Chapter 34: The Battle of Xikou (Three)

  Hú Lǎo Hǔ was getting a bit tired on the hilltop south of Běi Shān Village near Xī Kǒu, and couldn't help but take out his pocket watch to check the time. It was 5 o'clock, and the sun was about to set. The highway below was still empty. Had the battalion commander misjudged? Impossible. Although he had arrived at the 18th Regiment late, he had heard from the old soldiers that the commander's judgments had never been wrong before. The battle of Xiǎo Shuǐ had also proven that the commander could predict the enemy's moves like a god! Was he being too impatient? Wait, wait a bit longer, after all, the main force hadn't arrived yet.

  Just as Hu Lao Hu was getting anxious, the enemy's vanguard appeared, 9 people, carrying guns, walking on the highway while looking around. Possibly because they knew that the advance troops had already safely passed through here, the vanguard looked like they were not very vigilant and did not seriously conduct a search.

  After the vanguard passed by, the enemy's leading company also appeared on the highway, with about 100 people, in a loose three-column formation, walking slowly and steadily on the highway.

  Hu Lao Hu knew that this loose formation seemed scattered, but in reality it was the most difficult to deal with. As soon as the gun fired, the front row would be unlucky, but the back row could quickly lie down or occupy the terrain and organize a counterattack. If they fought now, with 50 people from the cavalry regiment, not only could they not quickly eliminate the enemy's vanguard company, but they would also immediately allow the enemy's main force to deploy its combat formation, becoming a hard bone to chew. However, as long as time allowed, Hu Lao Hu still had confidence in eliminating this vanguard company, after all, 40 of the 50 people in the cavalry regiment were old Red Army soldiers, and they had sufficient ammunition. It was not like before when each person only received 5 rounds of bullets. At that time, Hu Lao Hu had confidence in using these 50 people to defeat or eliminate an enemy company, let alone now?

  At the order of the squad leader, Hu Lao Hu sighed and watched as the enemy vanguard company swaggered by, unhurried and unafraid, right under his nose.

  When Luo Yan found the main force, Liu Yimin led the main force to rush towards Xikou. After hearing Luo Yan's report, Liu Yimin was overjoyed. The enemy's 62nd Division headquarters and Zhong Guangren's brigade had not yet arrived at Xikou, and the opportunity was right in front of them. If they could catch up and implement an ambush on the highway, it was possible to wipe out this group of enemies. At the very least, they could defeat the enemy and force them to retreat to Suining, making Wang Yuying's brigade, which had gone far from Jintang County, a lone army. Liu Yimin asked Luo Yan how much farther the highway was, and Luo Yan replied 3 kilometers. Liu Yimin immediately ordered Luo Yan to lead the way, Li Qing to command the 4th, 5th, and heavy machine gun battalions to lightly equip and run to block the enemy's main force; Liu Jianli to lead the 3rd, 6th, and heavy machine gun battalions to turn north and encircle the 62nd Division from behind; himself led the 1st, 2nd, engineer, and heavy machine gun battalions, two mortar companies to advance at full speed, occupy the mountain peaks on the east side of the highway. The communication team immediately sent someone to inform the political commissar to follow up quickly.

  At this time, in the forest beside the northern highway of Xing'an County, the soldiers of the 1st Platoon, 7th Company, 3rd Battalion, 18th Regiment had already loaded their guns.

  After receiving the telegram from the regiment commander, the 1st platoon of the 7th company of the 3rd battalion, which was guarding the county town, immediately took action. They tied up all the captured security guards and police officers who were taken prisoner when the 18th regiment occupied the county with ropes and brought them to the center of the county town. They told them that those who had not committed evil deeds and had people willing to claim them could return home with their claimants; those who had committed many evil deeds and had no one to claim them would have to stand there and repent. The Red Army soldiers supervised from a hidden location, and anyone who dared to escape privately would be shot dead on the spot. Soon, these people saw someone passing by and began calling out "uncle", "grandfather", "auntie", etc., and soon formed a crowd. As more and more people gathered, the scene became increasingly chaotic. The people of the county town all ran to the scene, but no one noticed that the 1st platoon of the 7th company of the 3rd battalion had already quietly set off with the supplies.

  Out of the county town, along the highway to Xingwu State all the way forward. Looking at it soon arrived in Xingwu State, the soldiers found a broken temple to hide their supplies, sent away the hired carts, and crossed over Xingwu State to hide in this forest, waiting to harass the enemy Wang Yuying's troops.

