The flag fell, and the morale of the Eastern Expeditionary Army under the city seemed to have slipped with it, although the officers tried their best to agitate, but the sound of capturing Yang Kunru alive gradually lowered, and all that remained was the sound of explosions, gunshots, and the heavy panting of the soldiers.

The military flag fell from the city, and there were a few sighs in the observation post at the same time, Liu Yaochen slapped the wall, turned around and shouted outside the door: "Bring a knife." Guards, follow me. ”

Qian Dajun did not stop him this time, and now the morale of the troops under the city has been frustrated, and it is urgent to boost their morale, and Liu Yaochen's presence on the front line will definitely boost the morale of the army.

"Come here." Qian Dajun called Liu Yaochen to his side, pointed to a gap in the city wall and said to him: "Look at that, rush in from there." ”

Liu Yaochen nodded, and was about to go out, when Jiang Xianyun stopped him: "Brigade Commander Qian, let me go, Commander Liu wants to command the whole regiment." ”

Qian Dajun hadn't spoken yet, but Liu Yaochen was the first to speak: "Jiang Wushan, what do you want to do, the party representative is only responsible for ideological work, and I am responsible for military work. ”

After speaking, without waiting for Qian Dajun to speak, he rushed out of the observation post like a whirlwind, leaving only his voice in the room: "Guard Company, assemble." ”

"Commander, Commander." Jiang Xianyun was about to chase him out, but Qian Dajun stopped him: "Wushan, don't chase it, if you can pull this Liu Dadao back, I, the brigade commander, will let you do it." ”

Jiang Xianyun couldn't help but stop in astonishment.

Liu Yaochen led the guards to be blocked by the enemy's machine guns 300 meters below the city, and Qian Dajun was furious: "What is Liang Ganqiao doing, why don't you organize cover." "Liang Ganqiao is the commander of the machine gun company of the second regiment.

"I'll take a look." Jiang Xianyun was also very anxious, and hurriedly rushed to the machine gun company position, but saw that the six machine guns of the second regiment were spraying fierce flames at the city wall.

Jiang Xianyun rushed to his side, pointed at the enemy's machine-gun position and shouted: "Company Commander Liang, over there." Liang Ganqiao saw that it was Jiang Xianyun in a blink of an eye, and then looked in the direction of Jiang Xianyun's finger, turned the muzzle of the gun and shot there. Six machine guns were aimed at one point and struck hard, and the debris on the city wall was scattered, and the enemy's fire suddenly weakened.

Liu Yaochen took the opportunity to rush to the foot of the city wall, and the soldiers under the corner of the wall saw the regiment commander coming, and their morale was immediately boosted.

"Hold it off for me." Yang Kunru didn't expect the Eastern Expeditionary Army to be so tenacious, and it had been storming for more than two hours in a row, and the corpses were all over the city wall. Listening to the roar outside the city, a new round of offensive of the Eastern Expeditionary Army was launched.

"Those who kill the enemy will be rewarded, and those who retreat will be killed." Yang Kunru's face was pale, he also came to the front line in person, seeing that the soldiers were shaken again, he hurriedly announced the military discipline first, and ordered the adjutant to bring two boxes of oceans, packed them in large dustpans, and placed them in the rear of the battle line, and the guards shouted in unison: "The commander-in-chief has an order, kill one enemy and reward ten pieces of the ocean, kill one enemy officer, and reward fifty oceans." Brothers, kill the enemy and receive a reward! ”

Then he deliberately made the ocean clang, and the soldiers of the Chen army were tickled by the sound of the ocean, and a bearded veteran looked at the ocean greedily, and spat on the ground vigorously: "Get out, brothers." A group of soldiers rushed up to the city with blood-red eyes.

Liu Yaochen, who was also under the city, was also shouting: "Brothers, go up." After speaking, he was about to climb the ladder, and the guards around him grabbed him: "Commander, I'll go up first." ”

The guards stepped on the ladder, and then two more guards rushed to climb the ladder in front of Liu Yaochen, the first to step on the ladder, half of his body just exposed the city wall, he was stabbed, and his body fell diagonally, and the guards behind did not show his head easily, but first threw out two grenades, and jumped on the city wall in the smoke of the grenade explosion.

When Liu Yaochen climbed the city wall, there were already seven or eight soldiers of the Eastern Expeditionary Army in the city, who were hiding behind sandbags and shooting at the enemy. The enemy under the city was climbing up to the roof, and knowing that he couldn't stay here for a long time, he immediately decided: "Chong, kill the city, and capture Yang Kunru alive." ”

Before the words fell, a Chen army also rushed out from near the city tower, Liu Yaochen roared, and rushed towards the enemy with his knife, and the two sides collided head-on.

