds of miles long. The Japanese army in China was stretched thin despite its nominal strength. Spectacular victories in the lowlands had failed to produce the political capitulation Tokyo expected. And in the mountains of Shanxi Province, a particular irritant had been festering for three years — one that the Japanese could neither ignore nor seem to dislodge. The Zhongtiao Mountains rise along the southern edge of Shanxi Province, running roughly east to west for some two hundred miles, forming a natural wall between the loess plateaus of Shanxi and the plains of northern Henan below. The range is not dramatic by Chinese standards — it is not the soaring, cloud-piercing landscape of Sichuan or Yunnan — but it is rugged, deeply ridged, and extraordinarily difficult to move through quickly. For a defending army with knowledge of the terrain, the Zhongtiao range was close to ideal. For an attacker, especially one dependent on mechanized firepower and coordinated logistics, it was a nightmare. Chinese forces had occupied the Zhongtiao Mountains since 1938, following the fall of Taiyuan and the retreat of Nationalist forces from the broader Shanxi campaign. At a moment when much of northern China was collapsing around them, the garrison there dug in and refused to move. Over the following three years, the Japanese Army mounted thirteen separate offensives against the Zhongtiao position. All thirteen failed. The mountains held. Chinese soldiers would later call it the "Eastern Maginot Line," a nickname that was simultaneously a boast and, in retrospect, a warning — the original Maginot Line, after all, had also been considered impregnable until the enemy simply went around it. But the strategic importance of Zhongtiao went beyond prestige. The mountains commanded the northern approach to the Yellow River crossings — the great geographic boundary that separated Japanese-controlled northern China from the Nationalist-held central and western regions. From their positions in the mountains, Chinese troops could threaten Japanese supply lines, protect their own river logistics, and maintain at least a symbolic presence north of the Yellow River. As long as the Zhongtiao garrison held, Japan could not claim complete control of northern China. It was also a potential launching point for a Chinese counteroffensive, should one ever become possible. The Japanese understood this perfectly. By 1940, eliminating the Zhongtiao position had become not merely desirable but strategically necessary. The First War Zone command responsible for the Zhongtiao garrison was, at least on paper, an imposing force. Between 170,000 and 180,000 men were deployed across the mountain range and its approaches, drawn from multiple armies and organized into several large groupings. The 5th Army Group under Zeng Wanzhong held the central area. The 14th Army Group under Liu Maoen operated in the eastern sector. The 4th Army Group, known as the "Iron Pillar of Zhongtiao" for its tenacious defense of the position over three years, was stationed as the backbone of the force. Individual armies were spread across specific nodes: Pei Changhui's 9th Army at Jiyuan in northern Henan; Zhao Shiling's 43rd Army at Yuanqu at the southernmost tip of Shanxi; Tang Huaiyuan's 3rd Army and Kong Lingxun's 80th Army in the Wenxi and Xiaxian areas; Wu Shimin's 98th Army at Dongfeng Town; Wu Tinglin's 15th Army near Gaoping. The man responsible for holding all of this together was Wei Lihuang, a gifted commander and one of Chiang Kai-shek's most capable generals. Wei had organized the Zhongtiao defense from the beginning, and his strategic instincts were widely respected. He was, by most accounts, the indispensable figure in the garrison's survival. The problem was that Wei had made powerful enemies. His refusal to participate in anti-Communist friction operations — at a time when the Nationalist government was increasingly focused on neutralizing the Communists even at the cost of Japanese resistance — had alienated him from a circle of powerful rivals, including the influential Hu Zongnan. Outmaneuvered at court, Wei was summoned to Chongqing in early 1941 and, under the pretext of strategic consultations, was effectively detained at Mount Emei. He never returned to his command in the Zhongtiao Mountains. The army he had built was left without its architect. The garrison that remained was compromised far beyond its missing commander, however. Three years of static defense had created conditions that corroded military discipline in predictable and insidious ways. Supply lines were unreliable, rations were short, and the soldiers garrisoning remote mountain positions had turned, by necessity and then by habit, to the local economy to sustain themselves. A bustling illicit trade in grain and opium had sprung up across the mountain zone, with Chinese troops selling what they could and buying what they needed from merchants who operated equally comfortably on both sides of the Japanese-Chinese frontier. This was not merely a logistical failure. It meant that Japanese intelligence had abundant commercial cover to infiltrate the garrison area, that security was a fiction, and that the defensive posture of the entire force had quietly shifted from warlike readiness to something closer to bureaucratic occupation. The Japanese had not missed any of this. For months before the offensive, Japanese intelligence agents had worked their way into the garrison's supply networks, trading relationships, and eventually its command structure itself. Japanese special forces had identified key headquarters positions. Informants had mapped the positions of individual units, traced the routes between them, and assessed the readiness of the men holding them. By the spring of 1941, Japanese planners believed, with considerable justification, that they could paralyze the entire Chinese command system within an hour of opening fire. This was not boasting. It was reconnaissance. Back in Chongqing, the intelligence picture was worse than unclear — it was actively distorted. The Nationalist intelligence apparatus issued warnings about Japanese troop movements near the Zhongtiao perimeter in April 1941, but the warnings were partial, their significance disputed, and the political will to act on them absent. A series of conferences were convened at Luoyang, the regional headquarters. Fortification orders were issued. Additional supplies were promised. Almost none of the follow-through actually materialized. The garrison's most powerful formation, the 4th Army Group, had already been transferred away from the area. Its absence left a hole in the defensive line that no amount of paper orders could fill. On the Japanese side, the operation that would eliminate the Zhongtiao garrison was carefully and systematically prepared. It was codenamed the "Central Plains Campaign" — a name that reflected its true ambition, which was not merely to take a mountain range but to reshape the strategic geography of the entire region. The operation was assigned to the North China Area Army under Lieutenant General Tada Shun, an experienced commander who had studied the Zhongtiao problem for years and had a clear understanding of why previous offensives had failed. The core of the attacking force was seven divisions: the 33rd, 35th, 36th, 37th, 41st, and 21st Divisions, along with several independent mixed brigades, puppet Chinese formations, cavalry, and a substantial artillery and air component. The 3rd Air Group, operating from airfields at Yuncheng and Xinxiang, would provide tactical air support throughout the operation. In total, the frontline assault force numbered approximately 100,000 men. This was not a repeat of the previous thirteen offensives, in which the Japanese had probed and pressed at the mountains frontally. This was a comprehensive annihilation plan. Tada's design exploited the geographic shape of the Zhongtiao position itself. The Chinese garrison occupied a roughly crescent-shaped area, with its back to the Yellow River and its front facing north and east into Japanese-held territory. The obvious previous approach — attacking from the north — had failed repeatedly because the terrain favored the defenders. Tada's solution was to attack from three directions simultaneously, with the town of Yuanqu on the Yellow River as the primary objective. Yuanqu was the hinge of the entire Chinese position: it controlled the main river crossings, served as the central supply point for the garrison, and sat at the narrowest point between the mountains and the water. If Yuanqu fell, the Chinese would be cut off from their supply line and divided into two separate pockets. Then each pocket could be destroyed at leisure. To execute this, Tada organized his forces into three attack groups. The eastern group, built around Lieutenant General Harada Yukichi's 35th Division with elements of the 21st Division and the 4th Independent Cavalry Brigade — totaling roughly 25,000 men with armor, artillery, and supporting puppet forces — would drive westward along the Daoqing Road, pushing through Jiyuan and Mengxian toward the eastern flank of the Chinese position. The northeastern group, under Lieutenant General Shozo Sakurai commanding the 33rd Division and an Independent Mixed Brigade, would descend from Yangcheng southward, striking at the middle of the Chinese line. The western and northwestern group, the largest, comprising the 36th, 37th, and 41st Divisions along with the 9th and 16th Independent Mixed Brigades, would push southward from multiple points between Sangchi and Zhangdian, driving straight for Yuanqu. The final element of the plan was the most audacious. Japanese special forces and paratroopers were to land behind Chinese lines on the opening night of the offensive, targeting the Chinese headquarters and communications nodes. If the Chinese command could be blinded and paralyzed in the first hours of the battle, resistance would collapse before it could organize. Given the penetration of the garrison by Japanese intelligence, the paratroopers knew precisely where to go. From late April, Japanese forces quietly moved into their assault positions. Supply dumps were stocked. Artillery was registered on Chinese positions. The attack was set for the morning of May 7, 1941. Everything was ready. The battle opened before dawn on May 7, and it opened everywhere at once. On the eastern front, Harada's 35th Division and its attached formations crossed the start line and drove westward in three parallel columns along the Daoqing Road. More than 5,000 infantrymen, 1,000 cavalry, dozens of artillery pieces, over 100 tanks and armored vehicles, and the supporting puppet troops of Zhang Lanfeng and Liu Yanfeng poured into the Chinese-held area around Jiyuan and Mengxian. The assault had an almost mechanical quality — it moved at the pace of its armor and artillery, methodically grinding through whatever lay in its path. On the northeastern front, Sakurai's 33rd Division descended from Yangcheng with more than 10,000 men, striking at Wu Shimin's 98th Army at Dongfeng Town. Wu was one of the more aggressive Chinese commanders in the garrison, and he did not wait to be overwhelmed. He threw his forces into active resistance on multiple axes, contesting each Japanese advance rather than simply absorbing it. In the fighting around Wangcun, his troops achieved one of the campaign's rare Chinese tactical successes, routing approximately 2,000 Japanese attackers and killing more than 700, including Colonel Hamada, a Japanese regimental commander. It was a genuine local victory, but it could not change the larger picture. On the western and northwestern front, the main Japanese force pushed south with its eyes fixed on Yuanqu. The coordinated weight of three divisions and two independent brigades, all moving along converging axes, was designed to be overwhelming. Individually, a Chinese unit might hold a ridge or a pass for a day. Collectively, there was no way to stop what was coming. And that same night, as the Chinese scrambled to respond to attacks on every side, Japanese paratroopers landed near Chinese headquarters positions. They found what intelligence had promised: a command system already in disarray, staffed by officers who had received no coherent orders and had lost communications with most of their subordinate units. The Japanese were not wrong when they predicted they could paralyze the Chinese command within hours. By the morning of May 8, the Chinese First War Zone headquarters had effectively ceased to function as a coordinating body. Individual armies would fight on, but they would fight alone. The second day of the battle brought the decisive blow. On the afternoon of May 8, the 9th Army under Pei Changhui — already reeling from the pressure of the eastern Japanese columns — abandoned the cities of Ji and Meng and fell back westward. The withdrawal opened a path through the Chinese line, and the Japanese exploited it immediately. That evening, with the assistance of paratroopers who had secured key access routes overnight, Japanese forces reached Yuanqu on the Yellow River's northern bank and took it. The fall of Yuanqu changed everything. At a single stroke, the Chinese garrison's supply line from the south bank of the Yellow River was severed. The main crossing points were in Japanese hands. The two halves of the Chinese position — those to the east of Yuanqu and those to the west — were now separated, unable to reinforce one another. The double encirclement that Tada had designed on paper became a physical reality on the ground. The trap had closed. May 9 brought further disaster. Japanese forces captured Wufujian, another significant point in the Chinese rear. And on this day the battle's human cost began to register in the most stark terms possible. Wang Jun, commander of the newly formed 27th Division of Kong Lingxun's 80th Army, was killed in action fighting in the southern Shanxi mountains. Major General Chen Wenqi, deputy commander of the 24th Division, died in fierce combat near Taizhai Village. And Major General Liang Xixian, having retreated with the remnants of his force to Taizhai and found every route blocked — his options reduced to surrender or death — walked into the Yellow River and drowned himself. He was not the last Chinese officer to choose death over capture. The loss of three generals in a single day was not merely tragic. It reflected something about the nature of the battle that the casualty statistics alone could not capture: the Chinese officers who fought most fiercely and refused to abandon their positions were precisely the men dying, while the broader institutional structure that should have supported them had already failed. The garrison was being consumed from its fighting edge inward. Over the following two days, the Japanese methodically tightened the ring. The eastern column, having taken Yuanqu, split into two prongs: one drove eastward, capturing Shaoyuan by the morning of May 12 and linking up with the forces that had been pressing westward from Jiyuan; the other drove westward to Wufujian, joining with the troops already there. The inner encirclement was now complete and continuous. The Yellow River crossings along the entire Chinese front were blocked. There was no route south that wasn't already under fire or in Japanese hands. The fighting in the mountain passes was, by all accounts, ferocious. At Fengmenkou — a critical pass that both sides recognized as a key chokepoint — the Chinese 9th Army committed the main force of its newly formed 24th Division along with elements of the 54th Division, fighting for every ridge and ravine. The Japanese sent reinforcements and simply absorbed the punishment, pressing forward until numbers and artillery told. By May 12, the position at Jianshan had been surrounded as well, and the outer ring of encirclement had sealed. The Chinese armies in the Zhongtiao Mountains were now divided into isolated pockets, each fighting separately, each trying to find a gap in the Japanese lines that simply wasn't there. Beyond the mountains, the Chinese high command in Luoyang was issuing desperate orders. Units that had already been overrun were instructed to hold positions they no longer occupied. Army commanders who had lost contact with their corps were told to coordinate with formations they couldn't reach. The gap between the orders flowing from headquarters and the reality on the ground had become absolute. The First War Zone command was, in practical terms, a spectator to the destruction of its own army. Of all the days in the three-week battle, May 13 was perhaps the most devastating for Chinese morale. At Cunbu, in the western sector, the 3rd Army under Lieutenant General Tang Huaiyuan had been surrounded and cut off. Tang was among the finest officers in the Nationalist army — a career soldier of exceptional ability, admired by subordinates and superiors alike, the kind of commander who by his personal presence could steady troops on the edge of breaking. He had led the 3rd Army in continuous fighting since May 7, conducting a fighting retreat that had preserved more of his force than most. But there was nowhere left to retreat to. Cunbu was surrounded on all sides. The Yellow River was behind him. The Japanese were in front. Tang Huaiyuan sat with his surviving officers and told them that he would not surrender. Then he shot himself. He was fifty-seven years old. On the same day, Cun Xingqi, commander of the 12th Division, was hit eight times during close combat and died on the field. The tally of dead general officers had now reached five in the space of a week. Tang Huaiyuan's death, unlike the others, resonated as something more than a military loss. He was a symbol of what the Zhongtiao defense had once represented: the possibility that courage and skill could compensate for disadvantages in firepower and logistics. His death seemed to say, loudly, that that possibility was exhausted. Chiang Kai-shek, when news reached him in Chongqing, personally ordered that Tang Huaiyuan be posthumously promoted and honored. The gesture was well-intentioned and entirely beside the point. Tang was dead. His army was destroyed. The gesture could not undo either fact. With the double encirclement complete and the primary Chinese resistance broken, the Japanese Army entered the second and less dramatic but equally brutal phase of its operation: the systematic clearance of what remained. Beginning around May 15, Japanese units shifted from the headlong offensive drives of the first week to methodical sweep operations, moving through the mountain terrain in organized formations, pressing into each remaining pocket and eliminating whatever resistance they found. The Yellow River's northern bank was secured by Japanese forces who established posts at the crossing points, blocking retreat and interdicting any resupply attempt. From the western front, sweep operations continued in a series of movements that lasted until well into June, each one driving Chinese remnants further into smaller and more untenable positions. Japanese after-action reports from this period read with the clinical detachment of men doing carpentry rather than fighting: so many positions cleared, so many prisoners taken, so many bodies counted. For the surviving Chinese forces, this period was one of desperate improvisation. With coordinated resistance impossible and every organized position either taken or surrounded, the remnant armies broke up into smaller columns and attempted to find their own routes out of the encirclement. Their experiences varied enormously depending on their starting position, the initiative of their commanders, and fortune. The remnants of the 3rd Army and 15th Army, under Zeng Wanzhong of the 5th Army Group, managed to push through to Yellow River crossings in the west and get their men across to the south bank, eventually reorganizing at Luoyang and Xin'an. The 93rd Army, which had occupied positions in the northeast, shook off the Japanese pursuit with sufficient speed and organization to cross at Yumenkou and escape into Hancheng County in Shaanxi Province, preserving more of its fighting strength than most. Wu Shimin's 98th Army — whose fighting at Wangcun had been one of the campaign's genuine bright spots — was pushed northward into the Taiyue Mountains, conducting guerrilla operations as it went. Wu himself was wounded during the withdrawal and would spend months recovering; he never fully recovered his health, and would die by suicide the following year. The 43rd Army under Zhao Shiling, which had held Yuanqu before its fall, managed a fighting withdrawal toward Fushan and Yicheng in the north. Pei Changhui's 9th Army conducted several days of guerrilla operations along the Daoqing Road before finding crossings at Xiaodukou and Guanyangdukou and getting across the Yellow River to safety. By May 27, the great majority of the Zhongtiao Mountain garrison had either been destroyed, captured, or withdrawn. The mountains that had held for three years were in Japanese hands. The battle, for all practical purposes, was over. The two sides emerged from the battle with starkly different accounts of what had happened, and the gap between those accounts is itself revealing. Japanese operational records claimed that their forces had killed approximately 42,000 Chinese soldiers on the battlefield, taken around 35,000 prisoners, captured enormous quantities of weapons and supplies, and inflicted total Chinese casualties exceeding 100,000. Against this, Japanese headquarters reported their own losses as 673 killed and 2,292 wounded — a ratio so lopsided that it seemed to describe a completely different kind of warfare. Whether or not the precise numbers are accurate, Japanese sources were consistent in portraying the battle as a catastrophic one-sided rout. The Chinese government's official figures, presented to the public and to allied nations, told a very different story. Nationalist records acknowledged approximately 13,751 officers and soldiers killed, wounded, gassed, or missing, while claiming Japanese casualties of around 9,900. These numbers, by the standards of the actual fighting and the geographic scale of the defeat, strained credulity. They were the numbers of a government that needed, for political and morale reasons, to minimize a disaster it could not afford to fully acknowledge. What is beyond dispute is the strategic result. The Zhongtiao garrison, which had held for three years against thirteen prior offensives, had been destroyed in twenty days. The last significant Nationalist Chinese presence north of the Yellow River in the region had been eliminated. Japan now controlled the northern bank of the river for a substantial stretch, had secured its supply lines through southern Shanxi, and had opened the door for future pressure on Luoyang and ultimately Xi'an. The mountain barrier that had allowed Chinese forces to threaten Japanese logistics was gone. It would not be rebuilt. Six senior Chinese generals had died in the battle: Wang Jun, Chen Wenqi, Liang Xixian, Tang Huaiyuan, Cun Xingqi, and others in the fighting. Their deaths were individually remarkable — men choosing death over surrender at rate that reflected both the desperate conditions of the battle and a code of honor that many of them explicitly invoked in their final moments. They were also, in aggregate, a measure of how completely the officer corps had been consumed. In the decades since the battle, historians have returned repeatedly to the question of why a position held for three years collapsed so completely in three weeks. The answers are neither simple nor flattering to the Nationalist government, and they were debated with bitter intensity in Chongqing even while the battle was still being fought. The most immediate cause was the removal of Wei Lihuang. This was not merely the loss of a capable general — it was the destruction of the institutional knowledge and personal relationships that had made the defense function. The Zhongtiao garrison was not simply a collection of soldiers in mountain positions; it was a system, carefully constructed over three years, that depended on specific command relationships, established logistics arrangements, and particular allocation of resources. Wei had built that system. Without him, and without any adequate replacement, it became something far more brittle than it appeared. Below the level of high command, the garrison's gradual corruption was an equally powerful factor. The trading networks, the opium commerce, the penetration by Japanese intelligence — these were not incidental problems but symptoms of a deeper institutional failure. An army that has spent three years in static defensive positions, chronically undersupplied and without a meaningful offensive mission, tends toward exactly this kind of decay. The Nationalist government's decision to prioritize anti-Communist friction operations over Zhongtiao's fighting readiness had removed the 4th Army Group — the backbone of the defense — and had consumed Wei Lihuang's attention and political capital at the worst possible moment. The Japanese plan, too, deserves credit it rarely receives in Chinese accounts of the battle. The three-pronged converging attack on Yuanqu was not simply overwhelming force applied to an obvious target. It was an elegant solution to the genuine tactical puzzle that the Zhongtiao mountains presented, exploiting the garrison's geographic vulnerability with a precision that turned the defenders' mountain terrain from an asset into a trap. The use of paratroopers to decapitate the Chinese command in the opening hours was a sophisticated operational concept that worked almost exactly as designed. Tada Shun was not lucky. He was thorough. Finally, there is the question of Chiang Kai-shek's own priorities. His reported weeping upon receiving news of the defeat was genuine, in the sense that the loss clearly shocked and grieved him. But the decisions that led to the defeat — Wei Lihuang's removal, the transfer of the 4th Army Group, the neglect of fortification and resupply in the months preceding the battle — had been made in Chongqing, not in the mountains. The Zhongtiao garrison had been strategically sacrificed, piece by piece, for political calculations in the internal factional struggle between Nationalists and Communists. Whether Chiang understood the cost of those choices before May 7, 1941, is debatable. After that date, it was difficult to pretend otherwise. The fall of the Zhongtiao Mountains did not end the War of Resistance, but it substantially worsened China's strategic position in the north. Over the following months, Japan used its consolidated control of southern Shanxi to increase pressure on the Yellow River line and probe toward Luoyang. The surviving Chinese armies, reorganized south of the river, were in no position to counterattack. The mountains themselves, stripped of their garrison and secured by Japanese occupation troops, became part of the extended Japanese occupation zone — a territory to be administered and exploited rather than contested. For the men who had fought there, the battle left wounds that went beyond the physical. Entire armies had to be rebuilt from remnants. Officers who had retreated, whether under orders or on their own initiative, faced boards of inquiry in an atmosphere of recrimination and blame-seeking. Some were cashiered. Some faced criminal proceedings. The search for culpability — which was genuine enough, since the failure was genuine — tended to fall on those least able to defend themselves rather than on the senior commanders and political figures whose decisions had created the conditions for defeat. The posthumous honors awarded to Tang Huaiyuan, Liang Xixian, Wang Jun, and the other officers who died in battle were heartfelt, and they were also convenient. The heroic dead could be elevated without requiring the living to answer uncomfortable questions. Their sacrifice was real. The system that wasted it was also real. In the broader history of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain tends to be overshadowed by more famous engagements — Shanghai, Nanjing, Taierzhuang, the later battles along the Salween. This is partly because the Chinese side lost comprehensively and had little interest in memorializing the loss, and partly because the battle's significance was more strategic than dramatic. There was no great last stand, no single moment of heroism sufficient to redeem the catastrophe. There were only men dying in mountain passes, generals walking into rivers, and an entire defensive system disintegrating under the weight of its own contradictions. What the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain represents, in the end, is a case study in how military positions are really lost. They are rarely lost on the battlefield alone. They are lost in the staff meetings where capable commanders are removed for political reasons. They are lost in the supply depots that never get restocked. They are lost in the informal economies that grow up when institutions stop functioning. They are lost in the intelligence assessments that are written and ignored. They are lost, finally and irreversibly, in the early morning hours when the guns open simultaneously on three sides and the men at the radios discover that no one is answering.     I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. On May 7, 1941, Japan opened a three-front assault on Zhongtiao Mountains; paratroopers disrupted command night. With the 9th Army withdrawing, Yuanqu fell on May 8, severing supply and trapping the garrison. Fighting raged through May 13, costing generals, until Japanese sweeps cleared pockets; survivors escaped south of Yellow River.

