Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 358 Taiyuan must be fought for, Chongqing must be defended, reinforcements will surely arrive, and the enemy will surely be annihilated!
"Brigade Commander, we have received orders from higher command."

"At eight o'clock in the morning, the general offensive will officially begin."

Zhang Dabiao walked up to Li Yunlong and reported.

"It's starting already? No more reinforcements?" Li Yunlong asked, somewhat surprised.

He hasn't heard any news of reinforcements yet.

"It seems that the Jin-Sui Army in Chongqing has no intention of sending troops," Zhang Dabiao said.

"What a pity," Li Yunlong said.

Without reinforcements, the plan to besiege the stronghold and attack the reinforcements is out of the question.

"By the way, what's the situation with the tunnel?"

When Li Yunlong asked him a question, Zhang Dabiao perked up.

"We've dug right down to the base of the city wall."

“If we had a few more days, we could have dug up the Xixiao Command Post,” Zhang Dabiao said.

"Stop with the nonsense, carry the coffin into the tunnel and load up the explosives."

"Give the Jin-Sui Army a big one tomorrow," Li Yunlong ordered.

"yes!".
In the previous few days, although the D column troops had made slow progress, all the defensive fortifications outside Xixiao City had been destroyed.

Now, all we need to do is blow up the city walls, and the troops can rush into the city.

Even if the Jin-Sui Army grew four arms, they still wouldn't be a match for them.

As dawn broke, fierce gunfire suddenly erupted around Xixiao County.

The sudden intensification of the offensive by the D column put the soldiers of the Jin-Sui Army's Independent Eighth Brigade on high alert.

Yan Jun, however, breathed a sigh of relief.

The guillotine blade hovered above his head, and Yan Jun felt extremely distressed.

Now that the guillotine has fallen, although I know I definitely can't win, at least I'm no longer anxious.

"Tell everyone that no one is allowed to back down without my order."

"If anyone dares to retreat even half a step, they will be court-martialed!" Yan Jun issued a death order.

Although we are definitely no match for them, we cannot surrender directly.

Fight the G army first, and if that doesn't work, then break through the gap.

"Yes!" Meng Wei immediately went out, ready to personally take the lead at the front line.

However, just as he stepped out of the command post, he heard a deafening explosion.

"boom!!"

The people in the command post stared wide-eyed at the distant city wall.

The city wall collapsed.

"What's going on? It's only been less than ten minutes!" Yan Jun almost vomited blood.

He was preparing to fight to the death using the city walls as cover, but the city walls just broke through?

The more than 2,500 soldiers of the Independent Eighth Brigade of the Jin-Sui Army were now completely dumbfounded.

Although less than 30 meters of the city wall collapsed, once the breach was created, the remaining sections of the wall were rendered useless.

When the assault company rushed into the city through the breach, the soldiers of the Jin-Sui Army had no time to react.

Li Yunlong captured the city with zero casualties.

Despite realizing the gravity of the situation, he led his guard platoon to the front line, hoping to push the G army out of the city.

But when Li Yunlong ran to the front line and unleashed his sword, the troops immediately charged in with roars.

Faced with the independent brigade that immediately launched a bayonet charge, the Jin-Sui Army collapsed completely in less than 5 minutes.

A week later, all towns and villages surrounding Chongqing had been recovered.

The main force began to encircle Yu.

In western Chongqing, Chen Chengxing looked at the continuous heavy rain outside and felt a headache coming on.

"This battle won't be easy."

The city wall of Yu is ten meters high, and the Jin-Sui Army also set up stone bunkers at each corner of the city.

A bunker was also built outside the corner of the city, and several auxiliary bunkers were built outside each of the bunkers.

Finally, with the addition of landmines, Yu became a hedgehog covered in thorns.

Normally, Chen Chengxing wouldn't be worried.

At worst, we can just go all out and use up all the cannon shells to break through the Jin-Sui Army's defenses.

But now, it's been raining heavily outside for several days.

Not to mention cannons, even the 120mm mortars of the various detachments of the Second Independent Detachment are still rolling in the mud.

They would have been in even worse shape if it weren't for the local armed forces and the local people spontaneously organizing to support the front lines.

Because of the heavy rain, the battle has been going on for two days, but the various columns have not made much progress.

"The rain will stop sooner or later, and now it's a good opportunity to give the Jin-Sui Army in Chongqing some hope."

"Who knows, this siege and reinforcement operation might succeed," Xu Wu said from the side.

If we can take out the Chongqing reinforcements, things should be much easier now.

However, no one expected that Shi Anguo could remain so calm.

Shi Anguo, who was being discussed, did not remain calm as Chen Chengxing had expected.

"Even with such heavy rain, the G army's offensive continues."

"Do they really think they're made of iron?"

Hearing the incessant gunfire outside, Shi Anguo became restless.

