At night, the torches on the wharf of the Xin'an River Estuary stretched, the bonfire was blazing, and more than 70 large and small ships were all requisitioned by Ye Cheng's second battalion, because most of the brothers in the second battalion were from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and there was no language barrier with each other, several big shipowners saw the black and shiny weapons and a small machine gun cannon in the hands of the revolutionary army, and they all did not dare to say a word, and heard the brothers and Yan Yuese led by Yang Fei, the deputy and instructor of the second battalion, said that they would pay according to the price, and they could only call the boatmen to prepare to set sail.

Ye Chengqin led the brothers of the guard platoon to take a steamboat more than 30 meters long and 4 meters wide to search on the river surface, and under the lights, whether they encountered a small shrimp boat or a fishing boat, they were all dragged back to the dock, and they repeatedly circled for an hour and a half to make sure that there would be no omission, and then they approached the dock again, and found that An Yi and Lao Shen had already come to the dock and were smoking and laughing with a boat boss.

Ye Cheng jumped on the dock and came to the bonfire to salute An Yi: "Report to the head of the group, the ships have been concentrated, and there are only three steamboats, one of which is being dismantled and repaired and cannot be driven." ”

"That's enough, this Uncle Jiang said that two steamboats are enough to tow about twenty-five large fishing boats, and these two fishing boats usually pull the big nets, and only twenty fishing boats can send one thousand of us to the wharf of Chun'an County." An Yi said with a smile on his eyebrows.

Uncle Jiang was taken aback: "Oops, oops...... Sir, don't blame those who don't know! I'm confused, I think you're a soldier, I don't know you're the regiment commander......"

An Yi laughed, seeing that the old man was so frightened that the cigarette butts fell to the ground, he hurriedly took out a cigarette, took out a cigarette and handed it to him politely: "Uncle Jiang, our revolutionary army is not like that, boy, I am also from a poor family, where is there so much exquisiteness?" Ha ha...... Come, I'll order it for your old man, and I have to rely on you old connoisseurs to sail this night! ”

"That's, that'...... No, no! As long as you can use me, old fellow, just tell me, haha! In this way, I'll lead the guys and the boys to prepare the cables first, otherwise I can't afford to make a mistake! Chiefs, talk slowly, haha......"

The old man ran away with one foot on his feet, and when he reached the shore more than ten meters away, he immediately shouted at the top of his voice, and more than 100 boatmen standing on the shore walked towards the old man in response, and quickly dispersed and got busy.

Ye Chengwan smiled and shook his head: "It's really yours, you can talk to anyone...... What's the news on the beard's side? ”

"It is very safe within 30 kilometers to the west from Xiaya Town, and it is estimated that there will be a small number of garrisons to monitor the last 20 kilometers, which is not a problem for Ding Zhicheng and them, the model battalion led by Lu Guang and the first battalion led by Xia Jian, set off two and a half hours ago, and it is estimated that they are already 12 kilometers away, and they will rush to the edge of the battlefield at about five o'clock in the morning, rest until dawn, and immediately launch an attack.

Lao Yang and Lao Qu led the five companies of the regimental departments and the teaching team to guard Jiande City, and the fourth battalion of Hutou took over from the model battalion to guard Xiaya Town, and Chen Zhibiao commanded his engineer company to build a pontoon bridge as soon as he arrived on the east bank of Xiaya Town, and it is estimated that it can be connected now. I can't be idle, go over with your second battalion to have a look, and meet a few generals of the second army to communicate with each other. An Yi replied in a low voice.

Ye Cheng nodded: "Then let's set off now, the water level is slightly lower in winter, there are more tidal flats, and the boat can't be fast at night, I calculated that it will take about five hours, and now it's ...... At 11:10 o'clock, it was almost 10 o'clock, and I had left the logistics and engineering companies to guard the wharf and the makeshift camp. ”

"Okay, you command."

