Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 453 Our army annihilated 100,000 G troops!

After receiving the order to tally the battle results, Tian Cheng, the commander of the 57th Regiment of the 83rd Division, made a phone call to the front-line blockade position.

The companies of the 83rd Division are still maintaining the encirclement.

"Company commander, it's the regimental commander on the phone."

"Hey, Commander, this is Fan Debiao, the company commander of the Second Company."

"Fan Debiao, I'm asking you, how many G soldiers did you kill last night?"

Fan Debiao was stunned when he heard Tian Cheng's question.

How many G soldiers were killed? The battle just started yesterday and the Third Company ran away, followed closely by their Second Company.

If someone from the G army in front of the position sprains their ankle, that would count as an injury.

However, since the leader has asked, we can't just say there aren't any.

Fan Debiao glanced at the deputy company commander next to him.

The deputy platoon leader gestured with his fingers, sometimes three, sometimes five, clearly indicating that he hadn't decided yet.

However, the regimental commander was still waiting on the other end of the phone, and he clearly didn't have time to discuss it with the deputy company commander.

"Thirty or fifty, I guess," Fan Debiao mumbled.

"Thirty or fifty?"

"Hmm, fifty then." Fan Debiao reluctantly chose the higher number.

"Have you calculated it correctly? There were so many G soldiers at night, more than ants, how come you only killed so few? Calculate it again!"

Fan Debiao was even more confused now.

The deputy platoon leader next to him also heard the voice on the phone, and his fingers immediately changed again: "Eighty, eighty."

"Ah, sir, we've recalculated it, and we definitely made a mistake earlier."

"It should be eighty, eighty!" Fan Debiao reported with a chuckle.

"Eighty? The Third Company next door killed one hundred and ninety, how come your Second Company only has so few?" Tian Cheng said with dissatisfaction.

"Bullshit! The Third Company ran the fastest yesterday without firing a single shot!" The deputy company commander couldn't help but chime in from the side.

Fan Debiao quickly waved his hand, indicating that he should stop talking for now.

"Hehe. Well, sir, we didn't do the statistics properly just now, so I've done a careful recount this time."

"We've eliminated over two hundred G troops!" Fan Debiao said with an awkward laugh.

Upon hearing Fan Debiao's report, the soldiers of the Second Company couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Shut up!" the deputy company commander quickly pointed at them, telling them to be quiet.

"How much is two hundred?" Tian Cheng asked into the microphone.

"Two hundred. Two hundred and eighty."

"Why are there still odd numbers and even numbers?"

"No, no, no, it's two hundred and eighty-three! I counted them one by one, so there's no mistake this time."

"Very good, brothers, you've worked hard. I'll reward you according to your merits later!" Tian Cheng was finally satisfied.

"Thank you, Commander! Thank you, Commander!"

After hanging up the phone, the deputy platoon leader couldn't hold back any longer:
"Company commander, you're too audacious. The only thing we can see on our position that has anything to do with the Communist army is two worn-out shoes."

"You reported 283 all at once?" The deputy company commander felt his head was spinning.
"What should we do? They've all reported so many people! If we report too few, we'll be at a disadvantage when it comes time to reward merits!"

Fan Debiao was also a little unsure at this point. When he had lied about military intelligence before, it had never been this exaggerated. At most, it was only thirty or fifty people.

"Company Commander, what if the higher-ups investigate?" the deputy company commander asked.
"Investigate my ass! We'll just say we dug a hole and buried them all!"

"Hey, let's just say it's buried together with the G army that the Third Company wiped out." Fan Debiao applauded his brilliant idea.

"That's a great idea," the deputy company commander said, giving a thumbs up.

The soldiers around them also burst into laughter.

Inside the 51st Regiment headquarters, the chief of staff also found the regimental commander, who was drinking.

"Commander, the division headquarters wants us to report the battle results. How should we report them?"

How did the 57th Regiment submit its application?

"They reported that 1,700 were killed and 3,000 were injured."

"Hmm? So many? Then we definitely need more than them."

"In that case, we report that 2,400 were killed and 4,500 were wounded!"

"So many? Commander, what if the higher-ups investigate?"

"Investigate? How can we investigate? Haven't you heard of the saying 'the dead can't prove anything'? The person is dead, how can we investigate? Go report it!"

"yes!".
"Commander Tang, our division has achieved great success in this encirclement and annihilation of the remnants of the G army. There are tens of thousands of G army corpses left in front of the position!"

Li Yaozong rushed to the First Army Corps headquarters to personally report the good news to Tang Keqin.

Upon hearing Li Yaozong's report, Tang Keqin showed no joy whatsoever, merely glancing at him indifferently.

"chief of staff."

"To!"

"Send a telegram to the Chairman: After fierce fighting, my First Army Corps has victoriously captured Langya and pursued the enemy, annihilating ten brigades of the G Army! The main force of the G Army is in complete disarray!"

Upon hearing "ten brigades," the chief of staff froze on the spot.

Li Yaozong, who was standing next to him, also felt that such a reward was a bit too exaggerated.

"Commander Tang, if the Chairman finds out that we've given false information, I'm afraid..."

"What do you know?" Tang Keqin glanced at Li Yaozong.

"This is exactly what the Chairman is waiting for. Ten brigades, he might even think it's not enough." Tang Keqin felt he was being conservative.

"The Commander really understands the Chairman's temperament," Li Yaozong flattered.

Tang Keqin simply smiled and remained silent. He didn't understand Chang Ruiyuan's temperament, but he understood what politics was.

To become the commander of this corps, it's not enough to just know how to fight.

As expected, Chang Ruiyuan was very satisfied with the result and sent a commendation telegram to the First Army Corps.

