Republic of China 1927

() On August 16, 40, on the north side of Zhaojia Village on the outskirts of Xuzhou, on the No.[-] Fourth Army Mountain Artillery Battalion of the National Revolutionary Army, the artillerymen sat on the ground in twos and threes, supporting the infantry on the front line for a day. It is exhausted.

"Dinner is ready, dinner is ready!" The cooking soldiers in the cooking platoon brought white rice and pork stewed vermicelli to the position and yelled. The artillerymen immediately surrounded them, and the hard work finally paid off. The fly in the ointment was that there was no pepper in the dishes. Taste a bit bland.

Deputy Zhang Dabiao of the Artillery Battalion sat down next to Battalion Commander Zhao Fuwu with an enamel bowl, and said while eating, "If the Battalion Commander continues to fight like this, we will run out of shells in at most three days!"

"Light it up, light it up. Commander Ye has no choice but to go all out because of the urging from above." General Zhao Fu swallowed a large piece of fat in his mouth, and said slowly: "I heard that Commander-in-Chief Jiang came to the front line in person, who would dare to fight?" act dumb."

Zhang Dabiao frowned and said: "The shells are all gone, there is still a bird for our cannons!"

"That's the reason, but it's not our business." Zhao Fuwu paused for a moment, and then said in a low voice: "However, Commander Ye told me that Nanjing just imported a batch of mountain artillery, and they need to add more than a dozen for us. 44 Army!"

"Is this true?" Zhang Dabiao said overjoyed. With more than a dozen cannons, their mountain artillery battalion can definitely be expanded into an artillery regiment. Deputy and battalion commander.

"The horoscope has not been written yet, so don't spread it indiscriminately. Right now, these dozen or so old antiques are still ours." Zhao Fuwu whispered.Thinking about it makes me aggrieved, I have been the commander of the artillery battalion for two or three years, and I was originally at the same level as myself as a regimental commander.But no wonder others, the Shanpao Battalion is still the Shanpao Battalion of the 44th Division of the Hunan Army. The 44th Division took refuge in the Northern Expedition Army and was expanded into the [-]th Army. As for a company and a cannon.This is not only the case with the [-]th Army, but also with all units of the Northern Expedition. Since the Northern Expedition, the infantry has expanded and expanded, but the artillery and cavalry that can be attached to it have become less and less.

Zhang Dabiao smiled innocently, picked up a large piece of meat and ate it deliciously.Since Commander Ye said it himself, it probably cannot be faked.

After eating a few large pieces of meat, there will be enough oil and water in the stomach, and the artillerymen will talk more, and the chattering makes the artillery position very lively.The infantry on their flanks, who were in charge of security tasks, were not treated so well. They could only drink some vegetable soup while watching others shoot cannons all day, and watching others eat meat when it was getting dark.As for their responsibilities, I am afraid that few people take it seriously. This is the rear of the 44th Army, and it is very safe.

The artillery on the position and the infantry in charge of vigilance did not realize that there were two to three hundred well-equipped soldiers hidden in the low cornfield only two or three hundred meters away from them.

"Leader, do it!" After crawling on the ground for a long time, Du Fei asked impatiently in a low voice: "These bastards are eating, and we rushed up and hit them by surprise!"

"Wait a little longer!" Du Yan shook his head and said, "The infantry on the high ground haven't eaten yet." In fact, the evening is not a good time. Just moved the position.

"They've eaten it!" Through the densely packed corn stalks, they saw a few cooking soldiers carrying several baskets full of steamed buns to the infantry's alert position, and the soldiers rushed forward to fight for it.

"The reconnaissance company moves up!" Du Yan waved his hand, and the reconnaissance company, led by Du Fei, crawled towards the small highland.Before he had time to make camouflage uniforms, Du Yan had no choice but to tie some leaves and grass to the soldiers according to local conditions. From a distance, it really looked like that, and the color of the grass was actually very close.The artillery position was chaotic, and they didn't pay attention to the abnormality here.

