Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 429 Chairman, save me!

Dai Zhiqi waited at Renhewei from dusk till dawn.

What they received, however, was a series of reports of defeats at the front.

As for reinforcements from the 11th Division, there wasn't a single one.

Dai Zhiqi was pacing anxiously at the division headquarters, like an ant on a hot pan.

"That bastard Hu Ziqi, where the hell are the reinforcements? Are we supposed to raise them on the spot?!" Dai Zhiqi cursed.

"Commander, I don't think we can rely on Hu Ziqi. Even Director Wu is probably out of luck," said the chief of staff beside him.

Dai Zhiqi not only asked Hu Ziqi for help, but also asked Wu Qingyun for help in the middle of the night.

However, Wu Qingyun's answer was almost identical to Hu Ziqi's.

They all told him to hold on and that reinforcements would be sent immediately.

But even now, he hasn't seen a single soldier.

"Damn it! I think the biggest crisis for the 69th Division isn't the G Army at all! It's these superiors, these colleagues!" Dai Zhiqi roared.

The fate of the 69th Division is not yet in the hands of the G Army, but in the hands of Wu Qingyun and Hu Ziqi.

At such a critical moment, they remained inactive and even took advantage of the situation.

"We can't wait any longer!" Dai Zhiqi gritted his teeth and ordered, "Tell all units to launch a full-scale counterattack against the G Army!"

"We must find a way to break through!"

Dai Zhiqi wasn't sure if he could open the passage, but he wasn't going to just sit and wait for his fate.

"yes!".
Under the cover of aircraft, the 69th Division launched a frenzied attack.

But as time went on, Dai Zhiqi became increasingly desperate.

The sounds of gunfire outside intensified, and the bombardment from planes and artillery never ceased, but the G army's position on the opposite side remained as solid as a rock.

Even without mentioning the 3rd and 60th Reserve Brigades, the 267th Regiment and the 41st Brigade, with the support of the division's artillery battalion, failed to break through the G Army's defenses despite their combined north-south offensive.

The two sides were less than 3 kilometers apart, but they were unable to meet up.

By 11 a.m., Dai Zhiqi was completely desperate and helpless.

The 69th Division's peak had passed, and morale was gradually declining.

From now on, every minute will be worse than the last.

In the operations room, looking at the reports from various departments, Dai Zhiqi despairingly pulled out his pistol.

Just as Dai Zhiqi pointed the pistol at his temple, preparing to pull the trigger, the chief of staff next to him snatched the gun away.

"Commander! You can't do this! How can you do this to Chairman Chiang?!"

"How about we send a telegram to the Chairman first? If all else fails, I'll die with you, brother!"

Dai Zhiqi sat there in despair, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Okay, send a telegram to the Chairman:"

Our unit is now surrounded by the main force of the G army, and last night we called for help from Wu Qingyun and Hu Ziqi.

But the two men talked the talk but did nothing; to this day, not a single soldier has been seen!
Now, I implore the principal to immediately dispatch troops or urge Hu Ziqi's forces to provide assistance, to avert this perilous and dire situation!
Student Dai Zhiqi.

Upon seeing Dai Zhiqi's telegram requesting assistance, Chang Ruiyuan slammed his fist on the table again.

He then picked up the phone and called Chen Chengbo.

"Niang Xipi!"

"You give me the order to Hu Ziqi to immediately send troops to relieve the siege! If he fails to rescue Dai Zhiqi, he will bring me his head!"

The 69th Division was formed from the Youth Army and belonged to the staunch loyalists cultivated by Chang Ruiyuan's eldest son.

Although Dai Zhiqi was not very capable, he was extremely loyal and was a favorite of Chang Ruiyuan and his son.

Hearing Chang Ruiyuan's furious outburst, Chen Chengbo dared not say anything more and immediately issued the order to the 11th Division.

Looking at the telegram in his hand, Hu Ziqi felt somewhat helpless.

“Sigh, Dai Zhiqi has run away a hundred and eight thousand miles away. Sending the 11th Division to rescue him is just like walking into an encirclement.”

