Chapter 41: Lingering Melody (1)

  Liu Jianxu felt like an ant on a hot pot.

  Last night, the 62nd Division and the Red Bandits fought fiercely at Xiguan. After receiving a distress telegram from Tao Guang, I immediately ordered the 16th and 63rd Divisions to provide emergency reinforcements. As expected, the troops that were engaged in fierce battle with Tao Guang's forces were indeed the rear guard of the Red Army. The 16th and 63rd Divisions arrived and attacked from both front and back, quickly annihilating the Red Army troops.

  After receiving the telegram from Tao Guang, I immediately sent a telegram to Chairman Chiang and President He. What a great victory! An unprecedented victory! According to Tao Guang's report, more than 5,000 Red Army soldiers were captured, and even the commander of the 9th Red Army Corps, Luo Binghui, was taken prisoner. It's really incredible! I have been leading my troops to encircle and suppress the Red Army for many years, but when have we ever achieved such a great victory? So, after reporting the victory to Chairman Chiang and President He, I happily went to rest.

  Just now, the guard woke himself up from his sleep, saying there was an emergency. As soon as he put on his clothes, the chief of staff arrived and said that Xunying County Magistrate had called to report that he had received a call from Shangmuqiao Township Magistrate, saying that National Army troops were ambushed by bandits at Xiaoshui and Xigou, and there were bodies of National Army soldiers everywhere on the highway and in the fields. The county magistrate has already sent security teams and self-defense teams to investigate.

  What the hell is going on? Is this possible? Tao Guang's unit was ambushed by the enemy, didn't they already wipe out the Red Bandits? How did it suddenly turn into National Army soldiers' corpses everywhere?

  Ask the chief of staff again, and this guy actually says that contact with the radio stations of the 16th Division, 62nd Division, and 63rd Division has been interrupted.

  Radio contact lost? Why would the contact be lost, it's impossible. Wait a minute, could the report from the county head of Suining really be true? Could the 16th, 62nd and 63rd divisions all have been annihilated by the Red Army? Heaven! Those were three elite divisions, nearly 30,000 troops, when did the Red Army develop such an appetite?!

  Hurry to verify the situation. Immediately order the cavalry regiment to set out, bringing two radio stations, one going to Xiaoshui and the other to Xikou, and must clarify the true situation on the battlefield at the fastest speed.

  I'm dizzy, how could I forget about the air force? It's already broad daylight now, can't we let the air force take off immediately to scout out Xiao Shui and Xi Kou? Wait a minute, if the air force takes off, won't Chairman Chiang know everything? Let me think again. Forget it, if all three divisions are really annihilated, who can cover it up? Just let the air force take off, the sooner the better.

  Just as Liu Jianxu was getting anxious, the head of Songmugou Township in Suining County was pestering the county magistrate for people and money.

  The head of this village learned about the defeat of the National Army in the second half of last night.

  After the Red 18th Corps left Xiaoshui, the villagers of Xiaoshui Village began to worry. On the highway north of the village and in the fields, there were corpses of National Army soldiers everywhere. Just looking at them could scare people to death. Moreover, the Red Army had left behind over 500 wounded Hunan Army soldiers for them to take care of, who were crying out for their parents, making it so that the villagers did not dare to go out and the children did not dare to sleep. In desperation, the villagers discussed and elected a few people to report to the township head, asking him to send people to bury the corpses and take away those National Army wounded soldiers. They were supposed to go to Songmu Bridge to report before dinner, but then they heard gunfire from the direction of Xikou, so the villagers did not dare to go. What if the Red Army came back again? Would they not be lenient towards them? It wasn't until nighttime when the gunfire from the direction of Xikou completely stopped that the villagers thought this battle was probably really over and the Red Army would not come back. Only then did a few people pluck up their courage, lit torches, and went to Songmu Bridge to report.

