Chapter 27

Tongdao is located in the southwestern part of southern Hunan, at the southern end of Huaihua, bordering Suining and Chengbu in Shaoyang to the east, Liping in Guizhou to the west, Jingzhou to the north, and Longsheng and Sanjiang in western Guangxi to the south. It is situated at the intersection of six counties in Hunan, Guizhou, and Guangxi. Its unique geographical location made this small county a must-take for the Red Army during their strategic relocation.

Two days before He Zhengdao led the Independent Regiment to Lin Kou, the main force of the Red Army broke through and successfully captured this city. After a brief rest in Tongdao, they decided to split into two routes to continue their breakout.

One route continued along the predetermined path to western Hunan to join the Second and Sixth Corps, while the other advanced directly into Guizhou, where the Red Army's forces were currently the weakest. This was information He Zhengdao had learned from his knowledge of the future.

After entrusting the political commissar Yao Shengjun with the management of the troops, He Zhengdao changed into the clothing of a local ethnic minority and carried a set of Hunan Army uniform on his back. He walked down from the mountain where they were resting, preparing to conduct reconnaissance in Tongdao.

If his prediction was correct, after the main force of the Red Army left, the heavily fortified Tongdao should still have a significant number of blocking forces stationed there.

In such a city with a large number of troops, there would definitely be situations where soldiers did not recognize each other. Therefore, He Zhengdao planned to cause some chaos inside. If he could make the Guangxi and Hunan armies fight each other, it would certainly be very interesting!

Facing He Zhengdao, an elite who had studied special operations in the future, he easily bought the firewood that several ethnic minority young men were carrying into the city. He Zhengdao, along with several soldiers from the guard company, smoothly mixed into Tongdao.

Seeing the Red Army slogans that had not yet been destroyed, it was clear that this small county had just been recaptured by the encircling forces who were temporarily resting here. Of course, they had recaptured an empty county. As for the main force of the Red Army heading into Guizhou, they had not yet received orders to continue the encirclement.

The encircling troops, who rarely had a chance to rest, naturally appeared very relaxed. After walking around the city with the firewood, He Zhengdao easily discovered that the troops stationed in the city were not just from the Hunan Army, but also from the Guangxi Army and a regiment of the Central Army.

This strange phenomenon of three armies under the same flag but with different uniforms was perhaps only normal in this era. After observing the uniforms of the troops, He Zhengdao found that the Hunan Army was still the majority. The other Guangxi and Central Army troops were mainly supporting the Hunan Army in the encirclement.

Understanding this situation, He Zhengdao sold the firewood at a very low price to a restaurant in the city. The firewood carried by the soldiers who accompanied him was also sold to the smiling restaurant owner.

Of course, perhaps seeing that He Zhengdao was a naive young man entering the city for the first time, the restaurant owner quickly told him about the nearly ten thousand troops stationed in the city when He Zhengdao asked in a seemingly foolish manner.

The most powerful force, as He Zhengdao had guessed, was the Hunan Army. The other Guangxi and Central Army troops were just one main regiment, with the rest being Hunan Army units.

After learning this, He Zhengdao quickly led several soldiers to a very hidden place in the city to change into the Hunan Army uniforms they had brought in. In an instant, he transformed from a firewood-selling ethnic minority youth into a Hunan Army soldier strolling around the city.

This time, He Zhengdao did not pretend to be a guard but instead wore a small pistol on his waist, posing as a Hunan Army lieutenant officer, sitting arrogantly at a table by the street in a restaurant.

When they were seated by the waiter, He Zhengdao carefully observed the situation in the restaurant. Indeed, many soldiers had come to drink and relax, eating and drinking heartily, and occasionally complaining about how fast the Red Army had fled.

Seeing the soldiers talking freely about the cruel killings of the Red Army during the encirclement, the guards who accompanied He Zhengdao were so angry that they almost drew their guns to shoot the Guangxi Army soldiers who had blood on their hands.

When He Zhengdao heard a Guangxi Army lieutenant boasting about his role in the encirclement, specifically responsible for handling captured Red Army prisoners and using extremely cruel methods to extract confessions, he also wanted to shoot this boastful man.

But He Zhengdao was very clear about where he was. The principle of 'small tolerance leads to great success' was not difficult for a military academy doctoral student to understand.

Although He Zhengdao had already sentenced these Guangxi Army soldiers to death in his heart for boasting about how many Red Army prisoners they had killed, he knew he had to wait for the right moment to act.

He knew that these Guangxi Army soldiers, who had a bit of money, would not report back to the camp after drinking but would seek some entertainment, such as visiting brothels, which were their favorite places to go during their rest.

