Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 463 I'm not leaving here today.
"Commander, Luozhen has fallen. Judging from the unit designation, it belongs to Chen Chengxing's troops."

"I understand." Zhang Zhonglin looked at the map without looking up.

Zhang Zhonglin realized something was wrong as early as when Luozhen was attacked.

Even if the 83rd Division is useless, it is still a direct descendant of the Central Army.

The fact that the 19th Brigade could be defeated in such a short time indicates that the main force of the G Army must be coming.

The people of the East China Field Army weren't stupid either. The sudden deployment of their main force in an ambush couldn't possibly mean they were going to Luozhen to offer birthday greetings.

So he had already judged that Luozhen was going to be lost, and now it's just that the result has come out.

"Commander, the number of G troops on the front line is increasing, and we have lost Luozhen. All signs indicate that the G troops may have designs on the 74th Division."

"Should we retreat first?" Wei Zhenwen said.

"It's not surprising that the town was taken over; our 74th Division's determination to capture Gaozhuang remains unchanged!" Zhang Zhonglin said.

“Send a telegram to Li Yaozong and Huang Huanran, instructing them to move closer to us as quickly as possible.”

Even now, Zhang Zhonglin still doesn't believe the G army would dare to attack the 74th Division, but the fall of Luozhuang has made him more cautious.

The two divisions of Li Yaozong and Huang Huanran were only half a day's journey away from the 74th Division.

Once the 83rd and 25th Divisions arrive, the 100,000-strong army can be united.

At that time, whether it's Luozhen behind him or Gaozhuang in front, they will all be his for the taking.

However, Li Yaozong was nearly driven mad with anger after receiving Zhang Zhonglin's telegram.

He had just lost a brigade in Luozhen, and in his heart he had already cursed Zhang Zhonglin's entire family.

Now they're doing this again?
"I just got scammed once, and now they're trying to fool me again? Dream on!"

"Chief of Staff, relay my order: all troops, stand by!" Li Yaozong commanded.

"yes!".
Unlike Li Yaozong, Huang Huanran, upon receiving the telegram to align himself with Huang, quickly chose to move forward.

To Huang Huanran's surprise, a main force of the East China Field Army suddenly slipped through the gap between him and the 74th Reorganized Division.

The 25th Division's advance route has been blocked.

At this moment, the 83rd Division, which had remained stationary, also noticed something was wrong: the G Army had appeared on Wanquan Mountain.

Li Yaozong was overjoyed at this unexpected turn of events.

The information from the two men was quickly delivered to Tang Keqin.

"What is the G army doing?" Tang Keqin asked, looking puzzled.

The main force of the East China Field Army appeared on both the left and right flanks of the 74th Division, and the connection between Zhang Zhonglin and Li Yaozong and Huang Huanran was cut off.

With the loss of Luozhen, the 74th Division was effectively surrounded by the G army.

"Among hundreds of thousands of troops, why did the G Army specifically choose to take Zhang Zhonglin's head?"

"Unbelievable, this is unbelievable!" Tang Keqin still didn't believe that the G Army had the guts to wipe out the 74th Division.

But at this point, all the information indicated that the G army was going to attack the 74th Division.

"Send a telegram to the 74th Division immediately!"

"The main force of the G Army has appeared on their left and right flanks. Order them to immediately withdraw their forces!"

Although he didn't know what the G army was trying to do, Tang Keqin decided to play it safe.

Upon receiving Tang Keqin's telegram, Zhang Zhonglin instantly came to his senses and realized that he had fallen into the trap set by the G army.

The G army that is currently blocking our way is probably a trap deliberately set by the enemy.

The purpose was simply to tie him down at Gaozhuang, buying time for the rest of the G army's main force to make infiltration.

"I originally thought the G army was daydreaming, but I never expected them to actually dare to take such a desperate gamble."

No matter how arrogant Zhang Zhonglin was, he had to admit at this point that the G army was really after him.

"The G Army has mobilized the equivalent of five armies, and all of them are their main forces, nearly 150,000 troops, to encircle us." "What are your opinions?" Zhang Zhonglin looked at the people next to him.

"With 150,000 men against our 30,000, Commander, the 74th Division is in a very dangerous situation," Wei Zhenwen said.

