Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 391 The Chairman values ​​you highly

The next day at nightfall, Chen Chengxing launched the attack as agreed.

The strong attack by the second detachment took the 67th Reorganized Brigade, which was defending Jining, by surprise.

"Damn it, no wonder the troops from the 12th War Zone took off running!"

"If the entire G army has this level of combat capability, those who are slow to run will likely be wiped out!"

Yu Zhenbang, the brigade commander of the 67th Brigade, had a gloomy face and kept cursing Fu Yi's family in his heart.

He realized that he had been tricked by Fu Yi.

What are the Chairman's expectations, what are his additional responsibilities?

They're trying to use the 67th Brigade as cannon fodder!
"Commander, if we continue fighting like this, the G army will break into the city sooner or later."

Chief of Staff Xiang Zhiqiang, who was standing to the side, put down his binoculars, his face equally grim.

Although the 67th Brigade was a fully organized brigade with a total of 7,000 personnel, it also had a 75mm mountain artillery battalion.

However, Xiang Zhiqiang still didn't hold out much hope.

As far as he knew, the G army also had a considerable number of artillery pieces.

In particular, the number of 120mm heavy mortars equipped by the G army even exceeded that of the KMT army.

If there were only 20,000 G troops outside, it would be manageable; the 67th Brigade could hold out.

But once the main force of the G army surrounds them, the 67th Brigade might not even have a chance to escape.

Seeing that You Zhenbang remained silent with a sullen face, Xiang Zhiqiang reminded him again.

"Commander, the Chairman has already given orders that the 67th Brigade must not be lost in Jining."

Chiang Kai-shek was very shrewd in his calculations.

In the Battle of Jining, the 67th Brigade was more than capable of contributing, even if they ran out of shells.

However, we absolutely cannot afford to suffer too many casualties, let alone be wiped out in Jining.

"You don't need to tell me that!"

Upon hearing the name of the Chairman, You Zhenbang made up his mind.

"Chief of staff, go and call Commander Huang of the 238th Regiment."

"yes!".
A few minutes later, Huang Jianhui, the commander of the 238th Regiment, ran over.

"Brigade Commander!"

"Jianhui, what's the situation at the front now?"

The 238th Regiment was responsible for the defense of the southern front.

"The G army's offensive is fierce, but don't worry, Commander, the 238th Regiment can hold the line with the help of the walls of Jining."

Because it was nighttime, the firepower of the Second Detachment and the 67th Brigade was not fully utilized.

Therefore, Huang Jianhui still had full confidence in the firepower of the 67th Brigade at this time.

Huang Jianhui believed that once daytime arrived, the artillery battalion of the 67th Brigade would be able to show the G Army what firepower strikes were all about.

"Jianhui, I'd like to lead the brigade headquarters and the 521st Regiment back to Suicheng, and have the 238th Regiment hold off the G Army's offensive. What do you think?"

Huang Jianhui was stunned when he heard You Zhenbang's words.

What do I think? I think this is fucking outrageous! This is a total rip-off!

Seeing that Huang Jianhui remained silent, and that his complexion was gradually changing from red to purple, and even showing a tendency to turn from purple to black, they noticed that Huang Jianhui was not speaking.

You Zhenbang quickly said:
"Jianhui, if you can hold Jining and cover the main force's retreat back to Suicheng, then you will be the one to make the greatest contribution!"

"I will definitely send a telegram to the Chairman to recommend you for merit!"

"Moreover, as long as the main force is safe, the 238th Regiment can break out on its own!"

Upon hearing You Zhenbang's words, Huang Jianhui's face, which had begun to darken, returned to normal.

"Commander, rest assured, I will definitely cover the main force's retreat!"

"As for the matter of sending a telegram to the Chairman, just say a few nice words when the time comes."

Huang Jianhui chuckled twice.

He didn't expect to be promoted all at once.

But once his name catches the chairman's eye, he will have a natural advantage when it comes to promotions.

