Chapter 20: Attack on Dongguan (Part 1)

  Just as Sun Xinghua accepted Chiang's order and took command of the vanguard troops again, Chen Jiongming in Swatow also began to redeploy his forces.

  Located on a remote street in Swatow, there was a three-story foreign-style building that was once the residence of a wealthy merchant. After Chen Jiongming arrived, it became his command center.

  Chen Jiongming, in the second-level command center, at this moment, with his left hand on his waist and his right hand holding a pencil, stood in front of the military map, thinking about how to capture Guangzhou and destroy the revolutionary government with his three-route army.

  The shame of being defeated last time was still etched in Chen Jiongming's mind, and this time he took advantage of Sun's trip to the north to avenge his previous defeat.

  At this moment, the deputy officer hurried over and said: "Report to the commander-in-chief, Xu Chongzhi's Guangdong Army troops, Chiang Kai-shek's Party Army troops have set out from Guangzhou. The vanguard of the Guangdong Army has approached Shilong, posing a threat to Dongguan."

  "Could it be that they are just a small unit, how could their reaction be so quick?" Chen Jiongming was somewhat incredulous. In his view, the only force that posed a threat was Xu Chongzhi's Guangdong Army, while Chiang Kai-shek's Party Army was simply a bunch of child soldiers, and one of his own regiments would be enough to take care of them.

  "It has been confirmed, it is Zhang Mingda's division under Xu Chongzhi's command." The deputy officer hastily replied.

  "It's impossible, Xu Chongzhi and Zhang Mingda are all old veterans, they can't possibly penetrate deep alone." Chen Jiongming vetoed with a sentence, in his opinion, Zhang Mingda's division couldn't possibly act alone.

  The deputy officer did not dare say anything more, while Chen Jiongming looked at the military map and began to think carefully.

  Before long, Hong Zhaolin, who was stationed in Huizhou, opened the phone to report: Zhang Mingda's division, Xu Ji's brigade has appeared near Dongguan. My troops have not yet assembled, should we withdraw to Xincun, Zhangmu head and other places for an ambush?

  After receiving Hong Zhaolin's report, Chen Jiongming hastily picked up the phone and said: "Has Chiang Kai-shek's party army arrived?"

  Hong Zhaolin heard that it was Chen Jiongming's voice, and hastily replied: "For the time being, Chiang Kai-shek's troops have not been found. However, their troops seem to be divided, with the Guangdong Army attacking Shilong, and Chiang Kai-shek's Party Army at Hu Men, they appear to have the possibility of pincer attack on Dongguan."

  "It's better this way, order your troops in Dongguan to advance on all fronts, attack the enemy forces at Shilong, Humen and the Guangzhou-Kowloon railway line, strive to annihilate Zhang Mingda's division within the borders of Dongguan, and permit Ji Zhou's brigade." Chen Jiongming immediately issued the order.

  Chen Guangming believed that Chiang's troops were not worth mentioning, and the only ones who could pose a threat to him were the Guangdong Army. As long as they eliminated the Guangdong Army, Chiang's troops would be nothing to worry about. After occupying Humen, it was equivalent to having a springboard to attack Guangzhou.

  Chen Jiongming's troops could take advantage of Humen, along the Pearl River, and the Guangzhou-Kowloon railway to attack Guangzhou from three sides, and at that time, the whole of Guangzhou would fall into Chen Jiongming's hands.

  "Commander-in-Chief, now our troops are too scattered, it's better..." The chief of staff hurried over to persuade Chen Jiongming.

  But Chen Kuang-ming didn't listen at all and directly gave orders to Hung Chao-lin.

  It was precisely Chen Jiongming's underestimation of Chiang Kai-shek's party army that led to his defeat in this battle, and after Sun Xinghua joined, the losses of Chen's army were much greater.

  On the road, a military truck was moving slowly. This captured merchant group's truck had now become the third battalion's supply vehicle, with ammunition and food all inside the truck.

  However, the officers and soldiers did not realize that there was a problem with the ammunition in the truck, which seemed to be endless, as long as they needed it, the truck would always have ammunition supplies.

  The armament of the machine gun company was transported by two carts, while each of the three infantry companies' machine gun platoons had one cart and a batch of mules to pull the guns.

  As for Browning automatic rifles, they were all carried by riflemen.

  Xinghua Sun looked at Guangping Sun on the driver's seat and a smile appeared on his face.

  Sun Guangping is now a junior military officer in the camp department, and he is also in charge of the guard class. Although this position is not high, Sun Guangping is very happy to be able to stay by Sun Xinghua's side.

  As for the propaganda team that followed the troops, it was left in Humen by Director Zhou. Some of the propaganda teams that followed the troops also stayed with He Yingqin's main force. After all, the third battalion is now a vanguard battalion and may encounter danger at any time. Director Zhou didn't dare to put these precious talents of the propaganda team in the third battalion.