Liu Yaochen quickly overturned the two enemies in front of him with a knife in his hand, the enemy suddenly panicked, turned around and ran, Liu Yaochen took the lead in chasing the enemy and approached the machine gun position of the city gate tower. Zhang Xiaoming, who was commanding the machine gun position of the city gate tower, saw that the situation was not good, and hurriedly transferred two machine guns and opened fire on Liu Yaochen and the fleeing soldiers, Liu Yaochen was caught off guard by several bullets, and was killed immediately, and the angry guards faced the rain of bullets and charged fearlessly, and they all fell on the way to charge, and the Chen army took the opportunity to launch a counter-charge, and pressed the Eastern Expeditionary Army down the city wall.

Hearing the news of Liu Yaochen's death, Chiang Kai-shek was hit on the head, and he was so heartbroken that he almost cried; Director Zhou was silent, Liu Yaochen was a member of the [***] party, and the Second Regiment was nominally a Kuomintang army, but in fact, 90% of the officers from top to bottom were [***] members or members of the Communist Youth League, and they belonged to [***] their own arms.

"Headmaster, it's getting late, morale is out, stop attacking for the time being." Chen Zhuo suggested to Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang Kai-shek nodded silently, he was full of resentment towards Luo Jia Juefu at this time, if he hadn't insisted on attacking Huizhou, Liu Yaochen would have died in battle.

Night gradually fell, the sun seemed to be frightened by this tragic battle, it hurriedly hid into the night, Huizhou City was quiet again, only the smoke of gunpowder accompanied the corpses all over and outside the city.

In the evening, the atmosphere at the operational meeting held in the general headquarters was depressing, and Chiang Kai-shek, Luo Jia Juefu, Director Zhou, He Yingqin, Chen Zhuo, and Tan Shuqing all gathered in the temporary conference room.

Chiang Kai-shek's face turned blue and suppressed the anger in his heart: "Let's talk about it, whether to give up attacking Huizhou, first eliminate Huang Renhuan and Lian Yanxiong on the Zijin side, and then detour to Chaoshan from the north." ”

"No, Jiang, Huizhou is the main point, and only by taking Huizhou can the enemy be completely destroyed." Roga Juev was the first to object, but he still insisted on his set, the knife-tip to knife-tip theory.

"In today's attack, Liu Yaochen, the commander of the Second Regiment, was killed, Tan Luming, the deputy captain of the stormtrooper, Du Congrong, the chief captain of the stormtrooper, was seriously wounded, two of the three battalion commanders of the Second Regiment were wounded, seven company commanders were wounded, and there were more than 300 officers and soldiers below the platoon commander; The cost is too great. He Yingqin slowly reported the casualty figures to Chiang Kai-shek and Luo Jia Juefu, and every time he said his name, Chiang Kai-shek's face twitched, and Director Zhou's heart ached.

"No, no, let's not be intimidated by temporary casualties, this is the price that must be paid for victory." He really did not understand why these Chinese generals had to revise their battle plans at such a small price, which was absolutely not allowed in the Soviet Red Army, and such commanders would be regarded as people with serious defeatist tendencies and would be transferred from their command posts.

"Now the blow to morale will be very serious, and when we first go out to fight with official morale, if we give up after the slightest setback, the impact on morale will be huge." Director Zhou saw that Chiang Kai-shek did not want to fight Huizhou again, but Luo Jia Juefu would never give in, and if the two clashed, the consequences would be very serious. However, he also knew that he was not proficient in military affairs, and it should be said that he was still in the study stage, and he could not tell the pros and cons of attacking and not attacking, so he explained the harm of not attacking from the perspective of ideological work.

Sure enough, Director Zhou's words caused Chiang Kai-shek and He Yingqin to think deeply, and leaving in this way would undoubtedly be a self-admitting defeat, which would be a great blow to the already extremely high morale, and even more unfavorable to future operations. Although Rogajuev was a general trained by Soviet and Russian military theory, he also understood the meaning of morale, and he said happily at the moment:

"Zhou, you are right, if you leave Huizhou in a failed way, the mood of the soldiers will be hit, so we must conquer Huizhou. Let the soldiers believe that we are invincible, and that no wall can stop us from advancing. ”

Although Chiang Kai-shek did not want to attack Huizhou again, he understood that Director Zhou's words were right and could not leave Huizhou in a failed way: "Okay, we will continue the offensive tomorrow." ”

He Yingqin nodded, thought about it and said: "Judging from the effect of today's attack, the support of artillery fire is not enough, and the intensity is not enough, is it not to send the navy to participate in the war." ”

"Okay, send a report to Guangzhou, let the Zhongshan ship rush to Huizhou overnight, how are you going to fight tomorrow?" Chiang Kai-shek asked.

