The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

Bursts of rapid gunfire were heard from no less than ten places in front, left and right of the Fourth Su Division.

After a minute or two, the fighting in these places died down, the gunshots disappeared, and silence returned.

Chief of Staff: "Commander! The Red Army is attacking our reconnaissance unit!"

"I know! I also know that these reconnaissance teams are doomed! Immediately order the Seventh and Eighth Brigades, all hands, to prepare for battle!"

Chapter 107

At noon, all ten reconnaissance teams sent out by the Soviet 10th Division were destroyed. Xie Hongxun sent out additional reconnaissance teams, but they were all destroyed soon after.

The field of vision was severely reduced, so it was not advisable to advance rashly. Xie Hongxun ordered the entire division to stop advancing and remain on guard.

Due to the high cost of war horses and the unfavorable terrain in the south for cavalry, the cavalry regiment originally assigned to the Soviet Fourth Division was gradually reduced and disbanded. For this campaign, one regiment and some non-combat units directly under the division were left in Jiujiang, bringing Xie Hongxun's total to 7500 men. This was no small number; over 7,000 men and over 1,000 draft horses formed a 5.5-kilometer-long line between Deyang and Yongxiu.

按照谢鸿勋的命令，打头的7旅13团、8旅16团就地抱团，并各派出一个营的步兵向路左右搜索前进；后面的7旅14团一分为三，与三个辎重队/炮队交错夹杂着原地警戒。

The Soviet Fourth Division's artillery was actually an artillery regiment, not a battalion, but they didn't bring all of their artillery with them. The field artillery battalion, too heavy to carry, only brought four guns, leaving the rest behind. The mountain artillery battalion did bring all 11 of its guns, as did the mortar battalion. After halting, the rear artillery regiment debated whether to deploy its mountain artillery, but after careful consideration, decided against it. To do so would require dragging the guns 100 to 300 meters from the road, lining them up in a row, and the artillerymen would have to spend half an hour digging pits with shovels.

Mortars, this is a good thing. The Soviet 4th Division's mortar battalion unloaded several Stokes mortars from the carriages and chose a flat place on the side of the road to set up the guns.

Chen Tianheng drooled when he saw this scene through the telescope.

Ah, the Stokes mortar! The First Regiment had traveled halfway across China and still couldn't find a single one of its kind!

Now we don’t have to worry about mortar shells, and even the number of shells can be increased by one or two times!

Xu Xiangqian: "The 2nd and 3rd Battalions are almost at the rear of the formation. We estimate they will fire signal flares within five minutes."

Chen Tianheng turned his head and looked south again, in the direction of the Soviet Fourth Division's headquarter. "Has the two reconnaissance platoons not yet launched their attack? Is the Soviet army's marching speed too slow?"

"That's right. This Soviet army operates according to rules and regulations. In other words, they do everything with extreme caution."

The First Regiment had to destroy the Soviet Fourth Division in mobile warfare, and win quickly and decisively with minimal casualties. Therefore, it could not use the traditional tactics of "cutting off the waist" or "dividing and encircling". It had to send the Second and Third Battalions to attack from the rear of the team.

Xu Xiangqian called this fighting style "squeezing sugarcane."

“Bang!——” “Bang!——” “Da da da da…”

At 2 p.m. on October 5, the 10th Soviet Division's search and advancing troops on both sides of the road engaged in a firefight with the reinforced reconnaissance platoon, and the Nanxun encirclement and annihilation campaign officially began.

Each reconnaissance platoon was reinforced with two heavy machine guns captured from the enemy troops fleeing from Yongxiu County.

The first regiment's reconnaissance platoon also has a strong firepower configuration, with three light machine guns. All the soldiers are multi-talented, either proficient in capture, camouflage and infiltration, or using bows and crossbows. The main weapons are riflemen and submachine gunners, each accounting for half, and the rifles equipped by the scouts are all selected guns with good accuracy.

In the non-informationized traditional warfare era, a strong and super-pressure-resistant elite reconnaissance company is an extremely important factor in determining the combat effectiveness of a regiment.

Of course, this is no longer the case in the information age, so Xu Sanduo’s 7th Steel Company was dismantled as soon as the military reform began.

