Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 395 In the blink of an eye, the striker became the defender.

Seeing Wang Zanchen rush into the command post, Sun Wanjiu immediately spoke:
"Zanchen, the situation at Sandaoji is not good. We may not have any reinforcements."

"What? Wasn't the Three Ridges only occupied by one regiment of the G Army? The 101st Division couldn't even defeat a single regiment of the Communist Army?"

Wang Zanchen's eyes widened in disbelief.

The 101st Division is the Deputy Commander's elite force, and they couldn't even take down a regiment?

The 101st Division has three fully staffed regiments, and it is also reinforced with a mountain artillery battalion, bringing its total strength to more than 10,000 men.

"Although I don't know why, we just didn't manage to take it down," Sun Wanjiu said with some helplessness.

Nobody knows how the 101st Division fought that battle.

In fact, Sun Wanjiu misunderstood the 101st Division. Guo Xiushan fought fiercely to save the Provisional 3rd Army and organized multiple charges.

However, the 204th Regiment, by utilizing the defenses of Sandao Ridge, prevented the 101st Division from making any progress.

Wang Zanchen, realizing what was happening, looked quite grim.

"Commander, if the 101st Division fails to recapture Sandaoji, the 3rd Provisional Army will be in a very bad situation."

Their retreat was cut off, and reinforcements couldn't get through.

If the soldiers below find out, their morale will definitely plummet.

“That’s why I called you here,” Sun Wanjiu said softly.

Hearing Sun Wanjiu being so cautious, Wang Zanchen immediately went over to him.

"Commander, what do you mean?"

"I plan to lead the military's special operations battalion and command post, leave Zhuozi Mountain from the west, then detour through the mountains and return directly to Jiuyuan!"

After hearing Sun Wanjiu's words, Wang Zanchen looked at Sun Wanjiu in disbelief.

He never expected Sun Wanjiu to mean that.

If they just run away like that, the Provisional 3rd Army will be finished, and Sun Wanjiu won't have an easy time either.

Looking into Wang Zanchen's eyes, Sun Wanjiu immediately understood his thoughts.

“We still have the 11th Division in Jiuyuan. As long as we can retreat, our lives should be safe,” Sun Wanjiu said.

Although the Provisional 3rd Army was under the jurisdiction of the 12th War Zone, its fate was not decided by the deputy commander, but by the Chairman.

Sun Wanjiu was confident that the Chairman would not take his life; otherwise, the 3rd Provisional Army would not necessarily be under anyone's control.

Wang Zanchen still hesitated.

He felt a pang of reluctance to abandon the army; these were his brothers.

"Zanchen, I only told you about this. The original plan was to leave Zhu Dachun to guard Zhuozi Mountain."

“If you are unwilling to retreat, I can take Zhu Dachun with me, and you can stay behind to guard Zhuozi Mountain.”

Upon hearing Sun Wanjiu's words, Wang Zanchen's unspoken thoughts changed immediately after a slight pause in his mouth.

"Commander, I am definitely of one mind with you."

"I was just thinking, should we transfer some elite officers and veterans from the 10th Division?"

"If the Provisional 3rd Army is rebuilt, we will have key personnel."

“Yes, you’re right.” Sun Wanjiu nodded.

After withdrawing to Jiuyuan, the Provisional 3rd Army will definitely need to recruit new soldiers. If there are officers and veterans, the combat effectiveness can be formed more quickly.

"Do as you say, transfer some of the elite troops with us."

"But make sure the news doesn't leak out," Sun Wanjiu instructed.

If the news leaks out, the 3rd Provisional Army will collapse before they can retreat.

"Don't worry, I already have a solution."

"Did you all understand what I said? Who is willing to join the suicide squad?" Wang Zanchen shouted from the high platform.

"Commander! It's not that the brothers are afraid to die, but we have our own positions. What kind of nonsense is it to go and fight for the 17th Division?"

“That’s right, Commander. If the G army attacks our position, the brothers will not hesitate to die.”

"But going to the 17th Division's position would probably be a thankless task."

Hearing the cacophony of voices below, Wang Zanchen shouted again:

“We are brother units with the 17th Division. If the 17th Division’s position is breached, how can our 10th Division possibly hold its position?!”

"Helping the 17th Division is helping yourself!"

"My mind is made up. Those who are willing to go, step forward!"

Wang Zanchen's reason was that the 17th Division's position was in imminent danger, and he wanted to organize a suicide squad to help the 17th Division.

In the Kuomintang army, whenever the topic of suicide squads came up, there was no such thing as an ordinary soldier.

Those who dared to join the suicide squad were either officers or elite soldiers.

These people are his trump cards.

After hearing Wang Zanchen's words, the people below discussed it for a while.

But some people still stepped forward, and those who were the first to step forward were all Wang Zanchen's confidants.

With someone taking the lead, more and more people are willing to participate.
Half an hour later, Wang Zanchen arrived at the West Gate with a suicide squad of nearly two hundred men.

This surprised the people who followed.

The West Gate is the position of the 10th Division. Wasn't it supposed to be fighting for the 17th Division?

When the moment came, Wang Zanchen offered no explanation whatsoever.

A few minutes later, Sun Wanjiu arrived at the West Gate with his staff and special operations battalion.

"go!"

The group opened the west gate and disappeared into the darkness.

The suicide squad members then realized what was going on.

However, since the moment has come, even if some people feel that deserting at the last minute is extremely shameful, there is no room for regret.

West Gate was not the main direction of G Army's attack.