  The village head, who was shouted awake by the militiamen from his bed, was frightened after listening to the report of the villagers from Xiaoshui Village. He knew that there had been a battle between Xiaoshui and Xikou, but at the time he thought it was the Nationalist Army chasing the Red Bandits. After all, hadn't the Red Seventh Army from Guangxi and the Red Sixth Army which came last half year both been chased away by Chairman He's Nationalist Army? So although he had heard the gunfire from Xiaoshui and Xikou, he didn't send anyone to check it out. Bullets don't distinguish between people, so it was better not to go if possible. After listening to the report of the villagers from Xiaoshui Village, he finally realized that it was actually the Nationalist Army who had been defeated. He still couldn't believe it and asked several villagers repeatedly whether they were mistaken, whether they had mistaken Red Army corpses for those of the Nationalist Army. Several villagers said there was no mistake, and in the village there were more than 500 heavily wounded Nationalist soldiers lying around. The village head had to hurry up and get people to take them away. If it was delayed any further and a few more died, the ordinary people would be in trouble.

  The village head thought, if the small water's stick was defeated by the national army, would the creek mouth also be defeated? Just as he was thinking of sending someone to take a look at the creek mouth, people came from both Beishan and Creek Mouth, saying that there were bodies of national soldiers everywhere on the road and in the fields. They had to send people to bury them quickly, or else they would get into trouble if an epidemic broke out. The village head asked if there were any Red Army left in the village, and the people from Creek Mouth said they had all left, leaving not a single person behind. The village head asked again if anyone knew where the Red Army had gone, but the villagers all said they didn't know, as they had been too scared to come out during the battle and had hidden indoors with their doors closed.

  The village head didn't dare to slack off, let the villagers go back and wait, and he himself quickly led his men, carrying torches and riding donkeys to Suining to report to the county head, which is how Liu Jianxu received a call from the county head of Suining early in the morning.

  The county magistrate has already reported to Liu Jianxu, and the security team and self-defense team have set out for Xiaoshui and Xigou. The head of Shannmuqiao Township is now asking the county magistrate for people and money. What a joke! So many people died, don't they need coffins and someone to bury them? Doesn't all this cost money?

  The county magistrate knew that the township head was thinking of making money from the dead, and he was very unhappy in his heart, but on the surface, he didn't dare to offend the township head. At that time, the county magistrates were appointed by the province, while the township heads were local bullies or gentry, who were truly powerful, and generally speaking, the county magistrates couldn't afford to provoke them. This was also a strange phenomenon of Hunan's local politics in the early days of the Republic of China. So, the county magistrate had no choice but to appease the township head by saying that this matter was for the military to handle, and they would have to wait until Commander Liu Jianxu clarified the situation before doing anything else. The township head became angry as soon as he heard this, directly saying that in that case, they could only trouble the National Army brothers, and even if they died in battle, their bodies would be left for wild dogs to gnaw on. It wasn't until the county magistrate promised to report the matter to his superiors and strive for reimbursement according to the facts that the township head of Shanzhuqiao Township led his guards and rode a mule back to arrange manpower.

  Air Force reconnaissance reports came through the radio, around Xigou Village were all National Army corpses, no troops were found on the ground; at the northern end of Xiaoshui Village highway, there were also National Army corpses everywhere, and no troops were found on the ground; in the entire Tongdao area, except for the southern line where the National Army's Xia Wei and Liao Xue units were moving, no signs of Red Army units were found.

