The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

Chen Tianheng shouted his command, and the first battalion's volleys and machine guns rained down bullets. The scenario was identical to the last time, and the time before that, with Lin Hu's troops tumbling and rolling on the ground. But there was a difference: after just a dozen seconds, the enemy troops, dodging bullets, were back on their feet, screaming and charging forward without even a word from their superiors.

The first battalion continued to fire volleys of gunfire, and the enemy fell down again.

Chen Geng: "Riflemen, prepare your grenades!"

……

At the foot of Mount Dagong.

The independent brigade led by Chen Shaopeng attacked the hill. The third attack was launched after the shelling lasted for more than 20 minutes. However, he saw through the telescope that his troops rushed up a few hundred meters and then rolled down again.

"Commander, we can't attack!"

The retreating battalion commander had blood all over his face. It was not because he was shot, but because he fell while dodging bullets.

Chen Shaopeng: "You useless piece of shit! The artillery has fired hundreds of shells at this low hilltop, and you can't even climb it?"

"The mountain is full of machine guns! Sun's army is so cunning! I was charging forward when my foot suddenly slipped and I fell into a ditch! Then two light machine guns popped up at the end of the ditch and shot dozens of us in the face!"

The battalion commander was still frightened.

He had just fallen into a ditch and discovered that what he was stepping on was not grass or mud at the bottom of the ditch, but a corpse...

The bodies of the soldiers from the previous wave of attack.

No wonder among the more than 700 people in the last wave of attack, dozens of them were nowhere to be found, alive or dead, when they retreated.

The problem is that the enemy on the mountain has just arrived. How come they know how to use the strange terrain on the mountain to ambush people?

Chen Shaopeng ran to the 1st Army’s headquarters to find Lin Hu.

"Marshal! I'm incompetent. Three attacks failed to capture the hilltop. ... All six battalions of my independent brigade have taken turns attacking. The brigade has suffered over 600 casualties and missing. We simply can't fight anymore."

Lin Hu, the Governor of Guangdong, Commander-in-Chief of the Guangdong Rescue Army, and a renowned General appointed by the Beiyang government, glared at Chen Shaopeng fiercely: "Waste!"

Chen Shaopeng: "Marshal, let's switch troops and attack!"

Lin Hu: "Alright, alright, you don't have to climb the mountain anymore. Take your troops and leave, heading east to Zengkuang Village!"

……

Dagong Mountain.

The third wave of enemy troops were killed by oblique fire from light machine guns when they approached the position, and were killed by grenades again when they rushed to about 30 or 40 meters in front of the trench. When the formation began to disperse, the second company responsible for the counterattack rushed out of the trench, launched a short assault, and finally drove this group of enemy troops away.

The third attack by Lin Hu's army was repelled. The defense lines of the three companies were not in crisis during the battle (although they entered the grenade engagement range for the third time), and the casualties were within controllable range.

However, Chen Tianheng still felt something was wrong: Lin Hu's army had taken a detour.

Half an hour ago, the lookout spotted a large wave of enemy troops rushing into Zengkuang Village, about a kilometer below the mountain. Ten minutes ago, thousands more enemy troops poured into the small village.

Before the battle, Chen Tianheng recognized the problem of defending Dagong Mountain. If Zengkuang Village were captured by Lin Hu's army and used as another offensive base, the Dagong Mountain position would be attacked from both the north and the west. However, the first battalion had a total of 370 men, facing a Lin Hu army of several thousand men, and could not spare any troops to defend Zengkuo Village.

"Comrades, Lin Hu may have finally come to his senses."

Chen Tianheng called three company commanders.

"Lin Hu's army has just occupied Zengkuo Village. They may use Zengkuo Village as a launching point for their next attack. If we are attacked from both sides by the enemy, with our manpower and firepower, it will be difficult to attack both directions."

"Therefore, the First Battalion must be prepared to retreat as planned."

Du Yuming: "After the three blocking battles just now, we still have some combat power. If we are attacked from both sides, I can lead the third company to hold the enemy at the front, while the first and second companies will guard the direction of Zengkuo Village."

Chen Tianheng: "Being attacked from both sides is a very passive situation. Perhaps the first battalion can repel them once, but the casualties will be much higher than they are now, and we may not be able to repel them a second or third time. Therefore, my plan is that if this happens, after repelling the enemy's first attack, we will withdraw from our position."

