The shooting from the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army Air Force relied on a transmission mechanism to control two rifles fixed on both sides of the aircraft wings. "Bang bang bang bang!" After a few gunshots, several holes appeared on the Beiyang Army's observation balloon. The pilot wanted to fire a few more shots but did not continue to pull the trigger. Releasing his hand from the firing controller, the pilot pulled the aerial photography control lever a few times over the long train queue of the Beiyang forces. Only then did he turn the nose of the plane and fly towards the improvised airfield. In the air, accompanied by a series of screams, the Beiyang Army's observation balloon slowly began to descend.

The smoke on the improvised airfield had not yet completely dispersed. The nose of a plane that had crashed due to a malfunction during landing was still smoking. Comrades around it were desperately throwing sand and loess onto the burning nose, trying to extinguish the fire. Seeing a new plane returning, the ground crew said nothing and threw ropes over the crashed plane. With a shout from twenty people, they dragged the plane away to clear the runway.

This was not the first time a plane crash had been witnessed. The pilot excluded all distracting thoughts from his mind and concentrated on maneuvering the plane to land. As the creator of the Air Force, Chen Ke had long predicted that most accidents would happen during takeoff and landing. Facts had proven that Chen Ke's prediction was not wrong. Therefore, every pilot had the experience of reciting various operating procedures countless times. They also had to train the mentality of remaining fearless in the face of danger at any time.

The plane landed safely under the worried gaze of the ground crew. When the plane came to a steady stop, the pilot had already unfastened his seat belt and jumped out of the plane. He asked the ground crew rushing over, "Are there any casualties?"

"Heaven bless us, one of the landing gear struts broke during landing, but the pilot is fine," the ground crew replied thankfully.

The pilot let out a long sigh of relief.

The pilot of the crashed plane sat dejectedly in a temporary hangar made of a straw shed. With a look of annoyance, he and two equally annoyed and ashamed maintenance mechanics sat in front of the safety officer to answer questions. This was also the rule of the People's Party; any practical experience needed to be accumulated.

Soon, another pilot also flew back. After getting off the plane, he found the pilot who had landed safely just now. "Captain Liu, why didn't you fire a few more shots at the Beiyang balloon?"

Captain Liu shook his head, "We are all flying in the sky. If we were shooting at each other, then life and death are up to fate. But I really can't bring myself to just make them fall to their deaths when it's so one-sided. The Beiyang side only has those two balloons. How did you deal with their other one?"

The pilot who landed later laughed: "I was originally afraid people would say I was soft on the enemy. Seeing that you didn't strike a deadly blow, I just fired a few shots to let them go down and be done with it. Fighting a war is one thing, a massacre is another. You aren't afraid of being scolded, so at most I'll get scolded together with you."

At this time, the ground crew had already unloaded the camera, and intelligence personnel ran over to ask the two pilots to go back and draw out the observation situation.

Captain Liu said while drawing: "The Beiyang forces are currently divided into three parts. One part is in the north attempting to break out, one part is defending in the south, and another part is guarding the train. It seems I also saw people digging pits on the ground, but it didn't look like they were digging trenches."

The pencil rustled as it marked 'X's on the terrain sketch, quickly marking out the Beiyang Army's layout.

These sketches were sent to the division headquarters by messengers on horseback. The Staff Department of the division headquarters compared and cross-referenced the markings drawn by different pilots, roughly deducing the enemy's troop distribution.

Regarding the Beiyang Army's troop distribution, the Staff Department's evaluation was, "Purely seeking death."

"If they wanted to defend, they should have formed a circular formation. Splitting into three pieces like this, isn't that just letting us defeat them one by one?"

"There's no echelon formation at all, they just know to defend the train to the death. At the very least, they should have set up a formation with the artillery position as the core. That would at least allow the artillery to support the defensive battle as much as possible."

"You can't say that either. If we start directly from the south, and the Beiyang Army's southern group retreats north, this defensive formation would be formed."

"Retreating back? At least dig a few trenches. Retreating on this flat ground would be like herding sheep. If they gather in a pile, a few bombings from the planes and they'll panic."

