Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 450 Retreat Again and Again
Standing on the first line of defense of the G army that had already been captured.

Zhang Zhonglin looked at the corpses scattered on the ground, but his face remained expressionless.

Zhang Zhonglin didn't care how many soldiers died; he valued the result.

Taking down the G army's position was worth any number of casualties.

After looking around, Zhang Zhonglin ordered, "Immediately inventory the G Army's cooking stoves."

He planned to calculate the number of soldiers in the G army.

The result was that the number of stoves was twice as many as he had expected.

"How come there are so many?" Zhang Zhonglin's face showed a hint of surprise.

Based on previous battles, there were definitely not that many people.

"I gonna go see."

As he spoke, Zhang Zhonglin walked down the earthen slope and then went to several different places.

“No, something’s wrong with this earthen stove.” Zhang Zhonglin noticed something amiss.

“This stove has never been used for cooking,” Zhang Zhonglin asserted.

The difference between a traditional earthen stove that has been used for heating and one that hasn't is immediately apparent.

"Sun Bin used the method of reducing the number of cooking fires to show weakness, while the G army used the method of increasing the number of cooking fires to show strength."

However, understanding it doesn't mean you won't have doubts.

Chen Chengxing's deceptive maneuver left Zhang Zhonglin somewhat bewildered.

"Is the G Army bluffing in Langya, or have they already laid a trap?"

"Could it be that they're trying to use the stove method to trick my 74th Division?"

"Commander, regardless of whether the G Army is bluffing or has already laid a trap, as long as we don't act rashly, there won't be any problems," Wei Zhenwen suggested.

The 74th Reorganized Division only needs to wait for the rest of the troops to arrive before advancing. Even if there is a trap in front of them, they can still break through it.

"I have already made a pledge to the Chairman to take Langya within five days, and time is running out."

Zhang Zhonglin knew, of course, that the safest course of action was to wait for friendly forces to arrive before continuing the advance.

The problem is, when will our allies arrive?

There are still several lines of defense ahead, and as the lines tighten, the G army's defenses will certainly become stronger.

As a staunch supporter of Zhang Zhonglin, Li Yunliang always followed Zhang Zhonglin's orders, so he volunteered without hesitation.

"Since the division commander has made up his mind, let's get started. I will personally go to the front lines to oversee the battle."

"Good! Order the troops to continue the attack!" Zhang Zhonglin said solemnly, determined to capture Langya.

Wei Zhenwen, who was standing next to him, opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn't say anything.

Upon returning to the division headquarters, to ensure everything went smoothly, Zhang Zhonglin sent another telegram to Tang Keqin.

He wanted Li Yaozong and Huang Huanran to act immediately and cooperate with the 74th Division.

"Commander, this is a telegram from Commander Tang."

"Read it." Li Yaozong, who was happily playing chess, didn't even look up.

"The 74th Reorganized Division is advancing rapidly toward Langya. Headquarters has ordered us and the 25th Division to advance quickly to cooperate with the 74th Reorganized Division in attacking Langya."

"I understand. Send a telegram back to Commander Tang and tell him that my 83rd Division will resolutely carry out the order."

"yes!".
However, Li Yaozong's words sounded nice, but in reality, it was not like that at all.

"Pass on my order: have the engineering battalion immediately repair the road in front of the camp. Once the road is repaired, the troops shall immediately set off and march on Langya!"

Upon hearing Li Yaozong's order, Chief of Staff Ji Lihui, standing beside him, was somewhat bewildered: "Commander, once this road is completed, I'm afraid..."

"So let's take it slow," Li Yaozong said with a smile.

"My 83rd Division is a mechanized unit. The weather is bad and the roads are not well-maintained, so it is inconvenient for us to move around."

"Commander Tang probably can't blame him, can he?"

Chen Chengxing is a tough nut to crack; going head-to-head with him will only lead to trouble.

Moreover, besides Chen Chengxing, the G Army also had the E Column, K Column, and J Column on the position, all of which were the main forces of the G Army.

If the 83rd Division goes there, won't they just suffer a loss?

Upon learning of the situation of the 83rd Division, Zhang Zhonglin was instantly enraged.

"That bastard Li Yaozong, I really want to kill him!"

