The Flames of Resistance Against Japan in Jiangnan

Platoon Leader Liu Xiaohu had been in the Red Army for over two years and had participated in more than a dozen battles, large and small. After being captured in the Battle of Tanjiaqiao, he attempted to escape several times but failed. After being rescued this time, he was determined to avenge his defeat. At this moment, he and the new recruit Gouwa huddled together for warmth.

Gouwa was only fourteen years old, wearing an octagonal hat and oversized clothes. Two years ago, his mother was killed by the Kuomintang militia, and his father died in battle while pursuing the enemy, leaving him an orphan.

During the recruitment drive, he knelt before the recruitment officer wearing the Red Army cap left to him by his father, crying and refusing to get up. In the end, he moved the recruitment officer and was forced to join the army.

After the Battle of Tanjiaqiao began, the company commander gave Gouwa a rifle left behind by a fallen comrade. During the battle, Gouwa learned to shoot. When he fired his first shot and killed an enemy soldier, tears and snot streamed down his face. He knelt on the ground, facing the direction of the Soviet area, and said:

"Father, Mother, Gouwa has avenged you!"

Platoon Leader Liu originally didn't want Gouwa to come to this battle because he was very weak. However, he secretly followed the team all the way to Chuzhou before being discovered by the platoon leader.

Platoon Leader Liu Xiaohu had no choice but to give him his only hand grenade and take it with him.

They were about to reach the enemy headquarters. Luo Jinsheng cautiously scanned his surroundings with his eyes, his body moving with the agility of a cat, stealthily creeping forward step by step along the wall...

He walked slowly along the wall for about ten meters when he suddenly noticed a grayish-red object flash briefly in the darkness beside the enemy headquarters. Startled, Luo Jinsheng immediately stopped and lay prone on the ground, frantically trying to recall what that red dot had been.

Will-o'-the-wisps? Impossible! What on earth could be grayish-red?

The squad members followed closely behind Luo Jinsheng. The soldier at the front, unable to see him due to the darkness, tripped over Luo Jinsheng, who had just crouched down, and tumbled a considerable distance. A sentry from the Zhejiang Army headquarters raised his rifle and fired a shot ahead, shouting:

"Guards! Someone's attacking the regimental headquarters!"

Upon realizing that their position had been exposed, Luo Jinsheng shot and killed the sentry, then charged towards the regimental headquarters gate. The Zhejiang troops, alerted, followed suit, and the attack immediately turned into an encounter battle.

Upon hearing the gunfire, Xu Wenqing knew that the battle in the village had begun, so he gave the order to attack the Zhejiang army. Due to a shortage of artillery shells, Xu Wenqing decided to fire only three mortars, employing a feint attack to create the illusion that the Zhejiang army was surrounded.

In the pre-battle silence, the artillery battalion received a brief command from headquarters: "Each gun fire one test shot." The first test shot, with an impatient, muffled roar, left the barrel, whistling through the night sky and landing ten meters behind the Zhejiang army camp. A blinding flash of light suddenly erupted in the night sky. Battalion Commander Wang immediately adjusted the angle and ordered the three mortars to fire two shells each at each end and the middle of the Zhejiang army's position. The shells exploded upon landing, and the enemy, caught in the smoke and flames, rushed out of their tents. The Zhejiang soldiers were thrown into chaos, believing they were surrounded, and scattered in fear.

Subsequently, Battalion Commander Wang Baojun ordered the artillery battalion to open fire with several light and heavy machine guns, their flames shooting out in waves. The machine guns swept straight into the heart of the enemy ranks, and within ten minutes, the Zhejiang troops were reduced to carnage. Dozens of mules and horses, along with over a hundred corpses, were scattered and fled.

The enemy who had rushed to the Red Army's position were driven back by the soldiers and slowly regrouped. At this moment, the artillery fired again. Because it was short-range fire, the hit rate was extremely high, and almost every shell hit the target.

Xu Wenqing stood beside a large tree, surveying the situation on the position. Just as he expected, several Zhejiang Army officers shouted and led the charge into the bamboo forest, while Zhejiang Army soldiers followed behind, bayonet-fixed rifles at the ready.

The 1st Company of the 1st Battalion of the 55th Regiment, hidden behind the bamboo forest, was already prepared. As soon as the enemy rushed out, the several light machine guns that were ready roared at once, and the comrades using rifles calmly and steadily aimed and fired, taking down one enemy after another.

The Zhejiang soldiers who had just rushed into the bamboo forest were suddenly subjected to such fierce and accurate fire. In an instant, most of them fell, and the machine guns covering the assault also fell silent. Before long, all the Zhejiang soldiers who rushed out of the bamboo forest were wiped out.

"Snapped!"

As a signal flare soared into the sky, the silence of dawn was instantly shattered by the deafening roar of gunfire. The enemy in the bamboo forest, realizing they had been ambushed, fled in disarray, abandoning many corpses. Soldiers from the 55th Regiment emerged from their ambush positions on all sides, shouting and pulling their triggers. Like beating a drowning dog or chasing a thief, they relentlessly pursued the surrounded enemy with a deluge of bullets. Shouts of "Surrender and you will not be killed!" echoed everywhere, along with the resounding explosions of grenades.

When the Red Army fought the enemy in the Soviet areas, the surrounded Central Army troops would obediently lay down their arms and surrender as soon as reinforcements arrived. However, the Zhejiang Army was completely different from the White Army's Central Army. The Zhejiang Army during the Republic of China era was quite tenacious; they would often fight to the last man.

"The Guizhou Army and the Yunnan Army are like two sheep, the Hunan Army is like a wolf; the Guangxi Army is like monkeys, fierce as tigers and vicious as wolves."

It was once circulated among the White Army. Although the Zhejiang Army was no match for the Guangxi Army, it was still very difficult to deal with.

A fierce battle ensued across the open ground. Enraged, Xu Wenqing ordered Molotov cocktails to be thrown at the Zhejiang troops encircled within the encirclement. The Red Army soldiers, their eyes bloodshot with rage, hurled their Molotov cocktails, which exploded, igniting raging fires, interspersed with piercing screams.

After dealing with the Zhejiang troops outside the village, the 55th Regiment turned around and attacked Chuzhou City. Together with the advance team of the reconnaissance battalion, they wiped out most of the enemy in the city. Unfortunately, the enemy regimental commander and more than 30 others managed to break through the encirclement under cover of night.

After daybreak, the cleanup of the battlefield was quickly completed:

The 55th Regiment, the main force of the 19th Division, killed over 500 Zhejiang soldiers and captured over 300. They seized over 20 light and heavy machine guns, over 500 rifles, and a large quantity of other supplies. Surprisingly, they also captured a map showing the Zhejiang army's troop deployment in the encirclement of the Southern Anhui Independent Regiment.

A slight blush crept onto Xu Wenqing's face, which had been tense since the start of the battle. He slowly climbed the city wall of Chuzhou with his hands behind his back. Looking at the black smoke still rising everywhere outside the small city and the scattered corpses of the Zhejiang army, he couldn't help but feel a slight sense of triumph and pride in his heart.

"Everyone says the Zhejiang army is as fierce as tigers and as vicious as wolves, but they still get killed like dead dogs!"

While inspecting the battlefield, Xu Wenqing spoke to Chen Xinchun, the deputy division commander who also served as the commander of the 55th Regiment.