In the previous battle between the two armies, the reconnaissance company had attacked in squads, blinding all the reconnaissance teams of the Soviet Fourth Division. Now, the two reinforced platoons of the reconnaissance company on the roadside were fighting back and forth with the two attacking Soviet infantry battalions, making the Soviet army believe that they were facing an entire enemy battalion.

……

"Enemy troops have been spotted on both our left and right sides?"

Xie Hongxun and his divisional headquarters team were at the front of the division, walking with the 13th and 16th Regiments. He soon received a reward when the two battalions sent to expand the control area engaged in fierce firefights with the enemy.

Chief of Staff: "Could this be a deception by the enemy?"

"No! It's a large number of elite enemy troops!" The signalman of the 1st Battalion of the 13th Regiment reported, panting heavily, "Our battalion commander has been shot! His life is in danger!"

A signalman from the 16th Regiment said, "Over thirty of our battalion members were mowed down by a barrage of enemy fire!"

Xie Hongxun: "16th Regiment! Send another battalion to join the battle! No, two companies. 13th Regiment, don't move yet, let's fight again. Artillery Regiment! Have the mountain artillery dragged forward and deployed here!"

The communications troopers at the Fourth Division's headquarters received the order and galloped towards the artillery regiment at the rear of the column. Xie Hongxun listened carefully again and discovered that in addition to the continuous thunderous gunfire on both sides of the road, there seemed to be bursts of echoing gunfire at the end of the column.

Xie Hongxun: "What's the situation with the supply team and the 14th Regiment?"

……

The tail of the Soviet 4th Division.

The 3rd Battalion of the 14th Regiment of the 4th Soviet Division and its 3rd Supply Team, huddled at the rear of the marching column, were suddenly attacked from both sides by the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 1st Regiment. Outnumbered 2:1, the two sides were outnumbered, leaving aside their tactical prowess and fighting spirit. In just 20 minutes, this massive force of over 400 infantrymen and over 300 soldiers of the 4th Soviet Division was completely routed.

At this time, the signalman from the 3rd Battalion of the 14th Regiment, who was rushing forward to report the news, had just arrived at Xie Hongxun's division headquarters.

"They're attacking my baggage, damn it," Xie Hongxun said. "We've fallen into a trap. How many enemy troops are attacking us?"

Signalman: "When the battle started, hundreds of people came from both sides of the road! The firepower was very strong!"

Xie Hongxun: "Order the 2nd Battalion of the 14th Regiment to go back and rescue the 3rd Battalion! Go directly to your regimental commander and have him lead the team!"

The signalman mounted his horse again and galloped away, ordering the Second Battalion of the 14th Regiment to rescue the Third Battalion which had been destroyed.

Chen Tianheng set up his regimental command post on the hillside outside Baojia Village, midway along the long line of the Soviet Fourth Division. Twenty minutes earlier, two red flares had been fired at the rear of the column, and now, still at that location, two green flares were fired.

This shows that the 2nd and 3rd Battalions led by Chen Mingren have achieved their first combat objective.

Xu Xiangqian: "Commander, look at the enemy troops in the second-to-last section of the Soviet Fourth Division."

Chen Tianheng: "They're moving, seemingly gathering combat troops and running backwards?"

Xu Xiangqian: "They are going to rescue the penultimate section."

Chen Tianheng: "Chen Mingren knows the overall arrangements for the entire group. Xu Jishen and Du Yuming will be able to assess the situation themselves. We can now focus on the third to last section."

Xu Xiangqian: "Weren't you staring at the third-to-last paragraph?"

Chen Tianheng: “…”

Yes, Chen Tianheng had been drooling at the third-to-last Soviet mortar.

Not only was he drooling, Chen Tianheng was also estimating and judging the distance. The range of the Stokes mortar was 1600 meters. The distance between the last section of the enemy of the 4th Su Division that had just been attacked and the mortar was more than 1600 meters, so the artillery fire could not provide support.

