Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 447 Solve the Lunan problem within a month!

In the meeting room of the Pengcheng Pacification Headquarters, Chang Ruiyuan sat at the head of the table.

Behind him was the latest battlefield situation map, showing that Chen Chengbo had completed the deployment of 300,000 troops.

He not only transferred the 5th Army to southwestern Shandong to blockade the region, but also transferred the 2nd Army Corps to the Pengcheng area to strengthen the forces of the Shandong-Southern Shandong Army.

At this moment, the armies of hundreds of thousands were pointing their spearheads at Langya.

Chang Ruiyuan's arrival was not unexpected by Chen Chengbo.

It would be strange if the Chairman didn't come to fight such a big battle.

After glancing at everyone in the conference room, Chang Ruiyuan began:

"As you all know, there are currently demonstrations in many cities calling for peace."

"Peace? Peace is won through fighting!"

"We must take advantage of the fact that the G army has not yet finished its rest and its forces are scattered, and launch a full-scale attack to encircle and annihilate them!"

"Therefore, I have decided to resolve the Lunan issue within one month!"

"I have a combat plan submitted by Division Commander Zhang. This plan is surprisingly similar to the latest combat plan for Shandong formulated by the US advisory group."

Tang Keqin, who was listening attentively, immediately changed his expression after hearing the words "Commander Zhang".

Commander Zhang, who has direct access to the emperor, is obviously someone you don't need to think about.

However, he was unaware of this combat report, meaning that Zhang Zhonglin had directly submitted it to higher authorities, bypassing the proper channels.

Just as Tang Keqin was internally criticizing, Chen Chengbo stood up.

"This new plan is called the Lunan Decisive Battle Plan."

Upon hearing this, everyone present immediately stood up at attention.

"The main purpose of this plan is to launch a major battle in the Langya area and annihilate the main force of the East China G Army."

"Langya is the Shandong capital of the G Army. The G Army is determined to capture Langya."

"In this campaign, our army plans to concentrate 350,000 troops to force the G army to fight a decisive battle with us in the Langya area."

"In this battle, our army adopted the tactic of attacking from both the north and south."

"The southern front, led by Commander Tang, Division Commander Zhang, Division Commander Li, and Division Commander Huang, is advancing northward in a comprehensive manner."

"The northern front is commanded by Li Xianzhu, deputy commander of the Second Pacification Zone. They will first take Yingmu, and then move south to encircle Langya."

"Ultimately, they encircled the main force of the G army at Langya."

After Chen Chengbo finished reading the battle orders, Chang Ruiyuan stood up.

"In this campaign, all units must proceed steadily and cautiously, step by step, and not allow the G army any opportunity to take advantage!"

"yes!".
"Keqin, your first corps is the main force in this battle, don't let me down."

"Rest assured, Chairman!"

Just as the various units of the Guo army were advancing in parallel as planned.

The East China Field Army also made a decision based on the enemy situation.

Noji planned to use the crisscrossing terrain of the southern mountains to lure the enemy deep into his territory, and then look for opportunities to strike while in motion.

Therefore, all main forces have begun a full-scale withdrawal.

All branches of the Second General Headquarters had packed their belongings, and the first 24 branches also began to retreat towards Langya.

As the main force of the First Army Corps, the 74th Reorganized Division was naturally placed at the forefront by Tang Keqin.

However, the 74th Reorganized Division encountered no obstacles after entering southern Shandong, and was not even harassed by guerrillas.

"What is the G army planning by continuously retreating north?"

Zhang Zhonglin frowned as he looked at the intelligence reports sent back by the reconnaissance unit.

Zhang Zhonglin had some knowledge of the G Army's combat style, and he knew without a doubt that the G Army was up to some kind of conspiracy.

"Where are Li Yaozong and Huang Huanran?" Zhang Zhonglin suddenly asked.

"Behind us, the 83rd Division is a good ten kilometers away, and the 25th Division is a little closer, about six kilometers away," Li Yunliang reported.

