107971908 Far East Maniac Chapter 3 Battle West Pingshang

It was so quiet that I couldn't hear anything. There are no human figures in the wilderness, only the trenches and foxholes crisscrossing the yellow earth remind people that this is a battlefield and should not be exposed to the ground unless necessary.

There were almost no trees to be seen in the land, all the trees had been cut down and consumed on the position as materials for fortifications, and even the stumps came in handy, some into small tables, others into stools.

Now, platoon commander Yang Ben sits on such a stump stool, holding a notebook in one hand and a pencil in the other, and uses his knees as a table. Write and draw with your heart.

He was reviewing his homework, and as a cadet in the crash course for officers in the battalion, if it weren't for the "Dawn in the South" military exercise, he might be sitting in the spacious and bright military academy classroom right now. Listen to the instructor's tactical lesson.

Yang Ben is twenty-one years old, a native of Anhui, joined the army the year before last, and served as a soldier in the Anhui New Army Temporary Thirty-one Mixed Formation Association, although he went to a private villa for two years when he was a child, but the culture is not high after all, and this big head soldier has been until the outbreak of the Anqing New Army uprising, as a small soldier, Yang Ben is not clear about the theory of the revolutionaries, but when the Anqing gun went off. He still joined the rebel army, and the purpose was very simple: to vent the anger in his heart, and by the way, kill the sentry officer who killed him in the first place.

However, the sentry officer was clever, and after the uprising that night, he saw that the situation was not good, and the soles of his feet were smeared with oil, and as a result, Yang Ben did not see the face of the sentry officer, but there was an unexpected gain, and he received twenty taels of charred black "light recovery salary." ”

These twenty taels of silver can buy more than ten acres of dry land in northern Anhui, Yang Ben planned to take the silver and return to his hometown, but he failed to make it in the end. Instead, he followed the revolutionary army to Huangnigang, participated in the Huangnigang Autumn Exercise New Army Uprising, and then followed Commander-in-Chief Zhao to Jiujiang, became a soldier of the Republican Army, and was selected into the Commander-in-Chief's Guard, and became a guard of Northern Zhao.

From Jiujiang to Wuhan, and from Wuhan to Chengdu. Zhao Bei led the republican army to fight in the east and west, and Yang Ben also followed the commander-in-chief Nan Meng's battle to fight in the east and west. Although they had not participated in any decent battles, the burden on their shoulders was not light, and the safety of the commander-in-chief depended on their loyal guards.

It is certainly not easy to be the commander-in-chief's guard. However, the rewards are also generous, not only the military salary is high, but also there are many opportunities to become an officer, this Yang Ben is a representative of the guards who was promoted to an officer.

In fact, the reason why Yang Ben was able to be a platoon commander. Crazy to the rank of warrant officer, it was entirely because of his boldness. Dare to jump off a hot air balloon with a parachute on your back. At that time, the parachute was the first real experiment, and the commander-in-chief's reward for the volunteers participating in the parachute experiment was to go down to the grassroots level to become officers.

Yang Ben signed up to be a volunteer for the jumping experiment. He and another guard won the lottery, so they wrapped a parachute in a hot air balloon and jumped hundreds of meters into the air. Unscathed, the two left the guard. He went to the grassroots level to serve as a senior officer.

Yang Ben first worked as a platoon commander in Wuhan. Soon after, he was transferred to Xinyang, still as a platoon commander. After that, he led his troops to be stationed in Xinyang, and it was not until the beginning of the "Southern Dawn" operation that he followed his troops from Xinyang to the Xiping front line and led his subordinates into the positions assigned to them.

Yang Ben's position is in the northwest suburbs of Youfang Town. The straight-line distance from the Jinghan railway line is 1,500 meters, and it is a point on the most advanced line of defense in the Xiyang defense line, if the enemy launches an attack. Here the fire will be the first to be fired.

Keeping in mind the Republican Army's slogan of "sweat more before the war and shed less blood during the war", Yang Ben immediately led his subordinates to build field fortifications, trenches, communication trenches, anti-artillery bunkers, and foxholes, all in strict accordance with the operational regulations.

In fact, when attending a crash course for officers in the battalion, the political propagandists who went to give the lecture had already made a brief analysis and exposition of the situation between the north and the south, and it was in this way that grassroots officers like Yang Ben learned about the relationship between the congressional election and Yuan Shikai's presidential power, and also understood why Yuan Shikai was annoyed that the united front had won a majority of seats in the Congress, and figured this out. I also figured out why there was a confrontation between the north and the south and even a war.

To put it simply, in this war, the united front defended the revolution in order to "defend the Constitution". However, Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Group is to usurp power, but also to Yuan Shikai's monopoly of power. In order to make it easier for him to sell state sovereignty and national interests more easily.

In this war, the commander-in-chief and the united front fought for the interests of the country and the people, and for them, it was a just war, a glorious war, for an officer like Yang Ben. The same is true!

Carrying this righteous battle flag, a grassroots officer like Yang Ben will go to the battlefield with high morale. What's more, there is also a combat allowance for participating in the war. Two months' combat allowance in advance, that is, four oceans, relying on these allowances, Yang Ben can not only remit more money to his family to buy land. He also ordered a pair of cowhide shoes for his shoe store in Xinyang, which was as majestic as a senior officer when worn on his feet.