After signaling the guards not to act rashly, He Zhengdao listened to the conversations at other Hunan Army tables. Seeing that the Hunan Army soldiers seemed annoyed by the Guangxi Army soldiers' laughter and table-slapping, He Zhengdao knew that a good show was about to begin.

Sure enough, after the Guangxi Army soldiers finished boasting about their achievements in the encirclement and started boasting about how much effort they had put into the campaign and how the commander-in-chief of the anti-bandit campaign should be their Li Zongren, the Hunan Army soldiers, feeling provoked, immediately slammed the table and cursed, "What are you guys talking about? If it weren't for our Hunan Army's help, you wouldn't have been able to recapture the county. You still have the nerve to boast about your Guangxi Army's strength. If your Li Commander was really capable, he wouldn't have been ordered by the Chairman to assist our Commander He."

The Guangxi Army soldiers, already a bit drunk, naturally retaliated without a second thought, "Yes, your Hunan Army is strong, but why did you still let the main force of the Red Bandits escape? I think you're all just a bunch of good-for-nothings. If it weren't for the help of our Guangxi Army and the Central Army, you wouldn't stand a chance against those vicious Red Bandits.

Let's not talk about distant things. Just take the recent Battle of the Xiang River. If it weren't for our Guangxi Army's sacrifice, how could you have achieved such a great victory? Now you Hunan Army get all the credit, and we who did the hard work don't even get a taste. Are you allowed to boast, but we're not allowed to complain?"

Seeing the drunk Guangxi Army lieutenant stand up and point at all the Hunan Army soldiers drinking on the second floor, He Zhengdao felt that the opportunity had come!

Feeling the moment was ripe, He Zhengdao, without a word, picked up a wine bottle and threw it, cursing, "Damn, who are you calling a good-for-nothing? Are you looking for a beating?"

He Zhengdao was not afraid to be more aggressive. Instead of just glaring, he chose to act first. The Guangxi Army lieutenant saw a soldier standing next to him, also trying to support him, get hit in the head by the bottle.

The splashing wine drenched the lieutenant's face. The soldier who was hit let out a groan and collapsed to the ground.

He Zhengdao had used some force when he threw the bottle, and it hit the soldier right on the temple. The soldier, who looked like he had been knocked out, would likely never wake up.

Seeing their comrade injured, the drunk and bloodthirsty Guangxi Army soldiers immediately shouted, "Damn, you bastards dare to hurt us, thinking your Hunan Army is so great! Let me tell you, I'm not afraid. Brothers, send someone back to the camp to call for help. Say the Hunan Army is bullying us. Beat these bastards up!"

Before he could finish speaking, He Zhengdao threw another bottle at the table, sending the nearly finished banquet flying to one side, startling the seemingly arrogant Guangxi Army lieutenant.

At the same time, He Zhengdao fanned the flames, "Call for help, call all your people. I'm not afraid. This is Tongdao, our Hunan Army's territory. If you dare to call for help, I'll show you why the flowers are so red. Brothers, beat these bastards to death!"

Kicking the table away, He Zhengdao led the guards who had been eager to fight the Guangxi Army soldiers. The other Hunan Army soldiers, seeing a fight, rushed over without being called.

Seeing the Hunan Army's overwhelming numbers, the Guangxi Army lieutenant blocked the stairs, ordering a still somewhat清醒的士兵赶紧跑下去回军营叫人。他自己则拔出佩带的手枪挥舞着说：“来啊！有种你们冲过来试试，看看你们是不是比老子的枪还厉害？”

然而回应他的，又是何正道飞出的一个砸在他身边的酒瓶，还有这些随行警卫连的战士飞过去的桌椅板凳。

看到这些飞过来的桌椅板凳，那个广军中尉躲避时不小心扣动了手枪的扳机，飞出的子弹不幸击毙了一个冲过来凑热闹的湘军倒霉蛋。

这一枪打死人，事情真的闹大了！但这不正是何正道最希望看到的吗？狗咬狗一嘴毛，咬得越狠何正道才越高兴啊！

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(Note: The last two sentences are placeholders for advertisements and are not part of the story. They have been included for completeness but do not need to be translated.)

When the Guangxi Army lieutenant blocked the stairs, he ordered a still somewhat清醒的士兵赶紧跑下去回军营叫人。他自己则拔出佩带的手枪挥舞着说：“来啊！有种你们冲过来试试，看看你们是不是比老子的枪还厉害？”

However, in response, another bottle thrown by He Zhengdao hit near him, and the guards also threw chairs and tables.

Seeing the chairs and tables flying towards him, the Guangxi Army lieutenant, while dodging, accidentally pulled the trigger of his pistol. The bullet unfortunately killed a Hunan Army soldier who had rushed over to join the commotion.

This shooting incident really escalated the situation! But wasn't this exactly what He Zhengdao had hoped for? The more they fought, the happier he would be!