Looking at the retreating remnants of the Gui army, Huang Detiger sat down on the ground with a thud. The rifle with his name engraved on it was thrown to the ground. From childhood to adulthood, even when surrounded by hundreds of people in the 803 Jingzhou Feishan new recruit camp, he had never felt as terrified as he did today.

  The glittering bayonets of the enemy and our soldiers intertwined, punching and kicking each other, forming a ball of continuous fighting. The defeated ones let out miserable cries before dying, while the survivors groaned in pain. Scene after scene lingered in Huang Detai's mind, unable to disperse for a long time.

  He suddenly remembered what the class leader had said to him: "Hold on to the gun in your hand, it's your wife and the only guarantee of your survival."

  "Where's the class monitor?" Huang Detiger suddenly remembered that loud-mouthed class monitor and looked around, but didn't see his shadow anywhere. He quickly got up to find this fellow villager who was also a class monitor.

  At last he found his squad leader near the foot of a hill, a bullet had shot straight into his forehead, blood had stopped flowing, and his eyes were wide open staring at the sky.

  The class leader died, and Huang Dexiu's heart suddenly surged with an inexplicable sense of sorrow.

  The clerk of the Ministry of War came over with the squad leader: "Where is the third class leader?"

  Huang Dexiu covered the class monitor's eyes with his hand and turned around to answer: "Honored"

  The officer let out a sigh. Today's casualties were indeed heavy, with 168 deaths and over 200 injuries. The entire 303rd Regiment was shrouded in a sad atmosphere. However, the order from headquarters still had to be carried out: "From now on, you will act as the squad leader of the third squad of the first platoon. Gather the remaining men and continue advancing with the regiment."

  After finishing the document, Wen Shu and Pai Chang left. Huang Dehu looked at the squad leader for the last time, then looked around. The person in charge of collecting the bodies was recording the number of each deceased and taking away their belongings, putting them in bags and sealing them to return to their families. Meanwhile, the 304th Brigade's men were passing through this battlefield, apparently shocked by the cruelty here, slowing down involuntarily one by one.

  The attack of Xiangxi Army has been stopped after a desperate resistance by Gui Army's First Division on an unnamed hill.

  Bai Chongxi stopped the meaningless continuous attacks of the 301st and 302nd Regiments. He ordered the mortars and mountain guns to be transported up to each unit to build simple fortifications, determined to trap and annihilate the main force of the Guangxi Army.

  The tragic Huang Xu Chu, although he tried his best, but it seemed that heaven wanted to give him a lifetime of tragedy all at once. Huang Xu Chu, who had barely escaped the encirclement, led more than 200 people from his unit and charged into the 302nd Regiment's position. Naturally, they were disarmed without mercy by the 302nd Regiment. After struggling for half a day, Huang Xu Chu was captured. He exchanged a glance with Tao Jun, and both of them became honest prisoners, no longer putting up a fight.

  It wasn't until this time that the Battle of Pinggou had entered its predetermined track. Chen Bingkun had completely lost his peripheral support points and could only rely on a single mountain head with over a thousand guns, which couldn't last long. Just now, his deputy officer told him that their ammunition was insufficient, and the troops transporting supplies had become the enemy's transportation team. The ammunition they carried was almost depleted, leaving less than three rounds per person. If they were to continue fighting, it would likely be a melee. Due to the previous busy marching, the soldiers hadn't eaten lunch by 6 pm, let alone dinner. Although some people from the cooking class survived and followed them up the mountain, all the pots, pans, and other equipment were left on the riverbank, including their military rations.

  Earlier in the battle, no one felt hungry, but now that it's stopped, everyone feels starving.

  In such a situation, Bai Chongxi did something very immoral. He ordered the cooking squad of each regiment to immediately bury pots and cook rice in the valley above, and must stew meat. As for whether the subordinates who had just killed people would eat the lower meat, it was no longer considered within his scope. His goal was very clear, not what a tooth festival is, but using the smell of meat to disgust the Guangxi Army.

  The aroma of rice and meat soon wafted towards the camp of the Gui army, carried by the gentle breeze through the valley. The soldiers of the Gui army, as fierce as tigers and wolves, couldn't help but swallow their saliva and look at their superiors. Their superiors then cast their gaze towards Chen Bingyun.

  This former Gui Clique general, who was once so glorious before and after the Xinhai Revolution, is now filled with unprecedented desolation. He had underestimated them too much, and accidentally got caught by the rumors that spread like wildfire. The ones who ambushed him were Li Zongren, the commander of the 3rd Division of the Hunan Western Army, and his chief of staff Bai Chongxi, both of whom were young men from Guangxi in their early twenties. This was just too ridiculous - an old veteran like himself had been outsmarted by two young whippersnappers! If this got out, he would be laughed to death.

  Chen Bingkun's thinking became more and more narrow, but he suddenly woke up to think: can't fight anymore, brothers have no morale, and the timing, location, and people are not in their favor. If using chess as an analogy, it's a dead end, even if you want to escape, it's impossible. Breaking through is impossible, but giving these followers who have followed him for many years a way out is necessary.

  Chen Bingkun thought for a moment that if he couldn't find a way out, he could only surrender. But surrendering would be unforgivable to General Lu. What was he to do?

  Still following his long-time deputy, Lihai immediately guessed from the awkward expression of his superior and quietly walked forward, saying: "Commander, let's change into casual clothes and escape. This battle can't be fought anymore. Let's give our brothers a way to survive."