"They're very steady!" Zhang Zhonglin was quite dissatisfied with the speed of the reorganization of the 83rd and 25th Divisions.

As the units on the left and right flanks of the reorganized 74th Division, they were already so far away from us, not to mention the main force behind us.

"Pass on my order: the troops must slow down their advance," Zhang Zhonglin commanded.

"Commander, in that case, we won't be able to reach our designated location by 5 p.m.

"If Li Yaozong and Huang Huanran aren't in a hurry, why should we be?"

As its two flanks, especially the 83rd Reorganized Division on the left flank, its advance was too slow.

The G army is extremely adept at mobile warfare, and now its whereabouts are elusive, which means it is definitely looking for an opportunity.

Faced with this situation, with overwhelming superiority, a single-file formation and a slow, methodical advance would be sufficient to thwart all of the G army's strategies.

No matter how capable the G army is, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers, they could be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

"Old Chen, Guo Junxue has become smarter; not a single unit has dared to advance recklessly."

The East China Field Army is currently weaker than the Guo Army in Shandong, both in terms of strength and manpower.

If it were a head-on confrontation, they wouldn't be a match for us yet.

"Guo Jun isn't in a hurry, and neither are we. Let's play around with them for a bit first."

"Old Chu, let the troops continue to retreat," Chen Chengxing ordered.

The telegram from the commander has been sent, and the second commander needs to retreat further.

At this moment, Zhang Zhonglin was not in a hurry, Chen Chengxing was not in a hurry, and Huadong Field Division was not in a hurry, but Tang Keqin could not sit still.

Upon learning that the 74th Reorganized Division had not moved for a day, Tang Keqin immediately called the 74th Division headquarters.

"Commander Zhang, your actions are too cautious. If this continues, we might not have enough time to resolve the Shandong issue within a month."

"The Chairman has called several times to urge us on, expressing great concern about the current situation." "Commander Zhang, you must advance as quickly as possible. We must find the main force of the G Army and engage them in a decisive battle!"

"Yes, Commander Tang! Don't worry, Zhong Lin will immediately order the troops to accelerate their advance!" Zhang Zhonglin readily agreed to Tang Keqin's order.

Zhang Zhonglin readily agreed, but immediately changed his mind after hanging up the phone.

"Yunliang, order all units to remain in place and stand by. No one is to act rashly without my order!"

"But Commander, just now in front of Tang Keqin..."

"Let him wait," Zhang Zhonglin said casually.

"You want me, Zhang Zhonglin, to revolve around your baton? You're dreaming!"

What do you mean, "Chairman Chiang Kai-shek issued a telegram about this"? Are you kidding me? Is that the kind of person Chairman Chiang Kai-shek is?
If Chiang Kai-shek truly cared about the battlefield situation, he would have sent the telegram directly to the 74th Division, or even directly to the brigades and regiments below.

Do you, Tang Keqin, even need to relay this?

Zhang Zhonglin had known Tang Keqin for some time now, and Tang Keqin's constant urging could only mean one thing: he wanted to use the 74th Division as bait to lure out the big fish, the Communist Army.

"The commander is brilliant." Wei Zhenwen, standing to the side, gave a thumbs up.

“We will obey Tang Keqin’s orders without question, but the troops will remain where they are.”

"This is called treating someone in their own way."

A few days later, at the Second General Command's operational meeting, Chu Yunfei stood in front of the map and introduced the current battlefield situation.

"The current battlefield situation is as follows."

"The Guo army on the southern front, with Pengcheng as its command center, has mobilized 28 reorganized brigades, totaling nearly 300,000 troops, and is advancing towards Langya in three routes along the Yi River and the Shu River."

"The Guo army on the northern front was mobilized from the Quancheng area. They used three armies, totaling 60,000 to 70,000 men, with their target being the Yingmu and Fenggao line."

Looking at the map showing the situation of the Kuomintang forces in the north and south, everyone's expressions became somewhat serious.

Chang Ruiyuan had a clever plan.

The plan was to advance from both the north and south, leaving the East China Field Army with no way out and ultimately annihilating it with their superior forces.

