Chapter 67: The Demand Made by the Commander-in-Chief, The Battle of Black Snake Valley

Commander Zhu was somewhat taken aback by this request, but then chuckled and said, "You are quite something, Comrade. Whenever others come to me with requests, they ask for rifles, ammunition, or artillery support. You ask for none of these; all you want is to continue serving as the vanguard for our troops."

Long Wencheng replied with a completely serious expression, "All those things you mentioned, I already have plenty of. I just want you to reserve the hardest, toughest nut to crack for our 18th Division when the time comes."

Commander Zhu burst into laughter, patted him heavily on the shoulder, and said, "Very well! When the time comes, all the hardest bones to crack will be left for your 18th Division."

"Thank you, Commander-in-Chief!"

Long Wencheng grinned, turned around, and left.

After receiving their operational orders, the various units rested through the first half of the night, then mobilized in the dead of night, moving rapidly to their designated combat positions.

Following that, they did not launch active attacks, but instead concealed themselves in the surrounding mountain hollows, waiting for the descent of night.

In Black Snake Valley, along the heights on both flanks, the Red 18th Division had been marching for a day and a night and had completed their ambush preparations.

If the enemy forces coming from the direction of Lazikou were to reinforce the enemy troops in the Baozuo area, Black Snake Valley would be their only route of passage.

This was a winding, twisting mountain valley that lay across the mountain ridges like a long, black serpent, hence the name Black Snake Valley.

However, for Long Wencheng, this was an ideal ambush site.

By simply controlling the entrances and exits along with three primary high grounds, he was confident that even if the 49th Division had two tens of thousands of men instead of less than ten thousand, he could annihilate them all right here in Black Snake Valley.

This confidence stemmed not only from the natural advantages of the terrain, but also from the current strength of the Red 18th Division.

Having rendezvoused with Qi Delong's 1st Regiment, the Red 18th Division now boasted a total of over seven thousand men.

Furthermore, their weaponry, equipment, and ammunition reserves were exceptionally abundant.

After all, Long Wencheng had a penchant for accumulating "private collections"—such as a "private collection" of five hundred thousand rounds of ammunition, over a hundred light machine guns, nearly fifty heavy machine guns, ten artillery pieces, and more than a hundred submachine guns.

In short, the combat capability of the Red 18th Division right now was unmatched by any other division in the entire Red Army, no matter which one was singled out.

Perhaps taking this into consideration, the most crucial reinforcement-intercepting mission was assigned to Long Wencheng's Red 18th Division.

As soon as the positions were deployed, Wen Song hurried over.

"Division Commander, give me the word: how many shells are we firing this time?"

Wen Song's artillery company currently had ten artillery pieces, but their shells had been heavily depleted in previous battles, leaving only four hundred rounds.

That might sound like a lot, but a single artillery volley consumed ten shells at once.

And the upcoming battle would undoubtedly be fiercely contested; at that rate, shells would be expended like running water.

"Keep two-thirds of the shells," Long Wencheng said, taking a deep drag on his cigarette.

He knew very well that many more battles lay ahead, and he had to conserve ammunition.

Later on, they would still have to face the forces of the Northwest Army and the Northeast Army—who knew how many shells would be consumed then?

"Alright, one-third it is! That's still plenty."

Wen Song grinned broadly, immensely satisfied, and skipped back to the artillery position.

Before long, Hu Erleng trotted over.

"Division Commander, Captain Lin says the vanguard of the 49th Division is approaching."

Hearing this, Long Wencheng immediately waved his hand and commanded, "Everyone, take cover immediately! Do not expose yourselves."

With the order given, the men instantly concealed themselves behind the slopes. Long Wencheng also hid behind a low bush, observing the distance through his binoculars.

Sure enough, before long, a column of troops came marching rapidly toward them.

It was the vanguard of the 49th Division, regimental strength. At the moment, their formation appeared somewhat chaotic, and the soldiers showed signs of exhaustion, with the shouts of officers ringing out periodically.

"Keep going! Baozuo is just ahead! Once we get there, every man gets a silver dollar!"

The orders they had received were extremely urgent, which was why they were conducting this breakneck forced march.

Troops like these were never subjected to such high-intensity forced marches during routine training, and they were running completely out of breath.

Yet Long Wencheng let them pass, because they were merely small fish; the main target was the main force of the 49th Division.

After waiting for another two hours or so, they finally saw the main force of the 49th Division moving in a massive, sprawling column along the mountain path, rushing to reinforce Baozuo.

Inside a swaying truck bed, Division Commander Wu Chengren was studying a map.

"Black Snake Valley... once we pass this place, Baozuo isn't far."

As he spoke, he looked out at the rolling hills. "This ghost of a place is truly no fit place for human beings."

The adjutant at his side remarked, "This place isn't so bad; the grasslands are the truly unlivable part. I reckon those Red Army troops must have suffered heavy casualties and lost all their combat effectiveness just getting through the grasslands. As long as we can stall them until our rear forces catch up, this battle will be easy to fight."

Wu Chengren let out a cold laugh and said, "What do you know? The Central Army and the Sichuan Army have both been beaten to a pulp; how could this possibly be easy?"

Even as he said this, he felt a secret wave of anxiety.

Without even thinking, he knew those Red Army troops must be starving with red-eyed desperation after just crossing the grasslands—wouldn't they fight to the death?

Fortunately, Baozuo was still in their hands. As long as they held firm, reinforcements would arrive in three days at most, and everything would be fine by then.

Three days. His own troops, plus the regiment originally left behind, totaled barely ten thousand men. Dealing with a fatigued army should be completely fine, right?

Amidst his swirling thoughts, the column slowly passed through Black Snake Valley, completely unaware of the Red 18th Division troops hidden on the reverse slopes of the high ground on both sides.

By noon, the sound of gunfire rang out.

The troops positioned further ahead had made their move, launching a fierce assault on the 49th Division.

At the same time, the forces defending Baozuo also initiated their attack, surrounding and annihilating that single regiment.

Having struggled through the grasslands for days with their rations nearly exhausted, the Red Army soldiers attacked this Nationalist force with bloodshot eyes, resembling a pack of starving wolves.

Wu Chengren's main force was also ambushed. The Red Army soldiers concealed on the surrounding heights poured firepower down upon them.

Wu Chengren, who had never wanted to bring his troops here as reinforcements in the first place, did not hesitate for a second. He immediately ordered his men to fall back while requesting reinforcements from a brigade stationed near Lazikou.

At four o'clock in the afternoon in Black Snake Valley, a large mass of desperate, fleeing soldiers of the 49th Division, enveloped in billowing dust, poured into Black Snake Valley.

They were the main force of the 49th Division, and they were running for their lives.

As for the vanguard regiment from earlier, they had been written off and abandoned entirely, with no intention whatsoever of rescuing them.

Yet just as their forces entered Black Snake Valley completely, the gunfire erupted once more.

This time, the gunfire echoing from both sides of the valley was vastly denser and more intense than before. Shells even came crashing down right into the middle of the column, causing widespread casualties and endless wailing.