"I don't think it's that simple. I've seen people like this. The more they fight, the better they are at fighting. But they are becoming less and less capable and will soon suffer casualties in the battle." Li Dong has been in battle for a long time and has seen a lot.
"The more afraid you are, the easier it is to make mistakes. If you make a mistake, you will lose your fortune."
"If he is really going to be injured, we will conclude that he is not fit for service and call him out of the army."
"That's fine. Let's do it. I hope he has this luck."
It was dawn the next morning, and Li Dong was sleeping in a daze when he was suddenly awakened by a high-pitched and rapid bugle. He was shocked. This was a signal of "enemy attack"!
He quickly lifted off the military blanket and climbed up. He picked up his armed belt and tied it around his waist. He ran towards the parapet. The entire squadron in the camp was in a mess, and the soldiers in disheveled clothes hurriedly put hats on their heads.
, dragging the rifle and ran to the designated positions of each squad.
Li Dong climbed up to the observation tower that was piled up with the soil dug from the trench last night. Luo Mao was already on top. When he saw him coming, he immediately signaled him the direction of the enemy's situation.
"About three hundred people. Not officers and soldiers."
Li Dong picked up the telescope. The mountains around the stone stream blocked the rising sun. At this time, as the sun rose, the dawn light passed over the top of the mountain and dispersed the morning fog in the valley, exposing the enemy's figure that was sneaking closer at night.
Come out. Countless people gathered in front of the mountain pass, more than 300 people at a glance. The following people are still pouring into this small plain, as if there is an endless stream. Looking carefully, most of these people are invisible.
The armor, the banners, the weapons, and the clothing were all in disarray—they were indeed not officers and soldiers.
"Look at the dust behind, there will be troops following."
"Go to the town and report to Company Commander Wu!"
"Wuzhou Squadron, gather around me! Hurry!"
"Rifle team out!"
Passwords were shouted one after another, and disheveled officers rushed around, gathering the equally sleepy National Army soldiers into a team.
Could it be that yesterday's local warriors from Yangjiazhuang, who were stubborn, came here? From the confessions of the prisoners, they were indeed able to send out this large army. However, they suffered two defeats in a row yesterday, losing nearly 200 troops and retreated.
It's too late to go back and rest, so how come you continue to attack Shijian?
He observed the terrain and found that their situation was very unfavorable. The Wuzhou Squadron was hanging alone at Tangzijiao in the north. The right wing was mountainous, and the left wing was the 1st Squadron of the Guangning Brigade of the National Army. They were backed by half of the guard posts on the Suijiang River.
The area around the Shijian Embankment was fortified. The road in the middle was the junction of the two squadrons.
Li Dong knew very well that the Guangning 1st Squadron was a newly formed squadron with a small number of veterans and a large number of recruits. Since there were more recruits than the Wuzhou Squadron, its combat effectiveness was not reliable at all.
The 8th Battalion of Fubo Army was concentrated in Shijian Town behind them, and the logistics column and civilian personnel were concentrated at Tougang at the turn of Suijiang River.
"Let us take the lead in the front, what did Battalion Commander Yang think..." Luo Mao whispered.
"Stop talking! Pay attention."
Li Dong interrupted his subordinates' complaints. He knew very well: Yang Zeng's deployment was a common practice in defensive warfare: weaker troops were deployed on the front line to absorb the enemy's offensive momentum; waiting until the enemy's attack was delayed by the front-line troops
, when they lose their momentum, the elite troops on the second line will join in the counterattack.
It sounds like a very clever tactic, but the troops absorbing "kinetic energy" on the front line are not so easy. They often suffer heavy casualties, and sometimes even the entire army is annihilated.
Speaking of which, our National Army is still "cannon fodder." Li Dong felt uncomfortable for a while. He quickly expelled this "not absolute loyalty" from his mind and ordered loudly: "Commander! You go and talk to the 1st Squadron."
The captain contacted and asked him to watch the joint to avoid being broken through by the enemy's center!"
After saying that, he put down the telescope, and suddenly he saw Ai Buyi huddled under the observation tower, looking outside nervously. He shouted: "You! What's going on! Why don't you go to your own class?"
"Report... report..." Ai Buyi's speech was unclear, "I, I can't find the squad leader..."
Li Dong looked around and saw that Ai Buyi's squad was deployed on the right wing near the mountain. He pointed in the direction: "It's over there, go quickly!"
Ai Buyi sighed, picked up his rifle and was about to run away. Li Dong suddenly thought that his messenger had just left. If he needed anything, he would still have someone around to dispatch him. This Ai Buyi would not be of much use to the squad. And again
Stopped him: "You! Don't go back, stay with me!"
Li Dong came to a place near the junction of the left wing and used the enemy to break through from the center. He saw Ai Buyi not far away, shaking his rifle and looking distracted. He said loudly: "I'll check it later.
At that time, nothing is allowed to be left in the barrel!"
After speaking, he turned his attention to the armed forces gathering a mile away - there were now more than 500 people. These enemies who suddenly appeared only held some simple swords and guns in their hands. No firearms were seen, and their formation was not neat.
