The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

The battlefield situation in the entire area north of De'an was in chaos.

Lu Xiangting's original plan was to open up a road to reinforce De'an, but later the plan changed to holding the ground and defeating the attacking Northern Expedition Army, and then to gathering three regiments and retreating in an orderly manner. Now an orderly retreat is no longer possible.

Chen Tianheng's mission to Xu Xiangqian was to use a single regiment to raid and destroy Lu Xiangting's artillery, thereby reducing the division's combat effectiveness in subsequent battles. If the First Regiment still had strength left, they could use the entire regiment to destroy some of Lu Xiangting's troops. Currently, destroying the artillery regiment had been accomplished, but destroying Lu Xiangting's troops was... unclear.

Now it is like two equally matched Go players entering the middle game stage. Each of Sun Chuanfang's three dragons is in a fierce battle. If each dragon does not create two eyes, it is likely to be slaughtered.

On the De'an-Jiujiang section of the Nanxun Railway, combat staff officer Liu Yongyao hurried on with the 1st Division's reconnaissance battalion and guard company.

The newly established reconnaissance battalion was not yet capable of conducting reconnaissance missions, so let's just consider it an infantry battalion. This was the "reserve force" that the First Division could draw upon.

As they approached Qiaomailing, Liu Yongyao saw the destroyed armored train. The boiler explosion had pushed it off the tracks, leaving it sideways on the west side of the road. The train was in a state of disarray, and even the bodies of Sun Chuanfang's soldiers could be seen.

"Are you from the 6th Division?!"

Liu Yongyao saw some people.

Xiao Jinguang: "From the 16th Regiment of the 6th Division! Are you from the 1st Division?"

Liu Yongyao: "Yes! We need to reinforce the front! Can you still fight? If you can, come with us!"

Chapter 117

The 16th Regiment of the 6th Division, defending Qiaomailing, had just withstood three waves of attacks from Lu Xiangting. Although they had barely held their position, the entire regiment had been shattered. After the enemy retreated, Xiao Jinguang counted the troops and found that only 400 of the 1200 men in the regiment before the battle were still alive.

Among the dead was Lin Xuanmin, the party representative of the 16th Regiment.

Okay, then the division’s party representative will temporarily serve as the party representative of the 16th regiment.

Liu Yongyao requested that the combat-capable officers and soldiers of the 16th Regiment gather together to join the team. Xiao Jinguang agreed, but the regiment commander Cao Yunyin objected.

"My regiment has been beaten to such a state! It will take half a year for us to recover! Are we going to give away these last few people?"

Liu Yongyao: "Captain Cao, in the history of the 1st Regiment of the 1st Division, every enemy that faced us was defeated; in the history of the 1st Regiment, in all the battles, we have never lost a single company."

Cao Yunyin: “…”

Xiao Jinguang: "Captain Cao, you and some of the officers and soldiers of the 16th Regiment will stay here to guard the prisoners on the armored train and take care of the wounded. I will take some of the officers and soldiers who volunteered to join the battle."

After receiving Cao Yunyin's tacit approval, Xiao Jinguang shouted to the remaining four hundred men of the 16th Regiment: "Brothers of the 16th Regiment! An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. We just held this position, and Sun Chuanfang's army attacked us with artillery and armored vehicles. We lost many men. How can we swallow this? They just punched us, shouldn't we slap them back?"

"As the old saying goes, 'Without Hunan, there is no army.' If you are from Hunan, then stand up and follow me to fight the Beiyang Army. Let them taste our might!"

Some of the officers and soldiers of the 16th Regiment were still in shock, and some were exhausted, but under Xiao Jinguang's mobilization, some soldiers gradually stood up and automatically lined up in a row.

One hundred. Two hundred. Two hundred and one. Two hundred and two. …Two hundred and sixty.

Liu Yongyao nodded. "It's all based on voluntary participation, no coercion. I think that's enough."

Xiao Jinguang: "Those who don't want to go, please hand over the remaining bullets and grenades to the brothers who are going to fight."

