Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 369 Not All the Jin-Sui Army Soldiers Are Cowards

With a command from the company commander.

The three platoons immediately charged out in the order of three, two, one.

The key point here is together.

According to the plan, they will use a single-pronged attack this time, and they need to coordinate well with each other.

If one side falters, the entire company will be pinned down by the Jin-Sui Army's firepower.

As the assault company launched its attack, all the firepower of the 209th Regiment began to fire at full force.

With the cover of their own firepower, the three platoons, after suffering more than twenty casualties, broke through the hail of bullets from the Jin-Sui Army.

After rushing to the foot of the city wall, the soldiers of the three platoons did not hesitate for a second.

A flurry of grenades were thrown onto the city wall.

"Boom!" "Boom!"
Faced with a barrage of grenades, the Jin-Sui Army could only scramble to avoid them.

Meanwhile, the second row had already set up a row of ladders on the city wall.

The grenades on the city wall were still exploding, and the ladders were not yet firmly in place, but a line of soldiers had already begun to climb up.

Amid the sounds of gunfire, the company commander was the first to climb the ladder.

But before he could climb more than a few steps, Dong Zhenhua, the squad leader of the second class of the first platoon, rushed up and pulled him down.

"Company Commander, the company can't do without you!"

"Comrades! Follow me!" Dong Zhenhua shouted.

Having said that, Dong Zhenhua had already climbed halfway up the ladder.

"Kill!"
Dong Zhenhua climbed the city wall, bayoneted himself, and charged toward the city gate tower, which was full of enemies.

Following him were all the soldiers of the second squad.

When the Jin-Sui Army on the city wall saw that the G Army had climbed up, they also charged over with bayonets.

The G troops have all climbed the walls, so the shells can no longer fly over.

"Form ranks! Form ranks!" Dong Zhenhua shouted as he charged forward.

When engaging in bayonet fighting, one cannot fight alone; one must cooperate with others.

"kill!".
The battle between the two sides was extremely fierce.

Driven by adrenaline, the Jin-Sui Army also began to fight to the death.

Facing an army several times their size that was fighting desperately, the Second Platoon suffered almost complete casualties.

However, they also risked their lives to block the Jin-Sui Army's counterattack.

Taking advantage of this time, they all climbed up the city wall.
A dozen minutes later, an operations staff officer ran into the Yufeng Mountain command post.

"Squad leader, the city gates of Shuitong County have been breached!"

"Okay!" Qin Sheng stood up.

"Order the 207th Regiment to join the battle, first divide the area, and then clear it out piece by piece!"

"Yes!"

Just as Shuitong County was under heavy attack, the Jin-Sui Army in Xincheng was also attacked.

"Commander, the situation is basically clear. There are about four thousand G troops outside, but they are equipped with heavy artillery!"

"The 39th Division Chief of Staff He Mingcheng said with a serious expression."

Although the G army outside the city did not launch a general offensive against Xincheng, the strongholds and bunkers outside the city had been basically eliminated.

Moreover, the G army also used powerful artillery when taking down the bunkers.

The various units of the 39th Division have now retreated back into the city.

"Don't be too anxious. Xincheng's defenses are impregnable. As long as we stay inside the city and don't go out, no one can defeat us."

Pan Zhipeng, commander of the 39th Division, breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that there were only four thousand men.

The 39th Division was an elite unit of the Jin-Sui Army. Although it was not fully staffed, it still had more than 3,000 men.

With the two sides outnumbered one to one, there is no need to fear the G army attacking the city.

However, Pan Zhipeng's ease did not last long.

By the afternoon, Pan Zhipeng was dumbfounded when he saw the sudden increase in troops outside the city.

"Why are there so many G soldiers?"

"Commander, Shuitong County has probably already fallen," He Mingcheng said.

When Shuitong County was under fierce attack, it requested assistance from the 39th Division.

However, the 39th Division could only guarantee that it could hold Xincheng; they dared not go out of the city to provide support.

"They fell so quickly?" Pan Zhipeng couldn't believe it.

"Shuitong County only has one regiment of soldiers, and its heavy weapons are just a few mortars and a few heavy machine guns."

“It’s almost impossible to stop such a large attack from the G army,” He Mingcheng said.

The Eighth Route Army that came from the south looked to number seven or eight thousand.

With so many Eighth Route Army soldiers, Shuitong County could not possibly be defended.

"Damn it, this is troublesome." Pan Zhipeng's face was extremely ugly.

My family knows their own affairs.

Despite his claims that Xincheng is impregnable, it is not actually that solid.

If it were truly that fortified, the G army's heavy mortars wouldn't have destroyed the strongholds and bunkers outside the city.

"Chief of Staff He, take 2 silver dollars from the warehouse and distribute them to the brothers."

"Tell them that anyone who can hold off the G army will be richly rewarded!" Pan Zhipeng ordered.

The construction work was done shoddy, and now we have to pay for it with our lives.

"Rest assured, Commander, I will definitely boost the morale of the brothers!" He Mingcheng nodded.

The soldiers in the Jin-Sui Army were all in it for the money; as long as the money was right, their fighting strength could be guaranteed.

If we can hold Xincheng, we can earn back all the money we've lost after the war.

"The city walls of Xincheng are much higher than those of Shuitong County."

Chen Chengxing stood at the forward observation post, watching Xincheng being attacked by sniper fire and artillery.

“The main city wall is 15 meters high, the outer city wall is 5 meters high, and the enemy has mountain guns,” Sun Xun explained.

