A Journey Through the Flames of War in the Republican Era

On the right flank, Zhang Yi's 3rd Company was in high spirits. The tactical thinking in the order given by the 3rd Company was very clear: abandon all unnecessary burdens, penetrate and encircle the enemy's defensive line from the flank and rear, and carry out the most intense deep attack!

The 1st Company of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Regiment, 1st Brigade of the Southeast Army was responsible for defending the northwest position of Yantou Village and the northernmost section of the main trench. The company commander set up his headquarters in a civilian house in the northwest of the village. His troop deployment was as follows: one platoon was positioned in front of the main trench on the northwest bank of the river, and another platoon was positioned behind it on its southeast side, responsible for the northwest position of the village near the company headquarters. The two positions were mutually supportive. Another platoon was located directly west of Yantou Village, deployed along the winding southwest-facing main trench.

The right flank of the 1st Company connects with the 4th Company, which is responsible for the northeastern defense of Yantou Village. The northern exit of the main village road running north-south is the dividing line between the two companies.

The defending platoon in the main northwestern trench suffered heavy losses under intense artillery fire, and was then bombarded by hundreds of grenades from the 3rd Company assault squadron of the sergeant battalion. They were then wiped out by the assault squadron with MP28 submachine guns. The entire platoon was wiped out.

After breaking through this trench, the 3rd Company continued its fierce infiltration and assault. One platoon crossed the west side of the trench and infiltrated deep into the rear of the defense line along the Wei River bank. Another platoon launched a fierce attack along the main trench to the other end. A third platoon charged straight in from the east side of the main trench, cutting off the trench's connection with Yantou Village in the northeast.

The infantry artillery platoon and mortar company attached to the 3rd Company had advanced to the high ground along the Wei River embankment northwest of Yantou Village, approaching within 500 meters for precise artillery fire, clearing a path with shells less than 100 meters in front of the 3rd Company's assault formation. The side-firing heavy machine guns left trails of tracer rounds, indicating targets to the field guns and mortars. Five heavy machine guns were spraying bullets, their long muzzle flashes incredibly visible in the pre-dawn darkness.

Once the main trench at the northernmost end of the Southeast Army's defense line was breached, the entire line was shaken!

One after another, phone calls came from division commanders, brigade commanders, regimental commanders, and other officers, ordering Meng Guangtian, the battalion commander of the defending troops, to hold the position and stop the Central Army's offensive. In particular, he was to organize blocking forces to block the Central Army's force that was flanking and penetrating deep into the rear of the defense line!

The commanders of the Southeast Army realized that the situation was critical. If the main force of the Central Army were to break through into the rear, the entire defensive line would be breached, and the Central Army would take advantage of the situation to rush to Weizhou and Xijing!

The 1st Company Commander of the defending force sadly discovered how insignificant and powerless his only Maxim heavy machine gun was against an enemy force five times its size. The machine gunners suffered heavy losses, and then two 82mm mortar shells shattered the machine gun into a pile of scattered parts. Even more tragically, they had no other weapons capable of posing a threat. Their light machine guns were no match for the enemy's heavy machine guns and were quickly suppressed. The grenade launchers were out of reach and inaccurate in the darkness; the gunners could only fire haphazardly, their accuracy a matter of chance.

3连的小群多路突击编组不断穿插突击，捷克式轻机枪、MP28冲锋枪充分发挥了近战优势。村西北的守军连部和1个排首先抵挡不住3连的1个排和主攻1连的1个排的凶猛冲击，守军连部带着残兵沿着村西一侧节节败退，在猛烈追击下仓皇退入西南侧后的主战壕里。

The panicked remnants of the Southeast Army were reorganized for defense under the angry coercion of the company and platoon leaders. However, the soldiers were pale and trembling, their hands shaking so much they could barely hold their rifles. The officers dared not hope that they still had any fighting ability.

The battle at Yantou Village was drawing to a close. The sergeant battalion's assault squadron pursued the enemy all the way to the south of the village. Meng Guangtian of the Southeast Army, leading the remnants of his 1st Battalion, fled in disarray into Qinglong Village. The assault squadron launched a probing attack, putting the 3rd Battalion of the Southeast Army stationed in the Qinglong Village-Ganjia Village area on high alert. Subsequently, the sergeant battalion's assault squadron retreated to the south of Yantou Village, where it faced off against the Qinglong Village defenders across a field, with their front lines only about 200 meters apart.

