Chapter 64

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

Liu Zhi saw the steamboat's speed slow, water still gurgling into the hold below, and he was stunned at once—was his Second Battalion going to be buried in the Pearl River, feeding the fish?

But the captain wiped sweat from his forehead while saying, "Commander, don't worry, the steam engine isn't damaged; we're only four hundred meters away—before this boat sinks, we'll have charged ashore!"

Liu Zhi then let out a breath: "Fourth Company! Fifth Company! Suppressing fire, prepare to land!"

Seeing the steamboat carrying soldiers was now only four hundred meters from the rebel position on the beachhead, already within rifle effective range, Liu Zhi immediately ordered the soldiers to open fire for cover.

The Second Battalion had two heavy machine guns attached; Lv Muzhi's company had been assigned one, which he had already set up at the bow early, sweeping the beachhead wildly.

On the Shougou Ridge beachhead position, the rebels were thrown into confusion for a moment.

Originally, the positions around Shougou Ridge were meant to resist enemies coming from the east by land, mainly guarding against the Whampoa Student Army occupying Shapai Station along the railway.

Who would have thought the Whampoa Student Army would launch an amphibious assault directly—a steamboat towing a string of civilian boats charging over from the south bank of the Pearl River, with an old Yingying Warship called in for support.

Although this warship's naval guns were old, with poor accuracy and short range, they were still very effective for boosting morale and intimidating the enemy.

The rebels, unable to bear the harassment, diverted some artillery to bombard the Yingying Warship, and some to bombard the steamboat charging at the very front.

"No good, concentrate fire and blow that broken warship to hell for me! So infuriating! Bring the heavy machine guns over here to deal with the Whampoa Student Army when they land!"

Behind the Shougou Ridge position, inside Shapai Station, Yang Ximin and his division commander Zhao Chengliang were eating lunch.

Shapai Station was where the Yunnan-Guangxi Allied Army headquarters was stationed; using the train station as headquarters, Yang Ximin had his own little calculation in mind.

Yang Ximin's little calculation had long been settled: once the mutiny failed, he would take the train back to Guangzhou City, detour to the Shameen Concession, and still save his life.

At this moment, gunfire blazed on the Pearl River beachhead at Shougou Ridge, while Yang Ximin enjoyed lunch with his division commander Zhao Chengliang, unaware that great disaster was about to descend.

Boom!

The old cannon on the Yingying Warship fired a shell, which, incredibly, struck squarely into the interior of Shapai Station, leaving even the sailors on board dumbfounded—they had clearly aimed at the rebel artillery position, so how did it fly into the station?

The shell landed right near the rebels' dining table; Division Commander Zhao Chengliang was blown into two pieces on the spot, while the others were covered in ash, faces full of shock.

"Damn it! What's going on? Did the enemy come up?" Yang Ximin hurriedly hid behind cover and shouted loudly.

"Not yet; Division Commander Zhao Chengliang's men are blocking the Whampoa Army's forced crossing of the Pearl River at Shougou Ridge!"

"Damn it, tell Zhao Chengliang to hurry to the front line and command from the front—I don't believe they can land with a few broken boats. Zhao Chengliang? Zhao Chengliang! Gone mute?" Rebel Supreme Commander Yang Ximin shouted, urging Zhao Chengliang to go to the front immediately to supervise the battle.

"Supreme Commander! Division Commander Zhao... was blown into two pieces." A subordinate said in a panic.

Yang Ximi went to look, and the meal he had just eaten nearly came back up—his subordinate Division Commander Zhao Chengliang had only his upper body on the ground, his lower body long since vanished.

"Supreme Commander! The enemy's steamboat has charged ashore!" A messenger ran over in a hurry to report.

Yang Ximi's heart trembled—Baiyun Mountain and Shougou Ridge were also being fiercely attacked by the Whampoa Army and the Yue Army, and now Shougou Ridge was being stormed by the Whampoa Army; the situation was far from optimistic.

