Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 464 This is God telling me that victory in this battle is assured.
"The 74th Reorganized Division has gone up Diecui Mountain?" Chen Chengxing was quite surprised by this sudden change on the battlefield.

"Isn't Zhang Zhonglin afraid of being surrounded by enemies?" Chu Yunfei was also somewhat puzzled.

Given the current terrain, holding out at Diecui Mountain would be a major taboo for military strategists.

Chen Chengxing said, "Knowing it was a dead end, they still went forward without hesitation. They are admirable and respectable, yet also tragic and lamentable."

Chen Chengxing could immediately understand Zhang Zhonglin's intention in going to Diecui Mountain.

The idea was simply to lure the main force of the Huaye Army to attack him, so that Gu Mosan's 400,000 troops could form an encirclement and counter-encirclement around him.

This is similar to the Battle of Lijiapo in those years, except that the area is larger and both sides have deployed more troops.

"Zhang Zhonglin is indeed quite bold and has a strategic vision. As a division commander, he is able to consider issues from a holistic perspective."

"However, he underestimated the strength of the East China Field Army and overestimated his allies." Chen Chengxing shook his head.

As for how good Zhang Zhonglin's plan is, it's definitely excellent.

But if he bets on his allies, that would be an absolutely terrible move.

"Let's fight to the death, with our backs to the wall, and settle this at Diecui Mountain!" Chen Chengxing stood up and ordered, "Except for the 21 units holding Luozhen, the rest of the troops advance towards Diecui Mountain!"

Zhang Zhonglin has already decided not to launch a counterattack on Luozhen, so there is no need for the Second General to remain here.

Just as the various units of the East China Field Army were tightening the encirclement and preparing for a general offensive, on the top of Diecui Mountain, the engineers of the 74th Division, who were digging fortifications, unearthed a stone tablet.

Li Yunliang's eyes lit up when he saw this, and he immediately went to invite Zhang Zhonglin.

"Commander, the engineers have unearthed a stone tablet. Please go and take a look."

Zhang Zhonglin was curious about what kind of stone tablet could make Li Yunliang so happy.

Upon seeing the stone tablet, Zhang Zhonglin couldn't help but read it aloud: "The longbow bell tolls, unifying the land; the unicorn brings auspicious omens, the great task is accomplished."

“Interesting, very interesting,” Zhang Zhonglin said with a smile.

"Commander, isn't this talking about you?" Li Yunliang explained, "This longbow is clearly the character 'Zhang,' and it also has 'Zhong Youlin' on it."

"This means that the commander-in-chief can accomplish his mission once he arrives here!"

"So it seems I, Zhang Zhonglin, am destined to be here! It's fate, and Heaven is helping me!" Zhang Zhonglin was overjoyed to see this auspicious sign.

Using the 74th Division as bait, the main force of the G Army was drawn in, and then the main force was surrounded and attacked from both inside and outside to annihilate the G Army in one fell swoop.

This plan would have been extremely risky for the 74th Division, and Zhang Zhonglin would have been under immense pressure.

However, the appearance of this ancient stele strengthened Zhang Zhonglin's confidence.

"The life-or-death battle on Diecui Mountain will surely be won by our 74th Division!"

"Brothers! The time has come for us to make contributions to the Party and the country!"

"The longbow and bell toll as the land is unified, and the auspicious unicorn brings good fortune, marking a great success!"

The soldiers of the 74th Division were greatly encouraged after learning the contents of the stone tablet.

After all, China has had these kinds of sayings since ancient times, and stone tablets and stone figures have appeared there.

After boosting morale on the spot, Zhang Zhonglin led the group back to the command post.

The key to the success of this plan lies not in the 74th Division, but in the allied forces.

To prevent friendly forces from getting sick, Zhang Zhonglin decided to draft a telegram.

"Yunliang, draft a telegram to report our plan to Commander-in-Chief Gu."

"No, send a telegram to the Nanjing General Headquarters, report directly to the Principal!"

"yes!".
Zhang Zhonglin has now reached the pinnacle of his life.

A division commander directly commands three army corps to cooperate in combat.

Upon receiving Zhang Zhonglin's telegram in Nanjing, Chang Ruiyuan nearly fainted.

