Chapter 6: The Xiangjiang Campaign (4)

  At this time, Liu Hua stood on the battlefield, looking at all the soldiers in the regiment. After the previous count: "There are still over 400 people left in the whole regiment, and there are still 20 machine guns (it is said that there are so many because 15 were captured last night, and some were damaged this morning, leaving only 20). Each person has two hand grenades, and each rifle has an average of about 20 rounds.

  Liu Hua loudly commanded: "Now the whole regiment is divided into three companies, canceling the battalion-level organization. Each company has three machine guns, and the remaining 11 machine guns form a firepower platoon. All deputy platoon leaders are equipped with submachine guns and shotguns. Select the best marksmen in the regiment to form a sniper platoon. Select 30 soldiers to form a guard platoon as the regiment's reserve team. Among them, Old Sun is the company commander of the first company, and the second and third companies have their platoon leaders elected by the soldiers, who then elect the company commanders. Now start acting. After completing the task, all company and platoon leaders gather."

  Before long, all the squad leaders came running over and gathered together.

  Comrade Liu looked at the dozens of cadres under his command and said loudly: "Comrades, the Red Tenth Regiment is left with so many people. Although it affects morale to say this, I still have to say that we exchanged half a regiment's losses for two enemy regiments with advanced weapons such as artillery and aircraft, and gave the Central Red Army precious time to transfer. So we didn't lose, we won, we fought a great victory! Comrades, isn't that right?"

  "Yes!" shouted thirty-odd cadres in unison.

  "Alright, seeing comrades so passionate, I'm delighted. Just now, General Peng asked us to hold on for a bit, reinforcements are arriving immediately, led by the Chief of Staff himself, do comrades have confidence in following me to defend our position?"

  "We have it! We will resolutely defend our position!" they shouted loudly.

  "Alright, comrades go down and reorganize the troops. I will assign specific combat tasks to you later. Old Sun stays behind." After finishing speaking, he turned around and walked towards the command center.

  At this time, Old Sun's heart was very complicated. He was so excited that the captain could reuse him, a person who had made mistakes, and he must follow the captain to do well. He thought secretly, following the captain to walk towards the command center.

  Liu Hua saw Lao Sun walk in and directly asked, "Lao Sun, with just this many of us, how can we hold out until nightfall? Let's discuss it."

  Lao Sun seemed to have the same feeling, and without thinking, he hurriedly said: "Captain, the enemy's artillery fire is too fierce. Many soldiers sacrificed under the artillery fire!" After finishing speaking, he lowered his head in sorrow and didn't speak again.

  "Yes, it seems that the enemy's planes and artillery are our greatest threat!" Liu Hua sighed and also fell silent.

  "Hand-to-hand combat!" both men shouted almost simultaneously.

  "We'll put the enemy on the first line of defense, attack from both wings and capture their ammunition!" Liu Hua exclaimed excitedly.

  "But, Captain..." At this point, Old Sun saw Liu Hua get so excited that he choked.

  Liu Hua saw Lao Sun's hesitant expression and quickly said: "Lao Sun, if you have something to say, just say it! Why be polite with me?"

  When he heard this, Old Sun was stirred for a moment, it had been a long time since any leader had spoken to him like that.

  Lao Sun hastily replied, "Commander, doing it this way may be effective, but what if the enemy breaks through our defenses...". Lao Sun didn't continue speaking because he knew his commander was very intelligent and would certainly understand what he meant. He just quietly looked at his legendary commander.

  When Liu Hua heard Lao Sun's words, she also fell silent. Yes, if the position is breached, then even if they shoot themselves, they won't be able to make up for the loss.

  He thought for a moment, and said coldly: "Old Sun, our firepower is already much better than the Guangxi Army if we don't count heavy weapons. As long as we deploy enough troops in the second line of defense, equipped with strong firepower, as long as the Guangxi Army's charge is within one regiment, we can take it down. How about that?"

  Lao Sun listened to the team leader's words and thought for a moment before standing up and saying: "Report to the team leader, I request to lead the assault team, please approve."

  Having followed Liu Hua to win several victories, Old Sun, as a former commander, had already grasped the captain's tactics. If they fought like this, it would definitely be another victory. Old Sun hastily replied.

  Liu Hua looked at his powerful general with comfort, just worrying about who to send as the leader of the vanguard team, and then he came, so happy that he couldn't refuse.

  "He hastily replied: 'Alright! You lead the assault team. Let's go, follow me to deploy.'"

  Soon, the whole company gathered. Liu Hua steadied himself and said loudly: "For the past two days, we've been suppressed by the Guangxi army's artillery, we can only endure the bombing, are you all satisfied, comrades?"

  "We're not satisfied!" they shouted loudly.

  "Alright, let's bring them in this afternoon and beat them up, annihilate them all. Comrades, do you have confidence? Answer me!"

  "It seems that everyone has brought out their greatest strength to shout out, hatred for the enemy, nostalgia for sacrificed comrades... all expressed."

