Chapter 14: The Great Victory at Tingzhou Bridge

  War is often a contest of not only wisdom, but also who has the crueler heart. Many people say that the National Revolutionary Army's Northern Expedition was successful because their hearts were ruthless enough.

  They treated the civil war as a national war, in the past when warlords were fighting each other, there was rarely such a thing as fighting to the death. When warlords couldn't win, they would directly retire, and soldiers who couldn't win would change their clothes and continue living their lives.

  But this set of tricks doesn't work in front of the Northern Expedition Army, their artillery is absolutely ruthless and their soldiers are absolutely ferocious.

  In the transition from national war to civil war, many warlords had not yet transformed and became prisoners of war, but Chen Jiayou was not among them.

  Chen Jiaxiang is absolutely a ruthless and cunning person. Facing the opposing troops, he repeatedly charged into his own camp, and it took him a lot of effort to drive them away. For a while, he felt under great pressure.

  But Chen Jia-Mo was no fool, he took a look at the soldiers on the opposite side stepping on landmines and getting blown up, all of whom were from his own side, and he made a mental note.

  This time, Liu Yuan prepared to let the three divisions of Zhang's brother rush again. Zhang Fa-kui couldn't bear it anymore: "Liu Yuan Shilang, your three divisions have already rushed three times, and the losses are not small either. Let our Fourth Army also rush a few times. If we don't get the time right, you'll blame us again, Commander He."

  Liu Yuan nodded, this time the loss of the three armies was indeed not small. The terrain at Tingqiu Bridge is treacherous and there's no room for clever tricks, only a hard fight will do. So if someone wants to go up, that would be great.

  Zhang Fakui couldn't get his troops to coordinate with the artillery, but he could still order a barrage. The Fourth Army had never used its cannons on this Northern Expedition because ammunition was scarce and they were reluctant to use it up. Today, at Dingxi Bridge, they encountered stiff resistance, so Zhang Fakui gave in and joined the fight.

  The enemy's counterattack was weak and Zhang Fakui's soldiers actually charged up to the local positions without encountering much resistance, and continued to advance.

  Chen Suoming saw the opportunity and immediately dispatched his own soldiers to charge forward. Liu Yuan was wondering why the enemy army had suddenly become so weak, and whether there was a trick involved. Liu Yuan felt that he should call Zhang Fakui, "Commander Zhang, don't be impulsive, hurry up and let your soldiers come down, I feel like there's something fishy going on."

  Zhang Fa-kui smiled, "Liu Yuan, don't worry, taking down the Ting Si Bridge will have its own share of merit for your three regiments. After all, it was you who were charging forward just now. But looking at how close we are to success, can you say that this is not true?" He hung up the phone and led his troops to rush towards the front line.

  Hurry up and assemble the troops, Liu Yuan also can't stay in the command center anymore, he feels that this is a conspiracy.

  The two divisions of the Fourth Army had almost occupied half of each other's positions, and it was only then that the enemy launched a counterattack. Gradually, the soldiers of the Fourth Army charged onto the Tingxian Bridge and engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

  Liu Yuan took a deep breath, it seemed that he had been worrying too much. Just at this moment, the cannon fire came, and the shells fell directly among the soldiers of both armies who were engaged in close combat, without distinguishing between friend and foe, just one explosion after another, blowing all the soldiers to death, not a single survivor.

  The corpses piled up under the bridge were very high, and the blood stained the river red. The river water was unable to wash away the bodies for a while, presenting a scene of purgatory on earth.

  In just a short while, Liu Yuan could feel with his naked eye that the Fourth Army had lost at least 1,500 to 1,600 men. Adding this to the more than ten previous charges, the two divisions had lost nearly one-third of their strength.

  Liu Yuan this time, through his own sacrifice, came to realize something: fighting doesn't necessarily require being cruel to others. Being ruthless to one's own people is also a way of fighting, didn't Gu Zi Di experience such an encounter? Isn't that what the saying "a benevolent ruler does not wield arms" means?

  Liu Yuan shook his head and met Zhang Fa-kui's bitter face, "General Zhang, don't be too sad, the lost troops will still be replenished by the principal later." Liu Yuan comforted.

  "I don't care about this, I've wronged my comrades. Liu Shizhang, why didn't you stop me back then and let me commit such a huge mistake? How can I face the wives and children of these soldiers?" Zhang Fakui burst into tears like a child.

  Liu Yuan looked at the soldiers of the Fourth Army and did not despise Zhang Fakui for his command mistakes, but instead became more agitated because of Zhang Fakui's tears, with a stronger will to fight. At this time, Liu Yuan realized that Zhang Fakui was destined to be a great man.

  Liu Yuan patted Zhang Fakui's shoulder, "General Zhang, take a break and grieve later. Let me handle the rest of the battle."

  Zhang Fakui seemed to have been waiting for this sentence, grasped Liu Yuan's hands and said, "Commander Liu, the outcome of this battle is now in your hands. I, Zhang Fakui, am incompetent, and so is Zhu Shiming. The two divisions of the Fourth Army will be temporarily placed under your command. From now on, I, Zhang Fakui, will not utter a single word."

  After finishing speaking, he returned to the command center. Liu Yuan originally wanted to refuse, but he knew this was the best choice. Zhang Fakui had already charged more than a dozen times and still hadn't come up with any plan, so at this time, he could only rely on himself.

  However, the Tingxue Bridge was too dangerous, and no matter how many people there were, it would be of no use. Moreover, the elite soldiers on the opposite side were not few in number, and it was almost impossible to defeat them head-on.

  Since it was so, Liu Yuan no longer required the soldiers to launch a strong attack. He had three divisions divided into three waves, making continuous feints.

  What is called a feint, it's not just about firing a few shots or shells, but actually fighting, but without going all out, constantly putting pressure on them, making it impossible for them to rest, but also not causing too much damage to oneself.

  By the afternoon of the 27th, Liu Yuan estimated that with the speed of three divisions' march, it should be about time, and thoroughly launched a strong attack.

  All the big guns were firing wildly, like they had no regard for their lives. The bullets rained down on the position like raindrops. Three regiments of soldiers followed the lead of the third regiment and charged up to the position together, engaging in fierce hand-to-hand combat, a bloody melee.

  Chen Jiayou's previous method was no longer feasible, and the artillery position had been destroyed after just a few rounds of firing. All that could be done now was to let the soldiers engage in close combat with the Northern Expeditionary Army, a fierce and bloody melee where lives were cheap.

  As a result of the previous assassination of Xie Wenbing, Liu Yuan received a warning from the Military Commission, so he didn't dare to go to the front line either, and could only watch from afar as the soldiers fought desperately at the front.

  The Tianxia Bridge is a natural barrier, and it's not easy to launch a strong attack. When they saw the enemy using three or four lives in exchange for one of their own, the Straight Army realized that the Northern Expeditionary Army must have exhausted its tactics.

  But at this moment, intense gunfire was heard from behind the Straight Army, and it quickly approached the Straight Army, putting tremendous pressure on it. The loss of Dingxi Bridge occurred in just one day.

  Chen Jiaxun saw that the situation was unfavorable, and without hesitation, he led more than 10,000 men to attack the troops who were ambushing them. The commanders of the two ambushing troops apparently did not expect the direct troops' counterattack to be so fierce, and they were directly beaten back in a rout. Chen Jiaxun took advantage of the two troops' retreat to successfully withdraw from Tingxia Bridge.

  In this battle, the three divisions lost more than 6,000 troops, killed 11,000 enemies, and captured over 2,000 enemies. Chen Jiayu was a bit of a disaster, throwing all the artillery and guns into the river, with no gains whatsoever.