Now, the penultimate enemy unit turned back to rescue. It was estimated that this group of enemies, engaging the 2nd and 3rd Battalions, was approximately 1600 meters from the mortar position. However, despite being at maximum range, the rapid advance of the enemy and our infantry clashed violently, and the close combat and chaotic fighting made it impossible for the mortars to fire.

At 2:40, two green flares were launched into the sky, still from the rear of the team, but closer to Chen Tianheng's regimental headquarters.

"Report to the Captain!!"

The communicator from the 2nd Battalion arrived at the regimental headquarters.

"The 2nd and 3rd Battalions have completely wiped out the second enemy group! The enemy commander was captured. He is the commander of the 14th Regiment of the 7th Brigade of the 4th Division of the Soviet Army!"

Chen Tianheng: "What are the casualties of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions?"

"I haven't taken a thorough inventory yet, but the overall casualties are not great!"

Chen Tianheng: "It seems that Chen Mingren will definitely choose to attack continuously. First Battalion! Get out!"

The rollers for squeezing sugarcane roll over the first section of the sugarcane and then over the second section.

By the way, this second section of sugarcane still actively pushed forward and put itself under the roller.

Now, the first iron roller is going to grind the third section of sugarcane.

The number of enemies in the third group is much larger than the first and second groups. The first two groups have more than 700 enemies each, while this group has nearly 2,000.

Excluding the artillery regiment of the 4th Soviet Division, which was not very good at close combat, there was still an infantry battalion, a replenishment battalion, and various direct-affiliated teams of the 14th Regiment.

"Dudu-"

Outside Baojia Village, the entire 1st Battalion of the 1st Regiment deployed in battle formation. Behind the 1st Battalion, artillery company commander Yuan Yelie raised a small flag, and the gunners of the six mortars loaded shells into the muzzles.

“Comrades!!”

Li Hanfan, the Party representative of the 1st Battalion, raised his pistol. This man from Hengyang, Hunan, shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Comrades, charge! Fuck your mother!!"

……

In the camp of the Su Fourth Division.

The messenger rode back from the divisional headquarters at full speed, and as soon as he jumped off his horse he shouted:

"Report——!" "Where's the captain?"

An awkward silence fell over the 14th Regiment. After a moment, the regimental chief of staff said, "I'm now acting as regimental commander. What are the orders from division headquarters?"

Signalman: "Divisional headquarters orders the 2nd Battalion of the 14th Regiment to temporarily abandon its baggage and rendezvous with the Artillery Regiment and the 1st Battalion. Defend the artillery at all costs. Reinforcements from the 13th and 16th Regiments will arrive soon."

Regimental Chief of Staff: ...

The silence didn't last long. With a sharp whistling sound, six mortar shells exploded in the Soviet Fourth Division's formation. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Battalions of the 1st Regiment launched an attack from three directions.

The mortars of the 12th Soviet Division tried their best to demonstrate their professionalism and quickly determined from the smoke where the enemy mortars were fired. Twelve mortars tried to fire in that direction.

But the mortar battalion commander soon found that this was of little significance, because the enemy's mortar stopped firing after firing 4 rounds and 24 shells. When the mortars of the Soviet 4th Division found their position and covered the original place a few minutes later, the enemy's mortars should have been moved away long ago.

The infantrymen of the 1st Battalion of the 14th Regiment who were resisting on the front line were very frustrated. What the hell were they fighting against?

The whole mountain was filled with Cantonese roars that they could not understand, interspersed with charges.

If you look closely, you can see that none of the enemy troops charging towards you are lined up in a formation. They are all in groups of three or four.

You let the heavy machine guns hit one of the groups, and they all lay down and hid.

It would have been fine if they just lay down on the ground, but as soon as these soldiers lay down, they started throwing grenades from behind the cover of the terrain!

No wonder those two battalions were wiped out during the battle just now!

3:40 p.m.

Chen Tianheng walked down the hillside outside Baojia Village and arrived at the Nanxun railway line.

The dirt roads on both sides of the railway were in a mess, with overturned and broken carts scattered all over the ground. Some of the draft horses were frightened and struggled desperately, some fell dead beside the carts, and some had their reins broken and ran around wildly. Sometimes the soldiers of the First Regiment had to shoot the crazy horses to prevent them from kicking and injuring people.

