Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 443 Swift Leap? Whose Swift Leap?
"Captain, the reinforcements from the south have withdrawn. The field headquarters has ordered us to launch an attack tonight."

"I understand." Chen Chengxing nodded.

Reaching the doorway and looking at the weather outside, which had cleared up again, Chen Chengxing smiled and said:
"This rain is a good thing; even God is helping us."

This area is a plain, very flat at first glance, which is very suitable for the rapid movement of mechanized troops.

But just by looking at the place names, you'll know it's not that simple; these are either so-and-so ditch or so-and-so fishing ditch.

When it doesn't rain, the ground is indeed quite flat, but as soon as it rains, these ditches immediately turn into a swamp.

During the Battle of Taierzhuang, Japanese tanks were once stuck in this area and could not get out.

The tanks of the First Column, although they were light Stuarts, weighed over ten tons.

In this swamp, he was like a giant turtle trapped in the mud, unable to unleash his true potential.

According to intelligence, the remaining remnants of the 26th Division of the Kuomintang army have already rallied together with the First Rapid Column.

Therefore, this general offensive on Mazhuang involved not only two forces, but also the 8th Division and the 1st Division.

If Chen Chengxing wants to eat more meat, he has to be the first to storm into Mazhuang.

Just as Chen Chengxing was deciding which unit to assign to the assault mission, Li Chishui came in after reporting from outside.

"Captain, are we going to attack Mazhuang? My 201st Regiment is requesting to be on the assault mission!"

"You're quite clever, buddy," Chen Chengxing laughed.

"The rain has stopped, but judging from the weather, the temperature will probably drop soon. We need to take out the 26th Division and the First Rapid Column before it freezes."

"However, the 201st Regiment acted as the vanguard once when we attacked Bianzhuang. If we ask you to do it again this time, the other regiments might not agree."

"Captain, this vanguard assault mission is crucial to the entire army's offensive, so we can't just sit in a row. Our 201st Regiment has the advantage!" Li Chishui immediately explained.

He had already been considering the Mazhuang incident when he attacked Bianzhuang, and thus had made preparations in advance.

"Advantages? Tell me, what advantages does the 201st Regiment have?" Chen Chengxing asked with great interest as he leaned back in his chair.

"After defeating the 69th Division, our regiment was replenished with many soldiers who had defected. They were all from Shandong, and they were good at fighting and could endure hardship."

"And most importantly, there are two brothers in the first battalion, and they are from Mazhuang."

"While it was raining these past two days, they made a sand table, and cadres at all levels of the 201st Regiment have already conducted many simulations on the sand table."

"Hehe. You've done all the work ahead of time? Aren't you afraid the 201st Regiment won't get any assault missions?" Chen Chengxing laughed.

"Captain, who in our Second Regiment doesn't know that you prefer to fight well-prepared battles? Are you really going to leave the 201st Regiment, which has already completed all preparations, unused?"

"You little brat." Chen Chengxing pointed at Li Chishui with his finger, clearly referring to himself.

“The assault mission can be assigned to the 201st Regiment,” Chen Chengxing agreed.

"Thank you, Captain! Thank you, Captain!" Li Chishui's face beamed with joy.

He had organized numerous simulations; if he didn't get the surprise mission, he wouldn't be able to explain it to his comrades when he got back.

"Don't rush, let me make this clear upfront."

"Don't worry, Captain. If we fail to complete the mission, I'll offer my head in return!" Li Chishui patted his chest and guaranteed before Chen Chengxing could finish speaking.

"Go and get ready." Chen Chengxing waved his hand, somewhat speechless.

Who taught me all this? What use is this brain of mine?

When Li Chishui returned to the regimental headquarters from the command post, everyone's eyes immediately focused on him.

Li Chishui didn't keep them in suspense and said directly, "The captain has ordered that the 201st Regiment undertake the assault mission!"

"good!".
Everyone applauded.

"Don't be too happy yet. The other side is not an easy target. If you don't do a good job, you won't have another chance," Li Chishui said.

"Commander, don't worry about that. Now that the mission has been assigned, there's no such thing as not being able to complete it."

"It's just a few dozen tanks. I'll bite them with my teeth and make a couple of holes in them!"

"Stop talking nonsense, where are the Wang Guangyi and Wang Ziyi brothers?" Li Chishui asked.

