Chapter 63: The First Battle at Liu Family Temple

  A thick layer of mud and sand-filled sacks was piled up in a semicircle, with only a one-foot wide gap exposed in the middle of the front, forming a temporary artillery cover. Behind the gun position, a slope was dug out to facilitate rapid withdrawal of the cannon when changing positions.

  Eighteen 75mm Krupp field guns were lined up in a row, with over a dozen artillerymen crouched behind each gun. Some of them held paper and pen, not because the guns required so many people to operate, but because the command was taking advantage of this rare opportunity for live combat training to let new recruits learn more intuitively how to use field guns.

  Jiang Tai held down his military cap, shuttling back and forth between the artillery positions, no matter how strange the questions the new gunners asked, he would answer them, and even personally direct the new gunners to conduct actual combat shooting.

  The second day of the uprising, he was invited by Zhang Wenjing and Song Ziqing to join the Right Route Army. At first, it was because of the three battalions' affairs that he had been holding back his breath. Moreover, on the night of the uprising, many officers like him were forced to take off their uniforms due to the soldiers' riot. After the success, they even wanted to temporarily find a governor and clear the surrounding areas immediately, but instead, they were in a hurry to distribute power. He felt it was very meaningless. Just now at the oath-taking ceremony, he was also present. No matter what Yang Qiu was like, one thing he said was right: soldiers don't talk much nonsense, big guns are the ones that do the talking.

  After crossing the river, he was immediately appointed as the commander of the 1st Artillery Regiment. The eighteen German-made Krupp 7.5 cm Model 1903 field guns made him jump for joy. It's worth noting that most of the Hubei New Army had only a few of these new-style field guns, mostly 75mm mountain guns.

  In just one day, this team that had been hiding in Hanyang for two months made him feel a bit different. They were strict and disciplined, executing orders without any discount, especially when the internal struggle was ongoing on the other side of the river, and the three towns had just been liberated and people's minds were unstable. When the commander said to attack Yangjia Temple, they rolled up their sleeves and set off without saying a word, decisive and efficient to the point of being tongue-tied! Just this kind of military style that says one thing and does another made him look forward to joining this team even more.

  "Fire!"

  With his loud shout, eighteen shells shot out in a flash, and in the blink of an eye, several clusters of black smoke rose above Liujiatun Railway Station opposite, with large bricks flying up in the explosion.

  Due to the shortage of gunners, only one artillery battalion was deployed in this operation. Even a whole artillery battalion was not something that the hastily retreating enemy could withstand. In just a few minutes, Liujiatun was shrouded in thick smoke.

  Inside the temporary command post, Yue Peng put down his binoculars: "Commander, shouldn't we let the infantry attack? If this keeps going on..." He glanced at Zhang Wenjing beside him with a smelly face and smiled: "I'm afraid Wenjing's... face will get even darker!"

  Can Zhang Wenjing not be ashamed? He is the logistics chief! What we lack most now is artillery shells. Most of the shells seized in the arsenal's warehouse are Type 57 and Type 75, with a total reserve of over 3,000 Type 75 shells. This is good, Yang Qiu actually asked for a 20-minute firepower cover, which would consume 720 shells at a rate of three per minute. If we fight like this, we will fall into the predicament of having no shells before fighting against the Beiyang Army. I'll have to communicate with the arsenal later and ask how many shells they can produce in one day at full capacity. As he pondered, Yue Peng bumped his shoulder: "By the way, Wenjing, how much did that donation box collect earlier?"

  I recall that oversized donation box, and a burst of snickering erupted from all around. Not to mention anything else, but just the 500,000 yuan "donated" by Hu Rui Lin alone could sustain half a month's worth of Right Route Army's expenses. In response to this "unreasonable" issue, Zhang Wen Jing directly gave him a backhander and turned around to ask: "Commander, do you think Director Li and the others will provide support? If not, it'll be extremely difficult for the Gun Factory."

  "How can he not support? Li Dian is a knowledgeable military leader, how could he not see through the most dangerous situation in Hankou."

  "It's hard to say, now is not the time for Li Du to be in charge."

