Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 415 All Under My Command

"The situation is now basically clear."

At the forward command post of Team 4, Chu Yunfei held a short meeting.

"Based on my observation, the enemy's firepower configuration is very reasonable, and we have basically no loopholes to exploit in this regard."

"However, I took the opportunity to take a look when the artillery regiment was firing illumination rounds and doing test firings and calibrations."

"Perhaps because of time constraints, the enemy only erected one barbed wire fence at this location."

Chu Yunfei drew a mark on the map at the northeast corner of Fengzhen, slightly to the east.

"This is our breakthrough point!" Chu Yunfei affirmed.

For an attacking force, a single barbed wire fence and a whole area of ​​barbed wire fence are completely different concepts.

Chu Yunfei glanced around and then looked at the commander of the 210th Regiment.

"Ye Zhifei, can your team achieve a breakthrough?"

"I guarantee I'll complete the mission!" Ye Zhifei stood up and said.

"Very good. After the assault team opens the breach, the 210th Regiment will immediately advance, followed closely by the 212th Regiment."

"If we can break into Fengzhen, we'll have won half the battle!"

"Go and get ready!"

"yes!".
Upon returning to the regimental headquarters, Ye Zhifei immediately summoned the most elite 3rd Company.

Most of the soldiers in Team 4 were former soldiers of the Jin-Sui Army or the Guo Army who had defected.

However, in order to improve the combat effectiveness of Team 4, Chen Chengxing also assigned several hundred elite veterans to Team 4.

Ye Zhifei, a veteran of the 210th Regiment, was concentrated in the 3rd Company.

Therefore, the 3rd Company has always served as the spearhead company, and this time was no exception.

"Company Commander, the enemy we are facing this time is different from the previous ones; it is the elite main force of the Kuomintang army."

"I only have one question for you: can you open the passage into the village?" Ye Zhifei asked.

"Commander, I don't like what you're saying! Is there any opponent our old 3rd Company is afraid of?"

"Just tell us, where to attack? When to attack? As for the rest, just leave it to our 3rd Company!"

The 3rd Company Commander was very confident.

The soldiers of the 3rd Company were not newcomers; they were all veterans of the main infantry battalion of the New 2nd Regiment.

We've fought at least eighty or a hundred battles, and we've never encountered an opponent we couldn't defeat.

"very good!"

Ye Zhifei nodded and pointed to the Guo army's position in the darkness opposite, saying:

"Come and see there."

"According to the reconnaissance, the Guo army's position ahead was only covered by a barbed wire fence, and the captain decided to break through from there."

"The 3rd Company's mission is simple: blow up the roadblocks and open the passage into the village!"

After observing carefully through the binoculars, the company commander nodded: "No problem! Just you wait and see!"

"Very good!" Ye Zhifei glanced at his watch.

"It's 2:45 now. We'll launch the attack at 3:00. The artillery battery will provide you with fire support."

"Yes!"

After the 3rd Company Commander returned, he gave a brief pep talk, and then the 3rd Company quietly began to move forward.

At three o'clock sharp, the various mortars and mountain guns, which had been silent for some time, opened fire again.

"Go!" the 3rd Company Commander shouted to the platoon leader next to him.

As the vanguard of the elite company, the platoon leader immediately led about ten men out.

Their mission was to blow up the roadblocks.

"The G army is coming up!" shouted the KMT observation post.

"Fire! Fire!"

The KMT troops defending the position immediately poked their heads out and opened fire fiercely.

However, even heavy machine gun fire is not very effective against the spearhead team that coordinates and provides cover for each other.

They could already determine the approximate impact point of the enemy's machine gun by sound.

As long as the gun is pointed at them, they will not move an inch.

But as soon as the gun barrel changes target, they can leap five or six meters in a second.

Under the cover of fire from the artillery company's six infantry guns, the spearhead team quickly advanced to the roadblock.

Next came the demolition team's demolition.

Upon seeing the passage into the village open, the 3rd Company immediately rushed in.

Immediately afterwards, the second team, which was prepared in advance, also quickly followed.

"Brigadier! The G Army has broken in!" the chief of staff said urgently, hanging up the phone.

According to reports from the front lines, four or five hundred G troops have already entered Fengzhen.

Moreover, as the vanguard advanced, more and more troops entered.

"Damn it! It's that same two again! They're like a leech!" Yang Buyuan roared.

