Chapter 3: The Wind Rises in Guangdong Section 37: Battle of Dongguan (Three)

  On February 1st, the Guangdong Army's Zhang Wo Dong Regiment entered Dongguan. In the afternoon, Chiang Kai-shek and Galen led the main force to garrison in Dongguan.

  Just as the Dongguan garrison was defeated at Liǎobù, Zhuang Jihua led the 7th Company on their way to Zhangmu Head. The 2nd Battalion turned out to be more troublesome than the 1st Battalion, and what's even more unthinkable is that the 7th Company was still the vanguard. This time, the whole battalion knew that Wang Boling was framing Zhuang Jihua. Because if a normal commander were in charge, the whole battalion would have turned around, and the 7th Company should have been at the very back. When making such arrangements, Chief of Staff Guo Dahong raised objections, but Wang Boling's reason was that the 7th Company was the best-trained company in the entire battalion, this mission was urgent, and they had to put their best troops on the front line.

  But the third battalion commander Wang Jun was extremely angry, this is to take military affairs to vent private grievances, he found party representative Zhang Jingyu, indicating that such an arrangement completely does not conform to the common sense of cooperation in war, Zhang Jingyu was originally the principal's translator, did not understand military affairs, and often listened to Chiang Kai-shek mention Zhuang Jihua, so instead supported Wang Boling, and even advised Wang Jun not to just look at the third battalion, but to look at the whole regiment, which made Wang Jun so angry that he almost vomited blood; thus Wang Jun privately made up his mind to report Wang Boling's wrongdoing. However, this action also allowed the upper and lower levels of the second regiment to witness the strength of the seventh company, continuous forced marches, pulling the other troops of the second regiment to the point of exhaustion, and gradually increasing the distance with the seventh company.

  The actions of the Eastern Expeditionary Army did not escape the attention of Chen Jiongming in Swatow. When the Guangdong Army launched an attack on Shilong, Chen Jiongming's judgment was initially incorrect, believing that the goal of the Eastern Expeditionary Army was to capture Shilong and then continue westward through Boluo to attack Huizhou, before turning towards Haifeng and Lufeng. However, when the Huangpu troops appeared on the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway, he realized his mistake and made adjustments, ordering Meng Xiangxiang's unit, which was still in Baoan, to immediately move north to support Yuan Huanjiu, while also ordering Tan Shui's garrison commander, Lian Yanxiong, to dispatch some troops to provide support.

  Lian Yanxiong held Chen Jiongming's telegram, his brow furrowed. He was also one of the old men in Chen's army who had been following Chen Jiongming since the Xinhai Revolution. Over the years, he had followed Chen from Guangdong to Zhangzhou, then from Zhangzhou back to Guangzhou, and finally retreated from Guangzhou to Dongjiang. He had participated in almost every battle and rose from a small soldier to a division commander.

  The prolonged war made him feel the danger hidden in the development of the situation after the Eastern Expedition Army started its attack. The southern line of Chen Jun's army was insufficient, and the enemy launched an attack from here, which happened to hit the weakness of Chen Jun's army. Huizhou is a supporting point on the front line of Dongjiang, and Danshui is the south gate of Huizhou. If Danshui falls, Huizhou will be in danger.

  He handed the telegram to his chief of staff, Wan Baoshu, who shook his head after reading it and said: "Commander, we only have two regiments with a total strength of 2,000 men. We simply do not have the capability to send troops out. I think we should withdraw."

  "I knew it all along, but General Jing directly sent the telegram to me, without even passing it through General Ye, which shows General Jing's determination."

  "But currently, our military strength is difficult to achieve both defending the freshwater and supporting Dongguan." Luan Baoshu was of course aware of Ye Ju's feelings towards Chen Jiongming. At that time, Ye Ju opposed the siege of the Presidential Palace, but since Ye Ju had made up his mind, he also obeyed.

  Lian Yanfen was in a dilemma, and after hesitating, he called the two regimental commanders to hear their opinions. Zhang Liguo and Jiang Ye were both promoted by him, just like Chen Jiongming had promoted him back then. Zhang Liguo was brave in battle but had a quick temper, and after reading the telegram, he shouted: "Commander, how can this be? With so few men, we can't even take Dantang, let alone Dongguan."

  Yan didn't say a word, just staring at Jiang Ye. Jiang Ye was always cautious and steady, and among the two team leaders, he valued his words highly. Jiang Ye said slowly: "If Ma Xiongtao were still here, I would have no problem going with Lige brother together. Now... Commander, forgive me for speaking bluntly, our 12th Division is an empty shell, we can't go to Dongguan."

  Ma Xiongtao's troops were not the direct forces of Yan Xishan, but were placed under his 12th Division. Recently they had been ordered to be transferred to Chen Yongguang.

  Lian Yan nodded, but said with difficulty: "What you said is right, but the commander personally sent a telegram, I can't afford to open this mouth."

  "Don't say a word," Jiang Ye had already thought of a plan: "We are now under General Ye's command, and if we want to send troops out, we must report it to General Ye. Let's report to General Ye and let him deal with General Jing." Lian Yanxiong nodded in agreement, this Jiang Ye always came up with good ideas.