"Zhong Lin is incredibly audacious."

"In case anything goes wrong, my 74th Division..."

At this moment, Chang Ruiyuan's feelings were extremely complicated.

Zhang Zhonglin's move was extremely risky, but it was also the best opportunity to eliminate the main force of the Shandong G Army.

After sitting there hesitating for a long time, Chang Ruiyuan finally decided to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"The battle at Diecui Mountain can be described as a coordinated attack from within and without, with the key to this battle being the coordinated attack from within and without."

"Besides Zhang Zhonglin's 74th Division holding Diecui Mountain, the key was the coordinated operation of our outer forces."

"Draft a telegram immediately."

Chang Ruiyuan's dictated telegram was immediately sent to Gu Mosan, Tang Keqin, and Zhang Zhonglin.

On one hand, Chang Ruiyuan ordered the 74th Reorganized Division to hold its ground and draw the main force of the G Army.

On the other hand, it ordered the ten outer reorganized divisions to quickly converge on the 74th Reorganized Division.

Upon reading Chang Ruiyuan's telegram, Zhang Zhonglin burst into laughter, which relieved him of all his worries.

"The Chairman is right, it's about working together from the inside and outside, and blossoming from the center!"

"Our 74th Division will make the whole world take notice at Diecui Mountain!"

"The Battle of Diecui Mountain is destined to make my 74th Division and Zhang Zhonglin famous throughout history!"

The encirclement of Huaye on the outskirts of Diecui Mountain is gradually being completed.

At dawn the next day, the attack officially began with a command from Noji.

The T-column's howitzer regiment bombarded Diecui Mountain fiercely, and the mountain was instantly engulfed in flames.

Subsequently, nearly 200,000 troops from both sides began a protracted tug-of-war on the small Diecui Mountain.

Although the 74th Division, with its advanced American equipment and superior high ground, repelled several attacks by the G army.

But faced with overwhelming firepower, the 74th Division's position was already teetering on the brink of collapse.

"The T-Column's howitzer regiment has gone out of commission; now it's our turn!"

"Pass on my order! Have all the heavy mortars fire hard! Use up all the shells! I'm done for!" Mortar shells are made of cast iron, and both their production cost and replenishment speed are faster than 75mm Japanese shells.

Even if we run out of ammunition this time, we can quickly get new supplies.

The 74th Division's positions, which had just begun to weaken from the artillery fire, were once again engulfed in shelling.

However, this time it wasn't the entire battlefield that was shrouded, but rather a few small positions belonging to the 22nd and 23rd regiments.

The intense artillery bombardment and coordinated infantry-artillery operations from the two detachments greatly increased the pressure on the 74th Division on the position.

Although they managed to hold off the first wave of attacks, the casualties on the front lines exceeded half.

Inside the command post atop Diecui Mountain, Zhang Zhonglin watched the G Army's fierce attack with a very serious expression.

"Chen Chengxing's troops are really not to be underestimated. Judging from their combat strength alone, they are probably on par with my 74th Division."

Although the G army's offensive from other directions was also fierce, Zhang Zhonglin was not too worried. His only concern was the hilltop positions to the south.

"Pass on my order: adjust the gun barrels of the mountain artillery positions, use two battalions to deal with Chen Chengxing, and use the other battalion to deal with the G Army from other directions," Zhang Zhonglin ordered.

Although Chen Chengxing's forces in the south are similar in strength to those in other directions, his firepower is at least twice that of those in other directions, and his soldiers are also much more combat-effective.

"yes!".
The 74th Division destroyed all the heavy howitzers, but managed to move all the mountain guns and shells up the mountain.

"Boom!" "Boom!"
As Zhang Zhonglin adjusted the cannon's muzzle, the Second Division's attack was immediately suppressed.

"Damn it! The 74th Reorganized Division is really putting up a tough fight!"

"Pass on my order: concentrate semi-automatic rifles and submachine guns at the front line and attack the 74th Division's position in skirmish lines!"

With the concentration of various automatic weapons, the firepower that the infantry battalion responsible for the front-line attack could project increased more than tenfold in a short period of time.

Caught off guard, the 74th Division's front-line positions were quickly breached.

