Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 389 Is it a chicken or a cow?
"Team leader, it's a call from headquarters!"

"I am Chen Chengxing, Commander-in-Chief. Please speak!"

"Okay, okay, I understand."

Looking at Chen Chengxing, who had a serious expression after hanging up the phone.

Luo Ping asked in surprise, "What happened?"

"Fu Yi's troops have occupied Jining and have also deployed troops to many surrounding areas."

Although Fu Yi did not immediately launch an attack on Datong after capturing Jining, a situation of heavy military threat had already been formed.

"What does 'commander-in-chief' mean?" Luo Ping asked seriously.

"The commander-in-chief received a telegram from the Central Committee, and the higher command decided to change the deployment, attacking the reinforcements first and then attacking the city."

During the phone call, Chen Chengxing learned the general situation.

The Central Committee decided to eliminate Fu Yi's main force and, while recovering Jining, also take Suicheng and Jiuyuan.

General Manager Liu has now taken over command of the battlefield.

He planned to leave three brigades to continue monitoring Yunzhong, while the rest of the troops would rush to Jining.

He planned to gather 9 troops from the Jin-Sui and Jin-Cha-Ji regions to wipe out Fu Yi in one fell swoop and completely eliminate the threat from his flank.

"Should we stay in Yunzhong, or go fight Fu Yi?" Luo Ping asked.

"Beat Fu Yi," Chen Chengxing said, walking up to the map.

"According to the orders of the General Headquarters, the first phase of the Second Independent Detachment's mission is to launch a surprise attack on Xuande."

"After capturing Xuande, a part of the force made a feint attack on Suicheng to draw the attention of Fu Yi's main force."

"The main force will move eastward to capture Tiancheng Town, and then cooperate with the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region to wipe out the reorganized 67th Brigade in Zhenning."

From the overall battle plan, the G army was able to encircle the Yi forces.

From a battlefield tactical perspective, the G army was preparing to launch a surprise attack against Yi's troops.

This operation was a large-scale mobile warfare operation, and Chen Chengxing decided to study it carefully.

However, the most important thing now is to complete the established tasks.

Because a certain speed was required, Chen Chengxing left the 105mm cannon on the Yunzhongcheng battlefield.

The remaining troops began to take shortcuts and rush towards Xuande.

However, the main force marched slowly, so in order to achieve a surprise attack, Li Chishui led the 201st Regiment ahead of time.

The 201st Regiment, traveling light, reached Xuande in just one day.

Then, in just one morning, they captured two cities and killed more than 500 enemy soldiers.

The remaining two thousand-plus enemy troops fled back to Suicheng.

When Chen Chengxing met Li Chishui, Li Chishui was all smiles, ready to ask for credit.

"Li Chishui! What kind of battle are you fighting, you son of a bitch!" Chen Chengxing was furious.

"Huh?" Li Chishui was dumbfounded.

With extremely low casualties, capturing two cities in succession is already a remarkable achievement.

Why isn't the squad leader satisfied yet?
"I'm asking you, what is the combat mission I'm referring to?"

"Eliminate Fu Yi's main force, and while recapturing Jining, take Suicheng and Jiuyuan."

Li Chishui answered without hesitation.

"Do you even know that the most important thing in this battle is just one word? Eat!"

"What good are two cities? The enemy had two regiments, and one and a half of them escaped!"

"You still have the nerve to come to me and ask for credit?"

According to instructions from higher authorities, we should not be concerned with the gains or losses of a single city or place at present, but should focus on eliminating the enemy's manpower.

As a result, Li Chishui turned around and confused himself with the host and guest.

Upon hearing Chen Chengxing's words, Li Chishui realized what was happening.

Oh no, the enemy is too weak. They forgot about this and are only thinking about capturing the city!
"Team leader, please give me another chance."

"There are still a large number of enemy troops in the Shengquanzhuang, Zhanggao, and Fenshuiling areas. This time, I guarantee I will wipe out the enemy's main force!"

