Later historians have different views on the position of this Guangxi war. Some scholars believe that the Guangxi war is part of the second revolution, after all, Wang Zhenyu launched this war under the name of anti-Yuan, not other names; while others believe that the Guangxi war does not belong to the second revolution because the real second revolution ended on September 12 when Cai E's troops entered Chongqing. The Guangxi war was just a warlord infighting and had nothing to do with the so-called revolution.

  But there is one thing that everyone agrees on, and that is that the Battle of Pingkou marked the beginning of the Warlord Era.

  In the vanguard ridge of Xiangxi, less than 1000 meters away from the front line, various staff members of the third division of the Hubei Army were busy going back and forth to transmit various orders and reports, changing the military situation markers on the simulated map. Division commander Li Zongren and chief of staff Bai Chongxi both furrowed their brows, holding pencils and sitting silently in the inner position. Between the two was a military map hand-painted by the joint efforts of the staff department and the military affairs department.

  The combat power displayed by the Guangxi Army after being ambushed and hit by such a sudden and fierce firepower was extremely surprising. Except for the 304th Regiment led by Li Pinxian, which successfully defeated the Guangxi Army's rear guard troops, the 301st and 302nd Regiments repeatedly attacked three times but failed to crush the tightly gathered forces of the Guangxi Army's First Division headquarters and two regiments. It was not surprising that Chen Bingkun, a notorious Guangxi Army general, had shrunk his main force into a tight ball, making it a hard nut to crack. However, in the region attacked by the 303rd Regiment, the suddenly ambushed Guangxi Army unexpectedly launched a countercharge, although on a small scale. This unusual situation still drew high attention from Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi.

  After a long time, Li Zongren straightened his body and threw the pencil in his hand on the map paper, saying: "Jian Sheng, my brother, now we are in big trouble. The second team of Guijun not only did not collapse, but also fought with Liao Xue and others to consume."

  Bai Chongxi didn't say a word, Li Zongren shook his head and said: "Now we must concentrate all our advantages to attack the position where Chen Bingkun is located. This is the main attack point of this ambush battle. If not, our original plan to control the initiative on the battlefield will be discounted. When we formulated this plan, we underestimated the combat effectiveness of the Guangxi Army. If it were our past opponents, even if we failed in a frontal battle, they would have dispersed like frightened ducks. How could they launch a counterattack like now? We didn't know any better and thought we had encountered Japanese soldiers."

  Bai Chongxi chuckled: "Don't worry, De Neighbour. As the saying goes, 'the poor mountains and evil waters produce fine soldiers.' Our Guangxi is originally a poor place, and there are not many ways for men to survive. Either become a soldier or a bandit, either way, it's a life of licking blood from the blade. So, being able to fight well isn't unusual."

  Li Zongren sighed and said: "What can we do now? If we don't end this quickly, Wang Shuai will come over here to complain."

  Bai Chongxi thought for a moment and said, "Our original plan must be changed. Ending the battle in two hours was indeed an underestimation of the Guangxi Army's combat effectiveness and will to fight. However, it doesn't matter. I don't believe they can last long in this terrain. As long as we tighten up the entire pocket, after one night, I estimate their morale will be gone. No matter what, they won't be able to get reinforcements."

  Li Zongren asked in surprise: "Chen Bingkun, although he is rough in character, is also a knowledgeable military commander. What do you plan to do if he breaks out of the encirclement?"

  Bai Chongxi picked up the pencil that Li Zongren had thrown away and said, "Breaking through will only make him die faster. If he really breaks out, we'll just follow behind and attack. Human nature is such that once there's a way to escape, it will replace resistance. Let's launch a pursuit battle. Our mountain troops, who are used to pulling exercises, might be even more formidable."

  Li Zongren shook his head and said, "Let's still prepare to defeat the strong enemy first. If we really let them go and scatter all over the mountains, I'm afraid many of these people will become bandits again. When that happens, it will be very difficult to eliminate them later. Let's suffer a bit now so that we won't have too much trouble in the future."

  Bai Chongxi smiled and said, "Big brother, you're only 23 years old, how can you feel so down? The two armies facing each other is just a matter of one word - kill. Alright, let's not say more. I'll go give the order now and try to end the battle before nightfall."

  "Charge and kill!" The second battalion of nearly four hundred Guangxi soldiers charged up with bayonets without any heavy firepower support. Although the heavy machine guns on the mountain were fierce, facing these agile and nimble Guangxi soldiers, who were as quick as monkeys, their actual killing power was extremely limited.

  Liao Yue immediately fired back: "Relying on just this small group of people, you dare to play with knives in front of me? If you want to play, let's play something exciting and show these Guangxi monkeys the power of us!"

  Our leader Liao Yue surprisingly forgot at this moment that he himself is a Guangxi person

  The soldiers of the 1st Battalion, "Upper Dagger" 303 Brigade, although they had not used this thing in actual combat, still received strict training as a training subject, so their movements were very concise. With the officers' command, everyone drew out their bayonets from their waists and neatly inserted them into the rifles in their hands, then entered an attacking stance.

  Liao Yue was clear in his mind that this training and actual combat were two different things. After all, one-on-one assassination often required more psychological quality than technical movements. However, an army without the experience of seeing blood was actually powerless. So Liao Yue gritted his teeth and issued the attack order despite the possibility of being punished himself.

