Chapter 2157 - Taking the Initiative
"All boats reduce speed! Prepare to land!" Mi Longtao commanded loudly, drawing his saber.
"Fix bayonets! One after another!" Sergeants called out on each vessel as the gun crews attached friction primers and readied to fire.
The boats swung around a shallow area and headed for the bank; the green hills on both sides drew ever closer.
Lieutenant Mi suddenly sensed something. Just as he was about to speak, a cannon boomed from the hillside along the bank, followed immediately by the whistle of arrows and the crack of matchlock fire.
From the rear vessel, Li Dong saw it clearly: a plume of thick smoke suddenly erupted from the hillside on the right. The iron armor plate on the starboard side of the lead command boat was instantly smashed to pieces. The cannonball punched through the hull and blew out the armor plate on the opposite side as well. Even from several hundred meters away, Li Dong could see the flesh and blood of soldiers torn apart as the round swept across the deck.
"Ambush!" Li Dong sucked in a cold breath. During his time in the Beiwei Army, he had gone on many search-and-sweep operations. Because adversaries of all kinds couldn't match the Beiwei Army in firepower or organization, their most common tactic was to exploit their familiarity with the terrain to set ambushes.
Even when scouts were deployed ahead on every sortie, enemy ambushes still had chances to inflict casualties. That was why such operations emphasized "rapid advance" and "covert approach"—denying the enemy time to prepare an ambush.
On the West River, using steamships, "rapid advance" was no problem. But "covert approach" was utterly impossible.
Almost simultaneously, the Minié rifles on the lead boats opened up in a continuous crackle of fire, then cannon smoke and flame belched from the ships with a roar. Smoke quickly obscured the river.
Li Dong couldn't make out the situation ahead. He urged the helmsman: "Faster! Speed up!"
"The shore here is all shoals and reefs—we can't go faster..."
Before the helmsman finished, another loud explosion came from within the smoke, and a column of white steam mixed with black smoke shot skyward.
"The boiler blew!" The helmsman's face went pale as he muttered.
Li Dong grew anxious. With the lead boats firing one after another, he couldn't see the fighting ahead at all. From the irregular booms and cracks, he could tell the vanguard was locked in fierce combat.
"What does Battalion Commander Zhu say?" Li Dong asked the signalman while scanning the front.
"No orders."
Li Dong turned to look at Boat No. 1. Sure enough, no signal had come. He didn't know what Zhu Si was thinking, but he already had a plan in mind. He instructed the signalman:
"Signal the command boat: I intend to lead the right column ashore to flank the enemy's position, coordinating with Lieutenant Mi's operation."
The signalman semaphored the message; Boat No. 1 gave no response. Li Dong's anxiety mounted. He had the signalman repeat the message—still no response.
"Forget it," Li Dong said, not knowing what was happening on No. 1. He immediately ordered, "Signal the right column: prepare for combat!"
A combat-ready signal flag went up on Boat No. 2. Moments later, No. 2 broke from the lane and headed for the shoals near the bank.
Li Dong's plan was simple: land on the spot, then advance along the shoreline and attack the ambushers from the flank. Though his men's combat effectiveness was poor, Mi Longtao's force was strong—right now they were just stunned by the opening blow. If his own troops could make a showing from the flank and distract the ambushers, Mi Longtao's men would be able to counterattack immediately.
For his troops, untested in battle, there was some danger—but he judged it wasn't great.
"All hands, prepare for battle! Stand by to land!" At Luo Mao's command, the thirty-odd men on Boat No. 2 stirred. Most were going into battle for the first time; hearing the gunfire ahead, their legs were already shaking.
"Don't be afraid—those are our cannons!" Luo Mao, one hand gripping his rifle, reached out with the other to haul up soldiers who were trembling too hard to stand. "Once we're off the boat, stay close to me! No running off!"
Yang Erdong had seen battle before and wasn't panicking now. He gripped his standard spear and touched the sword at his belt, wishing wistfully for a suit of iron armor—when he'd been a household guard and gone into battle, he'd always worn plate. Now in just this thin uniform, he felt practically naked. At least the Australians issued iron helmets—odd-looking ones, though, shaped like chamber pots, broad-brimmed and shallow; they only perched on your head, and if not for the leather strap under the chin, they'd fly off the moment you ran. He glanced back at Li Pudun, whose face was deathly pale, barely standing with his spear for support. Just as he was about to say a few words of comfort, the boat lurched violently. He staggered and nearly fell. The whole deck was suddenly a chaos of stumbling men.
"We're grounded!" the helmsman shouted.