  The issue has sparked everyone's discussion, Song Ziqing secretly took a look at Yang Qiu, is he trying to get support or not? If he gets support, the two armies will naturally merge slowly. But if he doesn't? Letting Rolling Knife Meat cross the river is just to borrow his voice and temper, but it's possible that this person can't achieve what he wants! Does he not know? Maybe he just hopes for some small cracks to appear between the two armies, as long as Big Mouth comes back disappointed and spreads the word about how he was treated unfairly, the soldiers who just won will feel resentful, this is even better than Big Mouth's propaganda! Soldiers are like this, the more external pressure they face, the more united they become, after a long time... everyone will naturally come together.

  It is in the details that one's means are revealed, and this person's thoughts seem to have deepened even more than before.

  Yang Qiu seemed to have not seen Song Ziqing's gaze, his mind was all focused on this first battle, although the opponent was weak and pitiful, but he couldn't afford to make any mistakes, even if it meant huge casualties. So he strictly stipulated 20 minutes of firepower coverage, only... looking at the rolling black smoke of Liujiatang, he was extremely "resentful" of the shells that only smoked but didn't explode in the early years of the Republic of China, and wished to replace them with modern black powder-loaded 155mm howitzers, let alone 18 guns, one gun would be enough to declare Liujiatang flat.

  Explosives also need to be improved...... Yang Qiu, after jotting down a note in his small notebook, turned around and commanded: "Heavy machine guns enter combat position, providing covering fire for the infantry at an angle, focusing on suppressing the open area in front of the railroad tracks. Light machine guns follow the infantry charge, charging while dispersed, keeping low, and mutually providing cover."

  After the order was given, three machine gun squads from the 1st and 2nd battalions of the 2nd regiment, each with three Maxim guns, quickly set up in front of the artillery, and canvas belts were rapidly inserted into the guns. The distinctive "da-da" sound of the Maxim guns rang out simultaneously from three sides, and from the direction of the command post, three Maxims formed a triangular formation, firing diagonally at the central railway station with rapid fire, drawing out three dense lines of death in front of Liujiayao Railway Station.

  It's... damn it! The machine gunners have all switched to full auto! The firepower is fierce, but the bullets... Zhang Wenjing's face turned even darker, and Yang Qiu also secretly shook his head. However, he didn't stop them, after all, the people who could be pulled out from this side were all half-baked, relying on two light machine guns for training, needing to constantly feed bullets to mature, in order to seize this rare opportunity for actual combat, he had ruthlessly deployed 9 heavy machine guns and 30 light machine guns.

  "Great General, it's... it's a German-made MG08 machine gun!" Li Xianglin finally had some experience and saw the opponent push out the MG08. His scalp suddenly exploded as he never thought that Yang Qiu would have a German-made heavy machine gun that even the Eighth Town didn't have! But just after shouting, the bullets poured down like a rainstorm on the locomotive head used as cover. The steel body couldn't withstand such intense firepower and was transformed into a beehive in an instant.

  "Big guns, big guns aimed at machine guns!"

  Zhang Biao's eyes were bleeding, he was also the Qing Dynasty's "Batulu" and not a greedy coward. On the night of the riot, his subordinates had no strength to fight back, but after the Governor's Mansion was broken and Rui Ceng disappeared, the morale of the troops was completely lost, and he could only be surrounded by trusted followers, fleeing here in a hurry. He thought that with one camp and several machine guns, he could hold on until reinforcements arrived, but he didn't expect Yang Qiu to have so many big cannons, and the Beiyang army had just started equipping German heavy machine guns. If he had known that the 42nd Division had such strong firepower, he would have taken the train north to join forces with Yin Chang earlier.

  It's too late to regret now, three sides are surrounded and only the river side is left, this is obviously going to annihilate itself! So, regardless of the flying bullets, run to the four-door five-life seven-mountain cannon hidden in the house, pull out the knife and point at the machine gun class on the opposite side, jump up and shout loudly.

  "Boom." The four mountain cannons shook violently, and the shell fell right in front of a machine gun squad not far away, exploding into a smoke screen that made Yue Peng's heart skip a beat.