In Part 1 of this two-part interview, Dr Liz Evans sits down with diagnostic pathologist and HART co-chair Dr Clare Craig to shine a light onto the little-known, but potentially serious, risks to health from the UK's recent mandate requiring the fortification of white flour with the synthetic drug folic acid. A move that violates informed consent and restricts consumer choice.Dr Craig explains the background to the decision to mass-medicate the public, and breaks down the flawed rationale behind the new UK law, passed in November 2024, requiring non-wholemeal wheat flour to be fortified with synthetic folic acid. The amendment passed to the Bread and Flour Regulations (covering England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland), places a legal requirement on millers and flour producers to add folic acid to non-wholemeal wheat flour, which comes into full effect at the end of 2026.A few exceptions to fortification are allowed (for now) including; wholewheat flour, flour produced by small mills (in the UK or any other country), and flour produced to make communion wafers, matzos, gluten or starch.While natural folate is a fundamental, bioavailable nutrient found in whole foods, synthetic folic acid behaves entirely differently in the human body. Dr Craig explains how this synthetic product floods the bloodstream, blocks key brain receptors, and relies on safety data derived from animal studies that do not translate to human biology.Key Takeaways from Part 1:The “Survivorship” Data Flaw: Early safety data from a prominent Hungarian trial revealed a startling truth—nine babies died for every single neural tube defect (NTD) prevented.Statistical Illusions: Observational population data from the US CDC, claiming that increasing folic acid intake reduces NTDs, overlooked the huge concurrent rise in advanced ultrasound diagnostics and targeted terminations for babies with NTDs during the 1990s.Industrial Influence & Toxic Dosing: The pharmaceutical industry pushed for recommended daily allowances of folic acid to be artificially doubled, creating a environment where standard diets, combined with supplementation and fortification of foods, can expose citizens to massive, unmonitored doses of this synthetic drug.Fortification of Flour Violates Informed Consent: Adding a synthetic drug to a staple food is unethical as it is the mass-medication of the public without individual consent. It is a one-size-fits all approach which does not take into account the different genetic or nutritional variations in processing folic acid, or control of the dose, leaving some people more at risk of serious side-effects and toxicity. The individual dose of folic acid will vary widely, depending on the amount of fortified flour in the diet.Widespread Health Vulnerabilities: Fortifying staple foods poses serious risks to around 40% of the population who carry the MTHFR gene mutation, and who cannot metabolise folic acid efficiently. The build up of unmetabolized folic acid can also mask vitamin B12 deficiencies (which produces symptoms mimicking dementia) and has been show in studies to increase the risk of developing colorectal polyps and prostate cancer, as well as causing side-effects such as headaches, anxiety, sleep and digestive issues.Practical Advice: Learn how you can avoid unwanted medication by reading food labels carefully and sourcing unfortified flour from small independent mills.Calls to Action: It is important to raise awareness and lobby for a repeal to this law, by writing to your MP to raise the issues discussed in this podcast.Please sign this Parliamentary petition (ends on 26 June 2026) calling on the Government “to amend the law to ensure there are at least one non-wholemeal flour option without folic acid fortification, and to exempt organic flour from mandatory folic acid fortification requirement from December 2026.”UKMFA: CALL TO ACTION: Please follow us and subscribe on our YouTube and Rumble channels and please share our content on social media and with friends and family, to help us get the message out and increase our reach.All our podcasts can also be found on the major audio platforms e.g. Apple and Spotify.Our Substack is found here: https://substack.com/@ukmfa1We are grateful for all donations to help us to continue and grow our work; lobbying decision makers; educating and empowering the public; running campaigns and producing our podcasts. You can use this link to donate directly: https://donorbox.org/ukmfa_podcast. Please visit the UK Medical Freedom Alliance at www.ukmedfreedom.org and https://substack.com/@ukmfa1 to access all our material and resources.