  "Merit: 40. Ammunition Replenishment: None."

  In Sun Xinghua's mind, the intelligent computer rang again.

  However, the 40 merits were obtained after deducting the negative points from last time.

  "Regimental commander, why don't you take a rest? It's already dark." Cai Guangjie walked to Sun Xinghua's side and put forward his suggestion.

  The three battalions belonged to the day and night march, after a brief rest in Humen, they were tasked with being the vanguard again. Cai Guangjie was worried about the physical strength of the officers and soldiers, so he proposed a rest.

  Sun Xinghua took a look at the map and now it's still early to reach Dongguan Road, he didn't rush, immediately issued a rest order, preparing to let the troops recharge their energy, perform well in Dongguan, and make Xu Chongzhi's Guangdong Army understand that the Party Army is not just eating idle rice.

  The troops rested in place, and the three infantry companies each sent out pickets and left sentries. After all the troops had stopped, the first thing to do was not to rest immediately, but to hastily build fortifications before resting.

  It wasn't until everything was done that it was already 8 o'clock in the evening. The soldiers had been marching for days and were extremely tired. Now that they had a place to rest, they all fell into a deep sleep.

  In Sun Xinghua's temporary camp, the three battalion commanders and party representatives were summoned by Sun Xinghua to discuss tactics for attacking Dongguan.

  The three camps marched swiftly, although they were some distance from Dongguan, but soon they would arrive. According to the intelligence provided by Principal Chiang, Chen's army in Dongguan had only 500-600 men under Yuan Yu's command, deployed near Dongguan city and Changping Village, as well as the Tea Mountain area.

  "The Tea Mountain is located in the southern part of Shi Long, not far from here. In other words, the Dongguan garrison troops not only have the responsibility of defending the city but also need to monitor the Guangdong army attacking Shi Long. This is a great advantage for us. The Chen army we encountered will not exceed 500 people at most." Sun Xinghua walked up to the map and pointed in the direction of Dongguan.

  The 500 people he mentioned will not be the actual number of Dongguan's garrison troops, because judging from the current situation, Dongguan's main force is concentrated in Chashan, preventing the Guangdong army from occupying Shilong and then attacking Chashan.

  "Commander, taking down Dongguan is not the priority, the priority is to annihilate the entire garrison of Dongguan, and at the same time, we must also pay attention to the reinforcements from Chashan Chen's troops, so as not to suffer a sudden attack from Chen's troops." First Lieutenant Shen Jian hastily offered his suggestion.

  After all, he was an instructor at Huangpu, and at a glance, he saw the problem. With the current strength and equipment of the Third Regiment, taking down Dongguan is not a problem. The main issue is how to annihilate the Dongguan garrison while preventing reinforcements from the Chashan Chen army.

  "On the march, I and the party representative have already had a simple discussion and drawn up a battle plan. Now I'll say it out loud and see what everyone thinks."

  "1. With a machine gun company (minus one heavy machine gun squad and one light machine gun squad), one battalion (minus one company), two battalions with four companies, three battalions with nine companies, I will lead the attack on Dongguan."

  "2. With two companies (minus four platoons) and three companies (minus nine platoons), equipped with light and heavy machine guns, each led by Party Representative Cai Guangju, to defend against the Chen army at Chashan, while also undertaking the task of intercepting fleeing troops from Dongguan."

  "3. The battalion guard platoon, one company acts as the battalion reserve."

  Sun Xinghua walked up to the map and directly stated his deployment.

  The three battalion commanders looked at each other and indicated that they had no opinion. The three party representatives also nodded in agreement with Sun Xinghua's opinion.

  "Alright, since everyone has no objection, let's proceed with this plan. Starting tomorrow, we'll speed up our march and head towards Dongguan. Once we reach the outskirts of Dongguan, the troops will split into two routes and act according to the predetermined plan." Sun Xinghua immediately gave the order.

  "Yes, Battalion Commander." The three company commanders and the three company party representatives all saluted and said.

  Sun Xinghua returned the gift, and the six men left the camp.

  "Guangping, inspect the captured heavy machine gun and reinforce the troops assigned to the party representative." Sun Xinghua gave the order again after seeing the officers walk out.

  "Company Commander, you have already detached two heavy machine guns and two light machine guns from the machine gun company. Why not leave this heavy machine gun for the assault troops?" Cai Guangjie hastily said after hearing Sun Xinghua's order.

  Sun Xinghua just smiled and insisted on assigning the heavy machine gun to Cai Guangju.

  At this time, a heavy machine gun was added, but it played a great role. Sun Xinghua had two field guns here, and he wouldn't take on anything. His only concern was Cai Guangju's position, because once the Chashan troops reinforced Dongguan, and the Dongguan garrison took a breakout, Cai Guangju's position would face a two-pronged attack.