Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 435 I withdrew, but I didn't lose.

"Lin Zhifeng, you will lead the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 207th Regiment to outflank the northwest of Shunheji, set up a defensive line, and prepare to block enemy reinforcements."

"The 3rd Battalion of the 207th Regiment will maneuver to the west of Shunheji to prepare for a pincer attack on Shunheji."

"The rest of the troops, follow me and charge into Shunheji from the east gate."

"The heavy mortar company is responsible for the first round of fire!"

Because this was a surprise attack, and speed was required.

Therefore, in order to carry as many shells as possible, Qin Sheng only brought four mortars from one mortar company.

However, Qin Sheng felt that these four mortars were enough.

Half an hour later, Qin Sheng felt that the time was about right and immediately ordered the mortars to fire.

"boom!"

As a test shell hit the eastern gate of Shunheji, the four mortars began rapid firing.

"Boom!" "Boom!"
The makeshift field positions set up by the 192nd Brigade at the east gate of Shunheji were covered by artillery fire.

Fan Yifeng, the brigade commander of the 192nd Brigade, jumped up as soon as the first shell landed.

"What's going on? Where's the cannon firing?!"

"Commander! Something terrible has happened! The East Gate position has been subjected to heavy artillery fire from the G Army, and our men have suffered heavy casualties!"

"Reinforce the East Gate with a battalion of troops; we must hold the position no matter what!" Fan Yifeng urged.

"Chief of staff, immediately send a telegram to the 74th Division, saying that our unit has been ambushed by the main force of the G Army and requesting immediate support!"

"yes!".
While the 192nd Brigade was busy sending telegrams, the 209th Regiment had already launched an attack on the East Gate.

The 192nd Brigade was repeatedly defeated and forced to retreat.
"How could Shunheji have been attacked by the G Army?!" Upon receiving the telegram, Zhang Zhonglin quickly walked to the map.

"Has the Jiaoling Ferry received any reports of an attack?" Zhang Zhonglin asked.

“I’ve already contacted Jiaoling, and they haven’t been attacked,” Wei Zhenwen said immediately.

When Wei Zhenwen received the telegram from the 192nd Brigade requesting assistance, he immediately called Jiaoling.

"The fact that Jiaoling was not attacked means that the G army did not come from the ferry crossing."

"It seems to be an abandoned Yellow River that was crossed from the south."

"G Army has played a brilliant move," Zhang Zhonglin remarked with interest.

Zhang Zhonglin was certain that the person who made this move was definitely not the same person who had previously opposed him.

"Commander, Shunheji must not be allowed to be occupied by the G Army, otherwise it will pose a serious threat to our rear!" Wei Zhenwen said.

“I know that.” Although Zhang Zhonglin looked down on the 192nd Brigade, he knew that they couldn’t be allowed to die right now.

"Tell the 192nd Brigade to hold on, and also send an order to the 57th Brigade to send a regiment to support Shunheji."

Because it was nighttime and visibility was poor, Zhang Zhonglin dared not easily mobilize the armored battalion.

Otherwise, just a few dozen armored vehicles from an armored battalion would be enough to pose a deadly threat to the G army.

"yes!".
However, although Zhang Zhonglin responded in time, he still overestimated the 192nd Brigade.

Despite having nearly 5,000 men, the 192nd Brigade only has about 2,000 infantrymen left who are actually on the front lines of combat.

The reinforcements sent to the front line by Fan Yifeng were simply unable to withstand the fierce attack of the 209th Regiment.

As is well known, if anyone in the Guo army retreats, it immediately triggers a herd mentality.

After all, in Guo Jun's mind, if you run too slowly, you'll become someone else's scapegoat.

With the collapse of the front-line troops, the remaining non-infantry personnel of the 192nd Brigade fled in panic.

However, the frantic escape of nearly five thousand people also caused Qin Sheng's original plan to wipe out the enemy army to fall through.

The 3rd Battalion of the 207th Regiment, with its few hundred men, could not possibly feed so many fleeing soldiers.

