Chapter 3: The Wind Rises in Guangdong Section 40: Battle of Dongguan (6)

  This battle made Chen Jun's momentum a bit discouraged, and in the next half hour, Chen Jun did not launch an attack. The soldiers of the 7th Regiment hurried to reinforce their fortifications, grabbed food, and Zhu Jihua checked the position after checking the position, and then came to Du Yuming to see how the workers were trained.

  Huang Mingcheng's view of Zhuang Jihua changed greatly at this time. During the first confrontation, Zhuang Jihua did not join the battle, making Huang think that this company commander was a coward. Later, seeing Zhuang Jihua speaking with coarse language, he was even more surprised, thinking that he was just a soldier who had been spoiled by war. He didn't seem like an officer who had received revolutionary education at Whampoa Military Academy. During the interval of battle, Huang Mingcheng quietly asked Cao Yuan if Commander Zhuang was from a military background; Cao Yuan hesitated for a moment before smiling and telling him that not only was Commander Zhuang a graduate of Whampoa Military Academy, but he had also studied in the United States and returned to China to participate in the revolution after being inspired by the Premier. This made Huang Mingcheng feel both surprised and admiring.

  When he saw Zhuang Jihua coming over, he was about to go forward to greet him, but was stopped by Du Yuming. He hesitated for a moment before obeying the order and returning to his position in the formation. Zhuang Jihua arrived at the front of the formation, facing eighty-two fellow workers, eighty-two plain faces, and eighty-two pairs of eyes that shone with different expressions.

  "We are facing over a thousand enemies, who have retreated from Changping. Our troops are pursuing them from behind, and they must defeat us to escape. Our task is to hold them back here until the pursuing troops arrive. They know this too, so next they will launch a desperate attack, the battle will be fierce, and many people will die."

  Zhuang Jihua said, stopping here and looking at the eighty-two people in front of him. As expected, a buzz went through the crowd.

  "When will our people arrive?"

  "How long will we have to wait?"

  "Are we going to die?" someone asked anxiously, and the crowd immediately fell silent.

  Zhuang Jihua said in a low voice, "When the follow-up troops will arrive, I don't know. The only thing I can tell you is that everyone who participates in the battle may die, and the probability of death may be very high." His fellow workers didn't understand what "probability" meant, but they guessed it wasn't a good word.

  "I...I don't force everyone to participate, and I also hope that those of you who have wives and children will not participate, put down your guns and go home." Zhuang Jihua finally couldn't bear to throw these untrained people into the battlefield. Huang Mingcheng listened to Zhuang Jihua's words, somewhat stunned, then wanted to speak.

  "Chairman Huang, please wait a moment." Zhuang Jihua stopped him and said with some solemnity: "The road of revolution is long, it doesn't matter about this brief moment. If you die now, what will happen to your wives and children?"

  Revolution, it would take more than twenty years to succeed; the respect for life advocated by his previous generation left a deep mark on his mind. The great revolution in history ended in failure, and these people were considered to have thrown their lives away at this time. Zhuang Jihua's mind was in chaos.

  "Zhuang Lianchang," Huang Mingcheng called out in great discontent, "then why are you still guarding here?"

  "We are soldiers, you are not." Zhuang Jihua stared sternly at Huang Mingcheng.

  "We are revolutionaries, we have the duty to eliminate counter-revolutionaries, we are not afraid of death." Huang Mingcheng retorted fearlessly: "Comrades, are you afraid of death?"

  "It's okay." The voice was somewhat hesitant.

  "Comrades, all these years we have suffered oppression from the foreigners on the railways, from the capitalist bosses in the forests, and from the road protection squads. What kind of life have we been living? A life like that of oxen and horses! If we want to live a good life, we must drive out warlords like Chen Jiongming and the foreigners, and take control of our own destiny ourselves. Some of us may make sacrifices, but the union will still exist, and the union will take care of your families." Huang Mingcheng grew more and more agitated as he spoke, raising his gun and shouting loudly: "Workers throughout the world are one family! If we want to turn things around and become our own masters, comrades, let us fight!"

  "Fight! Fight!" Huang Mingcheng's words were very inspiring, and all the workers were excitedly raising their weapons in their hands, shouting loudly.

  "Zhuang Lianchang, give your orders." Huang Mingcheng turned around and said to Zhuang Jihua, who was helpless.

  After they calmed down, they pointed to a dark-skinned middle-aged man who looked about forty years old and asked: "Are there any other people in your family?"

  "My wife, three sons and a daughter." The middle-aged man replied.

  "Go back, Du has put down his gun."

  Then he said to Huang Mingcheng: "One, leave some seeds for your union; two, he is alive not only to take care of his own family but also the families of others. I don't have time to discuss with you; Du Pailang will do as I say."

  Huang Mingcheng opened his mouth and then closed it again. Later, Zhuang Jihua picked out a few more who he thought were older, as well as two young men who were clearly under 18 years old, and handed them over to Du Yuming for further training. As they were about to leave, he told Du Yuming and Huang Mingcheng that their training must be accelerated, as they might soon be needed.

