The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

The soldiers shouted and gestured with their hands and feet, and the two motorboats really went up the river and continued to approach the position of the 32nd Regiment. When they were about 300 meters away, two people stood up on the motorboat and lifted the tarpaulin on the front deck, "Da da da da da--"

-Heavy machine gun!

"We are the First Division of the National Revolutionary Army! Lay down your weapons and surrender them without killing!"

Chapter 124: Fighting House by House

The Pearl River Delta, where Guangzhou is located, boasts a dense network of rivers and a complex, chaotic water system. Numerous tributaries, large and small, constantly converge and flow into the main stream, which can branch off at various points—the Pearl River has not one but eight estuaries. Even some large tributaries, due to the flat terrain, can fork as they flow.

In short, no one knew where the two motorboats came from. Anyway, they just fired at the soldiers of the 32nd Regiment who were working hard to dig trenches, shouted at them, and then left.

By the way, the motorboat also fired two flares into the sky while firing.

"What First Division? It's all fake!" the 32nd Regiment commander roared at the top of his lungs. "It's all fake. You can't fool me! They're just a few rioting workers!"

"Captain, shall we continue digging trenches?

"Uh...get down to the trench first!"

The regimental commander hesitated for a moment, then ordered the three battalions to their respective positions. After all, he had graduated from the Guangdong Army Military Academy and had a vague sense of the arsenal. The flares fired into the sky by the two motorboats just now were not a good signal.

Because the trench had not been fully dug and was only 50% of the originally planned length, more than a thousand soldiers were crowded together and huddled inside the trench, with a small number of soldiers crawling naked outside.

The regimental commander and the staff officer used binoculars to search hard and soon they found the enemy. The reason why the 32nd Regiment built fortifications here at the junction of urban and rural areas was because this was a road leading into Guangzhou. Now, some figures and carriages could be seen in the distance on the road.

"Hit me!"

The heavy machine guns were firing at the distance on the road with a rattling sound. Soon, a lot of dust was raised around the people and cars in the telescope. Then these people fled in all directions. Some of the carriages stopped in place, and some horses were frightened and overturned the entire carriage.

"Captain, this doesn't seem like an army...

"Oops, wrong number"

"Swish, swish--" "Boom!

The 32nd Regiment was just about to resume digging its trench when mortar shells rained down from the sky. Rain-soaked soil was blown away by the shells, and a loud explosion and shockwaves swept across the position. The enemy mortar fire was accurate and intensive. After three rounds of shelling, the officers and soldiers of the 32nd Regiment sighted the enemy—probably the First Division of the First Army, which was attacking Guangzhou.

The 32nd Regiment's machine guns shifted their fire to fire at the incoming enemy, but they were sparsely distributed, hiding in the bushes and uneven terrain, appearing and disappearing intermittently, making them impossible to engage. The 32nd Regimental Commander ordered the riflemen and most of the heavy machine guns to halt their fire, preparing to wait for the enemy to close before opening fire in unison.

Amidst the torment of mortar bombardment and various bullet coverage, the 32nd Regiment waited, waited, and waited... until intensive gunfire appeared behind them.

"The Second Regiment wiped out a group of enemies outside the city? Confirmed to be the 32nd Regiment of the 11th Guangdong Division? Great!"

Xu Xiangqian, commander of the 1st Division who was in command on the scene, received a battle report from the messenger in the front. The advancing 2nd Regiment, based on the signal flares from the reconnaissance battalion, surrounded more than a thousand enemy troops outside the city. Wang Erzhuo adopted a frontal attack + flank and rear encirclement approach. The more than a thousand enemy troops who dug trenches and blocked the intersections were basically wiped out. Less than 200 people ran back to the urban area of ​​Guangzhou, and the main officer of this group of enemies, the commander of the 32nd Regiment of the 11th Division, was captured.

