Chapter 64: The Bloody Battle of Yangping Town (Part 3)

  Yue saw the troops being beaten like this, with a burning rage, staring at the faces of several division commanders with wolf-like eyes, as if to choose someone to devour.

  Several senior officers were so frightened that they dared not utter a word, fearing that if they said something wrong, the commander would execute them on the spot for violating battlefield discipline.

  Wu Qiwu thought about it over and over, always feeling that someone needed to be a scapegoat. Such a big defeat, the commander wouldn't let it go, and reporting back to De Zuo wouldn't work either. Thinking of De Zuo's eyes, Wu Qiwu felt a chill run down his spine, and soon, he felt the coolness seep into his heart and spleen, slowly permeating into his bones and marrow, until every nerve ending was affected.

  "Wu Qiongwei spoke up: 'Commander, it's all my fault, no matter what. The troops have suffered such heavy losses, someone has to take responsibility. I'm willing to die for my mistakes. Please, Commander, take me to the Chairman's headquarters, I want to apologize in person and ask him to execute me.' After finishing speaking, he choked back a sob."

  Ou Zhen's heart had been racing with fear since he escaped from the battlefield, afraid that Wu Qiwang would be held accountable for his desertion and possibly even executed. Now seeing Wu Qiwang take full responsibility, Ou Zhen felt a sense of relief. However, he was still worried that if Xue Yue really wanted to make Wu Qiwang a scapegoat and send him to Nanjing to face punishment, Wu Qiwang might reveal the truth about his own desertion, which would be disastrous. It's not possible for everyone to push the blame onto Wu Qiwang alone, as that would lead to more trouble later on. After thinking it through, Ou Zhen spoke up: "Reporting to the Commander, although our army suffered a defeat in this battle, Deputy Commander Wu made swift decisions and ordered the main force to retreat quickly, avoiding being surrounded by the Red Bandits. This achievement cannot be ignored, please, Commander, take note."

  Several senior generals heard Ou Zhen say this, and naturally knew that they couldn't take advantage of the situation at this time. After all, Wu Qizong was Xue Yue's right-hand man and a prominent general in the Guangdong faction within the Central Army. They couldn't let him be punished arbitrarily. If Wu Qizong were to be punished, wouldn't it be their turn next? So, several generals immediately spoke up.

  "Report to the commander, we plan to occupy Yangping Town and then divide our troops to encircle Qingxi Town from behind. Unexpectedly, the main force of the Red Bandits had already arrived at Yangping Town in advance and set up an ambush. They set up mountain guns, howitzers, and heavy machine guns on the opposite bank of the river, putting our army under fire coverage. If it weren't for Commander Wu's quick decision to order a retreat, we wouldn't be seeing each other now. Thinking about it now is really frightening, how did the Red Bandits calculate so accurately?"

  Hui Ji said: "Report to the commander, our army's casualties mainly come from enemy firepower. I judge that after the Red Bandits annihilated three divisions of the Xiang Army, their firepower was strengthened. It is a pity that He Jian and Liu Jianxu, these two bastards, did not report the true situation to our army, causing us to fall into an ambush. We should report to the chairman and punish He Jian and Liu Jianxu for their crime of aiding the enemy."

  Xie Fu continued: "The air force is not good either, the commander ordered them to bomb the red bandits, these guys flew a circle and said they didn't see any red bandits, turned around and went back. My own artillery was still on the main peak, the range was too far, couldn't destroy the enemy's artillery."

  The pursuing enemy had a high level of individual combat skills, slippery like a loach, hiding far away and exchanging fire with the Red Army, the soldiers fired several shots but couldn't hit one. I really miss Li Chang's mountain cannon!

  Li Qing, who was observing the battle from the top of the mountain, felt that the fight might become a stalemate, so he left the new recruits to guard the main peak and brought the guards and engineers down.

  After finding Hong Yuan and Zhao Shan, the three men discussed and decided that the Guard Battalion and the Engineer Battalion would persist in a head-on blockade, while the 4th and 5th Battalions would encircle and attack the enemy from both sides, determined to defeat them.