Even with the 3rd Battalion firing wildly until their gun barrels were red-hot, they only managed to kill a little over a thousand men in coordination with the 209th Regiment.

The three or four thousand people who escaped from Shunheji did not hesitate at all and ran straight towards Qingjiang.

Seeing that the enemy showed no sign of turning back, Qin Sheng immediately ordered a halt to the pursuit and shifted to a defensive posture at Shunheji.

Their capture of Shunheji was like planting a thorn in the back of the 74th Reorganized Division, and the enemy would inevitably launch a counterattack.

"Captain, we have received a report from Team 3. They encountered the 192nd Brigade at Shunheji, but the 192nd Brigade has now suffered a complete defeat and appears to have retreated to Qingjiang."

"The 192nd Brigade withdrew to Shunheji? What was Zhang Zhonglin thinking?" Luo Ping was a little surprised.

Although the fighting during the day was intense, it shouldn't have rendered an entire brigade ineffective so quickly.

“I don’t think this has anything to do with Zhang Zhonglin,” Chen Chengxing said. “The infighting between different units in the Guo Army is something we can’t understand.”

"I think Zhang Zhonglin probably used the 192nd Brigade as cannon fodder today, and the 192nd Brigade couldn't take it and ran away."

"It's a pity that the 192nd Brigade didn't return to Jiaoling, but went to Shunheji instead, which exposed the total strength of the 3rd Company."

Having a few hundred enemy troops behind you and having several thousand enemy troops are two completely different situations.

Chen Chengxing didn't think Zhang Zhonglin would just leave Team 3 there unattended.

"Now that Team 3 has been exposed, it's time for us to proceed with the second step," Chen Chengqi said, standing up.
"Xu Wu, inform the other columns of the situation, and then the 1st, 2nd and 3rd teams will cooperate with the columns to carry out the operation."

"Team 1 will immediately capture the enemy's bridgehead at Wuzhuang; Team 2 will cooperate with B and J columns to attack the enemy forces at Daihe Town; Team 4 will cross the river at Xiaotang with K column and attack the flank of the enemy forces in the central route."

Before this counterattack, Chen Chengxing had already communicated with the commanders of each column and determined their respective action plans.

"Yes, sir!" Xu Wu walked to the table and picked up the phone. "Commander! Something terrible has happened! The G Army has launched a major counterattack. A battalion in Wuzhuang on the north bank has been completely annihilated, and the 58th Brigade has also suffered casualties, with a regiment killed or wounded!"

There was a hint of panic in Li Yunliang's eyes; the G army's counterattack had come too quickly.

"The G Army wants to devour my 74th Division! What a huge appetite they have!" Zhang Zhonglin said solemnly.

The loss of positions on the north bank of the Yellow River is one thing, but it won't be of much use to them in the upcoming standoff.

However, the 58th Brigade was completely different. Not to mention that the 58th Brigade was Zhang Zhonglin's own son.

The location of Daihe Town is very important. Once the 74th Division loses Daihe Town, the G Army can cross the river at any time to attack the rear flanks of the 51st and 58th Brigades.

There's even a possibility of a surprise attack on Qinggong Town. He hasn't forgotten that there's a G Army thorn in Qinggong Town's flank.

"Commander, the 74th Reorganized Division is not in good condition right now. I think it would be best to withdraw to Qingjiang to regroup and launch a new attack."

Wei Zhenwen once again suggested retreating.

In his view, there was no need to fight to the death with the G army here. Pulling back his fist was not an admission of defeat, but rather a preparation for a more powerful attack next time.

“We have to leave.” Zhang Zhonglin nodded.

He's arrogant, but not stupid.

The positions of the various brigades in the 74th Division are currently incorrect and will require time to be readjusted.

However, Zhang Zhonglin did not believe that the G Army would give him that time.

However, even if the 74th Division temporarily retreats, the initiative on the battlefield remains in its hands, and the 74th Division can fight back at any time.

