Chapter 59: Layered Subcontracted Defense

About ten minutes later, a red flare lit up the opposite bank. Long Wencheng raised his binoculars to look across and saw Yang Gang wielding a broadsword, personally hacking down the enemy's military flag from the fortification.

"We won!"

Everyone raised their arms and cheered.

Yang Gang had anticipated a bloody battle, but to his surprise, upon charging into the trenches, he found them already piled high with corpses—some killed by the fire from the opposite bank, and others blown apart by their hand grenades.

As for the Nationalist battalion commander, he was found inside a bunker, identifiable only by his officer's uniform and shoulder insignia.

The remaining enemy soldiers had mostly fled in panic under their fierce assault.

Once this group of soldiers crossed the river, they immediately worked alongside the boatmen to transport the boats to the southern shore.

By the time dawn fully broke, Yang Gang’s regiment had completely crossed the river and begun advancing deep into enemy territory, establishing positions to defend against any potential enemy counterattacks.

After a brief rest, Yang Gang led the main force of the regimental headquarters along the northern bank straight toward Luzding County.

Meanwhile, Long Wencheng’s main force wasted no time. Leaving a single battalion to garrison Anshunchang and await the arrival of the main army, all the remaining soldiers set out, hurrying from the northern bank toward the Luding Bridge.

This created a two-pronged pincer movement against Luzding County. Even if the force led by Long Wencheng failed in its attack, Yang Gang's Second Regiment could still preserve hope.

Looking at the surging, endless river and the thirteen iron chains spanning across it, Tong Siyi was overcome with profound emotion.

Ever since he was routed by the Red 18th Division at the Jinsha River, Tong Siyi had been demoted to a regimental commander. Now, he was leading a single regiment to guard the Luding Bridge.

Further south along the river, there were still some defensive forces on both banks, but they were mostly scattered small units, the largest numbering only three or four hundred men.

The true core force was the security regiment under his command, with a full two battalions stationed right here, while a third battalion was deployed on a high ground to the south to guard against any direct enemy surprise attack on Luzding County from the northern bank.

Standing beside him, the commander of the First Battalion also gazed at the churning river below.

Suddenly, Tong Siyi looked out over the Dadu River and said:

"Such magnificent waves and iron chains spanning the river—it really makes one want to compose a poem."

With that, he took a deep breath and began to gather his thoughts.

"I have it."

Tong Siyi opened his eyes, stared at the roaring river, and recited:

"By the Dadu River stands the Luding Bridge,
Its iron chains thick and long.
If you ask how many chains there are,

Thirteen chains, oh, thirteen chains."

As his voice trailed off, the First Battalion commander beside him hurriedly started applauding.

"What a fine poem! A truly fine poem! You are simply the reincarnation of the God of Literature, Commander."

Tong Siyi chuckled and said:

"Since you put it that way, I shall compose two more poems..."

Saying this, he began to chant again:

"Beneath the Luding Bridge flows the Dadu River..."

Before he could utter the second line, however, a scout rushed over to report:

"Commander, bad news! Anshunchang has been captured by the enemy, and Red Army troops are advancing rapidly along the northern bank toward Luzding County."

"What?"

Tong Siyi felt a chill run through his entire body. Memories of that night at the Jinsha River flashed back—those Red Army soldiers had chased his carriage for over ten miles without stopping.

This terrifying memory flooded back into his mind, making Tong Siyi shudder so violently he nearly collapsed to the ground.

"Commander, are you alright?" the First Battalion commander asked anxiously, rushing forward to support him.

Tong Siyi gave a dry cough and said:

"No... nothing. I just haven't eaten, perhaps I'm a bit hungry."

With that, he patted the First Battalion commander on the shoulder and said:

"First Battalion Commander, you take the men and hold the bridgehead. I’ll take the Second Battalion to check out the situation."

"Ah? Me... I'm holding it?"

The First Battalion commander pointed at himself with his index finger, thinking he had misheard.

Tong Siyi looked at the thirteen iron chains and said:

"What are you afraid of? The Red Army on the other side doesn't have wings, and the decking on those thirteen chains has already been dismantled. How could they possibly cross?"

Having said this, he led the Second Battalion away from Luzding County.

Though he claimed he was going to reinforce the southern front, in reality, he didn't run south along the river at all; instead, he simply fled for his life.

After all, whether the bridge was guarded or not didn't matter—his own skin was what counted.

Seeing Tong Siyi run away, and then looking back at the thirteen iron chains, the First Battalion commander called over the First Company commander.

"First Company Commander, take your men and guard the Luding Bridge. If any enemy troops on the other side try to lay wooden planks to cross, open fire and strafe them immediately."

"Yes, Battalion Commander."

Having given this order, the First Battalion commander also retreated with two companies into Luzding County so he could withdraw at a moment's notice.

Ten minutes later, the First Platoon leader patted the First Squad leader on the shoulder.

"Squad Leader Lu, I’ve always treated you well. This bridge-guarding duty is now entrusted to you.
All the machine guns of our regiment are right here, and the Red Army on the other side doesn't have wings—they can't possibly cross. When the time comes, you just need to open fire on anyone trying to lay planks. I guarantee those fellows won't make it back alive."

Squad Leader Lu looked at the thirteen horizontal iron chains and felt the platoon leader made sense.

"Alright, Platoon Leader, I'll definitely hold it."

After layers of delegation, Tong Siyi could never have imagined that the ones truly left guarding the opposite side of the Luding Bridge were merely a single squad of a dozen or so men.

Fortunately, Squad Leader Lu was an honest fellow, and mainly because there was no one left to pass the buck to. Coupled with the six light and heavy machine guns left behind, this gave him some confidence.

He calculated the time: it would take the enemy at least five or six days to arrive.

On the southern bank, the soldiers of the Red 18th Division were marching rapidly through the rainy night at a blistering pace.

What was originally a five-day journey was completed in just three days ahead of schedule.

In fact, the Red Army's vanguard force in history was even more astonishing: they made a forced march of ninety li on the first day, only to receive orders from superiors later that they had to capture the Luding Bridge within two days.

Then, this Red Army vanguard force—the 4th Regiment—covered a full 240 li in 25 hours while breaking through enemy defenses along the way, a veritable miracle in the history of light infantry marching.

When the soldiers of the Red 18th Division arrived, the enemy on the southern bank remained completely oblivious, until gunfire erupted fiercely within the camp and the sentry posts were wiped out.

By the light of dawn, everyone could see the thirteen cold iron chains stretching across the Luding Bridge.

On a stone tablet next to the Luding Bridge, a line of verse was carved:

"Beside the Luding Bridge stand ten thousand mountains,
Their towering peaks piercing the clouds for a thousand miles."

After making observations, Long Wencheng found that while there were quite a few enemy machine-gun emplacements, the actual garrison force left behind was sparse.

It seemed historical accounts hadn't lied to him: these local enemy troops were more cowardly than the last. A regimental commander passed the buck to a battalion commander, who passed it to a squad leader, leaving only a dozen or so men to hold the line while the rest huddled in Luzding city, waiting for a chance to slip away.

During the previous river-crossing operation at Anshunchang, Peng Hongsen had missed out on the main assault mission, but this time he refused to step aside. He handpicked his best men to form a 25-man assault team built around the core of the former 34th Division.