He's already given up his vanguard position, why is he still chasing after me? What grudge do we have against each other?!
"Tell the 32nd Regiment to drive the G Army out at any cost!" Yang Buyuan ordered.

Faced with the G army that had already stormed into the town, the heavy artillery of the entire 11th Brigade was unusable.

Whether the shot hit the KMT army or the KMT army, no one could say for sure.

Therefore, the 32nd Regiment could only rely on the firepower advantage of its American-equipped weapons to hold out.

"yes!".
Faced with the pressure from the Guo army, the troops that had already broken through did not simply defend.

Instead, they would occasionally launch a counter-offensive.

Under the combined attack from both inside and outside, even as the 32nd Regiment kept sending people in, the artillery of the 11th Division also laid a fire blockade on the outskirts of the town.

However, before dawn, Fengzhen was breached by the combined attack from both inside and outside the two forces.

More and more soldiers rushed into Fengzhen.

Although the Kuomintang's aircraft were not very effective in urban warfare.

However, the large number of submachine guns in the hands of the Kuomintang army did give them a significant advantage in urban warfare.

A sudden burst of fire could severely damage an entire squad.

The street fighting in Fengzhen began at sunrise, but it didn't end until the sun was about to set.

However, apart from a few scattered soldiers scattered here and there, most of the enemy troops had been squeezed into the ancestral hall in the southwest corner of the village and several large houses around it.

"Commander, Brigade Commander Yang has sent a telegram."

"What's the situation with the 11th Brigade?" Hu Ziqi asked.

"Their condition is not good, and Brigade Commander Yang requested permission to break out under the cover of aircraft."

"Break through?" Hu Ziqi pondered carefully.

After a few minutes, Hu Ziqi made up his mind.

"The 11th Brigade's request to break out is approved!"

Hu Ziqi was well aware of the 11th Brigade's predicament; a direct confrontation would only result in their annihilation. Moreover, the G Army currently had tens of thousands of troops stationed on the flank of Zhangjiaying.

This G army force was like a sword hanging over our heads; if the 11th Division dared to rashly provide support, the casualties might be even greater.

Rather than risking the division headquarters, it would be better to let the entire 11th Brigade break through as soon as possible.

At least it's still daytime, so the planes can still provide support.

Yang Buyuan breathed a sigh of relief after receiving the telegram.

"Men! Pass on my order: remove the breechblock, smash the parts, and destroy everything that cannot be taken away."

At this point, Yang Buyuan suddenly stopped, and after a moment, continued:
"Execute all the seriously wounded!"

The chief of staff of the 11th Brigade did not speak, but simply turned and walked out.

A dozen minutes later, nine planes flew over, and the entire 11th Brigade began its breakout.

Inside the temporary command post, Chen Chengxing, watching the planes circling overhead, immediately gave the order:
"The enemy is about to break out. Immediately call the G column and have them cooperate with the 3rd squad to intercept and annihilate the enemy in motion!"

"yes!".
When the 11th Brigade abandoned its fortifications and began to break out, even with air cover, the offensive and defensive positions changed instantly.

Taking advantage of the various pits and gullies in the terrain, the Second Detachment and the G Column continuously annihilated the enemy.

When the 11th Brigade broke through to Zhangjiaying and joined up with the headquarters of the 11th Division.

The brigade, originally composed of 7,000 men, was reduced to less than 1,000.

"In the Battle of Fengzhen, 6,000 enemy soldiers were killed, while 4,500 were wounded or killed."

"This battle was like a skinny dog ​​trying to vomit hard."

Back at headquarters, General Liu felt a pang of heartache upon receiving the battle report.

He has never admired battles that result in heavy losses for both sides.

But this time, it turned out to be a case of inflicting a thousand wounds on the enemy while suffering eight hundred wounds on oneself.

"As one of the Kuomintang's five elite units, the 11th Division's combat strength should not be underestimated," the political commissar said.

If it weren't for the two units changing their objectives, the G column alone would have had a hard time taking down the entire 11th Brigade.

Of the 4,500 casualties, 2,500 were G-force casualties.

"According to intelligence, although the 11th Division showed signs of retreating, the 5th Corps still seriously threatened our flanks, and the other divisions also showed signs of aggression."

"I think it would be better for the main force to retreat and rest."

"That's what I think too," Mr. Liu nodded.

Although the troops have not lost their combat effectiveness, it is disadvantageous for the G Army to engage in a head-on confrontation with the 11th Division and the 5th Army.

