Chapter 3: The Wind Rises in Guangdong Section 42: Battle of Dongguan (8)

  The sound of gunfire from the north made Zhang Liguo stop in his tracks, he stopped about a kilometer away from Zhangmu, grabbed his binoculars and observed Zhangmu, the town seemed calm, but years of military experience made him feel that this calmness was an abnormal calmness, he carefully observed for a while, a cold smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, he had already discovered loopholes in several places, there must be an ambush in the town. He looked around to both sides again, nothing was found on the hillside, so he sent out a platoon to conduct a probing attack.

  The platoon was quickly repelled, the platoon leader was killed, and one-third of the soldiers were casualties, which made him somewhat alert. He felt that the enemy in front of him was not easy to deal with. After re-preparation, he dispatched another company, this time the troops were more dispersed, and at 200 meters, gunfire rang out from the opposite side. The gunfire was not dense, but sparse, however, Zhang Liguo noticed that almost every shot had a soldier fall down. When they rushed to about 100 meters away, the enemy's machine gun fired, and their own machine gun was also set up, but it didn't fire many shots before the machine gunner was killed, and the deputy machine gunner who took over was also quickly killed.

  After the withdrawal, the regimental commander was seriously injured, and all the platoon leaders were killed. One-fourth of the soldiers were casualties, and only one machine gun was left on the battlefield. Zhang Liguo's scalp felt numb. In fact, he had already discovered that the enemy was not numerous but well-organized, and the soldiers were well-trained. To take this town, they would have to pay a considerable price.

  The gunfire to the north grew more intense, with bursts of hand grenade explosions coming from time to time. It seemed that Yuan Xiajiu and Meng Xianxiang were desperately trying to break through. He decided to launch another attack, calling over the company commander of the assault company to tell him that the enemy might have snipers targeting officers and machine gunners. The enemy's weakness lay in their insufficient troop strength, so he would use part of his force to draw the enemy's fire, while the rest would take advantage of the weak points in the enemy's firepower to break through.

  This attack started smoothly and quickly reached a distance of fifty meters, but here it was hit by the opponent's hand grenade, the attack stalled, and the opponent's firepower shifted quickly. As soon as the breakthrough attempt was discovered, it was immediately subjected to firepower blockade. However, Zhang Liguo found the second weakness of his opponent, that is, when facing a frontal attack, the protection of the flanks was insufficient. He believed that the opponent's commander had not noticed it from time to time, but they were too few in number, and this situation was already their best defensive arrangement. Zhang Liguo admired this commander very much. He had been in the army for many years, had gone through countless battles, had fought many charges, and had organized many defenses, but the defense organized by his opponent was the best he had ever seen, with firepower brought to an extreme. However, you have too few people, so failure is inevitable.

  He turned around and ordered the guard company to prepare for the attack. The captain of the guard company had followed him for five years, had saved his life twice, and his reward was to promote him from a guard to a company commander and give him the most elite guard company.

  He was about to inform Lian Zhang of the attack deployment when a more intense burst of gunfire came from the north, accompanied by the faint sound of military bugles. The enemy on the opposite side suddenly let out cheers, and after listening carefully for a moment, Zhang Liguo's face finally changed drastically.

  The sound of the military horn sent Zhang Liguo back, and also sent Yuan Huanjiu and Meng Xianxiang into a deep abyss. For the Seventh Company, however, it was like a stimulant. The long-awaited reinforcements finally arrived, and in the sound of the military horn, the two armies of Yuan and Meng collapsed. Yuan Huanjiu and Meng Xianxiang fled to the mountain under the protection of the guards, escaping into Guanyin Mountain. The soldiers ran all over the mountains and fields, while the second platoon and the worker's team rushed out of town, chasing after the fleeing enemy. Suddenly, a group of Guangzhou troops wearing gray uniforms emerged from behind the enemy lines, carrying flags embroidered with the character "Wei", tearing open the enemy's rear defense line and charging into the battlefield.