Baby Blue Viper explores deterministic enforcement infrastructure across Bitcoin and advanced AI systems.As capital moves without intermediaries and autonomous models scale without friction, governance must move from policy to infrastructure.Enforcement must precede execution.Featured Projects & Toolsinvinoveritas — Lightning-native AI for autonomous agentsThe pay-per-call API + MCP server for sovereign agent fleets.Capabilities include:Reasoning & structured decisionsCapital-scale-aware code reviewEcosystem research briefsDocker sandbox executionPaid browser actionsSigned audit proofsPersistent memoryAgent-to-agent paymentsLinks:Live API → https://api.babyblueviper.comMCP Server (Claude Desktop / Cursor / Windsurf) → https://api.babyblueviper.com/mcpSDK + Integrations → https://github.com/babyblueviper1/invinoveritas-sdkListed on MCP Registry, Smithery, and GlamaFree registration. No Lightning wallet required upfront.AI Governance ProjectResearch exploring capability-tiered governance architecture and deterministic enforcement for autonomous AI systems.Live Demo → https://drvl-demo.onrender.comRepository → https://github.com/babyblueviper1/ai-governance-architectureΩmega PrunerA non-custodial, PSBT-only enforcement layer for structured Bitcoin UTXO management.Live Demo → https://omega-pruner.onrender.comCode → https://github.com/babyblueviper1/Viper-Stack-Omega This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.babyblueviper.com/subscribe

At Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Charleston, SC, our own Mr. Paul McNulty preached about the faithful stewardship of God's Word, encouraging us to guard the good deposit.

At Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Charleston, SC, our own Mr. Paul McNulty preached about the faithful stewardship of God's Word, encouraging us to guard the good deposit.

This is my last podcast episode, Celiac Canada will be steering the ship from now on as I transfer the podcast to them. An exciting time for me as I know that Celiac Canada will be able to do amazing things when they take over. This podcast has two parts: first, I speak with Ellen Bayens of theceliacscene.com about articles she has brought to our attention over the past month, and; second Ellen and Cinde Little, the Everyday Gluten Free Gourmet discuss some thoughts and memories about the podcast over the years. My first episode was a conversation with Melissa Secord in January, 2018 and I'm finishing off with Episode 356 – lots of fun times! Ellen and I talk about the CFIA recall of Gino Bambino Pizza Starter Kits from Costco due to mould (very unfortunate). We look at the evolving pathway to Diagnosis for adults in Italy where they seem to be ahead of the curve on this one. Ellen brings to our attention a study that was done regarding differing symptoms experienced by different ethnicities and races – something to think about. Dietary fibre is something we all know we need more of, but work being done at McMaster University with a helpful grant from the CCA's J.A. Campbell Fund, is finding that fibre may not be digested the same way in someone with celiac disease. They're also working on a specific gut bacteria which might make a real difference. Ellen talks to us about an in-depth study on what can go wrong in a diagnosis or misdiagnosis, and the importance of the medical community understanding those weak points in the pathway, in order to arrive at an accurate diagnosis sooner. Recently, California passed legislation that requires food producers who make masa (which is used in corn tortillas among other things), to fortify their masa flour with folic acid, an essential nutrient. Lack of this nutrient is a cause for some serious birth defects which are more prevalent in the Latino population. Wheat flour has been fortified for many years, but our gluten free flours are not – this could be a big step. CELIAC SCENE NEWS CFIA Recall - Gino Bambino Pizza Starter Kits Celiac Disease Diagnosis in Adults Now Possible Without Biopsy Celiac Disease Symptoms Vary by Race and Ethnicity Celiacs Aren't Benefitting from Increased Dietary Fibre Bridging the Gaps in Celiac Disease Diagnosis California Mandate Makes a Case for Fortification of Canadian Gluten-Free Products After Ellen and I spoke about the "news", we brought Cinde Little everydayglutenfreegourmet.com into the conversation to reminisce about the years of podcasts. We share stories and inside jokes. I'm grateful that my friends took the time to share these special moments with me. I will miss doing the podcast, but I'm confident that Celiac Canada will be able to take it to new heights. Bye For Now Sue's Websites and Social Media – Podcast https://acanadianceliacpodcast.libsyn.com Podcast Blog – https://www.acanadianceliacblog.com Email – acdnceliacpodcast@gmail.com Baking Website – https://www.suesglutenfreebaking.com Instagram - @suesgfbaking YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUVGfpD4eJwwSc_YjkGagza06yYe3ApzL Email – sue@suesglutenfreebaking.com

“Le Savez-vous ? Nancy, c'est le podcast quotidien de l'Est Républicain consacré à la ville et à tout ce que vous ignorez sur elle.Un podcast raconté par Jean-Marie Russe basé sur les articles réalisés par la rédaction locale de Nancy.” Hébergé par Acast. Visitez acast.com/privacy pour plus d'informations.

This is my last podcast episode, Celiac Canada will be steering the ship from now on as I transfer the podcast to them. An exciting time for me as I know that Celiac Canada will be able to do amazing things when they take over. This podcast has two parts: first, I speak with Ellen Bayens of theceliacscene.com about articles she has brought to our attention over the past month, and; second Ellen and Cinde Little, the Everyday Gluten Free Gourmet discuss some thoughts and memories about the podcast over the years. My first episode was a conversation with Melissa Secord in January, 2018 and I'm finishing off with Episode 356 – lots of fun times! Ellen and I talk about the CFIA recall of Gino Bambino Pizza Starter Kits from Costco due to mould (very unfortunate). We look at the evolving pathway to Diagnosis for adults in Italy where they seem to be ahead of the curve on this one. Ellen brings to our attention a study that was done regarding differing symptoms experienced by different ethnicities and races – something to think about. Dietary fibre is something we all know we need more of, but work being done at McMaster University with a helpful grant from the CCA's J.A. Campbell Fund, is finding that fibre may not be digested the same way in someone with celiac disease. They're also working on a specific gut bacteria which might make a real difference. Ellen talks to us about an in-depth study on what can go wrong in a diagnosis or misdiagnosis, and the importance of the medical community understanding those weak points in the pathway, in order to arrive at an accurate diagnosis sooner. Recently, California passed legislation that requires food producers who make masa (which is used in corn tortillas among other things), to fortify their masa flour with folic acid, an essential nutrient. Lack of this nutrient is a cause for some serious birth defects which are more prevalent in the Latino population. Wheat flour has been fortified for many years, but our gluten free flours are not – this could be a big step. CELIAC SCENE NEWS CFIA Recall - Gino Bambino Pizza Starter Kits Celiac Disease Diagnosis in Adults Now Possible Without Biopsy Celiac Disease Symptoms Vary by Race and Ethnicity Celiacs Aren't Benefitting from Increased Dietary Fibre Bridging the Gaps in Celiac Disease Diagnosis California Mandate Makes a Case for Fortification of Canadian Gluten-Free Products After Ellen and I spoke about the "news", we brought Cinde Little everydayglutenfreegourmet.com into the conversation to reminisce about the years of podcasts. We share stories and inside jokes. I'm grateful that my friends took the time to share these special moments with me. I will miss doing the podcast, but I'm confident that Celiac Canada will be able to take it to new heights. Bye For Now Sue's Websites and Social Media – Podcast https://acanadianceliacpodcast.libsyn.com Podcast Blog – https://www.acanadianceliacblog.com Email – acdnceliacpodcast@gmail.com Baking Website – https://www.suesglutenfreebaking.com Instagram - @suesgfbaking YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUVGfpD4eJwwSc_YjkGagza06yYe3ApzL Email – sue@suesglutenfreebaking.com

Port comes in many styles, but Vintage Port sits at the pinnacle -- but it isn't made every year. In this episode, Adrian Bridge of Taylor Fladgate explains what it means to "declare" a Vintage Port, how houses decide whether a year is worthy, and what all this has to do with St. George. You'll also hear how fortification works, the importance of the otherwise "neutral" grape spirit, what separates a classic declaration from Single Quinta and other vintage-dated bottlings, and you'll get a few unexpected food-pairing ideas. If you ever wanted to know how Port wine is made and why it can last for decades, then this is the episode for you. SPOILER ALERT: 2024 is a declared vintage for Port! Key Topics When to drink classic Vintage Port  Why you'd want to buy a Vintage Port on release, rather than later. How the declaration process works. What you can expect from 2024 vintage Port. Why the declaration is made on St. George's Day. What foods you can pair with Vintage Port.  Key Takeaways "Declared" means a house has chosen to release a classic Vintage Port from a specific year Vintage Port is rare. (~1.5% of total Port production—small volume, highest prestige) Vintage Port is built to age. (50–60+ years in good storage) Fortification is key to Port's style. The declaration decision takes time, and it happens on St. George's Day. Connect with Adrian Bridge Taylor Fladgate website: https://www.taylor.pt/  Taylor Fladgate Instagram: @taylorsportwine (https://www.instagram.com/taylorsportwine/) Learn more about wine in general at https://Wine365.com 

Connu pour son génie des fortifications, le grand Vauban mérite au moins autant d'être découvert et apprécié pour ses talents d'économiste avant la lettre.Découvrez un portrait fascinant de Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, ce personnage emblématique du règne de Louis XIV. Bien plus qu'un simple ingénieur militaire, Vauban était un esprit visionnaire, tourné vers l'amélioration du royaume de France. Franck Ferrand nous plonge dans l'univers de ce génie des fortifications, qui a marqué son époque de son empreinte. Derrière le bâtisseur de citadelles se cachait un homme préoccupé par le bien-être de ses concitoyens, soucieux de réformer en profondeur les structures administratives et fiscales du royaume.À travers les mémoires de Vauban, dits les « Oisivetés », on découvre un personnage aux multiples facettes : tacticien hors pair, observateur avisé des réalités du terrain, économiste avant-gardiste. Franck Ferrand nous entraîne dans les incessants déplacements de cet homme infatigable, qui sillonna la France pour mieux la connaître et la servir. De la conception des places fortes à la réflexion sur l'impôt, en passant par ses préoccupations pour la démographie et l'irrigation, Vauban apparaît comme un visionnaire, précurseur de l'économie politique moderne. Son influence sur la politique de Louis XIV est indéniable, jusque dans la « politique des réunions » qui a marqué la fin du XVIIe siècle.Loin de l'image d'Épinal du simple bâtisseur de forteresses, ce portrait intime de Vauban révèle la richesse d'un esprit tourné vers le progrès et le bien commun. Plongez dans l'univers fascinant de cet homme d'exception, dont l'empreinte dépasse largement le cadre militaire.Plongez dans l'histoire des grands personnages et des évènements marquants qui ont façonné notre monde ! Avec enthousiasme et talent, Franck Ferrand vous révèle les coulisses de l'histoire avec un grand H, entre mystères, secrets et épisodes méconnus : un cadeau pour les amoureux du passé, de la préhistoire à l'histoire contemporaine.Hébergé par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

