German Red Prince

Page 21

"We lost, we lost completely!"

With Tang Shengzhi captured, the entire battle was nearing its end.

Tang Shengzhi and He Jian were captured, and Wang Jialie surrendered. The three great generals of Hunan met such an end.

The Red Army kept its promise. Those forced to fight by Tang Shengzhi who wanted to go home were allowed to return, and were even given a sum of money. Those who didn't want to go home but wanted to join the Red Army were welcome to join as well! So, in this battle, the Red Army's numbers didn't decrease, but rather increased.

Xu Shengjie nervously said he needed to go home to take care of his elderly mother, glancing anxiously at the officer registering him, fearing it was a test and he might shoot him as soon as the officer turned around.

"Okay, comrade, take these two silver dollars and go home quickly." The officer who was registering him gave him two silver dollars.

"Next!"

Xu Shengjie was shocked when he received the money. He walked out with the money in his hand, looking back as he went, afraid that someone would shoot him from behind. But no one fired a shot until he walked out. This Red Army soldier was really different!

Xu Shengjie wiped away his tears, clutched the two silver dollars, and hurried home.

The Red Army captured Changsha with almost no cost, and its propaganda along the way attracted more and more people to join the army. This is the power of people's war! Something that reactionary warlords could never achieve!

After more than a year of struggle, the Red Army returned to Changsha, and its strength had greatly increased.

It is no exaggeration to say that after this great battle, the entire Hunan province was practically under the control of the Red Army.

All that's needed now is a little cleaning, and a brand new Hunan will be born!

Chapter Thirty: Take Me Home

"Advisor, watch out!" Harvey rushed forward and tackled Peng Pai to the ground. The shell landed right in front of them. Seeing the crater still emitting white smoke, Peng Pai was terrified. If Harvey hadn't tackled him, the flying shrapnel would have hit him.

"We absolutely cannot let them get through! We must hold on!" Shevl shouted. The enemy's offensive was extremely fierce, with artillery barrage and machine gun suppression. This was completely unlike the fighting style and firepower expected on the Chinese battlefield.

He ran to Harvey, patted his helmet, and shouted, "Right side! Watch your right!"

A large number of soldiers from eight provinces surged up from the right, and Schevr raised his gun and aimed at a leading officer.

"Oh!"

The officer fell to the ground, but the soldiers below did not stop; they dispersed and rushed towards the defensive line.

"Give me two more boxes of ammunition!" Harvey shouted back as he fired. Peng Pai ran over carrying the ammunition boxes.

"Sir, it's dangerous here!"

“I’m a soldier too!” Peng Pai squatted down next to Harvey, handing him ammunition. “Fire! Don’t let them charge!”

Shevchenko threw two grenades at the enemy, knocking down a group of soldiers who were rushing forward. He crouched down, adjusted his helmet, shook his head to shake off the dirt and gravel, and regulated his breathing.

"Even if our entire battalion is wiped out! We must hold on! Battalion flag bearer! Raise our battalion's blood flag!" he shouted the order.

The blood-red flag of the German Battalion was firmly planted on the battlefield. Since its establishment, the German Battalion has fought countless battles around the world with the International Brigades. This is the third time they have raised the blood-red flag.

On the battlefield in India, a small French squad raised a red flag and fought to the death, ultimately suffering total annihilation.

Therefore, this unwritten rule existed within the international brigades: if a unit raised a red flag, it meant that others should remember their unit number, because they might all perish there.

Now all the soldiers understood that unless their entire battalion was killed in action, they had to hold their ground!

"French men! Our German brothers have already raised the blood flag, we can't fall behind! Flag bearers! Raise the flag!"

The German battalion, the French battalion, the British battalion, and the International Brigades all raised their blood-red flags. For revolution! For liberation! For breaking the shackles of the old world! Even if they were all wiped out, even if they all fell in a country that had nothing to do with them, these people would have no complaints.

Equality! Freedom! Liberation!

This is the oath taken upon joining the International Brigades, and it must never be broken!

"Why haven't you taken it yet! If you can't encircle the Southern army, I'll kill you all without the general even saying so!"

"Commander, they're too good at fighting! Several regiments of our brothers have been wiped out!" A division commander cried, his men were almost all dead, and he still hadn't managed to take the front line.

"Damn it! I'll go to the front lines myself! Order the artillery to fire! Bomb them with a volley, then replace them with our tanks and German-equipped divisions! We must surround them!"

"Commander, the tanks can't deploy properly on this terrain, so the effect might not be very good," the adjutant whispered.

The corps commander glared at him. "Are you the corps commander or am I the corps commander?"

Hearing what he said, the adjutant wisely shut up.

Another wave of attacks was repelled, and a machine gun position was destroyed. Just as Schevr was about to aim at the next one, he suddenly heard the sharp whistling sound of shells tearing through the sky.

"Artillery fire! Take cover! Get into bunkers!"

Shells rained down on the position, the earth trembled, and the shells kicked up clouds of smoke.

