My Apprenticeship to Uncle Jiu: I Was a Warlord in the Republic of China

However, when they arrived with their large army, they ran directly into the strong fortifications that the Anmin Army had set up for a long time.

The result is predictable. This group of exhausted soldiers had been fighting for several months, and among them there were many surrendered soldiers, so the morale was naturally not very high.

After suffering some casualties, the offensive naturally slowed down, and the guns began to shoot at each other from a distance of several hundred meters, which ruined Ma Baoguo's plan to capture Jiang Li in one fell swoop.

It turned into a war of attrition, but the problem was that Ma Baoguo didn't think too much when he came. He just thought he could easily wipe out Jiang Li's thousands of people, so he didn't prepare any logistical support at all.

Seeing that he could not break through the Anmin Army’s defense line for the time being, Ma Baoguo decided to drag them down.

He felt that Jiang Li was just a nouveau riche and it was impossible for him to have too much ammunition reserves. After fighting for a day or two, they would naturally run out of ammunition, and he would be at his mercy by then.

Having made up his mind, he withdrew some of his soldiers from the battlefield and sent them to the rear to transport food, fodder and ammunition.

But the morale of these people on the front line was not very high to begin with, and when they suddenly saw some people retreating, they naturally became uneasy.

Many people followed and ran back. This scene happened to be seen by Ma Baoguo's adjutant, so without even asking for instructions, he led the supervision team and shot and killed a group of people. Only then did he stabilize the situation.

But this made the already low morale of the soldiers even lower, but they had no choice but to continue fighting.

The fighting continued, and the soldiers' discontent continued to accumulate, and the fighting went on for two days.

Ma Baoguo started to curse, but the gunfire from Jiang Li's side showed no sign of weakening, and even gave him the illusion that it was getting stronger.

Jiang Li saw that the enemy's morale had been almost exhausted and they no longer had the same strong desire to attack as before.

So they concentrated all the mountain artillery and field artillery that had not been used before, and then launched wave after wave, round after round of fierce bombing.

When Ma Baoguo heard such fierce bombardment, he immediately realized that something was wrong. Although there had been constant gunfire in the previous two days of fighting.

But they were all small-caliber mortars and the like, and the sound now was definitely not from a mortar, it was clearly from a large-caliber mountain artillery and field artillery, and his soldiers who had just surrendered would definitely not be able to withstand it.

That’s right, in Ma Baoguo’s eyes, a 75mm caliber cannon is already a large caliber.

And things turned out just as he expected. Those surrendered soldiers had accumulated a lot of fear and resentment over the past few days, which were now directly released by these rounds of artillery bombardment.

Then they collapsed.

All of a sudden, deserters appeared in groups all over the mountains and plains, and the supervision team could not kill them at all. Some deserters fled when they saw that the supervision team dared to stop them.

So they became more and more angry and started shooting at each other, but the supervisory team had only a few people and was soon overwhelmed by the large number of deserters.

When the soldiers under Ma Baoguo saw so many people fleeing, they stood up and joined them without thinking twice.

So a great rout soon broke out at the scene. Without the protection of the bunkers, their casualties immediately increased exponentially.

How could Jiang Li miss such a good opportunity? Seeing that the enemy had already fled on all fronts, he immediately ordered a pursuit.

Jiang Li naturally knew the importance of this battle, so during the two days of stalemate, he mobilized almost all his troops here.

So Ma Baoguo’s feeling was not an illusion, because the firepower of the Anmin Army was really gradually increasing.

Then, when all the Anmin Army rushed out of the trenches, a spectacular scene of more than 10,000 people chasing and 20,000 to 30,000 people fleeing was staged in the wilderness.

Ma Baoguo was still thinking of gathering his former soldiers to launch a blocking attack, but as the saying goes, a defeat is as great as a landslide.

The hundred or so guards around him were unable to stop the rout, but he did not give up because he knew that if he was defeated he would have nothing and all his efforts over the years would have been in vain.

So he did not run away, but ran to the front of the fleeing soldiers with his guards, trying to use his prestige to stop the fleeing soldiers and turn the tide of the battle.

However, the idea was beautiful, but the reality was cruel. Those defeated soldiers had already been frightened out of their wits, and at this time they did not recognize any support from the ox or the horse for the country.

Anyone who dares to stand in their way will be treated equally and crushed into pieces.

Ma Baoguo's fate was no exception. After a large group of fleeing soldiers swarmed past, his guards could no longer find the slightly fat figure of Ma Baoguo.

All I saw was a familiar figure lying on the ground.

Seeing this tragic scene, the guards stopped wasting time and picked up Ma Baoguo, then turned around and joined the fleeing team.

With the last bit of resistance giving up, there was no more suspense in this battle.

...

Five days later, Jiang Li sat in the main seat in Chen Xueming's mansion, listening to the battle reports from various battalions and companies.

In this battle, our side suffered 620 deaths or serious injuries, and 1,300 casualties.

We killed 24,146 enemies and captured 30,859 prisoners and wounded.

Together with those seized from the warehouses of Ma Baoguo and Chen Xueming, a total of 43,000 intact rifles of various types, 243,000 light machine guns, and 38 heavy machine guns were obtained.

Fifty mortars, sixty grenade launchers, and one mountain cannon.

There were also 2,000 grenades, 400,000 bullets, more than 400 artillery shells, and a number of military uniforms, belts, kettles, beddings, and quilts.

Jiang Li almost burst out laughing when he heard the report, but he still suppressed his smile and said to the people below, "These things are external things, don't pay too much attention to them!"

"Go down and tell the medical team to do their best to treat every wounded soldier. They are all heroes who sacrificed their lives for Jiang Li. I will never allow them to die in hospital beds instead of on the battlefield!"

The officers nodded seriously when they heard this. Seeing that he had finally fooled them, Jiang Li began to arrange the next work.

"I won't waste any more time on small talk. I have already divided the areas where you will be conducting the public trials. Now each of you should lead your troops there and follow the usual rules!"

"I only have one request, and that is to pick out all the bad apples. Can you do it?"

But no one responded. After a long time, the straightforward Sun Yousheng couldn't help but speak up, "Master, it's not that we don't obey your orders, but we are short of manpower. We are afraid that if we don't handle it well, those gentry will join hands to cause chaos!"

Jiang Li frowned and thought for a while, "Then recruit soldiers from the surrendered soldiers."

Seeing that they seemed to have something to say, he raised his hand to interrupt them, "I know what you are going to say. Just let Chen Xueming's soldiers go to Ma Baoguo's territory for a public trial. Let Ma Baoguo's soldiers go to Chen Xueming's territory for a public trial, then you don't have to worry about them covering up or causing chaos!"

The company commanders' eyes lit up when they heard this, then they said goodbye to Jiang Li and went to recruit soldiers.