Last time we spoke about the Xiang-Gan Operation. In 1939, during the Second Sino-Japanese War's stalemate phase, Chiang Kai-shek received intelligence from Wang Pengsheng about Japan's "Xiang-Gan Operation," a plan to pressure Chongqing by advancing on Hunan and supporting Wang Jingwei's puppet regime in Nanjing. Chiang, based in Chongqing's Huangshan Villa, coordinated defenses in the Ninth War Zone. Deputy Chief Bai Chongxi proposed Plan A, luring Japanese forces deep to Hengyang for annihilation, minimizing movements and exploiting supply vulnerabilities. Chen Cheng and acting commander Xue Yue favored Plan B, emphasizing successive resistance north of Changsha to prevent its fall and counter propaganda.Initially approving Plan A, Chiang switched to Plan B after Xue's insistent telegrams highlighted risks like pincer attacks from Guangzhou and political fallout. Xue, haunted by past failures like Lanfeng and Nanchang, sought redemption. Troops under generals like Guan Linzheng fortified positions along the Xin Qiang and Miluo Rivers, with slogans invoking Taierzhuang's prestige.   #196 The Road to Changsha: Rivers of Carnage at Miluo and Bijia Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. At 7 a.m. on September 14, over 2,000 troops from Nakai Ryotaro's 106th Division launched a fierce attack on the positions of Wan Baobang's 184th Division in Huibu. When this telegram crackled into the command centers of Chongqing, Guilin, and Changsha simultaneously, a hush fell over those who read it, each uttering the same grave words: "It has begun." Huibu, a forgotten speck in Jiangxi Province, clung precariously close to the Hunan border. It was here, in this unassuming town, that the curtain rose on a brutal symphony of war, the opening act of a larger tragedy. The Japanese 106th and 101st Divisions, fresh from their iron grip on Nanchang, clashed once more with the beleaguered units under General Luo Zhuoying, the front-line commander whose failed bid to reclaim Nanchang still burned like an open wound after five agonizing months of tense standoff, where every shadow hid a potential ambush.   This was the calculated first thrust of Okamura Yasuji's insidious "Xiang-Gan Operation" plan: unleash an assault in Jiangxi to draw and pin down Chinese forces, forging the anvil for the hammer blow soon to fall in northern Hunan. The Japanese horde splintered into two relentless routes, surging toward Gao'an and Xiu Shui like twin serpents through the mist-shrouded hills and tangled jungles. Against them stood the Chinese 1st and 19th Army Groups, arrayed in ironclad formation, igniting a ferocious battle that echoed through the valleys with the thunder of gunfire and the cries of the fallen.   When Luo Zhuoying received the urgent telephone report from the front lines, not even a flicker of the expected tension crossed his steely facade. The map of the battlefield was etched into his mind, vivid as a fresh scar, with no need to consult paper when strategy pulsed in his veins. His voice remained calm, almost detached, as he issued orders that carried the weight of life and death. The confidential staff scribbling down the commands couldn't help but notice the eerie mismatch between General Luo's serene tone and the savage directives spilling forth. "Order all units to strictly hold their positions, use their own reserves to reinforce critical areas, do not expect the general reserve, retake lost positions on their own. Anyone whose defense zone is breached by the enemy, affecting the overall operation, will be executed without mercy!" After dictating this decree of unyielding resolve, he summoned Deputy Chief of Staff Yang Xiuqi with a pointed command: "Don't handle anything else; just keep an eye on Gao'an for me."   As the focus shifted to this critical stronghold, Gao'an stood as the town nearest Nanchang still clutched in Chinese hands, a stubborn thorn in the Japanese side, one they were hell-bent on yanking out with overwhelming fury. On September 15, 1939, the invaders shattered several forward positions of Song Kentang's 32nd Army encircling Gao'an, advancing like a tidal wave from east, west, and north. The soldiers of Li Zhaoying's 139th Division and Tang Yongliang's 141st Division clung desperately to their increasingly pulverized fortifications, enduring a hellstorm of Japanese aircraft and artillery that rained death from the skies. Wave after wave of wounded and martyred heroes were hauled from the lines, their blood staining the earth, while swathes of Japanese troops crumpled at the front in heaps of defeat. Army Commander Song Kentang, his brows furrowed in grim calculation, pondered pulling his forces back from Gao'an to blunt the enemy's razor-sharp advance. But as night cloaked the battlefield, Yang Xiuqi arrived under direct orders to oversee the fray, bearing Luo Zhuoying's unshakeable edict: Hold Gao'an firmly; no withdrawal allowed.   The onslaught intensified the next day, September 16, as the Japanese unleashed a frenzy of continuous assaults, their bombs reducing front-line positions to smoking craters. By dusk, each unit had bled over half its strength, yet they held amid the rubble, defiant ghosts in a landscape of ruin. That night, Song Kentang and Yang Xiuqi faced each other with expressions etched in worry, shadows dancing across their faces in the dim light. Song implored Yang to relay to Commander Luo that without reinforcements to hammer the enemy's flanks, clinging on until tomorrow's eve would be impossible—he urged a tactical withdrawal. Yang dispatched the dire situation and Song's plea via overnight telegram to Luo Zhuoying, but by noon on the 17th, silence reigned, no reply pierced the growing dread.   Yang Xiuqi recalled that on the afternoon of the 17th, a relentless drizzle fell like tears from the heavens. He accompanied a reception team to a crossroads, witnessing a heartbreaking procession from the front to a makeshift hospital south of Gao'an city. Severely wounded streamed in on stretchers, the lightly injured limped on their own, porters whispered of abandoned guns littering the positions, and military police reported a surge of deserters. In the cold calculus of combat statistics, there lurked a "missing" category—most were those who had fled the carnage.   On the 18th, combat erupted at dawn's first light. Japanese planes obliterated Gao'an city into a flattened wasteland, their infantry charging with unprecedented savagery. At noon, Song Kentang issued the fateful order: withdraw from the city and seize the hillsides to the south. Gao'an thus slipped into enemy clutches, a bitter loss that echoed like a death knell. That evening, Operations Section Chief Ji informed Yang Xiuqi of urgent directives from Guilin Office Director Bai Chongxi and War Zone Commander Xue Yue: the 32nd Army must orchestrate an immediate counterattack on Gao'an, with the "ace army" en route. The "ace army" was none other than Wang Yaowu's 74th Army, the Ninth War Zone's prized general reserve. Yang's orderly, fetching water past Song Kentang's quarters, overheard the commander's resigned growl: "If they say fight, then fight; at worst, we'll lose all our men."   That night, Army Commander Song Kentang descended to Tang Yongliang's 139th Division to personally oversee the assault, striking from south to north. The 141st Division, bolstered by Li Tianxia's 51st Division and Shi Zhongcheng's 57th Division of the 74th Army, flanked like wolves from both sides, weaving an encirclement around the Japanese in and around Gao'an city. "The 51st Division's code name was 'Vanguard.' This was truly a formidable unit; that night, with a fierce charge, they recaptured Cunqian Street, then built fortifications and stabilized the position," Yang Xiuqi said.   Liu Qihuai, an elderly man who was a squad leader in the 4th Company of the 3rd Regiment of the 51st Division during the Gao'an battle, where his thigh was pierced, recalled: "At that time, I was young and remembered one phrase passed down by veterans: The fearful die first, the fearless die later. In the first few battles, I gritted my teeth and charged head-on. Later, I grew bolder, became flexible in battle, calm-headed, quick-eyed and -handed. Once, right after a skirmish, the company commander punched me in the chest and said, 'Good kid, you know how to fight!' and made me squad leader. On the battlefield, bullets don't care if you're afraid or not; those unafraid of sacrifice, brave and tenacious, often seize the initiative for our army but also bear the brunt, suffering the heaviest casualties. On the third day of fighting Gao'an, the wound ticket said Republic Year 28 (1939) September 21. That day, we charged into the city for street fighting with the little devils, all mixed up. I was closely following the deputy company commander, but lost him; no one could find anyone, it was all about who had the quickest eyes. Watching front, left, right, rooftops, and fearing the ones lying on the ground were feigning death to get up and shoot—wished I had more eyes. I killed a devil poking out from a broken wall, thought that wall section could be a cover for observation and shooting, so I rushed toward it. As I got closer to that dead devil, suddenly my thigh felt stabbed; I ran a few more steps before realizing I was hit, and seeing blood, I couldn't stand. The bullet came at an angle; later I thought it might have been friendly fire, since I was charging ahead and there were no devils on the sides. But I didn't dare say that then; admitting it wouldn't count as a combat wound. I was carried by stretcher bearers to the aid station in a Gu clan's ancestral hall. Next to my stretcher was a Henan soldier from the 32nd Army with a through-and-through calf wound; he was quite cheerful, friendly right away. He said our 74th Army could fight because our helmets were special, all bought from the old Russians (Soviets), bulletproof, bullets would spin on the head. I said great, next battle let's swap. Being wounded, I feared disability most; death wasn't scary—die early, reincarnate early. Lying on the stretcher, still joking; we were truly young then. Later, I met a platoon leader surnamed Dang from my company who was wounded around the same time; he said that Henan soldier was transferred to a rear hospital, got gangrene, had his leg amputated, and died a few days later..."   According to war history records: At dawn on September 22, with the cooperation of the 74th Army, the 32nd Army's "139th and 141st Divisions fiercely attacked Gao'an city. Since the city walls had been destroyed by the unit before withdrawing, the Japanese could not hold firm and began retreating." By 8 a.m., the entire city was recaptured, "pursuing north in victory. A portion of the 141st Division advanced to Huangpo Bridge." The next day, they recaptured Xiangfuguan, Sigong Mountain, and other places northeast of Gao'an, "restoring the pre-war positions."   September 18 was a date the Japanese favored for their grim expeditions, a cursed numeral etched into the annals of invasion and strife. At dawn's first whisper, the Japanese 6th and 33rd Divisions, the Nara Detachment, Uemura Detachment, and their attached artillery, armored, engineer, aviation, and naval units gathered in their respective starting zones, adhering to the precise timings decreed by Okamura Yasuji. They held silent prayer ceremonies, an eerie ritual amid the gathering storm. Over 50,000 Japanese officers and soldiers turned their faces eastward, their hands momentarily abandoning weapons to clasp before their chests, peering through the dense, rain-laden clouds blanketing China toward an imagined sun ascending from a blood-red sea.   As the silent prayers dissolved into the mist, hands seized weapons once more. General Okamura Yasuji, prowling the lines of the 6th Division to inspect and ignite the assault, drew his command sword with a savage flourish and barked a short, guttural command in the tongue of his island nation to his fervent compatriots. In response, tens of thousands of military boots thundered in unison upon this foreign soil, so distant from the homeland that flickered in their devotional visions. The offensive in northern Hunan had erupted, a cataclysm of steel and fury.   On Okamura Yasuji's military map, three bold red arrows aligned menacingly along the Xin Qiang River, like lethal shafts poised to pierce the south bank. The scattered Chinese forward positions on a handful of high points north of the river appeared as mere pebbles before an inexorable tidal wave. Among these fragile defenses, the one thrust farthest into the jaws of peril was the Bijia Mountain position, held by Qin Yizhi's 195th Division under Zhang Yaoming's 52nd Army—a protruding bastion shaped like an oval with twin camel-like peaks. On Okamura's map, this defiant outpost bore no unit designation or commander's name, perhaps dismissed as inconsequential in the shadow of the massive onslaught.   Qin Yizhi recalled: "The enemy broke through the left-wing Songjiawan position on the north bank on the 19th. From dawn on the 20th, they attacked Shi Enhua's battalion at Bijia Mountain from the north and west. Besides artillery, they used planes for repeated bombings. This battalion was the most forward in our division; my attention was always here. The 195th Division was newly added to the 52nd Army after Yueyang's fall in late 1938, based on Henan security forces with poor military quality. I was transferred from army chief of staff to division commander and immediately focused on rigorous military training. First train company commanders, then platoon leaders, finally squad leaders. Marksmanship, bayoneting, grenade throwing—everyone passes; fail and get demoted. This is fighting the devils; personal death is minor, but who takes responsibility for failing the mission? Shi Enhua was my old subordinate from the 25th Division, Huangpu 8th Class graduate as platoon leader. He was upright, brave in combat; I promoted him to company and battalion commander. Shi Enhua had an older brother, Shi Enrong, Huangpu 7th Class, also in my unit, killed at Taierzhuang. Army Commander Zhang Yaoming said holding Bijia Mountain for 3 days completes the task; strive for more to blunt the enemy's edge, consume them heavily before they cross the river, making later battles easier. I barely slept those days. Shi Enhua led a reinforced battalion, over 500 men; this time it was truly bitter. By the second day, fortifications were basically blasted away; by the third day, September 22, the battalion had over half casualties. At dusk, visibility good, I went to a high ground by the river and looked across with binoculars. Shells flipped up patches of yellow earth on the mountain; fortifications in ruins. The chief of staff said the friendly position on Bijia Mountain's right wing was also lost. I called Shi Enhua: 'You've held for three days and nights, meeting army requirements. Troops have heavy casualties, surrounded on three sides; if unable to hold, withdraw if necessary.' Shi Enhua said only: 'A soldier has no "if necessary."' From dawn the next day, intense gunfire at Bijia Mountain; operations officer reported over a dozen tanks supporting infantry. I called for Shi Enhua; the orderly said the battalion commander was at the front. I asked how many troops left; the orderly cried. I ordered him to immediately convey: Withdraw to south bank at once, no delay! Shi Enhua and his brother Shi Enrong were both my subordinates. After Enrong's death, his father visited the troops; the old man tearfully shook my hand: 'Enrong died for the country, in his rightful place.' Enhua's family was affluent; his father educated, deeply principled. Around 3 p.m., I called again, finally reached Shi Enhua. I yelled angrily why not withdraw; Shi said: 'Division Commander, not that we won't; the enemy has us surrounded, we can't.' I ordered him to organize remaining forces for breakout; I'd assign artillery to suppress and send troops on south bank for support. Shi Enhua was silent for a while, finally said: 'Division Commander, see you in the next life!' A reinforced battalion, over 500 men: battalion commander, company commanders, platoon leaders, squad leaders, soldiers. A complete, orderly unit… After the battle, Japanese soldiers made locals collect bodies on the mountain; thousands from nearby villages went, all wanting to see these Chinese soldiers who fought for 4 days. On the mountain, everyone knelt; the hill was covered in fragmented corpses, not one intact for burial; the people wailed loudly."   On the night of September 22, under the dim, ethereal glow of the moonlight, the Xiang River flowed in silent mystery, its gentle waves lapping against the shore like whispered secrets of impending doom. Amid this serene rhythm, a faint, ominous hum of engines pierced the air. Upon the river's surface, shadowy vessels glided, not a mere handful, but a colossal fleet, a dark armada poised for conquest! The right wing of the Japanese attacking formation was the 5th Brigade, commanded by Major General Uemura Mikio under Fujita Susumu's 3rd Division. This formidable force—comprising 4 infantry battalions, 1 mountain artillery battalion, two engineer regiments, and two transport companies—bore a perilous mission: "After the frontal offensive begins, advance up the Xiang River to land at Yingtian in Xiangyin County, detour to the area of Daniqiao, Xinkaishi, Qingshansi, and Malinshi south of the Miluo River, cut off the retreat of the Chinese forces, and support the 6th Division, 33rd Division, and 26th Brigade in attacking the area north of Changsha."   