It was still dark in the early morning of the next day. More than a dozen generals including Liu Zhi, Xu Tingyao, Cai Zhonghuan and An Yi had quietly stationed themselves in the large bunker of the frontline command post. They looked at the silent front of the position and listened to the sound coming from behind their own position.
The sound of the war horse's neighing made everyone feel very nervous and full of expectations.
The dry and biting north wind blew the trees in the wilderness, and a ray of dawn appeared on the eastern sky. The overlapping clouds were dyed golden by the rising sun.
Suddenly, the rumbling sound of artillery broke the silence, and the screams of the rapidly flying artillery shells drowned out all the sounds on the ground. In an instant, the front and rear of our position turned into billowing smoke, flying vegetation, and thick gunpowder smoke.
The light that had just been shed was soon dispersed, and the area for several kilometers was once again shrouded in darkness.
The sudden large-scale artillery bombardment launched by the enemy is still continuing. The command post has been completely shrouded in gunpowder smoke, making it impossible to see anything at all. Violent explosions continue in the distance and near, and the soil above the bunker is scattered one after another, destroying everything in the bunker.
All the generals and schools were dyed like natives.
The communications staff officer was shouting into the phone in the deepest corner, asking whether the various units at the front were engaged in fierce battles with the enemy. An Yi listened carefully and found that except for the explosions of mountain artillery, artillery and mortar shells, he did not hear anything.
The sound of light and heavy machine gun fire, mixed with the explosions of artillery shells, and the probing fire of machine guns at various positions were so faint that if you didn't concentrate, you wouldn't hear them at all.
An Yi thought for a while and felt uneasy. He got out of the bunker and lay down on the edge of the trench, struggling to look at the front position that was blocked from the sky and the sun. He pricked up his ears and listened quietly to distinguish the various sounds coming from the north wind.
A few minutes later, An Yi slid down the trench and returned to the command post. He ran to Xu Tingyao and Liu Zhi who were covering their mouths and noses and observing the front, and asked loudly:
"The enemy has never launched an artillery bombardment for such a long time in many days. Is the enemy going to charge towards our position?"
"What--"
The dense explosions made Xu Tingyao unable to hear what An Yi was talking about.
Liu Zhi, who was calm and composed, got the general idea, and instead asked the disgraced An Yi loudly: "Did you hear the sound of machine gunfire and the cry of killing?"
"No! We have been shelling continuously for more than ten minutes, and there is no movement. Is the enemy crazy?" An Yi shouted in confusion.
Liu Zhi wiped his face, turned to the observation port and stared hard at the smoke-filled front. After a while, the sound of the gunfire gradually became thinner, but the smoke had not dispersed. Liu Zhi suddenly figured out something, turned around and shouted: "No
OK! The enemy is running away!"
The generals in the command post were shocked. Cai Zhonghua listened to the sparse whistling and explosions of artillery shells, and asked with some confusion: "No way? Such intense artillery fire lasted for seventeen minutes, why not
Attack but escape?"
"Oops... I can't explain it to you for a while, so you are right to listen to me!"
Liu Zhi was so anxious that he turned around twice and a half, and shouted an order to Staff Chen who came to him: "Give me the order, all charge to Tonglu City! Quick!"
"yes……"
Staff Officer Chen hurriedly ran inside and shouted orders to a group of communication officers and soldiers. Immediately, seven or eight telephones rang, and Liu Zhi's orders were quickly transmitted to various positions.
After a while, thunderous shouts came from the positions several kilometers ahead, and the assault horns were heard one after another. Liu Zhi strode out of the command post. The generals followed Liu Zhi and swarmed out. They saw An Yi coming from fifty
He ran over from the corner of the trench meters away, with a look of joy on his face.
Liu Zhi felt relieved and asked with a smile: "When did you run out?"
"After listening to the master's conclusion, my subordinates thought it was very reasonable. I didn't care about anything and immediately rushed to the back of the mountain and notified our regiment's model battalion and the second battalion. The brothers of the third battalion took the lead in charging. Master, please see, I guess I am independent.