Li Chishui wanted to redeem himself through meritorious service.

Before Chen Chengxing could say anything after hearing Li Chishui's words, the other regimental commanders next to him became anxious.

"Li Dabenshi, you've always been one to take more than your share! Now that you've taken Xuande and Tiancheng, you still want the mission?"

"Exactly! You've done all the work, what are the rest of us in the regiments supposed to do? Watch you perform?!"

"If you ask me, since you didn't do your job well, then you should postpone it. It's our turn now."

"That's right, Captain, you can't be biased."
"Bullshit! I'm the fairest and most impartial person ever!" Chen Chengxing roared.

"Come here." Chen Chengxing came to the map and beckoned the squads and regimental commanders over.

“根据情报，盛泉庄是35军32师的91团，张高和分水岭则分别是骑4师和骑5师。

"The population in these three places is two to three thousand people each."

"I have decided to send a cavalry regiment to infiltrate and ambush the east side of Shengquanzhuang to block the enemy's escape route to the east."

"The 203rd Regiment passed between Zhanggao and the watershed and launched an attack from the west of Shengquanzhuang."

"The 204th and 206th Regiments are responsible for attacking Zhanggao and the watershed."

"The 23rd detachment is deployed along the west side of the Ping-Sui Railway to protect the safety of the headquarters."

"As for the 201st Regiment, you will launch a feint attack on Suicheng!"

Upon hearing Chen Chengxing's order, Li Chishui wanted to argue, but in the end, he could only nod helplessly.

One misstep will lead to eternal hatred!
At dawn the next day, all units arrived at their designated positions.

Jiang Ming, the commander of the 203rd Regiment, was the first to issue the order to launch an attack on Longshengzhuang.

"Order the artillery positions to open fire immediately! The first, second, and third battalions will attack in waves. Give me a crushing blow to the 91st Regiment!"

Three thousand against three thousand, the advantage is on my side! The 82mm mortars of the various infantry battalions of the 203rd Regiment have been concentrated together.

Upon receiving the order, 18 82mm mortars began to bombard Shengquanzhuang.

Immediately afterwards, the First Battalion was the first to rush out.

The 203rd Regiment was extremely powerful and quickly stormed into Shengquanzhuang.

But once he got in, Jiang Ming immediately realized something was wrong.

The enemy's numbers are suspicious!
"Damn it! The intelligence was wrong! This isn't even a single regiment!"

Even if the 91st Regiment were at full strength, it would only have a maximum of three thousand people.

But there must be at least six thousand people in Shengquan Manor now.

Moreover, judging from the battlefield situation, these people are not the ragtag security regiment, but definitely Fu Yi's main force.

"Pass on my orders! First and Second Battalions, launch a frontal assault! Third Battalion, launch a flanking attack!"

Knowing that the battlefield situation had changed, Jiang Ming immediately changed his tactics.

Given the strength of the 203rd Regiment, they shouldn't be afraid of these 6,000 enemy troops.

But the task assigned by the detachment commander was to quickly defeat the enemy, not to hold out here for several days.

What the 203rd Regiment needs is to cut off the routes from Zhanggao and Fenshuiling to support Zhenning.

These two locations have the strength of two cavalry divisions. If they are sent to support Zhenning, it will have a significant impact on the next step of the operation.

At this point, Jiang Ming no longer cared about eating one more or one less bite.

The priority is to drive the enemy out of Shengquan Village as quickly as possible and coordinate with the cavalry regiment to ambush and annihilate them.

Faced with the strong attack of the 203rd Regiment, the Kuomintang troops in Shengquanzhuang were not panicked. Their defensive positions were perfectly formed.

Inside Shengquanzhuang, Liu Wanfang, commander of the 4th Cavalry Division, looked at the G Army attacking from both the front and the flanks simultaneously and sneered.

"Heh. I knew it, the G army was planning a surprise attack!"