The Yingtian landing occupied a pivotal, treacherous role in Okamura Yasuji's grand operational scheme, a devastating thrust aimed at the left wing of the Chinese defenses, designed to sever the southern retreat of troops entrenched along the Xin Qiang River and Miluo River lines, while plunging a lethal dagger into their exposed flanks. Among the Japanese soldiers charged with this grim duty was Yoshida Yujin, who in the 1970s resided in Higashi Ward, Osaka, Valley Town 3-chome, once a private first class in the 5th Brigade's 7th Infantry Battalion, 5th Company. He recalled: "It was a few days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, and we were on the 'Xiang-Gan Operation' mission. One night, the troops assembled and boarded naval speedboats near Yueyang. I remember the mission involved our brigade plus attached units, totaling over 3,000 men. The speedboats formed a long line on the river; the one I was on seemed to be near the front. The speedboats ran without lights or whistles for concealment. We headed upstream along the Xiang River. That night, there was a not-quite-full, dark red moon in the sky, with dim reflections on the water; other boats and the land were black. We sat tightly packed in the cabins or on deck, rifles against shoulders, no talking allowed, only hearing the rumble of engines and soft water sounds. Around 1 or 2 a.m., Squad Leader Aota whispered: 'Entering combat zone.' We all instinctively grabbed our rifles, staring at the dark shoreline. About two hours before dawn, we finally reached the landing site. As we disembarked, gunfire erupted from a nearby hillside; the Chinese army had spotted us. Machine guns fired from the boats ahead; urged by the squad leader, we jumped off, wading knee-deep water to run from the shore. The company commander ordered several squads to deploy in battle formation, seize the hill attacking us, and cover the following boats' landing. After the attack began, it drew enemy fire; bullets whistled overhead and around us. Soon, enemy direct-fire cannons bombarded the fleet fiercely. Turning back in the explosion's flash, I saw our boat and an adjacent one hit and sinking, plus a few not yet ashore hit—those on board must have suffered heavy casualties. Because of the fierce enemy fire, our progress was slow. It was dark, targets unclear; 'Follow up, follow up' commands came constantly. Advancing in darkness, uneven ground caused frequent falls, impossible to move fast. Per plan, our battalion was to land at Tuxing Port between Yingtian and Xiongzui, then immediately occupy a place called Liuxing Mountain south of Yingtian as a foothold, before cutting southeast into the main battlefield. Landing led to immediate combat; everyone was momentarily at a loss. Along the riverbank, many spots fired guns and cannons toward the river, making our intent to seize that hill meaningless. When I and another soldier carried a wounded to the company's aid station, I saw officers studying maps with flashlights, probably unsure of position and attack direction. Soon came the order: Conceal in place. At dawn's first light, our planes bombed enemy positions; seven or eight planes dropped bombs and strafed several high grounds controlling the riverbank. By full daylight, we received orders to capture a village. The squad leader ordered us to advance in battle formation. This village, whose name I now forget, was on a hillside not far from the riverbank, with a simple trench in front. We rushed to the trench, threw a few grenades, and jumped in; my foot softly stepped on an enemy soldier's corpse. I jumped in fright, looked down, and saw two bullet holes side by side in his head—from a machine gun. Though I'd been in several battles, I was still afraid; before each, I'd pray inwardly, making a small wish. This time, my wish was to live through the Mid-Autumn Festival. Around 9 a.m., several more battalions landed at another crossing near Yingtian and soon linked with us. After our battalion occupied the empty small village, we turned to attack Yingtian Town. Around noon, we reached a kilometer outside the town, eating in a dry ditch. I heard the company commander say the company had over a dozen killed and wounded each. After eating, we joined the final assault on Yingtian Town. Bayonets fixed on rifles, per tactics, in groups of three or four, alternating cover, advancing stepwise. Enemy fire was quite fierce; we could only rush to forward advantageous positions when planes bombed, then conceal immediately after they left, pushing forward step by step. At 4 p.m., we attacked into the bombed-out ruins of Yingtian streets, engaging in street-by-street fighting with the enemy. My combat group had four; before entering the streets, Oyama-kun was unfortunately killed. After entering, the three of us stayed close. Rushing into a small temple in the town's northwest corner, one of us, my good friend Kurata, was hit in the abdomen and fell. I quickly dropped, took out bandages to wrap him. His expression was pained, holding breath in his lungs, face flushed red. I forcefully pried his hands from his belly; blood surged out. I stuffed gauze in, shouting: 'Medic, medic!' Kurata was my middle school classmate, same grade different class; we met on the school baseball team. His mother was a very kind woman, always smiling beautifully. Sometimes after extended practice, she'd bring water and snacks, wait by the field until done, and share with the team. The medic was nowhere; I was so anxious tears flowed. Kurata teared up too, wanted to say something but dared not breathe, suffering greatly. I picked him up to retreat; after a few steps, a shell exploded nearby, my head boomed, and I knew nothing. When I woke, Company Commander Miki was slapping my face hard; my mouth tasted salty. I got up, felt myself—no injuries; realized I'd been stunned. The commander, seeing me awake, patted my shoulder and handed my gun. Seeing people walking upright, I knew the battle was over. I asked: 'Where's Kurata-kun?' He said: 'He did his duty.' Not far, over thirty bodies lay side by side awaiting transport; I recognized them one by one and found Kurata. No longer curled, he lay flat, comfortably. His face waxy yellow, an arm blown off, abdominal blood soaking his uniform. I knelt beside him, tears unending. My mind kept thinking: I can't live either, because back home, I couldn't face that kind, always beautifully smiling woman; I can't live. Our unit advanced southeast; the column lacked many familiar faces. Before the unit crossed a mountain, I looked back once. Yingtian, a small town on the Xiang River's east bank..."   According to war history records: "On the morning of September 23, the Japanese Nara Detachment at Yanglin Street and the 6th Division near Qibutang west of Xin Qiang forcibly crossed the Xin Qiang River (shallow enough to wade). A portion of the Uemura Detachment, supported by naval vessels, assaulted landings at Lujiao and Jiumazui on the left flank of Chinese positions. The Chinese 2nd Division and 195th Division bravely resisted the facing enemy. At this time, the Japanese used over a hundred small boats to carry the main Uemura Detachment force, supported by naval guns and air fire, detouring via Heyehu and Guhu to land south of the Miluo River mouth, at Yingtian, Tuxing Port, Duigongzui, etc., with about 1,500 troops. The Chinese 95th Division immediately counterattacked. Around 10 a.m., the Japanese reinforced landings toward Qingshan, Yanjia Mountain, and Liuxing Mountain south of Yingtian. Chinese counterattacks in these areas failed, and the Japanese captured the line from Yingtian to Qianqiuping."   After triumphing at the Xin Qiang River and securing their perilous landing at Yingtian, Okamura Yasuji, adhering to his meticulously crafted deployment, drove his forces relentlessly toward the second defensive bulwark in northern Hunan, the formidable Miluo River, a line that could spell the difference between survival and annihilation. The Miluo River, snaking midway but northward between Yueyang and Changsha, stood as a natural fortress, a gift from the earth that Chinese forces could wield as a shield against the invaders. Chen Pei's 37th Army, under the 15th Army Group, had arrayed Liang Zhongjiang's 60th Division and Luo Qi's 95th Division along its southern bank, a wall of determination forged in the face of encroaching doom. With the Xin Qiang River defenses shattered and the Changsha region pulsing with tension, precious time was needed to fortify further, so Xue Yue issued a draconian order: do not abandon the Miluo River line under any circumstances. Over 20,000 officers and men of the 37th Army toiled ceaselessly through day and night, bolstering fortifications with sweat and resolve, their hearts heavy with the dread of the inferno soon to descend.   The 2nd Company of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Regiment of the 37th Army's 60th Division had been entrenched at Xinshi for a full three months, a vigil that turned the town into a pressure cooker of anticipation. Since the eruption of battle at the Xin Qiang River on September 18, the nerves of this riverside outpost had been strung taut, ready to snap at the slightest provocation. Yang Peyao, who would later endure a crippling foot wound that left him disabled, was then a fresh-faced one-year recruit, his innocence yet to be scorched by the fires of war. He harbored a naive conviction that combat was preferable to the drudgery of peacetime; training and fortification labor were exhausting, meals meager and uninspiring, but in the heat of battle, hardships seemed to vanish, and rations improved with each passing day. This notion stemmed from his unit's lack of real action since his enlistment, just endless standbys and guard duties where the enemy remained a phantom, never materializing.   That day marked the 13th of the eighth lunar month; Yang Peyao and his entire regiment stood on high alert at their positions beside the dock, as routine as the river's flow. The Xin Qiang River line had held for five grueling days and nights; since two days prior, front-line troops had been streaming southward in retreat, their weary forms a harbinger of the storm to come. Xinshi served as the vital crossroads of east-west and north-south highways, a choke point for withdrawals from the Xin Qiang River, and the precarious junction between the 60th and 95th Divisions of the 37th Army. Army Commander Chen Pei had personally inspected the defenses multiple times, his eyes scanning for any weakness that could unravel their stand. One fateful day, as Yang Peyao's battalion labored to thicken fortification covers, the commander and Division Commander Liang Zhongjiang strode by; Yang overheard the commander's voice, sharp as a blade, declaring to the division commander: "No words; execute on the spot!" After the officers vanished from sight, Yang turned to a grizzled 40-something veteran in his squad: "Uncle Zhao, don't know who the commander is so fierce about executing?" Old Zhao replied with the weary wisdom of one who had seen too much: "Once fighting starts, people die, some by devils' hands, some by officers'; that's a soldier's fate."   Around 10 a.m., regimental orders crackled through: Battle was imminent today; front-line troops would withdraw by noon, with Japanese hounds nipping at their heels; all positions must vigilantly scan the north bank; lunch would not be rotated, meals delivered straight to the lines. Yang Peyao positioned himself outside the fortification, peering intently across the water. The Miluo River stretched about 600 meters wide here, bridged by a military pontoon for vehicles linking the north-south highways. Not far upstream on the south bank loomed Xinshi Town; the highway skirted west of it, arrowing straight south to Changsha. With the town as a dividing line, the east fell under the 60th Division's domain, the west to the 95th; Yang's battalion clung to the division's edge, perilously adjacent to the town. Since assuming their post, he had heard tales of the south bank fortifications, erected over a full year: clusters of reinforced concrete bunkers interlinked in a defiant network. With reports of Japanese heavy artillery and aerial onslaughts at the Xin Qiang River, the commander had demanded further reinforcements, ensuring they could withstand multiple direct hits from the sky's fury.   At 11:30 a.m., the company phone buzzed with instructions to fetch lunch from the kitchen. As Yang Peyao and another recruit emerged, they beheld another unit trudging across the bridge, a grim procession of battered souls. These brothers had fought through hell itself, their forms caked in grime and soot, the Republic of China flag at their vanguard tattered and filthy like a discarded rag. Stretcher bearers hauled an endless line of wounded and lifeless bodies; Yang caught sight of one injured soldier sitting rigidly on his litter, his upper body and head swathed in bandages, only his wide, haunted eyes visible, staring blankly in his direction. The unit took nearly an hour to cross, a somber parade of exhaustion. Returning with empty bowls after their meal, Yang spotted two collection vehicles groaning under loads of supplies and stragglers rumbling over the bridge. Trailing not far behind were clusters of three to five refugees, burdened with children, their faces etched with desperation. Since taking position, Yang had witnessed such southward streams daily on this crucial route, ghosts fleeing the advancing nightmare.   Then the squad leader bellowed his name, jolting him back into the fortification. The company relayed urgent word: Japanese forces were tailing the 79th Army southward, poised to reach the Miluo River imminently. Before the squad leader could finish, the sharp "da-da-da" of machine gun fire erupted nearby. Yang's head buzzed with adrenaline; this was his first true taste of combat since enlisting. Though he had thumped his chest in pre-battle rallies, the real crackle of gunfire twisted his guts, nearly overwhelming him with fear. He dove to his assigned spot: assisting machine gunner Old Zhao by swapping ammo drums. Peering through the narrow firing slit, a vivid, stereoscopic tableau unfolded before him, forever seared into his memory.   A thin man in a blue gown, bespectacled like a rural teacher, hoisted a light machine gun, firing wildly as he charged; behind him, a woman clutched a child, racing northward from the bridge's center. Several farmer-like figures miraculously produced machine guns, blasting away while advancing; beside them, women, elders, and old crones, some crouched with hands over heads on the bridge, others fled back, a few leaped into the churning river. The chaos erupted so abruptly that even these battle-ready soldiers froze in shock. Two disguised Japanese assailants stormed the nearest semi-underground permanent fortification by the bridge, circling it while unleashing fire, likely hunting for an entry. One yanked a grenade pin with his teeth, jamming it through the slit; the air quivered silently before exploding, and they lunged toward another target.   Several Chinese soldiers, not yet hunkered in their bunkers, stood frozen, as if the pandemonium were a distant spectacle unrelated to them. In that surreal moment, Japanese machine guns spared these bystanders, fixating instead on the bridgehead bunkers. Then, a soldier erupted from a bunker with a primal yell, bayoneted rifle in hand, charging the armed intruders. As the Japanese wheeled around, he closed in, thrusting before bullets felled him, but his stab missed as they evaded; his cry was silenced mid-roar. Over a dozen members of this Japanese suicide squad, masquerading as fleeing Chinese civilians, surged toward the bridge's southern end; our machine guns finally thundered to life, dropping the invaders one by one on the span, yet the survivors pressed on in a desperate sprint.   Yang's machine gun roared to life; he watched battle-hardened Old Zhao, sweat streaming, eyes narrowed in fury, teeth gritted, lips pulled back in a savage grimace. They sealed the bridge with a hail of lead; amid the deafening cacophony, Yang caught a frantic shout: "Blow the bridge! Damn it, blow the bridge!" Yang braced for the nightmare of a Japanese bursting in, raking their backs with fire. But then, the bridgehead and the entire river defenses shuddered under a barrage of shells. From the first shot to now, mere minutes had elapsed; yet the opposite bank already bristled with khaki uniforms and the glaring Rising Sun flags fluttering like omens of death. What followed was a relentless alternation of aerial and artillery bombardments, a symphony of destruction. Later, Yang queried Old Zhao: Many in the suicide squad had crossed, so weren't they afraid of bombing their own? Old Zhao pondered deeply, then sighed with bitter resignation: "No matter the country, soldiers' lives are cheap."   As the bombing ceased, Japanese forces, now in plain sight and within lethal range, charged in waves from the bridge and through the water toward the south bank; one wave crumpled, only for another to rise, an unyielding, inexhaustible horde. Ammunition was plentiful in the fortification; Old Zhao mentioned three "bases" had been issued—Yang couldn't recall the exact rounds per base. Hours blurred into a frenzy, the ground carpeted with gleaming brass casings; this, Yang realized, was the commander's invocation of the "Art of War: 'Strike when half crossed'", a tactical masterstroke amid the carnage. Japanese blood stained this ancient, storied river crimson; Yang's reinforced concrete bastion cracked wide under the onslaught. In the cataclysmic blast of a heavy bomb from above, the other gunner bled from every orifice, collapsing unconscious and being dragged away. Old Zhao, eyes bloodshot and nose trickling red, paused during a drum swap: "Might not make it this time; don't forget me." Then, with grim pride: "Remember, killed 8 enemy, 1 horse."   At dusk, the Japanese assault faltered, granting a fleeting respite. The fortification's survivors scrambled out, frantically repairing and piling more soil. The company commander passed by, eyeing the fissure: "You guys are lucky; this is the best in the company." The squad leader inquired: "Heavy casualties?" The commander paused, his response evasive: "Depends how higher-ups say to fight." Soon after, orders circulated: Two per squad to retrieve ammo and rations from the company; prepare for nocturnal warfare. The squad leader dispatched Yang for rations, handling bullets himself. While distributing the meager sustenance, fresh word arrived: Immediate withdrawal.   As darkness enveloped the battlefield, our mortars and small mountain guns hammered the opposite Japanese positions. In column formation, Yang stole one last glance at this place of grueling training, endless drills, and now, brutal initiation. Fortifications erected over a year, inhabited for three months, defended for half a day. At the Xinshi positions on the Miluo River's south bank, recruit Yang Peyao had fought his first battle in his personal saga of the War of Resistance Against Japan. He emerged unscathed, no death or wound; alongside Old Zhao, they had felled 11 enemies and two horses. In a quiet revelation, he discovered Old Zhao wasn't the unflinching hero he proclaimed, trudging onward, Yang secretly tallied his insights. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. After debating Plans A and B, Chiang adopted Plan B, emphasizing resistance north of Changsha. Japanese forces assaulted Jiangxi and Hunan, capturing Gao'an briefly before Chinese troops, including the 74th Army, recaptured it. At Bijia Mountain, Shi Enhua's battalion held for four days, perishing entirely. The Uemura Detachment landed at Yingtian amid fierce resistance, suffering heavy losses. Defenders at the Miluo River repelled waves of attacks, with suicide squads and bombardments inflicting carnage before a tactical withdrawal.