"Even without Li Yaozong, I, Zhang Zhonglin, will still take Langya!"

"Pass on my order: launch a general offensive against the second line of the G army!" Zhang Zhonglin commanded.

"Commander, the 25th Division is marching this way at breakneck speed. Should we wait?" Wei Zhenwen hurriedly said.

Although Li Yaozong's 83rd Division refused to budge, Huang Huanran had already led his troops toward this side.

"We can't wait any longer. Once the 25th Division arrives, let them join the battle on their own!"

"Go and relay the order!" Zhang Zhonglin said forcefully.

"Yes!" Wei Zhenwen had no choice but to pass on the order to attack.

Faced with the strong attack of the 74th Reorganized Division, each unit did not waste any words.

As soon as the 74th Reorganized Division launches its attack, the mountain artillery and heavy mortar regiments will immediately bombard them.

The infantry battalions of each unit would also launch frequent counter-attacks under the cover of artillery fire.

After several hours of fierce fighting, the 25th Reorganized Division finally arrived at the battlefield.

"Commander, the 23rd Regiment reports that the enemy's 25th Reorganized Division has arrived on the battlefield and launched an attack on our flank."

"The 25th Division? Huang Huanran's troops, that's a tough nut to crack," Luo Ping said seriously.

Although Huang Huanran was not a direct descendant of the Whampoa Military Academy, the 25th Reorganized Division did not have sufficient American equipment.

However, thanks to rigorous training and Huang Huanran's command, the 25th Reorganized Division remained one of the toughest opponents on the East China battlefield.

Its combat effectiveness is far superior to that of the 83rd Division.

"It seems the main force of the Guo army is arriving soon," Chen Chengxing said. "However, there's no need for us to confront them head-on."

Glancing at his watch, and sensing it was about time, Chen Chengxing gave the order:
"Have each unit lay more landmines on the second line of defense, and then withdraw to the third line of defense."

Chen Chengxing established three lines of defense, the third of which could form a unified defensive system with Langya City. Heavy machine guns and mortars could be directly mounted on the seven- or eight-meter-high city walls to fire upon the enemy.

"yes!".
Just as Chen Chengxing was preparing to have a good fight with Guo Jun in Langya, a telegram from the Field Command arrived.

"Commander-in-Chief, the main force advancing north is about to reach its designated position. The commander has ordered us to withdraw from Langya immediately."

"What a pity," Chen Chengxing sighed.

"Let Zhang Zhonglin first earn a reputation for being invincible."

"Pass on my order: the troops are to immediately retreat north, and we'll go to Li Xianzhu's place for a bite to eat."

"yes!".
The headquarters executed the retreat order quickly, but once they got to the ground, the soldiers couldn't take it anymore.

Especially those who were soldiers in the uprising, they did not understand what it meant to retreat in order to advance.

All they knew was that they had already suffered two consecutive defeats against the 74th Reorganized Division.

Zheng Hua, Sun Xun, Qin Sheng, and the others dared not say anything more in the face of Chen Chengxing's orders.

However, their eyes darted around, and they made 21 calls.
Inside the headquarters, Chen Chengxing was somewhat puzzled as he watched Xu Wu suddenly walk in with a report.

"Xu Wu, the troops are about to withdraw north. Why aren't you busy with other tasks? What are you doing at the headquarters?"

"Captain, are we just going to retreat like this?" Xu Wu asked with some difficulty.

"Back in Andong, we fought against the 74th Reorganized Division for more than ten days."

"But now that we've completed our new reorganization, the soldiers aren't happy about withdrawing without fighting a single battle."

"Especially those insurgents, let them speak."

Xu Wu hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Spit it out if you have something to say, what are you pretending for?"

Xu Wu closed his eyes and stiffened his neck: "The soldiers say you're a coward, that Zhang Zhonglin has scared you out of your wits."

"They even said we were a ragtag team, that we were thrown to China Field Army because China Field Army didn't want us anymore. As a result, we kept losing battles in China Field Army, and our organization might be disbanded in the future."

Upon hearing Xu Wu's words, before Chen Chengxing could say anything, Luo Ping couldn't take it anymore.