……

With this wave of Hunan troops, Liu Yongyao's fresh troops swelled to over 800 men. They crossed the Qiaomailing-Mahuiling blocking line and arrived at the 1st Regiment headquarters, where Sun Chuanfang's artillery positions had once stood. Seeing the artillery pieces that had paralyzed them earlier now scattered across the ground, the 200-plus soldiers of the 16th Regiment felt a sudden sense of relief.

"Captain Liu, these are the final reinforcements sent by the division headquarters: the reconnaissance battalion, the divisional guard company, and the 260 officers and soldiers of the 16th Hunan Army Regiment who were recruited along the way."

Xu Xiangqian: "The division headquarters was able to squeeze out reinforcements. Fine, I'll rearrange the deployment... Huh? Huh?!"

Chen Tianheng and all the staff officers that could be mobilized from the division headquarters rushed over on horseback.

Half an hour ago, the battle in De'an City finally drew to a close. With no significant enemy resistance left in the city, Chen Tianheng handed the remaining tasks to Chen Mingren and rode to the First Regiment headquarters.

"Xu Xiangqian, what are your current battle plans and specific deployments?"

Xu Xiangqian: "The 1st Battalion and the 2nd Division's 4th Regiment are annihilating Sun's 5th Regiment and are almost completely annihilated. The 3rd Battalion is on the flank of Sun's 5th Regiment, not far away, and is responsible for preventing Sun's 6th Regiment from approaching the 5th Regiment. The 2nd Battalion is blocking here, Caitianpu, to prevent the 7th Regiment from escaping. After the reinforcements from Staff Officer Liu arrive, we plan to quickly launch an encirclement and annihilation campaign against Sun's 6th Regiment, shortening the duration of the entire battle and reducing the pressure on the 2nd Battalion."

Chen Tianheng: "We need to launch an immediate attack on Lu Xiangting's divisional headquarters. Lu Xiangting's fighting spirit has weakened, and I suspect he's already considering a solo retreat. As soon as he discovers that Sun's 5th Regiment has been completely wiped out and there's no more gunfire coming from that direction, he'll immediately flee and flee back to the Five Provinces Allied Forces' Guards."

Liu Yongyao: "Lu Xiangting's division headquarters has a large amount of food, ammunition, and other supplies, as well as several mountain cannons that escaped from the artillery regiment."

Chen Tianheng: "The target more important than food and ammunition, the number one target, is Lu Xiangting himself."

……

"Second Company of the First Battalion! Disengage immediately from the current battle! Turn towards Lu Xiangting's division headquarters and launch an attack!"

The messenger from the first regiment found the location of the second company, but Xu Xiangqian had no time to draft a military order, so the messenger conveyed the order verbally.

Lin Biao: "Which troops are deployed to attack Lu Xiangting's division headquarters?!"

"All three companies of the First Battalion have been withdrawn from the current battle! The Replacement Battalion will fill this position! The specific combat deployment will be determined by Song Xilian and the three company commanders based on the battlefield situation! In addition, the division reconnaissance battalion and the engineering company will also participate! Remember, the slogan: Capture Lu Xiangting alive!"

After delivering the message, the messenger mounted his horse and galloped away.

Lin Biao: "Liu Zhidan, Wu Zhonghao, Zeng Zhongsheng!"

Three platoon leaders: "Here!"

Lin Biao: "Our Second Company is the closest to Lu Xiangting's division headquarters. We must consider the overall situation and make the Second Company play the greatest role in the outcome of the battle. Therefore, we must move to the rear and block the retreat. Each of your platoons will carry a heavy machine gun and march one kilometer along the northbound mountain road. Liu Zhidan's platoon will take Tuanshan, Wu Zhonghao's platoon will take the eastern slope of Yangziling, and Zeng Zhongsheng's platoon will take the western slope of Yangziling. Each of you will use your heavy machine gun to block the roads and passes in front of you. Have you taken note of this?"

"take note of it!"

Lin Biao: "Time is precious. I will not organize the entire company. Go back and gather all the soldiers in the platoon and set out immediately. I will follow the last platoon to set out!"