A few minutes later, the reconnaissance company had already moved under the enemy's nose, and an infantry company hiding on the other side was also ready to attack.

"Mortar ready!"

"put!"

Following Du Yan's gesture, the two mortars hidden in the cornfield spoke first, and the two shells flew into the air and went straight to the enemy on the small high ground.

The officers and soldiers of the reconnaissance company immediately jumped up when they received this signal, and rushed straight to the high ground. The shell guns, light machine guns, and submachine guns in hand all rang out. prey.

The ambushes from the other side also launched an attack from another direction, and the countryside that had just returned to tranquility boiled over again, with one hand grabbing steamed buns and gnawing fiercely, while the infantry fighting with their companions with the other hand was dazzled by the sudden attack. , completely forgot to pick up a gun to fight back, and many people were shot dead with steamed buns in their mouths.

"Enemy attack, enemy attack" was the first reaction from the artillery position. Battalion Commander Zhao Futian yelled to direct his artillery to counterattack, but his men's first reaction was to run towards the artillery, as if it was just the dozen or so guns. The big guys are their weapons, but at the moment of hand-to-hand combat, those big guys are not as easy to use as bayonets.

"Da da da..." After defeating the alert infantry on the high ground, Du Fei held a light machine gun and led the friends of the reconnaissance company to the artillery position, while the infantry of the other company chased and fled. of the enemy.

Zhang Dabiao killed two or three fleeing subordinates in a row, but still couldn't stop the artillery battalion from collapsing, so he rushed up like crazy, but was smashed into a sieve by machine guns. Mix with a battalion commander and do it.

The green hills were left without worrying about no firewood, and the battalion commander Zhao Futian was much smarter, and immediately led dozens of his men to run out when he saw something wrong. As for the Shanpao who had been with him for many years, he really didn't care.

"Don't chase, blow up the cannon!" Du Yan stopped the scouting company that was going to pursue. The most important thing right now is to blow up the dozen or so mountain cannons. Otherwise, once the surrounding enemy troops hear the news and come to reinforce them, it will be a waste of time. up.

Du Fei touched the dark cannon barrel and said to Du Yan regretfully: "Commander, why don't we take these big guys back?" Seeing these big guys is a bit greedy.

"Fuck you!" Du Yan knocked on Du Fei's head angrily and said, "If you have the ability, you can carry it back to me! Don't hurry up!" Besieged by the arms embargo of Britain and the United States these days, mountain artillery is indeed very precious , but the dozens of old antiques in front of me are not worth regretting.What's more, he has already placed an order for Marcos, and it won't be long before the artillery company of the Jingwei regiment can be formed.

As a mountain cannon was blown into the sky, the raid mission in the evening was more than half completed. The most important thing next was to get rid of the pursuers and retreat to a safe place.There is such a big movement here, it is impossible for the 44th Army to not respond, especially the enemy cavalry a few miles away, they should have been dispatched.

"Throw them all away, and retreat immediately!" Du Yan pointed to a soldier carrying two or three rifles, and he seemed to have heard the sound of horseshoes in the distance.At a distance of three or four miles, the cavalry can catch up in less than ten minutes, and they will be caught up quickly with heavy loads.

The Cavalry Battalion of the Forty Army indeed began to assemble as soon as they heard the movement, but it was during dinner, and when they came to the rescue after they had assembled, they only saw dead bodies and fragments of bombed cannons all over the place.

"Question, they must not have run far!" Zhao Tianming, the battalion commander of the cavalry battalion, briefly inspected the battlefield, and then ordered loudly: "Revenge the artillery brothers!"

"Battalion Commander, we still..." The battalion deputy of the cavalry battalion was about to shout, but dozens of cavalrymen had already rushed out with the battalion commander. What he wanted to say was that the enemy's situation was unknown, so we should report to the army first before making a decision. .When it was first reorganized, there were three or four hundred cavalry in the 44th Army Cavalry Battalion, but after more than half a year of melee, there are now less than half of them.

