Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 367 Give Me a Fierce Invasion into the Heart of the G Army

On the battlefield, the soldiers cleaning up were working enthusiastically.

"Team leader, we've really struck it rich this time."

Upon seeing Chen Chengxing and the others arrive at the scene, Xu Wu immediately walked over.

"Don't be fooled by the fact that only about 6,000 people were killed; they had more equipment than the 19th Army of the Jin-Sui Army before."

"The Central Army is incredibly wealthy," Xu Wu remarked.

He couldn't understand how, with such superior equipment, they managed to achieve such poor results during the War of Resistance against Japan.

"Back when we were fighting the Japanese, what was that song lyric again?"

"We had no guns or cannons, but the enemy made them for us."

"Looking back now, this phrase is still applicable. Whatever we lack, the Central Army will send us."

Chen Chengxing had a big smile on his face.

With this batch of weapons, the Second Independent Detachment could not only replenish its machine guns and mortars, but also replace the Hanyang rifles with new ones.

Imagine a fleet of Type 38 rifles and Type 24 rifles – just thinking about it is impressive.

"Xu Wu, let the political commissar take charge of cleaning up the battlefield."

"Take the 21st detachment and the 207th Regiment to Daxinzhuang to encircle the 125th Regiment."

"Since we're all from the same division, we need to be perfectly aligned."

Chen Chengxing decided to press his advantage.

Although it was unclear why the other units of the Central Army remained unmoved, this did not prevent the Second Independent Detachment from taking advantage of the situation.

"Yes!"

Xu Wu immediately ordered the troops to drop off their supplies and set off urgently.

By early the next morning, the 125th Regiment had been completely surrounded.

The 167th Division, located in Tongcheng, only then learned of the attack on the 31st Division.

"The 31st Division has been attacked? What's the situation now?" Tian Wentao asked.

He and Liu Zhenming, the commander of the 31st Division, were contemporaries and had a fairly good relationship.

Yu Jun, the chief of staff of the 167th Division, shook his head.

"It's still unclear. We haven't been able to contact the 31st Division headquarters. We only know that fighting has occurred in the Dali Town area."

Upon learning of the fighting that had broken out at the 31st Division, he immediately ordered contact to be made with the 31st Division, but there was no response.

I want to contact the groups below, but I don't know how.

If they absolutely must contact each other, it would be impossible unless both parties send messages in plain text.

"Send a regiment to provide support and check the situation," Tian Wentao ordered.

The situation on the battlefield is unclear, so he dares not make any moves rashly.

Sending a regiment is already a concession given that we're all from the same period.

"yes!".
However, the reinforcements from the 167th Division had barely set out when they ran into the 22nd detachment of the Independent Second Detachment.

"After waiting for ages, they actually came."

Sun Xun put down the binoculars, turned his head and gave the order:
"Ready to fight!"

This isn't a mountainous area, so we can't launch an ambush here; we can only fight a defensive battle.

However, a defensive battle doesn't mean you can't eat meat.

Hou Zhenchen, the commander of the 421st Regiment of the 167th Division, looked at the G Army's position in front of him without much worry.

"What did the commander say?" Hou Zhenchen asked.

With the firepower at his disposal, a mere few thousand G soldiers are no match for him.

"The division commander just replied, instructing us to break through the G Army's blockade and provide support to the 31st Division as soon as possible," Chief of Staff Song Feng reported.

Since there was resistance, it meant that the 31st Division was still under siege and there was still a need for rescue.

"I understand." Hou Zhenchen picked up the binoculars again.

A few minutes later, Hou Zhenchen ordered: "Let the First Battalion launch a frontal assault, with the regimental mortars providing support."

"yes!".
The regimental mortar company of the 421st Regiment of the Kuomintang Army had a total of 8 82mm mortars.
With the command flag raised, they began to bombard the obvious fortifications on the 22nd detachment's position.

"Boom!" "Boom!"
Seeing the fortifications on the G army's position crumble and collapse, the battalion commander of the Guo army shouted:
"Brothers! Charge!"

"Machine gun platoon fire cover!"

According to the plan, the First Battalion was required to break through the G Army's frontal defenses.

"Da da da".
"kill!".
When the elite of the Kuomintang army could take the lead, the Kuomintang army was not so weak.

The Guo army's attack was extremely sharp.

Under the cover of mortars and heavy machine guns, they broke into the front line in just half an hour.

"Heh. The G army is nothing special."

Hou Zhenchen looked at the troops charging onto the position and shook his head dismissively.

"I don't know how the Jin-Sui Army was defeated so badly before."

"Pass on my order: the Second and Third Battalions shall immediately launch an attack, tear open the gaps in the G Army's position, and advance to the left and right."

"The First Battalion continues to penetrate deeper into the enemy's rear positions, and then the entire army will encircle the enemy!"

At this moment, Hou Zhenchen was in high spirits and planned to devour the G army in front of him.

"Yes!" Song Feng was also very excited at this moment.

"Squad leader, our main defensive line has been breached!"
"Report! The enemy is advancing deep into our territory, and their main force is also closing in!"
"Report! The enemy has breached the second line of defense!"
Listening to the constant reports from the operations staff, Sun Xun looked at the map and finally nodded.

"We're finally in."

"Send the order to the 204th Regiment: retake the front-line positions and make dumplings!"

In the plains, where the Guo army outnumbered the enemy, if they wanted to get meat, they had to set traps.

Otherwise, if Guo Jun senses something is wrong and runs away, it won't be so easy to catch him.

Upon receiving the order, the 204th Regiment immediately demonstrated its true combat power.

Faced with the attack of the 204th Regiment, the two battalions of the Kuomintang army were no match at all.

