Chapter 28: Rematch with Xiao Shui (Part 2)

  Bai Daguang is now a soldier of the first company, first battalion, 18th Regiment. During the Western Expedition's rectification and training, Bai Daguang, under the encouragement of Chen Dazhong, deputy commander of the new recruits' regiment, took the lead in exposing his grievances, infecting many new soldiers. The cannibalistic regiment commander and several scoundrel officers he exposed were also executed by the Red Army. His brother's revenge was avenged, and with nothing left to worry about, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to being a Red Army soldier.

  These days, since joining the army, Bai Dagu felt like he was living in a dream. He had never thought that there would be such a good troop in this world: The Red Army commanders never beat or scolded soldiers, and when camping, they would chat with you if you were feeling down. Especially Chen, the deputy regiment commander, helped him remove blisters from his feet twice. Growing up, he had never seen anyone treat him so well except for his parents; Soldiers also never fought or gambled among themselves, and on the march, when encountering steep slopes and dangers, they would help each other, take care of one another, like a group of close brothers. Although it was tough and tiring, and there was no military pay, thinking about how during the march in the Xiyue Mountain area, the regiment commander, political commissar, and himself were all equally hungry and sleeping on the grassland, the Red Army had avenged him, Bai Dagu felt that no matter how tough or tiring it was, it was worth it. Anyway, his mother was dead, his younger brother was dead, and he had no home, from now on, the Red Army would be his home.

  When the training ended, the leader saw that he performed well and let him stay in the new soldier company to assist the officers in educating the new soldiers. Bai Dagu heard this and thought it was not good enough, there were still many devils like the evil battalion commander who ate people's hearts, he himself was a skilled hunter, had good marksmanship, and should eliminate more enemies. So he begged Li Qing, Hong Chaoyuan, and Chen Dazhong to let him go down to the combat company. Li Qing saw that his background was clean and his performance was positive, so he assigned him to the first battalion of the first company.

  Bai Dagu came to this sharp knife company, which was said to be the vanguard brought out by the battalion commander from Red 34 Division. He felt a bit strange as the company always marched and fought at the forefront, and when they were idle, they would either practice tactical movements or train in platoon coordination. The whole company was full of spirit, with high morale, yet calm and solemn, like a sharp dagger hidden in its sheath, ready to strike at the enemy's heart at any moment.

  What's most unbelievable is that the soldiers in our battalion are especially fond of studying culture, supposedly because the battalion commander said so - an army without culture is a stupid army. So, the battalion commander led this vanguard battalion from the battalion commander to the soldiers, each person had to learn to write three characters every day, and the instructor checked on time. Those who didn't complete their tasks weren't allowed to sleep. Who would have thought that after several days, I could actually write the three characters "Bai Da Gui" - if my old mother were alive, she'd be so happy!

  When ambushing the county town, Bai Dagui led a broken gun of a security team. Just now in the first wave of ambush on Xiang 48th Division, Bai Dagui fired his first shot at the National Army in his life, but unfortunately this gun was too old and too broken, aiming accurately, still missed. As a result, he fired five shots, only hitting one. How embarrassing, I didn't expect that after hunting for over a decade, there would be such an embarrassing moment.

  Finally, after waiting for the battle to end, Bai Dagu followed the troops to rush onto the highway, found a 90% new Type 79 rifle, collected 100 bullets and 6 hand grenades, and was fully equipped. After checking the gun, adjusting the sight, the troops relocated. After hiding well and making combat preparations, the enemy's 47th Brigade came to deliver their deaths.

  Bai Dagu was ambushed on the opposite side of the highway, less than 70 meters away, and watched as the 47th Brigade ran into the ambush circle in an orderly manner. He finally heard the platoon leader's order to open fire. Bai Dagu hooked his thumb, and with a loud bang, an enemy soldier fell to the ground.