"I'll go call them right away." The guard next to him turned to the regimental headquarters.

A few minutes later, Wang Guangyi and Wang Ziyi quickly arrived.

"Captain."

"Well, whether our 201st Regiment can come out on top this time depends on the two of you."

Although the cadres at all levels of the 201st Regiment had a good understanding of the terrain of Mazhuang, things were still different when they actually arrived on the site.

"Don't worry, Commander! The two of us will lead the way!"

It wasn't until they joined the G Army that these two brothers realized such a force existed in the world.

Although they have only been with the 201st Regiment for a short time, they already have a strong sense of ownership.

The honors earned by the 201st Regiment were earned by those two.

"Alright! Order the entire regiment to prepare for battle! We'll move tonight!"

"yes!".
As darkness fell, the hearts of the soldiers in Mazhuang were filled with trepidation.

The reconnaissance team has discovered that the G army is showing signs of encirclement.

At this moment, the cannons of the second mountain artillery regiment and the temporary mortar regiment were already pointing diagonally at Mazhuang.

"Boom!" "Boom!"
To ensure the success of the 201st Regiment's assault mission, mountain guns and mortars first conducted a sweeping bombardment of Mazhuang, and then concentrated their firepower to begin covering the area piece by piece.

Mazhuang, which was bombarded, was engulfed in flames.

However, the Kuomintang army reacted quickly, immediately launching a counterattack with even more powerful artillery fire.

At the same time, the Kuomintang tanks began to bombard the attacking Kuomintang forces.

"Commander, the First Battalion has already engaged the tanks!"

"Alright! Pass on my order, the 4th Company shall immediately launch an attack according to the established route!" Li Chishui shouted the order.

According to the general offensive plan formulated by Li Chishui, the First Battalion needed to attract the attention of the patrolling tanks outside Mazhuang, and then he personally led the Second Battalion to break in from the northeast corner.

If the Second Battalion's assault fails, the Third Battalion must immediately follow up and replace the Second Battalion.

However, Li Chishui's arrangement was clearly a bit redundant.

Although the Nationalist army had strong artillery countermeasures, the infantry did not have much will to resist.

With the help of the regiment's infantry artillery and mortars, the 4th Company stormed into Mazhuang in just over ten minutes.

Immediately afterwards, the 4th Company sent troops to outflank the enemy and captured several artillery positions in succession.

The Second and Third Battalions followed closely behind, charging in through the breach.

A chaotic battle broke out throughout Mazhuang.

Li Chishui was looking at the rampaging tanks and trying to figure out what to do when he suddenly heard someone shout.

"Rocket launcher! Rocket launcher! Take out the tanks in front!"

"Wait! Don't fire yet!" Li Chishui instinctively stopped them. "Commander, these iron turtles are relying on their high defense and have formed a fire line with the bunkers. We must take them out first before we can advance!"

"I already have a way to deal with the tanks. Use rocket launchers and infantry guns to attack the enemy's bunkers first," Li Chishui ordered.

"yes!".
Just as Ren Wuliu ordered the rocket launcher team to change targets, Li Chishui had already found the guard platoon leader.

“Take your guard platoon and go around to the flank. As long as you block the observation ports of the tanks with mud, they will become blind.”

"If the Guo army dares to open the lid, disarm them. If they disobey, scare them with grenades!"

Li Chishui's preparations went beyond simply simulating terrain; he specifically sought out Zhou Weiguo to learn about the principles of tanks.

After learning from Li Chishui where the observation hole was, the guards immediately circled around to the flank.

They were all armed with submachine guns, which could create an extremely high density of firepower at close range.

The First Column is supposed to be a mechanized unit, but it has virtually no coordination capabilities.

Tanks and infantry are fighting independently.

After the guard platoon of the 201st Regiment circled around to the side of the tank, they did not encounter any significant resistance.

"These idiots! Do they even know what a tank is? How dare they come here to die?!"

"Mortarman! Load up! Send that heavy machine gun and the G soldiers to heaven together!"

Inside the tank, the commander was shouting and yelling.

In his view, he was in absolute safety and the G army could do nothing to him.

However, before the loading was even finished, a lump of mud splattered onto the observation port.

Immediately afterwards, he heard a clanging sound coming from the tank.

"Get out here! Get the hell out here!"
"It's the G Army! The G Army has climbed up!" The tank commander immediately realized.