During the siege, the 22nd detachment encountered sharp counter-fire from enemy artillery, clearly the work of seasoned veterans. Although heavy mortars could be fired from concealed positions, they were still affected and sometimes had to relocate.

"Xincheng is a relatively important location, so it's quite normal for Yan Xishan to deploy an elite division here."

“The Jin-Sui Army’s defenses are tight; we can’t force our way in.” Chen Chengxing put down his binoculars.

"We should still adopt the strategy of leaving one out of three, giving the enemy a gap on the west side."

"In this battle, the 206th Regiment launched the main attack from the south gate, the 207th and 209th Regiments made feigned attacks on the east and north gates, and the 204th Regiment lay in ambush on the west."

Chen Chengxing explained the tasks of each regiment in detail.

At 6 p.m., the battle officially began.

Taking advantage of the time before sunset, artillery shells continuously bombarded all visible bunkers on the walls of Xincheng.

The city gate tower of Nanguanxiang was destroyed by several 120mm shells.

The city gate was also destroyed by close-range, direct-fire mountain guns.

The bombardment continued until nightfall before the artillery was withdrawn from the battlefield.

The 206th Regiment launched a strong attack forward.

"Beep beep beep beep."

As the bugle sounded, the 7th and 8th Companies, as assault companies, were the first to charge out from the left and right flanks.

"Fire! Fire!" shouted He Mingcheng, chief of staff of the 39th Division.

"The G army is approaching! Quickly use grenades to engage them!"

The Jin-Sui Army had the advantage of height on the city walls of Guanxiang, and could easily throw grenades fifty or sixty meters away.

"Boom!" "Boom!"
A large number of grenades fell.

Faced with the stubborn resistance of the Jin-Sui Army, the assault team soldiers directly used a barrage of bullets to block them.

After wiping out the 31st Division of the Central Army, the Second Independent Detachment had quite a few submachine guns.

As an elite unit of the Jin-Sui Army, the 39th Division was quite capable in combat.

However, the city walls of Guanxiang are a bit low.

Moreover, apart from the city gate tower and the watchtowers at the corners, the rest of the area is relatively narrow, making it difficult to deploy too many troops.

Facing the Independent Second Detachment, which had superior firepower, the 39th Division suffered repeated defeats.

An hour later, the Seventh and Eighth Companies stormed into the fortified village.

"How did the Chief of Staff fight like this! How did the G Army enter the city so quickly!" Pan Zhipeng shouted angrily.

We know the south of the city is the main direction of attack, but we can't retreat this quickly, can we?
"Someone come here!" Pan Zhipeng shouted.

"Form a suicide squad! I will personally lead the counter-attack!"

Upon hearing Pan Zhipeng say he would lead the charge, the adjutant beside him quickly said, "Commander, let me go!"

Pan Zhipeng was a division commander; if he were killed in action, the 39th Division would be finished.

"Stop talking, it's settled!" Pan Zhipeng said firmly.

The effect of a division commander leading the charge is completely different from that of an adjutant leading the charge.

The adjutant had no choice but to agree.

Ten minutes later, for Pan Zhipeng's safety, the 400 most elite men of the 39th Division were organized.

More than half of them were officers, and the entire division's charge was concentrated in the suicide squads.

"Brothers! I won't say anything more."

"If the 39th Division loses, you all know what the outcome will be without me having to tell you."

"This battle is not for me, nor for Commander Yan, but for your own home! Your own land!"

Every single member of the suicide squad was either a landlord or a landlord's servant.

"Follow me! Kill!" Pan Zhipeng raised his submachine gun and charged towards Nanguan.

"kill!".
Seeing the Jin-Sui Army rushing towards them, the company commanders of the 7th and 8th companies exchanged a glance.

"Go on the bayonet!"

"Kill me!"

"Kill!"
Both sides charged at each other with bayonets at their sides.

When the two sides closed to within 50 meters, they simultaneously raised their submachine guns.

"Da da da".
The people at the forefront of both sides were instantly swept away.

However, no one took a step back at this moment.

Thirty bullets were emptied in an instant, and the next second, bayonets clashed.

The Second Independent Detachment was very skilled in close combat, but the elite daredevil squad of the 39th Division of the Jin-Sui Army was no pushover either.

The two sides fought fiercely for more than half an hour. After the Jin-Sui Army suffered more than two-thirds casualties, it could not hold on any longer and had to retreat.

However, at this time, the Seventh and Eighth Companies had also suffered more than half of their casualties and lost the ability to continue fighting.

Under the orders of Regiment Commander Yu Yong, the Seventh and Eighth Companies withdrew from the battle with the wounded, and the First Battalion took over the assault mission.

Inside the 39th Division headquarters, Pan Zhipeng casually tossed his submachine gun, whose butt was cracked, onto the table, plopped down, and began to pant heavily.

"Damn it! Are these peasants really that fearless?"

In order to cover Pan Zhipeng, the adjutant was stabbed in the shoulder, and the medical staff next to him were bandaging him.

"Commander, the G Party's land redistribution tactic is truly vicious."

“These peasants haven’t had an inch of land for thousands of years. Now that they suddenly have it, how can they not fight tooth and nail?” the adjutant said, grinning.

One reason is that the medical staff used too much force.

On the other hand, his family's property had already been divided.

After thinking for a moment, Pan Zhipeng shouted:
"Somebody come!"

"Commander." A operations staff officer ran over.

"Two things."

"First, send a telegram to Yong'an requesting support from the 69th Division."

"Second, order the mountain guns to be mounted on the walls, and then draw 82mm mortars from each regiment to form an artillery barrage. I want to bomb Nanguan flat!"

"yes!".
(End of this chapter)