Chapter 273: The Arrival of the Yangtze River Fleet

"Faster! Even faster!"

Jiang Anguo, wading through the mud with one foot deep and the other shallow, turned back and roared at the unit behind him.

"Damn rain," Jiang Anguo muttered.

As June approached, the Jianghan area also began to rain.

Rain lashed his steel helmet like a whip, producing a crisp "crack‑crack" sound, then coalesced into a stream that ran down his cheek.

"Step, step, step..."

Thousands of military boots sank into the mud, emitting a dull, sticky thud. Behind each man a trail of mud prints remained; they were soldiers of the Independent Regiment, marching north under the cover of night and torrential rain.

Jiang Anguo's Independent Regiment at Lashu, after three days of aerial express, went from Lashu to Changde, finally completing the air‑transport mission.

All 3,578 members of the regiment arrived in Changde, while Regiment Commander Yao Quanyi and the Independent Regiment's First Battalion had already reached the designated combat zone, Wufeng Mountain.

This time Jiang Anguo led his Guard Company of five hundred men, departing only one day later than Xu Guozhang's 150 Division; he set out on May 27.

Along the way, they rode whenever they could; when they couldn't, they rode horses. Now, with the heavy rain, riding was impossible, so they could only march or run on foot.

From mechanized Infantry Company to Cavalry Company, then to Infantry.

"Heaven, you motherf***ing, are you out to spite me!" Jiang Anguo wiped the rain from his face and couldn't help shouting to the sky, "It kept raining nonstop in that cursed place Myanmar, and after finally getting back to Huaxia, you still give me rain! I'll blast you with my gun!"

His curse hung in the air when a pallid lightning bolt ripped the night sky, instantly lighting the world as bright as day.

Immediately after!

Boom!!!

A deafening thunderclap exploded as if right above their heads, making eardrums buzz and hearts skip a beat.

Jiang Anguo shivered all over; his earlier swagger was instantly shattered by the thunder.

Instinctively he tucked his neck in, forcing a grin uglier than crying onto his face, and muttered to the pitch‑black sky, "Heaven, I... I was just kidding you, damn it!"

The soldiers behind him, though exhausted to the point of collapse, couldn't help letting out a low, suppressed chuckle at the Regiment Commander's cowardice.

That brief laugh eased some of the march's fatigue and tension.

Jiang Anguo had no time for his comrades' teasing; he glanced at the oilcloth‑wrapped watch on his wrist, its hour hand already pointing to 2 a. m. His heart was gloomier than this cursed weather.

Xu Guozhang's 150 Division was scheduled to launch a full‑scale assault on the Japanese Army positions at Yidu at dawn tomorrow.

Jiang Anguo's Independent Regiment had only reached the strength of a single battalion, but of course Regiment Commander Yao Quanyi's battalion was not weak; weapons and equipment, including artillery, were also in the force.

It merely lacked heavy siege artillery.

Jiang Anguo's mobile depot existed to deliver firepower to the front line.

"Everyone, rally your spirits!" Jiang Anguo snapped back to his thoughts and roared again.

Rather than saying Jiang Anguo was cheering the Guard Company's soldiers, it was more that he was urging himself—his two legs were about to give out!

Rain, sweat and mud mingled together.

They must arrive before dawn.

The rain showed no sign of stopping; instead it grew more violent.

In a sparse forest a few miles from Jiang Anguo's main force, the Independent Regiment's communications company was working anxiously.

Several soldiers strained to raise the antenna high, anchoring it with their bodies and ropes to keep the gale from toppling it.

A military radio was placed beneath a massive oilcloth; the operator, wearing headphones, turned the knobs with full concentration, capturing the faint yet crucial signal amid a cacophony of static interference.

Xiao Si, watching the rain‑soaked surroundings tensely, felt this place was as dangerous as Myanmar, guarding the perimeter of this makeshift command post.

The rain had soaked both layers of his uniform, yet he seemed oblivious, his eyes scanning the surrounding darkness vigilantly.