Jiang Xianyun looked at his watch and said, "Unconsciously, the fighting has lasted from noon to dusk. Lin Hu's army can launch one more attack before dark. So, we can use darkness to retreat after repelling the attack."

Chen Tianheng: "Du Yuming's plan is feasible. Chen Geng, your troops will first turn towards Zengkuo Village, build fortifications, clear the firing range, and prepare to meet the attack from Zengkuo Village. Xu Xiangqian, your Second Company will serve as the reserve and deploy to the north or west, depending on the situation. Okay, everyone return to your respective companies and prepare for battle."

“Boom!” “Hiss—” “Boom!”

The shelling began again.

This time the bombardment lasted longer. Last time, Lin Hu's army fired 200 rounds of artillery shells, but this time, Chen Tianheng could tell that they had already fired 270 rounds, and the bombardment had not stopped.

"Commander! There are enemy troops lined up in front and to the west!"

Chen Tianheng: "I understand."

Chen Geng: "In this situation, I'm afraid we'll have to launch a close-range counterattack to repel the enemy."

Chen Tianheng: "This is the significance of equipping your company with a purely submachine gun assault squad. ...Gunshot?"

Amidst the rumbling sounds of exploding artillery shells, there were bursts of chaotic gunfire.

The gunshots came from Zengkuo Village.

Chen Geng: "There's fighting going on in Zengkuo Village. Reinforcements are coming!"

Chapter 57

The 1st and 2nd Companies of the 1st Battalion rushed down the mountain, and the already chaotic situation in Zengkuo Village became even more chaotic.

The Second Battalion turned around and came to support in advance. When they approached Mianhu Town, they heard dense gunfire and knew that they had caught up with the battle.

From a high point beside Dagong Mountain, Xu Jishen briefly observed the terrain and immediately determined that Zengkuo Village was a key flank of the Dagong Mountain defense line. Liu Zhi also believed this. So, at Liu Zhi's command, more than 300 men from the Second Battalion rushed into Zengkuo Village.

But there are too many Lin Hu troops in the village!

The village was filled with crowds of Lin Hu officers and soldiers, some moving machine guns, some carrying luggage, some eating, some cleaning their guns, and some even fixing their bayonets in preparation for battle. The Second Battalion, in platoons, charged around the village, but found that the enemy was simply too numerous to fight.

Lin Hu's troops were also caught off guard by the sudden attack. Although Zengkuo Village now had over 1,800 men from Zhang Huaru's and Li Sheng's troops, they were unable to mount an effective defense and were attacked from all sides by the Second Battalion.

After the first battalion joined the battle, the Guangdong rescue army in Zengkuo Village gradually retreated. Many soldiers had already fled out of the village in groups, unable to stay in the village.

There was no clear battle line between the two sides; fierce fighting was taking place in almost every house. Often, the Guangdong Rescue Army would fire a volley of gunfire, and a group of Eastern Expedition Army soldiers would come from the side and fire a volley of bullets at them; then a group of Guangdong Rescue Army soldiers would messily pass through the two groups of people firing fiercely, and bullets from both sides would greet these unfortunate people who "accidentally passed by".

Chen Geng and Xu Xiangqian each led their own companies to join the melee, while Chen Tianheng himself controlled two infantry squads, one of which was an all-submachine gun squad. More than 20 people kept away from the most intense areas of fighting.

"Battalion Commander! Let us go! Who can stop us with 10 submachine guns? I'll shoot anyone who comes!"

Guan Linzheng became anxious.

Chen Tianheng: "We must play the most critical role! I need to find their command center. These ten submachine guns will determine the outcome of the battle!"

Guan Linzheng: "But the enemy army right now has no unified command! I doubt there's even a command post!"

"So we don't have to stop fighting now! When they react and the first person starts coordinating and directing the battle, I'll defeat him!"

In the chaotic battle, the Guangdong rescue army could not make full use of its numerical advantage, but if the Guangdong rescue army had a unified command, with nearly two thousand people against more than five hundred people, the battle would have been difficult to fight.

In the distance, two grenades exploded with a bang. A dozen red-scarfed Eastern Expedition Army soldiers charged with bayonets, shouting, colliding with a dozen or so soldiers from the Guangdong Rescue Army. Chen Tianheng gritted his teeth and allowed only the riflemen around him to fire volleys to disrupt the two heavy machine guns being set up in the village's open space.