  Zhuang Jihua had not yet returned to the regiment when shells whizzed down, and Chen Jun launched another attack. This time the artillery bombardment lasted much longer, a full seven or eight minutes, before a dense mass of enemy troops charged forward, amazingly breaking into within 100 meters in no time.

  Seven consecutive shots fired a row of guns, and the soldiers of Chen Jun's army fell down in rows, but those who were still alive rushed forward. "Hand grenade," Zhuang Jihua shouted loudly, and the soldiers threw out hand grenades one after another. A string of explosions suppressed the momentum of Chen Jun's attack. Later, both sides entered a shooting match. Chen Jun set up two machine guns on a mound in front of him, frantically sweeping towards the Seventh Company under the cover of machine guns. Under the cover of machine guns, Chen Jun's soldiers slowly crawled forward again. Zhuang Jihua quickly ordered Zhang Sanwa to shoot down the enemy's machine gun. After receiving the order, Zhang Sanwa found a corner and fired two shots, silencing Chen Jun's machine gun.

  The Chen Jun soldier who had just gained some courage fell silent again, but the sound of Chen Jun's machine gun rang out again soon after. Zhang Sanwa was also discovered and a machine gun was specifically used to suppress him. Under the suppression of the machine gun, Zhang Sanwa could not lift his head. Bullets hit the stone, and the splashing stone powder stung his face. Then Chen Jun brought up several more machine guns, and the firepower of the 7th company was completely suppressed.

  The Seventh Company's firepower weakened, and Chen Jun's soldiers took advantage of the opportunity to shout and charge over. "Hand grenades!" Zhuang Jihua frantically threw hand grenades outward, and the Seventh Company's hand grenades exploded in a burst of smoke on the front line. "Continue, don't stop," the Seventh Company's hand grenades kept flying out, and the explosions on the front line came one after another. Chen Jun's soldiers who ventured to charge were heavily casualties, and those who retreated were shot dead by the supervisory team before they could take two steps back. The remaining men gritted their teeth and charged forward again.

  "Charge!" Chen Jun blew the bugle, and under the cover of seven machine guns, Chen Jun's soldiers quickly rushed across the remaining 40-50 meters to enter the town. The seventh company's soldiers did not retreat a single step, fighting stubbornly. Zhuang Jihua wielded his knife in one hand and his gun in the other, cutting down enemies at close range and shooting them from afar, leading several soldiers to charge back and forth at the forefront of the battle. Tang Qijun led three soldiers to block the breakthrough point, but a group of enemies surrounded them. Cao Yuan rushed over with his men to provide support, but was entangled by another group of enemies. Both sides engaged in a desperate struggle at the breakthrough point.

  Tang Qijun had already been wounded three times, but he didn't have time to bandage his wounds, and could only let the fresh blood flow down. Following him were three soldiers, two of whom had already sacrificed themselves, but seven or eight enemies had fallen. He and another soldier back-to-back fought against six or seven surrounding enemies. The commanding knife had already chopped out two gaps, and the fresh blood dripped down along the blade edge. The wound transmitted a wave of pain again, and he gritted his teeth in agony. The enemy in front saw his discomfort and shot at his abdomen with one gun. With a light knock, it was indeed a feint, then sidestepped to avoid the stabbing knife from the right side, and took advantage of the momentum to chop down on the head of the enemy soldier on the right side. He retreated step by step to maintain formation with the soldier behind him. The remaining enemies saw that this officer, despite being wounded, was still not easy to deal with, so they used two bayonets to entangle Tang Qijun, while others focused on attacking the other soldier, momentarily causing him to become flustered and overwhelmed.

  Tang Qijun saw through the enemy's intentions and shouted behind him, "Follow me!" Then he took the initiative to launch a counterattack. With one slash of his knife, he struck at the enemy soldier in front of him. The enemy raised his gun to block it, but before the blade landed, Tang lightly turned the knife and swept past the left side of the enemy's throat. That soldier dropped his gun, covered his throat, let out a gurgling sound, and fell to his knees.

  The soldier behind him let out a mournful cry, and Tang Qijun turned his head to see the soldier's mouth bleeding, with two blood arrows spraying from his body, falling at his feet. Tang Qijun didn't have time to grieve, as two bayonets were already thrust in front of him. After parrying two shots, he dodged a frontal stab and beheaded an enemy soldier with one swing of his knife. At this moment, he felt a sharp pain in his waist, and the tip of a knife protruded from his abdomen, covered in blood. He turned his head to see the enemy's face twisted in ferocity, using all his strength to push the bayonet forward. Under intense pain, Tang Qijun reversed the blade, grasped it with his backhand, and stabbed it into the enemy's body. Then, two more bayonets were thrust into his chest.

  Tang Qijun, a deputy platoon leader of the 7th Company, 3rd Battalion, Huangpu First Class, was killed in action during the battle at Zhangmutou.

  The breakthrough expanded, Chen Jun rushed into the position of the Seventh Company, and the position of the Seventh Company was on the verge of collapse.

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