The Beiyang soldiers were once again driven out of the main position by the Youth Army. Huang Zhenkui was stunned. He was an old soldier and knew what it means to be a drum that was strong, two drums that were weak and three drums. He could not take down the first two attacks with all his strength. Then if he succeeded in the attack, it would be a delusion.

Sure enough, the Beiyang soldiers of the Sixth Division fully utilized their characteristics of what the old man was. They all climbed between the starting point of the attack and the target of the attack. No matter how the officer shouted, they just couldn't attack. They were forced to make a fuse. They took two steps forward, no one looked at them, and quietly took three steps back. Anyway, it would be impossible to count on them to take the enemy's position.

Huang Zhenkui was also at a loss for this and had to report it to the top after cursing a soldier and gangster.

Ma Jizeng also saw this situation. He knew that Huang Zhenkui had tried his best and knew that it was unrealistic to continue attacking now. Although this reality made him very upset, he had to issue an order to stop the attack.

The first day of the battle was completely over at around 5 pm. The Beiyang Army, who was responsible for the encirclement of the two wings, failed to achieve a breakthrough after paying a certain price, and eventually had to withdraw the attack starting point.

Since we did not expect that the frontal breakthrough could not be achieved, the Beiyang soldiers could not rest yet. Everyone had to wave their hoes to build a simple position, otherwise it would be no fun to be attacked at night. This can be said to be a profound lesson in this.

The Beiyang soldiers were busy building nests over there, but the Youth Army was in a sad atmosphere. There was no joy to repel the enemy, but only the trauma caused by the war.

When Liu Xuyi, the commander of the 401st Regiment, walked onto the position, he saw a scene that would never be forgotten by himself. The bodies of young soldiers on the position and the bodies of the Beiyang Army overlapped together. The blood of the dead soaked every inch of the soil here, dyeing the entire position a dark red. Wang Kewen, the commander of the first battalion who was in charge of guarding the main position, was now holding a corpse in sadness and crying: "Xiao Wu, Xiao Wu, my good brother, what's wrong with you, answer me."

Several major officers were persuading: "Battery Commander, the little brother Wu has been killed, so you are mourning."

Wang Kewen heard this and cursed: "You are farting, Xiao Wu is not dead. He saved me just now. By the way, where is the health officer? Why don't you come to save Xiao Wu?"

The officers and soldiers standing around were all sad when they heard this. The brothers who were still together this morning were talking and laughing, but by the evening, they were almost half missing. No one would feel good.

Liu Xuyi looked at the lost Wang Kewen and suddenly became angry: "Wang Kewen, what are you doing? Have you forgotten your responsibility? As the battalion commander, don't you dare to face death? Do you ignore the brothers who are still alive?"

Many years later, General Wang Kewen, who was ranked high as the commander of the military region, wrote truthfully in his memoir "Life on the Strike", "General Liu Xuyi was the commander of our 401st Regiment at the time. The battle on the first day was beyond our imagination. If it weren't for the brothers of the Third Battalion who arrived in time, my first battalion and I would have explained it all in this battle. It was the most profound battle in my memory. In just three hours of battle, facing the enemy that was several times more than me, our first battalion paid a huge price of 212 deaths and 274 injuries. The entire battle killed a total of 519 enemies and injured several times, but this was not enough to soothe my sentimentality. So many of my brothers died, especially Xiao Wu, who was a very dedicated guard. I remember that he was only 19 years old at that time and spoke very difficult German (Changde dialect). He had both parents at home, and also had an older brother and an older sister. He joined the army in Hanshou in December 1914. He was chosen to be my guard because of his small cleverness. He worked diligently and worked hard. In the battle on January 15, he was brave and tenacious, and killed three enemies with his own hands. On that day, I fought hard and knocked over a tall and strong northern soldier. He was unable to stand up and died. In this crisis, Xiao Wu fought hard and attacked the enemy, saving my life, but was killed by the enemy. This is the greatest guilt in my life."

After that, Wang Kewen regarded Xiao Wu's parents as his biological parents. No matter how high the status was, he would always support him until he was old and personally send him off. These are all later stories.

The results of the battle were sent to the Second Army Commander-in-Chief Wan Yaohuang looked at it and said nothing. Commander Liu Xing looked at it and said, "Liu Xuyi is a good person. This time it severely hit the arrogance of the Beiyang Army. Teacher Wan, can we launch a full-scale counterattack next?"

Wan Yaohuang didn't say anything, so he took out a small bag with him, which contained his favorite fried peanuts. Wan Yaohuang had a habit of chewing a few peanuts fried with salt when he wanted to do something.

Everyone in the military headquarters turned their attention to Wan Yaohuang. After a while, Wan Yaohuang said: "Continue to stick to it and be prepared to retreat."

