Chapter 46 River Crossing Operation

As the voice faded, the soldiers of the artillery company sprang into action instantly. Mortars were adjusted for elevation, their barrels aimed squarely at the enemy machine-gun emplacements on the opposite bank.

"First round, load!"

Wen Song shouted, raising his arm high.

"Fire!"

With the command given, a series of dull thuds echoed out, sounding much like wooden corks being popped from wine bottles. Amidst the shrieks of whistling air, mortar shells rained down upon the opposing bank.

The moment the mortars struck, the Red Army fighters in the riverside trenches poked their muzzles out and opened fire on the enemy occupying the middle of the river.

Six mortar shells obliterated three of the enemy machine-gun nests across the river, instantly silencing a third of their continuous firepower.

In contrast, the Red Army's machine guns roared to life, unleashing a barrage of fire upon the Central Army and Yunnan troops crossing the river.

"Rat-tat-tat-tat!"

The enemies on the rafts had practically no cover whatsoever and could only press themselves flat. Yet this offered little concealment, as the Red Army's machine-gun emplacements were positioned higher up, allowing them to rain down plunging fire from above.

In the blink of an eye, the clear azure waters of the Yachi River were dyed dark red as lifeless bodies tumbled into the current.

Out of the two hundred-plus Kuomintang soldiers, forty or fifty were cut down within moments.

Many of the rest, who had not yet entered the water, now lacked even the courage to step in and turned tail to flee backward.

Yet even as they bolted, 37mm infantry gun rounds slammed directly into the crowd, blasting several soldiers off their feet and onto the ground.

The machine-gun fire from the opposite bank also joined in. Under the dense hail of bullets, the enemy's first probing assault lasted less than twenty minutes, ending abruptly with seventy or eighty corpses left behind.

Inside a skirmish pit on the opposite bank, a Central Army scout armed with a pencil and a map marked the locations of the Red Army's machine-gun nests to facilitate direct mortar bombardment when the next round of attacks commenced.

"The Red Army's firepower is formidable. Initial estimation suggests a strength of at least one regiment, backed by artillery, and their artillery fire is vicious."

Zhang Chengren lowered his binoculars, arriving at his own assessment.

"It seems this river-crossing operation won't be easy to fight."

Speaking beside him was Long Ming, a Yunnan army division commander who held the overall command of the three brigades.

"Indeed, it won't be easy. For the next wave of the offensive, our Central Army will take the lead. We must ask our brothers from the Yunnan army to provide some fire support. Once we breach the enemy's positions, your forces can cross and join the assault. By then, all the weapons, equipment, and supplies in the hands of the Red Army will belong entirely to the Yunnan brothers; we will take none of it."

Zhang Chengren knew very well that expecting the Yunnan troops to fight to the death was out of the question.

However, these Yunnan soldiers were quite willing to harvest the fruits of victory.

For Zhang Chengren, it mattered little who claimed the victory or even who took the Red Army's spoils.

His primary objective was to reach Guiyang as quickly as possible and present himself before Jiang Kaishi. This would be deemed a meritorious service in protecting the sovereign, paving the way for an unimpeded official career.

Compared to that, the scrap metal in the hands of the Red Army across the river meant nothing.

Hearing this, Long Ming naturally understood the underlying motives and chuckled heartily.

"That goes without saying."

The second wave of the offensive commenced shortly thereafter.

Unlike the first attempt, the force participating in this assault had been increased from the initial two companies directly to two battalions, backed by three battalions of Yunnan troops acting as a reserve, ready to be deployed at a moment's notice.

Combined, this force numbered nearly two thousand men, rivaling the total strength of the Red Army's defending garrison on the opposite bank.

Seeing the swarming masses of the enemy approaching the riverbank while enemy artillery began to roar once more, Tian Lixin and Peng Hongsen knew it was time to fight in earnest.

Artillery fire erupted once again, but this time, the enemy's bombardment was far more precise, specifically targeting and neutralizing the machine-gun positions.

Simultaneously, the number of machine-gun nests on the opposite bank had multiplied, fielding at least seven heavy machine guns and upward of twenty light machine guns.

A significant number of submachine guns had also been concentrated and distributed among the frontline assault squads.

Before the battle commenced, Zhang Chengren rallied the soldiers of the two assaulting battalions, promising a direct reward of a large bar of yellow gold to whoever first breached the enemy lines, alongside varying bounties for eliminating enemy officers of different ranks.

This greatly boosted the morale of the Central Army attackers, who surged forward with bloodshot eyes, boarding the rafts to cross the river once more.

At the same time, soldiers of the engineer battalion charged out; their task was to construct pontoon bridges, enabling a greater volume of troops to rush the opposite bank with enhanced speed.

Machine-gun fire rained down like a torrential downpour, yet the Red Army fighters of the Third and Fourth Regiments remained motionless within the trenches, withholding their fire until the order was given.

Unlike before, the enemy had heavily reinforced their flanks during this deployment, having realized from the previous engagement that the Red Army's machine-gun fire had been concentrated entirely in the center.

What they failed to realize, however, was that during the initial probing attack, the Red Army had intentionally concealed their flank machine-gun emplacements as well.

Explosions and gunshots intertwined densely. The two battalions of Central Army soldiers leaped onto the rafts one after another, firing across the water in an attempt to suppress the Red Army's positions while frantically paddling toward the far bank.

Predictably, just as the vanguard reached the middle of the river, the artillery company opened fire once more, targeting the machine-gun nests on the opposite bank precisely as before.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

Explosions echoed continuously, and within moments, numerous machine-gun positions were silenced.

Almost concurrently, the snipers of the sniper company poked their heads out, training their sights on the enemy fire points across the river.

"Crack!"

A crisp, distinct rifle shot rang out, and the Enfield rifle in Bao Bao's hands successfully pierced the skull of an enemy machine-gunner on the opposite bank.

The opposing forces were separated by roughly two hundred and fifty meters—a distance at which targets appeared diminutive. Yet these hunters from the Basha Miao Village maintained an exceptionally high accuracy rate.

Coupled with the firepower of the rear artillery company, these forward-deployed snipers swiftly silenced the majority of the enemy's machine guns.

Lacking the suppression of enemy machine-gun fire, the soldiers stationed along the trenches of the Third and Fourth Regiments opened fire upon the center of the river in unison.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

"Rat-tat-tat-tat!"

Light and heavy machine guns roared simultaneously. Before the distant enemy could react, crossfire converged over the water.

Splashes erupted across the surface of the river, marching steadily forward until the bullets struck solidly against the wooden rafts and the bodies of the soldiers aboard.

The two battalions of the Central Army, primarily deployed on the flanks, abruptly discovered that the machine-gun fire from the enemy's flanks was far more ferocious than anticipated.

This firepower was more than double what they had encountered during the first wave of the attack.

Witnessing this scene, Zhang Chengren was momentarily stunned. What kind of firepower did the Red Army possess? Was this truly the Red Army he thought he knew? Why were there so many machine guns, and why were they expending ammunition as if it cost nothing?

Most crucially, their own machine-gun fire continued to be thoroughly suppressed by the enemy.

"Maintain the assault! Have the督战队 (督战队) watch them from behind!"

Zhang Chengren gritted his teeth and ordered.

"Yes!"