"Aren't they also digging pits?"

"That's not digging trenches. News came yesterday. The Beiyang forces are digging wells."

"Maybe they are burying landmines?"

"Does the Beiyang Army have the concept of using minefields to cover flanks?"

The combat experience of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was far from sufficient, but this young army had at least inherited the tactical system of the PLA. The young staff officers completely looked down on the Beiyang Army's military deployment. The attitude of mockery was extremely obvious.

Just then, Kang Wenzheng entered the Staff Department. As soon as he entered the door, he asked, "Do the comrades have any views?"

The sketch was immediately pasted onto the blackboard. "Go straight from here to the Beiyang Army's train stop, occupy this high ground first, set up machine gun and artillery positions, and we can completely control the situation."

The People's Party's tactical routine was very clear. In plain areas, control the high ground, suppress the enemy's firepower points, and then destroy the enemy's key points one by one. These needed no discussion.

"The comrades from the Air Force unit said that no special troop force could be seen on the high ground of the Beiyang Army at present. It is very likely there are no machine gun positions." A staff officer said while shaking his head slightly. 'If three walk together, one can be my teacher'; as a teacher of wrong experience, the Beiyang Army was indeed competent enough.

Kang Wenzheng looked at the map for a while and nodded, "Compile the attack plan according to this line of thought."

"Should we wait for the aerial photos to be sent over?" A staff officer reminded Kang Wenzheng.

Kang Wenzheng replied: "It will be too late when the aerial photos are sent. Let's deploy according to the topographic map first. The longer we wait, the greater the changes in the enemy."

Half an hour was used to modify various battle plans. By the time the modifications were finished, the aerial photos had also been delivered. The pilots' memories were excellent; the sketches were almost identical to the actual situation. Another half hour passed, and the troops, who had been on first-level combat readiness, began to move out according to the plan.

"One Point, Two Faces" did not need to be explained to the troops at all. When attacking the enemy, concentrate strength to break through one point, and after succeeding, rapidly expand the results. Frontal attack combined with side flanking, encirclement, segmentation, and interspersion. With the photos, the key points of attack were completely determined.

The reconnaissance cavalry had fought bloody battles these past few days, completely excluding the Beiyang reconnaissance teams from the hidden areas of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. Even various hidden march routes had been determined. 'Plain area' was just a general term; there were also undulating terrains. Relying on the maximum concealment effect provided by camouflage uniforms, the infantry moved to the departure positions in company units.

"As the sharp knife company, our company must get as close to the enemy as possible." The commander of the 1st Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Regiment spoke in a low voice to the platoon leaders and squad leaders. He pointed his finger at a place on the photo, "Follow me later to implement the movement before the enemy, move to here."

The platoon and squad leaders were all dumbfounded. Everyone had observed the enemy situation extremely covertly just now. That position was no more than 300 meters away from the Beiyang Army in a straight line. Moving to that place, a single charge would allow them to rush into the large group of Beiyang troops.

"Company Commander, this place requires passing through two gaps. The Beiyang Army might see us." The 3rd Platoon Leader said.

The Company Commander said in a low voice: "We have to crawl through these two gaps. Later, the Deputy Company Commander will command the troops to follow up. I will take the reconnaissance squad to explore the path first. If we are discovered, we will start the charge immediately. If we are not discovered, pass through successively in order. The 1st Platoon crosses last."

Although the voice was low, the Company Commander's attitude left no room for misunderstanding.

"Why not let us, the 1st Platoon, go first?" The 1st Platoon Leader was very unhappy. Generally speaking, in various units, those who could be ranked "First" were the most capable fighting units. They should reasonably be at the very front.

"In case we are discovered by the enemy when passing through these two gaps, the 1st Platoon must immediately launch a charge. You want to not be the sharp knife platoon, but you can't avoid it." The Company Commander laughed in a low voice.

Hearing this explanation, the 1st Platoon Leader immediately became spirited, "Don't worry, our 1st Platoon will absolutely not be vague."