"Yunliang, relay my order! The entire army is to retreat immediately!"

"yes!".
"Zhang Zhonglin ran fast enough." Chen Chengxing was somewhat disappointed as he looked at the reports from each team.

If the 74th Division chooses to fight back, after taking Daihe Town, the next step will be to encircle Qinggong Town.

“This is Chang Ruiyuan’s trump card. As the commander of this trump card, Zhang Zhonglin couldn’t have held this position if he didn’t have some real skills,” Luo Ping said with a smile.

He never expected to be able to swallow up the 74th Division this time.

"Forget it, let them go. The Second Branch should take a break too." Chen Chengxing put down the telegram.

Although the 74th Reorganized Division has now fled, the system side quest has not failed, and there will be another chance to meet Zhang Zhonglin in the future.

After Chen Chengxing sent the telegram to the field headquarters, the headquarters quickly issued an order.

Two columns remained in Andong to rest and reorganize, while monitoring the enemy forces at Qingjiang, while the remaining columns immediately headed north.

While the second force was resting and replenishing its troops on the spot, Zhang Zhonglin also conducted a serious review.

"Commander, we were about to take Andong, but we didn't expect the G army's reinforcements to arrive so quickly."

At the debriefing meeting, Li Yunliang immediately absolved the 74th Division of responsibility.

“Chen Chengxing’s speed is somewhat unusual. We must take this into account when making contingency plans in the future,” Zhang Zhonglin emphasized.

In this battle, the 74th Division had already secured victory.

No one expected that Chen Chengxing's second branch would suddenly appear so quickly.

This disrupted the 74th Division's rhythm, ultimately leading to a rapid deterioration in the battle situation.

As Zhang Zhonglin spoke, he opened a document next to him: "This is a telegram from the Pengcheng Pacification Headquarters."

"Commander Xue expressed satisfaction with our battle results. The reinforcements and supplies will arrive soon, and the 171st Division is marching towards Qingjiang."

"In the next battle, we will have more than 40,000 troops!"

As an elite unit, the 74th Division never needed Zhang Zhonglin to worry about replenishing its troops, so there was no need to forcibly recruit men to fill the gaps.

In this battle, the 74th Division suffered more than 6,000 casualties, and when combined with the casualties of the 192nd Brigade, the total number of casualties approached 10,000.

Although the exact number of G Army casualties is unknown, Zhang Zhonglin estimates it will not exceed seven thousand.

Of course, Zhang Zhonglin's telegram to Pengcheng and the Ministry of National Defense did not say that.

In his report, the G army suffered more than 30,000 casualties.

He didn't say what the remainder was, or whether it was positive or negative.

"Commander, according to intelligence, the G Army in Andong is showing signs of a large-scale northward relocation. It seems that only Chen Chengxing's troops are resting in the city," Wei Zhenwen said.

"I don't care about anyone else, you keep an eye on this second branch! I won't be satisfied until Chen Chengxing is wiped out!"

Speaking of Chen Chengxing, Zhang Zhonglin became somewhat angry again.

What a great situation! All that effort was wasted because of this damn second branch.

With so many people and such strong combat capabilities, what the hell do you call it a detachment!
Isn’t this bullying an honest person?

"Once the reinforcements arrive, the various units will quickly integrate, and in ten days, I will take Andong!"

Zhang Zhonglin slammed his fist heavily onto the map.

Previously, because the main force of the G army was concentrated in northern Jiangsu, the other troops made quite good progress.

With the complete annihilation of the 69th Reorganized Division and the subsequent withdrawal of the 74th Reorganized Division to Qingjiang, the remaining troops have come to an abrupt halt and have begun to shrink their defensive lines.

However, after withdrawing to Qingjiang, Zhang Zhonglin had already attended a meeting in Pengcheng and knew that the plan would soon be adjusted and the next step would be taken.

The 74th Division's mission was to take Andong first in the next operation and squeeze the G Army's operational space to the north.

(End of this chapter)