Chapter 38: The Battle of Xikou (7)

  Cai Zhong led the new battalion with prisoners and captured supplies to Xikou when it was already dark.

  The intense gunfire from the north just now made the villagers of Xigou village nervous, although the ordinary people of that era were used to seeing battles and knew that it was the National Army fighting against the Red Bandits, regardless of who won or lost, it had nothing to do with them, but most people still closed their doors early, afraid of encountering war disasters.

  Tsai Chung-he and the leaders of the new recruits' camp directly incorporated the captives into the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th companies, where each company took charge of educating and transforming them. The soldiers from the 1st company were arranged to set up sentry posts, and a large pot was set up on the spot to boil hot water. When the main force arrived later, the soldiers could drink some hot water to relieve their fatigue.

  Then, Cai Zhong arranged for the cadres to go from door to door shouting, hoping that the villagers would come out to help the troops make a fire and cook. But no matter how loudly the cadres shouted, saying again and again that they were the Red Army, the army of the poor, not one person opened their door.

  Having no other choice, Cai Zhong had his soldiers climb over the wall and enter the largest courtyard in Xigou Street.

  After entering, I realized that this was the home of Bao Chang. This Bao Chang had just rescued the owner of a grocery store from the hands of a battalion commander of the National Army's Wang Yu-ying brigade during the day and was a standard human trafficker. When he heard the Red Army knocking on the door, he knew that the battle before nightfall was won by the Red Army, and remembering the National Army's propaganda about the Red Army's policies, he was so scared that he slipped under the bed and didn't dare to come out, but in the end, he was still found by the soldiers.

  Since we can't run away, naturally Bao Chang knows how to deal with it.

  He found several militiamen hiding at home, shouting from door to door. However, his method of shouting at the door was different from that of the Red Army cadres. He had the militiamen take a gong and stand in front of each household, striking it a few times and shouting: "The head of the security squad said that every household must come out to support the army. Those who come out will be rewarded with a certificate from the county government, while those who do not will be treated as bandits." This worked well, and soon every household opened their doors and started cooking. It just so happened that they had slaughtered several pigs during the day, which were originally intended to entertain the officers of the 62nd Division, but now could be used to treat the Red Army instead.

  Liu Yimin led the main force through Xikou when Cai Zhong had arranged everything. There were people on both sides of the street carrying buckets and bowls, containing tea or ginger soup, which the soldiers could drink at will.

  Soon the troops set off, and the creek mouth was no longer quiet. The common people saw that the Red Army was indeed different from the National Army they had passed by during the day, and slowly approached the Red Army.

  Liu Yimin led the main force to a place about 5 li south of Xiguan, when Luo Yan reported that from the top of the mountain, he could see a team carrying torches and rushing towards here about 10 li away.

  Liu Yimin ordered the troops to stop and, together with Liu Jianli and several battalion commanders, climbed up a hill to observe. Upon looking, they were delighted to see that two teams of enemy soldiers were marching towards them with torches in hand. The team coming from the south, from Jingzhou, was undoubtedly the enemy's Wang Yuying brigade, judging by the speed at which their torches were moving; the other team, coming from the southeast direction of Lin Kou, was still far away and was estimated to be Li Yimou's brigade and guard platoon. Liu Yimin now truly felt grateful for the darkness of night - no need to study maps, no need for aerial or cavalry reconnaissance, and the enemy situation became clear at a glance. No wonder our army had always liked to fight at night and in close combat.

  Liu Yimin was a bit subjective here, our army liked night battles not because the enemy liked to fight with torches or later with searchlights, but this was Liu Yimin's feeling when he saw the enemy rushing with torches, and the people of western Henan forgave him for once.

  Behind the creek mouth, a series of sounds came from the north side of the mountain, Liu Yimin knew that it was the cavalry regiment firing firecrackers and gunfire, which were almost indistinguishable. Looking at the terrain around him again, he found himself on a solitary small hill, bare and empty, with a winding highway below, and small hills on both sides of the road, not far apart, similar to the one he was on. The hills were separated by flat farmland, which was most conducive to dividing the enemy.

