Chapter 22: Attack on Dongguan (Part 2)
The Fang family ancestral hall in Taipingwei, a few miles south of Humen, is where the leaders of the headquarters have already arrived.
However, at this moment, Principal Chiang's face did not have a happy expression, but rather some anger.
The Guangdong Army troops sent a telegram, Shilong Town has been captured by the Guangdong Army troops. The Chen army in Shilong began to retreat towards Chashan, while the Wang Ruzhou brigade of the Guangdong Army also started marching towards Dongguan, preparing to attack Dongguan.
The Guangdong Army had won a victory, and as the chief of staff of the Guangdong Army, Chiang was overjoyed. However, the attack on Dongguan by Wang Ruzhou's brigade made Chiang somewhat displeased.
The Guangdong Army's actions clearly showed that they did not trust the Huangpu Military Academy, as they had already dispatched the First Instructional Regiment to attack Dongguan, and the Second Instructional Regiment was also on its way. However, the Guangdong Army disregarded their own orders and continued to attack Dongguan, leaving Principal Chiang with no smile on his face.
"How long will it take for the First Division to reach Dongguan?" Principal Chiang asked, looking at the map, and inquired of his staff officer beside him.
"At the latest by tonight, if we want to take down Dongguan, it's likely that we'll need to wait until tomorrow night. Tomorrow, the Guangdong army led by Wang Ruzhou will be able to arrive in Dongguan." Director Zhou walked over and said with some helplessness.
Principal Jiang's face was overcast with a mixture of emotions, and his eyes revealed an unpleasant expression.
"Order the messenger to contact General He Yingqin's First Division immediately. I don't care what price they pay, we must take Dongguan within five days." Chiang said angrily.
The orderly hastily saluted and walked out towards the outside.
"Principal Chiang, issuing orders like this, the First Regiment can't complete it at all. Even if they rush to Dongguan by forced march, they won't be able to take down Dongguan before tomorrow morning." Director Zhou hastily persuaded him, knowing that Principal Chiang only wanted to save face now.
But arguing and playing with the lives of officials are two different things.
"Director Zhou, if our school's military team cannot conquer Dongguan this time, it will become the laughing stock of all armies." Principal Chiang said seriously. This is not just a matter of his own face, but also the face of the entire Huangpu Military School, and even the face of Premier Sun.
Director Zhou heard Principal Jiang say this and didn't dare say anything more.
Chiang Kai-shek may not know that at this moment, Sun Xinghua's regiment has already launched an attack on Dongguan. It's just that the radio station hasn't been allocated to the regiment level yet, so Chiang Kai-shek doesn't know about it. However, even a decade or so later, the radio station was only allocated to the division level.
Outside Dongguan City, fierce battles are still ongoing.
Four infantry companies, sixteen light machine guns continuously swept the city wall, suppressing the firepower of Chen's army. The two artillery pieces in the company concentrated their firepower to attack the city gate, while the two heavy machine guns formed a firepower network with the sixteen light machine guns to suppress the defenders on the city wall.
Under the leadership of Lian Shen Jian, two giant ladders were lifted up again.
Gradually, the ladder was set up on the city wall, and the deputy squad leader holding a Thompson submachine gun quickly climbed up along the ladder towards the top of the city wall.
Yuan Shaojiu watched the powerful firepower of the Huangpu school army and quickly issued a retreat order, leaving more than 30 people on the city wall. Yuan Shaojiu led more than 200 people to quickly withdraw back to the town.
"Commander, Shilong has fallen. According to the garrison troops defending Shilong, only over 300 men have retreated back to Chashan." A staff officer rushed over from a distance and hastily reported the news to Yuan Yijiu.
Yuan Chu frowned and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Order the troops to break through in the direction of Cha Mountain and join forces with the garrison there. Then we'll make further plans."
Under Yuan Shaojiu's command, the 300-strong garrison of Dongguan, except for more than 30 people who were killed on the city wall, left more than 60 people in Dongguan County, and the remaining 200 or so people were led by Yuan Shaojiu to make a swift breakthrough towards Chashan in the northeast of Dongguan.
"Rat-a-tat." As the sound of Tompson's submachine gun echoed on the city wall, three rows of Wei Song held up a school flag and hung it on the city wall.
The officers and men who entered the city wall quickly cleared the defenders on the city wall, while some of them immediately went down to open the city gate.
Most of Chen Jun's soldiers had scattered, and Yuan Shaojiu hoped they could block the three battalions, but after Yuan Shaojiu left, they dropped their guns, took off their uniforms, and mixed in with the civilians.
"Regimental commander, 62 Chen army officers and soldiers were killed. Yuan Yi led the main force to break through in the direction of Chashan." Shen Jian quickly came to Sun Xinghua's side and reported the situation.
"Order the reserve team to garrison Dongguan County, comfort the people, and the rest of the troops, quickly pursue Yuan's ninth division, occupy the nearby high ground with machine guns, and support the battle." Sun Xinghua hastily issued the order, now his most worried thing had finally happened.
Once Yuan Shijiu and Chen Jun's troops from Chashan Mountain join forces to attack Cai Guangjie's blocking troops, the consequences will be unimaginable. Now the only option is to quickly hold off Yuan Shijiu in order to alleviate the pressure on Cai Guangjie's side.
On the road, Yuan Xiaojiu was urging the officers and soldiers to march quickly while thinking about how he could be defeated so quickly. The fire power of the Huangpu troops was very strong, and even if he held on, there would be no significance, especially after receiving the news that Shilong had fallen, his persistence would have no meaning, this was Yuan Xiaojiu's reason to himself.
"Captain, the Huangpu kids' army is catching up." The deputy officer ran over from behind and said to Yuan Yijiu.
Yuan Xiaojiu's eyes scanned downwards, her eyebrows furrowing tightly together.
"Hurry, everyone enter the village and hold your positions. Dispatch a squad to Tea Mountain immediately and inform them of our situation here, have them provide us with swift support." Yuan Jiuyi quickly gave out the orders.
He realized that if he were to flee, the Huangpu troops would set up machine guns and his men would all be killed. If they held their ground in the village ahead and waited for reinforcements, there might still be a way out.
Under Yuan Shao's command, Chen Lin's 200-man army quickly entered the village and deployed troops on the main roads in the village and on high ground.
Yuan Shao occupied the landlord's mansion in the village as his command center and confiscated the landlord's armed forces, obtaining several old-fashioned rifles.
"Organize all the young people in the village to follow us and fight together, I still don't believe it. With my 200 elite veteran soldiers, we can't defeat these Huangpu brats?" Yuan Yijiu said angrily after taking a sip of tea.
The deputy officer hastily walked out and conveyed Yuan Yu's order.
In a short while, more than 50 young people in the village were all organized and dispatched to various battlefields to participate in defensive battles.
Yuan Miaojiu wanted to use these young people for battle, but he didn't know that soon after, Sun Xinghua changed tactics and temporarily let go of this small fish in order to catch a bigger one.
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