Chapter 58

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

"Where is Xu Ji's Seventh Brigade? Have they reached the enemy's flank?" The Principal looked toward the enemy troops densely covering the top of Dagong Mountain opposite, and couldn't help but feel a bit of fear.

"There's no news yet from the Seventh Brigade, and the liaison officers we sent haven't found them; they very likely got lost!" the Staff Officer said.

"Our army is in danger! Without the Seventh Brigade, our combat strength for this battle is 1:10, and our army has no advantage at all;

Training Regiment One alone faces Lin Hu's tens of thousands of elite troops. Once they can't hold out, everyone in this headquarters will become prisoners!" The Principal looked at the officers in the headquarters, clearly feeling that this time they might very well fall here.

General Galun was very angry: "The Left Route Army's Yunnan Army and the Central Route Army's Guangxi Army see us in trouble, yet they hold their troops back. It's obvious they've already changed their minds!"

Everyone remained silent. Even if the Yunnan Army and Guangxi Army had changed their minds, the Principal and the others were helpless. Not to mention going back to settle accounts with them; right now, Lin Hu alone was enough to give them a headache.

Currently, the Right Route Army's Guangdong Army Second Division is holding the territory they previously captured. The Independent Seventh Brigade has been outflanking for half a day and has lost contact directly. Training Regiment Two has gone to the South Side to pin down another enemy force.

Only Training Regiment One remains, facing the Rebel Main Force in an east-west standoff. Training Regiment One is stationed on Bangshan Mountain, while the Rebel Main Force is stationed around Dagong Mountain.

Training Regiment One has been fighting for consecutive days and still has over 1,200 men. The Rebel Main Force has 6,000 men, stationed around Dagong Mountain, with other mobilizable forces nearby, totaling over 10,000.

The two armies faced each other, with the closest distance being no more than 500 meters.

He Yingqin stationed Training Regiment One's regimental headquarters on the high ground at the top of Bangshan Mountain. The First and Third Battalions advanced one to the left and one to the right to keep watch, blocking the Rebel Armies from approaching the regimental headquarters.

The Second Battalion and the Regiment Direct Unit served as the Reserve Force, ready to go into action at any time to provide support.

Lv Muzhi stood beside Second Battalion Commander Liu Zhi. Although they were the Reserve Force, he could see that Liu Zhi's face was not relaxed.

Looking at the rebel armies densely covering the top of Dagong Mountain opposite, Lv Muzhi felt his scalp go numb.

With such a disparity in troop strength, whether they were frontline troops or the reserve force, they would eventually be pulled out to fight the enemy. And by then, the Reserve Force might become the only combat-effective unit, facing the surging rebel armies alone.

To boost troop morale, the Principal brought the Whampoa Headquarters directly to Training Regiment One's regimental headquarters on Bangshan Mountain to command from the front, with a strong resolve of "either succeed or die trying."

At seven-thirty in the morning, at the foot of Dagong Mountain, the rebel armies began to surge.

"Charge! Kill an enemy soldier, reward ten silver dollars! Capture a Whampoa Student Army soldier alive, reward fifty!"

Under the incentive of money, the rebel armies sent out over 1,000 men and launched the first assault toward the First Battalion's position on the Left Wing.

The First Battalion was assigned two heavy machine guns. Although the machine gunners were trembling inside, without an order from their superiors, they would absolutely not rout on their own.

Plus, the Principal was supervising the battle from behind on a hilltop, so no one dared to speak of retreating. First Battalion Commander Jiang Dingwen shouted: "Brothers, from Guangzhou to Dongjiang, we've fought bloody battles for hundreds of miles. Now we've reached the final moment. Show the might of our First Battalion. Victory belongs to us!"

The battle cries and gunfire shook the heavens and earth.

Behind on Bangshan Mountain, at the Reserve Force position, Liu Zhi clenched his fist with sweat, but still put on an appearance as calm as Pinghu, saying to Lv Muzhi: "You see... this Cotton Lake battlefield is just this big. The enemy only sent out over 1,000 men to attack our Left Wing. Why is that?"