When the time comes, several names will be presented to the Chairman, who will then see one and think, "Oh, one of them looks familiar."

Here it comes!

Seeing Huang Jianhui begin to smile mysteriously, You Zhenbang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Jianhui, I knew you could step up when it really matters!"

"Don't worry, I'll definitely put in a good word for you!" You Zhenbang patted Huang Jianhui on the shoulder.

"Thank you, Passenger!"
Huang Jianhui was confident in the 238th Regiment's combat capabilities; he believed that holding out for several days would be no problem at all.

If he needs to break through, as long as he doesn't care about casualties, the G army outside won't be able to stop him!

An hour later, the 521st Regiment gradually transferred the city defense tasks to the 238th Regiment.

Then, under cover of the 67th Brigade's direct subordinate units, they quietly left Jining from the north under the cover of night.

Looking at Jining City behind him, You Zhenbang waved his hand.

"Speed ​​up, let's detour through Huanghuagou back to Suicheng!"

Although the Sui-Meng Column in Balitai sent out reconnaissance posts towards Jining.

However, no one expected that the 67th Brigade would take such a long detour back to Suicheng, and would even leave a regiment of troops in the city.

However, although the Suiyuan-Mongolia Column failed to block the 67th Brigade, the 2nd Cavalry Regiment kept a close eye on them.

After the 67th Brigade left Jining, the cavalry of the Second Detachment could know their movements from afar without even getting close.

It wasn't that the cavalrymen had particularly good eyesight; it was simply that the truck lights were too conspicuous at night.

Moreover, Guo Jun couldn't even turn it off; if the lights were off, the driver wouldn't be able to see the road.

"Great! Guo Jun really did come from this side!"

Upon receiving the report, Li Chishui was so excited he almost jumped for joy.

He desperately needs the 67th Brigade!

"Old Li, this enemy force is not so easy to deal with; after all, they are American-equipped troops," Sun Desheng reminded him from the side.

There are also differences between reorganized brigades.

The American-equipped brigade can be considered the most elite of Chiang Kai-shek's inner circle.

“Of course I know that.” Li Chishui nodded.

"But my 201st Regiment isn't afraid of this so-called American-equipped brigade!"

Li Chishui had full confidence in the combat effectiveness of the 201st Regiment.

The 67th Brigade was equipped with American weapons, and the 201st Regiment was not a mixed unit either.

They had just as many light and heavy machine guns and mortars as the American-equipped regiments. As for the rest, it all came down to who had the stronger guns.

"Old Sun, the battlefield blockade is up to your cavalry regiment. We can't let the enemy escape under cover of darkness!"

Li Chishui was certain that if the 201st Regiment's surprise attack succeeded, the Guo army would inevitably flee in disarray.

This has become a routine practice for the Guo Army.

It's not that the Kuomintang army had no capable fighters, but sometimes even elite troops could be swept up in the chaos.

If any of the lower-ranking soldiers in the Kuomintang army desert, it could easily lead to a chain reaction.

"You don't need to tell me that. The cavalry regiment has already been deployed to control the battlefield and is currently maneuvering around the enemy's perimeter."

Although the cavalry regiment is a regiment, it only has six or seven hundred men in total, so it is impossible for them to rush to the front line.

Using mobility to blockade the battlefield is what they should be doing.

"Alright, let's prepare for battle!"

"Damn it, something's wrong, something's really wrong!"

Inside the jeep, You Zhenbang was using a walkie-talkie to communicate with Xiang Zhiqiang in the back.

Ever since leaving the city, he felt he was in danger.

"Commander, my eyelids are twitching too. Do you think there might be a G army ambush?" Xiang Zhiqiang said.

"Could the G Army have calculated this so accurately? Did they know I was going to break out from the north?" You Zhenbang was restless in the car.

Without the protection of the city walls and with the troops now on the march, he felt very insecure.

"If only the search link were still active, we could go out and do some reconnaissance."

The search company of the Guo army was a cavalry company.

