Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 366 Adding Dishes
"Commander, something's wrong! We can't get in touch with the other divisions!" Song Yan reported back with a mournful face.

"Can't get in touch? Why can't we get in touch? Is the radio broken?" Liu Zhenming didn't understand.

This has never happened before; they're using American products.

"It's not bad. The 124th and 125th Regiments have made contact, but they were blocked by the G Army and cannot provide support in a short time."

"As for the other divisions, there has been no response."

Song Yan said he didn't know the reason either.

The telegraph operator's fingers were practically sparking from pressing the trigger, but none of the other divisions responded.

Song Yan and Liu Zhenming had no idea at that moment.

The reason they couldn't contact other divisions was because the journey had been too peaceful, and the telegraph operators had gone to sleep.

In fact, before the attack, the telegraph operator of the 31st Division had also forgotten about the duty roster.

After contacting other divisions and finding out there were no problems, I turned off my phone and went to sleep early.

The 124th and 125th Regiments were able to make contact simply because they heard the sound of artillery fire.

"Did you send out a communications soldier to break through and request reinforcements?" Liu Zhenming asked.

“There are G Army cavalry patrolling the perimeter,” Song Yan said dejectedly.

After realizing he couldn't contact other divisions, he immediately dispatched all the division's communications soldiers.

However, the communications soldier, who had finally managed to escape the blockade on horseback, was charged up and killed by the G army's cavalry.

Knowing that the 31st Division had become isolated, Liu Zhenming could no longer sit still.

The G army's lines pushed ever forward, and the weak defenses of Dali Town simply couldn't hold out for long.

After thinking it over, Liu Zhenming decided to take the risk.

"Order the troops to concentrate their firepower and prepare to break out towards Tongcheng!"

The 31st Division is more than 10 kilometers away from Tongcheng. If they could just go halfway, the 167th Division should be able to detect the anomaly.

"Yes!"

Chen Chengxing, who was in the temporary command post, suddenly put down the battle report and stood up.

"Is something wrong?" Luo Ping, who was standing nearby, quickly picked up the battle report from the table.

"It's not a battle report, but rather a change in the battle situation."

Chen Chengxing walked to the observation post and picked up the binoculars.

"The 31st Division's firepower has changed; the artillery fire has stopped."

Every gun and cannon has a different sound.

"Is the gun barrel overheating? Is it because they stopped firing to prevent accidents?" Luo Ping asked.

"Impossible. The Central Army's artillerymen are not novices; they wouldn't make such a mistake."

"Moreover, the 31st Division's artillery didn't have a fast rate of fire just now," Chen Chengxing said.

"You mean the 31st Division is going to run away?" Chu Yunfei was the first to realize.

"No wonder he's a top student from Whampoa Military Academy." Chen Chengxing nodded.

"Listen, besides the artillery fire that has stopped, the heavy machine gun fire of the 31st Division has also begun to decrease."

Upon hearing Chen Chengxing's explanation, everyone listened attentively and immediately understood.

In the 31st Division's positions, except for the northwest corner, the heavy machine guns in other directions gradually fell silent.

No matter how fast the mortars of the Second Independent Detachment reacted or how accurate their shots were, they were still effective.

It's impossible to eliminate all of the enemy's heavy machine gun positions so quickly.

"It seems the 31st Division intends to break through towards Tongcheng," Chu Yunfei said.

"That's probably true." Chen Chengxing approached the map.

"Should we adjust the layout?" Xu Wu asked.

“No need, I’d love for them to leave the position on their own,” Chen Chengxing said.

The Second Independent Detachment's iron legs are unmatched in the world; even though this area isn't mountainous, they can easily outrun the Guo army.

"Tell Sun Desheng to lead his cavalry regiment to set up a blocking line in the Xili Village area to cut off the enemy's breakout route."

"Also, send another order to the 207th Regiment: if the enemy's 124th Regiment moves westward, do not stop them, just follow and pursue them."