The regimental and model battalion flags were already one kilometer away."
After An Yi finished speaking, he lay down on the edge of the trench, took out his binoculars and looked intently, cursing with joy as he watched.
Liu Zhi and others had no time to say anything, so they all threw themselves at the trench and looked north. Seeing that the revolutionary officers and soldiers swarming forward did not encounter any resistance, and the sound of gunfire was also sparse, they immediately understood that the enemy defenders in Tonglu had really escaped.
, otherwise we would never have allowed the revolutionary army to rush to the city without any resistance.
As expected by Liu Zhi, the seventeen-minute artillery attack just now was actually carried out by the Tonglu defenders to cover the escape of the large troops. The generals praised the division commander's rich experience, and they all realized the miracle of General Bai Chongxi.
The plan worked. The headquarters set up by Meng Zhaoyue and Sun Chuanfang in Xindeng City must have been easily captured by three friendly divisions, directly threatening the retreat of the more than 40,000 enemy defenders in Tonglu, forcing the defenders in Tonglu to abandon the city in panic and flee, otherwise they would never have been able to do so.
Abnormal phenomena appear before your eyes.
Cai Zhonghuan put away the telescope and came to An Yi, and poked An Yi, who was concentrating on observing the front: "You boy moved fast enough. The three battalions of yours were at the front. The sound of blowing up the city gate just now
The explosion is scary enough... Let me ask you, at this point, why are you so anxious?"
An Yi looked around and saw that no one was paying attention. He immediately whispered in Cai Zhonghuan's ear: "Brother, it won't be fun if other brothers rush in first. Where will the little brother's oil and water be there? I'll let him."
Chen Zhibiao's Third Battalion rushed in to control the enemy's headquarters, government offices, military camps, arsenals, opium dens and other important facilities in the city, allowing Jinan and Lao Ye to lead the Model Battalion and Second Battalion brothers to immediately pursue the fleeing enemies, capture and pursue them
Both are correct, otherwise where will the benefits come from?”
Cai Zhonghu laughed loudly after hearing this, pointed at An Yi and praised in a low voice: "I have convinced you. I fought you all the way and turned you into an old ruffian. Haha! I thought you wanted to join the model camp with your independent group.
The battle flag is planted on the tower, it turns out that you are so cunning."
"Don't worry, the warriors of the brother armies will soon plant their battle flags all over the city. Most of the main regiments take reputation very seriously. As for my younger brother, take interests a little more seriously, especially
In this battle, there is not much meaning in trying to put the battle flag on the top of an empty city. At most, it will get a few words of praise at the post-war summary meeting, which is the same as when Senior Brother Chen Mingren planted the battle flag on the top of Huizhou City during the Eastern Expedition.
How can their feats be compared to each other? Haha... Let’s go too. Master and the others can’t wait any longer. They march into the city with their heads held high like a victor. It’s something to be proud of, haha!”
An Yi put away the telescope, pulled Cai Zhonghuan, who was extremely emotional, and followed the enthusiastic general down the mountain.
At seven o'clock in the morning, Huzi, Qu Muchen, Xia Jian, and Gu Changfeng stood on the high ground at the foot of Baizhang Mountain and talked in a low voice. When they saw a group of sentries sent out to guard the front, riding horses from a distance, everyone immediately raised their telescopes and looked south.
, I saw dust flying several kilometers to the south, and the noise was faintly heard. Everyone immediately realized that the fleeing enemy was really coming.
A group of sentries rushed to the high hill where Huzi was standing and loudly reported: "About three thousand enemy troops are rushing in from south to north. Running in front are more than one company of cavalry, about two kilometers away from our position.
"
Beard nodded slightly: "Well done! You go down and rest."
"yes!"
Beard shouted an order to the herald at the foot of the hill: "Commander Lu, immediately notify Captain Chu Xianzhi at the east pass. When you see the enemy forward rushing within 300 meters, immediately detonate the east pass!"
