Chapter 90

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

The enemy's assault on Zhangjiang Gate on the western front failed, and they could only gather beneath the city wall to dodge bullets.

The soldiers on the south and north city walls intensified their firepower, deploying heavy firepower at the southwest and northwest corners respectively to prevent Deng Ruzuo's troops from the south and Zheng Junyan, Yang Genghe, and some soldiers from the north from approaching the western city wall.

Beneath Zhangjiang Gate's city wall, about a battalion of enemies had gathered; at this moment they could neither climb the wall nor flee back to the north or south side, because heavy machine guns had been added to the southwest and northwest corners of Nanchang City, and running out now would face the merciless sweeping fire of machine guns.

The enemies could only press tightly against the western city wall to evade the firepower from atop the wall.

Upon learning that hundreds of enemies trapped beneath the city wall were in a dilemma, Lv Muzhi ordered the soldiers to throw more torches down for illumination, then quickly ran to the barbican.

The barbican was a protruding part of the city wall, from which one could see the condition of enemies beneath the walls on both sides.

With over a hundred torches thrown beneath the city wall, the enemies gradually came into view.

"Heavy machine guns! Fire!" Lv Muzhi shouted.

The heavy machine gunners discovered the enemy army hiding beneath the wall, and from the protruding barbican position, crazily shot at the enemies below from the side; Lv Muzhi also grabbed his submachine gun and attacked the enemies beneath the city wall with firepower.

With no way to escape, the enemies finally panicked and ran in all directions, some jumping west into the Gan River, some heading north, some south.

The fate of the enemy troops who jumped into the Gan River was unknown, but those who dared flee south or north would surely be shot by the heavy machine guns deployed at the southwest and northwest corners of the city wall.

By dawn, the enemies on all four sides of Nanchang City's walls had temporarily retreated.

The area beneath the city wall was littered with enemy corpses, especially under Zhangjiang Gate, where enemy dead numbered over five hundred.

On the city wall, the soldiers dared not slacken in the slightest.

Lv Muzhi had already ordered people overnight to collect high-proof baijiu, kerosene, tung oil, and other items from within the city, and to gather the limited glass bottles and a large number of earthenware jars, to make incendiary bottles.

Although it was already a war of the twentieth century, in the unique city wall offense and defense of Huaxia, ancient defensive measures were still highly effective.

While Lv Muzhi was arranging the city defenses, Liu Zhi sent a messenger, taking advantage of the enemy's temporary retreat, to slip into Nanchang City.

"Regiment Commander Lv, Regiment Commander Xue, Officer Liu Zhi now serves as the overall commander of the First and Second Divisions; officers of both divisions are under Officer Liu's command." The messenger looked at Xue Yue.

Xue Yue nodded: "Since Wang Bolin is incapable, I am willing to accept Division Commander Liu's command."

"Officer Liu conveys the Principal's order: under any circumstances, Nanchang City must be held and not retreated from; the Second and Third Armies are attacking the Zhangshu enemy to the south, expected to arrive beneath Nanchang City in three days; as long as Nanchang City is held, all officers in the city will be promoted one rank!"

Lv Muzhi smiled and looked at Xue Yue: "Regiment Commander Xue, after fighting to the death, we finally have something to look forward to."

Xue Yue simply nodded calmly: "Promotion or not is secondary; as a revolutionary soldier, since the Principal and Officer Liu have given orders, my Third Regiment will naturally live and die with Nanchang City. Please report to Officer Liu that Xue Yue and all officers and men of the Third Regiment will not betray this trust, and will hold out until reinforcements arrive."

"Me too!"

The messenger waved and led Lv Muzhi aside, whispering: "Regiment Commander Lv, Officer Liu has a private word for me to convey;

Officer Liu says the situation is perilous; if the matter cannot be done, preserving a useful body is the best policy; Officer Liu will do his best to provide cover from the opposite bank, and afterward can also save Regiment Commander Lv's life, sparing him from military law."

Hearing this, Lv Muzhi was stunned, looked at Xue Yue, then patted the messenger's shoulder: "You go back; no matter how many days the Zhangshu side fights, Nanchang City will surely be safely handed over to the Northern Expedition Army."

Seeing off the messenger, Lv Muzhi immediately discussed with Xue Yue, redistributing their limited forces, dividing the collected baijiu, kerosene, and tung oil into glass bottles and earthenware jars to make a large number of simple incendiary bottles, distributing them to the guards of each section of the city wall,

while the tung oil was boiled in large pots to deal with the enemy's wall-climbing attacks.

On Yangzi Island in the center of the Gan River to the north, Zheng Junyan, Yang Genghe, Deng Ruzuo, and Xie Hongxun gathered again, and everyone's expression was clearly grim.

Deng Ruzuo irritably slapped a telegram on the table: "Just received an urgent report; the Zhangshu direction is critical; Zhu Peide's Third Army and Lu Diping's Second Army are attacking fiercely; our brothers left there probably can't hold out for two or three days! Once Zhangshu falls, the Northern Expedition Army's main force can advance north directly and press upon Nanchang!"

Xie Hongxun also added in a low voice: "Marshal Xin sent intelligence that we must take Nanchang as soon as possible; the main force of Li Zongren's Seventh Army has already been detected moving west of Jiujiang, clearly intending to thrust straight into De'an County, cut off our Nanlin line, and attack our rear."

"The Seventh Army?! Weren't they in Hubei? How did they get here so fast!" Yang Genghe said in surprise.

Zheng Junyan took a deep drag of his cigarette and pushed another telegram to the center of the table: "Marshal Xin (Sun Chuanfang) has issued a clear order! The enemy in the Jiujiang western direction will be personally commanded by him to deal with, and he will surely be able to stop Li Zongren;

as for us four, we must think of every possible method; before Zhangshu falls, we must with all our strength take Nanchang City and Niuhang Station! And promptly deploy defenses within the city, using these two places as a bridgehead for our army's subsequent operations in Jiangxi."

Deng Ruzuo realized the seriousness of the matter: "Fight! We must take it! Concentrate all artillery fire, push all troops forward, even if we have to pile up human bodies, I want Nanchang City piled down for me!"

Xie Hongxun also went all out: "Same on my side! From today, launch uninterrupted attacks on Niuhang Station; absolutely not let Liu Zhi have a moment of peace, absolutely not let a single soldier of his cross the river to reinforce Nanchang, and not let him send a single shell to reinforce Nanchang City!"

Yang Genghe nodded: "The reinforcements of two mixed brigades will also arrive soon; at that time we will all be thrown into the siege operation; Zhangshu can be lost, but Nanchang City must be retaken!"

Zheng Junyan: "Good! That's settled! Rest for half a day, launch an all-out attack in the afternoon! I want to see how long those few thousand remnants in the city can hold out!"

Boom boom boom!

The Beiyang warlords acted as soon as they said it, moving all sizes of artillery to beneath Nanchang City to cover the infantry advance.

Outside Nanchang City, which had been quiet for less than half a day, artillery fire far denser than before sounded.

Zheng Junyan and the others went all in, pushing almost all the artillery they could mobilize to the front line to deal with Xue Yue at City North.

Deng Ruzuo's force, reinforced by a mixed brigade, concentrated its firepower and poured it onto the south city wall under Lv Muzhi's responsibility.

Shells fell like hail on the ancient city wall, behind the machicolations, and in the deep areas within the city; the common people within the city also suffered an undeserved disaster.