"The second regiment suffered relatively heavy losses today, and tomorrow I will transfer the third regiment to join the siege sequence, and I will personally command the first line." He Yingqin replied after a little thought in his heart.

"Okay, the artillery fire needs to be strengthened, the enemy's machine gun has caused us a lot of losses today, tell Chen Cheng to find a way to knock out the enemy's machine gun!" Chiang Kai-shek's tone was angry.

The next day the sun was shining, the sky was blue, pure as a picture, and the wind on the sea still smelled fishy, but there was a suffocating tranquility in the air inside and outside Huizhou.

He Yingqin, Qian Dajun, Hu Zongnan, Jiang Xianyun and others were all in the observation post, calmly observing Huizhou opposite. Hu Zongnan led his troops into the shock position this morning, at this moment his face sank like water, but his mood was very excited, two days ago Qian Dajun let the second regiment take the lead in the attack, he was not convinced, but he was the junior among the regiment commanders, he didn't dare to complain at all, he could only stay behind and sulk. Yesterday, the second regiment suffered a setback in a bloody battle, and the regimental commander was killed, and he received an order in the evening, and today his regiment will take the lead in attacking, with the assistance of the second regiment. At this time, he immediately came to his senses, and convened a meeting of the battalion and company commander overnight to discuss the attack plan. In the end, it was determined that the company commander Chen Mingren would be the leader of the stormtrooper team, leading the troops to the front, followed by the seventh battalion, with the eighth battalion on the left and the ninth battalion on the right. After reporting to the brigade headquarters, Qian Dajun adjusted the plan to the right side to the second regiment and the ninth battalion as the reserve.

In the private house 500 meters away from the north gate, Chen Cheng was also nervously waiting for orders, and after Chiang Kai-shek's words reached his ears yesterday, he felt very aggrieved, but after several hours of shelling, he could not knock out the enemy's machine-gun position, strictly speaking, and did not even cause great damage to the city wall, and this fact made him feel ashamed again. As soon as he gritted his teeth, he found He Yingqin and proposed an extremely risky plan, which was to transport it under the nose of the enemy and carry out close shooting. The specific plan was to use the houses outside the city, transport the artillery to the houses to conceal it, and suddenly open fire during the attack to destroy the enemy's firepower points. He Yingqin greatly appreciated this plan, and that night, five cannons were quietly transported into the houses outside the north gate.

At ten o'clock, with the sound of a cannon on Fei'e Ling, the second attack on Huizhou began. On the sea, the Zhongshan and Baobi ships also bombarded the south gate. Today's attack was the same as yesterday's, the four-hour artillery bombardment suffocated the defenders and citizens of the city, and the artillery fire of the warships was even more powerful, and a single shell felt like a landslide and the ground cracked, which not only shocked the will of the defenders, but also misled the judgment of the defenders' generals. Yang Kunru and Mo Xiong agreed that the direction of the Eastern Expeditionary Army's assault would be shifted to the South Gate, and then decided that Mo Xiong would lead the last reserve to reinforce the South Gate.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the charge shook the sky, and the infantry began to attack the city wall, Chen Mingren led the stormtroopers to charge ahead, he looked a little weak, but in fact his surname was like a fire, fierce as a knife; Otherwise, Hu Zongnan would not have let him lead the stormtroopers.

Chen Mingren jumped onto the trench, without any concealment at all, and pointed to Huizhou City and shouted at the assembled stormtroopers: "Brothers! Die or go to the city! Come on! ”

Then Chen Mingren rushed towards the city wall without looking back, followed by the flag bearer, and behind the hunting army flag, there was a gray crowd of people, fiercely swooping towards Huizhou.

As soon as the charge outside the city sounded, Zhang Xiaoming immediately boarded the machine gun position of the city tower, so the trick was repeated, and the Eastern Expeditionary Army rushed to about 300 meters to implement the blockade, but the momentum of the Eastern Expeditionary Army was like a rainbow, and it seemed that the ferocious firepower on the flanks seemed to be blind, and one fell, and a group rushed up behind, and those who did not fall continued to pounce on the city.