Peng Pai saw several soldiers who couldn't dodge in time being blown into pieces. The mud, flesh, and blood mixed together, making him vomit.

"Watch out for tanks!"

Tanks rolled up from the flanks, and a large number of soldiers rushed forward again under the cover of the tanks, seemingly about to break through the barbed wire in front of them.

"A few men, come with me! We're going to take out those tanks! Harvey, cover us!"

Schevr picked up his submachine gun, held a bundle of grenades in his hand, and bent down to approach the tank.

"Protect the battalion commander!"

Xavi fired in the direction of Schevr, drawing enemy fire.

Shevchenko crawled on the ground toward the tank, his eyes fixed on the front. As he slowly approached, he swept away the infantry near the tank and rolled into a shell crater on the side.

Tanks are not very useful in this situation. Their visibility is severely limited, and their guns cannot effectively hit the positions in front of them, so they cannot exert their greatest advantage.

Its greatest role was deterrence, intimidating revolutionary soldiers who had never seen a tank before, just like the French army when they first saw tanks on the Verdun battlefield.

Schevr and his men had undergone countless training sessions and had gained considerable experience in infantry destroying tanks.

"Fire! Cover me!" Shevl rolled out of the shell crater, stuffed the cluster grenade under the tank's tracks, and then rolled back.

"Lie down!"

"boom!"

With a loud bang, the tank billowed smoke, its tracks were blown off, and it could no longer move.

The tank crewman struggled to open the hatch; his internal organs had been shattered, and blood gushed from his mouth. Schevr raised his hand and fired a shot, ending his suffering.

"Da da da!"

Seeing that a tank had been destroyed, other tanks drove towards the area, and machine guns and turrets opened fire on the Chevre position.

"Smoke grenades!" Schevr threw out a few smoke grenades and moved to a new position under the cover of smoke.

They greatly slowed down the enemy's offensive from the rear, giving the revolutionary soldiers defending the high ground a chance to catch their breath.

"Seventh Army, keep advancing! Hurry! Hurry! You must rescue the brothers of the Fourth Army!" Li Zongren issued orders to his men. "Hold on!" He gripped the reins tightly and spurred his horse forward at breakneck speed.

"Two armies still haven't managed to surround them! They're telling me they're still trying, what are they doing!" Shangguan Yunxiang roared angrily. He had thought that the two armies he sent could easily surround the rear of the Fourth Army, and that the attacking Revolutionary Army would definitely come back to reinforce them. With such a pincer attack, they would surely die!

As a result, a group of people surrounded the two divisions. He was furious that the encirclement had not been tightened after so long, and what was even more worrying was that the revolutionary army's frontal attacking forces had not retreated and were still advancing towards Nanchang.

"Reporting to the general, they say there's a large group of foreigners on the other side. These people are very tough and can't be defeated," the soldier who delivered the order reported.

"Useless! The Marshal's German-equipped divisions and tanks are all with them! It's these pigs who are useless!" Shangguan Yunxiang paced back and forth in the room. "Bring the First Army back! Tell them that if they can't encircle the Revolutionary Army, I'll have them all shot!"

Shevl lay on the ground, aiming at the enemy troops in the distance, watching an officer-looking man looking at the front lines through binoculars.

He held his breath and lay there aiming at the officer.

"Goodbye." He pulled the trigger and fired the bullet.

"Why aren't we advancing! Why aren't we advancing!" Liu He cursed. He had just received orders from Prime Minister Shangguan Yun to transfer an army, making it even more difficult for him to fight.

"Commander, we really can't advance any further! Up ahead..."

Before the man could finish speaking, Liu He suddenly collapsed to the ground. He had been shot through the chest and lay lifeless on the ground.

"Commander! Commander!" No matter how others called out, he was unable to get up.

"Slow down, slow down! I... I'm not good at running," Chiang Kai-shek said breathlessly, carrying ammunition.

He was removed from his position as commander of the First Army and is now working in a transport unit transporting ammunition.

"You still dare to talk! If you hadn't underestimated the enemy and advanced recklessly, would we have had to go through this? Hurry up! If the Fourth Army is surrounded, I'd like to see how you handle the consequences!" an officer cursed, extremely dissatisfied with "Commander Chiang," who had delayed the Northern Expedition's grand plan.

Chiang Kai-shek was speechless at those words and could only shut up, carrying the ammunition box and running forward.

The Allied positions were in complete chaos. The commander of the Sixth Army was killed, and the First Army received orders to return. There was no decent commander left on the position.

"Seventh Army! Attack now!"

Li Zongren finally arrived. The roles of attacker and defender had now reversed, and the chaotic Allied forces were now completely surrounded.

The revolutionary soldiers holding their ground cheered, "It's our turn to counterattack! Signal the counterattack!" Chen Mingshu wiped the dust from his face, "Brothers! Charge!"

"kill!"

"General! The First Army and the Sixth Army are surrounded!" The battle report came, and Shangguan Yunxiang looked at the soldier who delivered the order with a gloomy face.