  At about 5 o'clock, the enemy vanguard appeared, also with 9 people, holding guns and cautiously searching forward.

  San Ying Qi Lian Yi Pai Zhang Feng Nian is an old warrior of the 18th Regiment, and he's an expert at guerrilla warfare. Upon receiving the regimental commander's telegram, the first thing that came to his mind was that the commander wanted him to resume his old profession in the Soviet area. The difference is that back then there were only five bullets in a gun, but now it's not the same. This battle will be won.

  Seeing the enemy vanguard appear, Qi Fengnian immediately instructed two deputy platoon leaders, each leading a squad, to follow the three-man combat method. Each small group was responsible for one enemy soldier. He led one squad to take charge of the first three, the second squad took charge of the middle three, and the third squad took charge of the last three, striving to kill with one shot.

  The enemy vanguard is getting closer and closer, looking at the distance from the ambush point, there are only 30 meters left. Qi Fengnian aims at the first vanguard, shouts "fire", and the bullet is fired.

  At such a close distance, three or four guns firing at one person is absolutely hopeless. The soldiers quickly collected the enemy's bullets and grenades, then swiftly hid in the woods and moved to the other side.

  When the vanguard of the enemy troops arrived, there were only 9 corpses of Xiang Army on the ground. The forest was deserted, and only a few dozen shiny shells were found.

  The enemy company commander did not know whether to continue advancing or to deploy a search, so he ordered the troops to remain vigilant on the spot and wait for orders from above.

  Not long after, the enemy company commander saw the silhouette of the main force. Just as he was considering whether to rush up to report or wait on the spot, a burst of gunfire broke out on the left flank of the main force's marching column, and he knew that another brother had gone to see King Yan like his 9 sharpshooters.

  The enemy company commander no longer hesitated and ordered the whole company to encircle to the left, determined to capture this group of abominable Red Army.

  When the enemy company commander rushed to where the gun sounded, the enemy regimental commander was already waiting for him with a shell casing he had picked up. As soon as he shouted "report", the regimental commander's big ears came over, accompanied by the Hunan accent of "ri na cao lao zi" (a type of curse), and the enemy company commander was knocked out on the spot.

  After the regiment commander had enough beating and scolding, the enemy battalion commander, with a swollen face, asked for instructions on what to do next. This time, the enemy regiment commander did not erupt again, but instead told him directly that this was an enemy vanguard unit, whose purpose was to harass our army, slow down our military advance, and continue to move forward.

  In this way, the three battalions and seven companies of the first battalion stuck to the enemy's Wang Yuying brigade like a piece of plaster, suddenly left, suddenly right, suddenly front, suddenly back, firing one shot and changing places, making the enemy so annoyed that their marching speed naturally slowed down.

  At this time, Hu Lao Tiger, who was ambushing near the highway by the creek, had reached a difficult crossroads.

  The enemy vanguard had just passed by, and soon the main force of the enemy appeared, with about 4,000 to 5,000 people. In front was a cavalry company, followed by three infantry columns, then a large number of mules and horses carrying supplies, and finally the rear guard troops, marching in neat rows along the highway.

  Hit or not hit?

  Fighting, the good thing is that it can slow down the enemy for a while and gain some time for the main force. The bad thing is that we don't know if it will affect the team leader's plan. The worst thing is that these dozens of people will be finished off; Not fighting, waiting for the enemy to arrive at the creek mouth, the opportunity for battle will be lost. Because if the enemy quickly passes through the creek mouth and continues southward, our main force has been exhausted from continuous battles and it's impossible to catch up with the enemy. If the enemy stays at the creek mouth, judging from the marching team's formation, they will surely strengthen their vigilance. Once the battle starts, it will evolve into a defensive battle, and then the enemy reinforcements may arrive, and the 18th regiment may end up in vain, or even be surrounded.

  As the enemy cavalry regiment approached, the soldiers began to take aim and the machine guns were cocked. Hu Lao Hu shook his head helplessly, although the battalion commander had repeatedly emphasized that commanders on the battlefield must be flexible and mobile, orders were not a joke, and the consequences of disobeying them were self-evident. Hu Lao Hu decided to look back again, if the main force arrived, he would resolutely fight, but if the main force did not arrive, he could only temporarily let go of the 62nd Division of Xiang. With a glance, he was overjoyed to see that on the mountain road leading from the slope below to Xiaoshui, the main force of the 18th Regiment was rushing towards here in a straight line. Hu Lao Hu no longer hesitated, picked up his own submachine gun, shouted "Fire!", and bullets poured out.