  Fortunately, the shells were still some distance away, and the five-seven cannon had limited power, so after a brief pause, the machine guns started screaming again. At this time, Jiang Tai also caught sight of the position where the fire was coming from and immediately ordered the six cannons to turn around and aim at that two-story foreign-style house. In just three rounds, Zhang Biao's artillerymen inside the house were buried under the rubble. Yang Qiu saw the situation and immediately waved his hand: "The light machine gun squad of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Regiment, take turns to go up and cover the infantry attack."

  Hangzhi, who was fighting for the first time, couldn't wait any longer. As soon as he heard the order, he rushed out of the command post and shouted loudly at the third battalion, which was on standby. Six Madison light machine gun squads quickly ran forward under the cover of heavy machine guns.

  The advantages of light machine guns finally emerged, one machine gunner and one deputy machine gunner formed a machine gun squad. Adding another deputy machine gunner was to consider expanding the machine gunner in the future. The lightweight and mobile light machine gun quickly reached its position, taking over the cover task of the heavy machine gun squad.

  At the same time as Yang Qiu recorded that he was going to install a tripod for the heavy machine gun, the soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Regiment had already jumped out of their trenches and dispersed, charging forward in a zigzag pattern. From the posture of the soldiers running, it can be seen that the Hubei New Army is indeed a new-style army, and now they are all veterans who have been trained for many years and strengthened for two months, so most of the soldiers can run with their bodies lowered and make way for their comrades behind them.

  At the beginning, they charged in units of 100 meters, with a whistle as the signal. They ran about 400 meters before dispersing and reorganizing into smaller groups. Then, they quickly dropped down to crawl forward while pushing their guns ahead. At this distance, even Yang Qiu found it difficult to hit crawling enemies without optical sights. After crawling for about 100 meters, the light machine guns that followed them opened fire first, taking cover behind rocks or trees. The remaining infantry continued to crawl until they reached a distance of 120 meters before the whistle suddenly became sharp and loud, and everyone jumped up to launch a charge.

  Soldiers who rushed to the station were quickly intercepted, and as Liujiayao was a rural town with open terrain that was easy to defend but hard to attack, even with machine gun cover, soldiers could be seen falling down from time to time.

  The commitment of infantry meant that the fighting had become intense, and machine guns at this time did not dare to fire indiscriminately for fear of misfire.

  Yang Qiu frowned, the overall strength of the new army was not bad, and the tactical running position was also relatively in place, but there were still many problems. For example, the infantry line was still too tight in structure, and the soldiers would stop because of tension when charging forward. The combination of infantry and artillery was also poorly done, and the machine gunners had no experience at all, failing to grasp the opportunity to provide good cover for the infantry's charge.

  But what's even more frustrating is that most soldiers have a very bad habit! That is, when reloading after firing a shot, they always press down the muzzle by habit, rather than holding it against their shoulder like European seasoned soldiers, who move and look for the next target at the same time. Don't underestimate this brief moment of delay, as it's enough to get killed several times over when facing elite troops!

  "Hold on, hold on!"

  As the infantry approached from the opposite side, Zhang Biao's heart grew more anxious. He drew his sword and repeatedly shouted to hold steady, but the threat of the machine guns was too great. Bullets poured down like a storm, sweeping across the front of the position again and again, frightening many soldiers into not daring to lift their heads to look.

  "Who dares to run, kill without discussion!" Just as a soldier turned around and wanted to escape, Zhang Biao's anger rose from his heart, grabbed the military knife and cut it fiercely, actually cutting this soldier in half. This behavior was caused by the times, even Li Yuanhong killed one person on the night of the uprising to boost morale. The gushing blood and internal organs scared the remaining soldiers, who could only grit their teeth and fire at the bullets.

  "Charge into the building!" Ke Shao, leading a company, finally charged into the station and saw a large number of enemies hiding in trenches in front. He immediately rushed into a nearby house and before he reached the second floor, several enemies with guns rushed up, so he quickly raised his gun and fired.