  The first camp of five hundred brave warriors jumped up from the ground with a whistle from the officer, holding rifles and shouting with all their might: "Long live the fierce tiger! Long live General Wang!"

  Then row upon row of bayonets shone with dazzling light under the sunlight, and this light happened to shine into the eyes of the Gui army. In that brief moment of distraction, the bayonet was thrust deep into the abdomen of a Gui army soldier.

  He can't even remember how many times he's repeated this set of actions. If only Da Hu was here, there would be nothing to fear at all.

  It was also Liao Yue's good luck that the new recruits assigned to his unit were a batch of soldiers who had been disciplined at the 803 base in the past. These soldiers were notorious throughout the army for their bravery and ferocity.

  Although the Guangxi army also resisted fiercely, often when a soldier from this side's 303 regiment had just stabbed down a Guangxi soldier, another Guangxi soldier's bayonet would immediately and ruthlessly be thrust into his own waist.

  Liao Yue had just received a verbal reprimand from Chief of Staff Bai Chongxi through an orderly. Looking at the tragic scene, Liao Yue, who was still extremely resentful, threw away his military cap, picked up a rifle and shouted: "Charge!"

  "Long live the mighty tiger! Long live General Wang!"

  Sometimes momentum is really important. The four hundred Guangxi troops who were originally mobilized by Huang Xu to launch a counterattack did not lose in the fierce battle, and even gained an advantage at one point. The casualties on both sides were basically equal, but when they saw nearly a thousand Xiangxi troops fiercely pressing down, almost every Guangxi soldier's will to fight was severely shaken.

  The officers of the Gui army finally remembered that Huang Xuchu was just a probationary officer, and they had actually listened to this kid's reckless command earlier. This is not sending themselves to death, so the officers led the entire Gui army in a rout.

  Seeing the enemy in front of them suddenly collapse like a stroke, the excited Xiangxi military officers and soldiers immediately felt their legs lightening up and their whole body relaxing. Their morale was even more boosted. The already crimson bayonet, with a hint of pride and killing intent, aimed at the Guilin soldiers who had betrayed them and stabbed them in the back, and they ruthlessly thrust it forward.

  At one time, the slow-withdrawing Guangxi army immediately fell into a mess. However, it's no wonder that the Guangxi monkeys are so skilled in this kind of kung fu. The remaining people ran far away and couldn't be caught no matter how hard they were chased.

  At this time, Huang Xuchu and Tao Juncai, who were responsible for gathering the defeated soldiers on the spot, gathered less than 200 people, and many of them had lost their weapons and will to fight. Faced with nearly two thousand Xiangxi troops rushing down like a tidal wave, these few people were just a drop in the bucket.

  Huang Xuchu simply shouted at Tao Jun: "Bring your men and follow me to meet up with our commander, let's hurry!"

  As for the bearded captain Huang Xuchu, although he despised his character, abandoning a superior officer on the battlefield was a taboo. So, with a wave of his hand, two soldiers went over and took away the bearded captain who had been trembling all along. As for what would happen when he saw Commander Chen, whether it would be execution or acquittal, that was no longer his concern.

  Chen Bingkun's days here were not easy either, as the entire army was stretched out in a long snake-like formation for several kilometers. When they encountered an enemy raid, their command system was disrupted. Fortunately, his own First Division had a solid foundation of old New Army troops, and it was impossible to escape in the river valley terrain. After the initial chaos, Chen Bingkun gathered nearly two regiments of troops from his direct subordinates and launched a surprise attack on a small hillhead. Unfortunately, before they could break through, the 301st and 302nd Regiments had already controlled the surrounding hills. Chen Bingkun was immediately pinned down, and three consecutive breakout attempts failed, resulting in the loss of three to four hundred men.

  However, because of the success in occupying a mountain head, Chen Bingkun no longer has to worry that these men under his command will be scattered by the Xiangxi Army's sudden attack from a higher position. This is much more fortunate than Huang Xu's bravery in seizing power on the battlefield.

  In the second half of the first division of the Gui Army, the fourth battalion composed of nearly a thousand Gui army was not so lucky. They were directly charged by Li Pinxian's 304th regiment of Xiangxi Army at the beginning of the battle and were defeated. Now they have become a complete failure.

  Li Pinxian's tactics were later praised by Wang Zhenyu and became one of the main characteristics of the Fierce Tiger Troop's ambush warfare, which was to launch a direct impact in close combat after firepower strikes. The biggest feature of this tactic is that it doesn't even give the enemy a chance to catch their breath, achieving strategic goals at the fastest speed through double psychological and physical blows.

  At this moment, Li Pinxian was also very pleased to be counting the spoils of war. These spoils would eventually have to be handed over to the people at the Military Supplies Department for processing. However, according to regulations, ammunition and firearms, these combat materials, could be retained by the combat troops themselves, as long as they reported the data on what they had retained to those idiots at the Military Supplies Department afterwards.

  At this time, the orderly ran over and handed over the latest order from the division headquarters to Li Pinxian. Li Pinxian opened it and looked at it, then shouted loudly: "The first battalion leaves one company to guard the prisoners and supplies, and the rest of the troops gather immediately. The division headquarters orders us to support forward immediately. Those who don't want to spend the night in the river valley should hurry up."