At this time, the entire force of the 11th Division had been reduced to two major strongholds: Jiangtouzhuang and Caojiaji.

With his well-developed fortifications, Hu Ziqi was confident that he could confront the entire Jiangsu army.

But in a field battle, Hu Ziqi really wouldn't dare to say he could take on the entire Jiangsu G Army single-handedly.

"Commander, this is the Chairman's order, we can't disobey it," Xiao Rui said, a bit of a headache.

“I know that.” Hu Ziqi walked up to the map and pointed to the eastern foot of Mount Santai.

"We can't leave them unrestrained, but we can't just blindly push them to their deaths. I've decided to save the 3rd Reserve Brigade first!"

Although the 3rd Reserve Brigade was surrounded by the largest number of G troops, it was the closest to the 11th Division.

If we keep pushing up the road to Zhanglin Village, we can rescue them.

As for the rest, that depends on the G army.

If the G Army is willing to abandon the siege of Renhewei to defend the 11th Division, the 69th Division can withdraw on its own.

If the G Army is determined, then it depends on whether the 69th Division can act; the entire 11th Division is powerless to do anything about it.

Moreover, as long as the 3rd Reserve Brigade is rescued, it will be a satisfactory explanation to the Chairman.

At 2 p.m., under the cover of aircraft and artillery, the 11th and 18th Brigades launched an attack on the Santai Mountain line.

Meanwhile, the 3rd Reserve Brigade, having received the telegram, also began attempting to break out to the south.

Team 3 was attacked from both the north and south by three brigades.

The artillery duel between the two sides began as soon as the battle started, and the sound of cannons was deafening in this small area.

Looking at the G army's position that stood firm amidst the artillery fire, Hu Ziqi frowned deeply.

"No! This isn't the G Army from East China!"

"Why does this feel a bit like the Second Detachment of the G Army that we encountered in Fengzhen?"

As one of the five elite troops of the Kuomintang army, Hu Ziqi fought in many places and was not only extremely familiar with the situation of the Kuomintang army, but also had a very good grasp of it. There were absolutely no troops with such strong firepower in the previous central Jiangsu and southern Shandong regions.

"Ask the front lines which unit this is!" Hu Ziqi turned and ordered.

"Yes!" The staff officer next to him quickly made a call to the front line.

"Hey! This is the division headquarters. The division commander is asking you, what's the unit number of this group of G troops?!"

"You don't know? You've been fighting for hours and you don't even know who the enemy is?!"

"okay, I get it!"

After hanging up the phone, the operations staff immediately reported: "Commander, the front line reports that they haven't captured a single G Army soldier alive yet, not even a wounded."

"Let them think of another way!" Hu Ziqi ordered.

G soldiers had neither soldier identification nor unit markings.

To find out the enemy's unit number, you either need to capture prisoners or find some documents that can identify them.

"In addition, call the 118th Brigade and order them to send a regiment to flank the G army from the side."

Hu Ziqi knew that if the Second Brigade really arrived, the 11th and 18th Brigades alone would have a real problem taking over the Santai Mountain area in a short time.

The fate of the 69th Reorganized Division rested on this one afternoon. By evening, whether the 69th Division lived or died would no longer be up to the 11th Reorganized Division.

"yes!".
At 4 p.m., the 352nd Regiment of the 118th Brigade began to launch a pincer attack on Ueno.

Chen Chengxing immediately dispatched the 204th Regiment, while at the same time, the 206th Regiment launched an attack on the 3rd Reserve Brigade in Xiaodian.

Under the strong offensive of the 206th Brigade, the 3rd Reserve Brigade was forced to stop its offensive and switch to full defense.

"The fate of the 3rd Reserve Brigade now depends on the 11th Division."

Luo Jingde, the brigade commander of the 3rd Reserve Brigade, patted the dirt that had been shaken off his head by the shelling and looked at the battlefield not far away.

It was a battle that would determine the fate of the 3rd Reserve Brigade, yet the 3rd Reserve Brigade had no say whatsoever.