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Explore the fascinating history of Mackinac Island during the War of 1812, including surprise attacks, strategic fortifications, and the legacy of Major Holmes. Discover how this pivotal location shaped regional and military history, often overlooked in mainstream narratives.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Mackinac Island's History02:48 The Strategic Importance of Mackinac Island05:38 The British Surprise Attack of 181208:17 Fortifications and Native Alliances11:09 The American Counterattack of 181413:57 The Tragic Fall of Major Holmes16:43 The Treaty of Ghent and Its Aftermath19:02 The Legacy of Fort Holmes21:39 Exploring Major Andrew Holmes24:23 The British Perspective on the War26:59 Visiting Fort Holmes Today29:15 Recap and Reflections on Mackinac Island resourcesFort Mackinac Official Site - https://example.com/fort-mackinacWar of 1812 - Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_1812

10. Infiltrating Trotsky's Compound Through Seduction Guest: Josh Ireland Summary: Ramon Mercader seduces Sylvia Ageloff to penetrate Trotsky's fortress in Mexico City. Despite the heavy guard and fortifications, Ramon gains the trust of the household by posing as a politically disinterested playboy. (10)1923 PRESIDIUM

Agrippa Hull: Liberty Requires Participation. Discover how Agrippa Hull, a free Black soldier in the American Revolution, became a forgotten patriot who fought for the promise of America. Agrippa Hull proved that freedom is not simply a gift to be received, but a legacy that must be earned through active participation. This episode explores his extraordinary service in the Continental Army, his close bond with General Tadeusz Kościuszko, and the enduring lesson his life offers at a time when too many citizens have become cynical, passive, and disconnected from the responsibilities of self-government. What You'll Learn: • How Agrippa Hull helped serve the American cause during the Revolutionary War • Why his partnership with Tadeusz Kościuszko reveals the deeper meaning of liberty • What Kościuszko's forgotten will and Thomas Jefferson's failure say about the unfinished work of freedom • How Hull's life as a soldier and landowner embodied citizenship, character, and responsibility • Why every generation must actively defend liberty or risk losing it

Welcome back to another episode of the Couple Casuals Podcast!In this episode, Stefano sits down with Corrie George — entrepreneur, founder of Canada First, and a leader in the home fortification industry — for a powerful conversation about entrepreneurship, crime in Canada, and why protecting your home has become more important than ever.Corrie shares his story growing up in a hardworking blue-collar family, learning discipline and attention to detail through his father's business, and how those early lessons shaped his journey into sales, leadership, and eventually building multiple successful companies.He explains how mastering sales became the foundation of entrepreneurship — treating business like a sport, breaking skills down into fundamentals, and training relentlessly to build real success.Throughout the episode, Stefano and Corrie dive into:• how discipline and work ethic shape successful entrepreneurs• why sales is the most important skill in business• the decline of trades and practical skills among younger generations• the influence of social media, technology, and culture on young men• why “follow your passion” may be bad advice for many people• how Corrie built massive sales organizations and trained hundreds of professionals• the problem with modern coaching and “get rich” guru culture• how Canada's rising crime rates are changing how people think about security• why traditional home security systems often fail to actually protect families• the real vulnerabilities in modern homes that criminals exploit• how Canada First was built to provide true home fortification solutions• the connection between bail laws, repeat offenders, and rising property crime• why Canadians are increasingly forced to take personal security seriouslyCorrie also explains the philosophy behind Canada First — focusing not just on alarms and cameras, but on physically strengthening homes to deter criminals before a break-in can even occur.This episode is a deep conversation about discipline, responsibility, entrepreneurship, and the reality of crime in Canada.Host: Stefano (stefo)Instagram: @drstefohttps://www.instagram.com/drstefo?igs...Guest: Corrie George Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/corriegeorgeofficial?igsh=ZTg4aXg0aGIzNzRxThis episode is brought to you by Canada First — secure your home with Canada's best home fortification. Visit https://canadafirst.com/ to learn more.Also, check out this value packed resource link specifically created for YOU by Canada First! http://canadafirst.com/giftCHAPTERS0:00 Intro0:30 Corrie & Canada First1:31 Working With MPs2:27 Blue Collar Roots5:32 Learning Discipline8:55 Sales At 11 Years Old10:45 Can Sales Be Taught?12:31 Business Like A Sport14:32 Youth In Decline?17:36 Trades vs University18:32 Cultural Degradation20:54 Purpose Over Passion21:42 Fake Coach Culture22:24 $70M Business Talk24:37 Teaching Real Business26:40 Why Canada First27:43 Leave Keys At Door?28:38 Why Alarms Fail30:47 Police Response Reality32:12 Security Film Explained33:44 Weak Homes In Canada34:44 Fortifying Entry Points36:11 Scaling The Company38:35 Fearmongering Debate39:29 Repeat Offenders40:55 Youth Crime Problem42:17 Crime By Region43:53 Why Criminals Win46:20 Bad Policy Effects48:26 Justice vs Vigilantes50:21 Self Defence Limits52:27 Best Home Upgrades54:26 Minimum Protection55:32 Insurance & Security56:40 Why Crime Is Rising57:16 Bill C-75 Explained58:24 Revolving Door Justice59:36 Immigration Debate1:00:32 Standards & Ethics1:02:12 Failed Leadership1:05:21 Weak Borders1:08:34 Soft Canada Image1:11:16 Public Safety First1:14:28 Criminal Incentives1:18:06 Media & Narrative1:21:42 Government Waste1:25:38 Health Care Oversight1:29:14 Education Concerns1:33:18 Wake-Up In Canada1:34:54 Proud To Be Canadian?1:37:26 Merit & Restoration1:38:28 Final Thoughts

A war is a series of battles won.  The American Revolution is no different.  For the colonies and George Washington to beat the larger British military force, individual battles had to be fought.  One victory won by the Patriots early on, did not involve a direct battle.  The Fortification of Dorchester Heights, and the subsequent British Evacuation of Boston, exemplifies the early genius of General Washington and the fortitude of hero Henry Knox.  Join our special guest, Professor Robert Allison, Professor of History at Suffolk University and Chair of Revolution 250, as we learn about these incredible events.

Hidden Hunger: The Importance of Micronutrients: Nutritionist Leyla Muedin focuses on the critical role of micronutrients—vitamins and minerals—in overall health. Leyla highlights the global issue of 'hidden hunger,' a deficiency in essential micronutrients that silently affects billions worldwide. She explains the impact of this deficit on immune function, growth, energy metabolism, and chronic disease prevention. The discussion includes key micronutrients like vitamins A, C, D, E, B complex, iron, zinc, iodine, and selenium, and their sources. Leyla underscores the need for dietary diversity, fortification, targeted supplementation, and nutritional awareness to combat this pervasive issue. She also advises on recognizing symptoms of deficiencies and the importance of individualized nutrition plans guided by healthcare professionals.

This week, we will be looking at some of the prayers and teachings about prayer from Paul in his letter to the church at Ephesus. In his letter, Paul prays for the Ephesian believers “to be strengthened with power through his Spirit” in their inner beings. Paul was praying a Prayer of Fortification for them.…

Send a textEpisode 96 – Survive the Cull11th Edition is on the horizon — and if history tells us anything, something isn't surviving the transition.In this episode, we look at which units across Warhammer 40,000 might be on borrowed time. From Space Marine redundancies to Astra Militarum edge cases, and the quiet decline of Flyers and Fortifications, we break down the patterns behind the cull.This isn't panic — it's pattern recognition.Cull doesn't mean death. But it does mean change.Support the showSupport the Podcast If you're enjoying the show and want to help keep Wobbly Player Syndrome rolling, Patreon is the single best way to support the channel. Your support helps cover hosting, gear, production time, and lets us keep improving the podcast while staying independent. You also get access to behind-the-scenes updates, polls, and exclusive content as the channel grows. Support us on Patreon: Patreon is live – jump in and help shape the future of the show. Prefer to watch instead of listen? You can also catch the full podcast on YouTube over on The RedBelly Forge channel. Want to support without spending a cent? Following, subscribing, liking, and sharing the episode goes a long way—and we genuinely appreciate it. However you support, thanks for being part of the community and helping keep the Warp whispering. Optional Support (Affiliate Link) If you're already picking up hobby supplies, you can also support the podcast by shopping through our Gap Games affiliate link. It doesn't cost you anything extra, but it does add a tracking cookie and gives the channel a small kickback that helps cover running costs. Totally optional—just another way to support t...