  Liu Hua looked at the angry eyes of the warriors and nodded in satisfaction. "I command."

  The warriors stood at attention, looking at their legendary battalion commander.

  "First company, continue to hold the first line of defense. Second company will retreat 500 meters behind the first line of defense and rebuild trenches to supplement firepower with 3 machine guns, totaling 6 machine guns to defend the position, no retreat allowed. First, second, and third platoons of the first company will guard the left wing, while first and second platoons of the third company will guard the right wing, each supplemented with 2 machine guns. The rest of the troops, led by Old Sun, will form a shock troop team, including the guard platoon, third platoon of the first company, and the remaining 4 machine guns from the firepower platoon. When the enemy crosses the first line of defense, the shock troop team will launch a charge. As soon as the shock troop team opens fire, all firepower will open up, trying to kill as many enemies as possible with firepower."

  The warriors all showed eager expressions upon hearing their captain's words and excitedly replied: "Yes!"

  Perhaps it was because Tan Lianfang lost too much in the morning, and no attack had been launched for several hours. Just as Liu Hua thought that the Gui army would not attack today, the long-awaited sound of artillery fire rang out. Thanks to the cover of the anti-artillery cave, this bombardment did not result in any casualties. After half an hour of shelling, it finally stopped, and the soldiers quickly took up their positions as planned before the battle.

  Soon, the troops attacking Guijun appeared in Liu Hua's line of sight. The number was the same as Liu Hua's estimate, which was a battalion. The warriors' admiration for Liu Hua began again.

  The enemy was getting closer and closer to the first line of defense. When there were still 50 meters away, Liu Hua shouted loudly: "Fire."

  A row of warriors heard the commander's order and immediately started to counterattack. The enemy suddenly fell down in a piece, but for an enemy camp, thirty or so people in a row were too few. As soon as two shots were fired, the enemy arrived at the front, with a voice: "Hand grenade, withdraw..." The warriors threw down the hand grenades in their hands and began to retreat in order.

  At this time, Tan Lianfang, holding a telescope and observing the position all along, was secretly delighted in her heart. Because she heard that the Red Army's gunfire was getting weaker and weaker, and finally threw hand grenades and retreated. Although dozens of soldiers died, they took down the position, it was worth it.

  Just as he saw one of his camps completely enter the Red Army's position and prepare for celebration.

  Suddenly, dozens of people rushed out from both ends of the position, each with a machine gun or a submachine gun. Our men were mowed down piece by piece, while on the Red Army's position, gunfire erupted.

  "Done for! Fallen into their trap!" As she said this, Tan Lianfang plopped down on the ground with a thud, staring blankly at the array.

  By the time he reacted and ordered a regiment to go for rescue, it was too late. The gunfire on the position had already become sparse.

  "My god!" He grabbed a machine gun beside him and swept it across the sky. Venting his anger for the past two days, yes, in just two days, in front of an entire regiment, he lost two elite regiments plus a main force battalion, and still hadn't breached the enemy's position. Who wouldn't be angry?

  At this time, the Red Tenth Regiment was overjoyed to collect these spoils of war. Under the intense fire of 20 machine guns and dozens of rifles that didn't care about their lives, they annihilated an enemy battalion in just a few minutes. Such dense firepower had never been seen before in the Red Army, which had always lacked ammunition, let alone annihilating an entire battalion without suffering any casualties. How could this not be exciting? But excitement aside, everyone strictly followed the regimental commander's orders to immediately collect the spoils of war and return to the defensive artillery cave to avoid the enemy's retaliation.

  The results of the battle were quickly counted: "9 machine guns, dozens of submachine guns, more than 400 rifles, countless ammunition, and each soldier's bullet belt was stuffed to bursting." Seeing such a result, Liu Hua, Lao Sun, and several others all smiled.

  "This will teach Gui Jun a lesson!" Liu Hua said with a smile, followed by a burst of laughter.

  At this time, General Peng, who had been tense on the battlefield all day, finally relaxed and joked: "Liu Hua, that kid, I didn't misjudge him, he's a good material, really has his own skills. He even fooled me, just wait and see how I'll deal with him when I get back, hum..."

  General Peng had been paying close attention to the position of the Red Tenth Regiment, and just now he saw an enemy battalion break through the first line of defense, his heart was in his throat, how could he not...

  At this time, Political Commissar Yang Shangkun said to his old partner: "General Peng, can you bear to give up such a good general? We should tell Chief of Staff Du about it. The reinforcements going up later should all listen to Liu Hua's deployment. I think this kid has won the battle and must have other ideas. We can't mess with his troops."

  "General Peng thought for a moment, then replied: 'Yes, send the telegram as Commissar Ma said. Tell the Chief of Staff that everyone on the Red Tenth Regiment's position must obey Liu Hua's command.'"

  After finishing speaking, he walked out while saying: "This kid is really good at fighting, now Tan Lianfang can take it."