The Beiyang soldiers were once again driven out of the main position by the youth army, Huang Zhenkui was dumbfounded, he was an old leader, and he knew what it meant to have one drum flourishing, two drums declining, and three drums exhausted. The first two times I tried my best to attack and couldn't take it down, so it would be wishful thinking if the next attack succeeded again.

Sure enough, the Beiyang soldiers of the Sixth Division gave full play to the characteristics of what is called an old oilman, and they all crawled between the attack launch point and the attack target, no matter how the officers shouted, they just didn't get up to attack. Forced in a hurry, two steps forward, no one watched, and quietly took three steps back, anyway, it was impossible to expect them to take the enemy position.

Huang Zhenkui was also at a loss for this, and he could only report to Xiangshang after secretly scolding a ruffian.

Ma Jizeng also saw this situation, he knew that Huang Zhenkui did his best, and he also knew that it was unrealistic to continue to attack at the moment. Although this reality made him very unhappy, he also had to give the order to stop the attack.

The first day of fighting was declared completely over at about 5 p.m., and the Beiyang Army, which was responsible for outflanking the two flanks, failed to achieve a breakthrough after paying a certain price, and finally had to withdraw to the attack point.

Since they did not expect in advance that they would not be able to achieve a frontal breakthrough, the Beiyang soldiers could not rest yet, and everyone had to wield hoes to build improvised positions. Otherwise, it would not be fun to be beaten and attacked at night, and Ma Jizeng could be said to have learned a profound lesson at this point.

The Beiyang soldiers were busy building nests over there, but there was a sad atmosphere on the side of the Youth Army. There is no joy in repelling the enemy's army, there is only the trauma of war.

When Liu Xuyi, the commander of the 401st Regiment, walked to the position, he saw a scene that he would never forget, the corpses of the soldiers of the Youth Army and the corpses of the Beiyang Army on the battlefield overlapped, and the blood of the dead soaked every inch of soil here, dyeing the entire position a dark red. And Wang Kewen, the commander of the first battalion responsible for guarding the main position, was crying sadly at the moment holding a corpse: "Xiao Wu, Xiao Wu, my good brother, what's wrong with you?" Answer me! ”

Several major officers were all exhorting: "Battalion commander, Brother Xiaowu has been killed, you mourn!" ”

Wang Kewen scolded angrily when he heard this: "You fart." Xiao Wu didn't die, he just saved me, by the way, where is the hygienist? weishenme did not come to save Xiao Wu. ”

The officers and men standing around were all saddened when they heard this, and the brothers who were still talking and laughing together this morning had lost almost half of them in the evening, and no one would feel good in their hearts.

Liu Xuyi looked at Wang Kewen, who was lost and depressed, and suddenly became angry: "Wang Kewen, what are you kid doing?" Have you forgotten your responsibilities? As a battalion commander, don't you dare to face death? Don't you leave the brothers alive to ask? ”

Many years later, General Wang Kewen, who held the position of commander of the large military region, wrote truthfully in his memoirs "The Aftermath of the Battlefield": "General Liu Xuyi was the commander of our 401st Regiment at that time, and the first day of the battle was more tragic than we imagined. It was the most vivid battle I can remember, and in just three hours of fighting, facing an enemy several times my size, our 918 officers and men of the 1st Battalion paid a huge price of 212 killed and 274 wounded. A total of 519 enemies were killed and several wounded during the battle. But that wasn't enough to soothe my sentimentality, as so many of my brothers died, especially Xiao Wu, who was a very dutiful guard. I remember he was only 19 years old at the time, spoke German (Changde), had both parents and an older brother and an older sister. I enlisted in Hanshou in December of the third year of the Republic of China (1914), and was selected as my guard because of my small and clever stature. Usually work diligently, hard-working. In the battle on January 15, I was brave and tenacious, killing three enemies with my own hands. At this time of crisis, Xiao Wu fought against the enemy and saved my life, but he was harmed by the enemy, which is the biggest guilt of my life. ”

Since then, Wang Kewen regards Xiao Wu's parents as his biological parents, no matter how high his status is, he has been raised until he is old and personally sent him to his death, these are all later words.

The results of the battle were sent to the headquarters of the Second Army for the first time, the commander-in-chief Wan Yaohuang looked at it and did not speak, and the army commander Liu Xing took a look and said: "Liu Xuyi is good, this time it will be a hard blow to the arrogance of the Beiyang Army, Mr. Wan, can we launch a counterattack on all fronts next?" ”

Wan Yaohuang didn't speak, he took out a small bag with him, which contained his favorite fried peanuts in oil. Wan Yaohuang has a habit of chewing a few fried peanuts with salt when he thinks about things.

All the people in the military department set their eyes on Wan Yaohuang, and after a while, Wan Yaohuang said: "Continue to hold on and prepare to retreat." ”

"Huh? weishenme？ "Liu Xing doesn't understand very much, whether it is the strength or the equipment of his own side, he is in an advantage, and Weishenme still has to prepare for retreat?

