Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 444 Hold the line, reinforcements are on their way!

"Commander Xue! Commander Xue! My troops have suffered heavy losses after many days of bloody fighting with the G Army. Please allow me to retreat to Pengcheng to rest and replenish my forces!"

In Yixian County, Lu Liwu pleaded desperately over the phone.

Lu Liwu knew very well that he and the 51st Division were now isolated and the G Army would not let them go.

However, Xue Xiaosong did not agree to Lu Liwu's request to retreat.

"Commander Lu, don't worry. The 11th and 64th Reorganized Divisions are currently advancing rapidly northeast of Pengcheng. Your mission is to hold Yixian to the death."

Xue Xiaosong knew, of course, that the G army would continue its attack, and that Yixian and Lanling were bait he had deliberately left behind.

If the 51st Division can hold out for three days, the main force of the Kuomintang army will be able to encircle the Kuomintang army.

At that time, not only would he not be blamed for the annihilation of the 26th Division and the First Rapid Column, but he could also be awarded a medal for it.

After hanging up the phone, Lu Liwu, who was rejected by Xue Xiaosong, cursed angrily, but he had no other choice.

Without orders from Xue Xiaosong or the Chairman, he could be captured, but he could not retreat.

Just as Lu Liwu was racking his brains about how to hold out, Chen Chengxing and his second team had already arrived at the outskirts of Yi County.

Because Yixian and Lanling are only ten kilometers apart, the attack was launched simultaneously in both locations.

The 2nd Division, the 8th Division, and the Coastal Independent Guard Brigade were responsible for attacking Yixian County, while the 1st Division, the 4th Division, and the 9th Division attacked Lanling County.

As for the other divisions, they advanced to the directions of Lincheng and Taierzhuang respectively, and were responsible for blocking the enemy reinforcements from the west and south.

In addition, to ensure absolute safety, the Field Army also secretly redeployed the A and B columns from the southern front.

These two columns were concealed near the Zhuotai Highway.

If the Guo army chooses to reinforce its troops for a decisive battle, they will send troops to intercept it; if the main force of the Guo army does not move north, they will never show themselves.

On the city wall of Yixian, Lu Liwu watched through binoculars as the G army dug the earth outside the city, his face growing increasingly grim.

"Commander, it looks like the G army will attack before nightfall," said the adjutant beside him.

"Hmph! Airplanes are very precious, and with the rain and snow, they absolutely won't be taking off!" Lu Liwu explained with a stern face.

The air force personnel not only fly high, but they also have high eyesight. They wouldn't risk deploying just because the 26th Division is in imminent danger.

Without air support, he had no means to counter the G army's artillery.

Next, the G army will inevitably bombard Yixian County relentlessly.

Don't ask him how he knows. If you want to ask, ask the First Rapid Column. They didn't bring back a single howitzer.

However, knowing what the G army will do does not mean there is a solution.

Lu Liwu racked his brains, but couldn't come up with a solution to the problem at hand.

Around 2 p.m., several test-fired shells landed on the Yixian position.

"G Army is firing artillery! Take cover!"
The KMT soldiers on the position quickly crawled into the anti-artillery bunkers.

Immediately afterwards, a large number of shells began to fall on the Guo army's positions.

"Boom!" "Boom!"
Under continuous artillery fire, the defensive fortifications on the Guo army's position were blown to pieces.

A few minutes later, the artillery fire began to extend backward, and several assault platoons from the second brigade also launched their attack from multiple directions.

"Kill!"
Inside the temporary command post in the south of the city, a high-powered telescope was set up in front of Chen Chengxing.

"The Guo army has already lost heart. Faced with the assault platoon's attack, they are actually a bit flustered," Chen Chengxing said disdainfully.

When they attacked Bianzhuang, the Guo army still had some fighting strength, but unexpectedly, in just a few days, they had lost all their courage.

"Send orders to the 8th Division, instructing the 323rd Regiment to maneuver around to the west of the city and launch an attack, while the remaining troops launch an attack to the east of the city."

