Chapter 35: The Battle of Xikou (4)

  When the enemy started shelling, Li Qing led the 4th and 5th battalions and a heavy machine gun company to finally join forces with Hu Lao Hu's cavalry company. As they listened to the sound of the enemy's mortars and heavy machine guns, neither of them had time for pleasantries. Hu Lao Hu directly briefed Li Qing on the enemy situation and the situation on this hill. Li Qing asked about the previous blocking situation, and Hu Lao Hu said that the enemy cavalry company had basically lost its combat effectiveness, but the distance was too close, and his own cavalry company had also sacrificed 5 soldiers. Li Qing ordered the cavalry company to withdraw from the position, taking charge of monitoring the enemy situation in the direction of the creek mouth, while preparing for a cavalry charge. Hu Lao Hu responded with a nod, leading his soldiers to carry the bodies of the martyrs and withdraw.

  Li Qing and the four battalion commanders, Hong Chaoyuan and Zhao Shan, climbed to the top of the mountain and took a look. The enemy's mortars and heavy machine guns had turned the slope in front of them into a cloud of dust, probably due to the concentrated use of heavy firepower by Enemy Commander Zhong Guiren's troops. At the foot of the slope, an enemy battalion had already begun its attack upwards. It seemed they were trying to take down the mountain head-on. Looking again at the mountain head on the right flank, the front was enemy infantry on the move, while the rear was Liu Yimin leading the main force of the regiment in motion. Clearly, the enemy was still some distance from the mountain head and moving slowly, seemingly unaware of the danger coming from the mountain side, whereas the main force of the 18th Regiment was racing against time to seize the mountain head.

  Li Qingming understood that the team leader was not in danger and might be able to catch the enemy off guard. He immediately ordered the four mortars of the fire support company under his command to quickly establish a position, aim at the enemy mortar position, and open fire, striving to destroy the enemy artillery position. He ordered the heavy machine gun company to coordinate with all the heavy machine guns on the commanding heights of the 4th and 5th regiments to organize a reverse slope defense, and when the enemy's attacking troops occupied the mountain ridge, they would launch a surprise attack, catching the enemy off guard and annihilating the first wave of enemy troops on the mountain. When the second and third waves of enemy troops turned around and fled, the mortars and heavy machine guns provided firepower support, and all the light machine guns and submachine guns of the two regiments concentrated their fire to launch a powerful counterattack against the enemy, pursuing the fleeing enemy up to the highway and thoroughly defeating the enemy vanguard regiment.

  Enemy regiment commander Zhong Guangren did not expect the Red Army's counterattack would start in this way.

  He hid behind a rock at the side of the road, holding up binoculars to observe the effect of the artillery fire on the mountain slope in front and the progress of the attacking troops. The artillery fire was quite effective, the mortar company belonging to the brigade and two heavy machine gun companies were powerful enough, the mountain slope in front was pockmarked with holes, not to mention that there were only a few dozen Red Army soldiers just now, even if there were hundreds, they would have been almost wiped out.

  The vanguard launched an attack, although it was a uphill assault, the speed of the attack was still very fast, and the rhythm of the attack and the distance between troops were well controlled. Basically, they charged up along the paths cleared by the mortar and machine gun fire. What's strange is that there wasn't any movement on the mountain head in front, it seemed as if the Red Army had already retreated from their defensive position earlier. Was I really being too suspicious?

  Just as Zhong Guangren was about to order the mortars and heavy machine guns to stop firing, he heard a completely unexpected and unwelcome sound: a mortar shell flew in from the front mountain head and landed near the 62nd Division's mortar position. Zhong Guangren shuddered - these Red Army troops actually had mortars.

  The enemy artillery had not yet reacted, and some were still wondering how their shells could land so miraculously near their own positions. Before they could react, the corrected salvo of four mortar shells accurately hit the enemy mortar position, and the enemy artillerymen finally realized that it was the enemy's artillery destroying their own artillery position. The site immediately fell into chaos, with people rushing to relocate the position.

  It was too late, the four rounds of mortar shells exploded continuously on the enemy's mortar position, causing a chain reaction of explosions on the site, blowing up all the mortars and killing the gunners.

  The sound of the shell explosion awakened Zhong Guangren, this is not an ordinary ambush, it's a encounter with the Red Army elite. From the beginning, the way they destroyed their own artillery position shows that the Red Army wants to completely annihilate his regiment here, and next will probably be attacking their heavy machine gun positions.