"Quickly rotate the turret and throw the man off!"

"Driver! What the hell are you doing?! Back up!"

"I can't see the road!" The driver was terribly wronged.

A clump of mud blocked the observation hole, so he couldn't see anything.

"Reach out and grab it! Start the car! Crash it into a house! I want to see if the G Army is tough enough!"

Upon hearing the train conductor's words, the driver hurriedly went to remove the mud from the observation port.

Outside, on the tank, the platoon leader of the guard platoon of the 201st Regiment was holding the cannon barrel and circling around on the tank.

Just as he was getting a little dizzy from the shaking, he suddenly noticed the mud on the observation port moving.

Without thinking twice, he stomped his foot hard on the mud as the cannon barrel turned in that direction.

"what!"

A scream rang out, and the tank driver immediately withdrew his hand.

"It's broken! It's broken!"

The driver's two outstretched fingers were clearly deformed.

"Damn it!" The tank commander didn't waste any words when he saw this. He took out his pistol, opened the cap, and prepared to shoot down the G army.

However, as soon as he opened the lid a crack, he saw a grenade being shoved inside.

The tank commander's eyes widened as he stared at the grenade between his legs.

"Grenade!"

If the grenade explodes inside the tank, none of them will survive.

"Listen up, you guys inside! I didn't pull the pin on that grenade. If you keep talking nonsense, I'm going to shove the grenade down the muzzle!"

"I still have Molotov cocktails here! If you want to be roasted pigs, I'll grant your wish!"

"I'll only check ten numbers!"

"nineteen!."

Before the platoon leader of the guard platoon, who was lying on the tank, could even count to five, the KMT soldiers inside the tank had already broken down.

"Stop counting, we surrender! We surrender!"

After successfully capturing the first tank, the soldiers were overjoyed and all started grabbing mud and smearing it onto the Guo army's tank.

At this time, Mazhuang had little else to offer but plenty of mud.

By daybreak, the battle at Mazhuang had essentially come to an end.

The First Rapid Column and most of the reorganized 26th Division were annihilated.

Only seven tanks reacted quickly, breaking through the encirclement with dozens of soldiers and making a detour back to Yixian County.

Upon learning that they had captured the tanks and howitzers of the First Fastest Column, the leaders of the East China Field Army were extremely excited and immediately rushed to Mazhuang.

"Good, good! How much have you captured?"

"Reporting to the commander, the First Rapid Column has a total of thirty-six tanks. Twenty-four have been captured, five destroyed, and seven escaped."

"As for the howitzers and trucks, they were all captured, totaling forty-eight 105mm howitzers and nearly five hundred trucks."

Although there were more than two units in Mazhuang, Chen Chengxing knew very well what supplies they had captured, as the fastest unit to charge.

Of course, this only applies to these large items; as for firearms and ammunition, he didn't know how much others had seized.

"Twenty-four vehicles? Goodness, the East China Field Army has its own rapid deployment unit now!"

Twenty-four tanks, forty-eight howitzers, and five hundred trucks constituted almost all the mechanized equipment of the First Rapid Column.

"Xiao Chen, what are your thoughts on this seizure?"

Although the Second Detachment was under the command of the East China Field Army, its organizational structure was quite unique.

"Commander, although the Second Detachment was originally under the Central Plains Field Army, it is now under the command of the East China Field Army. Therefore, the spoils should naturally be handled by the Field Army Headquarters." Chen Chengxing stood at attention and said.

"Excellent! Excellent! No wonder you studied at the central government; your awareness is truly high!"

"Don't worry, although the second branch is under the jurisdiction of the Central Field Army, I guarantee that everyone will be treated equally. If anyone dares to make things difficult for you because of your organizational position, I will deal with them personally!"

"Yes!"

The battle at Mazhuang was over, but the main forces did not linger.

According to intelligence, Lu Liwu, the commander of the 26th Reorganized Division, is staying in Yixian County with his remaining troops, local security regiments, and a regiment from the 51st Reorganized Division, totaling more than 7,000 people.

The main force of the reorganized 51st Division remained in Lanling.

The 77th Reorganized Division has retreated to the south bank of the canal.

The field command decided to annihilate the remnants of the 26th Reorganized Division and the 51st Reorganized Division before the arrival of reinforcements from the Nationalist Army.

(End of this chapter)