Chapter 22: The Assassination of Dawa Sandong

  As time went on, the situation became increasingly critical. Seeing a section of the Sichuan army attacking this courtyard, the surrounding rebels rushed towards the Model Garrison and engaged in fierce combat with it.

  To block the rebel army's advance, Yang Xing had already ordered Zhu Lianchang and Zhang Lianchang to lead a portion of their troops to intercept them.

  However, the rebel reinforcements were determined and came rushing towards our model battalion, regardless of our casualties.

  Seeing all this, Liu Er Gou and others were stunned, shaking their heads one after another: "Lian Chang, who is in this courtyard? How did the rebel army's situation become chaotic after we attacked here?"

  Holding the telescope, he took another look at the surrounding situation and put down the telescope after a long time: Old Liu, are we blind cats hitting dead mice? Is this courtyard the rebel command center?

  Zhang Aiwu muttered beside him: "Battalion commander, whatever it is, the most important thing now is to break through this courtyard and avoid being ambushed by the rebels."

  Liu Ergou also nodded repeatedly: Yes, Commissar, Zhu Lianzhang and Zhang Lianzhang have already sent urgent messages. They said that the rebel army, regardless of casualties, had hundreds of people gathered together, charging towards them.

  Yang Xing nodded and said, "Yes, they are under great pressure, and we are not light either. It seems that we should think of a way to conquer this courtyard. But the walls of this courtyard are exceptionally thick, and the rebels are firmly guarding the gate, so we can't get in for the time being."

  Zhang Aiwu saw the situation and suddenly stood up: "Company Commander, let me go. Let me lead a squad to reinforce Lao Wang. Our two squads will launch a fierce attack. I don't believe we can't break into this courtyard."

  Yang Xing shook his head and saw that the rebel army had firmly controlled the gate.

  He raised his binoculars again, looked around and pointed to the battlefield: "Zhang, you see, at this gate, the rebel army has completely sealed off the entrance with firepower. Our army can't get close. Even if we get close, the rebel army still has an absolute advantage in force. At that time, both sides will be mixed together, making it difficult to distinguish between friend and foe. Your platoon joining in will only make the battlefield more chaotic and crowded, but there is no benefit to breaking through the gate.

  Upon seeing this, Zhang Aiwu became somewhat anxious and asked with wide eyes: "Battalion Commander, what do you say we should do? Our brothers at the front are engaged in a bloody battle; surely we won't just hide behind and watch the excitement?"

  Yang Xing laughed and said: "Of course not, you see that the wall over there is shorter, where there are five trees that can be climbed directly into the courtyard. You lead a squad, let a soldier who is good at shooting and climbing trees climb up the big tree, shoot down at the rebels in the courtyard from a height, suppress the enemy's firepower."

  Zhang Aiwu was overjoyed and was about to leave when Yang Xing pulled him back, continuing: "Squad leader Zhang, there's one more thing. We should take advantage of the covering fire from our brothers in the tree and blow up that wall over there. That way, everyone can charge inside."

  Yang Xing said so, Zhang Aiweng nodded repeatedly and said: "Squad leader, how did I not see this just now? I'll arrange for the brothers to go and blow up the wall immediately."

  Yang Xing held on to say: Also, Zhang Paichang, before you charge, I order all artillery to fire at the enemy's depth, and fiercely bombard the enemy's courtyard, so as to support you.

  Zhang Aiwen was overjoyed when he heard this and immediately set off with his orders.

  Li Dazui, who was standing beside him, looked at Yang Xing and said: "Commander, what about us? What's our task?"

  Yang Xing laughed and said: "Li Pai Zhang, you are the strongest combat force in our regiment. When Zhang Aiwen and others broke in, you followed up immediately and solved the enemy at once."

  Although somewhat dissatisfied after hearing it, he still muttered and went to one side to organize the battle.

  Yang Xing said to the second platoon leader of the artillery company, Guo Xiaobo: "Guo Platoon Leader, concentrate all firepower and launch a fierce bombardment on this large courtyard. Tear apart the enemy's position thoroughly and hinder their reinforcements from advancing forward."

  Guo Xiaobo was overjoyed when he heard this, and shouted to the soldiers around him: "Brothers, there are big fish inside! The battalion commander has ordered that we don't care about the artillery fire, let's blast them fiercely, blast them fiercely!"

