20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 605: Incompetent Generals and Commanders, Exhausting the Army

Before the front-line soldier could finish his words, Zhao Zhengbei immediately reached out and covered his mouth.

Over the past few days, he knew that the morale of the troops on the battlefield had been shaken and could no longer withstand any more bad news.

Looking back, they saw all the soldiers in the trenches staring at the two men with different expressions. The new recruits looked afraid and the old soldiers were retreating.

Although no one said it explicitly, the atmosphere of defeat had already spread throughout the camp.

"What are you looking at? Are you trying to kill yourself?" Zhao Zhengbei ordered quickly, "The entire battalion should be on alert and be ready to meet the enemy at any time!"

After that, he called two of his trusted men and took the man to the grove next to the camp for questioning.

The soldier had just returned from the front line. He was extremely excited and swearing. Also, because he was temporarily deaf, he was always shouting and yelling, which was very disturbing.

Zhao Zhengbei could understand the other party's anger.

The soldiers on the front line fought bloody battles, while the reinforcements in the rear watched from the other side. No one could swallow this bitter pill.

However, now is not the time to curse each other and shirk responsibility.

Zhao Zhengbei pressed the soldier to the ground and asked hurriedly, "Brother, which unit are you from? What's the situation on the front line now?"

Unfortunately, the other party didn't hear clearly, and was still cursing loudly: "Fuck your mother! A bunch of cowards, we have been fighting for three days and two nights at the front line, and the shells are almost gone, and you still don't come! Which unit are you from? Wait until I get back to the military governor's office and tell you to death!"

Seeing this, Zhao Zhengbei had no choice but to grab the man's collar and yell into his ear, "Are you here to quarrel or to pass on orders? What's the situation on the front line?"

This time, the soldier finally heard the question clearly, and then shouted: "Mr. Wu is leading the Third Army Division to supervise the battle at the front line. The elite troops of the Zhi army are all in the west. The ammunition is tight at the front line, and the brothers are about to collapse. The division headquarters has called you eight hundred times, and you still don't go up. What are you waiting for?"

Zhao Zhengbei was shocked when he heard this.

The 3rd Division of the Central Army was Wu Xiucai's personal guard unit, inheriting the 3rd Regiment of the New Army in the late Qing Dynasty. It was a well-known division that was always victorious in attack and battle.

This sounds a bit absurd. The Republic of China has been in existence for eleven years, and the most capable ace troops across the country are still the ones left over from the Big Head's training days.

Surprised, Zhao Zhengbei asked, "I haven't received any orders. Which unit did you call for reinforcement?"

"Who the hell are you calling? We've called everyone from the second and third echelons!" the soldier shouted, "Except for the Chahar Cavalry Brigade, I haven't seen any reinforcements since the battle began! The messengers we sent over have all fucking run away, not a single one has returned!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhengbei suddenly understood.

No wonder the marching progress in the past few days was inexplicable, sometimes advancing and sometimes retreating, and finally going around in circles. It turned out that the superiors were afraid of fighting, but at the same time did not want to miss the opportunity to gain military merit, so they deployed troops according to the situation on the front line.

When the situation at the front line improved, he immediately ordered a forced march; when the situation at the front line became tense, he immediately turned around and retreated.

There is a saying: Incompetent generals will exhaust the army!
After all, the Fengtian Army originated from the outlaws, and the corruption in military discipline is in their bones. The bandits may not be afraid of death, but after becoming wealthy, the original wild spirit is gone. Even if they still have that energy, it is just a show of bravery. They only know how to do things recklessly, but do not understand the art of warfare.

The poor supply of soldiers and the slack military preparations are not the most important problems.

There are only eight words that can truly determine the outcome of the Fengtian Army's war: do not give in if you win, and do not rescue if you lose.

Although Zhao Zhengbei was not well educated, he had at least spent a year in military school. Due to his personality, he became furious when he heard the news.

At this time, two of Bei Feng's closest confidants asked, "Captain, what should we do now? No one from the second echelon is going, so should we still go..."

"go with!"

Zhao Zhengbei answered decisively.

The two confidants looked at each other and said, "Captain, there are at least two and a half divisions fighting on the front line. We only have one battalion, so it would be useless if we went there, right?"

"What are you talking about? It won't be in vain if we go!" Zhao Zhengbei stood up and said, "Ammunition is in short supply at the front line. It would be great if we can deliver a few dozen boxes of shells. We can't just sit there and do nothing!"

"The artillery battalion is all at the brigade headquarters, and there's none in our front line!"

"I'll go ask the brigade commander for it!" Zhao Zhengbei said as he walked, "You two take care of him, and have all the brothers in the battalion hold their ground and wait for my news!"