"Brothers! The G army is attacking! Fix bayonets! Follow me!"

"Kill!"
Inside the narrow trenches, a bloody melee immediately erupted.

However, the two sides are now fighting in the mountains, and Chen Chengxing has fully demonstrated his expertise in both infantry combat and mountain warfare.

The individual combat effectiveness of the Second Column has reached its peak, not to mention that the Second General Staff also has a huge advantage in terms of weaponry.

Although the soldiers of the 74th Division were very courageous, they simply couldn't win.

As he watched the soldiers forced to retreat to the second line of defense, Zhang Zhonglin's face grew increasingly grim.

"Too fast, the G army is too fast."

The speed at which the battlefield situation deteriorated far exceeded Zhang Zhonglin's expectations.

"Send a telegram to the Chairman immediately."

"I hope the Chairman will order the ten reinforcing divisions to set off immediately, so as to quickly form a pincer movement and annihilate the main force of the G Army in one fell swoop."

"Otherwise, the students can only sacrifice themselves for their country and die for their country to repay the principal's many years of teaching."

Looking at the telegram, Chang Ruiyuan was deeply moved by Zhang Zhonglin's resolute decision to sacrifice himself for his country.

Chang Ruiyuan was well aware that the Guo army was riddled with factions and driven by self-interest, and many generals would never go to great lengths to save them.

This battle was not only about the life and death of Zhang Zhonglin and the 74th Division, but also about the success or failure of the entire Shandong province and even the whole country.

Therefore, Chang Ruiyuan decided to personally go to Pengcheng to command the battle.

Upon arriving in Pengcheng by chartered plane, Chang Ruiyuan immediately convened a meeting.

In the Pengcheng operations room, Chang Ruiyuan looked at everyone present and said:
"After receiving your telegram at noon, I couldn't sit still anymore."

"I want to ask you, the 74th Division is holding Diecui Mountain, and the G bandits are trying to encircle and annihilate Zhang Zhonglin."

Do you think this is a good thing or a bad thing?

Faced with Chang Ruiyuan's question, Gu Mo stammered and really didn't know what to say.

He still doesn't understand Chang Ruiyuan's central-flowering strategy.

Seeing that Gu Mosan was rambling on and on without getting to the point, Chang Ruiyuan said directly:

"Don't beat around the bush in an emergency."

"Mo San, let me tell you, this is a good thing, this is a great thing!"

"The key offensive is to seek a decisive battle with the main force of the G army."

"The previous plan was that the Shandong bandits would escape across the Yellow River or cross the sea after their defeat, but that was not our intention."

"Our original intention has always been to wipe out the main force of Shandong G Army in one fell swoop, and now the opportunity has come."

"I admire the courage of the **. They dared to hold the 74th Division hostage and wanted to fight the Guo Army to the death."

"I admire Commander Zhang's courage even more. He did not hide or avoid the enemy, but directly confronted the main force of the G Army at Diecui Mountain."

Chen Chengbo, whom Chang Ruiyuan had specially brought along, quickly picked up where Chang Ruiyuan left off: "Among the generals of our Guo Army, only General Zhang has this kind of heroic spirit."

Chang Ruiyuan nodded, indicating that Chen Chengbo was right, and then said to Gu Mosan, "Now do you know what to do?"

Gu Mosan immediately replied, "Please rest assured, Principal, I will urge the three corps to thoroughly understand the Principal's strategy and launch an attack on Diecui Mountain without hesitation."

"Quickly form a counter-encirclement of the main force of the G army, attack from both inside and outside, and strike from the center to eliminate the G army bandit group in one fell swoop."

"Okay." Chang Ruiyuan nodded: "This is called encirclement and counter-encirclement!"

Chen Chengbo praised again, "With the principal's strategic instructions, victory in the decisive battle of Yimeng is just around the corner."

Chang Ruiyuan waved his hand: "Alright, Mo San, I came to Xuzhou today just to say these few words to you."

"The purpose is to let you know that now is the perfect opportunity to annihilate the enemy in the decisive battle of Yimeng."

Gu Mosan immediately stood at attention and said, "Thank you for your personal guidance, Chairman!"

"Yes, Mo San, the Yimeng battle is now in your hands to handle on the spot."

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)