Lv Muzhi glanced sideways at Liu Zhi. The fine sweat on his forehead had already betrayed him. Perhaps only by finding the feeling of teaching at the military academy on the battlefield could he cover up Liu Zhi's unease.

Just as someone nervous might touch their nose or adjust their glasses, when Liu Zhi was nervous, he sought the feeling of when he was a teacher.

"Although the rebel armies come with great force, their resolve is not yet sufficient. So they use over 1,000 men to probe our Left Wing, leaving themselves room to maneuver."

Liu Zhi nodded, hearing from Lv Muzhi's mouth exactly what he wanted to hear, and his heart settled somewhat: "Indeed it's a probe. Next, Regimental Commander He Yingqin will definitely order the artillery to open fire, then order the Third Battalion on the Right Wing to advance and press against this attacking force of over 1,000 enemy troops from the side."

As expected, to relieve the pressure on the Left Wing's First Battalion, Chen Cheng brought the Artillery Company and sent shell after shell into the enemy position, greatly shocking the rebel armies' attack on the Left Wing. The Right Wing's Third Battalion feigned an advance to outflank, causing the rebel leader commanding the attack to panic greatly.

Winning or losing the battle doesn't matter, but they absolutely cannot die! That is the rebel armies' rule. They gather for profit; without their lives, even the greatest benefits are useless. So they began to retreat, returning to the Dagong Mountain position.

Liu Zhi wiped the sweat from the tip of his nose and said: "Muzi, look. The positions of the First Battalion on the Left Wing and the Third Battalion on the Right Wing are not good. They're deployed on flat ground at the foot of Bangshan Mountain, too close to the regimental headquarters, with too little depth and not enough defensive elasticity. Taking advantage of the enemy troops' temporary retreat, Regimental Commander He will definitely order the two battalions to advance and occupy the Small Highland, expanding our army's defensive depth."

Lv Muzhi nodded: "Not bad. But this way, after the Left Wing and Right Wing occupy the high ground on both sides, although they expand the depth, the middle becomes empty. If the enemy troops charge hard into the middle, that will be when our Second Battalion goes into battle."

Liu Zhi drew his pistol: "Exactly! Pass the order down, prepare for battle!"

As Liu Zhi's words proved true, the First and Third Battalions each advanced several hundred meters and occupied a Small Highland to deploy.

At the same time, the order from the regimental headquarters requiring the Second Battalion to prepare for battle was also passed down.

Dagong Mountain, rebel camp. Lin Hu himself came to the frontline.

Lin Hu had seen the entire probe attack just now.

"What's going on? The Whampoa Student Army's defensive line has moved forward. Don't you see it?" Lin Hu asked.

The minor leader on the scene said: "What does it matter? Plus the troops you brought, we have a full 10,000 men. Ten against one, and we're still afraid we can't win?"

Although Lin Hu was dissatisfied, he wasn't too angry. In his view, swallowing this Training Regiment was only a matter of time.

"I brought three earthen cannons over to support you. In a moment, you'll use them to launch a full attack on these student armies' position. After capturing the student armies, coordinate with Yang Ximin and the others from the Yunnan Army, and the entire Guangdong Province will be ours. Haha!"

"Why don't Yang Ximin and Liu Zhenhuan come directly to support us and swallow these student armies all up?"

"Hmph, these two old foxes are still watching and waiting. To put it bluntly, they still don't have much confidence in us. Once we swallow these student armies and prove our strength, only then will they be willing to coordinate with us! Pass the order down: launch the general attack in fifteen minutes. Send 2,000 men to attack the Left Wing, 2,000 men to attack the Right Wing. Twenty minutes after the two routes send troops, send another 1,000 men from the Center to charge up Bangshan Mountain and directly take Training Regiment One's regimental headquarters!"

"General Lin... can we wait a moment? The troops just arrived here at dawn and haven't eaten breakfast yet..."

Lin Hu was stunned: "Why haven't the troops eaten breakfast?"

"Originally we planned to eat breakfast after capturing these student armies, but now it seems that won't work. We can't let the brothers starve to death, can we?"

"Originally I planned to take down this Student Army before breakfast, but now it seems that won't do; I can't let the brothers starve to death as Ghosts, can I?"