Chapter 20: The Texas War (Part 2)

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  The riverbank shook with a loud cannon sound, and the surrounding villagers fled in panic with their families, unable to understand why war had suddenly descended upon them.

  The Revival Army and the Imperial Guard clashed and immediately opened fire on each other.

  Before infantry engagement, artillery is always the opening act of conventional warfare. The duel between artillery is a process full of fog of war.

  The artillery battle started, and the situation immediately became one-sided.

  The Manchu Banner Troops were well-equipped, but compared to the Revival Army, their equipment was not impressive. Moreover, the Banner Troops had never experienced any war, and from Feng Guozhang's leadership of the Banner Troops in modern times, it can be seen that this supposedly elite force actually had no achievements at all.

  The Imperial Guard was initially at a disadvantage in terms of artillery numbers. Although the Imperial Guard had 52 guns, most were field guns.

  In contrast, the First Division of the Reorganized National Government Army was a Category A division, which was organized for large-scale warfare in plain areas. It had one heavy artillery regiment equipped with 54 pieces of 105mm and 155mm howitzers respectively, as well as an artillery battalion equipped with 54 rapid-fire guns.

  In terms of rate of fire, the quick-firing guns outgunned those of the Imperial Guard.

  In terms of range, the Qing Imperial Guard's artillery was actually an outdated model, and in terms of range, it was far inferior to the artillery of the Revival Army.

  As soon as the artillery battle started, the Imperial Guard's artillery was stunned by the rapid-fire guns of the Revolutionary Army. The Revolutionary Army's artillery was very accurate because they had undergone frequent live-fire training and many German gunners with combat experience were among their ranks.

  This time in the artillery battle, the heavy artillery regiment was not used at all. The Guards' artillery was overwhelmed by the rapid-fire cannons as soon as they opened fire.

  Although these quick-firing guns fired shrapnel, some of the Imperial Guard's artillery had shields, but too many shells were coming over.

  After the Imperial Guard's artillery was silenced, the Prussian guns ceased their fire, and did not continue to pound the Imperial Guard infantry, as the staff feared that the fierce cannonade would scare them off.

  The General Staff directly ordered the construction of trenches along the Yanhe River, but the General Staff did not intend to defend all of them. In fact, even in the stage of World War I, the war in China was still a mobile warfare.

  China is too big a country and it's impossible to have one front line that divides the whole land into two halves like in Europe, and neither side has enough troops.

  Trench warfare can only be used for local defense.

  While building fortifications, the General Staff ordered the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Division to bypass the Imperial Guard from the rear and encircle them in order to annihilate most of the enemy forces.

  On the other side of the river, Feng Guozhang watched with a chill in his heart. The previous artillery battle was too fierce, and 43 out of the 54 guns of the Imperial Guard were damaged, leaving only 11 still usable. Feng Guozhang was heartbroken and hastily hid the cannons, not daring to bring them out again to lose face.

  Seeing the opposing Revival Army building fortifications, Feng Guozhang hesitated for a moment.

  Attack?

  It looks like this battle is not easy to fight. Judging from the appearance, the opposing Revival Army has a unified military uniform and excellent equipment, which is obviously not a mob. This is completely different from Feng Guozhang's previous imagination, and the difference is so great that Feng Guozhang even suspects whether this war is wrong.

  If we don't fight, then retreat?

  Feng Guozhang was hesitant and couldn't make up his mind for a while.

  Feng Guozhang was often able to make swift and decisive decisions in trivial matters, but when it came to major issues, he was indecisive and hesitant, frequently missing opportunities.

  This time it was also the case that if Feng Guozhang ordered a retreat at this time, he would likely escape and keep his loyal Imperial Guards.

  While Feng Guozhang was hesitating, the two armies were separated by the Wei River and entered a stalemate.

  The river was narrow and the dry riverbed was only a few dozen meters wide. The Imperial Guard, however, got too close and were shot at by snipers on the opposite side, leaving them frightened.

  As the sniper's rifle fire rang out, more and more Imperial Guardsmen who got too close were shot dead, including officers of the Imperial Guard, who were the snipers' priority targets.

  Feng Guozhang saw that the opposing Fuxing Army did not launch an attack and he also relaxed his vigilance.

  It wasn't until an hour later that the Second Division of the First Corps of the Revolutionary Army appeared on the rear flank of the Imperial Guard, and Feng Guozhang suddenly woke up.

  "What shall we do, General Feng?"

  A group of Wild Boar Skin Guards officers were sweating profusely, and Feng Guozhang was also caught in a difficult dilemma.

  Feng Guozhang understood that once the retreat began, the entire army would directly collapse and there would be no need to fight at all. Faced with this situation, there were only two options.

