Chapter 2: Murder on a Rainy Night

  Xie Wenbing was a member of the direct lineage of fierce generals. During the Guangzhou Uprising, he had served as a soldier under Huang Xing and was a member of the dare-to-die corps. Therefore, it is not surprising that he could defeat Tang Shengzhi's Seventh Army to the point where they were fleeing in disarray.

  The night rain continued, and Anren, who had just gone through a battle, seemed unusually quiet. The camp had sparse lights, and except for the sentry on the watchtower, everyone else was hiding in their rooms sleeping. With such heavy rain, even marching had become a problem. Who could fight in the rain except for the direct line?

  Looking back on those years, the first Zhili-Fengtian War, the Northeastern Army had such excellent equipment, but was still defeated by the Zhili clique. Today, encountering the 8th Army of the Guangzhou Revolutionary Government, it's just as if there was no pressure at all. In a head-on confrontation, they didn't even last ten minutes before completely collapsing.

  Nie Rongzhen stood under a big tree, looking at the map to find weak points, shaking his head constantly. "Damn Tang Shengzhi, damn the Eighth Army, isn't this just giving away our fortifications for nothing? Digging a hole and jumping into it ourselves."

  "Sir, look at this path. It's their exit route, which they destroyed themselves. We can sneak in quietly and take out their sentry with bayonets, then eliminate them all in the rain night. This way, we won't even waste our precious bullets." Cao Yuan pointed to a nearby opening, speaking to Liu Yuan who was sitting aside, seemingly lost in thought.

  "I'm afraid there's a trick in this. Look at the surroundings of Anren, with high mountains on two sides and a forest on one side. If I were Xie Wenbing, I would definitely hide troops in these three places. As soon as we enter, it will be like entering a pot to catch turtles. With 30,000 people surrounding our 10,000, we will surely lose." Du Yuming pointed out on the map and said.

  Seeing that the crowd seemed a bit disheartened, Liu Yuan came back to his senses and said, "Guangting, don't worry too much. Our three armies secretly entered Xiang, not many people know about it. Even if the news leaks out, who would have expected our three armies to arrive at the battlefield so quickly? And in such a short time, we arrived at Anren."

  "What the superior said is right, I've heard that Xie Wenbing is good at fighting, but he doesn't have much strategy. Otherwise, with his seniority, he would have been a high-ranking official long ago. Why would he be serving under someone else? Li Erniu, as one of Liu Yuan's earliest subordinates, has now begun to participate in discussions about the war. Because he has been by Liu Yuan's side for so long, he also feels that his superior is a man who gets things done, and if he doesn't make progress himself, his superior will eventually abandon him. This isn't something that can be decided by emotions."

  "Hey, Li Erniu, it's been three days and you've really changed, I didn't expect our Wei Shizhang to be analyzing people's personalities in battle. Not bad, there's progress." Hu Zongnan doesn't say much, but when Liu Yuan is not around, he is as steady as a compass needle. However, when Liu Yuan is present, he doesn't say much, not because he doesn't like to talk, but because it's unnecessary.

  "Let's do it this way, first take out their sentry, then use bayonets to finish them off. However, if we're discovered, immediately fire the signal flare and launch a strong attack." Liu Yuan put away the map, "I promised the principal that I wouldn't personally go to the front line to command anymore, you all be careful."

  Guan Lin seized the rifle in his hand, wearing a steel helmet, and hammered Liu Yuan's chest once. "You're already deputy commander, but you still let him take the bayonet to fight desperately. If this gets out, CP will laugh us to death."

  "Comrade Shang, when you speak, can you please not have such a large-scale attack surface?" Cao Yuan's family was poor, so his body couldn't help but be very thin and frail, making people feel like they could easily bully him. But on the Eastern Expedition, as a representative of the Party, Cao Yuan led by example, leaving behind an image of being tough for both Huangpu and the revolutionary army.

  "Alright, I'm telling you, Old Cao, you should learn from Old Nie. Look at him, he doesn't have as many opinions as you do." Du Yuming said while reorganizing his equipment, replacing the bullets in his Browning pistol, and not forgetting to tease Cao Yuan a couple of sentences.