  The enemy cavalry regiment never thought that Hu Lao Hu would let the vanguard regiment go and attack them directly, without any defense. The target of the cavalry was large, and the reaction on horseback could not keep up with the infantry no matter what. Being hit by Hu Lao Hu like this, they naturally fell into chaos. At that time, 20 or 30 cavalrymen were killed, and their war horses galloped forward with their owners' corpses. The remaining cavalrymen either lay down and rushed forward desperately, jumped off their war horses to shoot, or turned around to retreat, and the situation became chaotic.

  Take advantage of your chaos and take your life. Hu Lao Hu directed the soldiers to start precise shooting, with only one machine gun chasing the enemy's shadow, while the infantry calmly aimed and fired. After a while, the enemy cavalry regiment suffered heavy casualties, and only the part of the cavalry that had retreated at the beginning was lucky enough to escape with their lives.

  Seeing that there were no more enemies who could fire on the front line, Hu Lao Hu ordered to stop firing and the troops retreated to the back of the mountain slope for cover.

  Later, when military strategists analyzed this battle, they praised Hu Lao Hu's order. Because this order led the enemy commander to believe that it was a small Red Army unit blocking them, and it might be another old-fashioned guerrilla tactic of hit-and-run, which caused numbness in thinking and lost the opportunity for the entire army to turn around and break through, directly leading to the destruction of the 62nd Division.

  Upon hearing the gunfire, enemy infantry quickly dropped to the ground, and light and heavy machine guns also began searching for positions to occupy. The mortar company belonging to the regiment in the middle of the troops also started unloading cannons from mules to assemble them. The enemy battalion commander responsible for the vanguard was about to order his troops to swiftly seize the mountain top on one side of the highway. But the gunfire suddenly stopped. The enemy battalion commander raised his binoculars suspiciously, and there were no fortifications on the slope in front, nor could anyone be seen in the quiet forest. Looking up at the mountain slope above the highway again, it didn't seem like they had built any positions either, nor was anyone visible. Could it really be that a small bandit force of Reds attacked and then ran away? Or were the Red bandits stalling for time, waiting for their main force to arrive? Thinking about it some more, no way, Wang Yuying's regiment passed through here at noon without discovering any enemy situation. Never mind, prepare to attack.

  At this time, the enemy brigade commander Zhong Guangren came to the vanguard regiment with his chief of staff. The enemy regimental commander immediately reported the situation of being ambushed. Zhong Guangren had dealt with the Red Army many times and was once defeated by the Red 17th Division in Huangsha Village, Yifeng County, Jiangxi Province. After listening to the report of the enemy regimental commander, he ordered without hesitation that the mortar company be called up to provide firepower cover for the mountain slope where the Red Army was located with mortars and heavy machine guns; The vanguard regiment organized its forces to open a passage and protect the direct units of the brigade and division from passing through. He also ordered another regiment to immediately occupy the mountain head by the highway, attack along the mountain range, and cover the vanguard regiment's attack.

  The enemy vanguard regiment commander immediately made an offensive deployment, concentrating the entire regiment into three waves of attack, with a battalion-sized force in each wave, and no more than 100 meters between each wave, striving to take the mountain head in one fell swoop.

  The enemy vanguard company quickly turned around after hearing the gunfire, preparing to coordinate with the main force to attack the Red Army. At the foot of the mountain, they collided with the 4th and 5th battalions led by Li Qing. The enemy vanguard company was like a wave that only stirred up a few ripples in the sea of people of the Red 18th Regiment, and was quickly swallowed up clean.

  Upon hearing the gunfire coming from behind the mountain, the enemy vanguard regiment commander quickly realized that it was the lead company coordinating with the main force to attack from both sides. One after another, orders were given for the mortar company and heavy machine guns to hurry up and take action.

  The enemy mortar company soon found a position, and after a test shot, the bombardment began. The two battalions of heavy machine guns also started covering fire. Under the leadership of officers, soldiers from the vanguard regiment launched an attack on the mountain where Hu Lao Hu was located. The Battle of Xigou officially kicked off.