Chapter 3: The Wind Rises in Guangdong Section 51: Encounter Battle (I)

  Haiyang is one of the oldest counties in Guangdong, established during the Eastern Jin dynasty. Zhuang Jihua observed that the buildings inside the city were mainly wooden houses, with occasional brick houses, and behind every brick house there was a courtyard, which seemed to be the home of a wealthy family. Zhuang Jihua did not see any signs of war, perhaps the only sign was the sparse number of pedestrians on the streets; although the military discipline of the Eastern Expedition Army was strict, human instinct drove them to hide at home.

  Hu Zongnan rushed over to report that the Military Supplies Department had been found. The military supplies depot was located in the most magnificent building in the city - the Confucius Temple, which was not just a temple with only one large hall, but a huge complex covering nearly 100 hectares, and the Eastern Expeditionary Army occupied a small part of it as a military warehouse.

  Zhuang Jihua handed over the materials and took the 7th company to the 2nd battalion's camp in Ma Duwei. It was only when they arrived at Ma Duwei that they learned the commander of the 2nd battalion had become Qian Dajun, with the original commander Wang Boling being transferred back to the military school as head of education. Also transferred away was the commander of the 3rd battalion, Wang Jun.

  Zhuang Jihua felt a bit strange, Wang Jun being transferred back to the military school was obviously a demotion. He didn't dare ask about Wang Boling's situation, so he asked around and found out that Wang Jun was transferred away because of his poor command, and he was responsible for the defeat of the Second Battalion outside Danshui City. Qian Dajun was not bad to Zhuang Jihua, the other two battalion commanders in the Third Battalion were from Huangpu Military Academy, Qian Dajun was worried that he couldn't control them, so he accompanied him with Party Representative Zhang Jingyu to announce his appointment to the battalion. The Eighth Company Commander Fang Jin and Ninth Company Commander Yuan Weitai of the Third Battalion were not very happy, but they had nothing to say. After all, the only victory the Second Battalion had achieved so far was the one Zhuang Jihua won at Zhangmu Head, and it was a convincing win. Although they fought bravely under Danshui City, they still lost.

  Before leaving, Qian Dajun told Zhuang Jihua that the third camp was defeated in the battle of Danshui and morale was low. Zhuang Jihua's top priority is to restore morale.

  After sending off Qian Dajun and Zhang Jingyu, Zheng Dongguo quietly told Zhuang Jihua that during the Battle of Danshui, Wang Boling nominally asked for reinforcements but actually escaped. The second battalion was defeated and someone had to take responsibility, so the scapegoat fell on Wang Jun's head. The reason was that the third camp was the first to lose its position, but fortunately, Wang Jun did not escape and was still fighting on the front line at the most critical moment, so he was transferred. Otherwise, he would also be shot. However, Wang Boling's behavior made it impossible for him to stay in the second battalion again, so Shen Yingshi, the commander of the first battalion of the first regiment, took over as the commander of the second battalion.

  Zhuang Jihua listened to Zheng Dongguo's words and smiled bitterly in his heart. It seems that Chiang Kai-shek still favors Wang Boling, even if he doesn't let him lead the army, he wants to use him as a guard, it seems that in the future, he will have to deal with him again.

  Zhuang Jihua inspected the three battalions and found that the problems were indeed as Qian Dajun had said. Except for the 7th Company, the morale of the other two companies was not high. Zhuang Jihua also couldn't think of a solution for the time being. Not long after, another order came down, and the whole army set off towards Chaozhou.

  The Eastern Expeditionary Army had been fighting continuously, marching over 200 miles, and the troops were somewhat fatigued. Therefore, the command center originally intended to rest in Haifeng for a few days. However, after only two days of rest, they received a report from the Haifeng Peasant Association that Hong Chao-lin's troops were disheartened and demoralized, with soldiers looting along the way, provoking the anger of local militias and village defense teams, which actively attacked the defeated Chen army. The Chen army did not resist at all and retreated after being struck once.

  After obtaining this intelligence, Chiang Kai-shek and Galen, Xu Chongzhi deliberated and planned the Chaozhou attack plan: The whole army was divided into three routes. The left route was led by the 7th Regiment and the School Army, advancing along the Haifeng-Hebaozhai-Mianhu-Puning Road; The middle route was led by the main force of the Guangdong Second Division, advancing along the Haifeng-Lufeng-Kuitan- Jieyang; The right route was led by a part of the Second Division, taking a boat from Shanwei to attack Chaozhou directly. Chen Mingxu's brigade of the Guangdong Army followed up after arriving at Dan Shui.

  The defeat of the Training Regiment in the battles of Tamsui and Zhangmu Head caused Chiang Kai-shek great distress, so he harbored a private intention in this campaign plan. The 2nd Division took the central route to attack Chaozhou directly, while the 7th Brigade and the Training Regiment took the left flank, i.e., the northern route, to encircle the enemy's flank. Chiang Kai-shek's calculation was very good, thinking that if Hong Zhaolin wanted to intercept, he would definitely intercept the central route, so the 7th Brigade and the Training Regiment could gain merit without losing troops; if not, then all would be well. However, he did not expect that Hong Zhaolin also had his own plan.