  After observing the terrain, Liu Yimin directly made combat deployments: The 1st and 2nd battalions ambushed on the east side of the highway, and the 4th and 5th battalions ambushed on the west side of the highway, responsible for charging towards the enemy's central position; The 6th battalion retreated 500 meters to hide and intercept the enemy's head; The 3rd battalion advanced 1000 meters to hide and cut off the enemy's tail; The heavy machine gun battalion occupied the small hills on both sides of the road with a platoon as a unit, concealed itself, and waited for the enemy to arrive before concentrating firepower to sweep the enemy. Also, prepare more torches, ignite them all after the battle starts, and insert them on the hilltops to illuminate the battlefield as much as possible; Two mortar battalions immediately constructed positions, divided the firing area into grids, marked the serial numbers, and prepared for fire support; The radio station maintained contact with Wang Yuying's brigade, urging them to speed up their march, while also maintaining contact with Liu Jianxue's command post, reporting the compiled battle situation, and urging the 63rd division to speed up their march; The whole regiment launched an attack with the sound of the 3rd battalion's gunfire as a signal, with swift action, striving to resolve the battle within 10 minutes.

  After the order was given, each camp acted quickly and soon deployed in place, waiting for Wang Yuying's troops to come and serve food.

  Wang Dazui is a veteran, from the day he started carrying a gun and eating rations. He has fought under Wu Peifu, the Red Army, and the Guangxi troops. Whoever the superiors told him to fight, he would fight. At least ten or twenty people have died at his hands. After serving in the army for a long time, he knew many things about the superiors. In his free time, he would tell stories to new recruits about He Jian, Liu Jianxu, Tao Guang, Li Jue, Zhang Liangji, and Chen Guangzhong, famous Hunan generals before they became famous. He often boasted so much that the new recruits were confused. After a long time, those who listened to his boasts and should have died did die, and those who should have been promoted were promoted. As a result, he earned the nickname "Big Mouth".

  Today, Wang Dazui was extremely depressed. As soon as he got up in the morning, he started marching in formation and didn't even get to drink a bowl of hot soup. After much difficulty, at 5 o'clock, they arrived near Jingzhou, but the troops were ambushed by a small group of Red Bandits. Bang! Bang! Chase them, can't find anyone; don't chase them, who knows when or where a bullet will fly over and which brother will be unlucky enough to follow the sound of gunfire to meet King Yan. Fortunately, they entered Jingzhou Street, thinking they could rest for a bit, drink some hot tea, eat some hot rice. But then the superior officer ordered them to return by the original route, saying they were going to rescue Shi Zu and Zhong Lü. Damn it! When we passed through there this morning, not even a shadow of Red Bandits was seen. How come Shi Zu encountered Red Bandits when he passed through? Did the Red Bandits know that Shi Zu had high rank, lots of money, and precious life, so they deliberately let us small soldiers go to find trouble for Shi Zu?

  Wang Dazui felt more and more suffocated, what the hell kind of fight is this? It's purely a waste of time, simply using us as donkeys. I'm exhausted, sitting down to rest my feet, smoking a pack of cigarettes, who cares if that son of a bitch instructor is dead or alive?

  King Big Mouth sat down and lit a cigarette, which caused trouble. The old soldiers who were suffering from nicotine addiction also sat down and started smoking. As a result, the marching formation of King Big Mouth's vanguard company became disorganized. The company commander, seeing that it was not right, ordered the troops to stop and came over to urge King Big Mouth and the others to hurry up, saying that the division commander was still waiting for rescue. But King Big Mouth, who had been a soldier for a long time, didn't care about the company commanders and said slowly: "If you're in a hurry, go ahead and leave. We'll finish our cigarettes and catch up with you later." The company commander looked at the old soldiers smoking and knew that they could only take a break. He ordered the entire company to rest for 5 minutes on the spot.

  5 minutes passed quickly, and Wang Dàmǒu and the smoking old soldiers had satisfied their nicotine cravings. The enemy company commander was just about to assemble his troops to depart when a large force followed up from behind. Regiment Commander Wang Yùyīng saw that the vanguard company was resting and got angry, bringing guards to hurry over.