  Things are really developing along Zhong Guangren's thinking. Seeing that the enemy artillery position has been destroyed, the four mortars on the opposite mountain immediately turned to the enemy heavy machine gun position that was providing covering fire, and the enemy heavy machine gun position was blown to pieces, and the covering fire naturally stopped.

  Zhong Guangren was about to order the bugler to sound the retreat, but through his binoculars he saw a scene that gave him hope: on the mountain in front of them, the first wave of the enemy vanguard had almost reached the top, with soldiers holding their guns and shouting as they approached the high ground. However, there were no Red Army infantrymen counterattacking on the mountain. Zhong Guangren thought that if he could occupy the high ground, he would have the initiative and be able to defend his position, even against elite Red Army troops.

  As the enemy vanguard regiment's first wave of attacking troops had already rushed up to the mountain top and reached the ridge, Zhong Guangren's excited hands were sweating profusely, his heart shouting: "Quickly, quickly attack the enemy mortar position, hurry!"

  On the mountain top, the sound of light and heavy machine guns suddenly burst out. In Zhong Guangren's telescope, the Xiang Army soldiers were like being pushed by the surging Qiantang tide, and they fell back in an instant. The tide overflowed the weak dike piled up with broken limbs and flesh, and continued to rush towards the next dike.

  It's all over, the first wave of attack has been completely annihilated, and those were my carefully trained elite troops from Xiangzhong! Damn those Red Bandits, they're so cunning, hiding behind the mountain to launch a surprise attack! This is simply despicable and murderous!

  Zhang Guangren's last shred of luck was thoroughly crushed. Listening to the gunfire, there were at least 10 heavy machine guns and 30 light machine guns firing on the mountain top. Such dense firepower on a small hill was something that even his own 62nd Division couldn't match, let alone ordinary Red Army troops. This Red Army unit must be an elite force within the main force, the crème de la crème of the Red Army. Could it be that the Red Army's main force fleeing to Guizhou was a ruse? Was it possible that the entire main force of the Red Army was hiding here waiting for him to take the bait?

  Zhong Guangren did not hesitate, and immediately issued several orders: ordering the bugler to sound the retreat, notifying all attacking troops to turn around and withdraw; ordering the remaining heavy machine guns to provide covering fire towards the mountain top, covering the withdrawal of the troops; ordering the vanguard regimental commander to organize troops to block the Red Army's pursuit at all costs, while arranging for a retreat; ordering the division guard battalion to immediately protect the division headquarters, brigade headquarters, and rapidly withdraw along the highway; ordering the division rear guard battalion to immediately occupy key points along the highway, establish positions, and cover the withdrawal of the troops.

  Withdraw, did you withdraw?

  When the retreat order was heard, the troops who were assigned to the second wave of attack on the front mountain had already started running with their buttocks facing backwards. They were only 100 meters away from the first wave of attacking troops, and the outcome of the first wave of attack was clear. With such strong firepower, even a fool would understand that charging forward is not compatible with one's own life. The soldiers of the 62nd division were not fools, but old soldiers who had been fighting against the Red Army for a long time, and they knew best when to charge and when to run. Seeing the Red Army's firepower summoning their brothers in the first wave of attack to King Yama, it would soon be their turn to accompany those dead brothers, the officers and soldiers were highly consistent in their thoughts and actions, and as soon as one soldier shouted "turn around and run", they all turned around and started a 100-meter dash towards the highway.

  It was like a landslide from the top of the mountain, and no one could control it. Even the third wave of attacking troops was affected, and the Xiang Army's attack formation completely collapsed.

  As soon as the enemy retreated, the heavy machine guns of the Red Army on the mountain top immediately moved forward to a new position, taking advantage of the favorable terrain, and launched a surprise attack on the enemy from a commanding height. Li Qing led the 4th and 5th regiments down the mountain like fierce tigers, pouncing on the fleeing enemy.