The territory they had initially gained was continuously lost.

Hou Zhenchen, who was behind him, saw this scene and his expression changed drastically. He slapped his thigh hard.

"Damn it! We've been tricked!" "Fire the signal flare and order the 1st Battalion to abandon the attack and retreat immediately!"

"Second and Third Battalions, buy time to help the First Battalion withdraw from the position, and the mortar company will provide fire support!"

Hou Zhenchen had previously thought the Eighth Route Army was easily defeated, but now he realized that they were luring the enemy deep into their territory.

As several signal flares soared into the sky, the Nationalist army's First Battalion, which was rampaging through the area, realized something was wrong.

"Retreat! Retreat immediately!" shouted the battalion commander of the Guo army.

Although he didn't know what was going on, the emergency evacuation signal was no joke.

However, it was too late to retreat at this point.

The net for the 22nd team has been laid.

"Damn it! The G army is too cunning!" Hou Zhenchen's face darkened.

Intense fighting has been raging in the direction of the First Battalion for more than ten minutes, but there is no sign of the battlefield shifting back.

The first battalion is probably surrounded.

"Commander, we can't wait any longer. Let the Second and Third Battalions retreat!" Song Feng said urgently.

The Second and Third Battalions have already suffered considerable casualties. If this drags on any longer, the 421st Regiment risks being completely annihilated.

After thinking for a moment, Hou Zhenchen gritted his teeth and ordered:
"Mortar company fire coverage to support the withdrawal of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions from the battle."

"We're retreating to Tongcheng!"

Hou Zhenchen had no intention of continuing to provide support at this point.

In just one hour of fighting with the G army, the 421st Regiment suffered more than half of its casualties, which was already a major blow.

He couldn't imagine what would have happened if he had stayed any longer.

With the support of mortars, the KMT forces, after suffering heavy losses, finally broke off contact with the KMT forces.

The 204th Regiment only chased for two miles before stopping.

Tongcheng is less than 10 miles away. If the 167th Division were to attack, their regiment would be no match for them.

Compared to the 2nd and 3rd Battalions, which were trying to cut off their tails to survive, the 1st Battalion of the 421st Regiment of the KMT Army was trapped in the middle of the 22nd Squadron.

They had penetrated too deeply before, and there was no possibility of them breaking through.

Just as the 22nd detachment was driving the 421st Regiment into a rout, Xu Wu launched a general offensive against the 125th Regiment of the 31st Division.

Faced with the combined attack of four regiments, the 125th Regiment suffered more than 4 casualties in just half an hour.

Seeing that there was no way to hold out any longer, the soldiers of the 125th Regiment decisively raised their hands and surrendered, which salvaged half of the situation.

"How did the G Army end up here?" Tian Wentao paced back and forth.

The 31st Division lost contact, and the reinforcements it sent out were defeated and returned home.

Tian Wentao sensed something was wrong.

"What are the other divisions up to now?" Tian Wentao asked.

"Because the situation is unclear, none of the divisions have made any rash moves," Yu Jun said.

Although the 167th Division's rescue operation was not very successful, it was indeed the fastest-responding unit.

The other divisions, apart from sending out a few scattered reconnaissance personnel, did not move their main forces at all.

"Damn it, a bunch of cowards who are afraid of death!" Tian Wentao roared.

He simply didn't believe that the G army could be a match for them when surrounded by a large force.

As a result, everyone is now hesitant and timid.

"Send a telegram to Commander Hu requesting instructions," Tian Wentao said.

He was only the commander of the 167th Division and had no authority over the other divisions.

"yes!".
"Commander Hu, the situation is unclear right now, how can we launch an attack so easily?"

Lai Zhengcheng, the commander of the 78th Division, casually placed the telegram requesting support on the table.

"The 31st Division has simply lost contact."

"I refuse to believe that the G Army can wipe out the 31st Division!"

Although the 31st Division was not an elite division, it was still associated with the United States and was not as vulnerable as some might think.

Lai Cheng-cheng believes that the 31st Division's radio was most likely damaged during the battle.

This kind of thing has happened before.

"Commander, this is Commander Hu's order after all, we can't disobey it."

“Of course I know that,” Lai Zhengcheng said.

The order had already been given by his superiors, and without any reason, he couldn't refuse.

"Order the troops to assemble first," Lai Zhengcheng ordered after thinking for a moment.

Several regiments of the 78th Division are currently on the outskirts, and they will need to gather forces to provide support.

Lai Zhengcheng himself didn't care, so naturally his troops were also dragging their feet.

It wasn't until the next day that the 78th Division was fully assembled, and then it headed to the Dali Town area to reinforce the 31st Division.

At the same time, the 47th and 53rd Divisions also headed north to Tongcheng to reinforce the 167th Division.

The 78th Division took a day and a half to travel the more than 30-mile journey.

However, when he arrived in the Dali Town area, he was shocked to find that the 31st Division, which should have been there, was no longer there.

Instead, tens of thousands of G troops were deployed.

This is the D-line, which arrived just in time and is now sharpening its knives.

"The 31st Division is gone?!" Lai Zhengcheng's voice was off.

"Oh no! Commander, we're in danger!" the chief of staff exclaimed urgently.

Without the 31st Division, the 78th Division became isolated and vulnerable to encirclement by the G Army.

That was truly a desperate situation, with no one to turn to for help.

"The rear guard is now the front guard, retreat!" Lai Zhengcheng shouted.

The 78th Division turned tail and ran.

Although the 78th Division acted decisively, it still lost a battalion to the persistent Li Yunlong.

For Li Yunlong, not making a profit is a loss.

(End of this chapter)