The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 478 The Marshal's Order

Big Li had no time to continue fighting with the Russian soldiers on the top of the mountain who were dazed and had not yet recovered from the brief dizziness after the violent explosion. He quickly rushed through the crowd to the position that had been blown beyond recognition by Russian artillery fire, and looked down.

This sight made Li even more shocked. The scene on the hillside was not much different from that on the top of the mountain. There were also a large group of Russian soldiers who had just experienced the horrific baptism of conscienceless artillery and were charging towards the top of the mountain. Some of the Russian soldiers in the front even seemed to be unable to stand steadily, and some had blood all over their faces, looking very hideous.

These Russian troops ignored the booming sound of mortar shells falling all around them and had begun to charge up the mountain amid the shouts of their officers.

Fortunately, within the range of thirty to fifty meters in front of the position, there were more than twenty shocking huge bomb craters filled with incomplete Russian soldiers' bodies and bodies of those who were intact but had bleeding facial features and were killed by the shock. If it weren't for the unscrupulous artillery that stopped and delayed them, these Russian soldiers would have been on the top of the mountain by now.

Despite this, the Russian troops who began to charge again were only fifty or sixty meters away from the top of the mountain.

"Bang!" Big Li raised his gun and shot. A big Russian soldier standing in front was hit in the chest by his shot and fell face down on the hillside.

Facing thousands of Russian soldiers so close, even if he could kill a few of them with one shot, just when Li felt his scalp tingling, "bang bang bang", gunshots rang out beside him again, and they were getting more and more frequent.

Just when the large group of Russian troops slowed down for a moment, groups of grenades were thrown out from behind the big guy Li who was still shooting desperately, and fell into the dense crowd of Russian charging troops. A series of "boom boom boom" explosions finally slowed down the pace of the Russian army's attack.

As more soldiers rushed to the position, the sound of heavy machine gun fire finally rang out, killing and wounding the charging Russian troops in large numbers. Those who were not dead crawled around looking for shelter from the rain of bullets.

Only then did Li Daguo feel relieved.

Mortars were helping to intercept subsequent Russian attack forces, the heavy machine guns on the mountain had been carried to the position, and they also had grenades as a powerful weapon. There was no doubt that they would repel the Russian charge this time.

Soon, the attacking Russian troops began to flee down the mountain under the sound of grenade explosions and intensive firepower.

Wu Zijia, who was also nervous about using the reverse slope tactics for the first time, rushed to the top of the mountain with his guard platoon. Seeing that the soldiers were still relentlessly shooting at the backs of the fleeing Russian troops, he hurriedly asked Li Daguo to stop the soldiers from using firepower to pursue the retreating Russian troops.

"Hurry up and retreat to the reverse slope position, the foreign devils will open fire soon"

It was not until the evening that Wu Peifu hurried down from his position amid the aroma of food and the howling north wind.

Since the Japanese and Russian troops had been launching continuous fierce attacks on the Kuangkou position defended by the Fifth Town since last night, the officers and soldiers on the position could only find time to eat a few cold steamed buns and could not even drink a sip of hot water. The defense troops on the mountain position had a very difficult time.

For some unknown reason, the Japanese-Russian coalition forces that were blocked at Kuangkou at the foot of the mountain actually stopped their attack an hour and a half ago, which was rare. This made Wu Peifu feel a little strange. After waiting for more than an hour, he saw that not only was there no movement from the Japanese-Russian coalition forces, but there was even smoke rising from the foot of the mountain.

Could it be that the foreign devils were exhausted and wanted to take a break and eat before fighting again? That's why they stopped attacking?

Wu Peifu left the battlefield with a lot on his mind. Just as he was about to walk into his command post, he almost bumped into Chief of Staff Li Baihui who came out in a hurry.

As soon as he saw Wu Peifu, Li Baihui excitedly pulled Wu Peifu towards the headquarters and said, "Town Commander, the Marshal sent someone to deliver a message to us. The Marshal said that our Fifth Regiment fought well and that the Town Commander did not bring shame to him."

"What else did the Marshal say?" Wu Peifu asked calmly.

What Wu Peifu valued most was Teng Yuzao's praise, not because Teng Yuzao was his teacher, nor because Teng Yuzao was the commander of the vanguard army. In Wu Peifu's view, Teng Yuzao was the general in the country who understood Western warfare best, and he had the most say and right to evaluate the success of a battle or campaign.

With Teng Yuzao's evaluation, he was more confident in himself.

Especially when he thought about how he was a private who was accidentally recruited to the vanguard army by Teng Yuzhao, and then accepted him as a student and trained him carefully, and how he has come to where he is today, he felt filled with emotion.

Seeing Wu Peifu calmly asking Teng Yuzhao if he had anything else to say, Li Baihui hurriedly spoke again.

"The Marshal also said that the Fourth and Second Towns have already squeezed the foreign devils within 20 miles north of Kuangkou, and will start a large-scale artillery bombardment of the foreign devils at 21:00 tonight. We should also be prepared, and our mortars should also participate in the battle."

"The timing of the general attack is based on the signal flares, one red and two green."

Li Baihui said lightly, "The Marshal also told us to be careful to guard against the foreign devils who might wade across the river when they are desperate."

"It's so cold, and the foreigners have to wade through the river. They will be frozen to death. They can't even run, let alone fight."

"Town Commander, the foreign devils have hardly stopped attacking us since last night. You haven't had a good meal since last night. It's hard to have a break. You should hurry up and eat and drink some hot soup to warm yourself up."

In the command center, on a table made of ammunition boxes, there were already a pot of steamed buns and a pot of potatoes stewed with canned meat. Next to them were two opened cans of beef, and a small pot of pickled radish.

At this time of year, there are no other green vegetables except potatoes and radishes.

There was also a steaming wooden barrel on the ground, which should contain hot soup such as broth.

Wu Peifu looked at the staff officers who were still busy, waved his hand and said, "Come over and have your meal, and then do your work after dinner."

As Wu Peifu spoke, he walked to the table and poured both cans of food into the pot of stewed radish.

Then, he grabbed a steamed bun, took a big bite, stuffed a piece of salted radish into his mouth, and walked aside to look at a simple map spread out on an empty ammunition box.

Wu Peifu was not particular about food. Unless he was with Teng Yuzhao, he was happy as long as he could eat on time. Especially after he became the assistant commander, he often ate with his staff officers and sometimes even ate with the grassroots officers and soldiers in the troops below.

Seeing Wu Peifu's expression, Li Baihui waved his hand, signaling the staff to hurry up and eat, and then he also grabbed a steamed bun and a piece of salted radish and walked over to Wu Peifu.
(End of this chapter)