Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 370 It's better to believe in ghosts than to believe a rescuer's words.

"Boom!" "Boom!"
There is a small hill inside the South Gate of Xincheng, and a small temple is built on the hill.

After successfully capturing the small temple, the 206th Regiment used the high ground to eliminate the Jin-Sui Army's height advantage.

In order to remove this thorn in the side of the 206th Regiment and reduce the pressure on the troops defending the south wall.

Pan Zhipeng ordered the 39th Division's artillery positions to send all their firepower to this location.

Even though the shells were not hitting their targets accurately due to the darkness of night, Pan Zhipeng did not stop.

As long as the shells land on this small hill, that's fine.

Meanwhile, Pan Zhipeng also dispatched a battalion of elite troops, hoping to recapture the high ground under the cover of artillery fire.

These few hundred men were practically the last elite troops of the 39th Division.

The battle for the high ground was extremely fierce, with the Jin-Sui Army launching several assaults in succession.

They even risked engaging in combined infantry and artillery operations.

Although the Jin-Sui Army's infantry-artillery coordination was terrible, the infantry dared to charge forward despite the fear of artillery shells falling at any moment.

"Ninth Platoon Leader! Organize a counterattack! Push the enemy back!" Yu Yong shouted.

The main force of the 206th Regiment was scattered in Nanguan to encircle and suppress the Jin-Sui Army.

Apart from the command post and some heavy weapons, there were not many troops on the small hill.

Just as Yu Yong finished shouting, a bullet struck his shoulder.

Upon seeing Yu Yong lying on the ground, the guards nearby were shocked and rushed forward to check on him.

"Help me up!" Yu Yong said through gritted teeth.

He can't afford to fall now.

After standing up again with the help of his guards, Yu Yong said with a relaxed expression:

"Damn it, he actually dared to hit me!"

"Ninth Platoon Leader, hurry up and give that son of a bitch a good beating!"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that the regimental commander was alright.

"Comrades, follow me! Avenge the regimental commander!" the ninth platoon leader shouted.

"kill!".
Yong'an, the headquarters of the 69th Division.

Tian Yu was overjoyed when he saw the 39th Division's telegram requesting assistance.

Yesterday, after the 201st Regiment arrived in Yong'an, the Yong'an Independent Regiment began to harass Yong'an whenever it was convenient.

Furious, Tian Yu immediately led two regiments out of the city to cause trouble for the Yong'an Independent Regiment.

A mere ragtag regiment dares to cause trouble for the 69th Division!

Unexpectedly, less than 20 miles outside the city, the 69th Division was ambushed by the 201st Regiment, which attacked from both flanks.

The first regiment was completely wiped out, and the division's direct subordinate unit led by Tian Yu and another regiment also suffered heavy losses.

Even Tian Yu himself was shot.

It's only because the Type 38 rifle has strong penetrating power that he's in such a precarious position; otherwise, it would be questionable whether he could even stand up now.

After retreating in a sorry state to Yong'an, Tian Yu lived in constant fear, dreading the G army's attack.

Now, the 39th Division's request for reinforcements has given him an excuse.

As long as the 69th Division and the 39th Division can stick together, these G troops will not be a problem.

"chief of staff!"

Hearing the shouts, Liu Hong, the chief of staff of the 69th Division, came over.

"Master's seat."

"Assemble the troops and prepare to support Xincheng!"

"Xincheng? What about Yong'an? And it's nighttime now." Liu Hong was a little confused.

Yong'an is their defense zone.

Furthermore, the safety of Yong'an and Shuncheng is related to the safety of Hexi County.

Hexi County is also connected to the most crucial highway in southwestern Shanxi that links the Tongpu Railway.

"Leaving a battalion of troops in Yong'an, along with the local security force, will be enough."

"Xincheng is the most important place right now!" Tian Yu said solemnly.

"This"

Seeing that Liu Hong still wanted to persuade him, Tian Yu interrupted him directly.

"This is not something you should be worrying about. Just carry out the orders!"

"Yes!"

"Commander, the enemy troops in Yong'an have left the city."

"However, instead of heading south along the Tongpu Road, they crossed the Fen River and headed straight for Xincheng from the west bank."

"Moreover, the 69th Division blew up the bridge, and the 201st Regiment is heading south to find other opportunities to cross the river."

As soon as the 69th Division moved, the 201st Regiment immediately sent a telegram to the command post.

