A Journey Through the Flames of War in the Republican Era

Sergeant Battalion Operational Map

The battle at Sanzhang Village is over.

The Southeast Army's garrison and reinforcements, totaling just over a company, were withdrawing from the southwest of Sanzhang Village, crossing the nearly dried-up Chishui River, and retreating southwest towards Yantou Village. The Southeast Army soldiers were dejected, their panicked retreat focused solely on running away; no one had the mind or the time to speak. What else could they say? This battle was a truly humiliating defeat; they couldn't even withstand a single enemy assault.

Song Hongfei immediately ordered Wang Jingxiong and Liao Jianchu:

One platoon from the 1st Company was to remain to clean up the battlefield, gather prisoners, and collect remaining weapons and ammunition, returning to their unit once the battalion's reinforcements arrived. The other two platoons were to immediately advance southwest, cross the west bank of the Chishui River, and follow the defeated Southeast Army troops, keeping them pinned down and preventing them from retreating back to Yantou Village to reinforce the enemy's defenses! The goal was to keep the enemy bogged down in this open area southwest of Sanzhang Village, northeast of Yantou Village, and west of the bend in the Chishui River!

The 2nd Company advanced directly westward until it reached the area on the east bank of the Chishui River, directly in front of the enemy's front line east of Yantou Village. It maintained a distance from the enemy's forward position east of Yantou Village, confronted the enemy, and formed a pincer movement against the defeated enemy troops in Sanzhang Village in the northwest!

"Your mission is to hold off the enemy!" Song Hongfei ordered. "The 1st Company will follow and hold off the defeated enemy troops in Sanzhang Village, and the 2nd Company will hold off the enemy forces on the east side of Yantou Village! Draw the enemy forces from Yantou Village and Qinglong Village to this open area on the west bank of the Chishui River northeast of Yantou Village!"

Liao Jianchu and Wang Jingxiong were both excited: "Battalion Commander, should we pursue and launch a full-scale attack to completely annihilate them?"

"Don't attack! Remember, hold the enemy back!" Song Hongfei reiterated. "Draw the enemy's attention to this! Delay without attacking!"

Liao Jianchu and Wang Jingxiong were somewhat puzzled: "But Battalion Commander, this is a golden opportunity! The defeated troops retreated in complete chaos, they were utterly routed! There are no natural defenses in the open terrain—"

“There are no buts!” Song Hongfei said seriously, “Our battalion is facing a regiment with strong defensive fortifications. If the Southeast Army adjusts its deployment, it will be difficult for us to break through the Southeast Army’s defenses on the west bank of the Chishui River, in addition to forming a head-on confrontation with them.”

"Hold these defeated troops back! Remember to maintain constant pressure and keep them pinned down, unable to advance or retreat! Make sure that Commander Lin Damu over there understands one thing: if he dares to make any rash moves, I will wipe out his entire army!" Song Hongfei said without further ado, "Execute the order!"

Liao Jianchu and Wang Jingxiong replied, "Yes! We will carry out the order without hesitation!"

At 6 a.m., in the cold winter of Northwest China, the sky was just beginning to lighten with a layer of white.

At this time, Zhang Yi's 3rd Company had already secretly crossed the west bank of the Chishui River from the northwest of Sanzhang Village, and moved south along the east bank of the Wei River south of the confluence of the Chishui and Wei Rivers, heading straight for the northwest of Yantou Village, where the Wei River turns from east to north. The Wei River and the Chishui River converge here, forming a triangular area, about 500 meters east to west and about 400 meters north to south. Yantou Village is located just south of the center of the base of this triangle, very close at hand.

Song Hongfei ordered the sergeant battalion headquarters, mortar company, and machine gun company to immediately move forward and occupy Sanzhang Village. The mountain artillery company and field gun company attached to the brigade also moved forward and occupied key locations on the east bank of the Chishui River.

Wang Jingxiong's 1st Company had crossed the Chishui River and, relying on the riverbank area on the west bank of the bend, had formed a standoff with the defeated enemy troops who had retreated to the open area northeast of Yantou Village. On the east bank southeast of the bend, Liao Jianchu's 2nd Company had also formed a pincer movement.

The heavy machine guns of the 1st and 2nd companies fired tracer rounds from time to time, sweeping towards the fortified positions on the northeast side of Yantou Village to guide and indicate the targets, while the battalion's 82mm mortars carried out precise aiming and bombardment.

