Chapter Twenty

  On the morning of October 10, the soldiers of the 1st Company, 1st Battalion, 519 Regiment were arrayed on the battlefield. Soldier Chen Da loudly asked his squad leader, "Squad Leader, we've been here for almost two days, why hasn't the attack order been given yet?" The squad leader, Liu Shun, replied, "Who knows? Don't worry about it! We just follow orders and wait for the time to attack. I'm afraid you'll be scared and wet your pants!" The nearby soldiers all snickered quietly.

  Chen Da saw this and hastily said, "Don't talk nonsense, when the time comes, you'll see! I'm a man too, I guarantee I won't disappoint the company commander! I also want to earn military merit!" Just then, a stern voice shouted, "Quiet! Pay attention to the front." Chen Da looked over and saw it was the company commander, so he stuck out his tongue and stopped talking.

  The company commander turned around and returned to the command post, asking the instructor Hong Ge, who was guarding the telephone, "What's going on? Are you still waiting?" Hong Ge replied, "If the phone rings, delaying action is a big responsibility!" The company commander Gong Zi Xing said, "I'm saying, Old Hong, two days ago the regiment issued combat preparations and it seemed like we were about to fight, but now there's no movement. This is strange!"

  Hong Ge said, "Probably the regiment is still waiting for orders from the frontline command post." He looked at his watch and added, "How are the soldiers?" Gong Zi Xing replied, "Morale is okay, they're all just speculating wildly!" Hong Ge nodded and said, "Good."

  Deputy Regimental Commander Kong Jie stood in front of the map, looking at it. The Political Commissar and Chief of Staff were both asleep on the table. At this moment, the phone rang, and Kong Jie immediately walked over to the phone and picked it up, saying: "Hello, 519th Regiment."

  "Captain Kong, I'm Lao Cheng."

  "Ah! Captain."

  "I order the assault troops of the 519 Brigade to be ready for combat within 10 minutes and await orders from the command center."

  Kong Jie listened excitedly and shouted: "Yes, the task will be completed!" After hanging up the phone, he said to the already awake Political Commissar and Chief of Staff: "The order has arrived." Then he shook the telephone handle a few times, picked it up again, and when the call went through, he said: "Is this Commander Gong?"

  "Yes."

  "It's me, Kong Jie!"

  "Squad leader!"

  "I order you 1st Company to get ready for battle within 8 minutes!"

  "Yes."

  After hanging up the phone, Kong Jie connected to the artillery company and said: "Is this the artillery company? I'm Kong Jie! Order you to make preparations for artillery fire within 8 minutes, wait for my order to open fire."

  "Yes."

  October 10th, dawn at 5 o'clock. The 519 Brigade headquarters. The phone rang, and the eyes of everyone guarding the phone immediately focused on it. Brigade Commander Kong Jie picked up the phone, and a young yet authoritative voice came from the receiver: "I command! Attack."

  Kong Jie stood up straight and shouted loudly: "Yes." He hung up the phone and connected another call, saying: "Artillery company, give me a 10-minute bombardment."

  "Yes."

  Then he connected with the 1st company and said: "The 1st company, you attack after the artillery fire stops. I'll give you half an hour, if you can't take the position, don't come see me."

  "Yes, I guarantee to complete the task."

  After a burst of artillery fire exploded on the Xizhufeng position, the 1st Company charged down the mountain towards the Xizhufeng position. The company commander shouted while charging: "Comrades, charge for me! Our superiors are waiting for our victory message!" The soldiers shouted loudly: "Charge!"

  The 1st company quickly approached the position, and a sparse burst of gunfire broke out from the Western Zhen position, but soon fell silent under the fire of my Type 88 automatic rifle and light machine gun. The company commander shouted to the 1st platoon leader: "Wait a minute after charging in, you lead the 1st platoon to encircle and capture them, don't let the enemy escape." "Yes."

  The 1st company quickly rushed into the position and saw that most of the Western Zhejiang soldiers were lying on the ground, either dead or wounded and groaning in pain. A small number of them were desperately fleeing to the rear, and more than 20 soldiers from the 1st company chased after them. The company commander said: "The 1st platoon is waiting for you just ahead, why are you running away? You'll be captured sooner or later." Before long, a burst of gunfire was heard, followed by the shouts of the soldiers: "Surrender and we won't kill you, we'll treat prisoners well." In this way, the battle in Shicheng ended after 20 minutes. Our army annihilated 53 Western Zhejiang soldiers, capturing 11 and suffering 2 casualties, including 1 death. When I received the news of the victory, I exclaimed: "This is too easy!" The chief of staff smiled and said: "Commander, isn't this good? Do you want more sacrifices to make it normal?"

  I hastily denied it and said: "I didn't mean that, I meant to say that we've been preparing for so long, but the battle ended with just a few blows, it's a bit unsatisfying."

  Everyone burst out laughing.

  General Cauldron got up, shaved and had his morning tea ready. Just as he was about to drink it, the silence of dawn was suddenly broken by intense small arms fire and the dull thud of mortars. Within 20 minutes, it became known that Che Dong had been occupied and more than 50 defenders had been annihilated. Cauldron was furious and cursed Colonel Darvi of the 7th Regiment as a useless fool. From then on, Cauldron often bypassed him and did not give him the command authority he deserved.