Xu Xiangqian: "Quickly return to the Second Regiment and inform Wang Erzhuo and Sun Shucheng that now that we've eliminated the enemy in front of us, the Second Regiment should immediately advance to our next objective, via Dexuan West Road and Zhonghua North Road, and attack the Guangzhou Municipal Government and the City Defense Headquarters. The First Regiment should also proceed in this direction to capture the City Defense Headquarters!"

"yes!

In the direction of Guangzhou's East Gate, Zhou Shidi's 28th Regiment of the 10th Division of the 4th Army had already rushed into the city. The enemy in front of them did not dig trenches at the junction outside the city, but directly squatted in the city and engaged Zhou Shidi in street fighting.

In front of the 10th Division, the enemy also called it the 10th Division - the newly formed 10th Division of the newly formed 4th Army. For convenience, the soldiers also called themselves the "10th Division" instead of the "Newly Formed 10th Division."

"Don't worry about whether the Fourth Army or the 10th Division is real or fake. These false names will naturally be revealed after this battle. Tell Zhou Shidi that the 10th Division's primary mission is to cut off the enemy's communication with the city defense headquarters at the East Gate, allowing the First Division to successfully destroy the enemy's defenses.

Chen Tianheng added: "Send a telegram to Xu Xiangqian, reminding him that the most powerful regiments defending Guangzhou are not those of the Fourth Army, but the Eighth Route Army Guards Regiment guarding the city defense headquarters."

Eighth Route Army. New Fourth Army.

The Guangdong Army’s numbers are so strange now.

Moreover, Li Jishen also served as the commander of the Eighth Route Army and the commander of the New Fourth Army, and Chen Jitang was only the acting commander of the New Fourth Army.

Chen Jitang's mood today can only be described as a sudden downturn.

Early in the morning, he received a report from Nanjing that the Communist army might attack Guangdong. He was half-believing and half-doubting and mobilized his troops to strengthen the defense.

Around 10:00 AM, rumors began circulating in Guangzhou that fighting had broken out in Qingyuan that morning, with gunfire ringing out everywhere, including at the train station and in the county town. Chen Jitang tried to contact the regiment in Qingyuan, but received no response.

By noon, the whole city of Guangzhou was in fighting.

"Commander Chen! Commander Chen! It's the First Army that's coming to attack Guangzhou!

The commander of the 31st Regiment of the 11th Division called Chen Jitang from his headquarters

Chen Jitang: "Alright, alright! I already know! Just tell me how long your group can hold out. Give me some time!"

"10."

Chen Jitang: "Only 10 minutes?!"

The commander of the 31st Regiment forgot to hang up, staring blankly at the main entrance to the headquarters compound. A fierce battle had just broken out between the attackers and defenders, and the gate had been breached. The guards in the compound had retreated into their houses, their rifles trained on the gate. But the enemy didn't force the gate, instead shouting from outside the walls. A moment later, the lookout reported that engineers from the 1st Division were outside, already stacking explosives.

“Boom!

The courtyard where the 31st Regiment Headquarters was located collapsed along with the wall and gate.

塌。

A second before the soldiers of the 1st Division rushed into the yard, the commander of the 31st Regiment climbed over the wall from the backyard and ran away.

"War, war, and more war. Oh! Why is there a war every few months in Guangzhou?"

The Guangzhou citizens who did not have time to evacuate huddled in their homes, watching the soldiers coming and going outside, listening to the deafening gunshots and explosions, and many people lamented with bitter faces.

"Guangzhou is really chaotic. They already had a fight in April this year."

"That was just a minor fight in April, but today's is the big one. In my opinion, after this battle, another 100 or 200 buildings will collapse in Guangzhou. It will be just like the Merchant Corps Rebellion."

"Let it collapse, just don't set it on fire..."