"They went to Hexi? It seems the commander of the 69th Division has a good plan."

Chen Chengxing didn't even need to look at the map to immediately figure out what the other party was thinking.

"Send orders to the 207th and 209th Regiments to leave one battalion each in the east and north of the city to contain them."

"The remaining troops will all be committed to the South Gate for a general offensive."

"Furthermore, have Sun Desheng lead the cavalry regiment to ambush them on the Fen River west of Xincheng. If the 69th Division crosses the river, then ambush them!"

"yes!".
At this time, the 39th Division in Xincheng also learned that reinforcements had set off.

The morale, which had been steadily declining, was immediately boosted.

The arrival of reinforcements meant that he would be alive and receive his reward.

The two sides had similar light weapons, and the heavy mortars of the Second Independent Detachment could not be effective at night.

Therefore, although the 207th and 209th Regiments joined the Battle of Nanguan.

However, the battle remained somewhat deadlocked due to the desperate resistance of the 39th Division.

Several hours later, the situation changed.

As dawn broke, the vanguard of the 69th Division of the Jin-Sui Army arrived at the battlefield!

"The 69th Division arrived really quickly!"

Seeing the Jin-Sui Army appear on the west bank of the river, Sun Desheng became serious.

A force capable of marching at such a rapid pace is definitely not some ragtag unit.

"Get the heavy machine guns and mortars ready, fire a volley to test the waters!" Sun Desheng ordered.

His mission was to delay the reinforcements from the 69th Division. As long as the Jin-Sui Army did not dare to cross the river easily, his mission would be accomplished.

"put!"

"Boom!" "Boom!"
"Da da da"

The mortars opened fire first, followed immediately by the roar of the heavy machine guns.

The vanguard battalion of the 69th Division never expected that they would be suddenly attacked by mortars and heavy machine guns.

After they left the riverbank in a sorry state, a headcount revealed that over a hundred people had died or been injured.

Now, the 69th Division fell silent.

Half an hour later, Sun Desheng looked at the opposite bank, which still hadn't responded, with some confusion.

"Damn it, is the Jin-Sui Army planning to change locations and take a roundabout route across the river?"

"First Battalion Commander, Second Battalion Commander!" Sun Desheng ordered.
"You two battalions will split up and search from the north and south respectively. Don't let the Jin-Sui Army find any loopholes!" "Yes, sir!"

Two battalions, each with about a hundred cavalrymen, began searching along the river.

Even after running forty or fifty miles, they found nothing.

At this moment, Pan Zhipeng, the commander of the 39th Division in Xincheng, was cursing loudly at the division headquarters.

"Damn it! I'd rather believe in ghosts than believe a rescuer's words!"

"The 69th Division really screwed me over!"

If you didn't want to help, you should have said so earlier. It would have been much better if the 39th Division had broken out under cover of night.

As a result, the 39th Division and the G Army have been locked in a stalemate ever since.

You turned around and went back to Hexi County. The 39th Division, which was still able to move, had less than 1,500 men left.

Most importantly, the success rate of breaking through during the day is much lower than that of breaking through at night.

"Commander, we can't wait any longer; we must break through," He Mingcheng said.

Even though it's daytime now, they have to break through, otherwise they might not make it to noon.

He had been on the front lines for a long time and was completely disheveled.

"Break through! Break through to the west!" Pan Zhipeng gritted his teeth.

If he could meet the commander of the 69th Division, he would definitely fight him.

This is such a rip-off!
A dozen minutes later, the remnants of the 39th Division opened the west gate and began to flee in disarray.

Seeing the fleeing Jin-Sui Army, the 204th Regiment, which had been waiting for so long it was practically growing hair, was overjoyed.

"Quick! Quick! Prepare for battle!" Tian Cheng exclaimed excitedly.

He thought the Jin-Sui Army would resist to the bitter end.

Upon learning that the Jin-Sui Army had finally emerged, the soldiers eagerly cocked their guns.

When the Jin-Sui Army soldiers were running out of breath, the 204th Regiment began firing.

After a rapid barrage of fire, the bugle call sounded.

"Beep beep beep beep."

"Comrades! Charge!" Tian Cheng shouted.

"Kill!"
By this time, the morale of the Jin-Sui Army had long since plummeted, and they no longer possessed the fighting spirit they once had.

Faced with the charge of the 204th Regiment, the 39th Division scattered in disarray.

The routed soldiers, like a flock of ducks scattering for their lives, turned and fled south.