  Hong Yuan and Zhao Shan led the 4th and 5th regiments to move stealthily to both wings, while Li Qing ordered the Guard Regiment and Engineer Regiment not to shoot for the time being, but to wait until the enemy approached before striking.

  Pan Zuxin saw that the Red Army's gunfire had stopped, thinking that the main force of the Red Army had retreated, and he was a bit complacent. He shouted loudly: "Brothers, the red bandits can't beat us, they want to run away, chase after them, bite them to death, avenge our brothers in the vanguard regiment, catch one and reward 5 big oceans, chase!"

  Li Qing saw that the enemy was pursuing fiercely, so he concentrated his troops, concentrated the light machine guns and submachine guns, ordered the soldiers to unscrew the hand grenades, and when the enemy approached, they only attacked one point, striving to disperse the enemy's offensive.

  Wan Yao Huang did not see the vanguard regiment return, but heard the sound of gunfire from the main peak getting more and more intense. At first, the sound of gunfire was moving towards him, which must have been the Red Bandits chasing after the vanguard regiment. Then, the sound of gunfire moved towards the main peak, which must have been Pan Zuxin counterattacking the Red Bandits. The cavalry messenger who came to report confirmed this.

  It is said that Pan Zonglin saw that there were not many Red Bandits, and the vanguard had suffered heavy casualties. The two regiments caught up with them.

  Wan Yaohuang was not Pan Zuxin, he would not be easily swayed by impulsive decisions. He repeatedly urged the radio station and Xue Yue, Zhou Hunyuan to contact him, report on the progress of the battle, and ask about the outcome of the Yangping Town battle. Finally, the radio station made contact, Xue Yue's order was simple and clear: withdraw back to Xin Dian town and wait for orders.

  As soon as Wan Yaohuang saw Xue Yue's order, he knew that the Central Army had lost the battle in Yangping Town and estimated that they had lost badly. So, it was likely that the main force of the Red Bandits would join this battle next, and his own 1st Division might be in danger. On the one hand, he urgently ordered a cavalry communications officer to go and order Pan Zuxin to retreat, while on the other hand, he personally led the rear guard regiment to respond. Thinking that there was still chaos, he strictly ordered Xia Dingxin to lead two regiments to hold their ground and be ready to respond at any time.

  Under the instigation of Pan Zuxin, two regiments of the 13th Division with several thousand people densely attacked the mountain. The remnants of the 73rd Regiment, also known as the vanguard regiment, led by Liu Rui, charged forward at the forefront on horseback.

  Liu Rui's eyes were red, the 73rd Regiment had always been the vanguard of the 13th in previous battles. When have they ever suffered such a great loss?! Their own troops were finished, their future was gone, what's the point of living on?! They'd fight to the death with the Red Bandits, killing one would be breaking even, killing two would be making a profit. And so, Liu Rui threw off his jacket, holding a submachine gun, leading his remaining troops to charge forward.

  Li Qing wanted exactly this effect, not afraid of your madness, just afraid you're not mad enough. Closer, closer, a little closer. Look at Liu Rui and his men already within 30 meters, Li Qing shouted "attack", Liu Rui was beaten into a beehive. Dense bullets hit the vanguard regiment's remnants who were charging forward, crushing the 13th division troops who were attacking from behind, suddenly stifling them.

  Pan Zuxin, who was in the back, saw that the Red Army's firepower was very dense and realized he had been deceived. The Reds were luring him to attack them head-on with their firepower. However, judging from the sound of gunfire, there were less than a thousand Reds, taking them down would not be a problem.

  Just as he was about to urge the troops to attack again, a cavalry messenger from Wan Yaohuang's unit arrived, ordering him to retreat and saying that the division commander would personally lead the rear guard regiment to provide cover.

  Pan Zuxin was also very alert, just now he saw that the Red Bandit's forces were not many, and also saw that the vanguard team suffered heavy casualties, with anger surging up, he led the troops to pursue. Wan Yaohuang's order made him sober immediately.

