Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 361 Food and Drink VS No Water and No Food
"The Jin-Sui Army wasn't as bad as I thought."

"Faced with a massive army attack, they were still able to fight back and forth."

Seeing the company withdraw after firing a round of mortars, Chen Chengxing expressed his approval of the Jin-Sui Army.

Although the Jin-Sui Army is currently being attacked, it's already quite good that they've managed to hold out for several hours without collapsing.

If it were the puppet troops, the defense line would probably have been breached long ago.

"After all, they survived the Japanese attacks, and there was a supervisory team watching over them," Xu Wu said.

Most of these Jin-Sui Army soldiers had experienced the War of Resistance against Japan and could be considered veterans.

They are not comparable to those provincial defense forces and security regiments.

A battle of average intensity wouldn't be enough to break them down so quickly.

"Looks like we need to increase their intensity."

"Have you thoroughly scouted the terrain of Qilishan?" Chen Chengxing asked.

If there are other options, Chen Chengxing is generally unwilling to launch a direct attack.

Of course, if he had to step up, Chen Chengxing wouldn't say another word.

"I understand now. Staff Officer Zhou made a sand table," Xu Wu said.

"Let's go take a look," Chen Chengxing said.

Upon arriving next door, Chen Chengxing immediately spotted the sand table placed in the center.

"Wei Guo, what's going on? Tell me."

"Commander, Chief of Staff."

As Zhou Weiguo spoke, he picked up a small wooden stick from the side.

"This place is Hongtu Village."

The headquarters of the Second Independent Detachment is now located in Hongtu Village, 2 kilometers away from the front line.

"The Jin-Sui Army was mainly divided into three parts: Qilishan, Tutaishan, and Yushuling, each with a part, arranged in a triangular shape."

Zhou Weiguo has already planted tree branches in these three places.

Due to the terrain, the main force of the Second Independent Detachment could only deploy on the northern slope of Qilishan Mountain.

In other locations, only a small number of troops were deployed to maintain the encirclement.

"When you led the special forces and reconnaissance platoon to conduct reconnaissance, did you find any places that could be concealed for a surprise attack?" Chen Chengxing asked.

Using flank attacks to deal with the Guo army is very effective.

If successful, Guo Jun will immediately fall into panic, and may even collapse on his own.

Over the years, they have never changed.

“A surprise attack is possible, but the Jin-Sui Army has set up observation posts on the high ground,” Zhou Weiguo explained.

The key to a surprise attack is its element of surprise; if the Jin-Sui Army sees it, it will have little effect.

Fighting a defensive battle in treacherous terrain is not as effective as a frontal assault.

"By the way, during the reconnaissance, I discovered that there is relatively little water on Qili Mountain," Zhou Weiguo suddenly said.

"The Jin-Sui Army on the Qilishan position shared a single water source."

“There is a spring on this mountain ridge, and they all get their water from here.”

Upon hearing Zhou Weiguo's words, Chen Chengxing immediately perked up; the breakthrough had appeared.

How did Jieting fall? It was simply because its water supply was cut off.

A person can go without food for several days, but not without water.

Even though it's raining right now, the Jin-Sui Army, without containers, won't be able to collect much.

"Weiguo, tonight, you will lead the guard company to outflank the main position of the Jin-Sui Army through the ravines."

"Take control of this main water source," Chen Chengxing ordered.

"yes!".
In the middle of the night, Zhou Weiguo led his guard company silently to the steep slope on the south side of the Jin-Sui Army's position.

Zhou Weiguo gestured to the assault team soldiers to carry the ropes and go first.

They needed to secure a small area for the following troops and figure out how to tie ropes so that others could climb quickly.

Without wasting words, the assault team soldiers slowly climbed up using tools.

Because of the rain, the steep slope was slippery, and the soldiers were very careful.

They weren't afraid of what would happen if they fell, but rather worried about making unnecessary noise and revealing their whereabouts.

The Jin-Sui Army was well aware of the importance of this water source, so they deployed an entire battalion of troops in the area.

Although the sentry couldn't see clearly due to the weather.

But when a blurry shadow suddenly appears a few dozen meters away, anyone would know that something is wrong.

The Jin-Sui Army sentry immediately shouted, "Someone's coming up!"

"Da da da".
The light machine gunner next to him didn't waste any words and immediately started firing.

The dozens of soldiers who had huddled together in the trench also got up and joined the battle.

The assault team members had already dropped to the ground after hearing the sentry's shout.

"Attack! Cover!"

The first six people to climb up immediately split into two groups of three.

Then, relying on two submachine guns and four semi-automatic rifles, they wiped out a platoon in the Jin-Sui Army's forward outpost, leaving them unable to raise their heads.

"How can the G Army, with only six men, have such fierce firepower?" The Jin-Sui Army platoon leader huddled in the trench, trembling all over.

His platoon of over thirty men was wiped out in less than a minute, and half of them collapsed.

The two light machine guns on the position became a matter of life and death.

Anyone who dares to hold the trigger will fall into a pool of blood within five seconds.

"Platoon leader, this is not the time to talk about this, let's retreat quickly!" a soldier shouted from the side.

Right now, it's just direct fire; if grenades are thrown over, they'll probably all be blown up.

"Withdraw! Withdraw!"

The platoon leader didn't care about anything else and immediately ran backwards along the trench.

Because of the Jin-Sui Army's voluntary withdrawal, the guard company made rapid progress.

By the time the battalion commander of the Jin-Sui Army stationed there arrived with his troops to provide support, more than a platoon of the guard company had already come up.

"Da da da".
The first few Jin-Sui soldiers who charged ahead were brought down by a few short bursts of light machine gun fire.