In the Battle of Yixian, Chen Chengxing naturally took on the role of commander-in-chief of the Second Detachment, which was the strongest main force.

However, Chen Chengxing did not intend to send his entire army to fight against the seven thousand men in Yi County.

现在二支的1队、4队以及警卫旅留在后方担任预备队，只有2队、4队和8师向前做了展开。

However, these seven regiments alone have already dealt Lu Liwu a heavy blow.

In less than two hours, all the outer defenses of Yixian County had been breached.

Seeing the G army about to besiege the city, Lu Liwu, who was racking his brains for a good strategy to defeat the enemy, suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

"I've got an idea! I've got an idea!"

"Quickly, get all seven tanks that were previously withdrawn onto the wall!"

Once the tanks are on the city wall, the G army's rocket launchers are basically useless. How will the G army deal with tanks that cannot be destroyed?
"Damn it, I'm a genius! The textbooks for Whampoa Military Academy will probably have to be rewritten from now on!"

Because he had come up with a brilliant idea, Lu Liwu felt that he was about to steal the show.

The Guo soldiers currently stationed in Yixian County, without exception, do not understand mechanized warfare.

Therefore, no one raised any objections to Lu Liwu's orders.

However, after the Kuomintang army finally managed to get the tanks up there with great effort, they were immediately dumbfounded.

The G army had advanced to the city walls, and rocket launchers were indeed no match for tanks.

But the tank's gun barrel can't be lowered!

The tanks couldn't even launch an attack; they were practically seven pieces of junk.

At this moment, Chen Chengxing once again ordered the artillery, which had not fired for a long time, to launch an attack.

The entire southern part of Yixian County was within the range of fire.

Half an hour later, with the cover of artillery fire, the engineers successfully demolished the city wall of Yixian.

"boom!!"

After a huge explosion, a gap more than ten meters wide appeared in the city wall.

Along with the city wall, a tank also collapsed.

The tank was incredibly unlucky; it was buried in the rubble, with only its rear end sticking out.

"Kill!"
As the vanguard company of the G Army stormed into Yixian County, the balance of power in the battle began to tilt dramatically.

Two hours later, Chen Chengxing entered Yixian County. "Captain, the Guo army has been completely annihilated, with more than 5,800 prisoners captured, including Lu Liwu, the commander of the 26th Reorganized Division."

"Officers were sent to the field headquarters, and soldiers and junior officers were added to the training corps for insurgents."

The field headquarters had a training corps for captured officers, and they were responsible for political education by the field headquarters.

Ordinary soldiers were usually recruited by whoever captured them, and after being educated, they were directly assigned to various companies.

The first swift action was taken because of special circumstances, which is why the commander took all the prisoners.

"Captain, there's something else. Guo Jun somehow managed to get the tanks stuck on the wall, and now the comrades are really worried about it," Xu Wu said.

He couldn't understand what Guo Jun was thinking.

You got it up there, but what do you mean by not firing a single shot?
"Find the crew of the Guo Army's tanks, let them redeem themselves through meritorious service, and after that, send them and the tanks to the field headquarters."

Chen Chengxing drooled as he looked at the tanks, but he also knew that these were not tanks that the Second Army could keep.

“Okay.” Xu Wu nodded, then suddenly remembered: “There’s another car buried underneath the collapsed city wall.”

Upon hearing that a car had been buried, Chen Chengxing immediately perked up.

"Dig it out and check if it's damaged. If it can't be started, tow it back and put it with the tanks that were destroyed in Mazhuang."

Chen Chengxing didn't believe that a tank that fell from a height and was buried would be completely unharmed.

"Yes!"

而就在陈成兴歼灭整编26师的时候，1师、4师、9师也对兰陵的整编51师展开了进攻。

Zhou Yuying, the commander of the 51st Reorganized Division, was well aware that as a miscellaneous army, the 51st Division was even weaker in combat than the 26th Reorganized Division.