  Good grief, what if this is a trap! What if the Reds are just luring us in? The orders from HQ were to provide cover for the vanguard regiment's retreat, not to pursue. If something unexpected happens, the penalty for disobeying orders on the battlefield isn't something to be taken lightly. Thinking of this, Pan Zuxin hastily ordered his troops to stop pursuing, the 7th Regiment retreated quickly, while the 74th Regiment provided cover as they withdrew.

  His orders were swift, but they couldn't compare to the speed of the soldiers from the Fourth and Fifth Guards Regiments. The Fourth Regiment was on the left, the Fifth Regiment was on the right, and they came up from both sides in a pincer movement.

  Pan Zuxin took one look and said, "The Red Bandits want to surround us! How dare they, we are the ones who have come out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, what do we fear from you? With a loud shout, he led the 74th Regiment in a charge, wielding a submachine gun, and rushed towards the Red Army's encircling troops.

  Li Qing saw that the enemy was not retreating but advancing, so he ordered the bugle to sound the charge and led the Guard Battalion and Engineer Battalion in a fierce attack against the enemy.

  The enemy's 75th Regiment, which had retreated earlier, saw that the division commander and the 74th Regiment were surrounded, immediately turned around to attack and rescue the division commander and the 74th Regiment.

  Gunfire raged on the hillside, with the besieged and the breakout forces clashing in a chaotic melee. The Red Army and ** were indistinguishable from each other, as if they had merged into one entity. You killed one of mine, I'll kill one of yours, it was a bloody mess.

  Guard Captain Zhang Haitao rose to the occasion, drew out the big knife on his back, and shouted: "The guard battalion is mine, beat down the enemy!" He then charged into the enemy formation, with a rifle in one hand and a large knife in the other. From a distance, he fired his gun; up close, he hacked with his knife. Those who blocked him were cut down.

  At this time, Wan Yaohuang led the rear guard regiment to arrive, quickly set up a heavy machine gun to shoot at the Red Army, and the surrounded Red Army opened a gap. Pan Zuxin led the 74th Regiment to finally break out of the encirclement and merged with the 75th Regiment and Wan Yaohuang's rear guard regiment.

  Pan Zuxin shouted "Shifu", but Wan Yaohuang didn't even look at him and only said one word: "Withdraw!"

  As soon as the words fell, a loud "boom" was heard, and shells exploded around them. Wan Yaohuang took a look and saw that the Red Bandits' reinforcements had arrived, and this shell was just a test shot, followed by formal bombardment. He couldn't care about anything else anymore, turned around hastily and ran away. The troops followed him almost all the way, running wildly until they reached Xia Dingxin's reception point, where they finally caught their breath. Then he ordered the rear guard regiment to become the vanguard regiment, with Xia Dingxin as the rearguard, and the entire division rushed back to Xindian in an emergency march.

  Liu Yimin stood on the hillside, his face stern and cold.

  Li Qing, Hong Yuan and Zhao Shan were so frightened that they didn't dare utter a word.

  Just now, in that brief melee, the 4th, 5th, Guards and Engineer Regiments suffered over 1,200 casualties, with 520 killed. This is the largest number of casualties since Liu Yimin took command. The battles at Xiaoshui, Xiguan, and Qingxitown were so fruitful, with negligible casualties. But this battle, which only eliminated a vanguard regiment and severely damaged another, resulted in such heavy losses, no wonder Liu Yimin was enraged.

  Adding up the casualties of the three regiments and the 90th Division during the battle, the Guards Division lost almost an entire main force regiment this time. What a bloody price!

  The sky has darkened, the warriors have finished cleaning up the battlefield, the bodies of the martyrs have been carried onto stretchers, and the troops are lined up waiting for orders.

  The night wind picked up, and the temperature on the mountain grew colder, but Liu Yimin's voice was even colder: "Remember this 13th Division, I want to capture their division commander Wan Yaohuang and make him kneel down and pay his respects to the martyrs!"

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