  The dull sound of the heavy machine gun on the rear machine gun position and the crisp sound of the Czech-style light machine gun merged into one piece, and the Xiang Army troops were beaten to pieces. The enemy who was clustered together didn't need to be considered by Bai Dagui, as a large number of hand grenades and powerful machine gun fire could blast them into confusion and shreds. Bai Dagui and his comrades' rifles were aimed at those enemies who attempted to jump down from the highway. Just then, a guy had just picked up his gun and jumped down onto the highway, when Bai Dagui's bullet hit him, sending him tumbling through the air in a free fall.

  Under such intense and fierce firepower, the only way for Xiang soldiers to save their lives was to lie on the ground and pretend to be dead. Any resistance would invite machine guns, rifles and hand grenades from the front and back as well as from above.

  Zhang Liangji, with his injured wrist, felt that his 47th Regiment was now being roasted in the fiery depths of hell, and he didn't know when it would end. It seemed like there was no chance to surrender, as the enemy only used light and heavy machine guns, submachine guns, and rifles to repeatedly slaughter them until not a single person was left standing. Zhang Liangji thought bitterly: This isn't war, it's simply massacre.

  This Red Army troop is different from other Red Army troops! Other Red Army troops would fire three shots and then sound the charge, so their own troops could still resist on the spot, maybe even repel the attack, at least some of them could escape. This troop seems to think bullets are free, except for shooting and throwing grenades, you can't hear the sound of charging at all.

  Zhang Liangji resolutely closed his eyes, no longer looking or thinking.

  It felt like an eternity had passed before Zhang Liangji heard the words "Surrender and we won't kill you, the Red Army treats its prisoners well" whispered in his ear, finally bringing an end to it all. As he opened his eyes, a Red Army soldier was pointing his gun at him, the bayonet on the rifle almost touching the tip of his nose.

  "Slowly standing up, Zhang Liangji patted the dirt off his body with his left hand and adjusted his military uniform. In a calm and composed tone, he said: 'I am Zhang Liangji, Major General and Commander of the 16th Division of the National Revolutionary Army. I want to see your superior officer. I want to tell him that this sneak attack is unacceptable!'"

  The new recruit camp commander, Lei Meng, felt that his new recruit camp had performed exceptionally well today. During the first wave of ambushes, although the soldiers didn't have guns, the regimental commander gave each soldier 6 hand grenades. The squad leader shouted "1, 2, 3" and they threw them together. Before they finished throwing, the enemy was already defeated.

  During the second wave of ambushes, the entire new recruit camp was well-equipped with weapons and ammunition. Considering that the soldiers' marksmanship was poor, Lei Meng discussed it with Old Chang and decided to implement concentrated grenade attacks followed by platoon-level gunfire. After two rounds of hand grenades and two rounds of platoon gunfire, they saw the enemy on the highway lying dead or wounded all over the place. After another round of hand grenades, they saw the regimental commander leading the 1st and 2nd battalions charging out of the forest, and the heavy machine guns stopped firing.

  Feeling that it was time for the new recruit camp to shine, Lei Meng waved his hand, and the soldiers charged forward, rushing towards the enemy first. Unexpectedly, these new soldiers were so brave, using hand grenades or gunfire to greet the enemy whenever they encountered resistance, and some even used bayonets directly.

  By the time the regimental commander led the 1st and 2nd battalions to charge up, Lei Meng's new recruit camp had already begun clearing the battlefield. He believed that after this real-life combat test, the regimental commander wouldn't let his new recruit camp be a new recruit camp anymore. Ha ha, he was originally the main force battalion commander of the 5th Division, and in the 18th Regiment, he should also become a combat battalion commander.

  (Note: The translation is quite literal, but some nuances may be lost due to cultural or linguistic differences.)

  Liu Yimin rushed onto the highway, and Lei Meng immediately went to meet him. "Crack" a salute: "Report to the captain, the new barracks are cleaning up the battlefield, please instruct!"

