Chapter 35: Republic of China: Starting from the First Class of Whampoa Chapter 35: Settling the Merchant Corps

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

The Principal looked toward the Whampoa instructors and students at the scene and happily announced: "The outer defensive lines of the Merchant Corps have been breached by all the armies; the Yue Army to the east and the Hunan Army to the north have already reached the outskirts of the Merchant Corps headquarters in Xiguan and can launch a general attack at any time!"

What the Principal meant was telling everyone that the final moment had arrived.

The Merchant Corps headquarters was in Xiguan; to the northeast and southeast of Xiguan were the Hunan Army, the Yue Army, the Whampoa Student Army, and the Worker-Peasant Corps Army; while to the west was the Pearl River, with warships cruising on the river surface, and the Fu Army guarding the opposite bank to prevent the Merchant Corps army from escaping across the Pearl River to the west.

Instructor Wu looked down at the corpses on the ground—Whampoa students, Worker-Peasant Corps Army soldiers, Merchant Corps soldiers... casualties were too heavy.

"Principal, I think we should leave the Pearl River to the west of Xiguan open, surround three sides and leave one, give the Merchant Corps army hope of survival, and break their fighting spirit; otherwise, if we surround them on all four sides, the Merchant Corps army will surely fight to the death."

After hearing this, the Principal said nothing.

The officers' morale was high, and the Principal still wanted to strike with one blow to completely clear the rebellious forces within the city and kill one to warn a hundred.

Chief Instructor He, seeing that not a few of his students had fallen, also could not bear it: "Principal, Instructor Wu is right. If we withdraw our warships from the Pearl River, and the Merchant Corps army decides to swim across to the west bank, our Fu Army deployed on the west bank can directly capture them."

The Principal rolled his eyes; he was currently the actual highest military commander within Guangzhou City, and acting according to Instructor Wu's plan made the Principal somewhat uncomfortable.

"Jiang Xiangyun? What do you think?" the Principal suddenly asked Jiang Xiangyun.

"The students agree with the suggestion to surround three sides and leave one; reducing casualties of our army and the Merchant Corps army is always good, and there are also many people in the Merchant Corps army who were lured by Chen Lianbo..."

"He Zhonghan? What do you say?" Before Jiang Xiangyun finished speaking, the Principal asked He Zhonghan again.

"The students follow the Principal's orders; however the Principal commands, Junshan will act accordingly." He Zhonghan also could not figure out what the Principal was thinking.

The Principal exhaled a turbid breath and then asked Lv Muzhi: "Muzi, do you think we should root out the Merchant Corps completely?"

Lv Muzhi instead looked directly at Liu Zhi, leaving Liu Zhi puzzled.

"Principal, I remember that Instructor Liu Zhi once proposed a pig tactical theory during class; I think the Merchant Corps is like a pig driven into a corner; when there is no way to retreat, it is very likely to bite us hard..."

After hearing this, Liu Zhi could only smile embarrassedly.

But the Principal laughed very happily: "Instructor Liu Zhi, I didn't expect you... to be so humorous and witty... I actually think there is some truth to it; since everyone thinks this way, let's do as Instructor Wu said, leave a way out to the west for the Merchant Corps; this is also my opinion."

"Also, gather boats to block the upstream and downstream, only allowing the Merchant Corps to swim across the Pearl River to the west, and then be captured by the Fu Army!"

The order was issued, and the offensive against the Merchant Corps headquarters in Xiguan was launched immediately.

First was psychological warfare; Instructor Wu rushed to a printing factory to print a large number of surrender propaganda leaflets, which were handed over to the aircraft squadron of the Grand Marshal's Office.

The several old propeller planes made mainly of wood in the aircraft squadron carried the leaflets and kept scattering them over the skies of Xiguan.

Xiguan was actually a prosperous commercial district within Guangzhou City and also an important base of Chen Lianbo; most of the shops in Xiguan had a share from Chen Lianbo, and Chen Lianbo's own mansion was also in Xiguan.

Leaflets were also scattered all over the roof of Chen Lianbo's mansion at this moment.

Chen Lianbo picked up a leaflet and smiled helplessly; he didn't expect himself to lose so quickly. Claiming over ten thousand Merchant-Gentry United Defense troops, calculating it down, they couldn't even hold out for twenty-four hours.

"Commander-in-Chief, not good, over a hundred people have gone down into the Pearl River and swam to the opposite bank!" Chen Gongshou, Vice Commander-in-Chief of the Merchant-Gentry United Defense Headquarters, ran to the roof in a panic to report the situation of his subordinates defecting.

Chen Lianbo's eyes were red, he gritted his teeth, and cursed at the Merchant Corps soldiers guarding the mansion roof: "Are you all blind?! Someone escaped, shoot them for me! They ate my pay and still want to run? None of you will live!"