Li Dong rushed to the bow, snatched a bamboo pole from a sailor, and checked the depth—about half a meter. Deep enough not to impede landing. He raised his saber: "Follow me!" and was the first to leap overboard.
With the commanding officer jumping first, the soldiers' courage rose a notch. Under the sergeants' urging, they leaped off one after another—water splashing everywhere. Some lost their footing on landing, flailing and crying for help until fellow soldiers pulled them up.
The confusion didn't last long. Five minutes later, the roughly ninety men of the right column had assembled ashore.
"Riflemen take point! Everyone else follow! Advance in double file!"
The terrain ashore was hilly. Though the slopes weren't too steep, the vegetation was dense, making it impossible to deploy in a line. And given the quality of his men, forming a line required courage and discipline beyond their abilities. All he could do was advance in column, with experienced veterans leading.
"Luo Mao, you bring up the rear!"
"Yes, sir, Lieutenant!"
"All squads, watch your flanks for enemy activity." Li Dong surveyed the assembled soldiers, raised the whistle at his chest, and blew a sharp blast. "All forward!" He set off at the head, trailed by his runner and the standard-bearer.
The hillside along the bank was quite steep. With limited manpower, he couldn't fan out up the slope to search; he could only watch the ridgeline carefully while pressing ahead quickly. The aim was to finish this fast.
The cannon fire ahead slackened; the rifle fire grew denser, and shouts of combat could be heard. Li Dong estimated that Mi Longtao's force had landed and was pushing forward. He urged his men to quicken their pace, while ordering the standard-bearer to unfurl the flag—to avoid friendly fire.
By now the slope had grown gentler. The brush gave way to groves of fruit trees. Among the trees stood a small thatched hut. The scouts at the head of the column noticed figures moving in the trees.
"Contact!" he called. "Movement in the trees, left front of the hut."
"Fire!" Li Dong shouted. A dozen Nanyang riflemen immediately loosed a volley into the trees. Smoke billowed; screams echoed. But at the same moment, the whoosh of arrows split the air, and two National Army soldiers went down with shafts in them.
Yang Erdong's sharp eyes caught movement in the forest. He shouted: "More on the right!" He cursed inwardly that he didn't have a rifle—one shot and he could drop someone. With this spear, all he could do was fret.
"Spearmen, at the ready!" Li Dong drew his revolver and fired a round toward the source of the arrows. The riflemen quickly reloaded and fired another volley.
Amid screams and groans, chaotic footsteps sounded in the forest. The figures who had gathered there turned and fled uphill. Li Dong immediately ordered pursuit. The riflemen loosed another volley to cover the spearmen charging up the slope. Yang Erdong leveled his spear and gave chase—but the terrain was ill-suited for long spears; branches and vines kept snagging the shaft. He had to struggle repeatedly to disentangle it; sometimes it caught so badly it became more hindrance than help. Soldiers scattered among the trees couldn't maintain cohesion, and the formation quickly fell apart. The enemy kept turning to loose arrows; within minutes, two more men were hit. Some timid souls hunkered behind trees, too scared to move. Li Dong couldn't control the situation from behind; fearing an ambush ahead, he ordered a halt to the pursuit and everyone to fall back and reform.
After all this, the right column was in disarray. When they finally gathered and counted heads, four had been wounded, and ten were missing—probably lost in the woods during the chase.
"Sound the rally call!"
Within minutes of the bugle sounding, several National Army soldiers emerged from the trees—unfamiliar faces. But their weapons were double-barreled shotguns.
"Challenge!"
"Strike!" the lead National Army officer shouted back. "Which unit are you?"
"We're Wuzhou National Army..."
"We know. Hold your position!" The officer spoke loudly as he walked over. "Where's your commander?"
"I'm right here!" Li Dong stepped forward. "I'm Li Dong, Composite Company commander, Wuzhou Battalion National Army..."
"You got here pretty fast!" The man wasn't interested in hearing his introduction. "Pity we didn't cut them off!" Then, as if remembering, he added: "I'm Chen Huan, commander of National Army Mountain Company Number Four."
Li Dong had heard that the mountain companies were mostly recruited from Li and Miao villages on Hainan Island. He had been rather dismissive—he'd taken part in several "security operations" on Hainan and hadn't been impressed by the Li and Miao fighters. After all, a ragtag bunch of garrison soldiers there had managed to keep them suppressed for years using crude outpost forts. What could they possibly offer besides climbing ability?
But the soldiers before him now, though mostly short in stature, were lean and tough—clearly battle-hardened. They were leagues above his own gaggle of green recruits.
(Chapter End)