  Hong Zhaolin retreated to Jieyang and received support from Li Yunfu and Zhong Shaojin, who had nearly 4,000 men and horses under their command. The troops under Xiong Yue's command were originally led by Chen Ronggui and were facing off against Tan Yanqiao's Hunan Army, but the worsening situation on the southern front meant that Chen Rongming couldn't spare any attention for the northern front. Lin Hu was unable to mobilize his troops, so he had to transfer soldiers from Chen Ronggui's command. Chen Ronggui only had less than 8,000 men and horses under his command and was already struggling to hold off Tan Yanqiao's two divisions. With half of his forces gone, he was defeated by Tan Yanqiao and retreated to the Hunan-Guangdong border. Tan Yanqiao approached Lin Hu's old lair in Xingning, forcing Lin Hu to send out troops to deal with him, which delayed the southern strategy.

  After receiving reinforcements, Hong Zhaolun did not intend to defend Jieyang to the death. His idea was to go north and form a line with Lin Hu, concentrate their forces and jointly deal with the increasingly fierce attacks of the Guangdong Army and the Hunan Army. Hong Zhaolun abandoned Jieyang and went north to meet the Right Wing Army head-on in Lihu Village.

  After Hong Zhaolin discovered the Eastern Expeditionary Army, he immediately occupied the high ground of Huagu Rock in the Liuxu area. The vanguard of the Eastern Expeditionary Army, Wei Lihuang's division, was defeated, and Wei Lihuang was furious. He executed two battalion commanders who had retreated and then personally led the follow-up troops to launch a counterattack, blocking the enemy's advance and gaining time for the follow-up troops to deploy.

  This was an unexpected encounter for both sides, Chiang Kai-shek and Galen thought that Hong Zhaolun would not defend Jieyang, but would retreat to Chaozhou. Otherwise, Chaoshan would be almost empty, leaving only the first team of Chaomei with negligible combat effectiveness. Hong Zhaolun believed that he had abandoned Jieyang and even Chaoshan, so the Eastern Expeditionary Army should take it, why come to intercept me?

  Wei Lihuang's fierce battle helped the Eastern Expeditionary Army to turn the tide, and the main forces of the 7th Division and the 1st Training Regiment were successively thrown into the battle. The offensive of Hong Zhaolin's troops gradually weakened, and then Chiang Kai-shek led the 2nd Regiment to arrive, adjust the deployment, with Xu Ji's brigade as the right wing to launch an attack on Junpo, the 1st Training Regiment as the central route to rush straight to Huagu Rock, and the 2nd Regiment as the left wing to attack the left side of Yudong Ridge. After succeeding, they inserted into the rear of Huagu Rock, and the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment was the reserve team to launch a fierce attack on Hong Zhaolin.

  The battle immediately entered a fierce state, Hong Zhaolin fought to the death, and the Guangdong Army was strongly blocked by Li Yunfu on the Junpo line. Xu Ji personally directed the battle but made no progress. The defenders of Huagu Rock, led by Hong Zhaolin, repelled two charges by a battalion under his personal command, and the left wing also became stuck.

  Chiang Kai-shek, seeing that the battle was not going well, became anxious and scolded his chief of staff, He Yingqin. At this time, Galen and Xu Chongzhi were still in Haifeng and had not followed the troops into action. Among the Soviet advisers present, only the military academy adviser, Yemelyanov, was at his side. Chiang Kai-shek rushed out of the command post and ran to a regiment, where he saw He Yingqin and immediately asked: "When can you take down Huagu Rock?"

  He Yingqin's face showed a difficult expression: "Principal, the enemy has many troops and the terrain is unfavorable to us. The troops are in a difficult position." Then he looked around, indicating that others should leave, before approaching Chiang Kai-shek and speaking in a low voice: "The school army is Principal's heart's blood. Forcing an attack will inevitably lead to heavy casualties, thus Principal's painstaking efforts will be wasted here."

  Chiang Kai-shek calmed down and asked: "Then what do you suggest we do?"

  He Yingqin walked up to the map, pointing at the situation on it and analyzing: "The enemy in front of us is Hong Zhaolin's main force. The enemy facing Xu Ji on the right flank is also numerous. It's very difficult to break through from these two sides. I think that if we want to open a breakthrough, we can only start from the left flank, Yudongling direction. I suggest moving the reserve troops to the left flank and opening up a breakthrough from Yudongling. As long as Yudongling is broken, the enemy will collapse along the entire line."

  Chiang Kai-shek stared at the map for a while, thinking that although the morale of the three regiments was not high after their defeat in Tamsui, Zhuang Jihua had returned.

  "Alright, call Zhuang Jihua over." Chiang Kai-shek had made up his mind.