There was a heavy machine gun on the roof of Chen Mansion; Chen Lianbo forced the machine gunner to open fire on the Merchant Corps soldiers swimming across the river to escape, to enforce military law.

But this action was seen by other Merchant Corps soldiers, and their dissatisfaction with Chen Lianbo grew.

Everyone was from the surrounding villages; hearing that Chen Lianbo was paying here, saying they could make money by helping to cause a scene and show force, who would have thought they would really have to risk their lives.

Even more excessive was that Chen Lianbo actually fired on his own people.

Da-da~ da-da-da~

Gunfire erupted everywhere in Xiguan.

The Hunan Army, Yue Army, Worker Corps Army, Peasant Corps Army, and Whampoa Student Army launched a general attack on Xiguan from three directions.

There were many shops in Xiguan; tens of thousands on both sides of the attack and defense fired inside, leaving the places they passed in a mess.

However, the Merchant Corps soldiers had no fighting spirit at this moment, and their resistance was not strong; the shops in Xiguan were generally well preserved.

The Whampoa students attacked from the south side and quickly captured one shop and small building after another, unstoppable.

The Merchant Corps soldiers either surrendered or jumped into the water to escape to the west bank of the Pearl River.

The Whampoa Student Army did not pursue too closely; as long as they could disintegrate these Merchant Corps soldiers, the most important thing was to attack into Chen Lianbo's mansion and capture the leaders of the Merchant Corps!

"The outer area is mostly cleared, go surround Chen Lianbo's mansion!" He Yingqin gave the order.

The Whampoa Student Army surged forward, holding guns and surrounding Chen Lianbo's mansion layer by layer.

He Yingqin held a loudspeaker outside to shout for surrender, while the students held their guns on guard.

Lv Muzhi was very puzzled and said softly: "Where are the other two forces? Why haven't the Yue Army and Hunan Army arrived yet?"

Jiang Xiangyun beside him was also very confused: "Logically, our advancing speed is not fast; how are we the first force to reach Chen Lianbo's mansion?"

Only Chen Geng had an expression of understanding: "You don't know this, do you? Let me tell you what they are doing; if you walk to the north side now, you can see the shop doors along the street wide open, with soldiers moving things inside!"

Chen Geng had served as a soldier in the Hunan Army for three years and understood the habits of warlord troops; when they saw an opportunity to make money, they would never let it go.

The gate of Chen Lianbo's mansion suddenly opened, and white flags were flying on the roof, leaving the Whampoa Student Army very confused.

Upon closer inspection, Chen Lianbo, Chen Gongshou, and other Merchant Corps leaders were all tied up by dozens of Merchant Corps soldiers and stood on the roof!

"Honorable commanders! We don't want to fight; this beast Chen Lianbo is not only ruthless to his own people but also daydreams, opposing the revolution; we have already tied them up!" A small leader of the Merchant Corps stood behind the tied-up Chen Lianbo and shouted loudly.

"You bring them out; we only want the ringleaders, and the rest will be pardoned!" He Yingqin was extremely happy; he himself wished to end this battle without bloodshed.

In a short while, Chen Lianbo was tied up by his own subordinates and handed over to the Whampoa Student Army.

Although the progress was somewhat fast and unexpected, the Whampoa Student Army was still very happy; the Merchant Corps Incident was finally over! The Whampoa students had finally passed their first test!

Chen Lianbo's originally shiny side-parted hair had become messy, obviously no longer as presentable as before, but his mouth was still hard: "A bunch of dead monks, Guangdong Province will have a better future in my hands! You are just dragging Guangdong Province into another deep..."

"What is this dog barking?!" Chen Geng stepped forward and directly stuffed a leg wrap into Chen Lianbo's mouth.

"Chief Instructor He!" Someone called out He Yingqin's name from a distance.

Looking back, it turned out to be Chief of Staff Ye Jianying of the Guangdong Army Second Division coming over.

"You Yue Army have finally arrived; this credit for arresting Chen Lianbo can fall into the hands of my Whampoa Army!" He Yingqin laughed heartily, then asked: "Where is your Division Commander Zhang Mingda?".

"Oh... there are still some remnant enemies on our attack direction that haven't been eliminated yet; Division Commander Zhang is leading people to continue the suppression." Chief of Staff Ye seemed to have something to say.

He Yingqin noticed Chief of Staff Ye's expression was off, and joked: "Could it be that my Whampoa Army took this credit, and the Guangdong Army Second Division is jealous?"

"Chief Instructor He, part of the Hunan Army on the North Side is burning and looting some shops in Xiguan! The Principal needs to manage this!"

Chief of Staff Ye's words made He Yingqin put away his smile, his face showing some embarrassment and awkwardness.