Song Hongfei then directed the 1st and 2nd companies of the artillery battalion of the training brigade in Sanzhang Village to launch a fierce bombardment on the enemy's main trenches west of Yantou Village, while the 3rd company of the artillery bombarded the defending positions in Qinglong Village south of Yantou Village.

At this moment, Meng Guangtian, the battalion commander of the 1st Battalion of the Southeast Army, was filled with rage. He had no artillery left to use. Of the heavy firepower assigned to his battalion before the battle, two mortars had already been lost in Sanzhang Village, two of the five heavy machine guns had also been lost there, one was destroyed in the trenches on the northwest bank of the river in Yantou Village, one was destroyed on the eastern side of the village, and the only remaining one was deep in the main trenches on the west side of the village. It had now been silenced by the enemy's fierce artillery fire and was probably being targeted by the enemy's direct fire. He had no hope that it could play any role in the enemy's next attack.

Meng Guangtian was filled with anxiety. He had suffered a crushing defeat in this battle. The enemy launched an attack at 5 a.m. and advanced 2 kilometers in less than 2 hours, capturing the two villages he was defending and breaking through a main trench of the Chishui River defense line. His battalion was on the verge of collapse. Would the division commander and brigade commander be furious and court-martial him?

But looking at the 3rd Battalion's company that went to reinforce Yantou Village, they were quickly routed, and their casualties weren't much better. It wasn't that we were too weak, but that the enemy was simply too strong; only then did his heart, which had been hanging in suspense, begin to settle down a little.

Under Meng Guangtian's orders and coercion, the remnants of the 1st Battalion that fled from Yantou Village to Qinglong Village were able to organize less than two companies. One company reinforced the defenses north of Qinglong Village and confronted the Central Army in Yantou Village, while another company went to reinforce the main trench in the northwest of the village.

团长林大木把配属给2营、3营的4门迫击炮调出了2门，配属给孟广田的1营加强火力。反攻？林大木想也不敢想了，能保住青龙村就不错了。

The 3rd Company of the Sergeant Battalion continued its fierce assault, with one platoon recklessly penetrating deep into the rear from the flank, like a wedge piercing the flank and rear of the Southeast Army's defense line. One platoon in the center swept down the trenches, while another platoon on the east side cooperated with the central formation to launch a flanking attack from the northeast. The right flank of one platoon from the main attacking company had already quickly outflanked and encircled the southwest of Yantou Village.

The depleted 1st Company of the Southeast Army was attacked from both the north and south by the sergeant battalion. Even worse, a force of Central Army troops penetrated their flank and rear. Caught between two enemies, the defenders immediately suffered a mental breakdown and fell into chaos.

The still-terrified defending soldiers had already learned from their experience: the enemy first bombarded the area with heavy artillery fire, causing heavy losses before they even saw anyone. Before the artillery fire stopped, the enemy launched a barrage of machine gun fire that kept them pinned down, followed by a hail of grenades thrown at their heads. Then, combat teams, relying on the fierce firepower of automatic weapons, would infiltrate, break through, and encircle the enemy!

The Central Army's coordinated and well-coordinated tactics were truly unprecedented and unheard of. In contrast, their own side not only lacked artillery but was also helpless, suffering heavy casualties. Often, they hadn't even fired a few shots before the enemy had already broken through!

The officers didn't understand tactics at all. In battle, they just forced you to grab your guns and charge forward wave after wave in a chaotic frenzy. There was no tactical coordination whatsoever! We suffered a crushing defeat, a complete rout, a truly humiliating loss! We were both Nationalist soldiers, how could there be such a huge difference?!

This kind of battle is impossible to fight! Many of the soldiers are too slippery; they're like they've greased feet. If they see the situation is not right, they either run away faster than anyone else or cover their heads and surrender on the spot! Being a soldier is just about getting a ration; it's not worth losing your life. You should learn to be smarter and more nimble!