However, when the airlift was initially planned, the Air Force stated that airlifting soldiers was not a problem, but airlifting horses was not.

After all, transporting horses is really troublesome, much more troublesome than transporting people.

Therefore, the 67th Brigade's direct search company was not airlifted to Suicheng.

Moreover, Fu Yi did not assign cavalry to the 67th Brigade, even though he had a large number of cavalrymen under his command.

This significantly reduced the reconnaissance capabilities of the 67th Brigade.

If it's about defending the city, it won't have any impact.

However, in field battles, especially when only the 67th Brigade remained in the Jining area, the impact would be significant.

"Commander, should we retreat first and then break through during the day?" Xiang Zhiqiang suggested.

“We cannot return to Jining; delay could lead to unforeseen complications!” You Zhenbang refused without hesitation.

"Moreover, if we break out during the day, our visibility will be better, but the G army's visibility will be even better, which is disadvantageous to us."

After thinking it over, You Zhenbang decided to move forward; he didn't have many other options.

"Order the troops to speed up! Once we get back to Suicheng, I'll cook meat for the brothers!"

"Yes! The commander is wise!"

Xiang Zhiqiang knew very well that if they wanted to break through, they actually had no other choice.

If we don't leave tonight, it will be even harder to leave later.

However, You Zhenbang has to turn the corner himself.

As time went on, the 67th Brigade gradually entered the encirclement of the 201st Regiment.

Due to the terrain, there are no mountains available here.

Li Chishui positioned his troops directly on both sides of the road, with the front line of the troops more than 100 meters away from the road.

The 1st Company, responsible for locking the guns, saw the truck in front of them approaching and immediately picked up the rocket launcher.

"Boom!" "Boom!"

Two rockets hit the truck squarely.

"Da da da" "Da da da".
The explosion was followed by a barrage of fire.

"Enemy attack!"

"Defend in place!"

"Machine gunners, suppressive fire!"

"Drag the wounded to the back!"

The officers at the grassroots level of the Guo army reacted quickly, immediately organizing defenses on the spot and then awaiting the latest instructions from their superiors.

Yu Zhenbang, who jumped out of the jeep and huddled in the ditch, felt very heavy-hearted.

"Damn it! The G army actually had an ambush!"

Just as You Zhenbang was observing the battlefield situation, Xiang Zhiqiang ran over from the front.

"Commander, the G Army's firepower is quite strong, and the vanguard is retreating!"

"I've seen it. Order the troops to form a ring defense and repair the fortifications!"

"In addition, you should immediately dispatch multiple reconnaissance teams, one to conduct reconnaissance towards Jining, and another to conduct reconnaissance in all directions."

"I need to know the specific details about the G Army!"

Although judging from the enemy's firepower, the G army was at most a regiment, You Zhenbang was not careless at all.

The intelligence brought back by the reconnaissance troops will directly determine the next move of the 67th Brigade.

"Yes!" Xiang Zhiqiang bowed and ran out.

As the troops began to tighten their defensive lines, You Zhenbang turned to look at the communications soldier beside him.

"Go tell the artillery battalion to aim at the G army's firing positions and fire hard!"

"Don't worry about wasting shells!"

"They have only one mission: to suppress the G army's firepower!"

The 67th Brigade was equipped with American-made M1 75mm mountain guns, which could be hidden in ditches and fired using reduced propellant and high elevation angles.

This is a capability that Japanese mountain guns lack, as they all use fixed propellant charges.

"Yes!"

The communications soldier ran along the ditch to the rear to find the mountain artillery battalion.

A dozen minutes later, the dispersed mountain artillery battalion, which had set up positions, began firing shells continuously.

After being attacked, the heavy machine guns of the 201st Regiment immediately moved along the communication trenches that had been built in advance.

At the same time, the mortars and infantry guns of the 201st Regiment began to fight back continuously.

The machine gun fire from both sides gave way to the main character, and various types of artillery began to engage in a chaotic battle.

Within this small area, the sound of artillery fire filled the air.

(End of this chapter)