An Yi turned to the herald Xiao Du and ordered him to stay and take care of the horses, Ye Cheng concentrated the five company commanders under his command to give orders one by one, four hundred officers and soldiers boarded the wooden boats in an orderly manner, and the machine gun company boarded two wide steamboats respectively, and the officers and soldiers put down their heavy equipment and looked around curiously, without the slightest nervousness before the battle.

At six o'clock in the morning, the model battalion and the first battalion under the command of Hu Jialin, deputy of the regiment, began to act quietly, after an hour and a half of rest and eating, the brothers' physical strength recovered a lot, and the usual high-intensity training and sufficient nutrition made the veterans very relaxed, and the recruits saw that the veterans were doing so well and were not willing to lag behind, and they gritted their teeth and followed closely.

Thanks to Ding Zhicheng's brothers cleaning up the sentry posts and enemy guard points all the way, more than 1,200 officers and men of the two battalions and 150 brothers from the regiment's mortar company did not reveal their whereabouts at all. The brothers of the model battalion, led by the brothers of the guard company of a platoon, successfully reached the west side of Langding Mountain, which was 2.7 kilometers away from the battlefield, and formed a battle formation. Xia Jian's 1st battalion came to the foot of the hill north of Wumupo, 2.3 kilometers southeast of the battlefield, and quietly set up light and heavy machine guns and mortars; One hundred and fifty brothers of the regiment's artillery company began to adjust the firing attitude of the twelve mortars according to the coordinates provided by the guard company on the east side of Yanhu Lake, about three kilometers east of the battlefield. Four sniper teams under Ding Zhicheng's command began the operation.

At 6:35 a.m., there were several explosions faintly heard in the direction of Chun'an City in the south, and under the misty morning light, the enemy's position, which had stopped fighting for half a night, immediately appeared in a local panic, Hu Zi knew that Ye Cheng's second battalion had been launched, put away the binoculars and took out a pistol and fired it into the sky, and the 24 mortars of the mortar company, the first battalion, and the model battalion immediately roared, and round after round of shells flew to the enemy's command post, artillery position, and machine gun position from three directions, and a huge explosion sounded, which immediately caused the enemy's huge panic.

As the mortars fired one after another, the enemy's position was shrouded in thick gunpowder smoke and firelight, and the enemy on the position began to run and scream in an orderly manner, and the officers and men of the 4th and 6th Divisions of the 2nd Army, who had been compressed at 2.3 kilometers from the lake, came to their senses, cheered in unison and immediately launched a fierce attack on the enemy in front, and the battlefield, which had been silent for half a night, was noisy again.

Dai Yue, the commander of the Second Army, asked the regiment commander Xie Yibo who rushed to his side in surprise: "Which part of the reinforcements are you seeing?" ”

"It's clear, as indicated in the telegram, the Second Division's An Yi Reading Regiment, just now my second battalion commander told me that he clearly saw the 'Model Battalion' battle flag in the northeast direction of the battlefield from the telescope!" The bearded Xie Yibo replied excitedly, and Dai Yue punched the edge of the trench with a heavy punch: "An Yi, this kid is interesting enough!" Acting quickly and being good at grasping the fighter, he is really a fucking handsome, no wonder Zhang Tianyi and the brothers of the Fourth Division are full of praise for him, and even the old book of the 'model battalion' he has used, it can be seen that he sincerely helps us solve difficulties, and we must keep this friendship in our hearts! Inform the brothers of each regiment to take advantage of the chaos of the enemy to immediately charge, and let's attack him with An Yi's reading group! ”

"Yes—"

Guns roared and smoke billowed out.

Under Hu Zi's order, more than 1,200 brothers from the two battalions on the east side of the battlefield charged forward for more than 1,300 meters, and then looked for cover to fire fiercely at the enemy position, and the 24 mortars moved their positions and fired again, firing all the dense shells at the intersection of the southern flank and the central part of the enemy formation, the meaning was very obvious, that is, to drive the enemy who was in an advantageous position to the north and avoid a chaotic fight. Successively threw down their positions and retreated northward, as one commander after another fell inexplicably, the enemy troops who had lost their command finally fled at full speed, and under the extended coverage of mortar shells, they howled and rushed north desperately, and the entire three-kilometer-long position was completely out of control.