……

The 1st Regiment's Replacement Battalion was once again used in the battle. This time, the Replacement Battalion also blocked the enemy from a high position. The difficulty was not as great as the previous encirclement and annihilation of the 4th Division of the Soviet Union. Because the 5th Regiment of the Sun Army was being hammered back and forth by Hu Zongnan and was about to be destroyed, the position occupied by the 2nd Company was mainly to intercept the soldiers of the 5th Regiment of the Sun Army who were fleeing in groups of three or five.

The 260 officers and soldiers of the 6th Division of the Hunan Army who participated in the friendly battle were organized by Xiao Jinguang into a reinforced company of five platoons, joining the 3rd Battalion to block the direction of the 6th Regiment of Sun's Army.

"Are you from the 6th Division of the 2nd Army assisting in the battle? You... never mind. Now that you're here, get into position."

The commander of the third battalion, Li Mo'an, felt that the current blocking line was very solid and did not require any reinforcement or reinforcement. The two hundred more people who were added would stay in the audience seats first and would be sent to the battlefield when the general attack on the 6th Regiment of Sun's army was launched.

"How many times have you repelled Sun Chuanfang's army's attacks?" Xiao Jinguang asked.

"Three times. Each time they attack, the intervals between them are getting longer and longer," Li Mo'an said. "Look, that group of people in the distance, they've been lining up and giving speeches, and they haven't moved in five full minutes."

"Could it be that they..." Xiao Jinguang looked carefully at the front of the position and saw piles of corpses of soldiers in Beiyang Army uniforms. He felt that there was no need to ask.

"Commander! They're attacking!"

Li Mo'an: "Handle it as usual."

Li Mo'an only had to say one word, and without further ado, the soldiers of the Third Battalion on the blocking line automatically prepared. In the standing or kneeling trenches, over 300 soldiers stood up and raised their guns, but did not immediately open fire.

Li Mo'an: "Our battalion is coordinating volleys of fire. Based on our experience from the previous three attempts, the enemy is particularly susceptible to this tactic."

About ten officers were crouching back and forth in the trenches, blew their whistles as they went. The entire battlefield was filled with the sound of whistles. After blowing the whistles for a while, Xiao Jinguang noticed that some of the soldiers on the battlefield had actually started to raise small flags: one, two, ... three.

After the three small flags were raised, Li Mo'an moved. He took out his pistol and shouted, "Ready!" "Bang!"

“Bang~~~~~~!”

More than 300 rifles opened fire in less than 1 second, and the explosive gunshots echoed among the valleys and hills like thunder.

This wasn't the end. After firing the first round, more than 300 soldiers used a uniform movement to eject the shells and reload, and then there was another "bang~~~~~~!"

The soldiers of Sun's 6th Regiment, attacking the positions from above, were terrified by the rifle volleys, some of whom practically tumbled down the mountain. The survivors, instead of climbing the slope, sprinted downhill. The light machine guns of the 3rd Battalion opened fire at just the right moments, with short, clattering bursts of fire, mowing down the fleeing Sun's soldiers until they were beyond the machine guns' effective range.

Xiao Jinguang: "Captain Li, your battalion used to hire instructors from the British Army?!"

……

Shenjia Village. Headquarters of the 2nd Division of the Central Army.

Lu Xiangting had already ordered the three infantry regiments to return to the division headquarters, but by 5 pm, none of the three regiments had returned, and it seemed that they were divided and surrounded by the Northern Expedition Army.

Lu Xiangting radioed Jiujiang for help, but the nearest headquarters guard regiment was not ready for the attack, so a mixed brigade had to be drawn from the troops further behind to support it. During this time, Lu Xiangting was hesitant about whether to move the division headquarters to a safe area.

In the end, they didn't move, but Lu Xiangting was ready for defense. Machine-gun emplacements were punctured in the houses outside Shenjia Village, and the supply team's draft horses and carts were surrounded by the threshing ground outside the village. The divisional guards and supply battalion used their carts to form a circular defense line outside the threshing ground.