"yes!"
Huzi turned to the excited Gu Laoer and Xia Jian: "You guys should go back to your own positions and take command. Hidden, place the enemy about 150 meters away, and then beat him violently. As soon as your gunshots are fired, I will give way to the formation."
The sixty mortars at the back will blow the enemy's formation into two sections, so you don't have to worry about the enemies swarming into the position if there are too many or too close."
"yes!"
Time passed by, and the enemy's leading cavalry, who were the first to abandon the city and flee, came galloping in two groups. Judging from the number, there were two cavalry companies. The rumble of horse hooves echoed in the valley, and the war horses
The screams were clearly audible.
The enemy troops were getting closer and closer, and gradually came into view. Behind the cavalry, they were dragged into two long black dragons and ran desperately. When the enemy's leading troops rushed along the foot of the rolling mountain to about 300 meters to the east pass, there was a "boom" sound.
There was a loud noise that shook the ground. The broken stones and wood were sent up into the air by the violent force of the explosion, and then fell like rain, knocking dozens of cavalrymen who were rushing in front before they could stop in time. The hot air flow roared out,
Knock down all the cavalry within a hundred meters.
The rolling boulders and a large amount of soil above the pass crashed down, burying the six-meter-wide road at the east pass in the blink of an eye. The rocks and remaining snow that fell sharply from the mountain were still falling into the pass, piling up
There are layers upon layers, which are eight or nine meters high.
The sound of the explosion was still echoing in the wilderness. The Baizhang Mountain position to the west and the back mountain high ground by the river suddenly opened fire. The mortar position hundreds of meters behind the position roared, and dense rain of bullets and locust-like shells fell.
Among the panicked and screaming enemy group, the enemy troops fleeing north along the riverside road were quickly cut into two sections.
The enemy troops were hit head-on and retreated rapidly, leaving behind nearly a thousand corpses and nearly a hundred injured horses and swarming to the rear. Unfortunately, the fleeing enemies in the rear were already following, blocking the fleeing enemies more than 800 meters in front of the position.
within the area.
Upon seeing this, Huzi issued another decisive order. Sixty mortars that came together under the command of Captain Shi Junren fired another volley to extend the coverage. The six consecutive rounds of shells accurately fell into the enemy group and exploded.
The densely fleeing enemies were howling like ghosts and wolves, resulting in numerous casualties.
The fleeing enemies who were blown away in the chaos dropped everything and rushed to the river bank like a tide. The enemy generals who were running in front quickly jumped on the ferry on the small pier and fled to the west bank desperately.
On the west bank, the officers and soldiers of the 21st Division who had completed the new assault were rushing from north to south. The division commander in the team was serious. When the deputy division commander Chen Cheng was two kilometers away from the ferry, he heard the fierce explosions and dense explosions on the east bank.
They were very surprised by the sound of machine gunfire. The two discussed briefly and immediately ordered to advance at full speed to prevent the enemies of Tonglu from escaping north along the west bank. General Bai Chongxi's previous order to the 21st Division was: only to stop the enemies of Tonglu from escaping northward along the west bank.
The escape route on the west bank is enough. Let the enemy flee down the river through the waterway or flee north along the east bank avenue. When tens of thousands of fleeing enemies have fled to the south of Fuyang and are exhausted, they will find that all the retreat routes have been occupied by our army.
Having become a turtle in a urn, the only way out is to surrender.
Just as the soldiers of the 21st Division rushed to the planned blocking point, nearly three thousand fleeing enemies had successfully landed on the west bank. Both sides were shocked by the sudden encounter. The officers and soldiers of the 21st Division immediately opened fire and then launched a charge.
He killed and wounded hundreds of fleeing enemies who didn't even know where to throw them, and drove the landing enemies off the embankment in one fell swoop. Hundreds of enemy officers and soldiers rolled into the river and drowned in an instant. More than two thousand fleeing enemies were buried in the river.
Thousands of revolutionary officers and soldiers swarmed over and knelt down to surrender.