Global Treasures takes a journey to the Fortifications on the Caribbean Side of Panama - Portobelo-Fort San Lorenzo. This UNESCO world heritage site has incredibly preserved 17th and 18th century fortifications that were once attacked by pirates. Learn about the history and why this should be your next travel destination. Camping Gear: https://amzn.to/4ily86e  VRBO: https://vrbo.tpk.mx/NYqsJ21s  Plannin Tours: https://plann.in/FCVtVL  ESim: https://drimsim.tpk.mx/7T27eEcf  Barvita (Code ABIGAILVACCA gets you 15% off your first order): https://barvita.co/?ref=ABIGAILVACCA Follow Global Treasures on Social Media and check out my blog: Blog: Globaltreasurestravel.com  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?tid=100093258132336 Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@globaltreasurespodcast

Sunday, February 6, 2026Chris BennettMatthew 21:23-27

Welcome back to Episode #199 of the PricePlow Podcast! Today we’re diving deep into the science and innovation behind functional proteins with Brad Meyers, VP of Functional Proteins and Snacking at Glanbia. This conversation explores how the supplement and functional foods industry is evolving to meet growing consumer demands for higher protein, lower sugar products that actually taste good, all while navigating the rapid market transformation driven by GLP-1 medications and changing lifestyles. Brad brings over 20 years of food ingredients experience to the table, including a fascinating background in sweeteners and natural ingredients before specializing in proteins. In this episode, we explore the food science fundamentals that make or break protein-fortified products, from understanding Maillard browning reactions to solving the infamous protein bar hardness problem. We also get an inside look at Glanbia’s extensive applications lab capabilities, including their OvenPro platform specifically designed for high-protein baked goods, and discuss innovative future product concepts that could reshape on-the-go protein consumption. Subscribe to the PricePlow Podcast on your favorite platform, and sign up for Glanbia news alerts below before we dive in! https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/glanbia-functional-proteins-199 Video: Functional Protein Innovation with Brad Meyers from Glanbia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcE2kcUwyfQ Detailed Show Notes: Brad Meyers Breaks Down the Science Behind Better-For-You Functional Foods (0:00) – Introduction and Brad’s Background in Food Science (4:45) – Career Versatility and Food Science Opportunities (6:00) – Market Evolution: From Sports Nutrition to Lifestyle Nutrition (8:00) – The GLP-1 Effect: Supercharging Consumer Interest in Protein (9:45) – Taste is King: Consumer Research Across Categories (11:45) – From Theory to Practice: Why Sugar Does More Than Sweeten (14:00) – Food Engineering Fundamentals: Mass Balance in Formulation (15:15) – Food Chemistry 101: Browning Reactions and Protein Behavior (17:30) – Protein’s Impact on Texture: The Moisture and Chewiness Challenge (19:30) – The Protein Bar Hardness Problem: Choosing the Right Proteins (22:45) – Consumer Demands: More Protein, Less Sugar, Better Taste (27:45) – Protein as a Health Signal: Consumer Perception Research (29:00) – Market Gaps: White Space for Innovation (35:00) – OvenPro Platform: Purpose-Built Proteins for Baked Goods (37:00) – Glanbia’s Unique Approach: Deep Applications Expertise (38:45) – The Development Ecosystem: Ingredients, Brands, and Co-Manufacturers (40:45) – Beyond Protein: Full-Service Applications Support (43:45) – Speed to Market: From Concept to Finished Product in 48 Hours (45:45) – Protein Supply Realities: No Shortage on the Horizon (47:45) – Dairy vs. Plant Proteins: Applying Expertise Across Sources (50:15) – OvenPro and Wheat: Flour Replacement vs. Fortification (51:30) – Future Product Concepts: The Frozen Protein Pouch Idea (53:45) – Technical Requirements for Pouch Manufacturing (56:45) – GLP-1 Consumer Segmentation: Not a Monolithic Group (1:00:15) – Market Size and Growth Projections for … Read more on the PricePlow Blog

Welcome back to Episode #199 of the PricePlow Podcast! Today we’re diving deep into the science and innovation behind functional proteins with Brad Meyers, VP of Functional Proteins and Snacking at Glanbia Nutritionals. This conversation explores how the supplement and functional foods industry is evolving to meet growing consumer demands for higher protein, lower sugar products that actually taste good, all while navigating the rapid market transformation driven by GLP-1 medications and changing lifestyles. Brad brings over 20 years of food ingredients experience to the table, including a fascinating background in sweeteners and natural ingredients before specializing in proteins. In this episode, we explore the food science fundamentals that make or break protein-fortified products, from understanding Maillard browning reactions to solving the infamous protein bar hardness problem. We also get an inside look at Glanbia’s extensive applications lab capabilities, including their OvenPro platform specifically designed for high-protein baked goods, and discuss innovative future product concepts that could reshape on-the-go protein consumption. Subscribe to the PricePlow Podcast on your favorite platform, and sign up for Glanbia Nutritionals news alerts below before we dive in! https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/glanbia-nutritionals-functional-proteins-199 Video: Functional Protein Innovation with Brad Meyers from Glanbia Nutritionals https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcE2kcUwyfQ Detailed Show Notes: Brad Meyers Breaks Down the Science Behind Better-For-You Functional Foods (0:00) – Introduction and Brad’s Background in Food Science (4:45) – Career Versatility and Food Science Opportunities (6:00) – Market Evolution: From Sports Nutrition to Lifestyle Nutrition (8:00) – The GLP-1 Effect: Supercharging Consumer Interest in Protein (9:45) – Taste is King: Consumer Research Across Categories (11:45) – From Theory to Practice: Why Sugar Does More Than Sweeten (14:00) – Food Engineering Fundamentals: Mass Balance in Formulation (15:15) – Food Chemistry 101: Browning Reactions and Protein Behavior (17:30) – Protein’s Impact on Texture: The Moisture and Chewiness Challenge (19:30) – The Protein Bar Hardness Problem: Choosing the Right Proteins (22:45) – Consumer Demands: More Protein, Less Sugar, Better Taste (27:45) – Protein as a Health Signal: Consumer Perception Research (29:00) – Market Gaps: White Space for Innovation (35:00) – OvenPro Platform: Purpose-Built Proteins for Baked Goods (37:00) – Glanbia’s Unique Approach: Deep Applications Expertise (38:45) – The Development Ecosystem: Ingredients, Brands, and Co-Manufacturers (40:45) – Beyond Protein: Full-Service Applications Support (43:45) – Speed to Market: From Concept to Finished Product in 48 Hours (45:45) – Protein Supply Realities: No Shortage on the Horizon (47:45) – Dairy vs. Plant Proteins: Applying Expertise Across Sources (50:15) – OvenPro and Wheat: Flour Replacement vs. Fortification (51:30) – Future Product Concepts: The Frozen Protein Pouch Idea (53:45) – Technical Requirements for Pouch Manufacturing (56:45) – GLP-1 Consumer Segmentation: Not a Monol… Read more on the PricePlow Blog

Source Sheet

Kevin Passmore, professor of History at Cardiff University and author of The Maginot Line: A New History, joins the show to talk about the most elaborate fortification system of the 20th century and why it failed. ▪️ Times 02:03 Attacking the Maginot Line 05:53 Fortifications and Warfare 11:48 Flexibility vs Depth 15:38 A Total Commitment to War 19:49 French Defensive Concepts 22:42 Living in the Line 27:31 Decision in Belgium  36:22 Breaking the Enemy's Will  39:36 Ukrainian Fortifications Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find more content on our School of War Substack

Professor Barry Strauss. Following Nero's suicide and the chaotic Year of the Four Emperors, Vespasian claimed the throne while his son Titus moved to besiege Jerusalem. The rebels believed their fortifications and supplies made the city impregnable, unaware that internal strife would soon undermine their defenses against Rome. 1492

By the late 7th century, the Byzantine Empire was no longer dealing with distant desert tribes — it was facing relentless pressure from neighboring Arab forces that had grown organized, ideological, and aggressive. Manuscripts, military correspondence, and archaeological evidence reveal a civilization that was forced into constant vigilance as border regions were harassed, raided, and, in many cases, overtaken.What began as a peripheral conflict quickly became an existential threat. The Byzantines learned — often too late — that sustained cultural and spiritual pressure can weaken even the most established Christian civilizations. Fortifications increased. Diplomacy shifted. Entire provinces were lost. Not because Byzantium lacked faith, but because the nature of the threat had changed.These patterns matter today. The past shows that spiritual worldviews do not remain private. They shape law, culture, family structures, and public life. When a belief system expands, it seeks space — socially, politically, and spiritually. Scripture calls Christians not to respond with fear, but with discernment and prayer. America and its cities are experiencing cultural pressure that mirrors older historical cycles. Prayer is not passive. It is resistance. Christians are called to intercede, to stand watch, and to ask God to protect nations from spiritual deception, cultural erosion, and the loss of truth.The Byzantine experience stands as a warning — and a call.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

War-War: NATO Provocations and American Detachment from Europe — Gaius & Germanicus — Gaius reports on escalating aggressive rhetoric from NATO and fortification initiatives throughout the Baltic region, questioning whether these military deployments constitute "false flag" provocations deliberately designed to entrap the United Statesin direct warfare with Russia. Germanicus contends that European elites are systematically manufacturing an external Russian crisis to maintain institutional power and governmental legitimacy against ascending populist movements and deep-seated fear of abandonment by the new American "Emperor." Germanicus draws a historical parallel to the permanent schism of the Roman Empire in 395 AD, characterizing the United States as the prosperous, militarily secure Eastern Empire (Byzantine Constantinople) and contemporary Europe as the economically weak, militarily collapsing Western Empire facing irreversible institutional decay. Germanicus argues that just as Constantinople eventually ceased attempting to save the disintegrating Western Empire from Vandal invasions and territorial collapse, the United States is strategically detaching from European geopolitical failures, recognizing that continued military commitment represents strategic wastage of American resources without corresponding security benefit. Germanicus emphasizes that European strategic incompetence and political cowardice render European salvation impossible through Americanmilitary intervention, making strategic withdrawal the rational American policy response. 1944 GOLD BEACH H-HOUR

PREVIEW — Anatol Lieven — Baltic States Fortifications and the Improbability of Russian Invasion. Lieven discusses Baltic state border fortification initiatives responding to legitimate security anxieties generated by Russian military operations in Ukraine and historic patterns of Russian territorial expansion and sphere-of-influence assertions. Lievenargues, however, that an actual Russian military invasion of NATO member states remains strategically improbable because attacking alliance members would catastrophically ruin Putin's geopolitical objectives by forcibly uniting Western powers in collective defense and risking direct great-power nuclear confrontation, rather than achieving Putin'sapparent goal of dividing European cohesion and fractioning the transatlantic alliance through coercive diplomacy and limited military operations short of direct NATO engagement. 1913

Show some f***ing respect. Today, Marcus, Luke and Pete explain why they expected more from Swiss football fans after the lovely Donyell Malen was targeted with missiles last night. They are meant to be neutral after all…Elsewhere, Sean Dyche is starting to build a successful fort at Nottingham Forest and we've got a thigh rubber between Chelsea and Arsenal this weekend. Plus, Donny's forced to once again relive the trauma of his Holloway Road Christmas lights disaster.Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brian Sanders discussed updates on his "Food Lies" film, which is being pitched to Netflix. He shared his dietary journey, emphasizing the benefits of unfortified rice and bone broth. Sanders highlighted the issues with processed foods, including oxalates in spinach and kale, and the importance of whole foods. He advocated for a diet rich in animal foods and fermented vegetables, noting their positive impact on gut health and overall well-being. Sanders also mentioned his use of oyster supplements to boost testosterone and his personal health improvements, including not getting sick in nine years.0:00:00 - Intro 0:00:21 - Food Lies & Pushback 0:02:20 - Keto Diet & Adding Carbs 0:07:20 - Grain Differences in Countries 0:08:40 - Eating Like Grandparents 0:09:55 - Kale, Spinach, Oxalates & AG10:16:35 - Bread, Fortification, Fiber & Whole Foods 0:22:28 - Colon Cancer, Meat & Toxins 0:26:55 - The System, Hierarchy, Covid & Conspiracy 0:32:54 - Truth in Nature 0:36:05 - Brian's Meals, Meat & Protein 0:39:45 - Response to Bryant Johnson & Tracking 0:41:35 - Vitamin D, the Sun, Hormones & Protein 0:43:45 - Avoiding Sickness & Covid 0:47:10 - Fermented Foods & Gut Health 0:50:34 - Artificial Testosterone & Oyster Supplement 0:54:40 - Cancer & Soy 0:57:30 - Trying Diets & Nutrient Calories 1:01:30 - Promotions & Messaging 1:03:33 - Outro Food Lies film:https://www.foodlies.org/Nose to Tail:https://nosetotail.org/Chuck Shute link tree:https://linktr.ee/chuck_shuteSupport the showThanks for Listening & Shute for the Moon!

The Bible records that King David's grandson, King Rehoboam, fortified 15 cities in the kingdom of Judah almost 3,000 years ago. The biggest of these was Lachish, recognized as Judah's second most important city after Jerusalem. Prof. Yosef Garfinkel of Hebrew University is currently excavating at Tel Lachish. Two days before the end of the excavation, Let the Stones Speak host Brent Nagtegaal sat down with Professor Garfinkel to view the massive city wall his team is unearthing. https://armstronginstitute.org/1257-new-excavations-king-rehoboams-fortifications-at-lachish

What if one conversation could completely change how you advocate for your baby in the NICU? In this episode of the Empowering NICU Parents Podcast, NICU mom and Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, Nicole Nyberg is joined by Dr. Melinda Elliott, neonatologist and Chief Medical Officer at Prolacta Bioscience. Together, they dive deep into the emotional and clinical realities of life in the NICU—highlighting the critical role that parents play in their baby's care from day one. You'll hear powerful insight on why skin-to-skin contact is far more than a comfort measure, how to ask the right questions about your baby's feeding plan, and why human milk-based fortifiers can be a game changer in preventing serious complications like NEC. And here's something every NICU parent needs to know: just because something is called a “human milk fortifier” doesn't mean it's made from human milk. That's why it's essential to ask what your baby is truly being fed—and why it matters. Whether you're a NICU parent navigating the unknown or a clinician committed to improving outcomes, this conversation will leave you feeling informed, supported, and inspired to take action. Dr. Brown's Medical: https://www.drbrownsmedical.com Our NICU Roadmap: A Comprehensive NICU Journal: https://empoweringnicuparents.com/nicujournal/ NICU Mama Hats: https://empoweringnicuparents.com/hats/ NICU Milestone Cards: https://empoweringnicuparents.com/nicuproducts/ Newborn Holiday Cards: https://empoweringnicuparents.com/shop/ Empowering NICU Parents Show Notes: https://empoweringnicuparents.com/shownotes/ Episode 71 Show Notes: https://empoweringnicuparents.com/episode71 Empowering NICU Parents Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/empoweringnicuparents/ Empowering NICU Parents FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/empoweringnicuparents Pinterest Page: https://pin.it/36MJjmH

