Chapter 39: The Battle of Freshwater (Three)

  The moonlight is pale and white, the starlight is dim and dull.

  It was already late at night, but the three battalions did not rest and instead gathered together, waiting for Sun Xinghua's order.

  During the daytime, Sun Xinghua seemed to have anticipated this and ordered the soldiers to build long ladders after which they all rested. It wasn't until now that the soldiers were called up by their respective officers.

  "Reporting to the battalion commander, the troops have assembled, please instruct." Cai Guangjiu quickly ran to the side of Battalion Commander Sun Xinghua and saluted.

  "Enlist." Sun Xinghua said solemnly.

  Cai Guangju immediately returned to the troops and stood with the officers and soldiers.

  "Fresh water is right in front of us, the friendly troops have been attacking for a day without any gain. Now it's our turn to go up, but considering the situation at Fresh Water, I decided to organize a brave team, with a small elite force, to raid Fresh Water." Sun Xinghua stood in front of the troops, shouting loudly.

  The officers and soldiers stood upright, waiting for Sun Xinghua's order.

  "Officers lead the way, I will take the lead in charging." Sun Xinghua continued.

  "The party representative Cai Guangjie has arrived."

  "Shen Jian has been in a slump lately."

  "Deputy Commander Hu Wei has arrived."

  "Company Commander Dong Tianyong has arrived."

  As one by one the reports came in, the officers all stepped out of formation.

  "Cai Guangju, Shen Jian, Du Yiming, Sun Guangping..." Sun Xinghua looked at his familiar subordinates and shouted out a series of names.

  But these were lucky ones, as Sun Xinghua was going to leave seeds for the Third Regiment, and they didn't have to participate in the charge.

  "Reporting to the battalion commander, 15 officers have assembled, awaiting instructions." Hu Wei walked up to Sun Xinghua's side and shouted loudly.

  "Fifteen men, I still need a hundred soldiers. Soldiers volunteer to join the vanguard team. I won't deceive you either, this time the vanguard team will be nine deaths and one life. Hope you consider it seriously before deciding whether to participate." Sun Xinghua said solemnly, looking at the remaining warriors.

  "Head of Class Wei Yan has arrived."

  Warrior Ma Xiaoxu has arrived.

  With one report after another, more than 400 warriors asked to join the Brave Troop.

  Only those soldiers who were originally Chen Jun's prisoners of war, did not actively participate in the Brave Troop, they are all old oilers, clearly knowing what this Brave Troop is for.

  What is called a "brave vanguard" is actually a "suicide squad", but in order to avoid the word "death", it was renamed as "brave vanguard".

  After a selection, Sun Xinghua kept all the only sons with wives and children in their families, led 115 people, and made preparations for the charge.

  The entire Vanguard team is equipped with automatic weapons, Browning Automatic Rifle, Madsen light machine gun, Thompson submachine gun, Colt pistol, Mauser military pistol, and even the captured "flower machine" was also equipped in the Vanguard.

  "Captain, let me lead the vanguard to charge forward!" Cai Guangjie said as he walked up to Sun Xinghua's side.

  Xun Xinghua smiled, if he didn't remember wrong, Cai Guangju, the first martyr of Huangpu, was shot by Chen Jun's machine gun while leading the Brave Troop to attack Danshui and died heroically.

  "Comrade representative, your command of the troops here is also very important. I've already spoken with Battalion Commander Chen Cheng, he will be in charge of the eight artillery pieces, and Guan Linzheng will be in charge of the 22 light and heavy machine guns. All machine guns and artillery will fire at a low angle, once the city gate is opened, you must lead your troops to quickly respond to our support." Sun Xinghua said with a smile, trying to maintain a relaxed mood, while emphasizing the importance of Cai Guangjie's role.

  "Camp Chief..." Cai Guangju didn't know what Sun Xinghua was thinking, his eyebrows furrowed tightly, wanting to say something else, but was interrupted by Sun Xinghua.

  "Representatives of the party, execute the order." Sun Xinghua saw that being soft wouldn't work, so he could only resort to being tough.

  "Yes, Battalion Commander." Cai Guangju reluctantly saluted and said.

  At 2 am, Principal Chiang gave the order that two instructor battalions should get ready for battle and be prepared to support the Brave Troop at any time. When he learned that Sun Xinghua would personally lead the Brave Troop, Principal Chiang's lips moved a few times, but ultimately said nothing.

  The party's military forces are the troops he established with his own hands, and this force must be distinguished from the old army. Officers dare to lead the charge, officers dare to die on the battlefield, such a force is an invincible force.

  "Comrades, just ahead is the Tamsui River. The enemy's firepower is very strong. Many of us will die, but I must tell you that if we do not die, the enemy will continue to enslave the people and China will have no hope. We must use our own blood to save China, and use our own lives to awaken the people's consciousness." Sun Xinghua pointed at the Tamsui River in the distance, making a simple pre-battle mobilization speech.

  "No money, no life. Love the country, love the people." The officers shouted, this time, it was their turn to fulfill their promise.

  "Let's go!" Sun Xinghua shouted loudly.

  Over 100 officers and soldiers immediately took action towards Tamsui.

  The Chen army soldiers on the city wall seemed to have all fallen asleep, until the vanguard approached within 200 meters, and the Chen army soldiers still had no reaction.

  But when the ladder was set up on top of the city wall, the firepower points on the city tower began to respond.

  The Tamsui Fort is surrounded by a 6-meter-high and 3-meter-thick stone wall that can withstand gunfire, with three layers of gun holes on the upper, middle and lower levels, forming a three-dimensional firepower network. Below the city wall is a wide and deep moat, and outside it is a depression over 300 meters wide, with an open terrain and a clear view.

  If we make an analogy, from a bird's-eye view of the high-standing city wall of Tamshui City, its outer shape is very similar to that of a rectangular stone box.

  Chen Jun's soldiers hid on top of the solid position, relying on their own advantages, and quickly launched a shooting.

  Flames shot up from the firepower point, a web of firepower was quickly built up, and more than a dozen brave team members behind were hit by bullets and fell to the ground.

  At this moment, the eight artillery pieces commanded by Chen Cheng and the 22 light and heavy machine guns commanded by Guan Linzheng began to fire. The position they were in was only 500 meters away from Danshui.

  Some shells that were fired inaccurately hit the top of the city wall, but were deflected by the solid wall and fell to the ground, producing a loud explosion.

  The shells that fell on the city wall destroyed the firepower points of Chen's soldiers.

  Machine gun bullets rained down on Chen's soldiers, suppressing their firepower.

  Taking advantage of this opportunity, Sun Xinghua led his troops, quickly climbing up the ladder towards the city tower.

  Chen Jun's attention was drawn to the artillery and light and heavy machine guns, which seemed to have forgotten the danger of the ladder in front of them, and did not notice the soldiers on the ladder.

  "Quick." Sun Xinghua shouted lightly.

  The soldiers in front accelerated their pace, but just as the soldiers entered the city gate tower, the machine guns on the city wall began to fire, and two soldiers who had just stepped onto the city gate tower were immediately hit by bullets and fell to the ground.

  "Hand grenade." Sun Xinghua took out his own hand grenade and threw it at the city wall.

  The officers and men of the Brave Troop heard Sun Xinghua's voice, took out their own hand grenades, and threw them at the city tower.

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