The battle was fierce and chaotic, with officers and soldiers from the first and second battalions falling every minute.

It is not an empty saying that bullets have no eyes.

But the most urgent task is to drive Lin Hu's troops out of Zengkuo Village and quickly end this melee. This is the effective way to reduce casualties among the 1st and 2nd Battalions, or the Whampoa cadets in the 1st and 2nd Battalions.

On the first battalion side, the battalion commander Liu Zhi’s combat style was different from Chen Tianheng’s. Liu Zhi had been engaged in frontline combat since entering the village.

Dozens of soldiers from the Guangdong Rescue Army were hiding behind a row of very solid brick houses. They could not be shot by guns, so a row of grenades were thrown at them. Even after the explosions, the other side still popped its head out and fired wildly.

"Brothers! Follow me!"

Liu Zhi put his pistol back into his waistband and picked up a rifle with a bayonet. "Kill these sons of bitches! Charge! Charge!"

Led by him, the two smaller groups of Eastern Expedition troops emerged from behind the house, over forty gleaming bayonets charging forward with overwhelming force. The Guangdong Rescue Army behind the house fired two rounds, knocking down four or five Eastern Expedition soldiers. Liu Zhi and the rest of the troops had already rushed to the wall, and a fierce bayonet-jamming battle ensued.

"There's something going on over there!"

Chen Tianheng pointed to a place.

The fierce attack by the First and Second Battalions had just caused the Guangdong Rescue Army to partially collapse. As dozens of soldiers turned to flee, several Guangdong Rescue Army soldiers appeared and stopped them. The leader kicked the fastest deserter to the ground, pulled out a pistol from his waist and shot him with it.

Guan Linzheng: "A diagonal leather belt and a pistol, he must be an officer!"

Chen Tianheng: "After he said a few words, two people beside him ran away. This is his messenger. He is a senior officer. The Guangdong Army has indeed made some progress in the last few minutes. This person must be responsible. Kill him!"

Guan Linzheng: "Submachine gun team! Load your guns!"

……

Liu Zhi's surviving Eastern Expedition soldiers were dwindling, but he continued shouting, throwing bombs, shooting, and charging. He rushed through one house after another. To use the jargon taught in the Japanese military academy, Liu Zhi was now a "pig-thrust general."

Xu Jishen: "Battalion Commander, you are injured!"

During the hand-to-hand combat just now, Liu Zhi stabbed down two enemy soldiers, and was also stabbed in the right upper arm, with blood flowing out.

"Help me tie it up, ouch, ouch. Hiss——"

Xu Jishen tore a piece of cloth to tie Liu Zhi's arm to stop the bleeding. Liu Zhi tried to hold the rifle, but found that he could hold the rifle with both hands while stabbing people just now.

There was another burst of gunfire like popping beans not far away.

Xu Jishen: "I estimated that there are at least a thousand enemy troops in the village we attacked."

Liu Zhi: "Over a thousand men were still beaten back by us. Hiss. Our two battalions are definitely the best in the entire revolutionary army. Hiss. Why is no one firing?"

Xu Jishen stood up and looked into the distance: "Battalion Commander, the enemy has escaped!"

……

The enemy forces in Zengkuo Village collapsed.

The inexplicable melee before had already made the officers and soldiers who came to rescue the Guangdong Army at a loss. This group of Sun's troops who came out from nowhere were simply a group of desperate criminals. They rushed up and opened fire without saying a word. They also loved to throw grenades, one after another, blowing people up dizzy.

In the chaos, the lower-level soldiers of the Guangdong Rescue Army were unable to discern the number of attackers. They simply knew they could not defeat the Sun army in front of them and fled. Brigade Commander Zhang Huaru was the first to regain consciousness. Judging from the gunfire, he realized the attackers were not numerous. He roared, led his adjutant and messenger to capture deserters and maintain order in the village. After executing several deserters, he barely managed to stabilize morale.

Just as he was about to contact his three battalion commanders to deploy a counterattack, a row of grenades suddenly flew in from outside the courtyard wall.

Zhang Huaru was pushed backward by the blast, and the back of his head hit the corner of the window on the wall. He fainted without a sound.