Looking at the positions occupied by the G army, the Jin-Sui army battalion commander angrily ordered:
"Execute those dozen or so deserters on the spot!"

If these dozen or so men can hold their ground, I can provide timely support.

At that time, we will defend ourselves while the G army attacks.

Instead of the current deadly situation.

"Company commander, spare my life!"

"Commander! It's not that we didn't try, it's just that the G Party is too good at fighting!"
The dozen or so men who had just fled kept crying and begging for mercy. But the Jin-Sui Army battalion commander remained unmoved.

Let them off the hook? Then who will forgive themselves?

"Bang!" "Bang!"
The cries and screams abruptly ceased after a series of gunshots.

The Jin-Sui Army soldiers standing nearby had various expressions.

To be fair, if they had been on the front lines before, their performance might not have been as good as these people.

This platoon only withdrew from the position after suffering more than half its casualties.

This was considered quite brave within the Jin-Sui Army.

Even so, he was still executed on the spot.

"Brothers! Our commander is waiting for news of our victory!"

"Charge!" shouted the battalion commander of the Jin-Sui Army, waving his pistol.

"Kill!"
"Da da da".
The Jin-Sui Army soldiers around them shouted and launched an attack.

However, these soldiers were clearly all bark and no bite.

The sounds of battle were deafening, but the person hadn't even gone 5 meters.

Faced with the Jin-Sui Army's half-hearted efforts, Zhou Weiguo simply ordered the light machine guns to maintain suppressive fire.

Ordinary soldiers would aim and fire.

The guard company has strong firepower, but its ammunition consumption is also staggering.

I don't know how long I'll have to stay here, so I'll try to save money wherever I can.

Even so, the Jin-Sui Army stationed at the water source did not hold out for long.

After suffering seventy or eighty casualties, the remaining soldiers retreated in disarray.

Even though the battalion commander of the Jin-Sui Army was unwilling, he couldn't say much.

He could execute a dozen or so soldiers, but he dared not execute all of them.

As for what will happen after I go back, it all depends on whether the gifts I usually give can protect me.

Upon learning that the only water source for Qilishan had been controlled, Shi Wenjun was stunned.

This is an extremely dangerous thing.

The mountain ridge where the spring is located is more than just a water source.

After occupying the mountain ridge, the G army can use its height advantage to block the connection between Qilishan and Tutaishan.

"We must reclaim the water source!" Shi Wenjun ordered.

"Order the 315th Regiment to advance towards the water source! The artillery battalion will immediately move to a new position and provide fire support at daybreak!"

Now Shi Wenjun doesn't care about the shells at all.

If they can't retake the position, the 23rd Army might be completely wiped out.

"Charge! Charge!"

"Continue the attack!"

"Boom!" "Boom!"
After arriving at their positions, the 315th Regiment of the Jin-Sui Army did not stop for a moment.

They played from night until day.

After daybreak, the 23rd Army's eight infantry guns also began firing.

However, the Jin-Sui Army's infantry artillery only began providing fire support for a short time.

Zhou Weiguo then used a portable radio he had brought to report the enemy's coordinates to the command center through detailed calculations.

Although the muddy roads forced the artillery battalions of the Second Independent Detachment to use packhorses for transport.

However, each side also brought up four mortars and a basic load of shells.

Chen Chengxing gathered 12 heavy mortars from the three detachments together to form an artillery group.

Upon receiving the coordinates, an immediate order was given to adjust the angle of the mortars.

"One test shot!" shouted the artillery battalion commander.

"put!"

"boom!"

Half a minute later, a call came in confirming that the prediction had been made.

"Two rapid-fire shots!"

"put!"

The 23rd Army's artillery battalion, hit by a shell, was hurriedly pushing its cannons away.

As a result, dozens of shells immediately rained down.

"Boom!" "Boom!"
The explosions on the artillery positions of the 23rd Army were continuous.

Not only were blood and limbs flying everywhere, but even cannons were rolling around in the mud.

"It's over! It's over!"

After seeing the horrific state of the artillery positions through his binoculars, Shi Wenjun turned pale and muttered to himself.

He had witnessed the 315th Regiment's previous attack.

Without infantry artillery to fire at close range, they relied solely on the mortar teams of the various regiments of the Jin-Sui Army.

To wipe out this group of G soldiers is not only wishful thinking, but also extremely difficult.

Those G troops moved too quickly; their firepower could be moved around the entire front.

"Commander, can we ask our superior for reinforcements? Can we ask for fire support?" the chief of staff asked from the side.

"The G army has occupied the ridge, so the mountain artillery can only hit one side but not the other," Shi Wenjun sighed.

Mountain guns and mortars have different trajectories.

Even if the mountain guns fired at a high angle, the G army could avoid the impact of the ballistic trajectory simply by changing sides.

"Pass on my order: shrink the defensive line and hold the line using natural defenses!" Shi Wenjun said through gritted teeth.

The only option for the 23rd Army now is to stall and wait for a change in circumstances.

If the 83rd Army and the Provincial Defense Army can defeat the G Army, then the 23rd Army will still have a chance.

However, Shi Wenjun clearly overestimated the resilience of the Jin-Sui Army.

The Jin-Sui Army did not carry much food with them when they set out, and they did not collect enough military rations along the way.

This has led to the current predicament of the 23rd Army, which is facing a lack of water and food.

On the muddy, rain-soaked battlefield, the G Army had food and water, but the Jin-Sui Army had neither.

The limited amount of raw potatoes and corn was not enough to feed everyone for one meal.

For this meager amount of food, some soldiers in the Jin-Sui Army even started fighting amongst themselves.

Hearing the shouts of the G army, the morale of the Jin-Sui army soldiers had plummeted to rock bottom.

(End of this chapter)