Chapter 41: The Unexpected Bullet

  When the last ray of sunset disappears on the horizon, today's battle has already ended.

  Jiang Fangzhen originally intended to fight until his last breath, but he found that this idea was not very practical. The soldiers of the Chinese warlord's troops were of poor quality and could not be commanded to continue fighting at night.

  What was even more terrifying was that by nightfall, many soldiers suffered from night blindness and could not see the road ahead of them at all. Bullets were flying everywhere, so Chiang's troops had to temporarily stop their attack.

  Just as he announced his withdrawal, the soldiers who had been surrounded by him took advantage of the situation to recapture the trenches that had just been taken from them.

  The flag embroidered with the tiger's emblem was even more at the forefront, constantly pressing on Jiang Fangzhen's defensive line, and finally Jiang Fangzhen had to reinforce the surrounding troops.

  The commander opposite seemed also to have realized that his soldiers were extremely exhausted and stopped the endless counterattacks.

  The bright red flag was still fluttering in the night, and Jiang Fangzhen even suspected that he could hear the sound of the tiger flag being blown by the wind.

  The song, the more difficult it is, the more it does not give up its desire for life, and the victory gained in the most difficult situation is the sweetest.

  "I am a soldier, from the common people. Down with Wu Peifu, annihilate Sun Chuanfang's bandit army." The voice was extremely high-pitched and reached the ears of Sun Chuanfang's subordinates, but it had a different flavor to it.

  Jiang Fang frowned, he also wanted his soldiers to sing songs, but his soldiers had no morale at all, and he didn't have anyone who could write such songs either. Listen, I'm a soldier, from the common people.

  Although the lyrics are simple, doesn't it also mean that the people are on the side of the Northern Expedition Army? And if they want to defeat the warlords, isn't it the same as saying the people want to defeat us?

  Jiang Fangzhen had no choice but to walk back to the command center in a gloomy mood, where the colonel who was captured today was still being held.

  Chiang Fangzhen carefully sized up the young officer, who had dinner laid out in front of him. Chiang Fangzhen didn't indulge in special privileges; everyone was having plain dishes and steamed buns.

  It was obviously a challenge for this young officer, who spat it out after taking the first bite. This scene was not uncommon to Jiang Fangzhen, as many of the buns had gone bad due to logistical and other reasons. However, Jiang did not think much of it, as during his school days in Japan, such food was often a luxury.

  "What's wrong, Colonel? You're used to having the best of both worlds, and our food doesn't agree with your stomach." Jiang Fangzhen took a bite of his mantou, put some pickled vegetables in his mouth, and savored them.

  Guan Lin picked up the bun that had fallen on the ground earlier, blew it gently, and even without touching the pickled vegetables, he swallowed the entire bun in one go, without looking at Jiang Fangzhen once from start to finish.

  Jiang Fangzhen looked at Jiang Fangzhen incredulously, he had heard that the southern army was very wealthy, from officers to soldiers were all rice eaters, but he never thought that this young officer could swallow a spoiled steamed bun so happily.

  He carefully observed the colonel in front of him, who was obviously mistreated by his subordinates when he was commanding troops on the front line. At least, the bruise on his forehead was visible to him.

  Although he looked very decadent as a whole, he could see the upright sword eyebrows on the young general's forehead, that sense of righteousness in his heart.

  Chiang Fangzhen now understood that this young colonel had not yet given up his desire for victory.

  "Do you know? The more than 2,000 people under your command are surrounded by me and can't escape. At the latest tomorrow, they will go to heaven." Chiang Fangzhen said with a smile to Guan Linzheng.

  "Mr. Jiang Fangzhen, this is the biggest joke I've heard recently. Today, I actually heard the earth-shaking explosion in Nanchang City. I even suspect that the ammunition under your command hasn't reached two digits yet."

  Guan Linzheng shook the canned meat in his hand and continued to say to Jiang Fangzhen, "And this thing, ancient people said that horses are not fat and strong, and beauty is not external. You give this to soldiers to eat, point to soldiers to fight for you, and go on the offensive against the three regiments of canned food. Do you think this is possible?" Guan Linzheng sneered at Jiang Fangzhen, who was full of confidence.

  "That year, Wu Peifu was poor and white, defeated Zhang Zuolin, Feng Yuxiang, soldiers ate tree bark every day, but still drove away Cao Kun. It can be seen that the more difficult it is, the more it can temper the will of the soldiers." Jiang Fangzhen said with a frown, because he found that the colonel in front of him looked even more disdainful.

  "Mr. Jiang Fangzhen, how about this: you treat me to a good meal, and when our commander captures you, I'll ask him to go easy on you." Guan Linzheng grinned mischievously.

  "Haha, in this situation, you still have the mind to joke around. I don't have good food, but when the bullets arrive, there will be plenty, and they're all prepared for you. Take him away!" Jiang Fangzhen was extremely depressed at this moment. Originally, he was trying to find some confidence, but he didn't expect to be looked down upon by a young colonel, which made his mood even worse.

  Although it was dark, Jiang Fangzhen couldn't sleep. He left the command center and personally went to the front line to inspect. Most of the soldiers were lying on the ground or had taken doors from civilians' homes as makeshift beds. This should have been managed, but the law does not blame the masses, and many times, even as a representative of Sun Chuanfang, Jiang Fangzhen was powerless.

  The singing voice across the street continued, at this time, he smelled the rice flavor floating from the opposite side. In this situation, he actually smelled the beef flavor.

  "Could it be that the strong combat power of our opponents is really related to their food?" Jiang Fangzhen, who had been a principal and a chief of staff for half his life, felt doubt for the first time.

  The soldiers surrounding the enemy army, with a dying look, lay in the trenches, constantly sucking their saliva and rubbing their bellies, without any sign of fighting. Chiang Fangzhen even suspected that if the other side gave them a piece of meat, they would dare to let the enemy pass through.

  "Commander, will the enemy send reinforcements to rescue this isolated army?" The division commander of the 18th Division met Jiang Fangzhen during an inspection and proposed strengthening defenses in order to curry favor with him.

  "No need, now they are in the cattle pen and also surrounded by us. The clever commander at this time chose to defend and wait for reinforcements. If they rush out, these people will go back. One is that even if they escape, they will still be surrounded. Two, as long as they leave the cattle pen formation, there is a risk of being annihilated by us, so they dare not." Chiang Fangzhen said confidently.

  Jiang Fangzhen was extremely confident when he gave a speech to the commanders of the 18th Division, but then he heard the sound of gunfire.

  The soldiers surrounded suddenly stopped singing, dropped their rice bowls, picked up their guns and nervously watched Sun Chuanfang's troops.

  Jiang Fangzhen smiled and said, "Whose soldiers are doing well, they're exhausting the enemy, which will increase our chances of winning when the time comes."

  Just as Jiang Fangzhen was praising the soldiers under his command, the crackling of gunfire did not stop, but instead got closer and closer, and then he even heard the sound of hand grenades.

  "Report to the Chief of Staff, it's terrible, reinforcements, reinforcements everywhere, our position has been torn apart." The communications soldier said anxiously.

  Just after the signal soldier finished speaking, a flare suddenly rose into the air, illuminating the sky and earth. Jiang Fangzhen saw clearly that the attacking force was actually the defending army of Niu Xing.

  Liu Yuan, who was leading the troops, also saw clearly that the local leader was actually Jiang Fangzhen. The bullet shot out instantly, and with a loud bang, it hit Jiang Fangzhen's chest. Jiang Fangzhen looked at the blood splashing out, his smile now filled with helplessness. He had done his best, but what else could he do?