Chapter 43: One May Sacrifice in the Charge, But Must Not Die as Cannon Fodder!

"Don't stop!" Jiang Bai glanced at the military map. "The enemy is deliberately giving up the riverside—they obviously want to ambush us!"

"This battlefield is flanked by dense woods on both sides of the river, and the river's bends create natural choke points, easy to defend and hard to assault. It's understandable they'd flee, but not to the extent of a complete collapse. The river speeds up here, forming a natural barrier. Forcing a bridge crossing would make it impossible for heavy supplies to pass, and infantry charging in would be sitting ducks. Moreover, the high ground across the river gives the enemy excellent visibility and firing positions."

"My soldiers may fall in a charge, may perish in battle, but they must never die as expendable cannon fodder!" A resolute glint flashed in Jiang Bai's eyes. "Order the operations staff to reassess the situation—no rash advances, no underestimating the enemy. Dispatch reconnaissance and engineer platoons to scout for other possible crossing points."

"Inform Chu Yunfei's artillery regiment to lay down a dense barrage along the enemy's retreat route. Cover the engineers until they can build a sturdy bridge for supplies to cross—only then may the shelling cease."

"Relay to the Sixty-Fourth Infantry Brigade: hold your positions. Do not pursue without explicit orders."

"If the enemy truly retreats, so be it. But if they dare set an ambush for us, let them taste the full fury of our firepower!"

Jiang Bai's orders left all the staff officers and military officials in shock. He looked around and continued:

"In other Carrier Army units, shells are valued more than lives. Their officers still think like warlords, and every shell they fire is one less in their dwindling supply."

"But it’s different with me! If we run out of shells, the Carrier Armament Factory will make more, and as soon as they're made, they’ll be sent to us. We each have our roles. If other commanders or division leaders have complaints, let them take it up with the Marshal. As your military chief, I'll bear the responsibility. All of you—throw out your well-practiced human wave tactics and draft a set of strategies and doctrines unique to my Seventh Reinforced Division."

"My soldiers are precious—at the very least, more precious than cold, unfeeling shells."

"Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Transmit my words to every brigade and regiment by phone and telegram. Make sure every soldier in the Seventh Reinforced Division hears and understands."

"Yes, General."

Soon, Jiang Bai’s resolute words spread swiftly throughout the division. Every officer’s blood surged, especially the infantry—they responded with particular fervor.

On the forward infantry line.

Chen Shan stood among the officers, passion burning in his eyes with an indomitable fire. His voice trembled with emotion, yet every word was forceful and struck straight to the heart. "Damn it, after all these years—over twenty years as a soldier—my men have always been treated as cannon fodder by cold-blooded staff officers. No one ever truly cared for their lives."

He took a deep breath, his voice brimming with barely contained rage but also an unmistakable sense of gratitude. "But today, everything changes! Our general said it—he’ll treat us like human beings, not expendable pawns!"

Overflowing with emotion, Chen Shan immediately issued his orders:

"Order every regiment in the Sixty-Fourth Brigade: regimental assaults must be led by a full or deputy regimental commander; battalion assaults by a full or deputy battalion commander; the same goes for every company, platoon, and squad."

"The general treats us with such respect—we must not disappoint him."

"Yes, sir!"

The relentless artillery bombardment continued.

Shells rained down like a torrential storm, relentlessly closing in on the second defensive line.

As the barrage carried on, soldiers of the 113th Regiment on the second line suffered devastating casualties. Their resolve was shattered piece by piece by the 105mm howitzers.

All they could do was cower in their trenches, praying to escape death's grasp.

Even though the 113th and 112th Regiments were both battle-hardened, forged in the crucible of previous fierce engagements, almost no one could remain calm under such ferocious shelling.

Especially when you saw a comrade, chatting just moments before, suddenly struck down by shrapnel—body parts flung over you in an instant.

There wasn’t a single intact corpse left, not even the morticians could piece them together.

No remains left whole.

No matter how tough their minds, none could withstand such a blow.

"Damn it! Are those shells on the other side blown in by the wind? They’re firing as if money means nothing!" In the trench, a battle-scarred veteran's hands trembled as he lit a hand-rolled cigarette and shoved it into his mouth.

"They’ve dropped more shells today than I’ve seen women in my whole life!"

"Each shell costs two hundred dollars. In just this half hour, that’s at least hundreds of thousands spent!"

Another veteran, full of resentment, replied, "We’re all poor folk dragged from the mountains—why do we have to fight those who aren’t short on cash?"

"Stop shaking, let me light my smoke first!"

"It's not me shaking, damn it! Light your own match!"

Boom!

"Bah, I heard the commander of their Seventh Reinforced Division is Wang Lin's son-in-law. Bah, bah, bah!"

With every explosion, dust filled their mouths, impossible to keep out.

"This time, he’s taken all the Carrier Armament Factory’s shells for himself!"

"Don’t believe those wild rumors—our captain said he’s actually Wang Lin’s godson!"

"Exactly, that explains it! No wonder that bastard’s shells come down like there’s no tomorrow! We’d better stay in the bomb shelters—anyone sticking their head out now is just asking to die!"

Bear in mind, they’d been fighting since 7 a.m., and now it was nearly an hour and a half later.

It was as if they were fighting ghosts—they hadn’t seen a single Carrier Army soldier, yet both the 112th and 113th Regiments had taken massive losses.

Their units had originated from old-style foreign-trained forces; most of the soldiers were veterans from those days. The organization still followed the old foreign army structure.

Even at full strength, the 23rd Security Division numbered only about fifteen thousand men. An infantry regiment was just over two thousand strong.

Even after later expansions and adjustments, the 23rd Security Division barely mustered twenty thousand men.

That meant, disregarding differences in equipment and training, the combined strength of the 23rd and 24th Security Divisions was still less than Jiang Bai’s Seventh Reinforced Division.