"You're talking nonsense! Which one is a no-name brand?!" Luo Ping's Sichuan dialect burst out again.

"Our retreat is also to get a piece of meat, how does that count as a defeat?!"

"Political Commissar, this isn't what I said, it's what the soldiers said," Xu Wu hurriedly explained.

"Hey, Lao Luo," Chen Chengxing pulled Luo Ping aside, signaling him to calm down.

"It's understandable that the insurgents didn't know our situation."

If they are veterans from northwestern Shanxi, they have all received basic literacy training. Although they may not know much, they understand what tactics are and have a strong political ideology.

However, most of the Kuomintang uprising soldiers absorbed after the Liberation War were illiterate.

They can only see the surface level; retreating is seen as defeat.

“However, Lao Luo, the political work in the army needs to be strengthened, especially among grassroots cadres. They must take the lead,” Chen Chengxing said.

The fact that the military had been winning battles for so long had covered up many contradictions and problems, which was actually not good for the troops.

Now, by taking advantage of two retreats that were not defeats, these hidden problems have been exposed, which is extremely beneficial to the future of the troops.

Whether an army is capable of fighting is not determined by how it wins, but by how it is defeated.

The biggest difference here is between the Red Army during the Long March and the Kuomintang army during the War of Resistance against Japan.

“I will handle this personally.” Luo Ping nodded solemnly.

"Well, we can't ignore the soldiers' thoughts either." Chen Chengxing got up and went to the map.

"Before retreating, we need to leave something for the Guo army."

Upon hearing Chen Chengxing's words, Xu Wu immediately perked up.

"Commander, shall we launch a night raid on the 74th Division?"

"You organize a group of elite troops to launch a night raid at 10 p.m., and I'll have the special operations brigade cooperate with you," Chen Chengxing said.

"Yes!" Xu Wu replied excitedly.

He risked being scolded to come to the headquarters, wasn't it for this?

"However, be careful not to go too deep. We must withdraw from the battle before 12 o'clock!"

"Don't worry, Captain, I know what to do!"

As night fell, while the main force quietly withdrew northward, Xu Wu led over a thousand men to sneak towards the 74th Division's positions.
Xu Wu divided the night raid troops into six teams, each based on a company, and coordinated with six special operations squads to launch an attack on the reorganized 74th Division from multiple directions.

Before the infantry attack, each special operations team had already infiltrated the vicinity of the 74th Division's forward positions and used walkie-talkies to call the artillery batteries that had been assigned to them.

"Boom!" "Boom!"
The forward positions of the 74th Reorganized Division were caught off guard by the artillery fire, and their firing points were destroyed one after another.

Because the coordinates are not so accurate at night, all four guns in each artillery company are firing at the same point.

Only after confirming destruction will the next location be moved.

After all the visible firing points on the front lines of the 74th Reorganized Division were eliminated, the bugle sounded, and the infantry immediately launched their charge.

Faced with a surprise attack by 21 of the most elite troops, the 74th Division's forward positions were breached in just one round.

Seeing the progress going so smoothly, Xu Wu became excited. The 74th Reorganized Division was nothing special.

Seeing the Kuomintang soldiers retreating in disarray, Xu Wu shouted, "Comrades! Follow me and fight!"
However, Xu Wu had only run a dozen meters forward with his submachine gun when he was stopped by Wei Dayong, who was dressed in disguise.

"Monk! Why are you stopping me! The enemy is ahead!"

"Captain Xu, the commander-in-chief has ordered that the night raid troops are not to go too far!" Wei Dayong said solemnly.

"The enemy is retreating in disarray. If we catch up, we can disrupt their plans, making it easier for the main force to retreat."

"Really? Then I'll call and ask the chief." Wei Dayong said, about to use the walkie-talkie carried by the communications officer next to him to contact the chief headquarters.

Xu Wu was stunned by Wei Dayong's move and quickly changed his tune.

"Forget it, forget it. I've thought about it. The enemy's retreat is too simple. They might be trying to lure us in."

"Fire the signal flare and retreat!" Xu Wu ordered the guard beside him.

"yes!".
"Bang!" "Bang!"

Two signal flares, one red and one white, shot into the sky.

(End of this chapter)