  Looking at the air force's reconnaissance report, Liu Jianxu was stunned. It's clear, basically all clear, the 16th, 62nd and 63rd divisions are all gone, it's just unknown whether the three division commanders were killed or captured. How regrettable! In vain, he is still a graduate of Baoding Military Academy, having experienced countless battles, how could he not see through the Red Army's trap? The many corpses found by Xiaoshui must be from the 16th Division. What 16th Division defeated the Red Bandit rear guard team, what 16th Division advanced to Lin Kou, now it seems that from the first telegram received after the 16th Division departed, it was the beginning of the entire deception. The Red Army had been ambushing at Xiaoshui, waiting for the 16th Division to crash into their guns. Who leaked the 16th Division's marching route and time, allowing the Red Army's main force to ambush so comfortably at Xiaoshui, wiping out the 16th Division? From Tao Guang's first distress telegram, it should be that the Red Army ambushed the 16th Division, captured the radio station and password, knew the 62nd Division's marching route and time, then rushed from Xiaoshui to Xigou to ambush Tao Guang and Zhong Lü, and then disguised as Tao Guang sending a telegram, ordering Wang Yuying's brigade to come and rescue, devouring Wang's brigade, continuing to disguise Tao Guang seeking help from himself, making him fall for it, and throwing another 63rd Division into the trap. What a brilliant linked trap! One ring after another, time, route, distance calculated so precisely, when did the Red Army have such a brilliant strategy? Thinking about it, the most unjust is still the 63rd Division. The 16th and 62nd Divisions are not mentioned, they were doomed from the start, but the tragedy of the 63rd Division could have been completely avoided! If he had received Tao Guang's distress telegram and thought differently, he wouldn't have fallen for it. Thinking about it, what situation would make Tao Guang seek help? He should have thought more about the worst-case scenario at the time, if he had thought that Tao Guang seeking help must be in a desperate situation, then there was no need to send the 63rd Division to their deaths! Foolish, foolish! In vain, Chairman He trusted him so much, putting the entire army under his command, how could he explain this to Chairman He? Thinking about it, Liu Jianxu took out his pistol and aimed at his own temple.

  Before he could pull the trigger, several guards rushed forward and snatched the pistol away.

  The chief of staff, with a crying tone, persuaded Liu Jianxu: "Commander, be open-minded, as long as the green mountain is there, we don't have to worry about running out of firewood. We still have several elite divisions, and the Red Bandits must not have gone far, they are hiding in the corridor to rest, we can let Bai Chongxi's troops go north, and Xue Yue quickly lead our troops south, forming a pincer movement from both north and south, thoroughly eliminating the Red Bandits in the corridor area."

  Liu Jianxu glanced at the chief of staff: "It's too late, the Red Bandits won a big victory yesterday, their morale is extremely high, and they also obtained the equipment of our three divisions. They have enough food and ammunition, and now they would be eager for us to send troops over. Moreover, if Bai Chongxi knew that our three divisions were completely annihilated, he would probably order his troops to retreat back to Guangxi immediately. In this situation, not to mention us, even the Chairman of the Committee would have no way to deal with him."

  The Chief of Staff felt a sense of injustice: "Is it just going to let the Red Bandits get away with this?"

  Liu Jianxu sighed: "What can't be done about the Red Bandits? If we lose these few remaining divisions, I'm afraid Chairman Chiang will have to ask Chairman He to help him clean his study. I'm tired, I'll go rest now. After the cavalry regiment has clarified the situation, please trouble Chief of Staff to report to Chairman Chiang and Chairman He, and ask for instructions on future bandit-suppressing strategies. All troops are to stop pursuing the Red Bandits, hold their defensive lines, and await further orders." Having said that, he left the command center and went straight back to his quarters to rest.

  Liu Jianxu is indeed a seasoned general, and his guesses about the battles of Xiao Shui and Xi Kou are basically accurate. However, there are two points he didn't guess correctly: first, he didn't think that it was not the main force of the Red Army that annihilated his three divisions, but rather the 18th Regiment of the Red Army; second, he didn't think that it was not the marching route, time, and troop strength of the 16th Division of Hunan Province that were leaked, but rather Liu Yimin, a traveler from a later era, who knew the entire situation of the 16th Division.

  The 28th Division of the Hunan Army cavalry arrived at Xikou at 9 am. They followed the route of the 63rd Division's march, and as soon as they exited the mountain pass between Huabian and Xikou, they saw the bodies of Hunan soldiers scattered all over the fields. A group of eagles circled above, constantly diving down to peck at the corpses. One cavalryman couldn't help but let out a "wow" and vomited. This triggered a chain reaction, and the soldiers started vomiting one after another. The enemy regiment commander raised his whip and shouted: "You're so pathetic! Don't throw up! You bunch of turtle shell-covered bastards!"