"Ah, why." Liu Xing didn't understand. He was in an advantage in terms of military strength and equipment, so why did he still need to prepare for retreat?

Wan Yaohuang chewed another peanut and said, "We are not just trying to do math problems when defeating the Sixth Division. There is a time here. If you grasp the opportunity well, the battle will be easy; on the contrary, if you grasp it poorly, the battle will become a difficult tough battle. Commander Liu, we must focus on Changde. Our next goal is a large plate south of the Huai River, so we cannot consume the troops at will at the moment."

When Liu Xing heard this, it made sense, but he still asked unwillingly, "Then why should we prepare for retreat?"

Wan Yaohuang said: "From this result, if our troops were not inexperienced, the Beiyang Army would have suffered a greater loss. If this battle was so fierce, it would probably scare the enemy away. If Ma Jizeng took his team of nearly 20,000 people to Changsha, what would you think the situation would be next? So we have to keep him and eat him."

Liu Xing nodded: "I understand. Don't worry, Teacher Wan. Ma Jizeng can't run away. I'll give orders now."

Wan Yaohuang did not speak anymore, but took a map of Hunan and started to read it carefully.

"What, retreat, why?" Liu Xuyi looked at the commander Liao Lei, who was descending to observe the position, and asked in surprise.

Liao Lei was also very unhappy, but Liu Xuyi, the regiment commander, was several years older than him, so he refused to get angry: "The commander said that you were fighting too fiercely in Zhujiaqiao, and you were afraid that the Beiyang Army would run away when they met. "

Liu Xuyi refused to give in: "Teacher Commander, you need to convey this order yourself. I can't speak. Today's first battalion of battle is really injured. How can I make them give up their positions at this time?"

Liao Lei had just visited a field hospital directly under the division headquarters to visit a group of seriously injured people. He also understood Liu Xuyi's words: "Old Liu, I also know this. Brothers are giving our Fourth Division today. No, it is the entire Second Army commander. But we must obey the overall situation and not act irritably. The retreat is to better attack the enemy. Therefore, as the commander of the Fourth Division of the Young Army, I must resolutely execute the order and start retreating tomorrow afternoon."

Liao Lei used Liu Xuyi's slight changes to what Liu Xing said to him. Liu Xuyi was so angry that he couldn't speak at all. In the end, there was no way, so he could only salute and find a way.

That night, the Third Battalion of the 401st Regiment continued to guard the main position, and the First Battalion, which had completed a one-day blocking mission, was retreated forty miles and rushed to Changde City to camp and cultivate.

The Beiyang Army was already in a quarrel. The infantry monster artillery was not strong enough, the 22nd Regiment was incredible, and the 21st Regiment was incredible, and the regiment commander scolded the brigade commander for commanding blindly, while the brigade commander scolded the regiment commander for being arrogant and disobeyed at the last minute. In short, they were all busy trying to shirk their responsibilities in front of Ma Jizeng, the living king of hell, and were afraid that the division commander would count the responsibility for ineffective combat on himself.

Ma Jizeng, who had just been promoted to the first-class viscount, had no intention of dealing with anyone. The deepest impression on him this afternoon's battle was two points: the first point was the powerful firepower of the Youth Army. If the firepower configuration was regiment-level, the equipment of the Youth Army would be a bit too strong. The unsuccessful attack forced Ma Jizeng to calm down to consider another issue, how many regiments there are in this configuration of the Youth Army? Without intelligence support, this battle was so strange. The second point was the tenacity of the Youth Army. Under such fierce attacks, it could not be defeated. How severe training is needed to achieve this effect? ​​How many such young soldiers are there? If the young army in Zhujiaqiao is just a particularly elite, it is not afraid. However, if all the officers and soldiers are at this level, they may not consider capturing Changde City, but considering retreating eastward to Changsha.

Wait, why didn’t you withdraw to Li County? Ma Jizeng suddenly remembered that Lao Niao came: "Chief of Staff, what is going on in Li County."

"Li County." Ma Baochen was stunned for a moment. What happened to the Master Zun. Suddenly asked about this, he could only shake his head and answer truthfully: "There is no news in this regard."

Sometimes there is no news, which is the biggest abnormality. What Ma Jizeng didn't know was that at this time of their meeting, the military intelligence agency lurking in Li County successfully opened the gate of Li County. Xu Yuanquan's troops entered one after another, and the Beiyang army, who was responsible for guarding the city, did not fire a single shot, was blocked in a bed and confiscated his weapons. At the same time, many families of officers from the 6th Beiyang Division who came from the north were captured. This was so much fun.

Ma Jizeng felt something was wrong. He no longer had the pride of the morning. He suddenly felt that he was a prey peeked by a hunter. No, he had to find a way to get rid of it. If he continued to fight, he still didn't know what trick was waiting for him.
Chapter completed!