"Order the artillery to provide artillery support to the front lines," Luo Jingde ordered, turning his head.

"Commander, which line should we shell?"

"Nonsense, of course it's the G army in the northeast!"
"What role can our few mountain guns play in the southern battlefield?"

Although Luo Jingde was unwilling to admit it, the firepower of the 3rd Reserve Brigade was indeed insufficient to get involved.

"yes!".
With the withdrawal of the 3rd Reserve Brigade, the 206th Regiment also immediately withdrew from the battle, while the entire 60th Brigade was still eyeing the area to the north of Yewei.

At this moment, Cai Lin and Shang Numa became the most intense battleground.

All eyes were on the two battlefields.

The outcome of these two battles will directly determine the fate of the 69th Division.

Looking at the battlefield, which was stalemate but made no progress, Hu Ziqi thought for a long time and decided to change his tactics.

"Pass on my order: move all available artillery to the front lines!"

"Huh? The front line? Pushing the artillery forward would be too dangerous!" the artillery staff officer beside him said urgently.

The artillery of the 11th Division remained at the rear, using its range advantage to strike the G Army's positions.

If they reach the front lines, the G army's 82mm mortars could threaten the safety of the artillery positions.

"Stop talking nonsense! Just push forward!"

"All artillery, fire all your shells at the G Army's Fengshan position!" Hu Ziqi ordered.

"Fengshan? Commander, what brings you here?"

Hu Ziqi's order left everyone bewildered.

Fengshan is located far behind the G army's rear. Why would we attack there?
The G army is known for its poverty; they definitely don't have any supply depots.

"It's already late afternoon. Even if we can take down Cai Lin, there's still Shen Zhuang and Zhang Lin behind us. If we fight our way through step by step, the 69th Division will probably be wiped out."

"Concentrate all artillery fire on Fengshan, then let the 3rd Reserve Brigade occupy the high ground of Fengshan, and we will have the advantage on the battlefield," Hu Ziqi explained.

If the 3rd Reserve Brigade can capture Fengshan, the battlefield will be revitalized.

If the 3rd Reserve Brigade turns the tide and goes from being surrounded to being surrounded again, they might be able to wipe out this super-powerful G Army.

Moreover, even if they cannot be wiped out, the 3rd Reserve Brigade can still attack the G Army on the south bank of the Yi River from the flank.

At that time, the 3rd and 60th brigades can cross the Yi River and break out of the encirclement.

Retreat doesn't necessarily mean going back; sometimes, moving forward is actually retreating.

Following Hu Ziqi's order, the artillery battalions of the 11th Division were mobilized.

For a time, artillery vehicles and trucks from the 11th Division were constantly flowing on the highway.

半小时后，整11师各旅的36门75毫米山炮，和师属的12门105毫米榴弹炮被集中到了一起。

"fire!"

As the small flag was waved, 48 cannons began to bombard Fengshan.

More than a dozen planes also took off from Xiapi and joined the attack.

The extremely fierce artillery fire made the 203rd Regiment's position teeter on the brink of collapse.

Inside the 3rd Pre-Brigade Command Post in Xiaodian, Luo Jingde felt as if the entire Fengshan Mountain was trembling from the artillery fire.

"It's truly magnificent!" Luo Jingde exclaimed.

Although they are all from the same lineage, there are still some differences between the masters.

The entire 69th Division had only one American-made mountain artillery battalion, and the brigade's artillery battalion was equipped with a mix of mountain guns, infantry guns, and mortars, and even then, it only had two companies.

"Pass on my order: the artillery of the 3rd Reserve Brigade will also join in and give the G Army a boost!" Luo Jingde ordered.

"yes!".
Just as the 11th Division was fiercely attacking the Fengshan position, the 60th Brigade in Zhangzhuang, while holding off the attack from the 8th Division of East China to the north, organized a regiment to launch a fierce attack on Yewei.

They are preparing to establish communication with the 3rd Reserve Brigade.

(End of this chapter)