Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 448 What if Guo Jun doesn't fall for it?
"Commander Tang! Commander Tang! Our unit has been surrounded by the main force of the G Army!"

"Please give the order! Have Zhang Zhonglin's 74th Reorganized Division move closer to me, move closer to me!"

"Commander Tang! Listen! The G Army's artillery shells have already hit my command post!"

As he spoke, Li Yaozong pointed the phone outwards, where the sound of artillery fire was deafening.

Although the American-made 105mm howitzer has a longer range than 21 mountain guns.

But this time, the 21 units launched a surprise attack, and the artillery also risked advancing quite a bit.

Therefore, as soon as the artillery battalion of the 83rd Division opened fire, the two sides quickly transitioned into an artillery battle.

Even without artillery support, the 21 infantry units still managed to drive the entire 19th Brigade into a series of defeats.

"Commander Li, you must hold on!" Tang Keqin shouted.

Tang Keqin's original idea was to use the reorganized 74th Division as bait.

Although the G army is now targeting the 83rd Reorganized Division, the effect is not much different.

After hanging up the phone, Tang Keqin immediately ordered, "Send a telegram to the 74th and 25th Divisions immediately, and be quick!"

"yes!".
"Commander, an urgent telegram from Commander Tang!"

"Li Yaozong's troops have been under fierce attack by the G Army. Commander Tang has ordered us to quickly move towards the 83rd Division!"

"Li Yaozong? Why is the G Army attacking them?" Zhang Zhonglin immediately sensed something unusual.

"This must be the G army's plan to besiege the point and ambush reinforcements!"

"This is a tactic that's been around for so many years, and you're still using it? Do you think my 74th Division is Japanese?"

"Order the troops to halt their advance immediately!" Zhang Zhonglin commanded.

Zhang Zhonglin disregarded Tang Keqin's orders in the slightest, and the 74th Division quickly switched to on-site defense.

"yes".
As soon as the 74th Reorganized Division stopped, Chen Chengxing immediately learned of the situation.

"Zhang Zhonglin's nose is damn smart."

In order to lure out the 74th Division, it wasn't just Chen Chengxing who was mobilized; even the East China K Column, which originally planned to continue its northward retreat, was transferred here.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Zhonglin simply stood still this time.

Zhang Zhonglin's decision to disobey orders and remain in place immediately infuriated Li Yaozong.

However, Li Yaozong had no way to deal with Zhang Zhonglin. After scolding him for a long time at the division headquarters, he could only call the corps headquarters to complain.

"Commander Tang! At such a critical moment, Zhang Zhonglin actually stood still! The losses suffered by my 83rd Division are all because he refused to come to our aid!"

“Commander Li, Zhang Zhonglin is Chairman Chiang’s favorite general. Even if we take this case to the Ministry of National Defense, it won’t make a difference,” Tang Keqin said helplessly.

The 74th Reorganized Division was the ace of ace, and Zhang Zhonglin was incredibly arrogant.

He simply couldn't command the 74th Reorganized Division.

"Commander Li, in order to save the 83rd Division, I suggest you quickly move closer to Zhang Zhonglin's troops!"

Since the 74th Division was not going to rescue the 83rd Division, the 83rd Division had no choice but to save itself.

At this point, the only option was for the reorganized 83rd Division and the 25th Division to move towards the 74th Division simultaneously.

After hanging up the phone, Li Yaozong was furious.

"This is outrageous! This is outrageous! Zhang Zhonglin is unworthy to be a soldier of the Party and the State!"

"Commander, what should we do?" the chief of staff asked.

Although the 19th Brigade had temporarily stabilized the front line, everyone knew that the G Army would definitely launch another surprise attack that night.

Whether we can stop them then is really uncertain.

"What can we do? What else can we do?! Order the troops to move towards the 74th Division!"

To save his own life, Li Yaozong could only issue the order to move closer to Zhang Zhonglin with a humiliated expression.

In order to ensure a smooth withdrawal, Li Yaozong left two battalions to block the retreat, while the rest of his troops ran away.

After Xu Wu annihilated the more than 1,000 troops, Li Yaozong had already run several miles away.

The convergence of the three armies on the southern front of the Guo army rendered the plans formulated by the Field Command instantly meaningless.

Meanwhile, Li Xianzhu, who had never been beaten before, was very bold and led the vanguard of three armies all the way south.

This directly threatened the rear of the East China Field Army's G Army. If this continued, they would inevitably be surrounded by the Kuomintang army.

Faced with this rapidly deteriorating situation, the commander sat motionless in front of the map hanging in the field headquarters.

Moreover, he was talking to himself while deep in thought.

Everyone in the command post knew their leader's habits, so they all kept quiet and even walked a little lighter.

"The attack from both the north and south is tightening the net, trying to force me into a corner and make me fight them to the death."

"Unless we cross the Yellow River to the west and abandon the entire Shandong province."

Previously, in an effort to ease the situation in East China, Nakano had already made one outside shot.

They even transferred Chen Chengxing's troops to the East China Field Army.

It would be difficult to ask them to go outside and help Huaye cross the river now.

"The enemy on the southern front has an absolute advantage, and they are becoming increasingly cautious in their actions."

"The chances of finding a fighting opportunity are probably slim."

"If there are no fighter jets on the southern front, where can we find an opportunity?"

"The northern route?"

"That's right! The northern route!"

"Why not consider the northern front?!" "Chang Ruiyuan's purpose in launching this pincer attack from the north and south is to capture Langya. They believe that our army will defend Langya to the death and fight a decisive battle with our army in this way."

