During the Battle of Anshan Lake, he was still the leading soldier lying on the bow of the ship.
When they swept through Qingzhou Prefecture, he was the squad leader.
Halfway through the Battle of Menglianggu, he was promoted to platoon leader by the front line because the original commander was killed.
After the fourth regiment was formed, he was transferred and became the commander of the first company.
However, no one envied him, thought he was opportunistic, or had any background.
Shen Xun was promoted quickly mainly due to two factors.
One is to be literate.
As a talented scholar from Laiyang, Shen Xun's cultural level was very high.
Other soldiers were extremely literate. He was familiar with poems, songs, and articles.
With a cultural foundation, Shen Xun learned very quickly. He mastered various military skills much faster than other soldiers.
Secondly, he has combat experience.
The other soldiers were all ordinary people before joining the army. Not to mention guns, they had never touched a knife.
But he is different.
Before joining the New Army, he followed Zuo Maodi, Jiang Cai, Jiang Gai and others in the Laiyang Defense Battle.
Therefore, when other soldiers wet their pants when they saw the blood, fire and dead bodies, he was able to act as usual and fight bravely.
After capturing the wall, the first company did not stop. After establishing its position, it continued to move forward.
The road to the top of the mountain is becoming increasingly difficult to walk, with rocks and rocks all over the place, greatly blocking the view.
The few soldiers in front suddenly screamed while running, and they all fell to the ground. Before they could get up, iron spears pierced out from the cracks in the rocks, taking away their lives.
The fire support from behind was already very fast, but the gap in the stone was too small and bullets could not penetrate at all, so it did no harm to the enemy.
Shen Xun saw this and shouted: "Set fire."
To deal with stone bunkers, the best weapon is not muskets or artillery, but flames.
Immediately, several soldiers took out glass bottles containing some muddy yellow liquid.
The soldiers threw out the glass bottles and smashed them all onto the undulating pile of rocks. The glass shattered and the liquid inside flowed everywhere.
Another soldier took out a powerful crossbow. The arrowhead of the crossbow was wrapped in oil-soaked cotton cloth, which was already set on fire.
An arrow passed by, instantly turning the pile of rocks into a sea of fire.
After a while, screams began one after another from behind the stone, and dozens of White Lotus Sect thieves came out and ran back in panic.
The soldiers of the New Army were angry at their dirty tricks and shot all of them to death on the ground.
The glass bottle contains not ordinary vegetable oil, but petroleum extract.
People near Le'an and Lijin discovered that black liquid would emerge from the ground, which would ignite when exposed to fire and could not be extinguished even with water, so they would use it to make fires.
The staff of the Intelligence Department found this kind of thing in the market and brought some back, but they didn't know its purpose for a while.
Zuo Mengeng was overjoyed after seeing it and taught him the method of distillation and extraction, thus obtaining gasoline, diesel and other base oils.
Nowadays, even the steam engine has not been realized, and the internal combustion engine is even more distant. Therefore, the greatest use of these petroleum refining products is in the military.
Used at this time, the effect is extraordinary.
However, although the White Lotus Sect rebels hiding behind the rocks were eliminated, the first company was unable to move forward due to the fire, so they had to wait for the fire to extinguish naturally.
Shen Xun asked the messenger to send a message to the neighboring troops to inform him that the attack here had stopped.
The third company next to it also stopped after receiving it. For a time, there was a brief calm on the battlefield.
Taking advantage of this time, the artillerymen dismantled the left battalion's artillery, carried it to the front, reassembled it, and prepared for the second wave of offensive.
Shen Xun counted the number of people and asked: "Each platoon reports casualties."
"One platoon, seven people were killed and three were injured..."
"Second Platoon, one person was sacrificed and seven were injured..."
"Third Platoon, five people were sacrificed and two were injured..."
Deputy company commander Wang Xingwu was recording on the side, and he felt distressed for a while when he heard a number.
"I said, Lao Shen, you have to take your time and don't kill all our companies."
Shen Xun was very good at mental arithmetic and wondered: "Aren't there only twenty-five casualties, only a quarter, why are we in such a hurry?"
Wang Xingwu cursed loudly.
"Your boy will go to the military academy to report after this battle. I still have to spend my time here. After all the people are beaten, won't I become a bare commander?"
Shen Xun frowned.