His mission was simple: ensure the radio's contents reached the Young Master as quickly as possible.

Suddenly the operator's body jolted; he swiftly scribbled a series of beeping codes on the telegram paper, then, without looking up, shouted, "150 Division urgent telegram!"

A few minutes later, the translator, his face ashen, handed over a telegram sheet.

Xiao Si took it, and by the weak light of the kerosene lamp instantly saw the words that made his heart sink: "Yangtze River, enemy vessels, several ships, moving downstream."

Before he could digest the news, a rapid call came through the radio again. It was the Independent Regiment's own backup frequency, a telegram from Regiment Commander Yao Quanyi sent from Wufeng Mountain!

Almost simultaneously, a second telegram was translated. Its content was much like the 150 Division's, but Yao Quanyi's added a crucial detail: "Enemy vessels have strong firepower, identified as Japanese Army river gunboats, extremely fast, target... Yueyang!"

Xiao Si's mind buzzed.

Two telegrams, two different sources, both pointed to the same terrifying conclusion: that the Little Devils from the Yichang direction had an inland fleet that had now set out to reinforce Yueyang!

Xiao Si instantly understood what that meant.

At this moment, Xiao Si had been staying by the Young Master's side, soaking in everything, and thus knew some things.

The Japanese Army forces toward Yueyang had presumably already clashed with Xue Yue's troops.

Xue Yue's Nonary War Zone decided to counter‑attack Yueyang and had already entered the city, engaging the Little Devils in close combat!

Moreover, Li Yutang had thrown his trump card, the Denary Division, into the Yueyang meat grinder.

Zhou Qingxiang's Third Division found itself unable to withdraw; the fighting was too stalemated. The two divisions and the Little Devils' 6th Regiment wrestled over Yueyang railway station from day into night!

Victory or defeat would be decided in an instant, depending on who could endure to the end.

Now, the fleet's appearance was like a red‑hot spear, about to pierce the rear heart of the Third Division and all the assault forces!

"Young Master, where are you?" Xiao Si snatched up the two telegrams, ignoring his umbrella, and rushed into the storm‑laden night.

He had to deliver this news to the Young Master in the shortest possible time!

"Young Master! 150 Division and Yao Quanyi's urgent telegram!"

Jiang Anguo seized it; under the dim glow of the kerosene lamp the telegram's edges were water‑wrinkled, yet the script remained clear. His eyes flicked rapidly from "Yangtze River, enemy vessels, several ships" to "target… Yueyang," each character like a nail driving into his mind.

He jerked his head up, looked at Xiao Si, his gaze unusually grave, and managed only three words:

"Danger!"

These three words weren't referring to the Wufeng Mountain they were about to assault, nor to Xu Guozhang's 150 Division.

Jiang Anguo's mind raced.

Xue Yue deployed the elite 10th Army, 26th Army and others inside Yueyang City; this is the resources of the th War Zone. They are now fighting house‑by‑house with the Japanese Army in the city, killing each other in a tangled melee. Behind these troops lies the Xin Qiang River Defensive Line, the last barrier between them and rear‑area Changsha.

What if the Little Devil (Japanese soldier)'s fleet, carrying ground troops, lands at the mouth of the Yangtze River and thrusts straight behind the Xin Qiang River Defensive Line?

That thought gave Jiang Anguo a shiver.

Once the Xin Qiang River is cut off, Xue Yue's main force, including the 10th Army and 26th Army that are currently locked in bloody battle, will be completely surrounded beneath Yueyang City. Front has the Japanese Army's 6th Regiment that refuses to retreat, and behind are enemy reinforcements falling from the sky. At that time, it will be a case where the head and tail are hard to guard, and the entire elite main force of the th War Zone will face a disaster of being surrounded and annihilated!

And if these main forces are completely lost, Yueyang falls, and Changsha's gateway will be fully opened. Changsha, the core of the th War Zone, the city they would die to defend, will become extremely precarious.

Thinking of this, Jiang Anguo's heart sank to the valley Bottom.