The momentum of the Eastern Expeditionary Army made Zhang Xiaoming feel that it was difficult to be good today, if yesterday's siege troops were still not afraid of death, today's enemy is regardless of life and death, and regarded death as home, he looked at the high and thick city walls, which gave him a little confidence, and he ordered loudly: "Everyone goes to the city, go to the city, everyone goes to the city." ”

A short shriek swept through the air, "Commander, be careful. The guard slammed down on him, "boom", a cannonball exploded not far from him, a powerful shock wave sliding past him, and then crackling and falling gravel and dirt from the air. "How can you be so accurate?" Zhang Xiaoming pushed away the first thought that flashed in the back of the guard covering his body.

"Okay," Chen Cheng shouted after seeing the flames of the explosion, he stood up from behind the cannon and shouted: "Ruler xx, azimuth xx, three rapid fire." Put! ”

Five cannons spewed flames at the same time, and when people climbed on the city wall, people turned on their backs, rocks cracked, and the enemy's machine-gun fire was immediately muted. The city wall that had lost its cover was like a [***] woman, completely exposed to the onslaught of the Crusade army. After eliminating the machine-gun position, Chen Cheng turned the artillery fire again, and the enemy resistance there was fierce, and the shells flew there.

Chen Cheng's cannon effectively covered the impact of the infantry, and soon dozens of ladders were erected on the north gate city wall, Chen Mingren held the command knife in one hand, and the shell gun in the other, and was the first to board the head of Huizhou City, and the Chen soldiers in the city immediately rushed to him, he slashed and shot at the gun, and instantly eliminated several enemies in front of him, that is, in this short two minutes, several stormtroopers climbed up to the city, and they formed a combat group to firmly hold this breakthrough.

After Hu Zongnan served as the regiment commander, he moved the team operations in the Seventh Company to the Third Regiment, and the training and life deliberately cultivated a sense of teamwork, and even Zhuang Jihua's fight was copied without asking the reason, so the combat method of the Third Regiment was the same as that of the Seventh Company, the soldiers were fierce and tenacious, but the training time was short, and the team cooperation was still relatively rusty.

"What did you say, they rushed in?" Yang Kunru looked at Adjutant Zhang Xiaoming who came to report in disbelief, and yelled: "What about Zhang Xiaoming? Why didn't he come? ”

"Regiment... The regiment commander was killed by a shell. The adjutant stammered and said that Yang Kunru's surname was irritable, and the fate of those who came to report such murderous news was generally not good.

"What about Deputy Head Wang?" Hearing that Zhang Xiaoming was killed, Yang Kunru calmed down a little: "Why don't you beat them down." ”

"Deputy Commander Wang was shot three times, and the brothers finally grabbed it, commander-in-chief, send reinforcements quickly, otherwise the north gate will not be able to be defended." The adjutant pleaded anxiously.

"Dog, Chiang Kai-shek, I'm not done with you!" Hearing that the two lovers were killed and injured, Yang Kun jumped like thunder: "The guard platoon gathers, follow me to the north gate." ”

Before he could get out of the headquarters, a soldier hurriedly ran in: "The north gate has been opened, and the student army is attacking the city. ”

The officers in the headquarters suddenly looked colorless, they did not expect that Huizhou, which is known as impregnable and has never broken the city in three hundred years, was declared lost in only two days.

Yang Kunru couldn't accept this result no matter what: "The guard platoon assembles, follow me and beat them out." ”

The chief of staff hurriedly hugged him and hurriedly said: "Commander-in-chief, stay in the green mountains, don't be afraid of no firewood; While the east gate is still in our hands, let's retreat over there and go to Haifeng, there are still men and horses in Commander Hong's place, and we can make a comeback. ”

I'm afraid no one would believe this at the time, but now I can only deceive myself. If the city defense is lost, the gap between the Chen army and the simple comparison of troops is huge, and if the will to fight is added, the gap will be even greater.

Yang Kunru let out a long sigh, he knew that everything was over. The chief of staff saw that Yang Kunru did not speak, so he quickly ordered the guards to platoon Yang Kunru and run towards the east gate, and when they approached the east gate, they ran into Mo Xiong again. It turned out that Mo Xiong received a notice from his cronies who stayed at the headquarters, and as soon as he heard that the north gate was defending, he knew that the general situation was gone, and immediately abandoned his troops and fled to the east gate.

(To be continued)