Knowing that Lanling could not be defended, Zhou Yuying repeatedly asked Xue Xiaosong to retreat.

But Xue Xiaosong didn't even spare Lu Liwu, so how could he possibly let go of this ragtag guy?

Xue Xiaosong repeatedly ordered the 51st Division to hold Lanling, and confidently stated that he had already transferred troops to reinforce southern Shandong.

Left with no other choice, Zhou Yuying could only speed up the construction of fortifications and wait for reinforcements to arrive.

Zhou Yuying used the large and small bunkers and pillboxes built with reinforced concrete to cause considerable trouble for the attacking G army troops.

"Does a mere 51st Division even deserve to put up a stubborn resistance?"

"Go, transfer the Special Artillery Regiment over there. The new cannons need to be tested!" The field commander made the decision directly.

"yes!".
The Special Artillery Regiment arrived the next day.

The soldiers operating the 48 howitzers were none other than the original first rapid column soldiers.

However, they have changed their clothes now.

"fire!"

"Boom!" "Boom!"
The reinforced concrete bunkers could withstand the fire of infantry guns and even Type 41 mountain guns.

However, it's no different from a paper cannon when facing a 105mm howitzer.

One shot would shatter a small bunker into dust, and a large bunker would be half-collapsed.

In particular, the 6-shot 4-shot salvo had an amazing hit rate, and in 5 shots, it destroyed 5 bunkers.

"Sheng Daoyong, I didn't know you had this trick up your sleeve!" The regimental commander arranged by the field command excitedly ran over.

"Why didn't you notice it during the war? What were you doing then?"

In the Battle of Mazhuang, the artillery regiment of the First Rapid Column failed to hit any of the G Army's strongpoints, let alone achieve five consecutive hits.

"Commander, that's not the same. The G Army soldiers are all tough. From the moment they're spotted to the moment they're caught, it only takes a few minutes. How can we concentrate on aiming?"

When fighting in the Kuomintang army, one cannot only focus on the enemy, but also on one's own people.

If someone else gets ahead of you, you're doomed.

"Alright, you'd better do a good job, and I'll personally go to the commander to recommend you for commendation!"

"Thank you, leader!"

Inside the headquarters of the 51st Division in Lanling, Zhou Yuying watched the approaching artillery fire, her despair growing ever stronger.

"Commander! Let's retreat!" suggested the brigade commander of the 113th Brigade.

"Retreat? Where to retreat to? We're not the Central Army, there's nowhere to retreat!"

“The Central Army can leave if they can’t win, but our ragtag army can only stay put and hold out.”

"It's a painful story. Our 51st Army had 17 regiments, but now Chang Ruiyuan has reduced them to only four, no, only three."

“I have already received the telegram. The 337th Regiment in Yixian County has been completely annihilated.” Zhou Yuying’s voice grew softer as she spoke.

In the Kuomintang army, non-Han soldiers were never treated as human beings, especially the Northeast Army, which had an even lower status.

"Commander, since Chang Ruiyuan is so ruthless, let's rebel against him!"

"The reinforcements Xue Xiaosong mentioned haven't materialized yet; who knows if they're here or not."

What the brigade commander of the 113th Brigade said made sense; Zhou Yuying knew the habits of the Guo army very well.

Putting aside whether such reinforcements actually exist, even if they did, it's unlikely they would actively come to the rescue of the 51st Division.

"Hang in there, just a little longer," Zhou Yuying sighed.

In the past few days, he has built a very large and thick bunker in Lanling City, and he is confident that it can withstand direct fire from 105mm howitzers.

"Master's seat!"

"Alright, it's settled then!" Zhou Yuying waved her hand, interrupting the 113th Brigade commander who wanted to persuade her further.

"Pass on my order to consolidate the defensive line, inflict casualties on the G army with concealed firepower, and then quickly retreat to the large bunker."

"We'll hold our ground using the bunkers!"

Zhou Yuying looked toward Pengcheng.

He just hoped that reinforcements would actually arrive.

(End of this chapter)