The defeated soldiers of the Southeast Army, who had retreated from Sanzhang Village, were firmly pinned down in this open area, unable to advance or retreat. They could only scatter and find cover, engaging in a standoff with the sergeant battalion. This place was very close to the Yantou Village position, but with morale low, no one had the courage to run across this open area of ​​several hundred meters in the face of the crossfire of so many heavy machine guns from the Central Army.

Song Hongfei led the sergeant battalion headquarters to Sanzhang Village, and the brigade's mountain artillery company and flat-fire artillery company also occupied advantageous terrain in various parts of Sanzhang Village and set up firing positions.

The attention of Lin Damu, the commander of the Southeast Army Corps, and the garrison troops of Yantou Village and Qinglong Village had been drawn to this open field northeast of Yantou Village, on the west bank of the bend in the Chishui River. Commander Lin Damu judged that the Central Army intended to annihilate this company of more than one company in this open field without any fortifications, and then take advantage of the situation to launch an attack on the northern tip of the Chishui River defense line—Yantou Village—from the northeast and due east.

Because Meng Guangtian's 1st Battalion, which was stationed in Yantou Village, suffered heavy losses and more than a company of troops were tied up in the open area to the northeast, Lin Damu ordered a company of the 1st Battalion that was originally deployed to the south of the village to move to the east and northeast of the village to strengthen the frontal defense.

Lin Damu also noticed that the Central Army's left flank offensive was weak, seemingly just a feint to contain the enemy. He ordered the 3rd Battalion, stationed in the Qinglong Village-Ganjia Village area, to send a company forward to the southeast of Yantou Village to relieve them of their defenses, flank the eastern defense line, and contain the Central Army's left flank.

"When I turn around, I'll peel off the skin of your Central Army's left wing first!" Lin Damu thought bitterly.

At this time, among the four companies of Meng Guangtian's 1st Battalion at the northernmost position of the Chishui River defense line of the Southeast Army, the defeated soldiers of the 2nd and 3rd Companies were suppressed in the open area northeast of Yantou Village, the 4th Company was defending the northeast and east positions of Yantou Village, and the 1st Company was defending the main trench position that stretched for several kilometers to the southwest near the Weihe River bank north, northwest and northwest of the village. Meng Guangtian had no mobile forces left.

Upon discovering that the enemy in front of him had been mobilized, Song Hongfei immediately gave an order, and two green signal flares were fired over Sanzhang Village, causing tension to rise on the southeastern army's positions on the west bank of the Chishui River.

"Artillery, open fire!" Song Hongfei ordered.

Before this battle, Commander Gui Shuaizhen strongly supported Song Hongfei's operational plan of "breaking through one point to shake the entire front," deciding to attack Yantou Village immediately after capturing Sanzhang Village, while other units would simultaneously launch attacks and containment operations on the southern front. He ordered the artillery battalion of the brigade to be under the unified command of Song Hongfei. At this time, the artillery under Song Hongfei's command consisted of the brigade's three mountain artillery companies, one field gun company, as well as the mortar company and infantry artillery platoon belonging to the sergeant battalion.

The 1st Company of the artillery battalion of the brigade, which had advanced to the position of Sanzhang Village, immediately bombarded the Southeast Army's position northwest of Yantou Village and the main trench of the defensive line that led directly to the Wei River. The 2nd Company of artillery, with four 75mm mountain guns, bombarded the northern and northeastern positions in the area west of Xin Village on the west bank of the Yuxian River, while the 3rd Company of artillery bombarded the eastern positions.

The artillery company advanced to the west bank of the Chishui River, and the battalion's mortar company and anti-tank gun platoon even got within 500 meters. The well-trained sergeant battalion gunners fired with unparalleled accuracy. The task of the battalion's artillery was to focus on the northwest and due north areas of Yantou Village and the main trench defense positions behind them.

Immediately, the sound of artillery roared, the Southeast Army's defense line around Yantou Village shook violently, and a sea of ​​fire engulfed everything. Exposed fortifications and firing positions on the battlefield were precisely targeted and blown into the air one after another.

The intense artillery preparation was underway, and Song Hongfei observed the effects of the shelling while he waited.

Suddenly, a red signal flare shot out over the bend of the Wei River near the northwest of Yantou Village—a signal from the 3rd Company, which had moved into position, indicating that the attack formation was ready.