But he didn't anticipate that the first mortar rounds from the Northern Expedition would hit the horse farm at Shaiguping. Frightened by the deafening explosion, the hundred or so horses went berserk, with more than a dozen breaking free from their harnesses and running away. The soldiers of the supply battalion, tasked with filling the defensive line, instinctively ran back to subdue the frightened horses. At that moment, the Northern Expedition troops outside the defensive line launched an attack.

At the beginning, Lu Xiangting was able to calmly coordinate the overall defense arrangements, but after a while, the Northern Expedition Army's grenades were thrown into Shenjia Village.

"Commander, Commander! We will cover your retreat! Let's go!"

(Lu Xiangting was not only the commander of the Second Central Division, but also the commander of the Zhejiang Army of the Five Provinces Allied Forces.)

Lu Xiangting: "I don't understand! How many people are there in the Northern Expedition Army?"

"They are besieging De'an! They still have blocking positions! They can surround three of my regiments at the same time! They can even send troops to attack my division headquarters!"

"Did their Fourth and Seventh Armies fly over here?"

"Commander! Commander! There's an ambush ahead! Let's take another route!"

"Commander! Commander! There are ambushes ahead...! Let's take another route! Ah!"

Lu Xiangting and his staff and secretary, protected by dozens of guards, desperately broke out of Shenjia Village and walked into the intersection guarded by Lin Biao. They retreated from this intersection and tried to escape north, but ended up at the intersection guarded by Lin Biao again.

After losing several more guards, Lu Xiangting and his group finally escaped the firing range of the intersection and stumbled forward in the wilderness towards Jiujiang, taking one step forward and one step back.

When a long line of Northern Expedition soldiers wearing large hats appeared before them, the staff officers and secretaries around Lu Xiangting were already weak in the knees, exhausted both mentally and physically, and had almost given up trying to run. Some secretaries even sat down on the ground.

"Bang", "Bang", "Bang bang bang bang..."

After a volley of short rifle fire, every soldier of the Northern Expedition Army drew a gleaming dog-leg knife from his waist and began to charge!

"Don't move! Surrender your weapons and you won't be killed!"

You Buying, the captain of the engineering company, rushed towards the long-faced man in the enemy ranks, wearing the uniform of a Beiyang general. He switched his dog-leg knife to his left hand and took out a Colt M1911A1 in his right hand: "Put down the knife! Put your hands up!"

Chapter 118

Lu Xiangting was arrested at 6 pm.

Sun Chuanfang's reinforcements appeared within the sight of the First Regiment at 6:20.

Sun Chuanfang himself left Jiujiang and boarded the gunboat "Juechuan" at 9 o'clock in the evening.

Although the Northern Expedition Army had not yet reached Jiujiang City, it was better to board the warships as soon as possible so that they could escape and their personal safety would be more guaranteed. The "Juechuan" gunboat had a displacement of nearly 1,000 tons and was quite capable of carrying it.

(The "Juechuan" was later transformed into China's first seaplane carrier)

……

De'an-Jiujiang battlefield.

When the First Regiment attacked Lu Xiangting's division headquarters, the last group of enemies from Sun's 5th Regiment laid down their weapons and chose to surrender.

At the same time, the artillery battalion of the 1st Division bombarded the 6th Regiment of Sun's Army which was trapped in place. This was the prelude to the battle to encircle and annihilate the 6th Regiment of Sun's Army.

The mountain artillery of the 1st Division Artillery Battalion moved its positions several times within a day: from outside De'an City to behind Qiaomailing, and then from Qiaomailing to here, just in time to encircle and annihilate the 6th Regiment of Sun's Army.

However, this battle should be easy for the artillery battalion: the 6th Regiment of Sun's army in the encirclement has no artillery, so the artillery battalion can fire without worrying about the enemy's counterattack.

"It's getting dark soon, and it's difficult to maneuver artillery at night. Sun Chuanfang's reinforcements are stirring in the north," Chen Tianheng said. "After annihilating the 6th Regiment, this battle ends here."

Xu Xiangqian: "Hmm..."