If the 124th Regiment of the 31st Division chooses to join the main force, it will be a perfect opportunity to take them all down at once.

By the time the 31st Division realized something was wrong, the cavalry regiment and the 207th Regiment had probably already formed a cross-blockade.

With the support of four pursuing regiments, the enemy had no chance of escape.

The only thing that Chen Chengxing was concerned about now was whether the 167th Division in Tongcheng would send reinforcements.

If we send reinforcements, some of the 31st Division might escape.

Xu Wu immediately picked up the phone.
A dozen minutes later, a fierce barrage of fire suddenly erupted in the northwest corner of Dali Town.

The attacks by the regiments of the Second Independent Detachment mainly targeted the city gates.

The northwest corner is the junction of the 201st and 203rd Regiments, and there are not many people there.

Therefore, the 31st Division's breakout was very successful.

Liu Zhenming was overjoyed to have broken through the encirclement.

"Quick! Quick!"

"Ignore the G troops on both flanks and get out of here as quickly as possible!" Liu Zhenming shouted.

Faced with the fleeing Nationalist troops in disarray, the 201st and 203rd Regiments did not attempt to complete the blockade with all their might.

Instead, they allowed the main force of the Nationalist army to withdraw before blocking their retreat route.

Of course, the firepower from both sides did not cease.

Liu Zhenming didn't pay much attention to the G army's firepower.

As long as the main force can escape, it doesn't matter if a thousand or eight hundred people die; they can be replaced in a short time.

However, Liu Zhenming's good mood only lasted for an hour before coming to an abrupt end.

Seeing the sudden burst of heavy machine gun fire, Liu Zhenming's face turned almost purple.

The Tongpu Railway line stretches for dozens of miles along plains, and Xili Village is not the only place I can reach.

But the G army just happened to appear here.

What does this mean?
The opposing commander's skill level is likely to be overwhelmingly superior to mine.

"Where is the 124th Regiment?" Liu Zhenming turned his head and asked immediately.

"We'll arrive in about a kilometer," Song Yan reported.

"Make them stop advancing, and we'll go find them and rendezvous." Liu Zhenming didn't want to get entangled with the G Army, so he decided to change direction.

"Yes!"

"Hehe. The detachment commander was right after all." Sun Desheng laughed as he watched the Guo army moving north.

After putting down the binoculars, Sun Desheng turned his head and asked, "Is the telephone line set up?"

"All set up, and both observation posts are concealed," the staff officer reported.

"Alright, we only have two Type 92 heavy machine guns with tracer rounds, so you all need to listen carefully."

"If the Guo army wanted to escape quietly under the cover of night, they would rely entirely on them to guide the ballistic trajectory," Sun Desheng said.

"Don't worry, Commander. We'll be with the machine gun team from now on. We'll make sure everything goes smoothly," the two operations staff officers said.

"Alright, everyone get ready," Sun Desheng ordered.

While Sun Desheng was busy directing the heavy machine guns to relocate, Liu Zhenming had already joined up with the 124th Regiment.

But the news from the 124th Regiment made his face turn black.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner that the G army had seized Yaotou Village and Beixing Village ahead of time?!"

Liu Zhenming glared angrily at the commander of the 124th Regiment.

Liu Zhenming has now realized that something terrible is going to happen.

The G army has already seized several villages in the northwest.

If the 31st Division wanted to break through, it either had to turn around and change direction, or it had to force its way through.

However, the main force of the G army is now chasing behind, and turning around would mean falling directly into the arms of the G army.

At this point, the only option facing the 31st Division was to force their way through.

However, there are strategies to break in.

"Pass on my order: no one is to make a sound from now on. The drivers of the supply train must also keep their horses under control and not attract the attention of the G army."

"We'll cross through the farmland between the two Communist forces," Liu Zhenming ordered.

This was the best solution Liu Zhenming could think of.

Normally, he wouldn't be afraid of such a small force of G soldiers; he would just fight them head-on.