  On October 10th, at the Presidential Office of Zhongdu. The President said to the Premier who came to report on the situation in Dongzhen: "The battle was fought well, although it was a small one that couldn't be smaller, but they have boosted morale! I think the morale of the Xizheng side has plummeted, which is very beneficial for future battles."

  The Premier smiled and said, "Yes. The Chairman is right. In the past, Sikkim often provoked border friction, even armed clashes, occupying our territory. In the past, we didn't bother with them because of some domestic contradictions and unresolved issues. Now they want to play tricks again, so we have to give them a good beating."

  The chairman stood up, with his hands on his hips and said: "Right! Beat him hard, so that Nehru will not dare to make a move. We are either not going to fight or we will fight thoroughly, so that for at least 30 years there won't be any fighting in the northwest border."

  "Haha, then Nehru's days are numbered!" The Premier said with a smile.

  "Hmph! Let him remember this for a long time, he doesn't know the height of heaven and the thickness of earth! Xi Zuo A San will always be Xi Zuo A San." The chairman said with great authority. The chairman puffed on his cigarette and took a drag before continuing: "Old Zhou, have you seen the plan sent over by the front command?"

  The Premier nodded and said: "I've read it, the plan is very logical and practical."

  The chairman said, "All of this is deserved. I'm saying that Tang Ning, this little devil, has great momentum. If we follow his plan, it won't be a big battle or campaign, but rather the complete annihilation of Western Chu's eastern military forces."

  "Yes, it's very likely. However, in that case, Mr. Chairman, the frontline troops are a bit understrength, with only 5 regiments and over 12,000 men."

  "I have already ordered the Shu State Military Region to mobilize the 86th and 142nd Divisions, two divisions in total, to join the battle sequence."

  "Well, who is specifically in charge of command?"

  "Well, that's a problem. I'll wait and see how Tang Ning performs in the upcoming battle against the 7th Division of Western Zhejiang. If he not only wins but also does so beautifully, then let him continue as the commander on the current front line. He is fully capable and qualified to sit in this position and can manage two divisions and five regiments."

  "In that case, it's not good for him to be in command as the team leader!"

  "Haha, Old Zhou, you're also playing this trick, wanting to help this little devil get promoted by speaking directly."

  "Haha, Chairman, I did mean that, but what I'm looking at is his ability. There aren't many like him who are both young and have great potential."

  "Well, most importantly, he doesn't have so many fancy ideas, and Old Yao has praised him in front of me more than once! Well, his political ideology is clear. Well, let's put it this way: if he wins beautifully, then let him be the commander-in-chief."

  "Well, what about this master?"

  "Let him form the current 5 regiments locally, namely the 53rd, 515th, 516th, 518th and 519th Regiments. After the entire border battle is over, let him draw some people from them and add new recruits to form a guard regiment, engineer regiment, transport regiment, and an artillery regiment. Oh, and also a cultural work regiment."

  "He now has nearly 18,000 troops under his command, almost an entire army."

  "What's wrong with that? I just want to let people below see it and also motivate some people, don't always be doing this and that."

  "Well, then Tangning became someone else's target."

  "It is only through experiencing wind and rain that one can grow."

  "Ah, Mr. President. You know? Tan Ning was quite emotional after delaying our attack order!"

  "He thinks we're wasting our chance at war! He's been stuck in the front lines and doesn't know about the pressure of supplies from the rear."

  "Hehe, after all, still young!"

  "He's still in need of tempering. Just this time, in order to get 2 divisions into Tibet as soon as possible to join the battle, I allocated 500 brand new trucks and all sorts of military supplies."

  "Chairman, you really value Tong Ning highly!"

  "It can't be said like that, this is also for the country's victory!"

  At this time, I was in the command center studying possible actions of Xizang and our corresponding countermeasures. After careful consideration, I said: "I think Xizang will definitely take action to boost morale. What they can do is nothing but retake Chengdu again."

  The chief of staff said, "That's for sure. I also found that the enemy still doesn't know our specific troop strength and only thinks we have one battalion. Otherwise, they wouldn't just deploy more than 50 people in the east, they could deploy a whole company."

  The deputy commander said, "Well, I'd like to add that I think the enemy's logistics supply has also been problematic. From the captured Western soldiers, they are still wearing simple cotton military uniforms and don't even have winter clothing. Moreover, the weapons used by the Westerners are still those of the British during World War II, with almost no artillery. In this regard, I believe we have a complete advantage."

  "Exactly, you're absolutely right!"

  Lao Han said on the side, "Commander, there's something else. I think it was mentioned that a team of war correspondents has been sent over from above to conduct an on-site interview. There are 5 people in total. The Eastern Headquarters requires us to cooperate fully and satisfy their requirements as much as possible."

  "I heard him say indifferently: 'Let them come if they want to, as long as they don't cause trouble.'"

  "Uh-huh."

  "I'll let the deputy commander take charge of this matter."

  "Alright."

  "I said again: 'Nothing, I'll go take a rest.'"

  The deputy commander nodded and said, "You go ahead, anyway I won't be able to sleep. If something comes up, I'll send someone to notify you."

  I nodded and walked out of the house.