Duping, a small village below Wushan County, Chongqing, is next to the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River. Originally, it was just a small overlooked place, and you couldn't even find it on a map. However, as relations between the western Sichuan and the Qing court became more and more tense, the armies of both sides piled up in the border area, making this small village also come into the sight of the western Sichuan army.

After the 7th Brigade of the Western Sichuan Army marched from Bazhong to Chongqing, it mainly deployed the border south of the Yangtze River in Wushan County, and the defense area of the 5th Division in the west to the north. The headquarters of the 7th Brigade was located in Duping. On the opposite side of the Seventh Brigade is the third town of the Hubei New Army, with more than 20,000 people in the town, equipped with artillery and cavalry, and its strength is relatively strong, and the command is Zhang Xun.

Even though the opponent's strength was more than twice that of their own, the officers and men of the 7th Brigade were not afraid, but were always in a tough posture. Fortunately, both sides exercised restraint before receiving the order to go to war.

The weather in June was already very hot, and Chongqing was also known as a furnace, which made the soldiers stationed here miserable. From the morning onwards, the temperature rises sharply after the sun rises, but in order to prevent the enemy from attacking, the soldiers still have to go into the trenches to defend themselves.

"Little Erzi, my kettle is out of water, go get me a pot of water!" Li Dazhu, the squad leader of the third platoon and third squad of the second company of the fourth battalion of the seventh brigade of the western Sichuan army, commanded a ten-year-old recruit.

"Okay, squad leader!" The second son immediately pulled the kettle of the squad leader and his comrades-in-arms and went to a waterhole in front of him to get water. This is already the border between Sichuan and Hubei, but the detailed border line has always been relatively vague, and the western Sichuan army and the Qing army have only deployed defensive lines according to the general plan. For example, the waterhole where the little two sons took water, the people of the Western Sichuan Army and the Hubei New Army all drew water here.

The little second son took a few kettles, quickly ran to the waterhole, opened the lid, and filled the pot with water.

"Yo, boy, are you here to get water again?" Two Hubei New Army, dressed in Western-style military uniforms but still dragging pigtails behind their heads, also came to fetch water, and after arriving at the second son, they said hello.

"Hmm!" Xiao Erzi nodded, and the soldiers were not ready to say anything. In any case, the two sides are now enemies! Maybe there will be a war when.

"Eh, the equipment of your western Sichuan army is good, even the kettle is made of steel, which is still leather."

"yes!" When fetching water, two soldiers of the Hubei New Army said with a drainage pot that Xiao Erzi put on the ground.

After hearing their words, the little second son was very proud. The Western Sichuan Army, whether in terms of weapons or other equipment, is far from being comparable to the Qing army, even their Hubei New Army.

"Boy, you take that many kettles by yourself? Why don't you give two to your brother? "A soldier of the Hubei New Army, holding a kettle for the little second son, has a greedy glint in his eyes. A kettle at this point must be worth at least one tael or more silver!

"No way!" The little second son flatly refused, and after filling the water, he picked up the kettle and walked away.

"Damn, little bunny! Grab him! "The two soldiers of the Hubei New Army were not good birds, and they immediately went to the bottom of their hands. As soon as they jumped up, they pressed the little second son to the ground, and they were about to snatch something from him.

"Bastard!" Xiao Erzi scolded, he resisted desperately, but he was thin and weak, and he was no match for the two Hubei New Army soldiers, not only the kettle was snatched away, but even the rifle and bullets on his body were snatched away.

"I'm fighting with you!" The little second son breathed fire in his eyes and pounced.

"Look for death!" "Bang", the gun went off, and the little second son fell to the ground holding his chest.

"What's going on? Where are the guns going off? Li Dazhu, the leader of the third squad, was shocked.

"It's in the direction of the waterhole, the little second son won't have an accident, right?" The deputy squad leader of the third class said.

"You stay here, I'll take the people. Xiao Zhou, Xiao Wu, you guys come with me! Li Dazhu hurriedly led people to run towards the waterhole. As a result, all I saw was the body of the little second son.

"Chase! It must have been done by someone from the Hubei New Army! Li Dazhu had tears in his eyes, and quickly chased after him with a few soldiers.