  After finishing, he turned his body and looked at the farmland, and he suddenly let out a loud "wow" and vomited.

  After vomiting, the task still had to be completed. The soldiers led their horses along the main road towards Xigou, and near the Yangxu River Bridge, they found the bodies of Chen Guangzhong, the commander of the 63rd Division, and his chief of staff. Further ahead, in the fields at the edge of Xigou Village, they saw that the soldiers' bodies were piled up on top of each other, densely packed like a heap. On the red bandit's position near Xiaoshui Village, they found a large number of bullet shells and artillery shells. The enemy regiment commander was so frightened that he couldn't speak for half a day. How many cannons and machine guns must have fired to produce so many shell casings?

  When the National Army cavalry arrived, the village head and the Paoning County Security Team who had arrived earlier all came out to greet them. The village head described the battle situation he saw to the officer, and then took the cavalrymen to Beishan Village and a place 5 miles south of Xikou to see the battlefield remains. Finally, the Hunan Army Cavalry Regiment asked if they knew where the Red Bandits had gone? The village head said that he didn't know the specific location, but estimated that it was either east or west, or maybe south. Because at that time, everyone in the village was afraid and no one dared to come out and look. It wasn't until the Red Bandits left that everyone dared to come out, and then they quickly went to report to the township head.

  A company commander plucked up his courage and said: "Comrade Commander, shouldn't we search southward again? Maybe we can still catch up with the bandits!"

  "The enemy regimental commander waved his hand and shouted: 'I haven't lived enough yet! Reporter, send a telegram to the headquarters, saying that we have already inspected the battlefield, the 63rd division has been completely annihilated, and about 4,000 people from the 62nd division have been killed. We found the body of Major General Chen Guangzhong, commander of the 63rd division, and brought it back with us. The whereabouts of Tao Guang, commander of the 62nd division, are unknown. Our troops are deployed in Xigou, requesting instructions on specific actions."

  Inside the Hunan Yueyang Pursuit and Suppression Army Headquarters, a press conference is being held. The Commander-in-Chief of the Pursuit and Suppression Army, Chairman of the Hunan Provincial Government, and General He Jian is sitting on the podium with a spring breeze-like smile. The spokesperson's words are as smooth as a lotus flower, turning the cooperation between the Xiang Army's Tao Guang, Zhang Liangji, and Chen Guangzhong divisions, which annihilated the Red Bandit 9th Division and 1st Division in Xikou, into an unprecedented great victory. He also said that General Liu Jianxu will soon bring the Red Army prisoners of war to Yueyang, and at that time, they will invite everyone to come and witness the grand scene together. Finally, the spokesperson's words took a turn, saying: "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Commander-in-Chief of this battle, General He Jian, Chairman of the Pursuit and Suppression Army, who has made strategic plans and won victories thousands of miles away, to give a speech!"

  Amidst the applause of the journalists, He Jian stood up with a spirited expression. After signaling for the applause to stop, he began to speak: "This great victory is entirely thanks to Chairman Chiang's wise leadership, correct decision-making, and proper deployment. The frontline soldiers risked their lives, shedding blood and fighting fiercely, in order to achieve such a great accomplishment. The Red Bandits have been dealt a severe blow and are now on the verge of collapse, almost becoming a routed army. Our military will pursue them relentlessly, determined to wipe out the bandits once and for all, restoring peace and stability to our people and our land. When the time comes, I invite you all to join us in celebrating with a toast!"

  Another round of warm applause followed. He Jian nodded and was about to continue his speech, blowing the future of Hunan's political and economic development, when he saw his confidential advisor rushing in hastily. He Jian was furious and scolded: "Hurry hurry, what kind of manner is this!"

  The chief of staff ignored He Jian's reprimand and ran straight up to him, presenting the telegram.

  He Jianyi's face turned pale as he read the telegram, and his eight-bearded chin began to tremble. The chief of staff saw that something was wrong and was about to step forward to support him when He Jian opened his mouth and a mouthful of blood spurted out, and his body fell backwards.

  The scene was in chaos.