Chapter Thirty-Eight: A Loud and Clear Song

  At this time, Hu Weidong had checked all the parameters of the field artillery and immediately ordered, "Unlimited rapid fire for field artillery! Fire until the barrel turns red! Mountain guns and howitzers move forward immediately, ready to take over supporting firepower at any time!"

  The lethality of the 75mm caliber howitzer was still very powerful for the Chinese army at that time. Hu Xueyan, although brave, was also suppressed by the artillery fire and couldn't lift his head for a while, muttering curses in his mouth, "Damn it, how do these Red Bandits have so many big guns? It feels like we've become the Red Bandits, and they're the National Army..."

  After the field artillery passed, a large number of mountain guns and mortars that advanced to the effective range also roared one after another. Although the power was slightly weaker, there were more than the field artillery, and the firing speed was faster. Under the continuous bombing of shells falling like rain, the National Army suffered heavy losses despite having simple but reasonable field fortifications to rely on. The exposed artillery positions earlier were all knocked out by Hu Weidong after he determined their location and directed the artillery to fire at them. Nearly half of the casualties were caused by shell explosions, and light and heavy machine guns were also a key target of the Red Fifteenth Army's artillery. In a short period of time, more than half of them were lost...

  Suddenly, Hu Xuan's face, already tense, changed again as he found that the enemy infantry had begun to charge, but the enemy artillery fire did not stop at all, completely disregarding possible friendly fire. This was obviously a new tactic. If no measures were taken to suppress it, the enemy would surely rush into their own camp in one breath. At that time, morale would collapse and the army would be defeated like a mountain collapse...

  "Cao Jinlun, all rise and stab with bayonets, countercharge!" Hu Yan yelled with a ferocious face.

  "Yes, Comrade Commander!", Deputy Regimental Commander Cao Jinlun of the 66th Regiment responded loudly, and after finishing speaking, he took a deep breath, put on his bayonet, and shouted, "Everyone charge with bayonets, follow me to rush out and kill the Red Bandits!"

  Thousands of National Army officers and soldiers charged into the Red Army's position under artillery fire, engaging in fierce hand-to-hand combat. The artillerymen of the 15th Red Army were stunned, and if they continued to shell, the friendly fire would be too great, so they could only stop firing and watch as the assault troops clashed with the enemy who had broken out of their positions.

  It stands to reason that the Red Army has always been good at bayonet fighting, but the 15th Red Army is a newly formed team after all. Although they are more advanced in terms of tactics and technology (the People's Liberation Army's bayonet fighting techniques were learned from the Japanese and have been improved upon, with obvious advantages over the bayonet fighting techniques of this era), most of them lack experience in bayonet fighting. On the other hand, the 66th Regiment of the 11th Division of the 18th National Army, which fought against them, was a rare exception in the National Army, extremely skilled in bayonet fighting (Note 1). The leader of the charge, Cao Jinlun, was a seasoned general who had been through many battles, far surpassing Lei Lie, who had just been promoted. As a result, the Red Army that charged up was chased down like a flock of ducks, and if it weren't for the timely support of artillery fire, these two thousand or so people would have been killed to the last man on this small hill...

  "The Red Army actually lost in the battle of Baijia, don't you think it's humiliating? Where is Lei Li? Is he afraid to see me?" Hu Weidong roared with a dark face.

  "The squad leader sacrificed himself... This time the enemy is different from before, they charged forward without caring about their lives, and their bayonets were especially vicious...", a young soldier said with a sobbing tone, it was clear that his mind had suffered greatly. If this happened in other troops, such soldiers might be traumatized for life, fortunately the Red Army has political workers, who have ways to restore the soldiers' fighting spirit...

  However, in order to eliminate these few thousand people, the Red Fifteenth Army has sacrificed more than 2,000 men and expended a large amount of precious artillery shells, yet they still cannot take one step into the enemy's position. Is it necessary to continue fighting this battle? Not only are the people below beginning to waver, but even Hu Weidong himself is hesitating, but at this moment he hears someone start singing...

  Let us see Mao Zedong gazing at the mountain slope soaked in blood, singing loudly, "Arise, slaves who are suffering from hunger and cold, arise, people of the world who are suffering... The old world will be destroyed like fallen flowers flowing down a stream, slaves, arise, arise... There has never been any savior, nor can we rely on gods or emperors, to create human happiness depends on us ourselves..."

  Before long, all the soldiers were unconsciously singing along, "The most hateful are those poisonous snakes and beasts, they have devoured our flesh and blood, once we eliminate them thoroughly, the bright red sun will shine all over the world..."

  The singing voice soon spread to the National Army's position, and Hu Zongnan suddenly felt unprecedented pressure. Although the National Army had won twice in a row, their casualties were not much less than those of the Red Army under the fierce artillery fire. If this continued for a few more times, he would have lost all his men. But even just to save face, Hu Zongnan would stick to it until the enemy retreated or he died in battle. Although he thought that he had only one talent but no achievements, he was somewhat reluctant in his heart...

  The stirring "Internationale" instantly boosted the morale of the Red Fifteenth Army, and Hu Weidong recalled the Nationalist army's tradition of "when a friendly force is in difficulty, do not move like a mountain". He finally made up his mind to launch another attack, and agreed that Mao Zedong would lead the special operations team as the main attacking force. This small episode suddenly made Hu Weidong think of the most suitable position for Mao Zedong: "In peacetime, set an example by oneself; before battle, be good at mobilization; in wartime, take the lead - aren't these the three abilities that a political commissar needs?"

  When mobilizing soldiers, Mao Zedong was very passionate, but when the real fight started, he became very calm. As soon as there was a gap in artillery support, the assault team members would lie down and advance in a crawling manner under his command to avoid the enemy's machine gun bullets, thus greatly reducing casualties.

  "This time it seems to be more difficult to deal with than last time...", Hu Lu's heart tightened, but seeing the enemy approaching and the falling shells increasing in number, he had no choice but to order again, "Fix bayonets!"

  "Grenades, 1, 2, 3, throw!", Mao Zedong, although his vision was blocked by the smoke, but he, who had been through hundreds of battles, heard the enemy's shouting getting closer and closer in the interval between the explosions of shells. He immediately gave orders after calculating the time, and nearly all of the hundreds of grenades exploded above the enemy, instantly blowing up a large area. Hu Lian didn't even have time to feel pain before hearing another order from the other side, "Submachine guns!"

  Note 1: The notorious "Tiger Regiment" 33rd Regiment, which was infamous during the War of Resistance and Liberation War, was formed by extracting a group of veteran soldiers from the 66th Regiment as its backbone. This specialty was brought to an extreme in the Battle of Dawangzhuang, where they clashed with two main force regiments of the PLA in a bayonet charge, with both sides almost annihilated. A nearby Nationalist Army regiment was so shocked that it surrendered to the PLA without firing a shot...