"Guo Jun only walks about five or six kilometers a day, and there are no protrusions, it's just like a solid iron plate."

"Old Chen, the field command asked us to look for opportunities. What are your thoughts?" Luo Ping asked.

Noji knew very well that, given the current situation, a decisive battle was inevitable.

Therefore, Noji decided to take the initiative.

Ye Si's first target was the enemy on the southern front, and he wanted to lure them to the outskirts of Langya for encirclement and annihilation.

However, the Nationalist army has not yet revealed any weaknesses, which requires the Second Commander to open up new opportunities.

"The Guo army has air superiority as well as advantages in equipment and manpower. Their strategy of advancing and retreating together, although slow, is indeed a well-intentioned and open strategy."

Building strongholds and fighting protracted battles are the tactics that the Guo army excels at.

If both sides in G fall into a stalemate and exhaustion, it will be extremely disadvantageous for G's army.

“Since the Guo army isn’t showing themselves, let’s lure them out.” Chen Chengxing got up and went to the map.

"The 83rd Division had a portion of its troops wiped out by the East China Field Army in central Jiangsu. Although it was replenished with new troops, its combat effectiveness was bound to decline."

"Moreover, compared to the 74th and 25th Divisions, their troop strength and weaponry are relatively inferior, so let's attack them first!"

"Xu Wu."

"Take 21 guns and give the 83rd Division a good beating!"

"Yes!"

Although the 21st Division was outnumbered by the 83rd Division, Xu Wu was confident that he could overpower the 83rd Division.

"The rest of the troops will set up an ambush in the Maguanzhuang and Jinshuigou area. If the 74th Division supports the 83rd Division, we'll have a go at Zhang Zhonglin!"

Of the three divisions that the Nationalist Army placed at the forefront, only the reorganized 74th Division was of the greatest value and the most likely to disrupt the Nationalist Army's deployment.

Therefore, Chen Chengxing's attention was always focused on the reorganized 74th Division.

Facing an attack from 21 teams, Li Yaozong was not too worried at first.

Although the 83rd Reorganized Division only had two brigades, it still had 15,000 men.

Moreover, the 19th Brigade was a fully American-equipped brigade, and the 63rd Brigade was a semi-American-equipped brigade.

Even with just the 19th Brigade, stopping the G Army's attack wouldn't be a problem.

However, in less than an hour, the 21st unit broke through several lines of defense of the entire 19th Brigade.

Li Yaozong immediately became restless.

"What's going on?! The G army has less than 10,000 men, which is only the strength of an ordinary division, and you can't even stop them?!"

"Commander! The G Army has deployed a large number of artillery pieces; we are no match for them!" Yang Yin, the brigade commander of the 19th Brigade at the front line, was in a terrible predicament.

Within the entire KMT military order, only Zhang Zhonglin's reorganized 74th Division had both a howitzer battalion and three mountain artillery battalions.

The remaining troops, including the reorganized 11th Division, were only temporarily assigned a mountain artillery battalion.

Although the 83rd Reorganized Division was a core unit, it had its own howitzer battalion.

However, the reorganized brigade below did not reinforce the mountain artillery battalion, or even the mountain artillery company.

Faced with the G army's mountain guns and large-caliber howitzers, they could only use the regiment's 81mm mortars and anti-tank guns to fight back.

This time, the brothers really didn't slack off, but if they couldn't win, they just couldn't win.

"Damn it, Chen Chengxing's troops are here!" Li Yaozong's face was extremely ugly.

Among the G Army in East China, only this newcomer, Chen Chengxing, possesses such strong firepower.

"I will have the artillery battalion provide fire support for your unit. No matter what, you must hold them off!" Li Yaozong ordered.

After hanging up the phone, Li Yaozong asked his chief of staff to arrange for artillery battalion support, while he frantically started shaking the phone again.

If Chen Chengxing's troops suddenly appeared here, then the G army couldn't possibly have only sent a little over ten thousand men.

(End of this chapter)