  As soon as the brigade commander arrived, the regimental commander rushed up to salute and report. Before he could finish his report, Wang Yuying's whip came out: "You son of a turtle, are you a pig brain? The division commander and the brothers are all waiting anxiously for reinforcements, and you dare to let the troops rest, thinking of getting shot isn't it?"

  The enemy company commander was so frightened that he didn't move, and Wang Yuying's whip left two bloody marks on his face.

  "Brothers, I know everyone is tired today, but the military situation is urgent. The comrades from the division and the clock regiment are fighting against the red bandits, and we must rush to reinforce them. Just now, the division commander sent a telegram saying that the red bandits only have a few thousand people, either children or peasants who just put down their hoes, many of whom don't even have guns. It's easy to defeat them! As soon as we arrive, with the division commander attacking from the front and back, the red bandits will immediately flee. The division commander said that capturing one prisoner will be rewarded with 5 big silver coins, and capturing the red bandit commander or regimental commander will be rewarded with 2000 big silver coins. That's a lot of money! We can buy houses, land, and marry wives. If we go late, we won't get anything. Everyone look east!"

  The Xiang Army soldiers turned their heads to the east in unison, and from a distance in the east, a string of torches stood out particularly prominently in the night sky. The Xiang Army soldiers all knew that there were troops on a night march.

  Wang Yu-ying shouted again: "Everyone has seen, those are the brothers of the 16th Division who have come to reinforce us. If we don't advance quickly, when the 16th Division arrives, they will have more people and guns, and the Red Bandits' captives will be snatched away by them. In that case, today's efforts will all be in vain. What do you say, are you willing?"

  The greedy psychology of Xiang Army soldiers was thoroughly stirred up by Wang Yuying, and they shouted in unison: "Unwilling!"

  "Everyone follow me! Our target is the Creek Mouth, let's move out!"

  On a winter night, all sounds ceased, and the neat and urgent footsteps of Xiang Army soldiers were heard very far away.

  Chen Dayong, the third battalion commander of the 18th Regiment, was hiding under a small hill on the west side of the highway, with his seventh company behind him. On top of the hill was the battalion's firepower support company, with three heavy machine guns and two mortars all pointing towards the highway. Diagonally across from him, Instructor Hu Xuerong led the eighth and ninth companies in hiding under another small hill, with a platoon of three heavy machine guns from the heavy machine gun battalion on top of the hill, also pointing their muzzles at the highway. Chen Dayong, who had once been the commander of the main force of the Fifth Red Army Regiment, knew that as long as Wang Yuying's brigade entered the ambush circle, just the firepower of the third battalion would make it impossible for them to escape, not to mention the fact that all six battalions of the regiment, equipped with excellent combat equipment, and two mortar companies were joining forces. He estimated that very few people from Wang Yuying's brigade would survive, possibly another repeat of the Battle of Xiao Shui.

  As Chen Dayong was silently chanting "Enemy, enemy, come quickly" in his heart, Wang Yuying's troops rushed into the ambush circle. Looking at the panting soldiers, Chen Dayong also remembered the two words spoken by the regimental commander during the Xiaoshui battle: "Fool!"

  The army is like this, the style of a strong leader is the style of this unit. The current Red 18th Regiment, cadres and soldiers have long been stimulated by a string of great victories, and they are very respectful of Liu Yimin, who led them to victory. Every word and deed of Liu Yimin will be imitated and learned by the soldiers, including his standard military posture, elegant and provocative language, even the 21st-century new national scolding "傻逼" (idiot) that he accidentally blurted out during the battle of Xiao Shui, has now become a popular phrase among the cadres and soldiers of the 18th Regiment to describe the White Dogzi. In the words of several battalion commanders in private exchanges, it is said that the regiment commander's level is high, with many ideas, and every time he blinks, there is a new idea, where can you find such a teacher? Only fools wouldn't follow him to learn.

  Eyes fixed on Wang Yu-ying, a team of soldiers ran past in an orderly manner, Chen Da-yong slowly raised the rifle in his hand.

  When the last soldier had just run in front of him, Chen Dayong's gun rang out. Before that soldier fell, the gunfire on the third camp's position erupted. Then, on both sides of the highway, the hills were filled with the roar of light and heavy machine guns. Soon, mortars also joined the chorus, shells continuously exploding among Wang Yuying's troops, blowing their marching formation into disarray, chaotic and pitiful.

