Chapter 50

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

Lv Muzhi looked at Huang Wei, that ruthless man; during the Merchant Corps Incident, he had mounted a Maxim machine gun on Huang Wei's shoulder, sending Huang Wei to the hospital for a month, and in the end Huang Wei didn't even take the graduation exam.

Fortunately, the Principal was moved by Huang Wei's heroic deeds, and with Lv Muzhi pleading for him, the Principal finally gave him a Platoon Leader position.

"How's the fighting at Pinghu Station today? Tell me about it, how many enemies did you kill?"

Lv Muzhi curled his lips, "The rebels left over ten corpses and fled in panic; we took Pinghu Station without much effort."

"Hmm, then Chen Jiongming's rebels are about the same as the Merchant Corps, just paper tigers! We came from Dongguan and didn't expend much effort either." Huang Wei concluded that the rebels were weak.

"Younger Brother Huang Wei, don't forget the Merchant Corps' machine gun ambush that day—carelessness means another trip to the hospital!"

Two days later, the Principal arrived at the frontline, personally leading the Whampoa Cadet Army to beneath Danshui City, joining forces with Zhang Mingda's Second Division of the Yue Army and Xu Ji's Independent Seventh Brigade.

Danshui City was the gateway to the Dongjiang Region; only by taking Danshui City could they be said to have formally clashed with the rebels.

The Principal ordered the First Teaching Regiment and Second Teaching Regiment to attack south of Danshui City, Zhang Minda's Second Division to attack northwest of Danshui, Xu Ji's Independent Seventh Brigade to attack northeast of Danshui, surrounding Danshui City from three sides.

When the Battle of Danshui began, the Whampoa Cadet Army encountered its first hard nut to crack since setting out.

The Principal personally supervised the battle, commanding Chen Cheng's artillery to fire, bombarding the enemy outside the moat of Danshui City.

The Second Battalion was again the reserve; Battalion Commander Liu Zhi stood on the high ground pointing at the deployment of Danshui City, analyzing to Lv Muzhi: "This deployment of Danshui City can be considered a qualified city defense, with high city walls as cover, trenches set up outside the city, high and low firepower combined, machine gun fire positions reasonably arranged—this is a real hard bone! I taught you this in class, and now the enemy is recreating it in actual combat."

Lv Muzhi nodded, his opinion of Liu Zhi improving somewhat; at least for himself, Liu Zhi was an excellent teacher, just somewhat conservative in combat.

"Watch closely, this hard bone of Danshui City isn't easy to gnaw; before long, it'll be our turn!" Liu Zhi reminded him.

Boom boom boom!

The Russian mountain guns of the Teaching Regiment let out deafening roars, shells carrying the force of thunder crashing into the city walls and enemy trenches outside the city, exploding into clouds of dust and firelight.

The mountain guns' effect on the moat outside Danshui City was not bad, greatly restricting enemy movement in the trenches, but against the city walls of Danshui City, it was like scratching an itch through boots—completely ineffective.

The soldiers of the Teaching Regiment, covered by Maxim heavy machine guns and mountain guns, launched attacks battalion by battalion; after two hours of fierce fighting, they finally drove all the enemies out of the moat outside Danshui City, and the enemy completely withdrew into the city.

But even so, the city walls remained an insurmountable obstacle for the Teaching Regiment.

Lv Muzhi watched the battle beside Liu Zhi; shells hitting the city walls left only black marks, and as for shaking the city's defenses, the effect was minimal.

Lv Muzhi even saw Huang Wei leading his platoon's soldiers, carrying bamboo ladders to charge, but the enemy's machine gun fire from above quickly drove back Huang Wei's attack.

Chen Cheng then commanded the artillery company to strike the city gate, but cannons being probabilistic weapons, they fired many shots without hitting the gate opening.

By chance one shell landed near the city gate, and its splintering force blasted a hole in the gate; the rebels quickly blocked it with sandbags and thickened the gate, even setting up a heavy machine gun over the hole to prevent the Whampoa Cadet Army from approaching and destroying the gate.

A small Danshui City became a small, hard nail that the Whampoa Cadet Army had run into.

The Yue Army Second Division on the northwest side and the Independent Seventh Brigade on the northeast side also gained no results.

Lv Muzhi looked at the sky filled with dark clouds; Danshui City, apart from being covered in a layer of gunpowder smoke, seemed unchanged.

"Muzi, do you see anything?" Liu Zhi asked.

"The cannons are too far away; their accuracy and power aren't enough to threaten the city walls. Get closer, and they enter the enemy's heavy machine gun range; besides, the enemy's firepower is too fierce, and our infantry can't approach."

"Exactly."

"Then Battalion Commander, do you have a way to solve this problem?" Lv Muzhi asked.

"Me... I don't! You can see these things and thus avoid harm and seek benefit to a certain extent; as for what to do, leave it to the Principal and them to decide. At the last moment, we'll fully support the Principal."

Oh~ So this was probably an important reason Liu Zhi later deeply earned the Principal's trust: he had some vision, and besides obeying superior orders, even with some shortcomings in military ability, he had no problem with promotion.

But Lv Muzhi still spoke up what he had seen: "I don't know if Battalion Commander has noticed, but about a hundred meters to the right of the South Gate, the terrain has sunken somewhat; the city wall there, along with the battlements on top, are somewhat concave, and the wall is already deformed."

"Oh? Really?" Liu Zhi raised his binoculars to look carefully: "It does seem as you say, but we're not artillerymen, so who knows if we can blast through."

Liu Zhi made a note of it; Danshui City had resisted attack for a long time, and he must hold a meeting to discuss it soon. When the Principal asked for ideas, he could also say something.

What to do when encountering difficulties? Just hold a big meeting!

Inside the temporary headquarters of the Whampoa Headquarters, the battalion and regimental commanders formed a circle, watching the Principal seated in the main seat.

"What are you all looking at me for? I've sent out all three thousand elites of the Whampoa Cadet Army, so why can't we take a small Danshui City?" The Principal spread his hands, looking helpless.

He Yingqin stood up: "The firepower of Danshui City is too strong, and its defenses are solid; it really can't be taken in a short time. It will probably become a protracted war."

"Yes, the artillery is placed too far away, lacking power and accuracy; place it too close, and it will be shot by the rebels' heavy machine guns..." Chen Cheng complained.

Jiang Dingwen, regimental commander of the Second Teaching Regiment, also wanted to stand up and lay out the difficulties; while he was reasoning, the Principal quickly raised his hand for everyone to sit down.

"I'm not here to listen to you complain. If you have ideas, speak up. We must take Danshui City at the fastest speed; otherwise, reinforcements from the Huizhou direction will come to support Danshui City, and our siege forces will be caught between two fronts."

"If that's the case, we can only organize a Storming Brave Team, using the Storming Brave Team as an example to lead all officers and soldiers to attack to the death." He Yingqin immediately proposed.

The Storming Brave Team actually meant a death squad.

Everyone fell silent. The Principal stared at the officers of the Teaching Regiment: "Everyone must come up with a plan; no one is allowed to just sit there!"

Unexpectedly, the Russian military advisor General Galun proposed a bold idea: "Since we want a quick decision, we must take certain risks. Today is overcast, and there will be no moon or starlight at night. I propose that at night, under cover of darkness, we push the cannons to a position very close to Danshui, and at dawn, bombard the city walls at close range to open a breach!"

Bayonets on cannons? Everyone was amazed at this Russian's idea; indeed, it was simple and crude.