Chapter 38: The Battle of Freshwater (Part 2)

  February 14th, 1925, Yu Xü Gong in Danshui suburbs.

  Chiang set up his command post here and left two regiments of the Party army as reserve troops, while the rest of the troops were all thrown into battle.

  The 14 artillery pieces of the Artillery Battalion and the three machine gun companies, eight machine guns, were set up in a firing position near the Jade Void Palace, covering the attack of the troops.

  The troops launched attack after attack, but were repeatedly repelled by Chen's army.

  On the road of charge, it was full of corpses of party army officers and soldiers.

  Principal Jiang held up the binoculars, with a displeased expression on his face. Zhou Director and Qian Dajun, who were following beside Principal Jiang, didn't even dare to breathe loudly, fearing that they would provoke Principal Jiang's anger.

  After arriving in Tamsui from the morning, the troops attacked until dusk, but except for suffering heavy casualties, there were no gains. Chiang's face was pale and his eyes were coldly staring at the map.

  A semicircle of bright moonlight, emitting a white gold-like radiance, quietly suspended in the azure sky.

  Two battalion commanders and six regimental commanders were all summoned by Principal Chiang to the command center, discussing tomorrow's battle plan. In Principal Chiang's mind, he also began to hesitate about whether to deploy Sun Xinghua's third regiment.

  Sun Xinghua stood in front of the map, watching as the officers all fell silent, and he himself didn't know what to say either.

  Within a day's time, Sun Xinghua did not idle around but instead ordered his troops to conduct reconnaissance on Tamsui and mark down all the strongpoints on top of the city walls.

  "Fuguo, what do you think?" The atmosphere in the room was too quiet, Principal Jiang looked at Sun Xinghua and said.

  He hoped that Sun Xinghua could easily resolve this difficulty as in the previous battles. However, he was also worried that if even Sun Xinghua had no way to deal with it, what should he do? Tanshui, here is the first hard bone encountered by the Party army troops.

  "Principal, I have carefully observed. The walls of the city are made of stone and with our current artillery, it is impossible to pose a threat to them. The only way is to set up long ladders and organize troops to climb up from the ladders into the city tower." Sun Xinghua hastily said.

  "Director Sun, our troops have been fighting for a whole day, isn't it just to use the long ladder to climb into the city tower? Haven't you seen Chen Jun's firepower?" Wang Boling said coldly.

  As for Sun Xinghua's performance in the past few days, Wang Boling was also a little jealous. Now that he has encountered a hard bone, Sun Xinghua's troops have taken on the role of reserve team. Now Sun Xinghua has said so much useless nonsense, which made Wang Boling very dissatisfied.

  But after seeing Principal Jiang's gaze, Wang Boling hurriedly shut his mouth. He understood that Sun Xinghua was now the favored one in front of Principal Jiang, and making things difficult for Sun Xinghua would be equivalent to making things difficult for Principal Jiang. Thinking of this, Wang Boling said nothing more, only calmly watching Sun Xinghua, waiting for him to make a fool of himself.

  The Soviet adviser, Galen, muttered a lot, and the translator hastily repeated Galen's words to Principal Chiang.

  "Principal Chiang, Advisor Galen thinks that Director Sun doesn't have any constructive opinions and it's not necessary to let him continue speaking." The translator said looking at Principal Chiang.

  Principal Jiang's eyebrows slightly furrowed, while Wang Boling and others were gloating at Sun Xinghua on the side.

  "Continue, Fu Guo." After a moment of silence, Principal Jiang did not accept Galen's suggestion, but instead let Sun Xinghua continue speaking.

  "Headmaster, the firepower on the city wall is too strong, our artillery troops cannot pose a threat to the firepower. Many troops have repeatedly attacked, but apart from increasing casualties, there has been no gain whatsoever. I suggest organizing a small team to launch a surprise attack on the water source, enter the city gate after clearing out Chen's troops, and then open the gate to let in the main force." Sun Xinghua pointed at the map as he spoke his suggestion.

  Principal Chiang carefully considered it and thought of the impact they encountered when the main force charged during the day, nodded and said: "Fu Guo's words make sense, organizing small teams can reduce casualties."

  Principal Chiang had just finished speaking when Galen started muttering again.

  "The principal, Galen advisor thinks that as long as the firepower on top of the city wall is not clear, the charging troops will never be able to rush up to the top of the city wall." The translator said hastily, with a somewhat embarrassed expression.

  Principal Jiang's face showed displeasure, but then he looked at Sun Xinghua again.

  "Principal, as long as you return the artillery company to its original formation, I naturally have a way to capture Tamsui." Sun Xinghua looked at Principal Chiang and said seriously.

  "What if it can't be taken down?" Galen asked again.

  "If I can't take down Freshwater, I'll say it again, I'm willing to come and see you." Sun Xinghua glared at Gallon with a fierce gaze, saying angrily.

  Gallon heard the translation and shut his mouth.

  "Assistant National Government, I'll return the machine gun company to you. Moreover, I'll also assign Chen Cheng's artillery company for your command." Principal Chiang fell silent for a moment, looking at Sun Xinghua.

  Artillery is a treasure, and Principal Chiang assigned Chen Cheng's artillery company to Sun Xinghua, astonishing everyone else and proving in their hearts that Sun Xinghua was indeed Principal Chiang's trusted aide; otherwise, Principal Chiang wouldn't have taken his treasured artillery and assigned a company to Sun Xinghua.

  "Yes, Principal." Sun Xinghua said with a salute.

  "Fu Guo, you go back and prepare, if there's anything needed, just let me know." Principal Jiang trusted Sun Xinghua very much, didn't investigate further, but instead gave orders.

  "Yes." Sun Xinghua bowed and walked out towards the outside.

  The rest of the officers also left the command post, but many people showed a cold smile after leaving the command post. They waited to see Sun Xinghua's joke. In their opinion, the four regiments of troops that they could not attack were Danshui, and how could Sun Xinghua take it with one regiment?

  Tamsui, Chen Jun's command center.

  Chen Junshou's smile spread across Ma Xiongtai's face, in Danshui City there were troops of Xiong Lüe, Lin Lie and Weng Huiteng, totaling around 4,000 people. Today's battle showcased Chen Jun's exceptional military prowess, leaving Ma Xiongtai extremely pleased.

  Even Ma Xiongtao is now beginning to imagine the scene where he defeats the Allied forces and receives praise from Chen Jiongming.

  "General Hong Zhaolin's telegram, more than 2,000 troops from Huizhou have set out and will arrive here by tomorrow evening at the latest. General Hong Zhaolin ordered us to hold on to Danshui, coordinate with the reinforcement troops, and attack the enemy forces from both sides. After annihilating the enemy forces, the deputy commander-in-chief will report your merits to the commander-in-chief." The chief of staff walked over with a telegram in hand and said to Ma Xiongtan.

  "Haha, they say the Huangpu kids are fierce in battle, but I think they're nothing special. Pass on the contents of the telegram and tell the brothers that the defending army will be rewarded heavily." Ma Xiongtai's face revealed a triumphant smile, as if he had already won this battle.

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