Liu Wanfang graduated from Baoding Military Academy and can be considered a veteran of many battles.

Even Chiang Kai-shek valued him highly, and once specifically named him as the head of the training regiment of the Lushan Army Corps.

During the War of Resistance against Japan, Liu Wanfang cooperated with the Communist Party of China (CPC) army on several occasions and was very familiar with their tactics.

Upon learning of the sudden attack on Xuande, Liu Wanfang immediately realized something was wrong.

Xuande's geographical location is not particularly outstanding, and it's unlikely that the G army would make a special trip just for such a place.

Realizing that the G Army had a backup plan, Liu Wanfang immediately led the 4th Cavalry Division to Shengquanzhuang to meet up with the 91st Regiment.

They also set up defensive positions overnight.

However, although Liu Wanfang was prepared, the fighting strength of the G army still surprised him.

"Commander Liu, the G Army's offensive is very fierce, and the troops are struggling to hold on." Meng Zhifeng, the commander of the 91st Regiment, ran back.

"I've already seen it." Liu Wanfang said without turning his head.

This is because the G army on the flank tied down some of its forces, preventing the frontal positions from forming an absolute numerical advantage.

"Someone, pass on my order: concentrate all artillery fire to strike the G army's flank attacking force."

"Drive the G army down!"

Once the flanking forces are defeated, firepower can be diverted to support the front.

He wasn't afraid of a direct confrontation, no matter how strong the G army's fighting power was.

"yes!".
A few minutes later, the dozen or so mortars in Guo Jun's hands began to fire shells continuously.

The 3rd Battalion of the 203rd Regiment launched a flanking attack, advancing despite artillery fire in an attempt to close the distance and force the Koso army to cease shelling.

However, the Third Battalion clearly underestimated Liu Wanfang.

Even after the Third Battalion advanced to within 30 meters of the enemy's position, the Kuomintang army's artillery bombardment continued.

At this point, artillery shells were already landing on the Kuomintang army's positions from time to time.

Faced with this situation, the battalion commander was helpless.

The Third Battalion couldn't possibly charge into the position while crawling; that would be suicide.

But if they stood up and charged, the Third Battalion would suffer more than half casualties in just those few dozen meters.

Left with no other option, the Third Battalion had to temporarily retreat.

This allows for greater spacing between squads and platoons, reducing troop casualties.

The battle lasted from dawn until after 8 a.m.

Although the 203rd Regiment broke through two layers of defensive lines, the Nationalist army still showed no signs of collapsing and retreating.

Seeing that the situation was becoming stalemate, Jiang Ming decided to retreat and then call for backup.

The various units of the Second Independent Detachment fought fiercely, but they were never inflexible; they would fight in whatever way was advantageous to them.

After withdrawing from Shengquanzhuang, the 203rd Regiment immediately seized advantageous terrain on the west side, forming a stalemate with the enemy forces in Shengquanzhuang.

Meanwhile, the 22nd detachment attacking Zhanggao and Fenshuiling had already captured multiple strongholds.

However, they didn't find a single enemy.

"Squad leader, we have received a telegram from the 203rd Regiment. They have encountered a large number of enemy troops at Shengquanzhuang."

Upon hearing the staff officer's report, Sun Xun immediately took the telegram.

"I was wondering where the enemy had gone; it turns out they'd all fled to Shengquan Village!"

After hanging up the telegram, Sun Xun ordered, "Pass on my order: the 204th and 206th Regiments will immediately reinforce Shengquanzhuang and launch a pincer attack from the north and south!"

Now that the enemies have all gathered together, it's a good time to take them all down.

Upon receiving the order, Zhang Gao and the two regiments from Fenshuiling immediately set off, heading south and north respectively to provide support to Shengquanzhuang.

In the afternoon, the 203rd, 204th, and 206th Regiments began to besiege Shengquanzhuang from three sides.

This time, the three regiments stormed in instantly once again.

(End of this chapter)