The more than 30,000 fleeing enemies who were blocked on the east coast were shocked to hear that their retreat was cut off, and became even more confused. The savvy ones abandoned their baggage and broke away from the troops. They rushed into villages and piers on the shore, snatched fishing boats, and fled through the waterways. Countless
Under the coercion of the commander, the frightened enemy troops cut down bamboos and tied them into wooden rafts, trying to pass down the only unblocked river. There were screams and chaos on the river, and infighting and mistakes could be seen everywhere with swords drawn at each other to snatch ships.
Enemy troops who fell into the water were everywhere, shouting and shouting. However, as a result, as many as thousands of enemy troops successfully rushed through the waterway that the revolutionary army had no time to block, and rowed desperately to escape downstream to Fuyang. Little did they know that General Tan Daoyuan's fifth division had already
Following the orders of General Bai Chongxi, he led his troops to lay a dragnet on the river section south of Fuyang and at the entrance of the cross-strait highway.
In the north of Tonglu City, tens of thousands of revolutionary officers and soldiers from the Independent Regiment of the Second Division, the Fourth Regiment, and the Sixty-fifth Regiment of the 22nd Division passed through the city, going all out to pursue the fleeing enemies. Everywhere they passed along the way, there were targets dropped by the enemy.
With baggage, horse-drawn carriages and even heavy machine guns, after only chasing seven kilometers, thousands of enemy troops were seen scurrying left and right like headless flies, all over the field.
The officers and soldiers of the Model Battalion and the Second Battalion of the Independent Regiment, who were leading the way, were in high spirits and had a strong fighting spirit when they saw this situation. Yin Jinan, who was on horseback, raised his carbine high and signaled his brothers to stop the pursuit. He ordered all the soldiers to load their guns and point forward to distance themselves. They raised their weapons and quietly
Aim at the stunned enemy in front.
Following Yin Jinan's loud roar, the officers and soldiers of the Model Battalion and the Second Battalion shouted in unison and advanced slowly. The shouts of "Hand in your guns and don't kill, treat the prisoners preferentially" shook the surrounding areas. The enemy's fighting spirit collapsed instantly. To the east was the vast mountain to the right
It was a surging river. Thousands of enemy troops who had nowhere to escape were desperate and could only throw down their weapons and raise their hands to surrender. A few die-hards ran around and resisted, but were quickly killed by bullets that flew accurately.
The officers and soldiers of the Fourth Regiment and the Sixty-fifth Regiment who followed immediately imitated the situation, and the roars of "Hand over your guns, don't kill" became louder and louder. More and more enemy troops surrendered, and they squatted on both sides of the road with their heads in their hands.
, waiting for the revolutionary army to escort them back to Tonglu City one by one.
Huzi and Qu Muchen saw that the enemy was far away from their positions and no longer dared to approach. After a brief discussion, they immediately selected more than 200 Jiangsu and Zhejiang officers and soldiers from the four teaching companies to join Xia Jian's 1st Battalion and the regiment's machine gun company.
Under the cover of the brothers, they marched out of the position and shouted in unison, "Hand in your guns and don't kill." Within a kilometer, more than 400 prisoners threw down their weapons and took the initiative to surrender. Xia Jian and the leader Qu Muchen immediately attacked them.
The captured soldiers were organized, lined up and walked in front of the team, raised the battle flag of the independent regiment and kept shouting in unison: "Brothers, the revolutionary army treats prisoners preferentially——"
Across the river, Sheng Sheng and Chen Cheng looked at the east bank dumbfounded. Almost all the soldiers of the 21st Division stood on the bank and looked eastward. They never imagined that tens of thousands of enemy troops would be killed before they could escape 20 kilometers from Tonglu City.
Intercepted, listened to the earth-shattering voices of Jiangsu and Zhejiang accents persuading people to surrender, and watched groups of prisoners walking towards the high-flying battle flags and voluntarily surrendering their guns. They were then gathered together by the officers and soldiers of the Anyi Independent Regiment to strictly guard them, but none of them fled again.