On the vast North Jiangsu Plain, the cavalry unit has a great advantage in dealing with infantry. A battalion of cavalry can easily defeat a battalion of infantry in motion, and infantry will have to suffer unless they rely on strong terrain for defense or ambushes. To lose this 200-man cavalry battalion would require at least a thousand troops.

"Heaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..." The sound of horseshoes is getting louder and louder, the brigade of cavalry is getting closer and closer, and the dust raised up behind them fills the sky.

"Bang, bang..." Many cavalrymen raised their carbines and shot wildly from a distance. Unfortunately, the distance is too far and the marksmanship is not good, so few can hit. Even this will further strengthen the galloping horses. momentum.

Seeing the prey running slower and getting closer to him, Zhao Tianming, the commander of the cavalry battalion in the lead, pulled out the saber from his waist and raised it high. At this time, his face was extremely ferocious.

"Nainai, why did he suddenly disappear!" The rout who was running on the road suddenly flashed into the grass beside him, Zhao Tianming couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, and slowed down slightly to let the brothers behind follow up.

"The original ran over there!" There was a turning point ahead, and those rout soldiers went straight down and took a shortcut. No wonder they couldn't see them just now, but no matter how fast two legs can run, they can't run with four legs!

"Rush!" Zhao Tianming raised the saber in his hand very chicly and rushed up quickly. Dozens of cavalry also followed suit. From their point of view, the panting and rout soldiers running ahead were just a group of soldiers waiting. slaughter the lamb.

"Da da da……"

"Bang bang bang..."

When these cavalrymen had just rounded the bend, machine guns of various lengths, light and heavy, all spoke in the grass on both sides, and bullets sprayed over, forming a net of death, entangled the dozens cavalry.

"Damn it, I got hit!" Zhao Tianming didn't even have time to sigh before he was swept by bullets and fell heavily off his horse. In just one or two minutes, dozens of riders behind him were also wiped out.

The lieutenant of the cavalry battalion who was hundreds of meters away saw the tragedy, and quickly stopped his men who were trying to rush for reinforcements, and hurriedly beat their horses and retreated.

"What a pity!" Looking at the local cavalry fleeing far away, Zhu Qigui said regretfully: "If I knew it earlier, I would have waited to shoot!"

"Old Zhu, if you shoot later, my head will be chopped off by these idiots!" Du Fei pointed at the cavalry lying on the ground and smiled, "Damn it, my legs are so weak from being chased." !"

"Don't be poor, hurry up and clean up the battlefield!" Du Yan kicked Du Fei's foot with a smile and scolded, "Don't be sorry, Lao Zhu, you may not be able to eat if you really rushed here together."

"En!" Zhu Qigui nodded and replied, "Fortunately, the head of the regiment chose a good place, and Du Fei's performance was real enough, otherwise it would be really difficult to repel these cavalry."

"Don't be stunned, prepare to retreat!" Du Yan waved his hands and said: "The other party may stick to it again at any time."

Commander Du set up an ambush here just to give the opponent's cavalry a head-on blow, so as to get rid of their entanglement and retreat to a safe zone.Now the opponent has been severely injured, but there is no guarantee that someone who is not afraid of death will chase after him.

"Where are we going to withdraw?" Zhu Qigui scratched his head and asked. Before the action, Captain Du said that he could almost turn back after completing this vote.

Du Yan looked at the western sky full of red clouds and said firmly: "Go to the southwest first, and then find a foothold to rest for two days before we talk about it."

Zhu Qigui stared wide-eyed and asked, "Wouldn't that be going further and further away?"

"Let's go." Seeing that Du Fei and the others had finished cleaning the battlefield, Du Yan said lightly without explaining.To the southwest is the hinterland of the Northern Expeditionary Army on the entire Xuzhou battlefield, but the most dangerous place is also the safest place. On the contrary, if the encirclement and suppression troops of the 44th Army returned by the same route, they would have been there long ago.

m. to read.