They only chased a few dozen meters before they arrived at the two soldiers of the Hubei New Army who were carrying the rifles of Xiao Erzi and several water bottles in their hands. Li Dazhu immediately identified the murderer.

"Shoot, kill those two bastards!" Although the Qing army's defense line was not far ahead, Li Dazhu still gave the order.

"Bang! Bang! Two gunshots rang out, and two soldiers from the Hubei New Army fell to the ground. But the Hubei New Army at this scene blew up.

"Brothers, come on! The Western Sichuan Army has killed our people! "A large group of Hubei new troops immediately rushed out of their positions.

"Retreat!" Li Dazhu hurriedly retreated with his people and brought back the body of the little second son. However, dozens of Hubei New Army were in hot pursuit. It was pursued all the way to the front of the position of the Western Sichuan Army.

The platoon commander of the third platoon chased after dozens of Hubei New Army, thinking that the Hubei New Army had launched an attack. Immediately the order to open fire was given.

Three platoons of heavy machine guns and mortars, immediately began firing. The shell exploded in the Hubei New Army, blowing up several soldiers. A platoon of heavy machine guns swept by, and several soldiers of the Hubei New Army who rushed to the front immediately fell to the ground.

However, this firing also completely detonated the tense atmosphere between the Western Sichuan Army and the Hubei New Army, and more and more troops joined the battle. By the time Xie Dingkun, commander of the 7th Brigade, received the news, most of the troops of the 7th Brigade had already been engaged in the battle. Moreover, under the ferocious firepower of the Seventh Brigade, they not only repelled the attack of the Hubei New Army, but also burned the flames of war to the positions of the Hubei New Army.

"Chief of Staff, what about the troop losses now?" Xie Dingkun was very depressed, it was only the morning of June 17, and the scheduled attack time was tomorrow.

"Our casualties were relatively small, but now that we are fighting on all fronts, we can only make mistakes. Report to the Chief of the General Staff, and the whole brigade will go into battle! Yu Haijian, chief of staff of the Seventh Brigade, said.

"Report to the Chief of the General Staff immediately! In addition, all divisions were ordered to prepare for battle, and as soon as the order from the headquarters arrived, an attack was launched! Xie Dingkun, chief of staff of the Seventh Brigade, said. Now that the guns have gone wrong, the only way to attack is to launch in advance.

After Xiong Wu in Wanxian County learned of the situation, he immediately ordered the Western Sichuan Army to launch an offensive on all fronts, breaking through their defense line before the Hubei New Army reacted, in order to gain the initiative. The Western Sichuan Army had already set up telegraph lines on the front line and directly in Wanxian, so that timely communication could be realized.

It is reported that the research on wireless telegraphy, which the western Sichuan army attaches great importance to, has entered a substantial stage, and with the efforts of a large number of western Sichuan engineers and Russian advisers, a prototype has been developed. It's just that the volume is too large and the weight is too heavy, and further improvements are needed.

After receiving Xiong Wu's order, the various units of the Western Sichuan Army immediately launched an attack. For a time, the troops of five divisions and one brigade of the Western Sichuan Army launched an all-out attack on the Hubei New Army in the five towns opposite. The artillery battalions of each division were equipped with 05 mm caliber howitzers, which were powerful and powerful, and quickly plunged the defense line of the Hubei New Army on the opposite side into a sea of fire.

The Hubei New Army did not expect the Western Sichuan Army to open fire at this time, except for Zhang Xun, the commander of the third town, who already knew the specific situation and made preparations, the rest of the towns were caught off guard by the Western Sichuan Army.

The artillery position of the 7th Brigade of the Western Sichuan Army, the artillery battalion belonging to the 7th Brigade is firing artillery at the position of the 3rd Town of the Hubei New Army. The artillery position of the 7th Brigade was a two-company artillery battalion, equipped with a total of 24 05-mm howitzers, which was missing two companies compared to the artillery battalions of other divisions. But even so, the power should not be underestimated.

The position of the 3rd Town of the Hubei New Army on the opposite side had already been damaged by the shelling of the 7th Brigade. In terms of civil engineering, the Hubei New Army was already weaker than the Western Sichuan Army, and their fortifications were destroyed after being ravaged by the artillery of the Western Sichuan Army.