  Zhuang Jihua rushed to the north immediately after the military horn sounded, and when he arrived at the north, the enemy had already collapsed. Song Xilian had led a counterattack, but Zhuang saw Du Yuming sitting crookedly on one side, his face pale. Zhuang's expression changed dramatically - was the Party and State leader going to fall here?

  When he arrived beside Du Yuming, Du opened his eyes and looked at Zhuang Jihua with a difficult smile.

  "We won the Cultural Revolution."

  "Where is the wound? Is it serious?" Zhuang Jihua asked anxiously.

  "It's all right," Du Yuming struggled to get up, Zhuang Jihua pressed him down: "Sit down, don't get up."

  "Damn it, really unlucky." Du Yuming didn't struggle again. He was injured when he repelled the enemy's last attack, and was shot in the shoulder.

  After taking a look at his wound, Zhuang Jihua felt reassured and comforted him by saying: "It's nothing, just go back and rest for a while." Feeling relieved, he stood up and said to the wounded soldiers around him: "Do you know what scars are? They're medals of honor for a soldier. In this era, if a soldier doesn't have two or three scars on his body, he can't be considered a good soldier."

  "In the future when your children and grandchildren are all around you, tell them the stories of these scars."

  Zhuang Jihua walked along the wounded, looking at them one by one. He was no longer worried about the enemy in the south. If that commander didn't run away, he must be a fool. Could a fool survive until now?

  "Don't worry, brothers, you will be sent back to the rear hospital soon. There are doctors there to treat you, and after a few days, you will be lively again."

  "Commander, will I be crippled?" a soldier asked with a mournful face.

  Zhuang Jihua took a look at his wound and smiled: "Disabled? No way, this injury will heal in just one month."

  "Platoon leader, am I going to die?" At this time, a seriously wounded soldier had his abdomen wrapped in circles of white bandages.

  Zhuang Jihua took a closer look, feeling heavy-hearted. In his past life, this kind of injury was fatal, but he didn't know the medical standards of this era. So he forced himself to speak lightly: "It's nothing, just go to the hospital and get stitched up, don't worry."

  …

  The pursuit was still going on, and another troop rushed out from the left wing. The flag they were fighting under was the school military flag that Zhuang Jihua was familiar with. Now Zhuang Jihua was completely at ease.

  A black horse galloped swiftly to the town entrance, and the officer on the horse jumped off and laughed loudly: "Good, you bastards, didn't run away, you fought well."

  "Reporting to the superior officer, I am Zhuang Jihua, the company commander of the 7th Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Regiment of the Military Academy's Cadet Corps. I have been ordered to hold off the enemy here. May I ask which unit you are from, sir?"

  The officer had a slightly dark complexion and spoke in a loud voice: "Commander of the 1st Regiment of the 7th Division of the Guangdong Army, Wei Lihuang."

  After finishing speaking, he grabbed Zhuang Jihua's hand and said: "Younger brother, you've done a great job. If it weren't for you guys, Yuan Xiajiu and Meng Xianxiang would have escaped."

  Zhuang Jihua didn't think of getting along with him, he was still thinking about going south.

  "Does Commander Wei want to make a bigger contribution?" Zhuang Jihua asked with a smile.

  "What greater merit?" Wei Lihuang was somewhat astonished.

  "Right."

  "Oh, come on, little brother, just say it straight out." He was a military man and liked to get straight to the point.

  "There are still about a battalion of enemy troops to the south, who have already learned that our reinforcements have arrived and are retreating. If Commander Wei leads his troops to chase after them and pin them down, once the follow-up troops arrive, we can annihilate this group of enemies, or at least wipe out most of them. Commander Wei, don't you think this is a great achievement?" Zhuang Jihua said calmly.

  "Really?" Wei Lihuang was overjoyed when he heard the news, knowing that the merit of annihilating Yuan Xiajiu and Meng Xianzhang would definitely go to the 7th Regiment. They could at most be ranked second, but if they could catch up with the enemy in the south and annihilate them, then the first merit would belong to him.