Send us a textToday we are joined by Dr Radhika Madali, who is a third year NICU fellow from Children's Hospital at Montefiore, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY. We talked about the QI efforts that she took during her fellowship in implementing faster enteral feed advancement and early fortification in a level IV neonatal intensive care unit. She shared the multidisciplinary experience that she developed with this project and also appreciates the support and mentorship she received. Radhika also shared insights on other projects that she got involved in- notably investigating the impact of glycemic variability on treatment-requiring ROP. She shared about her experience being a representative to the Fellowship Recruitment Action Team (FRAT) from the AAP Section on Pediatric Training. As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

How Fortification Makes Our Food And Our Planet Healthier Happy Earth Day! “Fortifying food is a simple but powerful way to make sure that plant-based eating is not just kinder to the planet but also good for people's health… And what the word actually means is ‘to make something stronger'. In this way, it is helping to fight both malnutrition and climate change.” Written by Simon Middleton at ProVeg.org. #vegan #plantbased #plantbasedbriefing #proveg #climatechange #fortification #nutrition #vitaminD #VitaminB12 #iron ======================== Top 15 Plant Based Food Podcasts I'm pleased to be listed in the top 15 Plant Based Food Podcasts! Check out the list here: https://podcast.feedspot.com/plant_based_food_podcasts/ ========================== Original post: https://proveg.org/news/how-fortification-makes-our-food-and-planet-healthier/  Related Episodes: 379: The Significant, Unalloyed Goodness of Replacing Animal Agriculture https://plantbasedbriefing.libsyn.com/379-the-significant-unalloyed-goodness-of-replacing-animal-agriculture-by-dr-karthik-sekar-at-aftermeatbookcom    ===================== ProVeg International is a food awareness organization striving for a world where everyone chooses delicious and healthy food that is good for all humans, animals, and the planet. Their mission is to reduce the global consumption of animals by 50% by the year 2040. They aim to transform the global food system by replacing conventional animal-based products with plant-based and cultured alternatives. ProVeg works with international decision-making bodies, governments, food producers, investors, the media, and the general public to help the world transition to a society and economy that are less dependent on animal agriculture and more sustainable for humans, animals, and the planet. ======================== FOLLOW THE SHOW ON: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@plantbasedbriefing     Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2GONW0q2EDJMzqhuwuxdCF?si=2a20c247461d4ad7 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/plant-based-briefing/id1562925866 Your podcast app of choice: https://pod.link/1562925866 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlantBasedBriefing   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/plant-based-briefing/   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/plantbasedbriefing/     

“Watchdog” NGO attacks ivermectin as quack cancer fix—while studies support its potential benefits; China tariffs will impact supplements for humans—but also key nutritional ingredients for food, agriculture; Supreme Court rules on flavored vape products aimed at kids—as 17 year old cheerleader sidelined with “popcorn lung”; Tips for dealing with spring allergies.

Welcome to the Super Earth Podcast, a Helldivers Radio Stream. Each week DB, Snuff, and Bacon explore the rich lore, intricate gameplay mechanics, latest news, and intense multiplayer experiences that have captivated gamers worldwide. From epic battles in distant planets to heart-pounding moments of triumph and defeat, our podcast dives deep into the heart of what makes Helldivers 2 a truly unforgettable gaming experience. Email us at superearthpod@gmail.com Join us on Discord - https://discord.gg/ZRbMhzwMHK

David Betz, Professor of War in the Modern World at King's College London and author of The Guarded Age: Fortification in the Twenty-First Century, joins the show to discuss how fortification is alive, well, and everywhere.  ▪️ Times      •      01:22 Introduction     •      01:53 A default condition     •     13:20 Why is that there?      •      22:13 Alexandrian foundations      •      28:50 Security and mobility         •      39:53 The pendulum swings     •      48:54 Intrigue   Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcript of today's episode on our School of War Substack

//The Wire//2300Z January 27, 2025////ROUTINE////BLUF: DIPLOMATIC SCANDAL ERUPTS, IS QUICKLY RESOLVED, BETWEEN THE U.S. AND COLOMBIA. SKIRMISH BREAKS OUT ON SOUTHERN U.S. BORDER NEAR FRONTON, TX.// -----BEGIN TEARLINE------International Events-France: A 14-year-old was murdered by two as-yet-unidentified assailants in Paris. The boy died after being stabbed for refusing to give up his phone to the attackers, who were later arrested. Local police have stated that both assailants had previously been arrested for violent crime.Colombia: Diplomatic tensions remain high following a brief scandal involving deportations over the weekend. Trouble began when Colombian authorities refused to allow two American deportation flights to land in their country. Immediately following this development, the United States imposed a 25% tariff on all Colombian trade with the United States, and canceled all of the visas for all Columbian government officials in the United States. A few hours after President Trump posted these terms on his social media account, Colombia relented and will now accept all deportation flights as previously agreed. As a result, the United States has removed the threat of tariffs, and has resumed the status quo. AC: While short-lived, this diplomatic spat has largely served as a very strong message in the diplomatic arena, and proven that the United States government will not hesitate to impose tariffs.Middle East: Tensions have flared again following the ceasefire in Gaza as territorial aspirations have become more publicly known. Over the weekend, President Trump made his policy position more clear by desiring Gaza to be completely abandoned by the Palestinians. Specifically, he stated that "You're talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing".Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC): Conflict has intensified once again following the rapid advance of M23 rebels in the eastern region of the war-torn nation. Over the weekend the Rwandan-backed (and ethnically Tutsi) M23 rebels conducted a rapid advance into the city of Goma in eastern DRC. -HomeFront-Texas: One individual was shot by military police as they attempted to breach the perimeter of JBSA - Fort Sam Houston Saturday afternoon. AC: So far, very few details have been released regarding this incident, however the individual was reportedly attempting to enter the installation via the Walters Gate. The assailant was treated at a local hospital.Indiana: Mathew Huttle was shot and killed by State Police during a traffic stop in Jasper yesterday evening. AC: Huttle was recently pardoned by President Trump as part of the J6 pardons. Right now, the circumstances of this incident are unclear, however the shooting allegedly took place after Huttle resisted arrest. What originally prompted the traffic stop, and the attempt to arrest him remains unknown. As such, in the absence of information the larger context of many J6 prisoners being re-arrested on state charges must be considered as many loose ends pertaining to the J6 incident remain unresolved.USA: Deportations continue as before, with many ICE raids taking place in many major cities throughout the United States. Fortification efforts at the southern border continue as thousands of troops arrive and begin deterrence and security operations.This afternoon, Texas DPS officials reported a skirmish along the border in the Rio Grande Valley Sector, near the town of Fronton. A suspected Cartel element (of unknown size) attempting to aid illegals in their entry to the United States opened fire with small arms on unidentified American forces on the American side of the river. No casualties were reported on either side as a result of the engagement, though the crossing of illegals was halted as the suspected Cartel members broke contact and egressed from the area.

Zach, Amin and Mayes are a couple of Level 4 Naughty Listers who have drawn the ire of Santa's Enforcement Logistics and Fortification squad. Will they be able to make a complete reversal in character and morality in time to save Christmas? CINEPHOBE MERCH STORE - Check it out here: https://bit.ly/CTDMERCH Join the Count The Dings Patreon for Rewatchingtons, Ad-Free Episodes, Extended Cold Opens and more at www.patreon.com/CountTheDings Cinephobe is now on Youtube! Subscribe and check out CT5s and Look At This Photograph on Video. Subscribe to Cinephobe! Then Rate 5 Stars on Apple or Spotify. Follow Cinephobe on Twitter, Instagram & Threads: CTD @countthedings IG: @cinephobepod Threads: @cinephobepod  Zach Harper @talkhoops IG: @talkhoops Threads: @talkhoops Amin Elhassan @darthamin IG: @darthamin Threads: @darthamin  Anthony Mayes @cornpuzzle IG: @cornpuzzle Threads: @cornpuzzle Email: cinephobepodcast@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A siege engine is a weapon used to destroy fortifications such as defensive walls, castles, bunkers and fortified gateways.   A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin fortis ("strong") and facere ("to make").[1]

Blade of Frontiers (not Wyll). In September 2024, the Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities announced new discoveries including a sword inscribed with the names of Ramesses II, King of Egypt. In this episode, we discuss the weapon and its origins, as well as the larger significance of the fortress in which this discovery occurred. Who did the sword belong to? What was this fortress guarding against? Egyptian swords in museum collections: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/545558 https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA5425 https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA52850 https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA36769 The Egyptian army and warfare: The Old Kingdom (c.2500—2200 BCE): Spotify and Website. Grave of the Unknown Warriors (c.2000 BCE): Spotify. The Army of Sety I (c.1300 BCE), Part 1: Spotify. The Army of Sety I (c.1300 BCE), Part 2: Spotify. The New Kingdom (c.1500—1150 BCE): Spotify and YouTube. Ian Shaw, Ancient Egyptian Warfare (Oxford, 2019). C. Vogel, The Fortifications of Ancient Egypt 3000-1780 BC (Botley, 2010). E. F. Morris, The Architecture of Imperialism: Military Bases and the Evolution of Foreign Policy in Egypt's New Kingdom (Leiden, 2005). B. McDermott, Warfare in Ancient Egypt (Stroud, 2004). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stéphane Bern nous entraîne très haut dans le temps, dans les années 900, à la rencontre de Harald « à la dent bleue », le premier roi viking converti, considéré comme le père de la nation danoise, qui a donné son nom au bluetooth aussi... Quels changements profonds le règne d'Harald à la Dent bleue a-t-il entrainés en terre scandinave dans la seconde moitié du Xe siècle ? Quelles sont les origines de ce surnom emblématique ?Quelle est sa postérité au Danemark ?Pour en parler, Stéphane Bern reçoit Lucie Malbos, historienne, maîtresse de conférences en histoire médiévale à l'Université de Poitiers, spécialiste du monde scandinave au premier Moyen Âge, et auteure de "Harald à la Dent bleue" et "Les peuples du Nord. De Fróði à Harald l'Impitoyable" (Passés Composés).

From last Saturday's radio show: 1:23 Understanding Investment Scams 4:58 Protecting Your Identity 7:25 The Downsides of Credit Freezing 9:04 Importance of Two-Factor Authentication 10:02 Roth Conversion Strategies 12:36 Navigating Social Media Confusion 15:11 The Model Military Aircraft Museum 17:21 Analyzing ETF Recommendations 22:15 Simplifying Investment Strategies 27:39 The Role of a Fiduciary Advisor 33:35 Tailoring Financial Advice for Pilots 35:07 Security for Social Security Numbers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Questions? Comments?From last Saturday's radio show:1:23 Understanding Investment Scams4:58 Protecting Your Identity7:25 The Downsides of Credit Freezing9:04 Importance of Two-Factor Authentication10:02 Roth Conversion Strategies12:36 Navigating Social Media Confusion15:11 The Model Military Aircraft Museum17:21 Analyzing ETF Recommendations22:15 Simplifying Investment Strategies27:39 The Role of a Fiduciary Advisor33:35 Tailoring Financial Advice for Pilots35:07 Security for Social Security NumbersLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Suspected ISIS members have been crossing the southern border, the Supreme Court overturns the bump stock ban, the New York Times reports on the next election 'fortification,' and much more. For reference material, see the YouTube post of this episode: https://youtu.be/sYiE9_QBgXY     For all things show-related: www.mattchristiansenmedia.com 

Have you ever found yourself confused by the countless diet trends and conflicting nutrition advice circulating online and in the media? If so, you're not alone. In a world filled with misinformation and pseudoscience, it can be challenging to separate fact from fiction when it comes to healthy eating. That's why I'm excited to share with you my latest podcast episode featuring the brilliant Dr. Idrees, a medical doctor and nutrition expert who is on a mission to debunk diet myths and provide evidence-based insights. In this conversation, Dr. Idrees tackles some of the most controversial topics in nutrition, from the role of sugar and artificial sweeteners to the gluten-free craze and the cardio vs. strength training debate. If you're ready to clear up the confusion and gain a deeper understanding of the science behind healthy eating, then this podcast episode is a must-listen. Dr. Idrees Mughal (known as Dr Idz) is a UK trained Medical Doctor, with an additional Master's degree in Nutritional Research and is Board-Certified in Lifestyle Medicine. On Jan 1st 2021, Dr Idz took it upon himself to directly respond to content creators and to call-out the harmful and inaccurate advice being given to the public. Since then, he has amassed over 1.5 million followers across the Tiktok and Instagram platforms and now gets tagged in over 200 videos a day from followers asking for his input. What we discuss… (00:00) Health Expert Debunks Nutrition Myths (08:08) Building a Social Media Health Platform (20:34) Social Media and Evidence-Based Information (25:49) Natural vs. Artificial Food Debunked (36:21) Debunking Nutrition Science Myths (49:28) Ultra-Processed Foods and Fortification (58:28) Debunking Myths About Sugar and Nutrition (01:08:51) Debunking Myths (01:17:49) Gluten-Free Marketing and Gut Health (01:24:42) Probiotics, Cardio, and Strength Training (01:38:38) The Nuances of Fitness Aspiration (01:46:12) Optimizing Health and Longevity …and more! Thank you to our sponsors: Magic Mind: Head over to www.magicmind.com/jen and use code Jen at checkout.  BiOptimizers: Use code JC10 for 10% off and shop here: bioptimizers.com/jennifercohen Find more from Jen:  Website: https://www.jennifercohen.com/ Instagram: @therealjencohen   Books: https://www.jennifercohen.com/books Speaking: https://www.jennifercohen.com/speaking-engagement Find more from Dr. Idrees Mughal: Website:  https://www.schoolofdridz.com/  Book: Saturated Fats: A Myth Busting Guide To Diet and Nutrition In A World of Misinformation Instagram: @dr_idz