I don’t know if they are afraid of the "Kun people" standing very sparsely; the whole seems to be composed of many small stocks, but the coordination between the stocks is not strong. Some people were impatient to wait and rushed forward for a while to see if others were there.
Followed and went back again.
Luo Mao suddenly appeared at this time: "Squadron Captain! I think these people look like Yao people!"
"how do you know?"
"One of the new recruits told me that he was a Mao and had fought with the Yao people!"
"The clothes don't look like..."
"There are also Han people inside, probably bandits. He said that when the Yao people rebel, they sometimes act together with Han bandits."
"No matter who he is, those who come to attack us are all enemies." Li Dong pulled out his command knife and shouted loudly, "Every squad, hold on! No shooting without orders!"
This group of enemies is definitely not something that the two squadrons of more than 200 people can handle. Battalion Commander Yang wants them to "hold tight and wait for reinforcements", so they can only hold on here and wait for the Fubo Army behind them to launch a counterattack.
.
"I'm afraid there will be a fierce battle today." He said to Luo Mao.
"At worst, I'll die here." Luo Mao smiled, obviously not thinking that he would die. However, Ai Buyi beside him didn't think so, and was trembling all over.
Li Dong had no intention of scolding Ai Buyi. As a commander, his only hope was that the Fubo Army's counterattack would come faster, otherwise his brothers would inevitably suffer "heavy casualties." He looked nervously at the enemies that were coming more than a mile away.
.
Fortunately, the enemy had not yet made up their mind to launch an attack. Just when the two sides were in a confrontation and the situation was about to break out, something unexpected happened - the 1st Squadron of the Guangning Brigade on their left wing saw that there were many enemies, and unexpectedly withdrew from the Shijian Embankment on their own initiative and headed towards the enemy.
Banbiangang retreated and tried to fight against the wall of Shijian in order to obtain fire support from the Fubo Army in the town. As a result, the left wing of the entire Wuzhou Squadron was exposed to the enemy.
"Who the hell told them to retreat!" Li Dong almost lost his temper after seeing this, "Ai Buyi! You chase after their squadron leader and tell them to come back!"
Ai Buyi chased after him. Li Dong shouted: "Everyone is here! Hold still! Prepare to shoot!"
"Let's retreat too!" Luo Mao was a little worried, "Retreat to the half post and connect with the 1st Squadron."
"With the withdrawal of 1st Squadron, we will become the 'Palace Army'," Li Dong said with a bitter smile, "Now that I retreat, do you believe that the whole squadron will just run away?"
The 1st Squadron was able to retreat in an orderly manner because they had friendly troops behind them and were not afraid of enemy pursuit. But there was nothing behind them. The soldiers had no psychological sense of security. As soon as the enemy charged, the entire squadron would collapse.
"This is a very dangerous situation." Luo Mao put the bayonet on his rifle, "I will lead a squad to the left wing."
"Okay, go ahead. Don't risk your life..."
Li Dong walked along the parapet, loudly encouraging the soldiers to "hold the position." However, facing the huge pressure of being outnumbered and outnumbered, people still couldn't help but want to escape. The entire front was shaken. And the Yao people also saw the wavering of the defense line.
, they did not miss this opportunity. A burst of gongs and drums sounded in the enemy's formation, and they immediately launched a full-scale charge.
The rumble of footsteps resounded throughout the valley, but the rifle team stood still because they had not heard Li Dong's order. In Li Dong's eyes, even by the standards of the National Army, the enemy's formation was too loose.
, the originally sparse queue was dragged further apart as they charged forward, and they actually launched the charge when they were still a mile away from the parapet, and slowed down halfway through.
"Steady... steady...!" The sergeants kept repeating Li Dong's order. At this time, the first row of arrows was shot from the enemy group.
"Close to the parapet! Lower your head!"
The Nationalist Army did not have helmets, so they could only lower their heads tightly and lean against the parapet. This covering tactic was very effective, and no one was hit by the whizzing arrows.
Ma Lai's head was almost drilled into the earthen wall. He clutched the rifle tightly in his hand. The sound of the arrows cutting through the air was very terrifying, and the sound of the arrows hitting the ground made him even more devastated. Especially four or five arrows.
When the arrows hit a place less than two feet away from him almost at the same time, he was almost scared to death.
Fortunately, during the eight weeks of training, he had become accustomed to worshiping discipline as a god and did not dare to move for even a moment. After a moment, the second round of feather arrows fell one after another.
Li Dong huddled behind the parapet and observed the enemy's progress. They were not impatient at all. The large group of people dispersed and slowly approached the parapet. The archers behind them took turns to shoot arrows one after another. It seemed that the command was quite organized.
One hundred meters, eighty meters. When the enemy entered the range of fifty meters and the brothers of the 5th Squadron could see the enemy's appearance clearly, they finally waited for the captain's order: "The ruler is 50 meters! Prepare and aim!"
In response to the commands of the non-commissioned officers, the rifle team impatiently pointed the loaded rifles at the enemy. The shorter second row extended the muzzle of the gun from the space in the front row to prevent them from being deafened by the sound of gunfire.
——At this distance, it can be hit with Nanyang-style precision. Li Dong glanced at Ai Buyi, pulled out his machete and slashed hard: "Fire!"
Next update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter 388