  Liu Yimin took a glance at the new company commander he wasn't very familiar with, returned the salute and said: "The new recruits fought well, have the soldiers hurry up and clear the battlefield, prepare to meet the third wave of ambush."

  "Yes, I will resolutely carry out the order."

  Liu Yimin smiled: "I'm telling you, Lei Meng, are you done yet? Remember, on the battlefield, it's not allowed to salute superiors in order to avoid unnecessary casualties. Pass this order down to the entire regiment."

  "Yes, saluting superiors is not allowed on the battlefield. I will definitely pass it down to the whole regiment."

  Liu Yimin was about to say "go execute the order" when he saw Lei Meng approaching with a smile. "Captain, my new recruit camp is now strong and powerful, shouldn't it be called the Fifth Camp?"

  Liu Yimin said: "When we were on our way here, didn't you say that it would take three months to build up your combat effectiveness?"

  "Isn't that what we didn't do during our new recruit training? I was the battalion commander of the main force in the Fifth Division, and all I did was charge into battle. When did I ever lead a life of taking care of new recruits like they were my own children?"

  Liu Yimin took another look at Lei Meng, feeling that the untamed battle intent and peasant-like cunning on his body were so similar to those of Li Yunlong, the hero in the TV series "The Sword", and said: "I understand, go execute the order."

  Lei Meng just laughed and ran away, and the artillery battalion commander Li Chang came again. It turned out that they had indeed captured all the equipment of the 28th Army's direct artillery regiment of the Xiang Army, with five-digit ammunition. Li Chang was here to ask for people, after all, his artillery battalion had enough cadres, but not enough soldiers, and earlier they had captured 12 mortars, most of the soldiers were busy. So many cannons couldn't be used without people.

  Liu Yimin impatiently said: "I don't have anyone, you figure it out yourself. If all else fails, just blow up the mountain cannon."

  Li Changyi was anxious: "Captain, didn't you say before the battle that if we captured an artillery battalion, I would be the battalion commander? You blew up the cannons, aren't you trying to prevent me from becoming the battalion commander? No way, you can't go back on your word."

  Liu Yimin was furious, pointing at Li Chang and saying: "You pig brain, you even studied in the Soviet Union, how can you be so stupid? Can't you pick out the warriors from among the captives?"

  "The commissar said that the captives need education and also asked for their opinions on whether they were willing to join the Red Army."

  "Can't you educate yourself? How can it work just by relying on the political commissar? Do you want to exhaust the political commissar to death?"

  Li Chang excitedly grabbed Liu Yimin's hand and said, "Yes, what if the political commissar is tired? How could I not have thought of that! My good battalion commander, you are too good. As long as you give the order, we will fight wherever you tell us to, the artillery regiment will not hesitate!"

  Liu Yimin kicked Li Chang's butt and shouted: "You bastard, stop being so annoying! The artillery battalion hasn't even been established yet. Get out!"

  The battlefield was quickly cleared, and the captured and wounded soldiers were transferred to Xiaoshui Village. The results of the battle were also basically counted: 16 enemy divisions, one division headquarters, one brigade headquarters, two regiments were annihilated, 3,512 enemy personnel were killed, 320 were injured, and 320 enemy personnel including Division Commander Zhang Liangji were captured. The reason why there were more kills than captures was mainly because the firepower of the 18th Regiment had increased exponentially after the first battle. Two radio stations were seized, a mountain artillery battalion with 12 mountain guns and 5 bases of shells, 12 60mm mortars and 5 bases of mortar shells, 12 heavy machine guns, 72 light machine guns, 250 submachine guns, 188 pistols, over 2,200 rifles, more than 20,000 hand grenades, and countless bullets.

  Looking at so many weapons and ammunition, Liu Yimin was a bit worried. So many weapons need people to use them, can't just blow them up or bury them. If the main force of the Red Army were here, it would be great. It seems that the troops still need to expand.