Outside the residence, a platoon-sized assault team from the 1st Regiment of the 1st Division advanced against the wall, exploiting a gap in the enemy's firepower to rapidly advance twenty or thirty meters. As the opposing Madsen light machine gun reloaded its magazine and unloaded it, the machine gunner was met by four grenades raining down from the sky. With four bangs, the machine gun went silent. The assault team from the 1st Regiment peered out of the intersection, surveying the direction of attack. The platoon leader gestured, and the assault team split into squads. Using their hands as footrests, ten soldiers leaped one after another into the courtyards bordering the street.

"Captain! Did the higher-ups order us to stop here?

A soldier asked.

"Right!" Company Commander Cai Renjie turned around and said, "This is the Guangzhou Machinery Workers' Union building. We are responsible for monitoring it and preventing the people inside from making any rash moves. Once the follow-up troops arrive and take over our work, we will continue to charge forward!"

"The union...why does the union need us to monitor it?

Cai Renjie smiled bitterly: "Because the Guangzhou Machinery Workers' Union... is anti-communist.

The assault team monitored the entrance to the Guangzhou Machinery Workers' Union, posted a notice on the gate, and threw leaflets inside. There were people inside the union, but fortunately, the union workers or staff did not come out to attack or curse.

After waiting for several minutes, the follow-up troops arrived at Cai Renjie's current position. Meanwhile, a squad Cai Renjie had dispatched had also advanced several dozen meters, house by house. The 22-man assault team, having completed their shift, emerged from the street corner and engaged in a fierce firefight with enemy forces over a hundred meters from the intersection. After exchanging several bursts of bullets, the squad that had infiltrated over the wall reached the enemy machine gun position at the intersection.

A hail of grenades followed, and the intersection was taken. However, one member of the assault team was shot and, although still breathing, had completely lost the ability to fight or walk, and could only be rescued and evacuated on the spot.

"stop.

After rushing forward for a while, Cai Renjie made a stop gesture again and shouted to everyone to stop.

"We will be responsible for monitoring this building first and prevent the people inside from making any rash moves. Wait for the follow-up troops to arrive."

"Company Commander, this building is the Guangzhou Federation of Trade Unions!

Cai Renjie gave an even more bitter smile: "This Guangzhou Federation of Trade Unions is now even more anti-communist than the Guangzhou Machinery Union just now.

G944

The Guangzhou Machinery Workers' Union was founded in 1919 by Liang Yiyu and Li Zhanbiao, employees of the Changdi Electric Light Factory. In 1921, the union successfully launched a strike for machinery manufacturing workers in Guangzhou, securing a nine-hour workday, six-day workweek, and a minimum wage of one yuan per day for machinery manufacturing workers.

The first plenary session of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions was held in the Guangzhou Machinery Workers’ Union Auditorium.

Anarchism was prevalent in the Machinery Workers' Union. Its founders were already quite sympathetic to anarchism, and after the famous editor Mo Keming, a student studying in Japan, joined in 1921, the Union became the headquarters of Chinese anarchists in Guangzhou, strongly opposed to communism, especially Leninist parties.

The Guangzhou Federation of Trade Unions was also deeply influenced by anarchism. Furthermore, it encompassed a wider range of industries than the Guangzhou Machinery Federation, including the "Shoe Industry Union," "Furniture Industry Union," "Chengdu Salt Distribution Union," "Glass Frame Union," and other trade unions. This made it extremely difficult for the Guangzhou Federation to connect and coordinate with other external organizations, making it virtually impossible to form a united front. Consequently, the CCP labeled the Guangzhou Federation a "yellow union," while the Guangzhou Federation accused the CCP of selling out the interests of the working class.

Book of Records

November 9rd, 3:6 p.m.

The 1st and 2nd Regiments of the 1st Division defeated the defenders in front of them and launched an attack on the Guangzhou City Defense Headquarters from two sides.

In the Dongguan direction, the 10th Division successfully isolated the New 10th Division defending the eastern part of Guangzhou City, preventing it from reinforcing the city defense headquarters, and annihilated about one regiment of the New 10th Division in the melee.

"Commander Li! ... Commander Li! Hello!

Chen Jitang was at the city defense headquarters and couldn't get through to Li Jishen.

