Chapter Forty-Three: Sawing

  The battle report was sent to the headquarters of the 8th Division, and everyone fell silent. The casualties on the front line on the first day of the battle were as high as nearly 700 people, and it can be said that Li Shimao's temporary 33rd Regiment was severely damaged.

  The Eighth Division was a strong army of the KMT, but in terms of equipment, it was far inferior to Zhang Xun's Queue Army. First, from the artillery comparison, the Eighth Division had only twelve guns that could be put into battle, including imitation Krupp 75mm mountain light cannons and Gruson 57mm mountain quick cannons, which were no match for Zhang Xun's Krupp 75mm recoil cannons. Moreover, Zhang Xun's artillery formation was eighteen guns per regiment, with two regiments of artillery brought to Nanjing, totaling thirty-six heavy guns, making the power comparison self-evident.

  Moreover, Zhang Xun's troops were also equipped with more than 20 of the latest water-cooled heavy machine guns, French Hotchkiss air-cooled heavy machine guns and Japanese Type 38 heavy machine guns. The entire Eighth Division had only six Maxim heavy machine guns made by Jinling Arsenal in 1895, and even for this battle, the "six-barreled divine artillery" (Jinling Arsenal's copy of the Gatling gun) that had been eliminated and stored in the warehouse was also brought out.

  It can be said that if it weren't for the support of the defensive line, plus Fang Zidao's discovery of the trench problem in advance, the position of the temporarily formed 33rd Regiment would have been lost long ago. Zhang Xun's troops were known as the "Tiger Wolf Army", and indeed they were not easy to deal with.

  Fang Zida furrowed his brow, feeling that despite all the preparations he had made, he still underestimated this famous general. However, now was not the time for self-reproach, and a decision on how to deal with the current situation had to be made immediately. After careful consideration, he called in Liu Zhen, asked about the artillery situation, and gave instructions. At the same time, Fang Zida added another battalion of troops to the temporarily formed 33rd Regiment, and ordered Li Jun's 29th Regiment to prepare to support Li Shimao at any moment.

  At the same time Fang Zidao was anxiously mobilizing his troops, Zhang Xun's forces on the other side were in a relaxed atmosphere. Although the first day's attack had failed to open up a breach, the 8th Division's positions had been turned upside down, and Zhang Xun, who was directing the battle from behind, could see everything clearly and was feeling complacent.

  "General, I see that the Eighth Division has a great reputation, but in fact it's nothing special. It seems that our army can drink horses in Jinling City within three days." Wei Debin led the charge today and even beheaded several people with his own hands. After drinking a bowl of strong wine, he wiped his mouth and laughed loudly.

  "Yes, General! Why don't we launch a night attack? With one more push, the Eighth Division's defense line will surely collapse!" Another regiment commander chimed in, asking in puzzlement.

  "What's the hurry!" Rubbing his mustache, Zhang Heng's eyes flashed with a sharp light: "The Eighth Division is no match for my great army! Today's initial battle was just an appetizer. Wait until tomorrow when our army makes a concerted effort and thoroughly defeats these rustic dogs!"

  "Good! General said well!"

  "Hurray for the great general!"

  "Your humble servant offers another toast to the great general!"

  "Haha! Come on, let's drink! Once we take Nanjing, the whole army will be heavily rewarded by our commander!"

  On the second day, as soon as it dawned, Zhang Xun's troops, who had rested for a night, launched an attack amidst the rumbling of cannons. In Zhang Xun's view, the 8th Division was nothing to be afraid of, and he had already figured out its weaknesses in yesterday's battle. Today, as soon as the battle began, he threw in the second battalion's forces, continuously attacking the temporary 33rd regiment's position, attempting to take it down in the shortest time possible.

  But who would have thought that the troops invested were more than yesterday, but several attacks did not work, and the temporary 33rd regiment, although suffering heavy casualties, still held the position firmly in hand.

  "How is Li Shimao's situation at the front line?" Fang Zida raised his binoculars, gazing out at the battlefield with a serious expression.

  The staff standing by the telephone immediately called the front line, and soon reported: "The temporary 33rd regiment has more than 500 casualties. Commander Li reported that the position is still in hand and guarantees not to lose an inch."

  Nodding, battle is the best way to hone soldiers. After yesterday's battle, the enemy faced by the temporarily formed 33rd Regiment was stronger than yesterday, but the actual casualties decreased. It seems that Li Shimao has a good command of his troops. However, seeing the increasingly fierce attack of the enemy, Fang Zidao thought for a moment and ordered Li Shimao to temporarily retreat.

  "Retreat? Why retreat?" Company commander Cao Wenlian had just repelled a wave of attack, and suddenly received the order to retreat from the battalion headquarters. He stared with incredulous eyes and asked loudly.

  "Let you retreat and retreat, what else do you ask why? Retreat! Quick retreat!" The orderly officer said with a dark face and walked away without looking back.

  "Hey! Withdraw! Full withdrawal!" Cao Wenlian was so angry that he punched the ground, but he couldn't disobey General Shang's orders. He had no choice but to lead his men in a retreat.

  "General! The 8th Division can't hold on, the line is starting to collapse!"

  "Alright! Good hit!" He raised his binoculars and looked, Zhang Xing excitedly shouted: "Pass my order! The first battalion, the second battalion will pursue the whole line, let the 25th regiment follow up immediately, hurry! Don't give them a chance to escape!"

  "Hiss!"

  "Hum, Nanjing City, Nanjing City, old Zhang is finally back." Stroking his beard, Zhang Yun seemed to see the Eighth Division being eliminated by himself, and he was already standing on the city wall of Nanjing, his feet once again treading on the land of years past.

