Half past five in the morning.

In the morning breeze of Hexi, Luo Yuming's first regiment and Tian Zhenggang's machine gun battalion had already rested for three and a half hours on the east and rear sides of the boundary site town. In addition to the officers and men who were in charge of guarding and guarding the sentry, the soldiers who had walked for most of the night were still sleeping in the valley with their weapons in their hands, but the regimental and battalion commanders could no longer sit still, and climbed up the hill in front of the hiding point, raised their binoculars, and repeatedly observed the silence of their opponents inside and outside the boundary site with the help of the light of the morning light.

Boundary site town is a historic ancient town, because it is located in Nanxiong, Guangdong Province and Jiangxi Province Xinfeng County junction and named, for hundreds of years has been an important post station on the border line of Guangdong and Jiangxi, the undulating hills on both sides of the town are northeast to southwest direction, the ancient town of five miles long and two miles wide is slightly trumpet-shaped sandwiched in the middle, the horn opening faces the northeast direction of Jiudu Wei, the rear horn mouth faces the Wujing town of 14 kilometers in the southwest, and the narrowest place is only 350 meters.

At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the arrow towers built on both sides of the 350-meter-wide hill with stone strips and blue bricks had already collapsed, but the defensive platform was still very strong, and the basic defensive function was maintained.

Perhaps the main energy of the 39th Brigade and the 1st Regiment of the Cantonese Army was on the front, and they did not occupy the two important fortifications behind them, but built a 1.5-kilometer-long fortification in the forward position facing Jiudu, Jiangxi, and the main forces were also deployed here.

Although the fortifications on this line of defense were of extremely poor quality, and the Wu Ming brigade on the opposite side was not equipped with artillery, so it did not build a strong fortress that could defend against artillery, but relying on dense log sandbags and machine gun fortifications, as well as light and heavy machine guns equipped to the company and platoon level, it was completely possible to launch intensive fire strikes against Wu Ming's brigade attacking across the river.

It's just that the Cantonese army of the department didn't expect that the shabby-equipped and disheveled ragtag army on the opposite side would dare to take the lead in attacking them

Zheng Zhaowen, commander of the 1st Regiment of the 39th Brigade, who was born in a famous family in Guangzhou and had just returned from studying at the Japanese Non-commissioned Officer School two years ago, even asserted:

"The main battlefield of the exchange of fire between the two sides should be on the Hunan and Guizhou border in the west, and if we really want to fight, the maximum pressure on the whole line of northern Guangdong can only come from Chenzhou, Hunan, and will not be on the line from Jiangxi Dayu to Xinfeng faced by the headquarters, unless the headquarters takes the lead in attacking the defense line of the new 10th Brigade on the opposite side, the opponent who is as backward as a rabble will never dare to take the initiative to attack."

It was Zheng Zhaowen's ignorance and arrogance that caused the slackness of the whole regiment, and also showed that Wu Ming's strategy of "showing weakness and confusing the opponent" had a great effect.

In summer, the sky dawns early, and you can clearly see the scenery 100 meters away at 6 o'clock in the morning, so starting at 5:40 a.m. at the beginning of the morning, the officers and men of the two reconnaissance platoons of Luo Yuming's regiment and Tian Zhenggang's battalion have already divided into seven strike groups to carry out operations.

The battalion commander Tian Zhenggang saw that the reconnaissance platoon brothers had succeeded, and immediately ordered his mortar company and heavy machine gun company to seize the old fortifications on the two heights in the north and south, and firmly block the retreat of Zheng Zhaowen's regiment.

At 5:56 a.m., the third group of the reconnaissance platoon of Luo Yuming's department was discovered when clearing the enemy's flank guard posts, the enemy sentries hurriedly fired warning shots, and the seven officers and men of the reconnaissance group opened fire decisively, and the dense bullet rain of Thomson's submachine guns beat the enemy's two sentries into a honeycomb, but the sound of gunfire and screams also alarmed the enemy who was about to get up and assemble in the town, and the silent ancient town suddenly shouted and killed endlessly, and the gunfire continued continuously.

Seeing this, the regiment commander Luo Yuming decisively gave the order to attack, and three red signal flares rose into the sky in a screaming sound, and on the mountainside of more than 500 meters on the north and south sides of the ancient town, gunfire broke out in an instant.

A dense rain of bullets flew towards the enemy officers and men who had gathered in panic in the town, and the 60 mortars, which were equipped at the platoon level, fired frequently according to the pre-set firing elements, beating the unsuspecting enemy into a burst of screams and screams.

On the two high platforms in the north and south of the rear of the town, the 24 Bayi mortars deployed in place launched a salvo at a calm speed of 10 rounds per minute, and the enemy military camp and the tents set up along the river in the town were torn apart in the violent explosions, and the fire and smoke caused by the explosion of the dense shells instantly enveloped the entire ancient town.

Under the blow of rapid fire from three sides, the Cantonese officers and soldiers who were like headless flies actually rushed to the forward position in the northeast direction, and Luo Yuming, who thought that it would take ten minutes of artillery bombardment to achieve the goal, was stunned, and rushed out of the temporary headquarters in ecstasy, and shouted loudly to the trumpeter outside: "Blow the trumpet-"

"Tick-tock-"

The loud trumpet of the charge suddenly sounded, and the 2,200 officers and men of Luo Yuming's regiment immediately pulled out their bayonets and quickly installed them, and rushed down the hillside with a roar under the leadership of their respective company platoon commanders.

