Chapter 29: Fighting Alone (Part 1)

  Outside the city's fortifications, Chen Jun's 300-strong army had already formed a long skirmish line and was slowly advancing towards the enemy position.

  These routed soldiers, under the encouragement of the ocean, had their morale restored somewhat. Especially after hearing that there were only a few dozen men in the opposing troops, the morale of these routed soldiers rose even higher.

  Apart from the fifteen taels of silver promised by Yuan Shikai, they would receive a bonus of one tael for every soldier killed and ten taels for every officer killed.

  A few dozen troops are just a piece of fat meat in the eyes of these defeated soldiers, and they can eat as much as they want.

  "Brothers, charge forward and behead these dolls!" The officer shouted loudly, waving his pistol.

  The soldiers advanced cautiously, stopping from time to time to open fire on the enemy position.

  "Light machine guns cover us, brothers, and charge with me!" The officers began to shout when they were 500 meters away from the position.

  Two heavy machine guns and five light machine guns stopped advancing and set up, opening fire on the position.

  One by one, the slow-moving soldiers, as if they had taken stimulants, quickly ran towards the position.

  "Comrades, don't panic, listen to my orders." Guan Linzheng looked at a group of Chen army soldiers rushing over from afar, and he himself felt a bit nervous too. But he knew that as an officer, he couldn't show any signs of nervousness at this moment, so he shouted loudly, comforting not only his subordinates but also himself.

  As the distance drew closer, the officers and men on the battlefield could clearly see the outlines of Chen Jun's soldiers, who were struggling with their faces twisted, like devils from hell.

  "Kill all the Huangpu brats." The Chen army soldiers were shouting crazily.

  The light and heavy machine guns covering from behind were continuously sweeping the position.

  "Two hundred meters." The sentry shouted loudly.

  The artillery liaison officer on the position is waving a flag towards the second line of positions in the rear.

  The four 75mm field guns and two 37mm infantry guns behind them immediately opened fire.

  Shell after shell fell on the light and heavy machine gun positions without warning, while the two 37mm infantry guns mainly attacked Chen's soldiers.

  Two cumbersome Vickers machine guns had not been moved in time and were immediately smashed into scrap metal by shellfire, along with their crews, who were flung through the air.

  The other four light machine gunners were also hit by shrapnel and fell to the ground, groaning in pain.

  The remaining light machine gunner quickly picked up the light machine gun and turned to transfer it to one side, but as soon as he got up, a bullet grazed his neck, and the gunner fell to the ground along with the light machine gun.

  The machine gun firepower of Chen Jun's soldiers was completely eliminated.

  The four field guns were now trained on the flank of Chen's army.

  The Chen Jun soldiers launched a frontal attack, braving the fire of the two infantry guns, and began to sprint rapidly. The position was right in front of them. Although this doll army had artillery, which surprised them greatly, they believed that as long as they charged onto the position, everything would be over.

  "Charge!" Yuen Yiu-kau shouted loudly, holding up his binoculars.

  After hearing the cannon fire, Yuan Xiaoji was 90% surprised, but seeing that his troops were not far from the formation, a smile appeared on Yuan Xiaoji's face again.

  But soon, the light and heavy machine guns on the position began to fire.

  The Mauser rifle fired 250 rounds, spewing out bright red flames, and the bullets shot towards Chen Jun's soldiers.

  "Rat-a-tat-tat", with the firing of heavy machine guns, one by one, Chen's soldiers fell under the impact of the heavy machine guns.

  After losing more than 40 men, Chen Jun's soldiers realized that the number of people in front of them was not many, but their firepower was almost comparable to that of an entire division.

  "Do not retreat, charge forward." An officer personally killed two soldiers who retreated without permission and shouted loudly.

  Under the threat of the officer, the remaining two hundred or so soldiers launched another attack on the position.

  The officer was unwilling to withdraw at this point, as the distance from the position was now less than 100 meters. As long as he gritted his teeth and persisted, the position would be his.

  The soldiers advanced cautiously, the bullets on the position occasionally killing the charging soldiers, and those wounded soldiers were shouting loudly.

  "Cease fire." Guan Linzheng looked at the majority of Chen Jun's soldiers hiding and quickly gave orders, he didn't want to waste too much ammunition.

  Sun Xinghua put down his binoculars on the city wall and a smile appeared on his face.

  He overestimated the combat effectiveness of Chen Jun's soldiers. If a regiment was deployed outside the city, it was entirely possible for his own 500-strong army to devour Chen Jun's soldiers.

  "Captain, it's very dangerous on the flank. Should we reinforce it?" Cai Guang pointed to the flank and said to Sun Xinghua.

  More than 200 soldiers of Chen's army on the flank were killed by four field guns, more than 50 people died, and the remaining more than 100 people continued to attack the flank under the cover of light machine guns. The defenders on the flank had only one infantry squad, two light machine guns, and one heavy machine gun.

  "Have the artillery cover the flank, order the first company to immediately exit the city and prepare for battle." Sun Xinghua made up his mind to wipe out this group of Chen's army and gave the order for the first company to exit the city and fight.

  "Yes." Cai Guangji bowed and walked towards the city below.

  On the battlefield, Chen Jun's soldiers heard the machine gun stop firing and looked at each other.

  "Brothers, they've run out of bullets, let's charge!" The officer suddenly realized something and shouted loudly. He thought that with such intense firepower, it wouldn't last much longer, after all, ammunition was a big problem.

  Having heard the officer's words, Chen Jun's soldiers plucked up their courage and the more than 200-strong troop quickly ran towards the front line.

  "Seventy meters." The sentry shouted loudly.

  "Fifty meters." The sentry continued shouting.

  "Fire." Gu Linzheng raised his rifle and shot a military officer dead, then gave the order.

  Eight heavy machine guns, ten light machine guns, and four Thompson submachine guns opened fire.

  A burst of gunfire rained down on Chen Jun's soldiers.

  This time's shooting was close-range shooting. One bullet could often kill two people, and many of Chen Jun's soldiers fell to the ground.

  Several officers were also eliminated, and the Chen army soldiers were in a state of confusion, not knowing whether to continue attacking. However, they were after all old soldiers, quickly using hand grenades to suppress the strong firepower on the position.

  "Brothers, charge!" a platoon leader shouted loudly.

  The position was right in front of them, and the long line was unwilling to retreat like this. He understood that several officers had been killed, and if he led his troops to occupy the position, he would definitely be rewarded by Yuan Shaojiu.