After the work was arranged, as the main attack team, under the leadership of the Company Commander, the company began to advance, bowing their waists and crawling. No matter how generous and heroic they were beforehand, when really groping towards the enemy, the comrades still felt their hearts beating like little drums. The troops advanced in turn by platoon. Watching the Company Commander and the comrades of the reconnaissance squad advancing quickly with vigorous movements at the very front, the comrades following behind felt considerable admiration in their hearts.

The Company Commander took the lead, the Political Instructor was in the middle responsible for command, and the Deputy Company Commander brought up the rear. Except for the platoon leaders repeatedly explaining in a low voice to the squad leaders and deputy squad leaders, "Don't let the comrades hold their guns vertically, hold them flat," all other actions were the rear troops learning from the front troops.

Especially at the two gaps, first the comrades of the two reconnaissance squads crawled past on their stomachs, followed by the Company Commander. This time the platoon leaders' exhortations changed to, "Don't stick your butt up, stick to the ground. Don't look at others, concentrate on feeling if your body is completely sticking to the ground."

In the entire company of more than two hundred people, few actually spoke during the movement. The actual power of commanding the soldiers was assumed by the various squad and platoon leaders. The Company Commander, Deputy Company Commander, and Political Instructor set an example at the very front, or observed quietly. The entire unit quietly approached the Beiyang Army's line.

Quietly groping to a place less than 300 meters from the Beiyang Army, there was a depression. The soldiers hid behind a steep slope more than a meter high. As long as they climbed this steep slope, the sharp knife company could face the formation of the Beiyang Army's central group from a commanding height. The sharp knife company was so close to the Beiyang Army that even the voices of people speaking in the Beiyang Army ranks could be heard.

Looking back, apart from seeing the few liaison officers at the very front of the follow-up troops, the comrades of other units could not be seen at all. Although knowing that the comrades behind would absolutely not be hiding, the Sharp Knife Company Commander still felt a bit crept out in his heart. The comrades concealed themselves perhaps a bit *too* well.

The Company Commander lowered his voice and said: "Saying it one last time, once we rush out, we must hit hard, rush hard, and chase hard. Standing there motionless is just letting the Beiyang Army use you as a target. Follow the original plan."

The comrades who heard this began to whisper the original words to the comrades next to them without error. This was also one of the 'message passing games' during the People's Party's training. Passing messages amidst drum sounds of different intensities to see which company could pass the words to the end without error. After training many times, the troops were already very proficient at this.

Seeing the last few soldiers make the hand gesture for having received the order, the Company Commander waved his arm violently at the 1st Platoon Leader. The Deputy Company Commander had already entered the 1st Platoon. He and the engineers had already used entrenching shovels to shovel out a few footholds on the slope, and simple ladders had also been set up. The 1st Platoon Leader took the 1st Squad and started to move upwards.

The sharp knife company didn't need to keep any reserve team at all. The Deputy Company Commander followed the 1st Platoon, the Deputy Political Instructor followed the 2nd Platoon, the Company Commander followed the 3rd Platoon, and the Political Instructor followed the 4th Platoon. After rushing out, it was just hard rushing and hard fighting.

The Company Commander's heart beat faster, but the subsequent luck surprised even him. After the 1st Platoon went up the slope, the Beiyang Army simply did not discover them. The entire company went up the earthen slope in order one after another. Looking down from this commanding height, they saw the Beiyang troops gathered in several clusters, standing or sitting. But they had no defense whatsoever. The Company Commander had sharp eyes; he even saw Beiyang soldiers secretly playing dice there.

"Fire! Comrades, shoot!" After there was no possibility of approaching with any more concealment, the Company Commander no longer lowered his voice. His thunderous roar rang out on the earthen slope.

The comrades of the sharp knife company began to shoot violently. More than two hundred five-shot Hanyang-made rifles fired a thousand bullets into the Beiyang Army in a moment. The baffled Beiyang troops were knocked down in swathes.

"Bugler, blow the horn!" While the comrades were changing clips, the Company Commander stood up and roared. Almost simultaneously, the "di di da da" sound of the military bugle rang out.