  Fang Zidao, who had been closely watching the battlefield, calmly observed that when Li Shimao withdrew from the first line and the soldiers entered the second line of defense one after another, he immediately gave orders.

  "Have Liu Zhen ready at all times, the 29th Regiment is preparing to strike!"

  The swarming braided army easily captured the first-line position of the 8th Division, and after capturing the position, the temporarily reorganized 33rd Regiment continued to charge, trying to drive the 8th Division into Nanjing like a flock of ducks.

  Who would have thought that the queue troops had just chased for a short distance, and suddenly a burst of artillery fire rang out. At first, they still thought it was their own big guns firing, but in the blink of an eye, the shells fell right in front of them. For a time, the cannons roared, blood and flesh flew everywhere, and at the same time, another group of soldiers from the 8th Division suddenly appeared out of nowhere and fired at them. The sound of gunfire was mixed with the rattling of machine guns, causing the queue troops who were charging excitedly to be beaten back in disarray.

  "Not good, we've been ambushed! Retreat, retreat quickly!" Wei Debin yelled as he lay on the ground. He was lucky, a shell landed not far from him, and several soldiers were blown to pieces, but Wei Debin managed to dodge the disaster by lying down in time. Since the start of the battle, the Eighth Division had not used its artillery, who would have thought that they would be waiting for them here. Although the Eighth Division's firepower was not as strong as Zhang Xun's troops, the blow it dealt in this situation was severe and painful.

  Just a few rounds of artillery fire, plus the fierce counterattack of the 8th Division, resulted in more than half of Wei Debin's men being casualties, and even his deputy battalion commander was shot dead. As a veteran of many battles, he knew that lying still would certainly mean death, so when the artillery fire paused slightly, he quickly got up and ran back without looking back, running all the way to the trenches of the original 33rd Temporary Regiment before collapsing.

  "Sir, the brothers only ran back over 200."

  "What!" Wei Debin's heart was like a knife twisting, in such a short time his camp had been wiped out by more than half, this loss was really too great.

  The sudden change made Zhang Heng's rear jump like thunder. Just as victory was in sight, his own team was beaten back and suffered such a great loss. By the time Zhang Heng brought his artillery battalion up to aim at the opposite side for a chaotic bombardment, Liu Zong had already completed his mission and moved away with the big guns, while the 29th Regiment hiding in the trenches had minimal casualties, it can be said that Zhang Heng's artillery basically had no results except for wasting a lot of shells.

  "Deputy commander Fang, you fought well! You fought well!" Li Shimao excitedly said as he saw Fang Zidah rushing to the front line. Yesterday until now, his temporary 33rd regiment was too suffocated, being constantly suppressed and attacked. Now they finally see the enemy in disarray, and the excitement in their hearts is indescribable.

  "Commander Li, how's your injury?" Fang Zidao asked, looking at Li Shimao's wounded arm.

  "It's just a scratch, it's nothing."

  "What about your temporary 33rd Regiment? Is it still capable of fighting?"

  Upon hearing this question, Li Shimao's eyes lit up and he hastily asked: "Deputy Commander Fang, are we going to counterattack?"

  "Yes! Coming but not going is also impolite, it's time to let Zhang Xun see the situation." Fang Zida smiled and nodded.

  That night, after a day of fierce fighting, the battlefield gradually calmed down. Zhang Xun, who had suffered a setback, licked his wounds and pondered how to give the Eighth Division a good lesson tomorrow and take revenge. Just as he was secretly plotting in his heart, suddenly the front line erupted in gunfire again. Unaware of what had happened, Zhang Xun hastily sent someone to investigate. Half an hour later, the soldiers stationed at the front came back to report that the position they had occupied during the day had been retaken by the Eighth Division through a sneak attack.

  "Bastard! Son of a bitch!"

  Zhang Xun beheaded several lower-ranking officers in the garrison, his eyes blazing with fury as he bellowed like thunder. The various officers in the great tent were so frightened that they didn't even dare to breathe, and Zhang's anger was just like when he had been driven out of Jiangsu all those years ago - who would have thought that this time it would be in Jiangsu again, and under the walls of Nanjing?

  "Launch a full-scale attack at once! Take back our position!"

  "No! General, you can't!"

  Tang Yiming saw Zhang Xun being so rash and hastily dissuaded him, saying: "The sky is already late, the 8th Division is familiar with the layout of the array, and can only succeed in a surprise attack when our army is unprepared. If our army launches a night attack on the 8th Division, not only will it fail to achieve its purpose, but it will also... In my humble opinion, for now, let each department maintain vigilance first, and wait until dawn before launching an attack."

  "Yes, General!"

  "General, think thrice!"

  The rest of the officers also tried their best to dissuade him, Zhang Xun's face was cold for a while before he let out a long sigh and waved his hand to let them leave.

  "Xiao Tang, you stay behind."

  "General......"

  After others left, Zhang Xun kept Tang Yiming behind and sat in the chair for a moment before asking: "I heard that the eighth division is now managed by a little white face named Fang Zidao? Is this person one of Song Jiaoren's people?"

  "Yes, General."

  "Will you go see Fang Zida for me tomorrow?"

  "See Fang Zida? Commander, are you going to..." Tang Yiming asked somewhat strangely.

  Nodding, Zhang Xun sighed: "I underestimated the heroes of the world. I didn't expect a scholar to be able to lead troops too. Fang Zida is not simple! I'll write a letter and you help me deliver it to him. Hehe, if this person can be won over, it would be a wonderful thing."