Inside the headquarters of the 74th Reorganized Division, Zhang Zhonglin looked at the telegram and could hardly believe his eyes.

"How did you manage to win such a resounding victory?"

"Commander, I heard that Commander Tang reported that ten enemy brigades were annihilated," Wei Zhenwen whispered from the side.

Zhang Zhonglin turned his head instantly and looked at him with an incredulous expression.

"Ten brigades? I haven't seen ten brigades in the entire Langya region!"

"Send a telegram to the Chairman immediately! What I can't stand the most is soldiers giving false reports of military intelligence!"

"Commander, this is Commander Tang after all."

"What Commander Tang? Even if Chen Chengbo came, he couldn't deceive the Chairman!"

"Send a telegram! Send a telegram immediately!"

"Yes!"

Left with no other option, Wei Zhenwen compiled the actual situation of the Battle of Langya into a telegram and sent it to Chang Ruiyuan.

However, to everyone's surprise, Chang Ruiyuan called less than half an hour later.

"Zhong Lin."

"Committee!"

“I’ve read your telegram. Tell me the truth, what exactly is going on?”

"Chairman, the Battle of Langya was entirely the work of my 74th Division. My unit did engage in combat with several main forces of the G Army, and the enemy suffered considerable casualties, but no large-scale decisive battle occurred."

"What about the siege?" Chang Ruiyuan's tone remained unchanged.

"Attacking the city? I believe the enemy withdrew from Langya on their own initiative. In the subsequent pursuit, the enemy did show signs of retreat, but they did not eliminate the main force of the G army."

Chang Ruiyuan was very dissatisfied upon hearing Zhang Zhonglin's words.

“Zhong Lin! Although the G Army withdrew from Langya on its own initiative, it was only under the pressure of our massive army.”

"The G army suffered repeated defeats and fled in panic only when it could not protect itself."

"This shows that they have no other way out!"

"The decisive battle in southern Shandong was a resounding success! Most importantly, we captured Langya, the capital of the G Army, a victory that cannot be denied!"

"Chairman."

"Alright, that's enough," Chang Ruiyuan interrupted.

As Zhang Zhonglin was one of his favorite generals, Chang Ruiyuan, seeing that Zhang Zhonglin's political awareness was too low, simply told the truth.

"The other day, through personal connections, the Madam spoke with some U.S. politicians, hoping that the U.S. government would increase its military aid to China in order to completely wipe out the G army."

Upon hearing Chang Ruiyuan's words, Zhang Zhonglin suddenly realized what was going on.

So this is a group trying to fool Americans.

"Zhong Lin, do you understand now? Do you know what to say at Langya's press conference tomorrow?"

"Please rest assured, Chairman, Zhong Lin knows what to do!"

When the reception arrived, Tang Keqin was about to stand up and boast about the military might of the Guo army when Zhang Zhonglin stood up first.

Tang Keqin had no choice but to pretend that he was just lifting his butt to get a cup to drink water.

"This decisive battle in southern Shandong was of great significance. All the soldiers of my 74th Division were loyal to the Party and the country, fought bravely, and were willing to sacrifice themselves."

"In close cooperation with friendly forces, and after a hard-fought battle, we annihilated a total of sixteen brigades of the G Army, nearly 100,000 men, inside and outside Langya City!"

"Moreover, these people are all the main force of the G Army! This is an unprecedented major victory for our army! It has turned the tide of the war in southern Shandong in one fell swoop!"

Upon hearing Zhang Zhonglin's words, Tang Keqin stopped drinking the cup he had just put to his lips and stared at Zhang Zhonglin with a bewildered expression. This guy was even better at bragging than him!

Zhang Zhonglin's words, along with the carefully prepared battlefield photos, successfully fooled the American reporter.

Newspapers both at home and abroad immediately began reporting on this victory.

"The First Army Corps annihilated 16 brigades of the G Army, totaling 100,000 men, on the outskirts of Langya!"

"The G army has suffered heavy casualties and is no longer able to fight!"

"The Shandong G Army has begun a general retreat, attempting to cross the Yellow River westward and join forces with the Central Plains G Army!"
Listening to the content of the American radio broadcast, Zhang Zhonglin breathed a sigh of relief.

However, Zhang Zhonglin did not expect that this matter not only intimidated the Americans, but also made another person lose their temper.

Surrounded by a deluge of news reports, Chang Ruiyuan also developed the illusion that the main force of the G army had been annihilated.

Looking at the stack of newspapers on the table, Chang Ruiyuan said smugly:

"Among the five G armies within the pass, the G army of ** is the most tenacious, best-trained, and most cunning."

"However, now that the G army has lost its stronghold, it is no longer a threat."

Upon hearing Chang Ruiyuan's words, everyone in the Ministry of National Defense echoed his sentiments, as if the G Army would be wiped out on the spot in the next second.

"Chairman, our army has won a great victory in this battle. However, the only drawback is that a considerable number of G Army troops deserted," Guo Gui said.

"Chief Chen reported that this was all due to Wang Yaowen's stagnation."

"The most urgent task now is to get Li Xianzhou to speed up his advance and block the escape route of the East China G Army."

"We must not allow the Communist Party army to enter the Yimeng Mountains, and we must not allow the Communist Party army in East China to cross the Jinpu Railway and join forces with the Communist Party army in Central China."

"Yes, that's what I think too." Chang Ruiyuan nodded.

Now that the G army has lost its capital, its morale is certainly low, making this the best time to officially expand its gains.

"Send a telegram to Chengbo, instructing him to directly command Li Xianzhou's troops to march south and coordinate with the southern forces to encircle Army G!"

"yes!".
(End of this chapter)