Chapter 63: First Battle

  On August 28, bad news quickly spread to the Garrison First Division's position, which was organizing defenses at Hesheng Bridge. Tingxian Bridge, not far from Hesheng Bridge, had been occupied by the Northern Expeditionary Army on the 27th.

  This news was like a bomb, immediately boiling over in the already unstable Garrison First Division. The soldiers were secretly whispering to each other: some said that the Northern Expeditionary Army had divine assistance, and Song Daipai led Wu Dazhuang's elite 20,000 troops, all of whom were defeated, we are definitely not their match.

  Some people also say that there were foreigners in the Northern Expeditionary Army, they used the foreigners' big cannons, one bomb and a large area of people would die, it was extremely fierce, whoever encountered them would die.

  This rumor that shook the military's morale also reached the ears of Commander Ye, who was commanding at the front line. Commander Ye immediately ordered that anyone in the army who believed or spread such rumors would be dealt with according to military law and executed on the spot. He also strictly ordered each company to investigate those who were spreading the rumors.

  As soon as the order was received from Captain Ye, he called all the class leaders to convey Captain Ye's order. He also asked each class leader to go back and thoroughly investigate who in their own class had believed and spread this rumor. After verifying the facts, they were to report immediately to the company headquarters.

  Li Guoting returned from the meeting with Lian Zhang and immediately gathered his soldiers in the trenches, saying: "Brothers, we are soldiers, and our lives are at stake. However, it depends on how we lose our lives. If we are killed by the enemy, then our sacrifice is worthwhile. No matter who we fight for, but whoever feeds us, this head should be lost for whom, you say yes or no."

  The soldiers said: "Right, Sergeant is right."

  "But we can't just be taken out and executed by our own army without even seeing the enemy, without knowing what they look like. That's not worth it. So I'm telling you brothers today, no matter if the Northern Expeditionary Army has divine help or immortal help, we don't listen to that. We only listen to the regiment commander, listen to the company commander. If the regiment commander says fight, we fight; if he doesn't say fight, we rest in the trenches. Don't spread those rumors. What if the regiment commander or company commander hears it? Isn't that like raising a flag for sacrifice before battle? Who wants to be the scapegoat?" Li Guoting said.

  There was a moment of silence among the soldiers. After a while, one soldier said: "It's still true what Squad Leader Li said. I mean, no one in our squad spread that rumor, and no one believed it either. Is that right, everyone?"

  "Yes." The soldiers chorused.

  "Alright, as long as our squad is fine, I don't want anything to happen to us. This battle is my first time fighting against the enemy on the battlefield, to be honest, I'm not confident at all. But I, Li Guoting, have one thing, that's two words: 'not afraid'. Since I was a kid, I've never been afraid of anything. So, I also hope that you brothers aren't afraid either. If we need to fight, let's fight with all our might. Don't let others say that our squad is useless. Let them say that every single one of us is a good man, can we do that?" Li Guoting said loudly.

  "Forward!" The soldiers shouted in unison.

  "Alright, I won't say more. Everyone go back and rest for a while, make good preparations. This battle we're facing is the Northern Expeditionary Army that just took down Tingzhou Bridge, they're coming in with high morale after their victory, it's going to be tough to fight. Just make sure everyone is well-prepared." Li Guoting said.

  At noon, all the defenders at Hesheng Bridge heard that General Wu had personally arrived at Hesheng Bridge to command the decisive battle against the Northern Expeditionary Army, and their morale was immediately boosted.

  Li Guoting led his squad in making the final reinforcements to the defensive trenches when he suddenly heard someone shouting from above the trenches: "General Wu has arrived."

  All the soldiers put down their tools in their hands, stood upright in the trenches, and looked up. At this moment, there was a commotion above the trenches, and someone shouted: "General Wu has arrived, General Wu has arrived."

  As soon as the words fell, a figure appeared on the edge of the trench. The man had a sturdy build, a long face, high nose bridge, big eyes, and a shaved head with an eight-shaped beard on his mouth. He was wearing a grand marshal uniform. He stood at the edge of the trench, waving to the soldiers inside.

  There were soldiers who whispered to Li Guoting standing in the trench: "Squad leader, this is General Wu."

  Li Guoting was a bit nervous, he had heard of General Wu's great name all the way south. Today, he was fortunate enough to see this famous General Wu on the battlefield in front of He Sheng Bridge, and his heart was inevitably excited. His two eyes stared at General Wu, thinking to himself, "Look, General Wu is so majestic! In the future, I, Li Guoting, will also become a great general like him."

  "What's your name?" Wu Da Shuai suddenly stood at the edge of the trench and pointed at Li Guo Ting, asking.

  Li Guoting was still admiring Wu Da Shuai and hadn't come back to his senses yet.