"We should take advantage of the fact that the G army on our flank has not yet established a firm foothold, immediately consolidate our forces, and take the initiative to move closer to Li Yaozong's or Huang Huanran's troops."

The encirclement by the G Army was only in its initial stages. If the 74th Division retreated immediately, whether it joined the 25th Division or the 83rd Division, the crisis would be resolved instantly.

"You want me to align myself with Li Yaozong and Huang Huanran? What a joke!"

"No matter how great the difficulties we encounter, our 74th Division will not back down."

Zhang Zhonglin has always been proud and arrogant; making him admit defeat is harder than killing him.

Moreover, in Zhang Zhonglin's view, the 74th Division has not yet reached the final stage.

"The commander has always been proud and arrogant, and there are things he will not do," Li Yunliang said.

“Besides moving closer to friendly forces, I think we have another option: to climb Diecui Mountain.”

"The summit of Diecui Mountain is 600 meters above sea level. It is the highest peak of the 72 Gu and the highest point in the surrounding area. It is strategically located, easy to defend and difficult to attack."

“No, no.” Wei Zhenwen shook his head.

"Diecui Mountain is indeed easy to defend and difficult to attack, but my 74th Division has as many as 30,000 men. Diecui Mountain is narrow and densely populated. How will we solve the problems of food and drinking water?"

In response to Wei Zhenwen's objection, Li Yunliang chuckled and said, "Chief of Staff, looking at the entire front, the reinforcements on the left and right are either twenty or thirty li away or no more than a day's journey away."

"We only need to hold out at Diecui Mountain for half a day, or at most one day, and reinforcements from all directions will arrive."

"We have enough food to sustain our needs, and we have spring water for drinking, so we shouldn't face any major difficulties."

After listening to Li Yunliang's analysis, Zhang Zhonglin nodded.

"Within 24 hours, the main force of the G army besieging our army will be surrounded by the Guo army."

"Then, Diecui Mountain will be **'s burial place!"

At this point, Wei Zhenwen still felt it was inappropriate:
"Commander, although we have 400,000 troops behind us, given the G Army's style, they will definitely arrange troops to intercept our reinforcements."

"If reinforcements do not arrive, we may face the danger of Jieting."

“Zhenwen, we are in a completely different situation from Ma Su.” Zhang Zhonglin shook his head, already having a grand plan in mind.

"The 25th and 83rd Divisions are on the flank. If the G Army surrounds us, they will be able to join us in just a few hours."

"And even if they can't come, the G army wouldn't be able to break through with the strength of the 74th Division."

"As long as we can draw away the main force of the G army, the surrounding reinforcements will take the opportunity to encircle us, creating the best opportunity for a decisive battle with the G army in Shandong."

"Commander, I don't think we should stay here any longer," Wei Zhenwen said, still somewhat uneasy.

The 74th Division was a heavily armed unit, which was already inconvenient to move around in the mountains. Once it went up the Diecui Mountain, its original advantage of being heavily armed became its disadvantage.

The place called Diecui Mountain looks exactly like Jieting to him.

“No, I think this place is excellent!” Zhang Zhonglin affirmed.

"To tell you the truth, I have ambitions to go up Diecui Mountain. I have a big plan. If this plan succeeds, we will be the number one heroes of the Party and the country."

"From a full-scale offensive to a focused offensive, we have been looking for the main force of the G army to fight a decisive battle."

"Now that the main force of the G army has delivered itself to our doorstep, how can we give up?"

“The G Army thinks highly of me, Zhang Zhonglin. I have no reason to back down from this main force of 150,000 G Army soldiers.”

"Right here, right here in Diecui Mountain, we're not leaving!"

"Pass on my order: the troops shall cease their attack and retreat to Diecui Mountain. Take all weapons that can be taken up the mountain, and destroy those that cannot be taken up the mountain."

"yes!".
Zhang Zhonglin planned to use the 74th Division as bait to lure all the main forces of the East China Field Army to Diecui Mountain to surround him.

Then, the 400,000 troops on the periphery will form a counter-encirclement of the G army, ultimately achieving victory in one battle.

(End of this chapter)