  After a burst of gunfire, several of Zhang Biao's bodyguards fell into the blood pool. He immediately led his soldiers to occupy the second floor vantage point and set up a Madsen light machine gun to sweep the enemy position from top to bottom. The power of the elevated light machine gun was fully unleashed, and from time to time, enemy soldiers were hit by bullets coming from above their heads.

  Li Xianglin also knew that it was time to fight desperately, and as soon as he saw the rooftop being occupied, he shouted loudly and followed me up. He led a team of guards to charge towards the small building. At this moment, Zhang Biao finally brought out his trump card, and an ambush cavalry on the right side suddenly rushed out, charging straight at the second battalion's first company, which was rushing forward. In the rolling iron hooves, more than 20 unsuspecting soldiers were directly beheaded by the shiny horse knives.

  "Machine gun? Where's the machine gun?"

  The scene of blood splashing and heads falling to the ground made Zhang Wenjing's eyes red, knowing that the second battalion was originally led by him, so he shouted loudly without regard for Yang Qiu still beside him. Song Ziqing, who was watching the battle nearby, hastily pulled him back, saying: "It's already gone up."

  Following Song Ziqing's pointing, everyone saw that the two heavy machine gun squads of the first battalion had finally arrived at the designated cover point. After a slight adjustment, the two Maxim machine guns sprayed out countless bullets, and several soldiers carrying ammunition boxes followed closely behind, further increasing the firepower of the machine guns. At this time, the light machine gun squad of the third battalion also saw the danger brought by the cavalry, and under tension, all six Madsen guns were turned around.

  Those who have not experienced war cannot imagine how terrifying it is when 2 heavy machine guns firing 600 rounds per minute and 6 light machine guns fire at full speed, the gunner only needs to hold down the trigger, press the trembling handle to keep it stable, and then slightly shake the machine gun left and right, a dense hail of bullets will appear in front.

  Especially with heavy machine guns, the loader doesn't need to keep reloading bullets into the gun. As long as the two canvas ammunition belts are locked together at the connecting buckle, the belt can be extended indefinitely. And water-cooled guns don't have to worry about the barrel getting too hot, unless there's a jam or no more ammo, otherwise it can just keep firing.

  It was precisely this terror, the machine gun's crossfire like a storm that swept over in an instant, and within just a few minutes more than 100 cavalrymen were mowed down, leaving behind a ground full of flesh and blood.

  The tragic fate of the cavalry gave Li Xianglin a chance to catch his breath, and with more than half of the machine guns gone, he led his troops into the occupied building with ease.

  "Block them!"

  Many Qing soldiers came down the stairs, and Ke Shao organized everyone to block them while waving his hand towards a distance. After the heavy machine gunner on the horse team saw the gesture on the rooftop, he immediately poured bullets at the building again. The thick blue bricks and stone slabs blocked most of the bullets, but some still penetrated through the doors and windows, causing severe casualties among Zhang Biao's bodyguards. In the end, Li Xianglin had to retreat from the back again.

  As the enemy rushed forward, Zhang Biao's heart sank. At this time, bad news came from two other directions, and the middle road and left wing were also torn apart by the enemy's fierce firepower. The city garrison stationed in the middle road was defeated, making the small Liujiayao area full of fleeing defeated soldiers.

  "Sir, on the river...on the river!"

  Under the reminder of Qīn Wèi, Zhang Biāo only saw three naval gunboats with dragon flags slowly approaching, and he immediately jumped up excitedly: "Heaven won't destroy me! Heaven won't destroy me!"

  "Sound the signal and tell the naval forces to attack here! The others follow me to the riverbank!"

  The soldiers, who had long since lost their will to fight, immediately scattered and ran towards the riverbank as soon as they received the order. They all hoped to get under the range of the warship's cannons as soon as possible. But no one expected that behind the cold steel plate, Wang Guangxiong was leisurely stroking his beard and winking at Baobei Wen.

  "Lower the muzzle by three inches..."

  －－－

  －－－

  Does everyone know what the biggest obstacle to typing is? It's a hippo who just started learning violin, fighting against "electric saw"-like music for an hour every day. Only then does the hippo understand what sorrow is!

  。