Liu Zhenhuan, the Guangxi Army garrisoning around Baiyun Mountain, also sent word of an emergency: "The Yue Army is coming with great force; urgent support is needed!"

Upon hearing this news, Yang Ximi directly prepared to take the train, leading the headquarters to retreat into Guangzhou City for the next phase of resistance, while leaving troops to continue defending the beachhead.

Who would have thought the railway workers went on strike, none showing up for work, and the train couldn't start for the moment.

Helpless, Yang Ximi could only lead a detachment on foot into the city, but as soon as he entered, he was struck by the Workers' Picket Corps—a crowd of common folk with red cloth strips tied to their arms, raising guns and firing at Yang Ximi's troops. Helpless, Yang Ximi could only run about inside the city, breaking out on all sides.

At the same time, the Village Militia and Civilian Corps of the Baoyue Association, along with the Peasant Self-Defense Corps of the Peasant Association, came in groups from Foshan, marching mightily into Guangzhou City from the west side.

The Yunnan and Guangxi rebel armies' main target was the Yue Army and Whampoa Army to the east; they hadn't expected such a potentially huge armed force, which would join hands to deal with them, so no defenses were arranged at the West Gate either.

Inside Guangzhou City, the Baoyue Association's Village Militia and Civilian Corps, the Workers' Picket Corps, and the Peasant Self-Defense Corps instantly filled the city; any rebels retreating into Guangzhou City would be struck, and the rebels inside the city could not organize to huddle together for a time.

Around Shougou Ridge, the steamboat had already charged onto the beachhead, water still draining from shell holes beneath the bow; the Fourth and Fifth Companies of the Second Battalion of the First Regiment kept jumping down from the ship.

On more than ten civilian boats towed behind the steamboat, the Sixth Company of the Second Battalion couldn't wait to reach shore, jumping directly into waist-deep water at the Pearl River bank, following the Fourth and Fifth Companies' steps to launch an attack on the beachhead.

Besides the Second Battalion under Liu Zhi of the First Regiment serving as the commando to cross the river first, behind them were Whampoa Second Phase and Third Phase junior students, led by Acting Student Corps Commander Zhang Zhizhong, mixed with over a thousand Yue Army soldiers, forming a two-thousand-strong river-crossing force as the second echelon for the river crossing.

As soon as Liu Zhi's Second Battalion's steamboat touched the beach and landed, Zhang Zhizhong, overall commander of the second echelon, gave the order, and two thousand men set off in boats together, closely following the Second Battalion's footsteps to launch an attack on Shougou Ridge on the opposite bank.

Two steamboats, countless fishing boats, steamships, and sampans instantly filled the Pearl River around Shougou Ridge; Yunnan Army shells kept exploding near the sampans, the splashing river water soaking the uniforms of the Whampoa students and soldiers.

Although Yang Ximi's Yunnan Army troops were usually lax, they could hold out for a while once fighting began, remaining relatively composed on the front line.

Smoking a bowl of opium before the battle made them feel light as a fairy once fighting began, adrenaline surging, and they no longer cared about life or death.

Seeing that not only had one battalion of Whampoa Army already landed on the beachhead first, but also two thousand Whampoa Army men on over a hundred boats as the second echelon were now force-crossing the Pearl River.

Although the rebels were temporarily leaderless, they still used machine guns and rifles to fiercely block the attack.

As soon as Liu Zhi's Second Battalion landed, it drew concentrated fire from the Yunnan Army soldiers.

Machine gun and rifle bullets made the mud on the beach splash seven feet high, and the soldiers in the front row fell like harvested sorghum.

Lv Muzhi gritted his teeth, found Liu Zhi: "Battalion Commander, we can launch an assault toward the right front; there's a depression there where we can avoid the rebels' shooting fire!"

Lv Muzhi was very familiar with the terrain around Shougou Ridge, and Liu Zhi knew this, agreeing at once:

"Good! Muzi, you take the Fourth Company to open the way; messenger! Order the Fifth Company Commander and Sixth Company Commander to gather their troops, prepare to assault the depression to the right front!"