  Immediately afterwards, after dozens of artillery shells, the entire courtyard was ablaze.

  At this time, Zhang Aiwu and others had made preparations, led a row of brothers to flank to the left, selected 10 soldiers who were good at climbing trees, and secretly climbed up the big tree.

  After making adequate preparations, they suddenly took advantage of their superior position to launch a fierce barrage at the rebel troops inside the courtyard.

  Both sides were fighting fiercely at the gate when they suddenly came under fire from Sichuan soldiers in the trees, becoming disoriented and confused, their formations also appearing extremely chaotic.

  Seizing this opportunity, Zhang Aiwu was overjoyed and with a wave of his hand, four soldiers rushed to the corner of the wall and quickly dug a hole in the earthen wall, stuffing the explosive package inside.

  A deafening explosion, the short wall on the left was instantly blown down. Zhang Aiwu raised his Hanyang rifle and shouted loudly: "Brothers, when heroes meet on a narrow road, the brave win! Brothers, charge!"

  They charged forward immediately at the forefront, quickly crossing the explosion and bursting into the courtyard.

  Seeing the left wall being blown open, those rebels who were blocked at the gate suddenly lost their morale and became even more depressed. Although there were still a few people who continued to resist stubbornly, the vast majority had already realized that the situation was hopeless and fled in all directions.

  Turning to Li Dazui beside him, he smiled and said: "Li Dazui, the rebel army has collapsed, let's go in."

  Under the protection of Li Dazui, they rushed to the gate immediately. At this time, the rebel army was in a state of collapse, and everyone quickly broke into the gate and rushed deep into the courtyard.

  Here is the translation:

  Just then, Wang Si Ma rushed over quickly. It turned out that during the intense battle just now, the Sichuan army had really destroyed the rebel command center. In the central hall, there was a Tibetan man in his 30s and one British person.

  Yang Xing was shocked and immediately ran to the hall, where he saw that the inside of the hall was extremely chaotic. There were more than 10 Tibetans dressed in luxurious attire lying in a pool of blood. On the other side, there was a white military officer.

  In addition, the walls are covered with maps, military maps of Tibet and unknown maps within Kangding City.

  Yang Xing was overjoyed and asked: Are there any captives? Ask the captives, who exactly did we kill?

  Wang Si said: There is a prisoner here who will die without saying a word.

  Yang Xing shouted: He didn't say it, can't you let them say it? Interrogate them together with the translation to confirm their identity as annihilated rebels.

  After a ten-minute trial, it was finally confirmed that the dead included not only the rebel leader Dawa Sandong but also Lieutenant Colonel York, head of the British advisory team.

  After the command center of Dartsedo was destroyed and Dartsedo and his British advisor were killed, the whole war had no suspense. The Sichuan army advanced like a hot knife through butter, and after half a day's fierce battle, they occupied Kangding Prefecture and penetrated deep into Tibet.

  Dazan Samdup originally planned to rely on the treacherous terrain of Tibet and the strong city walls of Kangding to block the Sichuan army's entry into Tibet. Unexpectedly, under the powerful firepower, tens of thousands of rebel soldiers were killed or wounded, and he himself was also killed by the Sichuan army officers.

  After the rebel headquarters was destroyed and Dazhansuandong died in battle, the rebels were even more chaotic. The Model Regiment took advantage of the situation to launch a counterattack, coordinating with various departments to cut off the rebel forces one by one, and finally gathering to annihilate them.

  It is said that Yang Xing led his men to destroy the rebel command center, and after killing Dasandong, Yin Changheng brought a group of staff officers to the place where Dasandong was killed. Looking at the bodies of the rebel leaders scattered all over the ground, he was overjoyed and repeatedly praised Yang Xing in front of all the Sichuan army generals for his bravery and strategy, saying that he was an invaluable general.

  To commend Yang Xing's achievements, considering that in just half a year, Yang Xing was promoted from a military academy student to the model battalion commander, the promotion cannot be said to be fast. After careful consideration, he was not promoted again in terms of position, but only his military rank was promoted from senior captain to lieutenant colonel.

  Yang Xing also became a hero among the soldiers for his victory in the Battle of Piankou Liangzi and for killing Dasongduan.