Under the fierce attack of superior forces and firepower from the 3rd Company and the 1st Platoon of the 1st Company of the Sergeant Battalion, the defending troops collapsed and fled along the trenches. In their panic, they crowded and pushed each other in the narrow trenches, and some even died from being trampled by each other.

The soldiers' morale was high, and they pressed their advantage, chasing the enemy all the way to the trenches northwest of Qinglong Village, until they encountered Meng Guangtian leading reinforcements.

Meng Guangtian knew he had no way out, so he commanded his troops to hold the fortified positions of the trenches and fight to the death, issuing a stern order that no one was allowed to retreat a single step and that anyone who tried to escape would be killed without mercy.

At 7 a.m. on the 23rd, as the east began to brighten and visibility improved, artillery from the main positions of the Southeast Army's defenses in the Zhangjialing and Changmin Village areas began to provide heavy artillery support to the defenses north of the trenches. Reinforcements from the Southeast Army's rear also rushed north to reinforce the defenses.

At this moment, the Southeast Army soldiers finally saw the heavy machine gun that had puzzled them so much: "capable of following the infantry in a charge." It was a belt-fed heavy machine gun that could be mounted on a bipod and could be used in combat by a team of two or three men. If necessary, even one person could carry the machine gun and fire it from their waist while moving forward. It was air-cooled, and after firing a few belts, the assistant gunner would change to the spare barrel carried on his back. Just like the Czech-made machine gun, the change could be completed in a few seconds, making it extremely portable and mobile.

The soldiers of the Southeast Army suddenly realized that this kind of heavy machine gun could be moved at any time to the most advantageous and needed places for the infantry, bringing a completely new way of fighting and infantry tactics. Many people were subjected to fierce fire in places they thought would not be hit by heavy machine gun fire. This heavy machine gun really made them suffer a lot, and it was extremely difficult to destroy and suppress them with artillery fire.

The assault force of the 3rd Company of the Sergeant Battalion was thwarted, and a platoon attempting to outflank the enemy was also hampered in the open field, blocked and blocked by reinforcements from the Southeast Army. Unable to advance, the 3rd Company of the Sergeant Battalion was also unable to launch a counterattack. Both sides engaged in fierce fighting along sections of trench at their respective north and south ends, resulting in a stalemate.

The fighting on other positions gradually subsided, with both sides withdrawing their troops and ceasing hostilities, with only sporadic gunfire occasionally breaking the silence.

After this battle, the sergeant battalion captured Sanzhang Village, the outpost of the Southeast Army embedded in the eastern bank of the northern end of the Chishui River, and crossed the western bank of the Chishui River to occupy the northernmost section of the main trench and its stronghold, Yantou Village. This was a tit-for-tat response.

Meng Guangtian, dejected, slowly slumped to the ground, tears streaming down his face. The Central Army's fierce artillery fire, powerful infantry light weapons, well-trained soldiers, and superb tactics made them an extremely formidable force; he had suffered a complete defeat.

In the battle that lasted only a little over two hours from dawn to the end, he lost the positions of two villages and a section of the main trench. According to statistics, his 1st Battalion suffered more than 380 casualties, prisoners, and missing persons. Three of his four companies were decimated. One company was able to retreat because the enemy opened a passage, but it also suffered heavy losses in the battle to reinforce the main trench. His battalion was more than half dead and had lost its combat effectiveness. The 3rd Battalion's company that reinforced Yantou Village also lost more than 70 men.

With strong artillery support, the sergeant battalion launched a brilliant attack that "broke through one point and shook the entire line," capturing two villages and a main trench at the cost of 49 casualties, achieving a brilliant victory of annihilating more than 400 enemy soldiers. Not only was the entire Southeast Army shaken, but the officers at all levels of the Central Army's eastern route were also overjoyed. The stalemate that had lasted for days had finally been broken, and a bridgehead on the west bank of the Chishui River had been successfully captured.

The superb tactics of "three-three system, small group multi-way attack, and infantry-artillery coordination" were invincible. They not only terrified the Southeast Army, but also broadened the horizons of the officers watching the battle, giving them a good lesson and a refreshing baptism.

He Jingzhi, Liu Jingfu, Xu Tingyao and other officials from various departments sent telegrams one after another to commend the Training Corps, leaving Gui Shuaizhen somewhat overwhelmed.