  Zhuang Jihua nodded, and Wei Lihuang immediately ordered the three battalions to cross over Zhangmu Town and pursue southward. The second and first battalions immediately regrouped. The commander of the third battalion received the order and led his troops in pursuit towards the south of the town.

  Wei Lihuang was surprised and looked at Zhuang Jihu with new eyes. In a situation where the enemy's forces were twenty times larger, he dared to use a single company of troops to block the enemy's reinforcements in the south and hold off the fleeing enemy in the north, and achieved victory. The difficulties involved, he could fully imagine; such a battle, not to mention winning, was one that required careful consideration just to fight.

  In fact, he was also wrong. Zhang Liguo's unit from the south arrived almost an hour earlier than they did. Due to Zhang Liguo's indecisive attack, Zhuang Zhihua was given the opportunity. If Zhang Liguo's unit had arrived two hours earlier, Zhuang Zhihua might have adopted Hu Zongnan's suggestion and avoided a head-on confrontation with the enemy.

  The battle at Zhangmu Head was over, and all that remained was to round up the spoils of war and take prisoners. Zhuang Jihua didn't bother with these tasks, leaving them to Song Xilian instead. He wandered aimlessly around the battlefield, the thick smell of gunpowder and blood still lingering in the air. The enemy's corpses lay scattered all over, but looking at them only filled his heart with a sense of melancholy. Would these people have been able to live if he hadn't come to this world? Zhuang Jihua didn't know, but one thing was certain: killing wasn't something to be taken lightly. He sighed silently to himself.

  "Company Commander and Battalion Commander are coming." New orderly Zhao Hanjie saw Wang Jun walking this way, reminding Zhuang Jihua.

  Zhuang Jihua looked up and saw Wang Jun and Zheng Dongguo walking towards him with a smile, and he quickly went forward to greet them.

  Wang Jun was extremely happy, they took a wrong turn halfway and wasted time, he was anxious and worried not only about the safety of Qi Lian but also about Qi Lian's inability to complete the task; so he forced the troops to rush desperately, even so, they only caught up with the battle to clean up.

  Now Qi Lian not only completed the task but also did it beautifully, he couldn't care less about his superior's dignity and just came to see this subordinate who made great contributions.

  After a few words of courtesy, Zhuang Jihua immediately reported to him the enemy situation in the south and the situation that Wei Lihuang's regiment had gone to pursue. Wang Jun thought for a moment and said: "We will clean up the enemies on this side first, and let Wei Lihuang drag the enemies in the south. When the main force arrives, we will go together. Wen Ge, your company has made great contributions this time, but the casualties are probably not small either. You rest, and leave the cleanup of these defeated soldiers to the 8th and 9th companies."

  Zhuang Jihua agreed, and he sent people to call back Song Xilian and Huang Mingcheng. They cleaned up the battlefield, collected their guns, especially machine guns, and also thought that the enemy had cannons, so they sent someone to find the enemy's cannons.

  Back in the town, Cao Yuan brought the second and third squads over as well. After gathering the remaining soldiers of the 7th Company, only 54 people were left, with another 27 lightly or severely wounded, and more than 40 people killed in action for the entire company.

  Huang Mingcheng's work team of 82 people has now been reduced to 47, with 11 wounded and 24 killed in action.

  Zhuang Jihua looked at the soldiers and workers standing in front of him, their clothes tattered and worn out, exhausted, dirty all over, with bloodstains, but they stood upright there, their eyes radiating courage and confidence.

  "Comrades, fellow workers, I am proud of you. You have defeated an enemy twenty times your number, beating them until they were bloody and fled in disarray; from today on, you will be their nightmare, a nightmare that cannot be shaken off; you have won honor for the Seventh Company, and glory for yourselves. Your deeds will go down in history, to be admired by future generations."