But to really become a high-ranking officer, it's not enough to rely on these brand new leather shoes. Yang Ben must study harder and take the military academy exam, only in this way can he change from warrant officer to second lieutenant, and then become

By now, Yang Ben has fully adapted to military life, and he has long given up the idea of retiring. If possible, he plans to stay in the army for a long time and become a career officer, a high-ranking officer like the head of the guard, Tian Jinfu.

The old boss Tian Jinfu is now a colonel, and Yang Ben's goal is to reach the rank of colonel, and as for the higher ranks, he has no extravagant hopes at present. After all, he is not highly educated and cannot be a general.

However, if you want to be a high-ranking officer, it is not enough to just go to a military academy, you must also have enough combat merits, so Yang Ben is very eager to fight, because only fighting can bring combat merits and bring opportunities for promotion.

In the morning, an order came from the higher authorities that the Beiyang Army had pressed towards Xiping, and the forward had arrived at Wugou Town, and the battle of Xiping was about to begin, and all troops on the front line must be ready to meet it.

After receiving the order, Yang Ben immediately ordered his subordinates to prepare for the battle and wait for the Beiyang Army to come over on the position

This was the whole morning, seeing that the sun was setting west, but the Beiyang Army had not yet launched an attack. Yang Ben became a little anxious, and in order to calm his mood, he found a notebook and a pen, and began to review his homework to divert his attention.

However, he couldn't concentrate all the time, and after writing a few pounds and words, Yang Ben could no longer concentrate, so he had to put the notebook back in his military pocket and insert the pencil into the crack of the stump stool in that row.

Standing up, Yang Ben looked north, and faintly saw some vague shadows on the hot horizon, but without a telescope, he couldn't tell what it was, whether it was a soldier of the Beiyang Army.

"Check the weapon!"

Yang Ben squatted back into the trench and shouted twice to the left and right with his throat pulled.

The soldiers were silent, and each checked the weapons in their hands, this is a rifle platoon, only rifles, and even the platoon commander Yang Ben has a Hanyang in his hand, and they are catties. Not even a single machine gun was left. Only one heavy mortar provided fire suppression, which was a real disadvantage compared to the well-equipped Beiyang Army.

The only sound of heavy breathing of the soldiers could be heard from the position, and the clanging sound of bolts pulling and reloading.

Yang Ben lifted his toes again. Stretching his neck and glancing at the north and south of the trench, the north was still those vague shadows, while in the south there were some people running towards the position, judging from the dress, they were all soldiers of the Southern Henan People's Army, and the weapons in their hands were more mixed, and many of them were carrying big knives and spears.

Soon, the militia soldiers entered the position, and some of them jumped into Yang Ben's trenches. Brought him a few heavy crates.

The crate was loaded with grenades, which were brought from the division headquarters by the net, and each soldier in Yang Ben's platoon could get five grenades, as for the few Henan men, they were sent by the regiment commander to strengthen the guards, although these civilian soldiers did not have many rifles, but each of them also had a few grenades. The melee ability is still very strong, and the morale is good, at least on the surface.

Yang Ben was not polite, and arranged these Henan men on the right flank, his platoon guarded the left flank of the position, and he himself stood in the middle to coordinate and command, but Yang Ben did not have any bottom in his heart about how long these civilian soldiers could hold out.

In fact, Yang Ben himself was not sure how long he could hold out, after all, this was the first time that his platoon had participated in a battle against the Beiyang Army. The Beiyang Army is known as China's "strongest army." "If nothing else, the cannon is also very powerful.

Thinking of this, Yang Ben turned his head to look at the anti-artillery bunker behind him, more than two feet of thick loess covered the trunk of the tree, which was enough to resist the bombardment of field artillery, but if he hid inside, then he would not be able to see the Beiyang Army coming from the north.

"Don't be nervous, be calm, be calm! The cannonballs don't have long eyes, they hit when they come, and the sky dawns, where will they fly, fall to the north, fall to the south. It just can't fall on our heads! Don't be afraid of machine guns, let's dodge in the trenches, and the bullets won't hit! ”

Yang Ben pinched the sweat in his palms, stood in the trench and shouted a few times, turned his head to look south, and saw that the hydrogen balloon suspended in the jade sky had risen higher. However, the distance was too far away, and it was still impossible to see how many people were standing in the hanging basket.

Turning his head to look north, the sky above the wilderness was empty, and the vague figures that appeared on the horizon just now also disappeared, as if they were Yang Ben's illusion just now.

The position was eerily quiet, everyone held their breath and stared intently at the north, only Yang Ben looked south.

Two red flares suddenly rose on the horizon to the south, which was a signal from the artillery position, and the lookouts on the hydrogen balloon must have discovered something.

"Attention everyone! Alert! ”

Yang Ben shouted at the top of his voice.

Before the words fell, I saw a flash of light on the northern horizon, looking through the steaming air, which was extremely strange.

"Shelling! Take cover! ”

Yang Ben subconsciously squatted down, and the soldiers also squatted down with their heads in their hands.

After a few seconds, they heard the "whoosh" sound coming from the air, and then the earth shook violently, the air was torn apart by a powerful force, and a deafening explosion came from the south side of the position with a scorching wave of air.

The suppressive firing of the artillery of the Beiyang Army began.