Wan Yaohuang chewed another peanut and said: "If we want to defeat the Sixth Division, it is not a simple math problem, there is an opportunity in it, and if the timing is well grasped, this battle will be easy; On the contrary, if you don't grasp it well, an easy battle can turn into a tricky one. Commander Liu, we can't help but focus on the place of Changde, our next target is the big plate south of the Huai River, so we can't consume our troops at will at the moment. ”

When Liu Xing heard this, it made sense, but he still asked unwillingly, "Then what about Weishenme to prepare for retreat?" ”

Wan Yaohuang said: "Judging from this result, if our troops are not inexperienced, it is estimated that the Beiyang Army will suffer a greater loss, and if this battle is fought so hard, it is likely to scare the enemy away." If Ma Ji had gone to Changsha with his team of nearly 20,000 people, what do you think would be the next situation? So we're going to keep him and eat him. ”

Liu Xing nodded: "I understand, Teacher Wan, don't worry, Ma Jizeng, this old boy can't run, I'll go and give the order." ”

Wan Yaohuang didn't speak again, but took a map of Hunan and looked at it carefully.

"What? Fall back? weishenme？ Liu Xuyi looked at Liao Lei, the division commander who came down to inspect the position, and asked in surprise.

Liao Lei was also very unhappy in his heart, but Liu Xuyi, the regiment commander, was several years older than himself, so he couldn't help but get angry: "The army commander said that you fought too fiercely at Zhujiaqiao, and I was afraid that the Beiyang Army would run away if the situation was not good." ”

Liu Xuyi did not relent: "Division commander, this order must be conveyed to you yourself, I can't open my mouth, the first battalion of today's battle is really injured, how can I at this time, how can I let them give up their positions?" ”

Liao Lei had just gone to the field hospital directly under the division headquarters to visit a group of seriously wounded soldiers, and he also understood Liu Xuyi's words: "Old Liu, I also know this, the brothers are giving our Fourth Division today, no, the face of the entire Second Army." But we must obey the overall situation, we must not be rash, and the current retreat is to fight the enemy more haode, so I order you as the commander of the fourth division of the Youth Army, and you must resolutely carry out the order. Tomorrow afternoon to start the retreat ......"

Liao Lei used what Liu Xing said to him on Liu Xuyi's body with a slight change, Liu Xuyi was so angry that he couldn't speak, Zuihou had no choice but to salute and think of a way.

That night, the 3rd Battalion of the 401st Regiment took over from the 1st Battalion to continue to guard the main position, while the 1st Battalion, which had completed the one-day blocking task, was retreated 40 miles at once and rushed to Changde City to recuperate.

On the other hand, the Beiyang Army was already quarrelling, the infantry blamed the artillery for not giving strength, the 22nd Regiment blamed the 21st Regiment for not making efforts, the regiment commander scolded the brigade commander for his blind command, and the brigade commander scolded the regiment commander for being a supreme officer and disobeying orders in battle. In short, they were busy trying to shirk their responsibilities in front of Ma Jizeng, the living king of Hades, and they were afraid that the division commander would take the responsibility for the ineffective combat on themselves.

Ma Jizeng, who had just been promoted to a first-class viscount, had no intention of disposing of anyone at all, and there were two things that impressed him the most from this afternoon's battle: the first point was the powerful firepower of the Youth Army, if that firepower configuration was at the regimental level, then the equipment of the Youth Army would be a bit powerful and excessive. The attack did not go well, so Ma Jizeng had to calm down, considering another question, how many regiments of the Youth Army were still in this configuration? Without intelligence support, this battle is only fucking strange. The second point is the tenacity of the youth army, under such a ferocious attack, it actually persevered, what kind of severe training is required to achieve this effect, how many such soldiers are there in the youth army? If the youth army of Zhujiaqiao is only a particularly elite one, it is not to be feared, but if all the officers and soldiers are of this level, then I am afraid that I will not have to consider capturing Changde City, but will have to consider retreating east into Changsha.

Wait, isn't weishenme withdrawn to Li County? Ma Jizeng suddenly remembered that Lao Wo was coming: "Chief of Staff, what is the situation in Li County?" ”

"Li County?" Ma Baochen was stunned for a moment, what was wrong with Shizuo, and suddenly asked about this, he could only shake his head and answer truthfully: "There is no news about this." ”

Sometimes the lack of news is precisely the biggest anomaly, what Ma Jizeng didn't know was that at this time when they were in the meeting, the agents of the Military Intelligence Agency lurking in Li County successfully opened the city gate of Li County. Xu Yuanquan's troops rushed in, and the Beiyang Army, which was responsible for guarding a battalion of the city, did not fire a single shot, and was blocked in the bed and disarmed, and at the same time, many family members of the officers of the Beiyang Sixth Division who came from the north were captured, which was a lot of fun.

Ma Jizeng felt more and more that something was wrong, he no longer had the smugness of the morning, he suddenly felt that he was a prey that was being peeped at by a hunter, no, he had to find a way to get rid of it, and if he continued to fight, he didn't know what tricks were waiting for him.

"Chief of Staff, let's organize it immediately and retreat to Changsha." Ma Ji made a very steady decision with difficulty.