  The deputy officer standing behind Wu Da Shuai saw Li Guo Ting still staring at Wu Da Shuai, and hastily shouted: "Hey, you, what's your name? Wu Da Shuai is asking!"

  "Reporting to the General, I am Li Guoting, squad leader of the 1st squad, 2nd platoon, 3rd company, 2nd battalion, 1st regiment of the Guard Brigade."

  Wu Da Shuai nodded after listening and asked Li Guo Ting: "Where is your hometown?"

  "Report to General, my home is in Fengshuping, Qinba Mountain Area. I was born there." Li Guoting said.

  "Qinba mountainous region, huh, good. I've long heard that Qinba men can endure hardship. You're all great, grandma's place, this time you mustn't pretend to be a bear for me, I want to see if you're not a fake hero, but real heroes." Wu Da Shuai said.

  "Yes, General! We won't be cowards. We'll be heroes!" Li Guoting and the soldiers in their battalion shouted together.

  Wu Da Shuai crouched down with satisfaction, stretched out his hand and shook hands with Li Guo Ting: "Good job, kid, I like you this way, go ahead and hit me hard."

  After finishing speaking, Wu Da Shuai led a group of people and left the trench where Li Guo Ting and others were.

  "Squad leader, Wu Da Shuai even shook hands with you, you're really lucky." a new recruit who had just joined the army said to Li Guo Ting.

  Li Guoting smiled slightly and didn't say anything, picked up the iron shovel in his hand and started working.

  At night, the soldiers hugged their guns and lay in the trenches for a short rest. In fact, everyone knew that after Dingxie Bridge fell, the next one to be attacked by the Southern Army would definitely be Hesheng Bridge. Only by taking down Hesheng Bridge could they be said to have opened up the southern gate of Wuhan, as Hesheng Bridge was also a military stronghold like Dingxie Bridge. If Hesheng Bridge couldn't be taken down, then even if Dingxie Bridge was taken down, it would still be impossible to enter Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang.

  Li Guoting hugged his gun, gazing up at the starry sky, not feeling the slightest bit of sleepiness. His mind was still active with the moment when he shook hands with Wu Peifu and the tense mood that they were about to go into battle soon.

  At this time, he thought of his deceased parents again, thought of his sister, and thought of the axe he threw at Chen Guangfu. He thought of fleeing south all the way. He thought of the old lady who saved him and her granddaughter, Yanhong girl, as well as the sworn brothers Ma Fei and Zhao Erhu on this journey.

  His mind was a jumble of confusion, and he couldn't make sense of it himself.

  Gradually, it was midnight. The front was still quiet and there was no sign of fighting. The Southern Army on the opposite side was also silent. Only the night wind brought a coolness at midnight, blowing towards him. It made Li Guoting's tense spirit somewhat tired.

  Li Guoting held his gun and leaned against the edge of the trench, looking up at the stars in the sky. Slowly, his eyelids blinked. Li Guoting felt sleepy, he stretched out his head to look towards the enemy's position outside the trench. In front of him, it was dark and quiet, nothing could be seen. Li Guoting's tense spirit relaxed, too sleepy, he closed his eyes.

  "Bang——. Bang——."

  Suddenly, a burst of shells with a terrifying whistling sound tore through the quiet night sky, falling from the sky and hitting the front line of Li Guoting's trenches, raising a cloud of earth and stone fragments. Those earth and stone fragments blown up by the shells, together with the shell splinters, flew towards the top of the trench defended by Li Guoting and his men.

  Li Guoting was awakened by the deafening explosion, and as soon as he opened his eyes, he saw a shrapnel flying over his scalp at an angle and stabbing directly into the soil on the edge of the trench.

  Li Guoting was startled and quickly pulled his head back into the trench.

  "Rat-a-tat-tat... Rat-a-tat-tat..." Another burst of machine gun fire. The bullets hit the edge of the trench in front of Li Guoting, and a soldier was struck by a stray bullet and fell beside Li Guoting.

  Li Guoting was shocked, he just wanted to help the soldier who fell beside him, when suddenly he heard the company commander shouting loudly: "Get up quickly, damn it, get up quickly. The Southern Army is attacking, the Southern Army is coming, fight!"

  Li Guoting hastily climbed to the edge of the trench, looked up and saw a large group of enemy soldiers rushing towards them in the midst of the thunderous artillery fire. They were shouting loudly, holding their guns, and charging straight at their position.

  "Hit me, hit me." Li Guoting saw Lian Zhang crawling not far from him, holding a gun and shouting loudly.

  "Rat-a-tat-tat." A string of bullets flew over Li Guoting's head, and he hastily raised his gun, took aim at the charging Southern Army soldiers, and pulled the trigger.

  "Bang!" A bullet flashed out of Li Guoting's rifle and flew straight towards the charging Southern Army.