Li Jishen's headquarters was not here, but in the Grand Marshal's Mansion in Haizhu District, across a river from the Guangzhou city center.

Chen Jitang: "Prepare a car for me, I want to retreat.

"Commander, should we withdraw from the concession or retreat to the Generalissimo's Headquarters?

Chen Jitang: "What concession, what Grand Marshal's Mansion? Just send me to the dock and I have a ship to evacuate directly to Hong Kong.

Chapter 125: Splitting Guangzhou City into Two Halves

Chen Jitang was defeated, but the guards of the city defense headquarters did not know

They were all fighting hard and bloody to defend the headquarters and the commander.

This guard regiment is actually equivalent to Chen Jitang's Eighth Route Army Training Corps. The grassroots officers in it will be added to the various armies of the Guangdong Army in the future. The soldiers and sergeants are of good quality, and the military pay and benefits are sufficient. In addition, the entire guard regiment has existed stably for more than half a year, and the officers and soldiers' weapons are well-matched.

Chen Tianheng reminded the First Division that the guard regiment was very powerful and stronger than other units of the New Fourth Army. Xu Xiangqian also carefully used two regiments to deal with the guard regiment entrenched in the streets and alleys hundreds of meters around the city defense headquarters.

A map of Guangzhou's urban area hung at the headquarters in Shaoguan. Both regiments of the First Division penetrated deeply into the city, like a scalpel stabbing into a patient's abdomen, intent on removing the lesion (the city defense headquarters).

Destroying the city defense headquarters was the interim goal that had to be achieved on the first day of the Battle of Guangzhou.

Chen Mingren: "Shanghai was easy for us to fight in before. The Shanghai Concession occupied half of the city, and any military action was prohibited. The citizens in the Chinese area were also very powerful. They said that the warlords were not allowed to enter the city to build fortifications, so the warlords could not enter. Now in Guangzhou, the 10th and 11th Divisions of the New Fourth Army are all huddled in the city, fighting us with ping pong.

Chen Tianheng: "When we suppressed the rebellion of the Guangdong Merchant Corps, we also made a mess of the West Gate. The damage done by our Huangpu student army by making holes in the wall was considered small... Let's see what's happening in other directions.

Just now, Chen Tianheng had been staring at the city defense headquarters in the center of Guangzhou city and the city government next door. Now Chen Tianheng realized that as a battle commander, he had spent too much time staring at the local details of the city defense headquarters. The battle here should be let go and let Xu Xiangqian decide on the spot.

In the direction of Xiguan, Ye Ting's 12th Division of the 4th Army had penetrated to the southern end of Xiguan. There was no decent garrison in the urban area of ​​Xiguan. The 12th Division's purpose was to isolate Xiguan from the southern part of Guangzhou, so that Li Fulin's 5th Army stationed in the southern part and Foshan would not be able to reinforce Guangzhou.

To the east of Guangzhou was He Long's 3rd Division. Its mission was to block the eastern flank, preventing the 35th Regiment of the new 12th Division from rushing to Guangzhou from Huizhou City. At the same time, the 3rd Division was also tasked with capturing Dongguan County and then participating in the battle to capture the Humen Fort.

Chen Tianheng: "Hasn't the Third Division's radio station come up yet?

"Yes, Commander, we haven't received any radio signals from the Third Division yet."

Chen Tianheng checked his watch; it was already 8 p.m. The main force had departed Shaoguan at dawn for the Sutong Campaign. At noon, the 1st and 10th Divisions entered Guangzhou to begin the battle. He Long's 3rd Division, however, had marched from outside Guangzhou, bypassing the city on a north-east route and heading towards Dongguan. While the march was a bit far, the 3rd Division should have reached its designated position by now, right?

"Report! Xu Xiangqian called! Our army captured the city defense headquarters and also the city government next door! The remaining members of the guard regiment surrendered! But Chen Jitang escaped from the city defense headquarters!"