The more the G army behaved this way, the more it demonstrated their resolve. "Commander, why don't we send someone to talk to the G army outside?" a staff officer suggested.

"Bullshit!" Shi Anguo slammed his hand on the table.

"Guards! Take him out and court-martial him!"

Morale in Chongqing has been somewhat low these past two days.

I can borrow your head for a while.

"General, spare me! General, spare me, General!"
Several guards rushed in from outside, completely ignoring the staff officer's pleas for mercy.

After dragging him to an open space outside, I shot him directly.

The pleas for mercy immediately ceased.

The sound of the gunshot made everyone in the command post tense.

"I'm telling you, anyone who suggests surrendering or undermines morale will be executed on the spot!"

With gunshots ringing out, nobody thinks this is a joke anymore.

"Rest assured, Commander, we swear to live and die with Chongqing!"

Everyone expressed their determination.

“Very good.” Shi Anguo nodded.

"However, you don't need to worry too much."

"Given Chongqing's defensive capabilities, as long as our army can effectively utilize its firepower advantage, the G army will not be able to break in."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Although they were going to live and die with Yu, it was better to live together if possible.

After the meeting, Shi Anguo's expression was not so good.

"Brother Wenjie, I'm afraid Chongqing will be difficult to defend this time," Shi Anguo sighed.

Don't be fooled by the fact that the G army's offensive hasn't been very fierce these past two days; that's because of the weather.

This rain can't last forever. Once the weather clears up, Chongqing probably won't be able to hold out for long.

With his subordinates no longer present, Wei Wenjie didn't stand on ceremony. He nodded and said:

“I saw it from the city wall. The G army has mobilized at least 60,000 to 70,000 troops to encircle us from three sides this time.”

"Although the G army's firepower is slightly weaker, none of them are afraid of dying."

"Some bunkers were destroyed by a small cannon that could fire a hundred meters or so."

"But some bunkers were destroyed by G army soldiers carrying explosives."

Of course, there were soldiers in the Jin-Sui Army who dared to use their bodies to explode, but not all of them were like those in the G Army.

"Commander, I think we must ask Commander Yan for help," Wei Wenjie said solemnly.

Upon hearing Wei Wenjie's suggestion, Shi Anguo thought for a moment and nodded.

"Send a telegram!"

"Sir, the 19th Army has sent a telegram," Yang Xingru reported.

"Yu has run out of ammunition and food. Commander Shi requests immediate reinforcements."

"How could Chongqing fall so quickly?!" Yan Xishan's face was extremely grim.

Although the Jin-Sui Army absorbed a large number of puppet troops and its strength expanded rapidly, its combat effectiveness had not yet been formally formed.

His original plan was to delay the process for two or three months, allowing the troops to complete their basic training.

Then request troops from the First War Zone to jointly attack Taiyuan.

Now, just over a month later, their stronghold is about to be taken down.

"According to Commander Shi, the G Army mobilized 50,000 to 60,000 troops and completely surrounded Chongqing."

"Moreover, with the Japanese weapons captured in Taiyuan as an aid, the 19th Army's defensive fortifications would be difficult to withstand," Yang Xingru said.

In Shi Anguo's telegram, the 19th Army was in dire straits.

Two divisions plus a security regiment, totaling 13,000 men, were pinned down by the G army's artillery fire and unable to raise their heads.

"No matter what, Chongqing cannot be lost," Yan Xishan said resolutely.

"Xingru, send a telegram to the 19th Army and tell Anguo that I will send reinforcements as soon as possible!"

"Make sure he holds the line, and then coordinates with the reinforcements to launch a major offensive!"

Yan Xishan was well aware of the principle that prolonged defense inevitably leads to defeat.

To annihilate the G army, we need a coordinated attack from both inside and outside, using offense as a form of defense.

"yes!".
Upon receiving the telegram, Shi Anguo was overjoyed.

"Wenjie, that's great!"

"Taiyuan must be fought for, Chongqing must be defended, reinforcements will surely arrive, and the enemy will be annihilated!"

"With Commander Yan's words, I feel more at ease."

These past two days, Shi Anguo has been so worried about the G army outside the city that he's losing clumps of hair.

Now we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

"Commander, a pincer attack from both inside and outside, with the attack radiating outwards from the center—that's the Japanese army's tactic," Wei Wenjie said with a smile.

“Commander Yan studied in Japan and fought against the Japanese army for so many years, he must have learned the essence of their methods!” Shi Anguo said.

"Wenjie, immediately tell the brothers that Commander Yan has sent reinforcements, and boost their morale!"

"I'll go right away!" Wei Wenjie nodded.

Knowing that reinforcements would arrive soon, the morale of the defending troops in Chongqing was greatly boosted.

They even dared to launch a counter-offensive amidst a hail of bullets.

(End of this chapter)