The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 480 I will take responsibility if something goes wrong
At exactly 21 o'clock, the sound of "boom boom boom" explosions sounded on time.

The direction of the most intense artillery fire was naturally the river valley in the north, and the artillery fire even turned the northern sky red.

On the mountains on both sides of the valley, the two artillery units of Li Xianze's Second Regiment and the artillery units of Pan Jinshan's Sixth Regiment also continuously fired mortar shells at the Allied camps in the valley from the mountains on both sides.

The violent explosion was like rolling thunder, echoing in the valley.

"Our artillery fire is really fierce!"

Li Baihui said with emotion, "It's only been a short time! I didn't expect that we already have so many artillery pieces. Judging from the situation, our artillery firepower is not inferior to that of the foreign devils at all!"

Wu Peifu, who was standing outside the command center, nodded and said, "In terms of quantity alone, our artillery firepower is much greater than that of the foreign devils. This is really thanks to the simple, convenient, and powerful mortar invented by the Marshal!"

"Town Commander, Chief of Staff."

A sergeant popped his head out of the command center. "There's an emergency."

Upon hearing that there was an emergency, Wu Peifu and Li Baihui immediately ran into the command center.

In the command center, a staff officer had just put down the phone when he saw Wu Peifu and Li Baihui running in and hurriedly reported.

"Town Commander, Chief of Staff, our reconnaissance troops on the south bank of the Qingzhang River just called from Beiyadi. They reported that they had just spotted a large number of foreign devils four miles south of Beiyadi. They were gathering on the riverbank."

"There are both Russians and Japanese. The foreigners are quietly advancing southward along the river."

"I didn't dare to get close. The exact number of people is unknown."

"What! The foreign devils crossed the river, how come the reconnaissance troops didn't find them?"

Li Baihui was extremely surprised by the staff officer's report and she shouted at him harshly.

Wu Peifu interrupted and ordered the staff officer, "Let the reconnaissance troops immediately find out where the foreign devils crossed the river."

He then said sternly to Li Baihui, "Notify Xida and Dongda immediately. If they are attacked by the foreign devils, they must firmly hold their positions. Those who lose their positions will be subject to military law."

When Li Baihui was arranging for the delivery of orders to Dongda and Xida, Wu Peifu walked a few steps to the map, leaned over to take a quick look, then stood up and said to Li Baihui who had just arranged for the delivery of orders.

"Chief of Staff, there's no need to check. I've figured it out. The foreign devils crossed the river right at the riverbank where they assembled."

"After crossing the river for the first time, the foreign devils did not cross the river directly to the south bank again. Instead, they followed the north bank of the Qingzhang River and crossed the river again at the foot of the mountain downstream to the east bank of the Qingzhang River, which is the river beach where our investigators found the foreign devils."

After hearing what Wu Peifu said, Li Baihui suddenly realized what was going on and slapped his forehead in regret.

"Town Commander, it's all my fault. I overlooked this point. I always thought that the foreign devils would cross the river twice in a row and completely pass this bend. I didn't expect that the foreign devils' second crossing point would be changed to four miles downstream."

Wu Peifu took the belt off the wall and tied it around his waist while giving orders directly to a staff officer.

"Notify the Third Brigade on standby at the bottom of the North Cliff and ask them to rush to the riverbank where the foreign devils are and stop them from crossing the river at all costs. I will immediately bring the guard battalion to support them." Then he said to Li Baihui, "Immediately let our people send out the one red and two green general attack signal."

Wu Peifu's words made Li Baihui stunned. She said in surprise, "The signal for the general attack should be given by the Marshal. How can we send it? This will affect the Marshal's battle plan. If the Marshal blames us..."

Wu Peifu stamped his feet in anxiety and said hastily, "Chief of Staff, you are so confused!"

"Now the foreign devils have quietly waded across the river downstream, which means that after the foreign devils stopped attacking our positions, they were already preparing to retreat."

"It has been several hours since dark. The number of foreign troops crossing the river will not decrease, and the number of troops confronting the Marshal in the valley will continue to decrease. The Marshal is not aware of these things."

"If the Marshal continues to attack the foreign devils step by step, the main force of the foreign devils will all run to the south bank. By the time the Marshal discovers the problem, the main force of the foreign devils will have rushed to Dongda and Xida, and they may even attack Hezhang directly."

"There is no favorable terrain in Hezhang. In order to escape, the foreign devils will probably launch a desperate attack as soon as they get there. It will be difficult to stop the foreign devils with only the Third Regiment and the Guards, which have suffered heavy casualties."

"Don't hesitate, immediately send out the signal for a general attack. If the Marshal blames me, I, Wu Ziyu, will bear the responsibility alone. Execute the order immediately!"

By the end of his speech, Wu Peifu had already started to roar loudly.

Teng Yuzhao, along with Li Jinyu, Zuo Mingyang and the staff of the headquarters, under the escort of the special guard squadron, dodged the artillery fire of the coalition forces' counterattack all the way and hurried to the joint command post of Liu Shijiu and Li Xianze at the foot of the mountain.

Because the river valley that besieged the coalition forces was greatly shortened, not many troops could be deployed on the mountain. Now, not only had the troops of the Second Town on the mountain on the right side of the valley withdrawn, leaving only Pan Jinshan's Sixth Town, but even on the left side, there was only one flag left of the Second Town.

Now, the Second Town is almost full, and it would be difficult for Liu Shijiu to command it.

Moreover, the width of the river valley was limited, and it was impossible for the two towns to deploy at the same time. Liu Shijiu's Fourth Town had to continue to be the vanguard, and the Second Town would serve as the second round of follow-up troops, ready to support the Fourth Town in front at any time. Li Jinyu's Eighth Town would still follow up at the end.

Therefore, Teng Yuzao also rushed over with the headquarters and Li Jinyu who was anxious to know the situation.

As soon as he entered the headquarters, Teng Yuzao did not bother to return the salutes from the staff officers who saluted him, and asked anxiously, "What is the situation now?"

Liu Shijiu said with a carefree smile, "Marshal, don't worry. I guess the foreign devils are frightened by our attacks. They are getting weaker and weaker. After our artillery fire, the foreign devils who are lucky enough to be alive all ran away. Zhu Kaishan complained to me that they didn't even have a chance to chop off the heads of a few foreign devils."

Li Xianze frowned and said, "Marshal, I was discussing this with Brother Liu. The enemy we are facing is the 11th Division of the Japanese. These Japanese have very poor fighting spirit. Not only do they run away when our artillery fires, but when we charge later, they will also retreat after holding off for a while."

"Ah."

Teng Yuzao nodded and said, "I have also discovered this problem. It has only been a short while since we started fighting, but we have already advanced five kilometers. If we continue like this, we will reach the Qingzhang River in at most another hour. I always feel like there is something wrong here."

"It seems that the morale of the foreign devils has been disrupted."

Before Teng Yuzhao could finish his words, Zuo Mingyang suddenly cried out in surprise.

"Marshal, send out the signal for a general attack from the direction of Kuangkou!"

(End of this chapter)