In addition to carriages and horses, there were more people. The pits and valleys were filled with wounded Soviet soldiers, corpses, and prisoners.

"Are there any enemy troops escaping in an entire organization?" Chen Tianheng asked.

Chen Mingren: "Some of the enemy troops fled in groups of 20 or 30, perhaps led by officers. We detached some of our troops to pursue them. But it seems unlikely that these fleeing enemy troops would turn around and attack us."

Xu Jishen: "Yes, the enemy's morale has completely collapsed."

Chen Tianheng: "Comrades, up to now, we have destroyed one regiment of the Soviet Fourth Division, the 14th Regiment, in sections."

"But the battle is far from over. The Soviet 4th Division still has two regiments, the 13th and 16th Regiments, right in front of us. The blocking positions set up by the replacement battalion at the pass have held them off for 40 minutes."

"Now, I order the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Battalions to assemble all combat units and advance!"

Chapter 108

Xie Hongxun, commander of the 4th Soviet Division, found that today's battle was completely out of his control and he was passive everywhere.

Originally, the Soviet 4th Division's plan for the day was to march 25 kilometers to Xiaolushan, near the Xiushui Railway Bridge, and then attack Xiushui Bridge/Yongxiu County early the next morning. Therefore, when fighting broke out on the left and right fronts of the column, Xie Hongxun decided to send two battalions to clear the road.

However, a fight suddenly broke out at the rear of the team, which was a bit confusing for him. The enemy had only destroyed my scouts, creating a visual gap of an hour. How did they get behind me and bite me?

Because he couldn't figure it out at first, the several orders he issued to the end of the team did not keep up with the changes in the battlefield situation.

Xie Hongxun currently knew that two of the three baggage trains at the rear of the regiment had been attacked, and the 14th Regimental Commander had led men to rescue them, but they were all killed. The third and largest baggage train was likely attacked as well, but this was only a guess, as communication between the front and rear trains had been severed.

If we had known this would happen, we should not have fought forward in the beginning, thinking about camping in Xiaolushan tonight. Instead, we all turned back, with the first two regiments returning to the rear of the team, and the entire division moving together, forming a circle to resist!

"How many enemy troops are blocking the way ahead?"?

Xie Hongxun asked the battalion commander in front of him angrily.

"More than three hundred, at least more than three hundred!"

The battalion commander replied wearily. His battalion had just been responsible for attacking a narrow section of the railway line and had been beaten back. Dozens of men were injured, and dozens more were lying in front of the low earthen slope, which was less than 10 meters high.

Xie Hongxun: "So, one battalion is blocking the road and preventing us from joining the rear troops?"

"Commander, these three hundred plus men are the elite troops of the Red Bandits. Their volleys are very accurate! Their heavy machine guns are also very vicious! You... please send more men to attack together!"

……

This narrow section of the Nanxun Railway is called Yutangpo by the locals. It is located between Baojia Village and Caojia Village.

The railway line is dug 6 meters under the ground to pass through this long low earth slope, and then passes through a fish pond area, which is a terrain that is slightly more conducive to defense.

The "elite red bandit troops" blocking this narrow section were the First Regiment's Supplementary Battalion.

More than 300 new recruits were replaying the fierce battle that had just taken place in their minds in disbelief.

...and they weren't all greenhorns. The First Regiment had brought a supplementary battalion of over 400 men with them when they set out from Guangzhou. Only after the Battle of Wuchang did they send over 100 men to the First Regiment's combat units. Now, over 200 of these supplementary battalions were half-season veterans.

The First Regiment also trained the Supplementary Battalion during their rest stops along the way. Even without training, the Supplementary Battalion had already covered 320 kilometers with the First Regiment over the past six days. Even the rookies had become strong men with both physical strength and willpower after these 300-plus kilometers.

Seeing the enemy's first wave of attack retreat, Battalion Commander Yu Chengwan breathed a sigh of relief: "Attention, all teams, treat and evacuate the wounded, and continue to dig deep into the fortifications. The enemy's second wave of attack may come soon!"

"Captain Yu! Captain Yu!"

The regiment's communicator came on two horses.