  Liu Yimin led the main force to climb up to the top of the mountain on the east side of the highway, when the attacking troops of Xiang Army were still about 150 meters away from the top. Liu Yimin took out his binoculars and looked around, at the foot of the mountain was a highway that turned a big bend along the mountain slope, the south end of the bend was a small hill, not high, which should be the original blocking position chosen by Hu Lao Tiger's cavalry company, because it could cut off the highway; The north end of the bend had a small village built next to the mountain slope. On the west side of the highway, opposite Liu Yimin's location, was flat farmland, with a river at the edge of the field, which should be the main tributary of the Tongdao River, Yangxu River. Looking again at the formation of Zhong Guiren's troops from the 62nd Division of Xiang Army, he found that Zhong's mortars and heavy machine guns were setting up positions on the side of the highway, covering about a battalion of soldiers attacking towards the south end of the mountain, it seemed they would soon reach the top. Liu Yimin knew they would soon retreat, because when he climbed the mountain, he had already seen Li Qing leading the 4th and 5th battalions up there, but now they were not counterattacking, estimating that Li Qing was using the reverse slope defense tactics he taught to deal with Xiang Army. Looking again at the foot of the mountain where he was standing, about a battalion of soldiers from Zhong's troops were attacking towards the top. There were also some troops on the highway, estimated to be the direct units of the 62nd Division and Zhong's direct units, all making preparations for battle.

  Liu Yimin turned around and saw that the troops he had brought, including the first battalion, second battalion, engineer battalion, three heavy machine gun companies, and two mortar companies, were all in position. He was about to give the order to attack when he saw the mortar shells fired by Li Qing's group exploding on the enemy artillery positions of the Zhong Brigade. Liu Yimin thought to himself that this was bad, as Li Qing's actions would reveal to the enemy that they had encountered an elite Red Army unit. The enemy commander's first thought would definitely be to retreat.

  In the blink of an eye, Liu Yimin decided to launch a surprise attack on the enemy in front of him. He ordered Li Chang to command two artillery companies and one battalion, two battalions equipped with mortars, to immediately fire at the enemy in front and on the highway; all heavy machine guns opened fire, coordinating with the engineer battalion's frontal assault, beating down the enemy who was attacking; the sniper squad hid and approached the highway, choosing their own targets; the first battalion moved left, the second battalion moved right, forming a pincer attack downwards, rushing up to the highway, fiercely fighting and charging, splitting and surrounding, not giving the enemy time to regroup or establish a blocking position, striving to overwhelm the enemy in one fell swoop.

  As expected, Liu Yimin had just finished deploying his troops when the enemy's retreat signal sounded. The enemy army, which was advancing upwards, immediately turned around and retreated down the mountain. The enemy on the highway also began to regroup and retreat along the highway.

  Want to run? There is no door. The two mortar companies commanded by Li Chang, plus the four mortars attached to the first and second battalions, began firing, 28 mortars lined up on the mountain top, firing at the fleeing enemy army. The soldiers and officers of the Xiang 62nd Division were frightened out of their wits, when had they ever seen such a scene? It was always them who used mortars to talk to the Red Army, when did it become the Red Army using mortar groups to talk to them?

  The most deadly thing was the heavy machine gun that chased after them, bullets whizzing by like wind, directly hitting the backs of the Xiang Army soldiers. The Xiang Army soldiers could only curse their parents for not giving birth to two more legs, rolling and crawling towards the highway as they ran. It seemed like escaping there would make them safe.

  Liu Jianli and the third and sixth battalions' mission was to sneak around to the rear of the 62nd Division, cutting off the enemy's escape route. So they had to take a longer and more difficult road. The old Red Army soldiers were easier to deal with, gritting their teeth and following silently, but the new recruits who joined in the battle at Xiaoshui couldn't keep up the pace. The cadres were so anxious that their eyes were bulging out of their heads, having no choice but to drag them along and pull them to run. Even then, two new recruits accidentally fell off a cliff.

  After crossing mountains and ridges, they finally arrived at the highway. Hearing the sound of gunfire in front, Li Qing didn't let the soldiers rest and directly ordered the 1st Company of the 6th Battalion to reinforce with five heavy machine guns to control Beishan Village, the 2nd Company of the 6th Battalion to reinforce with two heavy machine guns to occupy the mountain head east of Beishan Village, and the 3rd Company of the 6th Battalion to reinforce with four heavy machine guns to establish a blocking line in the fields west of the highway. The four mortars attached to the two battalions immediately established positions, marked the firing range; the 3rd Battalion followed him to hide behind Beishan Village, tasked with charging at the enemy.

  By then, the fate of the 62nd Division Headquarters and the Zhong Guangren Brigade had completely fallen into the hands of the Red 18th Regiment.