"Is it absolutely necessary to defend Langya?"

"The central government's directive is to preserve people even if land is lost; both people and land must be preserved. The purpose of fighting is to annihilate the enemy's manpower, not to concern ourselves with the gain or loss of a single city or piece of land!"

"Someone, send a telegram to the Central Committee immediately!"
The decision to abandon Langya was not easy; without instructions from the central government, even the two leaders of the field headquarters could not push it through.

The Central Committee had no objection to the East China Field Army's request.

This greatly increases the Huaye's room for maneuver.

The latest battle plan was also quickly formulated.
"Should we launch a surprise attack on Hao Pengju tonight?" Luo Ping looked at the telegram in his hand with some doubt.

Hao Pengju was arguably the most fickle and treacherous of the warlords.

He successively served under Feng Yuxiang and Chang Ruiyuan, and during the War of Resistance against Japan, he also served under the Nanjing puppet government.

In early 1946, he led his troops to attack Shandong, but was surrounded at Taierzhuang. He then led 20,000 men in an uprising to join the Communist Party of China and named the Chinese Democratic Allied Army.

However, when the Guo army pressed in this year, this guy telegraphed and defected to Chang Ruiyuan.

Although everyone in the G army wanted to get rid of him, compared to the current situation, this guy was clearly just a minor nuisance.

"The purpose of attacking Hao Pengju should have nothing to do with Hao Pengju," Chen Chengxing said.

"Yoshi probably wants to use him to see how Guo Jun reacts."

Although the telegram from the commander did not specify the details, Chen Chengxing could tell from it that things had changed.

Field Command has probably changed its battle plan and is now probing the situation of the Guo army.

"Pass on my order: have Wei Dayong send two squads ahead to find out the situation of Hao Pengju's troops."

"The remaining troops will launch a surprise attack on Hao Pengju's rebel forces after nightfall!"

"yes!".
After nightfall, Chen Chengxing led his team on a raid of dozens of miles, heading straight for Hao Pengju.

At this time, Hao Pengju only had 20,000 troops under his command, which were no match for the G army, which had a super strong attack capability.

If Chen Chengxing hadn't ordered his troops to slow down because he saw the progress was too fast, the battle would probably have ended before dawn.

However, during the day, Chen Chengbo did not send any reinforcements, nor did he even send a plane to check on the situation.

On the contrary, the Guo army strengthened the defense and coordination between its various units and continued to advance slowly northward.

"Commander-in-Chief, Political Commissar, a telegram from the Field Army Headquarters instructs us to annihilate the enemy forces." Chu Yunfei approached with a telegram in hand.

"It's a pity we can't send reinforcements," Luo Ping said helplessly.

"This outcome should be the best." Chen Chengxing took the telegram and glanced at it.

The fact that Guo Jun did not mobilize indicates that they believed the G Army would definitely engage them in a decisive battle at Langya, which is why they were eager to eliminate other threats.

Only when the Guo army fell into the trap could the G army quickly transfer its main force northward.

"Tell all units to hold back and wipe out this group of rebels!" Chen Chengxing ordered.

"yes!".
No longer holding back, the various units quickly broke through the enemy's last line of defense.

Hao Pengju, relying on his years of experience in sliding on his knees, managed to raise the white flag before the headquarters was attacked.

"Damn it, anyone who's survived from the warlord era to now has some serious skills."

Chen Chengxing had already instructed the captains of each unit to take out the enemy's high-ranking officers, especially Hao Pengju, if the opportunity arose.

I didn't expect this guy to kneel down so quickly.

"Commander-in-Chief, the commander-in-chief has ordered us to quickly retreat to Langya after cleaning up the battlefield."

"I understand." Chen Chengxing nodded. "Bring the monk here."

A few minutes later, Wei Dayong walked into the temporary command post.

"Captain, you wanted to see me."

"Take a few men and escort Hao Pengju to the field headquarters first," Chen Chengxing ordered.
"Keep a close eye on him. This guy is very cunning. If he dares to run away, you can shoot him directly."

"Don't worry, Captain, I guarantee the mission will be completed!" Wei Dayong saluted and then turned to lift up Hao Pengju.

However, to Chen Chengxing's surprise, Wei Dayong returned ten minutes later.

"Report, Captain, something's happened. Hao Pengju tried to escape on the road. I couldn't catch him and was forced to shoot him dead on the spot."

"Monk, you little rascal." Chen Chengxing really didn't know what to say.

You should at least go somewhere further away. You can't just start a fight as soon as you step out the door, can you?

"Report, my mission is not complete, requesting action!" Wei Dayong said, standing at attention.

Wei Dayong knew it was best to go further away, but he really didn't want to walk back to Langya.

If he had traveled with the main group, he might not be able to say for sure, but he would definitely have gotten a ride in a truck.

"Get out, get out, get out!" Chen Chengxing waved his hand helplessly.

Regardless, Hao Pengju is dead. As for why he was so distraught, Chen Chengxing could only say he didn't know.

"Send a telegram to the field headquarters explaining Hao Pengju's situation; we're withdrawing!"

Ye Si acted as if he hadn't seen Hao Pengju's death, simply noting that he "escaped during transport and was shot dead" and that was it.

Because the Guo army had already been tricked, by the time Chen Chengxing led his troops back to Langya, the main force of the Huaye had already gathered in the area north of Langya to rest and recuperate.

If the Kuomintang army on the southern front does not intend to advance north quickly, its main force will immediately head north to meet Li Xianzhou.

Chen Chengxing had just returned to Langya when he was summoned by the commander of the field headquarters.

(End of this chapter)