  At the subsequent military meeting, the General Headquarters had a general idea of the strength of the rebels. Since the battle in Kangding City, together with the previous counter-ambush war that annihilated more than 10,000 rebels, it was seen that along the way, the rebels fled or surrendered in groups, and everyone thought that the main force of the rebels had been eliminated, and the remaining ones were only local armed forces of the rebels, which were not worth worrying about.

  More importantly, with the Sichuan army garrisoned in Lhasa and Shigatse not yet cleared out, and with the strong offensive of the Sichuan army and Cai E's Yunnan army outside, plus the vast territory and sparse population, the rebel forces would inevitably find it difficult to organize an effective defense.

  It is generally believed that the Tibetan region is too vast and sparsely populated. After the main rebel forces were eliminated, the most important thing was not to send a large army into Tibet, but to establish a solid rear base in Kangding to guarantee logistical supplies for the troops.

  Afterwards, with Kangding City as the main base, one route went northwest through Xindu County, Ganzi County, Changdu and Nagqu areas, and arrived at Lhasa City. Another route was led by General Sun Zhaorong, commander of the 3rd Division, going west through Batang County and Nyingchi area, thus approaching Lhasa City, which would easily solve the Tibetan rebellion.

  While the main force of the Sichuan army did not need to enter Tibet completely, thus avoiding the heavy pressure of long-distance marching and logistical support.

  Afterwards, various parts of the Sichuan Army took action, while Yang Xing remained in Kangding as a model regimental commander to assist Yin Changheng in consolidating the rear and ensuring supplies for the front.

  Before the army set out, after seeing the power of the artillery under Kangding City, Sun Zhaorong found Yin Changheng, the Grand Governor, and firmly requested to dispatch artillery support. The reason is that this small steel cannon is convenient to carry, one war horse can pull a small steel cannon, and two war horses can guarantee firepower attacks in the front line. More importantly, after this battle of Kangding City, the firepower of this small steel cannon was still quite powerful, as long as it was used properly, it could still blast down ordinary city walls.

  Originally intended to decline, but unfortunately what this Sun Shilong said is true, and it's for the sake of defending national sovereignty in war, absolutely cannot be viewed with the colored glasses of a warlord.

  Moreover, Sun Zhaoluan was a classmate of Yin Changheng's. If they didn't agree, what impression would that give them?

  He gritted his teeth and decided to take out the two most elite artillery teams for the Third Division to participate in the Western Expedition.

  Unexpectedly, Yang Xing was so generous, and Sun Zhaoluan was also very meaningful. He immediately collected all the artillery from each regiment and concentrated on using them, expanding into an artillery company, directly under the division's jurisdiction.

  Considering that the two platoons dispatched had followed Yang Xing for several months of training, and could be considered elite during the Republic of China era, it was decided to appoint the two platoon leaders as the positive and negative battalion commanders.

  At the farewell ceremony, Yang Xing held onto Zhang Aiwu, the first company commander, and Kou Xiaobo, the second company commander, and instructed: "The Western Expedition is a war to safeguard national unity and state sovereignty. It must not be ruined because of personal likes and dislikes. From now on, you need to listen to the command of the two commanders Peng and Sun, eliminate the rebel army, and restore national unification."

  These two battalion commanders were promoted by Yang Xing from among the troops, as the backbone of the artillery company, after months of hard work, they became famous battalion commanders, and made outstanding contributions on the battlefield of Western Expedition.

  Thinking of the long journey westward, with mountains and rivers blocking the way, both rows of artillery soldiers had moist eyes, reluctant to part.

  Especially Zhang Aiwu, pulling Yang Xing's hand said: "Old Lianchang, the army will remember Old Lianchang's kindness. From now on, as long as Old Lianchang has an order, even if separated by a thousand miles, we will rush to boil and jump into fire without hesitation."

  "Old Commander Lian, through the biased news from Liangzi, it's not hard to discover that in future wars, artillery will undoubtedly be the king of land warfare. I'm so happy! In less than a few months of following you, an ordinary revolutionary soldier has been promoted to company commander. I'm so resentful! From now on, I won't be able to stay by your side, this good teacher and friend, grasp the direction of artillery development, and fall behind others in future wars."

  Who would have thought that Gou Xiaobo, who is normally calm and taciturn, would have such insight? It's 1912, tanks and planes haven't been used on the battlefield yet. If it weren't for military orders being hard to disobey, Yang Xing almost couldn't bear to part with Gou Xiaobo and wanted to keep him by his side to cultivate him further.