  The first is to divide the troops to block the enemy's rear, and the second is to launch a direct attack. Since the enemy's army has divided its forces, it must have reduced its frontal strength. As long as we can defeat the enemy on the front before the enemy's rear troops arrive, we can turn around and annihilate the enemy's rear troops.

  Feng Guozhang gazed at the opposing Revival Army, and suddenly a surge of blood rushed up, angrily shouting: "You're too deceitful, wanting to swallow my Imperial Guard in one mouthful. Do you think my Imperial Guard is made of mud? Come at me!"

  As he spoke, Feng Guozhang stretched out his hand and waved it forward.

  Hit!

  Below them, a group of Wild Boar Skin officers were in high spirits. As the best-treated and best-equipped troops of the Qing court, they had a strong sense of pride.

  At a single order, the Imperial Guard formed up in dense formation and easily crossed the dry river bed, shouting as they charged at the Revolutionary Army.

  Skirmish tactics?

  These days, there's no such thing! Moreover, the heavy firepower of the Imperial Guard is only limited to heavy machine guns, and infantry don't have any automatic firepower. Skirmish tactics can't pose any threat to the enemy at all.

  It was strange that the opposing Revival Army just watched with open eyes as the Imperial Guard crossed the riverbed, without a single soldier firing.

  On the other side, Feng Guozhang and a group of high-ranking military officers around him were also puzzled, what's going on?

  They soon found out what was going on.

  When the Imperial Guard infantry rushed to the front of the barbed wire, the fire points set up by the Fuxing Army on the flanks opened fire, and bullets poured in from the sides like a sudden rain.

  The dense formation of Guards infantry fell down like wheat, and the terror of flank fire had already been proven when Jiang Yu was still in the German Army School.

  Machine gun bullets fired from the flank often kill two or even four enemy soldiers in a dense crowd. The power of machine gun bullets is very great.

  Of course there were also wasted bullets, but on average, almost every bullet fired killed an enemy soldier.

  The machine gunner on the flank faced the dense Imperial Guard infantry, frantically pulling the trigger, and in just half a minute, he fired all 333 rounds of the canvas belt, the first machine gun ran out of ammunition, and the second machine gun continued to fire. The Fuxing Army deployed five machine guns on each flank, with two as spare.

  The entire scene was like a slaughterhouse, with row after row of Imperial Guards infantry falling in front of the barbed wire. The few who were lucky enough not to be killed were also stuck in place due to the lack of tools to break through the barbed wire and were soon targeted by machine gunners who carried out burst fire on them.

  The battlefield is a very cruel place, often having a crushing effect on one's fate. Every soldier may think before dying, "Is this how I end?" Perhaps human arrogance does not want to admit it, but indeed it has already ended.

  Feng Guozhang watched with his mouth agape from the opposite bank of the river, the front line of the Revival Army had almost no firepower, but relying on its fierce flank firepower, it perfectly controlled the rhythm of the entire battlefield, just like a "slaughter operation", perfect coordination, perfect slaughter.

  Just then, the artillery of the Revival Army joined the battle.

  Fierce firepower burst forth like a landslide, roaring towards the Imperial Guard, the entire terrain seemed to be trembling, and the Imperial Guard's position on the opposite bank of the river was engulfed in a sea of flames.

  Shrapnel from the rapid-firing cannons exploded everywhere, sending fragments flying in all directions. The high-explosive shells fired by the howitzers blasted a large area of mud into the air, creating a massive crater that swallowed up the surrounding Imperial Guards soldiers whole.

  In an instant, Feng Guozhang's face turned pale, and he fell to the ground amidst the bombardment.

  "General Feng, it's not good! The enemy is rolling up from behind!" Just then, a war horse galloped over, these war horses were obviously well-trained and unafraid of the cannon fire, charging straight to General Feng Guozhang's side. A cavalryman jumped down and anxiously reported to General Feng.

  "General Feng, the enemy is too strong, let's retreat! If we don't retreat now, we won't be able to get out!"

  "Yes! General Feng, let's withdraw!"

  A group of rough-looking officers from the Imperial Guard shouted that they had lost faith in the military, didn't know who they were fighting for or whom they were defending.

  At this time, they could only choose to fight for Feng Guozhang. They had no determination to fight to the death because they had no stake in this war.

  "Retreat." Feng Guozhang hastily scrambled to his feet, seeing the situation turn dire and losing all confidence in defeating the enemy, also frightened out of his wits, with a hint of desperation on his face, he commanded the crowd.

  Suddenly, a shout came from the Revival Army's position on the opposite bank.

  "Ten thousand victories!"

  "Victory for all!"

  "Victory for all!"

  Thousands of revived soldiers emerged from the trenches, holding guns in their hands and marching steadily towards the Imperial Guard.

  ;