Courtyard House: I Rely on Time-Space Trade to Build a Nation

December 6, 1948, 3 p.m., outside Xinbaoan.

Zhou Liang held up his binoculars, his face a mixture of exhaustion from the long march and excitement at arriving at his post ahead of schedule.

His light motorized convoy set a record—speeding 150 kilometers in less than ten hours, the vanguard could already see the low walls of the new security city and the crucial train station.

"Deploy immediately! The First Regiment will control the railway station and the railway line on the east side; the Second Regiment will construct blocking positions on the high ground on both sides of the highway; and the Third Regiment will serve as a reserve force and establish artillery positions!" The order was issued swiftly.

Before the dust kicked up by the wheels had even settled, the soldiers had already jumped off the vehicles and started digging fortifications, taking advantage of the terrain.

The heavy machine guns and mortars mounted on jeeps and trucks were removed and repositioned in key locations;

The 107mm rocket launcher launchers quickly deployed from their concealed positions.

An hour later, a regiment of the vanguard of the Second Army Corps of North China arrived, covered in dust.

The two commanders quickly made contact, and without exchanging pleasantries, they laid out a map, immediately divided the defense zones, and worked together to build a defensive line.

The small transportation hub of Xinbaoan quickly transformed into an impenetrable fortress.

The dramatic turn of events occurred around 5 p.m.

A rumbling sound came from afar, and a group of soldiers dressed in Kuomintang winter cotton-padded uniforms marched along the railway line toward Xinbaoan Station.

Judging by its size, it was about a regiment. Zhou Liang immediately ordered his troops to take cover and prepare to engage.

However, the troops stopped about one kilometer from the station.

At the head of the procession, an officer wearing a military overcoat jumped out of a jeep, walked a few steps toward the station alone, and raised his binoculars to observe.

Zhou Liang saw the officer's face clearly through the binoculars, and his heart skipped a beat—Zhao Baoguo! Commander of the 3rd Regiment of the 101st Division, the vanguard of the 35th Army!

Almost simultaneously, the deputy company commander guarding Zhao Baoguo whispered a report. This company commander was the one assigned by Xu Yuanshan to lead the forty-odd soldiers of our army on Zhao Baoguo's side.

"Commander, the radio has received a special frequency signal; it's a call from 'Platoon Leader Zhao'!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Baoguo's tense facial muscles suddenly relaxed, and he even revealed a relieved smile.

"Haha, what did my brother say? Does he know I'm here right now?"

"Commander, I have confirmed the position of our troops with Platoon Leader Zhao. Platoon Leader Zhao told us that the time has come."

"Good, I've been waiting for this day for a long time."

Zhao Baoguo glanced back at his bewildered troops, then at the seemingly calm but lurking Xinbao'an Station in the distance. He took a deep breath and ordered the guard company commander: "Notify all battalions to halt their advance. All officers of company rank and above, come to me for a meeting in twenty minutes. Also, prepare yourselves, just in case."

Twenty minutes later, in front of a dozen or so battalion commanders and company commanders who rushed over, Zhao Baoguo decisively tore off his Kuomintang cap badge and threw it on the ground.

"Brothers, Commander Fu is leading us to our deaths. Sooner or later, Beijing and Tianjin will belong to the People's Liberation Army."

I, Zhao Baoguo, cannot bear to see everyone become cannon fodder. I have decided to stage an uprising on the battlefield and join the light! Those who are willing to follow me, lay down your weapons and accept reorganization; those who are unwilling, I will provide travel expenses, and you may leave on your own!

The battalion and company commanders looked at each other, but seeing the regimental commander's resolute expression and the guards' already alert posture, and considering their current predicament of being trapped on the road ahead, the thought of resistance quickly dissipated.

Soon, the order was relayed, and nearly a thousand officers and soldiers of the Third Regiment laid down their weapons in an orderly manner amidst astonishment and a little panic.

When Zhou Liang received the message from Zhao Baoguo's communications soldier, he could hardly believe his ears until Zhao Ping'an confirmed it repeatedly via walkie-talkie.

Zhou Liang immediately dispatched a battalion to take over.

When they saw the dejected but still orderly Kuomintang soldiers, the mountains of weapons, and Zhao Baoguo smiling as he approached them,

Zhou Liang was now certain that he had gained an entire main force regiment for free right from the start of this battle!

At 6 p.m., Zhao Ping'an personally led the main force of the mechanized brigade to arrive and immediately set up the division's forward command post in the sturdy dispatch building at the station.

The insurgent troops were quickly taken away from the front lines for reorganization and education.

The mechanized brigade's armored vehicles and troop carriers quickly deployed around the station, relying on the rudimentary positions constructed by Zhou Liang's brigade to establish an ironclad defense line with armored vehicles as the main fire support.

Meanwhile, the 122mm howitzer battalion of the mechanized brigade and the heavy artillery regiment directly under the division established artillery positions in the rear.

Then an even bigger "surprise" followed.

Around 7 p.m., the railway tracks vibrated again.

A freight train, puffing out white steam, chugged along from the direction of Zhangjiakou and drove straight into the new Bao'an Station. This was another regiment of the 35th Army that was ordered to retreat. They were unaware that the vanguard had changed hands, let alone that the station had changed hands.

As soon as the train came to a stop, the carriage doors swung open, and the exhausted soldiers prepared to disembark.

Instead of the friendly forces they expected, they were met with dark gun barrels from all directions—heavy machine guns on armored vehicles, light machine guns on jeeps, and countless submachine guns and rifles. Under the illumination of searchlights and vehicle headlights, the entire platform was brightly lit, and the soldiers on the vehicles turned pale.

"Get out of the vehicle! Surrender your weapons and you will not be killed!"

"You are surrounded! Resistance will only lead to your death!"

The announcement echoed across the platform through a simple loudspeaker.

The regimental commander on the vehicle looked out the window at the armored vehicles that resembled steel monsters and the dense array of gun barrels, and then at the soldiers on the platform who were clearly dressed as People's Liberation Army soldiers. He immediately understood what had happened.

The thought of resistance flashed through his mind for only a moment before being overwhelmed by the instinct for survival. He sighed, pushed open the car door, and stepped out first with his hands raised.

Without bloodshed, another fully equipped regiment, along with its personnel and equipment, became the "spoils of war" of the 1st Armored Division. Thus, before even formally engaging the main force of the People's Liberation Army, the 35th Army had inexplicably lost two main regiments, totaling more than two thousand men and guns.

As night fell, the headquarters of the 35th Army finally noticed something amiss.

When the 101st Division troops that followed up reached a few kilometers west of Xinbao'an, they lost contact with the advance troops. They cautiously sent out a small detachment to scout and discovered that the transportation hub ahead seemed to have been occupied by the People's Liberation Army. They immediately reported the news to the military headquarters.

Army Commander Guo Jingyun was both shocked and furious, and immediately organized a probing attack in an attempt to open up the road.

However, what met the Kuomintang infantry's charge was a barrage of blazing fire from the People's Liberation Army positions.

— Primarily the powerful 12.7mm heavy machine gun on the armored vehicle.

This sustained suppressive firepower, exceeding the understanding of the Nationalist army, swept down the charging troops like wheat being harvested.

The troops that attempted to attack left behind dozens of corpses and retreated in panic.

Seeing the PLA's fierce firepower, and with darkness already falling,

Guo Jingyun dared not risk fighting at night again and ordered his troops to build defenses on the spot, and to make further plans after dawn.