"Useless!" He raised his hand and overturned the table. With such a huge advantage and a clear numerical superiority over the Northern Expeditionary Army, they were actually defeated like this!

"It's terrible! It's terrible! The revolutionaries have stormed in!"

Upon learning of the reinforcements from the Seventh Army, Ye Ting and his men led their troops through a fierce attack, breaking through three enemy lines and charging towards Nanchang. The defending troops behind them had lost their will to fight and began to flee in disarray, abandoning their weapons.

"Brothers, follow me! Let's take Nanchang!" Ye Ting shouted, his eyes red. He had already lost far too many comrades-in-arms at the gates of Nanchang.

"Useless! Useless—!" Shangguan Yunxiang still couldn't understand how he could still lose despite having such a huge advantage and such a complete plan.

He drew his gun and pointed it at the group of officers, shouting, "You all want to escape, don't you? Huh! Don't you dare escape! Go to the front and supervise the battle, hold Nanchang for me!"

An officer tried to say something, but was shot down. "Quick! Go to the front and supervise the battle! No one is going to escape!" After saying that, he ran towards the gate of Nanchang.

"He's gone mad, the general has gone mad!" the officers below thought.

"Come on! You bunch of revolutionaries! I'll fight you to the death!" Shangguan Yunxiang shot several fleeing soldiers dead, pushed the corpses in front of the machine gun aside, and began firing forward.

Come on, let's fight to the death!

Ye Ting saw Shangguan Yunxiang firing his gun like a madman in front of him, and without thinking much, threw a grenade at him.

The machine guns immediately ceased their roar, and the revolutionary army trampled over the man's body as they charged into the city. Shangguan Yunxiang, the highest commander of Nanchang, thus died beneath the walls of Nanchang.

The First and Sixth Armies of the United Provinces were surrounded, but the Tenth Division and the reinforcing Seventh Army joined forces to defeat them. The battlefield is now being cleared.

A soldier who was pretending to be dead aimed at Shevl, who had his back to him. "Battalion Commander, watch out!" Harvey rushed over and tackled him to the ground.

Peng Pai saw Harvey get shot and angrily opened fire on the soldier who had faked his death.

"Havi, Havi!" Schevr sat up and saw Havi lying there covered in blood.

"Are you alright, Harvey? Medic! Medic!" Peng Pai shouted.

At that moment, Harvey trembled as he pulled a photograph from his pocket. "Commander, my home is in the Rhine. Please take me home." With that, he closed his eyes.

"Harvey!" No matter how loudly he shouted, Harvey couldn't open his eyes. He collapsed in a foreign land.

Scheffer removed his nameplate, picked up the photo, a picture of Harvey and his mother as children, with the address written on the back: Kingdom of the Rhine, Frankfurt, Eschborn.

Countless International Brigades soldiers fell on foreign soil, never to return home. Scheffer had promised countless times that he would lead them back to Germany honorably, but he didn't know when that promise would be fulfilled.

Looking at Xavi's blood-stained nameplate, Scheffer couldn't help but cry.

"I will definitely, definitely bring you home!"

Chapter Thirty-One: Betrayal and Abandonment (End of Volume Two)

Guangxi

"General, the commander-in-chief has sent another telegram." A soldier handed over the telegram.

After the eight provinces turned against the revolutionary government, Sun Chuanfang kept sending telegrams to Chen Jiongming, planning to launch a surprise attack on Guangdong from behind and eliminate the revolutionary government from two sides.

However, Chen Jiongming kept making excuses, saying that the Eight Provinces Alliance was originally a loose alliance. Back then, Chen Jiongming saw Sun Chuanfang organizing a coalition government and advocating provincial autonomy, and thought he was a good person, so he joined the Eight Provinces Alliance.

In recent years, he promoted education and infrastructure development in Guangxi, transforming it into a model province in Southwest China. After Sun Yat-sen's death, Chen Jiongming was surprised that Sun Chuanfang would immediately betray the revolution and launch a campaign to suppress the revolutionary government.

Although Chen Jiongming's ideas differed from Sun Yat-sen's, he never expected Sun Chuanfang to be so shameless. So, despite Sun Chuanfang's repeated phone calls, Chen Jiongming only stalled. Chen Jiongming was living deep in Guangxi, and Sun Chuanfang couldn't do anything about him, so the situation remained unresolved.

However, the Allied forces' situation is becoming increasingly unfavorable, so Sun Chuanfang's telegrams urging action are becoming more and more urgent, and the language is becoming more and more severe.

"Hmph, even now, Sun Chuanfang still wants me to go to Nanjing to discuss 'national affairs' with him. What a traitor! He has no regard for the country or national affairs! It's all his private business!"

He despised Sun Chuanfang's betrayal and had no interest in the revolutionary government's Northern Expedition, so he remained neutral and maintained a delicate relationship with the revolutionary government.

"Fighting, fighting, fighting all day long!" Chen Jiongming clenched his fists. He believed that these people were fighting each other for personal gain, and that their lofty slogans were just a nice excuse.