Courtyard House: I Rely on Time-Space Trade to Build a Nation

Before the morning mist had completely dissipated, the sounds of gunfire and artillery had already filled the open fields west of Xinbao'an.

Zhao Dongliang stood on the turret of the command tank, his binoculars scanning the chaotic battlefield ahead.

More than four hours—from the first shell hitting the 101st Division's position at four in the morning,

By 8 a.m., his heavily armed brigade had broken through the enemy's lines almost instantly, like a red-hot knife slicing through butter.

The battle was progressing so smoothly it felt almost unreal.

The remaining 6,000-plus men of the 101st Division were scattered and disorganized after the devastating heavy artillery bombardment in the early morning.

When the tracks of the Type 59 tanks rolled over their hastily dug trenches, many positions did not even put up any decent resistance.

White flags, one after another, were raised from behind the dilapidated fortifications.

What Zhao Dongliang didn't expect was the process of capturing the prisoner.

"Surrender and you will not be killed! Brothers of the 101st Division, I used to be from your 6th Regiment, and now the 1st, 3rd, and 4th Regiments are all on our side! Brothers, lay down your weapons and surrender! Follow us and you'll have enough to eat and clothes to wear! Surrender now!" The loudspeaker on the armored vehicle shouted repeatedly.

These words seemed to have a magical power—the Kuomintang soldiers who were originally hiding in the shell craters and huddled behind the ruins, after hesitating for a moment upon hearing this shout, actually stood up in twos and threes.

Someone raised a gun above their head and cautiously walked towards the People's Liberation Army's position.

The first one, the second one... and then a whole group. By nine o'clock in the morning, entire companies began to lay down their weapons.

"Reporting to the brigade commander, the 3rd Battalion has received over 400 more men, saying they're from the 2nd Regiment of the 101st Division. We heard their regimental commander was killed by artillery fire this morning, and the deputy regimental commander came directly here with his men." The staff officer rushed over to report, his face filled with disbelief.

"They asked...asked if they could see the villagers who had been captured earlier."

Zhao Dongliang put down his binoculars and jumped off the tank. The soil beneath his feet still retained the heat of the shelling.

"Let them meet at the rear. Arrange for the captured officers to be persuaded that Regiment Commander Zhao Baoguo has revolted and is doing well. Have Baoguo make an appearance then."

He paused, then added, "Be careful to screen them and prevent spies from infiltrating. We must prioritize the safety of the nation."

"yes!"

Only sporadic gunfire remained on the battlefield—the last stand of a very small number of die-hards, who were quickly wiped out by tanks or accompanying infantry.

Zhao Dongliang looked at the map and then at his watch.

An hour and a half earlier than scheduled. "Notify all regiments to leave behind necessary forces to take in prisoners and clear the battlefield, while the main force immediately moves toward the 267th Division."

Tell the soldiers, the battle is not over yet.

The torrent of steel has begun anew.

Tanks, armored vehicles, and trucks loaded with infantry kicked up clouds of dust on the dirt road west of Xinbaoan.

The Kuomintang soldiers who had just laid down their weapons squatted by the roadside, staring blankly as this completely unfamiliar army drove past them—the number of those steel monsters was far greater than they had imagined.

At 11:00 a.m., the vanguard of the heavy-armored brigade arrived 2 kilometers in front of the 267th Division's position.

Zhao Dongliang received orders from the division headquarters: "Deploy on the spot, reconnaissance troops advance to scout, report enemy firing positions, and await artillery preparation."

Half an hour later, a familiar shriek came from the sky—not just one or two shells, but the hiss of more than a dozen shells cutting through the air.

That was the division's heavy artillery regiment's 155mm howitzers beginning fire calibration.

In the distance, on the positions of the 267th Division, black and red mushroom clouds rose into the sky.

The artillery regiment of the 35th Army was decimated in the early morning counter-battery operation.

At this moment, the 267th Division was like a tiger with its teeth pulled out, only able to cower in its fortifications and watch helplessly as shells fell one after another.

What terrified them even more was that about a kilometer in front of their position, PLA armored forces were deploying in an orderly manner.

Some vehicles stopped and unloaded equipment they had never seen before—square boxes with antennas, long tubes mounted on tripods, and soldiers holding binoculars-like objects while occasionally looking down to write something in their notebooks.

Those were laser rangefinders, simple observation mirrors, radio positioning equipment, and radar from the reconnaissance battalion of the 1st Armored Division.

They gleamed with a cold luster under the midday sun, like icy eyes, staring intently at every fortification, machine gun position, and command post of the 267th Division.

The data was transmitted back to the artillery positions via radio. The artillery fire became more precise.

Half an hour of artillery bombardment felt like an eternity to the officers and soldiers of the 267th Division.

When the sound of artillery fire finally began to subside, the battlefield was a scene of utter devastation.

The hastily constructed trenches were bombed and collapsed, machine gun emplacements were overturned, and mutilated limbs and weapon parts were scattered on the scorched earth.

Then, the earth shook again.

This time, it was the roar of tracks crushing the ground.

The Type 59 tanks appeared on the smoke-filled horizon, forming a wedge-shaped attack formation and steadily advancing forward.

The BTR-80 wheeled armored vehicle weaves between and behind tanks like a nimble hound, with its heavy machine gun on the roof ready to unleash a barrage of fire.

The 267th Division did not offer no resistance.

As the tank approached within 800 meters, fire suddenly erupted from a hastily constructed, partially destroyed bunker—it was an American-made M1917 heavy machine gun. The bullets struck the frontal armor of the Type 59 tank, sending up a shower of sparks, but leaving not even a noticeable dent.

The tank's turret slowly rotated. The gunner locked onto the firing port, which was still spitting fire, through the scope.

"Armor-piercing shell!"

"Loading complete!"

"put!"

"boom--"

The mound where the bunker was located suddenly exploded, and the machine gun fire stopped abruptly.

Similar scenes were playing out sporadically on the front lines.

The 267th Division was indeed better prepared than the 101st Division—they had a night and a morning to dig fortifications and set up firing positions.

However, these hastily constructed defensive systems in the field proved so vulnerable after being bombarded by heavy artillery and then faced with the frontal assault of tank formations.

At 1 p.m., the heavy-armored brigade breached the first line of defense of the 267th Division.

At 2 p.m., the breach expanded to a width of three kilometers, and the 267th Division was divided into eastern and western halves.

At 2:40 p.m., Zhao Dongliang received a report from the reconnaissance team: a large number of antennas and communication vehicles were discovered in a village about two kilometers behind the enemy lines, which was suspected to be an enemy command post.

He immediately called for the division's artillery.

Five minutes later, a salvo of 155mm shells covered the village.

It was only later that I learned that Guo Jingyun, the commander of the 35th Army, was there at the time.

This fierce general under Fu Zuoyi disappeared into the artillery fire along with his command post before he could even issue the order to break out.

News of the army commander's death spread like wildfire among the remnants of the 267th Division.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, a white flag waved on the high ground of the 267th Division's main position. Then, a second, a third…

By 3:30 p.m., the gunfire had mostly ceased. Organized units of Kuomintang soldiers emerged from their dilapidated fortifications and piled their weapons in designated open areas. The rifles, machine guns, and mortars quickly formed small mountains.

Zhao Dongliang stood beside the tank, watching this scene, and lit a cigarette.

From 4 a.m. until now, eleven and a half hours have passed. A main force of 20,000 men has been wiped out.