However, Zhang Huaru didn't remain unconscious for long. Guan Linzheng led a squad of submachine gunners into the courtyard and asked the captives who held the highest rank. Zhang Huaru was then awakened by pouring water from a kettle.

When the brigade commander appeared before his men, his hands tied behind his back and a gun pointed at his head, the entire Guangdong Rescue Army in the village fled in panic. A small number of soldiers who were close by even raised their hands in surrender under Guan Linzheng's threat of "I will kill you if you don't surrender, commander."

"Tianheng! Has your battalion secured the hilltop?"

That night, the entire First Training Regiment, the artillery battalion, and the school's military headquarters all moved in. He Yingqin found Chen Tianheng and Liu Zhi in Zengkuo Village.

"Reporting to the regimental commander, the First Battalion withstood three waves of enemy attacks at Dagong Mountain. Then, the enemy changed their strategy and attempted to circumvent our rearguard through Zengkuo Village. Liu Zhi's Second Battalion arrived just in time and engaged the enemy in Zengkuo Village. I led two companies of the First Battalion down the mountain to assist, and ultimately drove over a thousand enemy troops out of Zengkuo Village."

He Yingqin: "Excellent, excellent! If the enemy passes through Mianhu and pursues us all the way, we will be unable to escape. ... However, although we have won today, we will have to fight hard tomorrow. If we don't repel Lin Hu's troops, we will not be able to retreat unscathed."

Chen Tianheng: "I understand."

The Whampoa Military Academy's troops had non-combat units like the military headquarters, as well as a large amount of supplies and cargo, so they couldn't move quickly. Lin Hu's 10,000 troops were in pursuit today, and several thousand more were waiting nearby for an opportunity to strike. If the Academy's troops were too focused on getting on, and the main force of Lin Hu's army kept tailing them, and the thousands nearby surrounded them, no one would be able to escape.

The Soviet Army Advisory Group and Chiang Kai-shek agreed that they must defeat Lin Hu and his 10,000 men so that the school army could return home safely.

The problem is... the total number of troops available for combat is only 5,000: the 1st Training Regiment, the 2nd Training Regiment, the Artillery Battalion, and the 7th Brigade of the Guangdong Army.

He Yingqin conveyed the battle plan for tomorrow as follows:

The 1st Training Regiment and the 7th Brigade of the Guangdong Army attacked head-on, while the 2nd Training Regiment made a detour to cut off the connection between Lin Hu's main force and the detachments wandering outside, and took advantage of the opportunity to encircle the rear of Lin Hu's main force.

In short, the ultimate goal of the battle is to defeat Lin Hu's main force and make it flee.

Given that the Eastern Expedition Army is currently stretched thin, despite today's hard battle, the first and second battalions will have to continue fighting tomorrow.

……

"Brother Liu, is your arm injury okay?"

A house vacated in Zengkuo Village is now shared by the First and Second Battalions as a command center.

Liu Zhi: "I was stabbed by a bayonet. I think my tendons were injured. I can't use my strength now, but I don't think my bones were injured."

Chen Tianheng: "After a day of fighting, our first battalion now has 292 men still able to fight. How many men are left in your second battalion?"

Xu Jishen: "Also more than 200, probably more than 270."

Liu Zhi: "Tomorrow we will turn to the offensive and attack the top of the mountain. The infantry tactics you taught me, Brother Chen, will come in very handy."

Chen Tianheng: "My biggest worry right now is that tomorrow's battle will turn into a head-on attack. We want to attack and drive Lin Hu across the river, but Lin Hu also wants to attack and take Dagong Mountain and annihilate the school's troops on the spot. Logically, I'm not afraid of a head-on attack, but the difference in strength between the two sides is 2:1. We are the one with the disadvantage, which makes it very dangerous. The reconnaissance team is outside to survey tomorrow's designated battlefield. When they return with their report soon, our two battalions will meet together to discuss the matter. Let's eat first."

Chen Tianheng picked up a large bowl of rice, covered with fragrant braised pork feet, a small spoonful of salted dried radish and a few vegetable leaves.

Liu Zhi's right hand was injured, so he had to eat at the table. They each took a piece of pork elbow, savoring the aroma of the Longjiang pig's feet, and then began to devour it with unruly abandon.

“This meal is so delicious.”

Chapter 58

3 month 13 day.

Buddha knows.