Chen Tianheng: "Alright, we've fully achieved our planned combat objectives. I'll call back Xu Xiangqian. After clearing out the remaining defeated enemy troops, the 1st and 2nd Regiments will rest and recuperate near the city defense headquarters. Nighttime combat will be rotated to the 3rd Regiment. Also, notify Zhou Shidi's 10th Division that it's time for them to start their day-night rotation."

If a battle lasts from morning till night, will both sides tacitly retreat 300 meters after dark to eat and sleep?

This is not necessarily the case. Sometimes the two sides really do not fight at night, and sometimes they continue to fight at night.

The First Army was now prepared for a limited attack at night, but the main offensive would be launched during the day.

The Third Division's radio station appears!

Communications, the radio operator yelled.

Chen Tianheng: "He Long, you finally showed up!"

Chen Mingren: "I hope He Long's first telegram will be a short one.

Short telegrams are sent and decoded quickly, so the headquarters can get the telegram draft a few minutes earlier. As Chen Mingren wished, the telegram from the Third Division was very short.

"When our division arrived outside Dongguan, we found the enemy's forces were weak and their defenses lax. We immediately switched from marching to attacking, and by 8:10 a.m., we completely wiped out the enemy and occupied Dongguan." He Long.

"Chen Tianheng telegraphed back to He Long," he figured out what He Long had been doing since dusk, "I understand the call." He once again emphasized the principles and disciplines of the battle: the division headquarters does not need to be close to the front line of the battlefield. Commanders should rely on various reconnaissance methods and communication systems to grasp the battlefield situation, rather than relying on their own visual observation. It is more important to set up camp as soon as possible so that the division headquarters can be stabilized and start operations from the march.

By dark, five of the six divisions of the First and Fourth Armies had been deployed.

The 2nd Division captured Qingyuan, followed by the 4th and 5th Regiments entering Guangzhou. The 1st and 10th Divisions engaged in fierce fighting in central Guangzhou and Dongguan. The 12th Division engaged in fierce fighting in Guangzhou's Xiguan and Nancheng. The 3rd Division bypassed Dongguan.

The 11th Division is still in Shaoguan, and it is the general reserve force for the battle.

However, in this battle, Chen Tianheng's side had not 6 divisions, but 7.

Chen Jitang, the supreme commander of the defending army, fled the city defense headquarters in a panic at 6 p.m. The car spun around the chaotic streets of Guangzhou, finally reaching the docks and finding a small passenger boat. Chen Jitang boarded and fled downstream and toward the sea.

The boat sailed for less than half an hour before turning back. Besides the boat Chen Jitang was on, four other inland river ferries accompanied the return trip. The four ferries surrounded Chen Jitang's small passenger boat, their searchlights beams firmly covering it.

"Acting Commander Chen, the entire city of Guangzhou is engaged in fierce fighting. If you leave your command post without permission at this time, I'm afraid you would be considered a violation of military discipline and desertion.

Ye Jianying stood at the dock with his hands behind his back, while Chen Jitang reluctantly disembarked from the small passenger boat. Seeing Ye Jianying, Chen Jitang angrily said, "Commander Ye! Our Guangdong Army's old foundation and old territory are now all gone! But I'm afraid Chiang Kai-shek won't be happy either, because our territory was taken away by the Communists! Commander Ye, you also came from the Guangdong Army, so why can't you, Xixun, give us a little consideration for them?"

Ye Jianying: "Consider? Teach me how to consider it.

Chen Jitang: "...Forget it, it's too late now. The 4th and 11th Armies of the Guangdong Army have been severely weakened, and Chiang Kai-shek no longer trusts them. I originally thought that there was still a branch of the 4th Army in Guangdong. If we manage Guangdong well, we can bring the 4th and 11th Armies back to Guangdong when the time is right. If we integrate the Guangdong faction, we will not be a weak force. But, Commander Ye, it's fine if you come here to die, but why do you want to bring me back to Guangzhou to die with me?"