  Wang Yu-ying rolled off the saddle and crawled onto the ground at the moment of gunfire. He looked up to see that more than a dozen small hills on both sides of the highway had been inserted with torches, illuminating the night sky. His own troops became living targets, with countless light and heavy machine guns spraying bullets at his comrades, and more than 30 mortars firing, their shells drawing curves in the night sky like fireworks exploding over Changsha City on New Year's Eve. Oh heavens, what kind of troops had he encountered? The number of mortars and machine guns was far greater than those of his own 62nd Division. It seemed that the division commander and Colonel Zhong had already been captured by the enemy. Those urgent telegrams requesting reinforcements and the torches in the southeast direction from the 16th Division were probably all the work of the enemy, intended to lure him into a trap. What a clever plan, what a masterful tactic! Losing to such an opponent was not shameful. Surrender now, or else who knows how many more comrades would die under the enemy's guns?

  At this point, Wang Yuying stood up, raised his hands and shouted: "Stop fucking fighting, I surrender!"

  As the commander-in-chief had surrendered, the soldiers who had narrowly escaped the bullets slowly raised their hands one by one. The gunfire and artillery fire on the Red Army's position also ceased.

  A red guard stood up and loudly commanded: "Raise your hands, leave the highway, and walk 20 steps in this direction!"

  Wang Yu-ying led the way, leading the soldiers down the highway, walking 20 steps forward.

  The Red Army soldiers surrounded her with their guns. Wang Yuying said to a Red Army officer, "I am Wang Yuying, I want to see your commander."

  Liu Yimin himself did not expect the battle to end so quickly, and that it would end with the Xiang Army surrendering voluntarily. It's worth noting that since Chiang Kai-shek established the military training corps, there had been almost no instances of Nationalist troops defecting en masse to the Red Army, especially after the Battle of Xiangjiang. Such a thing was unthinkable. So when Liu Jianping reported that enemy regimental commander Wang Yuying requested to see him, Liu Yimin readily agreed, and he also wanted to know what this guy was thinking.

  Wang Yu-ying soon met the highest commander of the Red Army unit that had taken him captive, Liu Yi-min. Tall and slender, with a refined face, he was only about 23 years old; if he wore glasses, he would look like a foreign student. Only occasionally did a glint in his eyes reveal that this was a military man full of vigor and martial spirit. Alas, alas, who would have thought that after a lifetime of battle, I would fall into the hands of such a bookish-looking young man? It's really bold to use people like this; I've heard that when he became commander of the Red First Army, he was only 24 years old - I wonder if he too has a scholarly air about him.

  Looking at Liu Yimin's stillness, Wang Yu-ying choked for half a day and blurted out: "May I ask, sir, are our Commander Tao and Commander Zhang of the 16th Division also your prisoners?"

  Liu Yimin smiled slightly: "You are the most intelligent Xiang Army commander I have ever seen."

  "Sir, you must be joking. You want to know why I surrendered voluntarily? With your powerful firepower and my troops exposed on the highway without any cover, what's the difference between us and targets? Just look at it, in just a short while, my 3,500-strong brigade was reduced to over 1,000 people. Defeat is defeat, what's the difference between surrendering early or late? Why drag so many brothers to their deaths?" After finishing speaking, he didn't wait for Liu Yimin's response and walked towards the prisoner-of-war team.

  Liu Yimin thought to himself, "This is indeed a clever person. It would be a pity if he were to degenerate from now on." It seems that when there's time, I should have a good talk with these Xiang Army captive generals.

  Liu Jianli reported the battle results, a total of 1,900 enemy troops were killed, and 1,600 enemy troops led by Wang Yuying were captured. One radio station was seized, as well as 12 mortars, 12 heavy machine guns, 54 light machine guns, and 3,200 rifles, submachine guns, and pistols. Since Wang Yuying's unit was a vanguard unit, no other materials were seized except for weapons and ammunition.

  Liu Yimin handed over Liu Jianli's leadership of three battalions to escort the prisoners, and then took other troops with torches to rush to Xikou.