"Who did you hear that I was going to the military academy?"
Wang Xingwu’s eyes were swollen.
"Isn't this obvious? You, Old Shen, are knowledgeable and capable. Now is the time to employ people. Who will promote you if you don't promote them? After this battle, you will have enough qualifications. You will definitely go to the military academy for further study. Then. When we come out, at least a battalion commander can't run away. Hey, I just don't know if I can come back?"
Everyone else knew that once Shen Xun went to the military academy, it would be impossible to return to the old army.
The third division is being formed in full swing, and there are too many places lacking officers. People with ability and experience like Shen Xun will definitely be enriched into the new unit.
Shen Xun actually had a premonition, otherwise, he would not have been the main attacker in this battle.
But everything was just conjecture. He was afraid of shaking the morale of the army, so he hurriedly said: "It's a false story, why are you talking about it? In the face of a fierce battle, it's better to fight it first and then talk about it."
Wang Xingwu also gave up his inappropriate thoughts and returned to the battlefield.
"The high ground in front must be captured, otherwise, no matter which side we attack from, we will be beaten on our heads."
Shen Xun is also thinking about it.
In fact, that highland is not a highland, it is just a huge boulder. The height difference is about twenty meters. The side facing the New Army is almost vertical and cannot be climbed at all.
If you want to go up, you can only go around from both sides.
But the problem is that if you take a detour, you will be crushed and beaten by people on the boulders.
Shen Xun invited the artillery commander over.
"What, can your artillery hit the rocks?"
The artillery commander observed for a long time and gave a bad answer.
"No, there is no angle."
Their current location is only more than two hundred meters away from the boulder.
If the Zuoying artillery fires directly, the shells will only hit the cross section of the boulder, causing no damage; if it fires in a deflected direction, the shells will fly over the boulders and remain ineffective.
However, the terrain behind them is downward, and the artillery cannot retreat, otherwise the elevation angle will become larger.
Since the artillery could not be counted on, Shen Xun had to find a way on his own.
He looked back and forth with the telescope, not to mention, he really discovered a place that had been neglected.
"Lao Wang, look, the distance between the small platform in the south and the big rock is no more than 500 meters, right?"
Wang Xingwu didn't know why, but he still nodded.
"About four hundred and seventy meters."
Shen Xun said enthusiastically: "Although that platform is not big, it is enough to accommodate a squad of soldiers. With this squad, we have a horizontal firepower point that can hit rocks from the side."
Wang Xingwu felt that he was being fanciful.
"What are you thinking about? There are so many big trees in the middle, you can't even see them on both sides."
Shen Xun showed a ruthless side.
"There are trees? Just burn them down. We have incendiary bombs, why don't we keep them?"
Wang Xingwu couldn't help but feel frightened as he looked at the endless vegetation on the hillside.
"This won't start a fire, right?"
Shen Xun didn't care.
"That's not good. If everything is burned, these thieves will have no place to stand."
Wang Xingwu was frightened.
"It is said in the book that Zhuge Liang will lose his life if he sets fire to Bowangpo."
Shen Xun was furious.
"Bah, that's feudal superstition. It's just nonsense in the novel. In history, Zhuge Liang never burned Bowang Po. Bowang Po was an ambush, not a fire attack."
Wang Xingwu's cultural level is not high. What he likes most is listening to operas. He was hesitant when he heard the words, "Really?"
Shen Xun was too lazy to talk nonsense with this guy.
"Tell Class 7 to seize that small platform. Class 9 and 10 will prepare Molotov cocktails and burn that forest for me. The second row will take cover and don't let Class 9 or 10 be touched."
Following his order, a raging fire suddenly ignited on the mountain. After a while, black smoke rose into the sky, and the fire dragon roared and swept towards the top of the mountain. All the vegetation along the way became fuel, and the entire turtle was covered with roof. shrouded in it.
Halfway up the mountain, Zuo Mengeng, who was watching the battle, happened to see this scene and clicked his tongue.
"This fire attack is beautiful, who did it?"
Fu Yijian returned after a while and said, "This is Shen Xun, commander of the first company of the Fourth Regiment of the Second Division."
Zuo Mengeng laughed loudly.
"You scholars have bad minds."
Fu Yijian was so embarrassed that he didn't understand why even a good person would end up being shot.