  Cao Yuan is a very serious person in daily life, but after joining the Third Master, he found that it didn't take long for himself to be spoiled. This group of rascals are completely pretending to be serious in front of the soldiers, and in the command room, they are chatting and gossiping, talking about beauties, where is there any appearance of a revolutionary soldier?

  "As for Comrade Nie Rongzhen's behavior, I will report it to the Central Committee and not let it go." Cao Yuan said seriously with a poker face.

  Nie Rongzhen looked at Du Yuming with a hint of annoyance, "Comrade Cao Yuan, I think this matter has nothing to do with us, it's your internal conflict."

  "Alright, stop messing around. Take my soldiers out and bring them back to me. If anything happens, I'll write a letter to General Zhang Zhongjing, he's short of battalion commanders." Liu Yuan pushed the person away.

  The first to act were Li Donghao and his group, unlike ordinary soldiers, they all carried Soviet or German-made submachine guns, with crossbows on their backs, daggers and hand grenades at their waists. Li Donghao and the others were even more different, with a sharp wolf's tooth printed on his shoulder badge, the special forces team gave them a nickname, that is Wolf Head.

  Several sentries stood on the watchtower, gazing out into the rainy night, smoking and chatting idly, looking as if they might doze off at any moment. Who would think of launching a surprise attack at this time?

  With a snort, a sentry died silently, and another soldier seemed to sense something, just about to turn around, when a sharp long arrow pierced his neck, and fresh blood spurted out far away.

  One by one, the soldiers under the watchtowers were silently killed, and then the soldiers carrying machine guns would put on their clothes, quietly and carefully crawling up, lying still on top.

  All the soldiers were sleeping in the house, because after they occupied Anren, they found that the kang was still warm, which was warmed by the Eighth Army, so they slept very warmly. The night march in the rain was really too tiring, and getting soaked in the rain, it's not good to sleep well, how can we fight with the Guangzhou Revolutionary Army next?

  Nye Rongzhen had raised objections to killing everyone, but after Li Erniu listed the warlords' past actions, even Cao Yun's poker face was subjected to a torrent of abuse, let alone Old Nye, so no one mentioned whether it was too cruel anymore.

  The bayonet was very sharp, with three or four hundred people in each room. The soldiers of the Third Division went in one by one, "psst", "psst", covering their mouths, then slashed open an artery, and after a painful struggle. The soldiers of the Third Division were all in pain because they themselves were covered in blood from head to toe, and many new recruits vomited on the spot. However, they were lucky because the enemy didn't even have guns.

  This one-sided massacre had been going on for a long time, and even Cao Yuan himself felt that his hands were numb. He was the chief of staff, why was he so cruel when killing people? They were also Chinese like him, wasn't this considered a massacre? Was his party spirit still there? Did he still count as a communist by doing this?

  Guān Lín zhēng yòu shì yī gè biàn tài de jiā huo, liǎn shàng zhān mǎn le xuè, Liú Yuán qiáng diào de, liǎn shàng bì xū dài cháng jīn de mìng lìng zǎo jiù ràng tā wàng le, kàn qǐ lái jiù hěn dé yǔ dì yù lái de xiū luó yí yàng. Jiù lián sān shī de shì bīng kàn dào tā, dōu bù dé bù zhè zhe.

  Liu Yuan and Nie Rongzhen, as the highest commanders of the army, stood guard at the newly set up command post. The artillery also pitched a tent to take shelter from the rain, but it was no use, the rain was too heavy.

  "Fu Guo, do you think they're still going smoothly? I think by tomorrow morning, we'll at least harvest a few thousand heads. At that time, I estimate your head will have an additional title of Demon King."

  Liu Yuan shook his head, "Old Nie, you think things are too simple. If I could, I'd rather have this reputation, but heaven may not be willing."

  After finishing speaking, a crisp gunshot sounded in the rainy night, echoing far away.

  Guan Linzheng: courtesy name Yudong, outstanding student of the 3rd Infantry Battalion of the 1st Class of Huangpu Military Academy, currently serving as Colonel and Commander of the 1st Regiment of the 3rd Division.

  Nie Rongzhen: Formerly secretary of the political department of the Huangpu Military Academy and concurrently a instructor, currently serving as party representative of the 3rd Division.