On the west bank that they blocked, the brothers of the 21st Division were very shocked and uncomfortable.
Shaking his head seriously, he said helplessly: "Brother Jing Fu is still one step ahead! He actually blocked all the tens of thousands of defenders, but I don't know how they detoured behind Tonglu? And the blocking battlefield was so chosen.
Well, it’s unbelievable!”
Chen Cheng smiled brightly: "Brother Jing Fu is a square and upright person, how can he be so cunning? This must be another masterpiece of that guy An Yi. That guy's shrewdness and calculation have long been rumored in our army, and he has never been so cunning.
I haven't seen him suffer any losses. He must have seen Commander Bai's plan and dared to take the risk of setting up an ambush here to intercept him.
It is said that this guy will plunder a lot of money every time he fights. His officers and soldiers have already developed the habit of plucking the hair of geese, and even the better shoes on the enemy's corpses are not spared. Therefore, his troops are better than any other.
The troops are rich, and the food for the officers and soldiers is top-notch. To be honest, I envy this guy, but we can’t learn this trick, haha!"
Shaking his head seriously, he sighed slightly, then thought of something and asked: "Tell me, will Commander Bai blame An Yi or the Second Division for this?"
Chen Cheng smiled again: "You can still be blamed for winning a battle, do you think it's possible? We were also urgently transferred to Yangchunqiao Town and didn't know how to make such a large circle to raid the headquarters behind enemy lines, but Commander Bai ordered our division to conquer the new area.
Deng immediately went south to block the attack and ordered the Fifth Division to capture Fuyang immediately, but he did not order us not to take advantage of the opportunity to expand our victory.
Similarly, Commander Bai ordered the Second Division to attack the city with all its strength, but he did not order the Second Division to stop the pursuit and capture prisoners after occupying the city. If I were brother Jing Fu, I would also let An Yi do the same thing. After occupying the city, he would not take advantage of the victory to pursue and expand.
What's the result of the battle? I just didn't expect that guy An Yi was so brave and did it so beautifully. It seems that this time we can only watch this guy get rich. Look at them, two or three battalions of troops actually captured
Tens of thousands of prisoners, and so many weapons, they are almost piled up into a mountain!"
Looking seriously at the turbulent scene on the east coast, listening to the orders from the officers and soldiers of the Independent Regiment to gather the prisoners, he shook his head and said helplessly: "Oh, the boats are gone, otherwise with your good relationship with An Yi, go over and ask them for something."
It will be good if the prisoner comes back."
With a thought in his mind, Chen Cheng immediately strode to the shore, formed his hands into a trumpet shape and shouted. The alert sentry from the teaching company of the Independent Regiment on the other side heard the sound and saw a short general from the friendly army calling loudly. He didn't dare to hear it clearly.
If he was negligent, he immediately ran to report it to Hu Jialin, deputy director of the regiment.
Hu Jialin heard that General Chen Cheng, an old acquaintance on the other side of the river, was shouting. He briefly explained to Gu Lao Er and immediately followed the sentry to the shore. The two communicated loudly across the river. Hu Hu agreed readily and loudly suggested that Chen Cheng go down the river.
About five kilometers away, there is a branch of the river over there, and there are probably boats in the wide bay.
In less than an hour, Chen Cheng indeed got eight large and small wooden boats. After crossing over to meet Huzi affectionately, he praised Huzi for doing a good job in reconnaissance, and even clearly knew a branch of the river several hundred meters away.
The two chatted for a while and then walked around the piles of prisoners with great interest. At Chen Cheng's request, Huzi ordered Qu Muchen to set aside four thousand prisoners and hand them over to the brothers of the 21st Division.
Chen Cheng thanked him repeatedly, and then happily ordered his men to lead the four thousand prisoners to the shore and cross to the west bank. It took more than three hours to send all four thousand prisoners across.
When Chen Cheng turned around, he found that more than 10,000 people from the east bank had already headed south, and only half of the team's tail was visible.