However, with the main force of the G army about to arrive, the 31st Division simply did not have time to engage the blocking forces.

If they go through the farmland, the G army will definitely try to stop them, but the obstacles should be relatively small.

As long as he can get through this blockade, he won't be afraid of the G army continuing to pursue and kill him.

If G Army can hold them off, he can naturally also leave behind a blocking force.

"yes!".
A few minutes later, it was confirmed that the command had been transmitted to the individual.

With a wave of his hand, Liu Zhenming divided the more than 7,000 men of the 31st Division into several waves, forming a column to pass through the middle.

He had just sent out scouts, and there were no G Army positions in the farmland.

However, out of sight of the KMT soldiers, someone was already quietly reporting their location.

The operations staff officer, who had been holding the phone to his ear in the trench, suddenly perked up.

"Positions 15 and 23!" the operations staff shouted.

At the same time, another operations staff officer holding a phone also shouted out the same location.

Upon hearing the location, the machine gunners, who were already prepared, immediately began firing.

"Da da da".
In the darkness, tracer bullets left streaks of light.

Immediately afterwards, the other machine gun teams, which had only been allocated a few tracer rounds, also began firing from their designated positions.

Faced with the barrage of several heavy machine guns, the Kuomintang soldiers advancing in the dark were instantly killed or wounded in large numbers.

"Damn it! What's going on?" Liu Zhenming was bewildered when he saw that the troops' breakout attempt was blocked.

Before Liu Zhenming could figure out what was going on, machine guns from the 207th Regiment in Yaotou Village opened fire.

The 207th Regiment didn't know what the cavalry regiment meant, but since their firepower was relentless, the 207th Regiment had to lend a hand.

Facing heavy machine gun fire from both sides, the KMT soldiers were truly doomed.

They had no choice but to lie on the ground and pray to God for protection.

"Retreat! Retreat!" Liu Zhenming, seeing the dense barrage of bullets on both sides, immediately gave the order to retreat.

If we don't evacuate, the next thing we'll see is artillery fire.

Without figuring out how the G army located their position, the 31st Division would have no chance of successfully crossing the farmland in front of them.

As if things weren't going to go wrong, just as the vanguard troops had retreated in disarray, Song Yan told him even worse news.

"Commander, the main force of the G Army has caught up!"

"Damn it! Send the order! Construct a defensive position and prepare for a counterattack!" Liu Zhenming commanded.

The 31st Division is now stuck in this plain area, which is about 1.5 kilometers long and wide, and has no natural defenses.

There is no other way but to fight to the death.

"yes!".
Half an hour later, the Second Independent Detachment completed its encirclement.

"Not bad, not bad. Two infantry regiments plus the divisional troops are enough for us to have a meal."

Chen Chengxing looked at the 31st Division, which was now trapped again, and laughed.

"Pass on my order: launch a general offensive!"

Since the Guo army has no defensible terrain, there's no need to waste time with them.

Upon receiving the order, the heavy mortars of each squad were the first to launch the attack.

"Boom!" "Boom!"
"Comrades! Follow me!"

"Kill!"
Faced with the combined attack of six regiments, the 31st Division was simply powerless to resist.

In just one hour, the soldiers of the Second Independent Detachment charged into the enemy lines.

Once the hand-to-hand combat began, the Guo army was no match for them.

The Second Independent Detachment had been playing with knives with the Japanese for eight years, and the intensity of their training was unimaginable to the Kuomintang army.

The soldiers of the Second Independent Detachment formed small teams and fought their way through the Guo army's formation.

Several tens of minutes later, the two regiments of the 31st Division, along with its directly subordinate units, were completely annihilated, and more than half of the soldiers were taken prisoner.

In the end, only a few high-ranking officers, such as Liu Zhenming and Song Yan, managed to slip away quietly under the cover of darkness.

However, Liu Zhenming did not fare well after returning to Xi'an; he was immediately sent to a military court.

(End of this chapter)