Moreover, the frontline KMT troops were also confronting the KMT forces in the Fuzhuang area.

Therefore, Sun Wanjiu's breakout did not cause much of a commotion. If a few soldiers had seen him, they would have simply taken him away; it wouldn't have made a difference if a couple more people were involved.

After Sun Wanjiu led his troops to quietly withdraw from the battlefield, they quickly detoured westward.

They ran so far and fast that they didn't even glance at Suicheng.

A few days later, Sun Wanjiu went from being Fu Yi's striker to a defender.

He led his team directly to Jiuyuan.

Of course, after leaving Zhuozishan, Sun Wanjiu also sent a telegram to Zhu Dachun.

"What the hell? The military headquarters is gone?"

Because the phone call couldn't get through, Zhu Dachun sent out a communications soldier.

The first thing the communications soldier said when he returned left him completely stunned.

“Commander, it’s absolutely true!” the communications soldier explained.

"When I arrived at the military headquarters, there were only two people left standing guard. There was no one else inside, and the floor was littered with documents!"

Zhu Dachun paced anxiously back and forth in the command post.

"Damn, what's going on?" He sensed something was happening, but he didn't know why.

Just as Zhu Dachun was pacing around inside the command post, Chief of Staff Chai Qihong rushed in.

"Commander! Something terrible has happened! The army headquarters and the 10th Division headquarters have broken through!"

As he spoke, Chai Qihong handed the telegram to Zhu Dachun.

Upon hearing Chai Qihong's words, Zhu Dachun trembled; now he understood what was going on.

After glancing at the telegram, Zhu Dachun crumpled it into a ball and angrily threw it on the ground.

"Damn it! You beast, you beast!"

If you're going to leave, why don't you take me with you?
I also handed over the defense of Zhuozishan to the 17th Division, and the 10th Division was also placed under my command.

Besides me, is there anyone else here?

"Commander, what should we do now?" Chai Qihong asked with a mournful face.

"Send a telegram to Commander Fu immediately, explaining the situation!" Zhu Dachun said urgently.

"The 17th and 10th Divisions shall immediately retreat into Zhuozishan City, defend the city, and await rescue!"

Zhu Dachun did not believe that Commander Fu would directly abandon the 17th and 10th Divisions.

"Yes!" Chai Qihong hurriedly ran off to send the message.

Upon receiving Zhu Dachun's telegram, Fu Yi's forehead veins bulged.

Although these two divisions were not his direct subordinates, they were still the main forces of the Twelfth War Zone. Were they just going to abandon them like that?!
"Contact Sun Wanjiu immediately!" Fu Yi roared.

However, to Fu Yi's surprise, the radio could not contact the 3rd Provisional Army at all, and even the 10th Division could not be contacted.

"Damn it!"

Fu Yi is now starting to regret it.

Why bother with an ambush? It would have been better to just retreat to Suicheng in the first place.

With 100,000 troops at their disposal, the G army would absolutely not dare to easily attack Suicheng and Jiuyuan.

"Sir, I'm afraid we can't hold onto Zhuozi Mountain anymore," Deng Yu said from the side.

To save Zhuozishan, we have to risk the 35th Army.

But if something happens to the 35th Army, the 12th War Zone will have no power to resist.

"That's two divisions, after all," Fu Yi sighed.

Fu Yi certainly knew the importance of cutting losses in time, but making this decision was not so easy.

"Sir, as long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood to burn."

"As long as we can hold onto Suicheng and Jiuyuan, we'll still have a chance to make a comeback," Deng Yu said.

Now that the Kuomintang and the Communist Party have broken out into a full-scale conflict, the Communist army cannot keep its main forces in Suiyuan for an extended period of time.

If we just postpone it, we'll find other opportunities sooner or later.

“You’re right!” Fu Yi nodded, having made up his mind.

“Send a telegram to Zhuozishan, saying that I have dispatched the main force of the 35th Army, which is currently advancing eastward with all its might.”

"After dawn, there will be aircraft to support the Table Mountain battlefield and help them withstand the G army's attack."

Even if we have to give up the 10th and 17th Divisions, we can't just hand them over to the G Army.

Let them use their last bit of energy to inflict a little more damage on the G army; that would be good.

"I'm going right now!"

"That's great! That's great! Commander Fu hasn't given up on us!" Zhu Dachun was overjoyed as he looked at the telegram.

Why can't I be the chief of the ringmaster?

"Chief of staff, spread this message immediately, let the brothers know that Commander Fu has not abandoned us!"

Zhu Dachun handed the telegram to Chai Qihong, who was standing next to him.

"yes!".
The originally uneasy soldiers of the KMT army finally regained some morale after learning that the rescue was on its way.

"Is this true? Or is the commander lying to us?"

"It can't be fake. A friend of mine from my hometown is a communications soldier in the division headquarters. He saw the deputy commander's telegram with his own eyes."

"That's great! Commander Fu didn't give up on us!"

Upon learning that the troops' morale had recovered, Zhu Dachun breathed a sigh of relief.

If morale had remained low like before, the G army would probably have been able to enter the city very quickly.

On the outer positions, although the Kuomintang army chose to withdraw, they laid many landmines to delay the Kuomintang army's attack.

Therefore, before the general offensive, the engineers must first clear the landmines.

However, because the Kuomintang army retreated in a hurry, they did not lay many landmines.

By 3 a.m., the troops had advanced to a position 300 to 400 meters from the city wall.

(End of this chapter)