On the southern position, more than 1,000 remnants of the enemy who were isolated by artillery fire fled in all directions like headless flies, most of them panicked, and actually fled to Chun'an City, which had been controlled by Ye Cheng's second battalion, and heard the dense gunfire and grenade explosions from the city on the way, and the enemy troops who were scattered turned around again, only to find that countless revolutionary troops had already pursued, and the earth-shattering shouts made most of the exhausted remnants of the enemy throw down their weapons and surrender on their knees, and only a few veteran ruffians threw down their weapons and burrowed into the hills, woods and small villages.

Bearded man riding a white horse saw a revolutionary army flag moving quickly hundreds of meters to the west, knowing that it was the commander of the second army who came to contact, and ordered the brothers around him to disperse and pay attention to vigilance, and then fought with Ding Zhicheng and Dou Fang to meet them, and saw the two generals on the other side turn over and dismount, Hu Zi and others did not dare to slack off, and dismounted one after another to greet them:

"Report to the general, Hu Jialin, deputy of the Reading Regiment of the First Army and the Second Division, was ordered to come to participate in the battle, please give instructions to the general!"

Dai Yue returned the salute, laughed and walked up quickly to shake hands with Hu Zi: "Deputy Hu Tuan is polite!" Coming to save us is said to be participating in the battle, which is too much to save face for my brothers, haha! By the way, why is it so rare to win, and your department did not launch a pursuit? ”

"Before leaving, my subordinates were given an order to disperse the enemy army as much as possible instead of destroying it, so I didn't dare to overstep my authority, and I ask the general to forgive me. The subordinates also believed that this order was correct, and more than 1,000 officers and men of two and a half battalions of our unit came on a journey overnight, and their physical exertion was so great that it was really difficult to launch a charge against the enemy, who was ten times our size, so as soon as they came up, they concentrated all their mortars to bombard, and then fired at close range to destroy the enemy as much as possible. There is another point that should not be said, lest the general misunderstand and can only tell the truth, all the officers and soldiers who followed his subordinates to rush to the aid were still in Longyou City, a hundred kilometers away to the south, at this time the day before yesterday, and slept for less than eight hours for two days and one night, and only rested for more than six hours after arriving at Jiande City, and then were ordered to come overnight, so they were really powerless to pursue the fleeing enemy, and I still ask the general to forgive me! ”

Beard told the truth about the situation of the headquarters in detail, so as not to cause unnecessary misunderstandings.

Dai Yue and the generals around him were shocked and moved, and Zhang Huizan, the commander of the Fourth Division, stepped forward and held his beard tightly, thanked him repeatedly, and finally asked politely:

"Did Commander An Yi lead another group to attack Chun'an City?"

"Yes, our department got the news that the headquarters of the enemy's Fifth Army was located in Chun'an City, so the commander of the regiment An personally led the second battalion to launch an attack by waterway, just now the overall situation has been decided, all the officers and men of your army bravely pursued the remnants of the enemy who fled north, and the subordinates also accordingly ordered the first battalion of our army to attack Chun'an City in the south at full speed, and the subordinates should rush to Chun'an to join the commander of the regiment after the whole team is completed." Beard replied very politely.

Dai Yue nodded, and sighed rather sadly: "It's hard for you!" In this battle, our army strayed into the enemy's encirclement, resulting in more than 1,700 casualties among officers and men. The injured officers and soldiers are in urgent need of treatment at this time, and only Chun'an City has the conditions within a radius of 100 miles, so let's rush over and personally thank Commander An Yi. ”

Hu Zi nodded and said sorry, turned his horse and ran to the front of the model battalion brothers, and ordered the battalion deputy Lu Guang to lead the model battalion and the artillery company to return to Jiande along the original road to rest, and ordered Ding Zhicheng to lead the guard company to escort all the way, and then led the adjutant and two guards to rush to Chun'an with Dai Yue and others.

(To be continued)