"Order! Abandon Lincheng and Leize! All units retreat at full speed!"

"Let's dump the burden on Chiang Kai-shek!"

The outcome of a war is not determined by the number of cities captured.

What truly determines victory or defeat is the preservation or loss of the main force.

If you save people but lose land, you can still get the land back; but if you save land but lose people, you will lose both people and land.

In the past two or three months, they have used more than a dozen empty cities to wipe out tens of thousands of Guo army soldiers, and the results have been considerable.

Moreover, by shifting the burden to the Nationalist army, the more burdens the Nationalist army carries, the more dispersed its forces become, which is more advantageous to the Nationalist army.

"Has the G army already moved?"

Upon hearing the report, Chiang Kai-shek gestured with his finger on the map.

"A full hundred li!" Chiang Kai-shek said confidently.
"This must be because the G army is exhausted from continuous fighting and therefore afraid to fight again!"

He had no choice but to be careful. Although the battle resulted in thousands of casualties, several cities had been captured.

The Guo army won big.

Now that the G army has retreated out of fear, it is time for them to pursue with all their might.

"Give me the order!
The reorganized 21st, 11th, 75th, and 88th Divisions and the Fifth Army occupied Lincheng, Jiaxiang, and Caozhou;
The reorganized 55th and 68th Divisions occupied Leize;
The reorganized 47th and 41st Divisions departed from Baima County and occupied Diqiu!

Chiang Kai-shek sent orders directly to each division, trying to force the Chinese army to continue the decisive battle.

(As shown in the picture)
"A full-scale offensive? What is Chairman Chang planning?"

Not long ago, the 68th Division was beaten by the G Army on the Longhai Railway, and it still suffers some aftereffects.

Liu Zitao, commander of the 68th Division, had no intention of pursuing the G Army.

"The 11th Reorganized Division and the 5th Army have now seized Lincheng, Jiaxiang, Wan'an and other places."

"The Chairman is probably blinded by a few cities," Chief of Staff Qi Yaojie speculated.

"Why don't they know when to stop? Do they think the G army is so easy to mess with?"

"If we really push them to the limit, no one can imagine what the G army might do!" Liu Zitao said helplessly.

"Heh. Commander, guess why Chairman Chiang Kai-shek ordered the entire 68th Division to march north in a massive advance?" Qi Yaojie sneered.

"Even if the entire 68th Division were annihilated, Chairman Chiang wouldn't even flinch."

The 68th Division was not one of Chairman Liu's confidants.

"."

Liu Zitao remained silent; how could he not know such a thing?

After a few minutes of silence in the office, Liu Zitao finally gave the order:
"Send a message to the 119th Brigade and tell them to set off first!"

Chiang Kai-shek's orders could not be disobeyed, but sending a brigade as a token gesture would suffice.

If something really happens, it's just a brigade, which Liu Zitao can accept.

After receiving the order, the 119th Brigade cursed incessantly, but had no choice but to set off as ordered.

However, the 119th Brigade's speed along the way was frighteningly slow.

Two days later, Chiang Kai-shek sent a telegram.

"Brigade Commander, it's a telegram from the Chairman," reported Song Yongqiang, Chief of Staff of the 119th Brigade.

"What did you say?" Liu Guangxin asked.

"The telegram said that several Americans were passing through Rizer and found the place very empty, with no Chinese troops in sight."

The Chairman ordered us to accelerate our advance and immediately occupy Leize.

"Emptiness? Or is that what the Americans are saying?" Liu Guangxin immediately perked up.

After thinking for a moment, Liu Guangxin decided to speed things up.

However, as a very close officer of Chiang Kai-shek, he did not dare to completely believe what was said in the telegram.

"Chief of staff, dispatch the brigade's reconnaissance team. They will change into different clothes and, under the pretext of surveying the Yellow River, travel in jeeps to conduct a thorough reconnaissance of the terrain and roads around Leize."

If you wear the Kuomintang uniform, you might run into Kuomintang spies.

But the Yellow River Group wouldn't attract any attention now.

After all, the two sides are negotiating the return of the Yellow River to its original course.

A few hours later, the reconnaissance team sent back a telegram.

"Commander, that's great! We haven't found any trace of the G Army in the Raize area!"

"Good! Good! Good!" Liu Guangxin exclaimed excitedly.

"Pass on my order! Full speed ahead!"

(End of this chapter)