  After receiving Ye Ju's telegram in Huizhou, Chen Jiongming also felt that something was wrong and sent a detailed explanation of Ye Xiu's military situation to Chen Jiongming, suggesting that he withdraw his troops and not only did not send reinforcements but also withdrew Meng Xianzhang and Yuan Xiajiu's troops back to Danshui. After sending the telegram, Ye Ju waited outside the telegraph room for a long time before Chen Jiongming replied with a long telegram. In this telegram, Chen Jiongming explained his deployment and why he wanted to reinforce Dongguan. It was only then that Ye Ju fully understood Chen Jiongming's overall strategy.

  Chen Jiongming informed him in a telegram that he had sent people to contact Fang Benren of Jiangxi, Zhao Hengti of Hunan and Deng Benyin of Guangdong. Among them, Fang Benren has agreed to send troops, while Zhao Hengti and Deng Benyin are hesitating, but their attitude has loosened up. Therefore, we must now stabilize the front line, and it would be best if we could win a victory to boost their confidence and prompt them to send troops as soon as possible. Although the loss of Dongguan is small, its impact is significant, so it must be rescued. I also know that the military strength of Yan Xishan's unit is insufficient, but I have already ordered troops to be dispatched from Hong Zhaopeng's unit to support Danshui, so Yan Xishan can feel at ease and send troops.

  Ye Ju saw this and no longer insisted, but only informed Chen Jiongming's telegram about the reinforcements in Danshui to Lian Yunxiong, who had no choice but to send Zhang Liguo's brigade to reinforce Dongguan.

  But Yuan Huaizhong gave up Dongguan and retreated to Hengli when Zhang Liguo was still on the road. Zhang Mingda's division and Xu Ji's brigade did not relax their attack, and Yuan Huaizhong's troops were too few to stop them, so they had to retreat again to Changping. In Changping, he received reinforcements from Meng Xianzhang's unit, but Meng Xianzhang's unit only had more than a thousand people.

  Yuan Huijiu and Meng Xianxiang retreated to the Changpingguan Pass after consultation, planning to rely on the mouth of the pass to block the Guangdong army's offensive. The Guangdong army's Zhang Mingda unit captured Hengli. On the same day, the General Headquarters ordered the iron-clad car team to participate in the Guangzhou-Kowloon battle; on the same day, Zhang Liguang's team arrived at Dalishui from Danshui, also on the same day, the Second Instructional Team rushed to Zhangmu Head, with Zhuang Jihua's company leading the way.

  Changping relies on the cold creek to stand against the mountain, and it is easy to defend but difficult to attack. However, Yuan Xiajiu's troops who retreated from Dongguan were in low spirits, which also affected Meng Xianyang's troops.

  The first to arrive at Changping was the First Division, which had annihilated Chen's 1st Regiment after it withdrew from Dongguan. Although this battle marked the completion of their first task, it also delayed them.

  Then Zhang Mingda and Xu Jizhe also rushed to the scene; after the three armies merged, morale was boosted, He Yingqin suggested taking advantage of the high morale to launch an immediate attack, Zhang Mingda and Xu Jizhe had no reason to disagree, just as they were preparing for the attack, the armored car team from Guangzhou also arrived.

  The Iron Armor Corps is a new unit, consisting of five sections of armored vehicles, equipped with several light and heavy machine guns. The last section has a rotating turret installed on it. There are over 100 personnel, all soldiers are equipped with Japanese Type 38 rifles.

  What can be said about this? The three troops opened their formation, and from the left, middle, and right, they directly attacked Changping. The armored car team also fired cannons to attack the position of Changping's army; Yuan Xiajiu and Meng Xianxiang barely resisted for a while before fleeing to Zhangmu Head, and the First Instructional Regiment and Zhang Mingda's division pursued closely behind.

  Zhuang Jihua felt himself about to collapse, his hat was already crooked, his tie was loose, and he was increasingly resentful of the pair of leather boots on his feet, which were too heavy and should be replaced with a pair of casual shoes.

  It's been almost four hours since we set out this morning, and this isn't a stroll, but rather a pace close to a forced march; even the robust Wu Ziniu's feet seem to be filled with lead, yet Zhuang Jihua knew that they couldn't stop now and could only persevere - if they stopped, it wouldn't be just a matter of minutes before they collapsed.

  Cao Yuan carried two guns on his back, walking forward with a heavy pace, occasionally shouting to the soldiers to boost their morale, but his voice was already hoarse. The number of straggling soldiers gradually increased, and the third company commander Du Yiming was responsible for gathering them in the rear.

  Zhuang Jihua looked at the gradually lengthening queue, his heart anxious, and shouted loudly: "Brothers, add some strength, Zhangmu head is almost here." He thought his voice was very loud, but in fact his current voice was like the broken sound of a deflated ball bouncing.

  "Let's... take a break... for a while." Song Xilian said to Zhuang Jihua with a pale face. Today's marching order is still one row in front and three rows behind.

  "Fart, now... drink... drink... stop... drink... is equal to... drink... all previous efforts wasted." Zhuang Jihua panted heavily and said sternly: "Go. Hold on."

  Song Xilian didn't say anything else, he just looked at the soldiers in the team with a heartache. These soldiers had dull eyes and followed him forward numbly.

  Zhuang Jihua's regiment rushed to Zhangmutou, while the follow-up regiments were still more than 10 miles away. Yuan Huanjiu and Meng Xianxiang were two miles away from Zhangmutou, and Wang Liguo's brigade was only seven miles away from Zhangmutou in the southeast.

  I'm really sorry for the late update recently, but I still humbly ask for votes, clicks and recommendations as the gap is too big.