  This idea was perfect, Chen Bingkun couldn't help but shout in approval. He looked around and whispered to his deputy: "You go tell the officers to hold on a bit longer, after we escape, we can surrender."

  Two hours later, more than 1,300 remnants of the First Division of the Gui Army raised white flags and surrendered to the Xiangxi Army. The Battle of Banguo ended with a complete victory for the Third Division of the Xiangxi Army.

  As for Chen Bingkun, his trick to escape didn't work and he was finally caught by the military intelligence agents who recognized him as a notorious figure in Guilin. He had no choice but to surrender and become a prisoner.

  The results of the Battle of Banguo were enormous. In just over four hours, the entire 5,000-strong First Division of the Guangxi Army was annihilated, with more than 1,100 killed and 3,000 captured, and some missing.

  Due to the tenacious resistance of the Guangxi Army, the 3rd Division of the Xiangxi Garrison also suffered significant losses. Among them, the 301st, 302nd and 303rd regiments suffered the most, with over 200 casualties in each of the 301st and 302nd regiments, and more than 300 casualties in the 303rd regiment. Such heavy casualties made Li Zongren, the division commander, frown unintentionally and say: "What's going on? How can there be such heavy casualties?"

  Chief of Staff Bai Chongxi smiled calmly and said, "In war, there are no undefeated people. Brother De doesn't have to worry too much. The most important thing is that we won, isn't it?"

  Li Zongren nodded and said: "But replenishing troops is difficult. New recruits will only produce a batch of soldiers after half a year of training."

  Bai Chongxi had opinions about this new recruitment and training system, as it eliminated the possibility of officers privately expanding their troops. This was a huge obstacle for someone with great ambition like himself. However, now it seemed to be an opportunity to break free: "Deputy Commander, according to my idea, we've captured so many prisoners, why not directly add them to our ranks? Their combat strength is not weak, and our treatment is better. As for the officers, they're all unnecessary, either shoot them or disperse them."

  Li Zongren thought for a moment: "It's possible, but we still have to follow the rules and make a record book. Otherwise, how can the General Staff and Military Equipment Department issue salaries?"

  Bai Chongxi slapped his forehead, how could he forget that the payroll of the Xiangxi Defense Team was not issued through various levels of officers? All soldiers had a bankbook from the Xiangxi Development Bank. Every month, the personnel department of the general staff would settle accounts and the financial department of the military supplies bureau would transfer the funds to the bankbook. This bankbook was opened when they were new recruits, so it was impossible for officers at various levels to embezzle the payroll. As for Bai Chongxi thinking that he could recruit more people, this was even more impossible.

  "Alright, let's do it your way, big brother." Bai Chongxi felt uneasy about Wang Daoyi, who was indeed a mastermind. He had calculated everything and was impressed by his move. How did he know that Wang Zhenyu's move was based on the experience of later generations' military organization and was obtained with ease? The effect was also remarkable, after all, it had been tested in practice.

  Just then, a deputy officer rushed over to report: "The division commander and chief of staff are in trouble. Liao Tuan-zhang and the others have clashed with the prisoners of war."

  Li Zongren was shocked: "What is Liao Yue doing? Let Jian Sheng go and take a look."

  Bai Chongxi gritted his teeth: "Notify the guards to bring their guns and follow me"

  Bai Chongxi in a bad mood is going to kill someone

  Wang Zhenyu in Liuzhou City may not know these trivial matters, but he is now in a very good mood. The final data of the Banteng Fierce Battle has not been reported yet, but the battle result was reported at the first time.

  The entire annihilation of the first division of the Guangxi army, with 5,000 people, achieved a great victory. This is an extremely important victory. To know that the regular army in the whole of Guangxi is only about 10,000 people, and this battle has annihilated half of them. Not to mention the initiative on the battlefield, just this deterrent effect is enough to pacify the entire Guangxi region.

  Xu Yuanquan, holding the battle report, naturally didn't forget to congratulate Wang Zhenyu: "General, this battle can be said to have laid the foundation for the entire situation. From now on, no matter how we fight, we won't suffer any losses. Shouldn't we release the news to intimidate Lu Rongting and his men?"

  Wang Zhenyu smiled and waved his hand, saying: "Whatever you do, don't leak the news. First, De Lin and Jian Sheng's troops are in Guilin, with 2,000 men from the first division of the Guangxi army who haven't moved yet. Second, Lu Rongting's troops want to fight us to the death. It's best if we can wipe them out cleanly, otherwise they'll be scared away into the mountains and it will be a troublesome thing to eliminate them later."

  Xu Yuanquan nodded: "The general's words are exactly what I was thinking, hurry back to the First Division and launch another ambush"

  Wang Zhenyu shook his head: "No need, the first division must show weakness and let the Gui army enter. When the time comes, I will send the third division to quietly cross the right river and cut off their return route. This way, we won't have to worry about anyone leaking information. Haha, it's funny, I originally didn't plan to take over all of Guangxi, but this Lu Rongting is forcing me to destroy him. Since he made such a request, I must not satisfy him. What do you think, Ke Cheng?"

  It's rare for Wang Zhenyu to make a joke recently, but even Xu Yuanquan, an old-timer, didn't dare to respond. Xu Yuanquan just bowed and left, leaving Wang Zhenyu embarrassed for a while.

  "Lao Wu, go and see if there's any news from Nanning about Gong Zhan Chang." Wang Zhenyu said with a sigh and lay down on the sofa to rest. The victory of the Pangou ambush finally allowed himself, who had been determined to win, to temporarily breathe a sigh of relief.