Tian Zhenggang, who was at the rear of the battlefield, changed the direction of firing very tacitly, and the 24 mortars adjusted the firing range in the sound of the command, and in less than a minute, the roar began again, and the dense shells carried the red flames over the ancient town and flew towards the defensive positions of the defenders in the northeast of the battlefield, blowing up the 1.5 km long and nearly 100 meters wide defense line in all directions and shattering it.

The entire ancient town and the mountains on both sides shook violently in the continuous sound of explosions.

In the face of countless enemies whose morale was like a rainbow and roared like a wolf and a tiger, the Cantonese officers and men who had been ruthlessly attacked without defense completely lost the courage to resist.

On the high platform on the south side of the rear of the battlefield, Tian Zhenggang, who was climbing up and overlooking the ground, couldn't help but show a satisfied smile when he saw the excellent performance of the brothers below, but scolded the deputy battalion commander and the two company commanders who came to his side:

"Hey, this time it's cheap, Luo crooked his mouth, we bombed most of the enemy's barracks and fortifications for them, they only need to shout a few words of gun-no-kill, the slogan will make a great contribution, and I will have to ask him to get back most of the seizures later, and I must not let this dog's fame and fortune be gained."

The brothers laughed when they heard Ha Lu, and the deputy battalion commander Luo Changling raised his wrist and looked at his watch, and said with satisfaction: "It's not bad, you can win the opponent in 26 minutes, and it is estimated that Luo Crooked Mouth has already reported the victory to the brigade commander by this time." ”

The regiments under the 39th Brigade of the Guangdong Army were not equipped with radio stations, but their brigade headquarters did, and there was also a special telephone line that had just been erected to connect the Nanxiong Division headquarters to the Shaoguan military headquarters, and the rumbling artillery sound in the boundary town had already alarmed the officers and men of the 39th Brigade stationed in Wujing Town, which was 14 kilometers away from the battlefield.

Brigade Commander Ye Jinhua made a slight analysis of the map, and immediately sent the Second Regiment under his command to reinforce him, and at the same time telegraphed the news of the fierce exchange of fire between the two armies at the boundary site town to Chen Zhang, the division commander of Nanxiong.

Chen Zhang was very surprised when he received the urgent report, and although yesterday the Nanjing Government had already expressed a strong attitude, and the Central Military Commission led by Chiang Kai-shek had also issued a crusade order with great vigour, Chen Zhang, like the vast majority of military personnel in the country, believed that the Nanjing high-level officials, who were now suffering from internal and external troubles, were just bluffing.

In accordance with the practice that has been formed over the years, the Nanjing Government and the new government of Guangzhou, Guangzhou, and Guangxi will inevitably have to compete with each other in public opinion to win the political initiative; at the same time, the negotiation team sent by Nanjing is still making the most difficult efforts for peace talks in Guangzhou, and then under the mediation of all parties in the country and the European and American powers that are deeply afraid of affecting their own interests, they will have to continue to fight a war of words.

Taking a step back, even if the two sides really fought, Chiang Kai-shek would definitely strike first against Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi, who were the most stubborn and arrogant and had refused to obey the central authorities since the Northern Expedition, and strike at the most difficult Gui army in the Liangguang army, so as to achieve the goal of surrendering the army without a fight, rather than the Cantonese army, which had already appeared a huge rift under its every possible means, so the main battlefield of the exchange of fire would inevitably be placed on the Hunan and Guizhou lines, and the two armies of the Central Army had just entered Hunan, which also confirmed everyone's judgment.

No one expected that there would be no movement from the Hunan side so far, but on the contrary, the Guangdong-Jiangxi front, which was considered to be the least likely to have a clash and firefight, took the lead in fighting, and the side that took the initiative to attack turned out to be a newly formed brigade of the Central Army that had been expanded from the local security forces, which made Chen Zhang, the commander of the 14th Division, who had not been expected, very surprised, and also had an annoyance of being deceived and despised.

In this case, Chen Zhang issued a death order to Ye Jinhua, he must teach the opponent who does not know the good and bad on the other side well, and strive to use superior troops and advanced equipment to eliminate the opponent in net profit, and if possible, by the way, attack and take all the strategic points in Jiangxi on the border between Guangdong and Jiangxi, and block the southward road of the follow-up reinforcements of the Central Army.

Two hours later, Chen Zhang, who was thinking about his next strategy in front of the map, unexpectedly received an urgent call from Ye Jinhua, commander of the 39th Brigade:

"The 1st Regiment of our brigade was suddenly attacked by the newly formed 10th Brigade of the Central Army at 6 o'clock in the morning without any defense, and 1,500 officers and men resisted stubbornly and suffered many casualties...... According to the latest urgent report from the front, the border town has been occupied by the enemy, and the 2nd Regiment of our aid to the border town is engaged in a fierce battle with the enemy who is defending it."

Chen Zhang was shocked and furious, and roared loudly into the phone: "The opponent's miscellaneous brigade of less than 5,000 people has actually defeated one of your most elite main regiments that has just been redressed in the blink of an eye, and has also occupied the site of the border town where the enemy and us are confronted......

"If this matter is known to Commander Chen and his colleagues in the army, where will you and I put our faces? I tell Ye Jinhua, you must take back the boundary site town for me before the sun goes down, otherwise the military law will be engaged."

Hearing the sound of Chen Zhang's phone, there was silence in the headquarters of the 14th Division of the Guangdong Army.