In the end, the 204th Regiment only killed or captured about a thousand people.

"Damn it, if these guys run around, they'll be really hard to catch," Tian Cheng said helplessly, looking at the Jin-Sui Army soldiers running around.

"3rd Battalion! Pursue the fleeing enemy!" Tian Cheng ordered.

Right now, we can only arrest as many as we can.

"yes!".
After the Jin-Sui Army soldiers scattered and fled for their lives, they ran into the First Battalion of the Cavalry Regiment, which had failed to find the 69th Division and was returning, after running for 5 miles.

Although the cavalry that arrived numbered only a little over a hundred, the Jin-Sui army knew that their chance of escaping was gone.

Cavalry and infantry are on completely different levels in terms of movement speed.

The routed soldiers of the 39th Division knelt down with incredible smoothness.

"Damn, this is really lucky, the credit just came to me!"

I was feeling down because I couldn't find the 1st Cavalry Battalion of the 69th Division, but then I saw the Jin-Sui Army kneeling down in front of me.

Everyone was overjoyed.

"Commander, the 39th Division of the Jin-Sui Army has been completely annihilated, and its weapons have been captured."

"Four mountain guns manufactured in Shanxi, twelve 82mm mortars, and eighteen 60mm mortars."

"Thirty-five light and heavy machine guns, and more than two thousand eight hundred pistols and rifles."

Xu Wu walked into the temporary command post and reported.

Unlike the Japanese, the Kuomintang army did not destroy its weapons even after being defeated.

"I understand," Chen Chengxing said casually.

These few weapons no longer affect his mood.

"The mountain guns were assigned to the artillery regiments, and the mortars and light and heavy machine guns were equipped according to the standards of each regiment."

"Put the excess in the logistics department first, and hand it over to the staff later."

The Second Independent Detachment has a limited organizational structure, and the number of weapons it can be equipped with is also limited.

All we can do now is pick and choose, replacing unwanted weapons like the Type 96 with a blunt handle.

"Yes!" Xu Wu nodded.

"By the way, how is Xintian doing?" Chen Chengxing asked.

"The attack on Xintian went smoothly, and the D column has annihilated the defending troops."

"However, the objective has not been achieved; the Central Army's progress is very slow," Xu Wu reported.

According to the original battle plan, we should have turned around and attacked the Central Army now.

However, the Central Army was too cowardly. Even though Yan Xishan urged them many times, they basically remained stagnant.

“The Central Military Academy has become clever; they’re afraid of advancing too fast and giving us an opening,” Chen Chengxing said.

This is the kind of quality a military officer who has attended the Whampoa Military Academy should have.

"Since the Central Army isn't cooperating, let's just leave them be."

"Xu Wu, send a telegram to Commander Si Jin, saying that the Central Army is fighting the Central Army, and the Second Detachment is fighting the Second Detachment."

"The Second Independent Detachment has decided to continue northward!" Chen Chengxing ordered.

Shanxi did not only have the Central Army as its enemy.

Whoever we eat, we still eat.

"Yes!"

Chen Sijin replied quickly.

After holding a meeting, D Zong agreed to Chen Chengxing's idea.

At the same time, the D column also abandoned Xintian and began to move north.

Since the Central Army has not made any rash advances, it would be too disadvantageous to fight them in Xintian; we need to find another place to fight.

The Second Independent Detachment continued its northward march, preparing to attack Yong'an.

At this time, there was only one battalion of the 69th Division and one local security regiment in Yong'an City.

The total troop strength was only about 1,700 or 1,800.

Faced with the attack of the Second Independent Detachment, Yong'an was liberated in less than three hours.

After capturing Yong'an, the Second Independent Detachment did not rest and reorganize. Instead, it handed over the post-disaster work to the local troops and continued northward.

Two days later, the Second Independent Detachment arrived in Shuncheng.

During the pre-battle reconnaissance, it was suddenly discovered that all the garrison troops of Shuncheng had fled.

Without wasting any words, Chen Chengxing turned his gun and thrust it towards Hexi.

Two days later, in the early morning, the main force arrived outside Hexi City.

As Chen Chengxing predicted, the 69th Division in Hexi also slipped away.

With the liberation of the five counties north of Pingyang, the Jin-Sui Army in Yangfeng, Xifen, Qixian, Pingchang and other places south of Taiyuan was plunged into panic.

(End of this chapter)