Chen Tianheng: "The Second Battalion is at Caitianpu, preventing the 7th Regiment of Sun's army from escaping. So far, they've accomplished their mission well, but after dark, the battlefield becomes more uncertain. We might launch a night attack and defeat the 7th Regiment in one fell swoop, but the enemy might also take advantage of the darkness to flee. To be honest, I'm not worried about enemy troops like the 6th Regiment of Sun's army who are systematically forming a circular defensive position. I'm worried about those who are running around all over the mountains and plains."

Liu Yongyao: "From early morning to dusk, the Central Second Division, consisting of two brigades and four regiments, was annihilated by us. Three infantry regiments and the artillery regiment were basically wiped out. The divisional staff was raided, and the division commander, chief of staff, a brigade commander and two regimental commanders were captured. The Central Second Division was finished. Even if Sun Chuanfang retreated to his old nest in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, he would not be able to rebuild it as it was."

"What I thought was that the battle we fought against the 4th Soviet Division was much more efficient and effective than this." Xu Xiangqian said with a hint of regret.

Chen Tianheng: "This is probably the difference in combat power between Sun Chuanfang's number one main force and his second and third main forces. Look at the 5th Regiment we just annihilated and the 6th Regiment in front of us. Their offense and defense were modeled after the Japanese divisions. Even the circular positions they constructed followed the dimensions specified in Japanese infantry regulations. Although they only learned superficially from the Japanese army, it was enough to prevent them from being killed instantly on the battlefield."

Xu Xiangqian adjusted his deployment, directing the Second Battalion at Caitianpu to disengage from Sun's 7th Regiment. The First and Reconnaissance Battalions were to maintain contact with Sun Chuanfang's reinforcements, fighting and retreating, allowing enough time to remove the ammunition and supplies captured by the divisional headquarters. As for the plan to encircle and annihilate the 6th Regiment, no changes were required; it could be executed.

炮兵营不紧不慢地对孙军第6团炮击了25分钟，在它周围，二营、补充营、湘军16团加强连、1师警卫连、胡宗南2师4团之一部陆续进入攻击出发阵地。

The Hunan Army's reinforced company, which had volunteered to join the battle, had no idea they would actually be involved in the encirclement and annihilation of Sun Chuanfang's army, the very same force that had utterly routed them only half a day earlier. It must be said that when the general offensive began, everyone in the reinforced company was incredibly excited. As soon as the charge was given, they all rushed forward, guns drawn.

But compared with the various troops in the regiment, the reinforced company is like a free newbie who sneaked in among the high-end krypton gold players. Even the assault formation is a long column, and the formation is too dense.

Chen Tianheng left the scene of the annihilation battle. In his eyes, the 6th Regiment of Sun’s army was already a pile of dead meat.

"Did your Second Battalion capture so many prisoners in Caitianpu? It seems you've taken quite a bite out of the 7th Regiment."

The Second Battalion, which had broken contact, returned to the vicinity of the First Regiment's headquarters, with more than 300 men and more than 200 appendices.

Wang Erzhuo: "Commander, guess what we caught"

Han Guangyu, commander of the 7th Regiment of Sun's army, was brought before Chen Tianheng.

Wang Erzhuo: "We received orders to break contact with the enemy. When the enemy realized that they were no longer blocking their way, they separated and retreated northward. We found that the enemy was in disarray and it would be unreasonable not to take advantage of the opportunity, so we turned back and rushed. Su Yu's Fourth Company accurately located the high-ranking officers among the fleeing enemy troops, eliminated this group of enemies, and captured their regimental commander."

Chen Tianheng: "Fourth Company, Su Yu? Wait, what about Li Guangshao?"

"Li Guangshao fell ill in Nanchang, and Su Yu is now the acting company commander."

The commander of the 4th Company was originally Li Guangshao, a member of the 1st class, but before this battle, he was replaced by Su Yu. As soon as Su Yu became the company commander, he had a small surprise.

The capture of this regimental commander was of extraordinary significance. Although the Seventh Regiment had lost eight or nine hundred men, their commander had not. In the recent annihilation battle, the commander of the Sixth Regiment of Sun Chuanfang's army, who was surrounded, had surrendered and been taken prisoner. Together with the one brought by the Second Battalion, all four commanders of Sun Chuanfang's Central Second Division had been captured.