The two men nodded, helped the man on the ground up, and said yes in unison.

In fact, Bei Feng didn't want to leave his position.

Normally, this task of delivering messages should be done by an adjutant or a confidant, but seeing the turbulent morale of the troops in the trenches, Zhao Zhengbei was afraid of missing out on military opportunities.

If you randomly send someone back to the brigade to deliver the letter, he might run away halfway, which would waste time.

Although the two confidants were reliable, Zhao Zhengbei deduced from the news sent back from the front line that the brigade commander would definitely be unwilling to send reinforcements. The two men's military ranks were too low, and their words were not taken seriously. Not to mention persuading the brigade commander, they might not even be able to see him.

After much thought, he decided that it would be safer for him to do this mission personally.

Fortunately, the brigade headquarters is not far from here. If we ride at full speed, we can go back and forth in ten minutes. Even if it is dark and difficult to travel, it should not take too long.

As he spoke, Zhao Zhengbei walked to the camp and brought over a chestnut warhorse carrying supplies.

Seeing this, several veterans in the trenches quickly jumped out with their guns, chased after him, and asked in surprise: "Captain, are we going to retreat?"

"Damn it! The Zhi army's front line hasn't even come over yet, why are we retreating!" Zhao Zhengbei pulled out his service pistol, glanced across the trenches, and said sternly, "Anyone who dares to argue about retreat will be punished according to military law and shot on the spot!"

Everyone lowered their heads. They all knew that Bei Feng was an accurate shooter and was also the highest commander of the position, so naturally no one dared to act rashly.

However, Zhao Zhengbei knew very well that this method could only calm the situation temporarily; if he wanted to stabilize the morale of the army, he still had to rely on good news from the western front.

"Company commanders!"

"Have!"

The three officers responded and came up to Bei Feng.

Zhao Zhengbei ordered: "The first company will send out a reconnaissance team to the front to gather information. The second and third companies will stay behind to defend their positions. Carry ammunition and supplies with you and be ready to fight at any time. Anyone who dares to disrupt the morale of the army, flee without permission, or disobey military orders will be executed on the spot!"

"Yes!" the three officers answered in unison.

Only the commander of the second company, who was slightly younger, answered and then added timidly, "Battalion commander, do I need to consult the brigade headquarters about this matter?"

"You're deserting the battlefield, and you're still asking for instructions!" Zhao Zhengbei cursed, "Whoever dares to retreat will be shot. I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong. I'm going to the brigade headquarters now, so wait for my news!"

Just as he finished speaking, there was a sudden explosion in the night sky.

The violent roar was like thunder, rolling towards this side.

Everyone looked confused, and the military morale, which had just stabilized, became restless again because of this.

In fact, the sound of artillery shells has never stopped since dusk, and the soldiers have even become accustomed to it to the point of turning a deaf ear to it.

But this time was different from the past. The explosions actually came from the rear, and they were out of control, one after another, without stopping for a moment.

Soon, the familiar roar passed over my head again. "Buzz——"

"Look, the plane is coming again!"

Someone shouted loudly in the trench.

Everyone looked up and saw two more planes flying overhead.

However, this time the plane did not just pass by quickly, but swooped down suddenly when approaching the position and said "hello" to the soldiers.

Although it was difficult to see clearly in the night sky, this unusual behavior still made everyone lie down subconsciously.

In the dim shadows, two pitch-black "iron lumps" were seen flying down in a parabola shape.

"Air raid, there's a bomb!"

Zhao Zhengbei shouted loudly and then jumped into the trench.

Almost at the same time, a huge flame exploded on the east side of the camp.

The strong heat wave blew up sand and rocks, and small shrapnel scattered all around. The heads of the soldiers in the trenches were suddenly covered with a layer of dust, and their expressions of fear were clearly revealed against the backdrop of the war.

The flames had not yet gone out when the second explosion occurred, and a faint smell of burnt food wafted through the air.

Everyone lay quietly in the trenches, not daring to move, until darkness returned once again and rustling sounds gradually began to be heard all around.

Fortunately, there were only two bombs.

The position of a mere Marine battalion does not seem to deserve more "care".

What's more, the Zhi army's planes are not big, have little ammunition, and have a short range. At most, they can only bluff people. The air force is far from capable of taking on the task of turning the tide of the war.

When he stuck his head out of the trench, Zhao Zhengbei discovered that the two bombs had just hit an extremely off target. Although the officers and soldiers of the entire battalion were shocked and several people in the rear were scratched by shrapnel, overall, they were almost unscathed.

Having said that, the soldiers' mental defenses were on the verge of collapse.

"We can't take down the front line, the rear is under bombardment, and the Zhi army is coming down from the sky. What's the point of fighting this war?"

"Why hasn't the brigade sent us any news yet? Have we been left here alone?"

"We can't fight this war! We can't fight this war at all!"

There were complaints everywhere. Zhao Zhengbei looked around and couldn't tell who was complaining, or rather, it seemed like almost everyone was complaining.

At this time, several veterans ran to Bei Feng and volunteered, "Captain, send me to the brigade headquarters? Send me, send me!"

"No one is needed, I'll go by myself!" Zhao Zhengbei climbed out of the trench, turned around and shouted, "Brothers, wait for me for ten minutes, just ten minutes, hold your ground, the Zhi army hasn't attacked yet, don't embarrass our fellow countrymen!"

Without giving further explanation, Bei Feng turned around and went to look for the horse. The warhorse had been frightened by the bombing and was now hiding near the woods.

Zhao Zhengbei hurried over, grabbed the reins, jumped on the horse, and galloped towards the brigade headquarters in the dark night and amid the rumbling of artillery fire.

The war horses were neighing and all I could hear was the whistling of the wind, as if a flood was about to break through the dam.

The closer we got to the headquarters, the clearer the sounds of the field artillery became, and we could even vaguely hear the sound of machine gun fire.

Zhao Zhengbei began to panic. If the Western Route Army was attacked from both sides, how could they support the front line?
Soon, they arrived at the central army camp.

Looking from afar, one could see the campsite was ablaze and in ruins.

There were still embers burning on the top of the tent of the temporary command center; there was no one guarding the armory; the wounded soldiers fled in all directions, and the seriously injured fell to the ground and died. Only good friends were by their side, but there was no army doctor to rescue the wounded.

Some people were rushing to put out the fire, some were shouting loudly, and some were running around like headless flies. The scene was already as chaotic as it could be.

It seems that the second echelon of the Western Route Army was the focus of the air raid just now, while the heavy artillery that the Fengtian Army was proud of was parked quietly in the corner, without moving at all.

When Zhao Zhengbei led his horse into the camp, no one came forward to inquire about the situation, and no one explained the current situation.

Occasionally, someone would bump into him and he would grab him and ask about the battle situation in the army. The other person couldn't explain clearly for a long time, and just kept repeating: "It's over, it's over, the Zhi army is coming, run, run!"

"Where did the Zhi army come from? Tell me!" Zhao Zhengbei asked angrily.

"They're coming from the sky! The planes are bombing!" The man was talking nonsense, his sentences not connecting to each other. "The 2nd Brigade and the 9th Brigade were bombarded and all of them were scattered. The one who came out from the ground must be a traitor. We're next. One is in the sky, and the other is underground. Let's run! It will be too late if we don't run now!"

"Fuck you, you're done!"

Zhao Zhengbei pushed the panicked soldiers away, found a place to harness his horse, and then ran quickly towards the headquarters tent.

At this time, the gunfire behind the camp suddenly became more frequent, as if the enemy was very close.

"What's going on? Are the Zhi troops surrounding us from behind?"

Zhao Zhengbei asked his attendants anxiously, but no one answered.

Amidst the chaos, someone could be heard shouting, "The supervision team is behind us, hurry into the city, run to the capital!"

So, several groups of soldiers fled towards the southeast again.

Zhao Zhengbei had no time to care about anything else. He hurriedly opened the curtain, lowered his head, and walked straight in.

After entering, I found that it was a complete waste of time. It turned out that the back of the big tent had already been broken open, and the battle sand table and war map were scattered all over the place.

But what shocked him even more was that in the huge temporary command center, there was only one communications soldier squatting in the corner, holding a field telephone and looking anxiously.

The telephone seemed to be broken, and the communications soldier was busy repairing it. He looked a bit clumsy and like a half-baked person, just fiddling with the wires, and it was unclear whether he was reliable or not.

Zhao Zhengbei subconsciously thought that he had walked into the wrong tent, so he went out to check, and sure enough, he walked back in and rushed to the communications soldier.

"Brother, what's going on? Where are all the people?"

"He ran away." The signalman said indifferently, "Don't bother me."

Zhao Zhengbei was feeling very unhappy, so he immediately pulled the man up from the ground and reiterated, "I'm asking where the brigade commander is!"

The signalman glared at him and said, "I'm talking about the brigade commander. If he ran away, he ran away. Do you not understand what I'm saying or what?"

"Run away? When did he run away?"

"I couldn't find anyone before dark. What are you asking? Don't bother me. I'm fixing the phone!"

(End of this chapter)