Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 476 He's just unlucky
After Nakano's advance over the Dabie Mountains, it caused a stir in Nanjing and Wuhan, the centers of KMT rule.

Some timid wealthy businessmen have even begun to migrate south.

Meanwhile, Gu Mosan, the army commander-in-chief originally in charge of attacking Shandong, had no chance of success for a long time.

This forced Chang Ruiyuan to personally call Bai Jiansheng in November, asking him to take charge of the Dabie Mountain campaign.

Bai Jiansheng did not refuse Chang Ruiyuan's request and arrived at the front-line command post in early December.

Subsequently, Bai Jiansheng commanded 16 reorganized divisions and 33 reorganized brigades to launch an attack on the Dabie Mountains.

Bai Jiansheng was well aware of the effectiveness of the G Army's mobile warfare, so he deployed his forces in groups of two to three reorganized divisions, advancing in unison and step by step.

At the same time, Bai Jiansheng also resorted to the methods he used to suppress the Red Army, repeatedly implementing the brutal "Three Alls" policy in the Dabie Mountains region.

Faced with the enemy's heavy and relentless attack, Nakano's pressure increased dramatically.

Inside the Second General Headquarters, Chu Yunfei brought over a telegram.

"Commander, the Field Army has ordered us to head north along the Longhai Railway to meet the southward advance of the Central Plains Field Army's F and M columns."

In order to reinforce the Central Plains Field Army's anti-encirclement and suppression operations, the higher command urgently ordered the F and M columns of the Central Plains Field Army to escort a large number of ammunition, food, medicine, as well as newly recruited soldiers and recovered veterans, to quickly move south to the Dabie Mountains.

Previously, when we were south of the Longhai Railway, we were assisted by the Nth Column of the East China Field Army. After crossing the Longhai Railway, the outer line troops of the East China Field Army took charge.

Of these, the second one is the closest, so it's naturally the obvious choice.

"Yes, we will head north to Xia County to meet them. After that, the 21st and 22nd teams will be the vanguard, and the headquarters will be the rearguard as we advance south."

Chen Chengxing already knew about this before.

Moreover, this time it wasn't just the Second Division and Nakano reinforcements heading south to fight.

Next, the East China Field Army and the CX Corps will need to cooperate with the Central Plains Field Army to launch large-scale sabotage operations along the Longhai and Pinghan lines until the Kuomintang army's siege of the Dabie Mountains is crushed.

Chen Chengxing marched south in a grand procession with the F and M columns. The local security forces of the Kuomintang were all oblivious to this, and they would often turn back quickly every twenty miles.

After successfully escorting the F and M columns to rendezvous with the outer perimeter troops of the Central Plains Field Army, Chen Chengxing turned west again, and was temporarily placed under the command of Commander Chen.

Just as the East China Field Army and the CX Corps were launching a major offensive, the Central Plains Field Army, after replenishment, proposed the strategic policy of "when the enemy moves inward, we move outward; when the enemy moves outward, we also move outward."

Subsequently, the Central Plains Field Army split into two routes. The political commissar led three columns to persist in the struggle in the Dabie Mountains, while the commanders led the A, F, and M columns to launch an attack behind enemy lines.

After Nakano crossed the Huai River to the north, the three armies began to coordinate their operations.

The primary target was the reorganized 3rd Division, which was composed of remnants.

"This is just bad luck for his 3rd Division. The first reorganized division we annihilated when we entered the Central Plains was his 3rd Division, and now we've run into them again," Luo Ping chuckled.

According to intelligence, this 3rd Division was reorganized from previously deserted soldiers and local security forces.

Although it was called a full-fledged division and had two brigades with six regiments, its total strength was only about nine thousand men.

Although they were still the direct descendants of the Central Army, they were mostly equipped with Type 24 rifles and Hanyang rifles, with American weapons accounting for less than one-tenth of their equipment, and mainly submachine guns and carbines.

Chen Chengxing put down his pencil and laughed, "If anyone's to blame, it's him for not recognizing his own limitations. We have over 100,000 men maneuvering around the Pinghan Railway, and he still dares to advance recklessly alone."

When the Pinghan Railway was attacked, Chang Ruiyuan immediately ordered the 3rd and 20th Reorganized Divisions to go north to restore traffic on the Pinghan Railway.

However, the 3rd Division was clearly moving a bit too fast. They departed from Wancheng and arrived at Xinghe Town on the 23rd, but the 20th Division told them they would arrive on the 26th.

On the 24th, when the 3rd Division was preparing to continue its advance, they suddenly realized that the situation seemed to be not quite right.

"Commander, the G Army is attacking us from the east and north." Guo Zhiheng, the chief of staff of the 3rd Division, was covered in cold sweat.

"How many people? How far is it?" Lu Kezhen, commander of the 3rd Division, asked anxiously.

The 20th Division will arrive in two more days, leaving them to face the enemy alone during this time.

"The number of people is as high as 100,000, and they should arrive by tonight at the latest."

"One hundred thousand? One hundred thousand!" Lu Kezhen's face was extremely ugly.

He only has nine thousand men under his command, and even with the local security force, the total is barely ten thousand.

With a ratio of 10 to 1, he knew even with his heels that there was no chance of winning.

Lu Kezhen spread out the map and said, "No, we can't stay in Xinghe Town."

If the G army had arrived a day earlier, they would have been in Runan; if they had arrived a day later, they would have reached Xiping.

With the city's strong defenses, he was confident he could hold out for two or three days.

But Xinghe Town is just a small town with low walls and no sturdy fortifications. He was worried even if it was just one day, let alone two or three days.

"Order the troops to immediately retreat to Leshan in the northwest, while we will hold our ground by taking advantage of the terrain."

"In addition, immediately send a telegram to the Corps Headquarters requesting an order for the 20th Division to quickly move north to provide support."

"yes!".
Upon receiving the order, the soldiers of the 3rd Division hurriedly packed what they could and headed straight for Leshan outside the city. They then hastily switched to a defensive posture, attempting to hold their ground and await reinforcements.

Lu Kezhen stationed the division headquarters and the 3rd Brigade at Jingang Temple, while the 20th Brigade, which was reorganized from the Southern Henan Security Regiment, was responsible for defending the outer perimeter of Jingang Temple.

By evening, Chen Chengxing and D Zong had advanced to the Xinghe Town area.

"Chief!"

"Hehe. Chen Chengxing, you've gotten really strong lately. That cannon is 105mm caliber, right?"

Looking at Commander Chen's smiling face, Chen Chengxing felt a chill run down his spine for some reason.

"It's all just small-scale stuff, nothing serious. I never expected that even this little cannon would catch your eye, Commander."

"Look at your petty attitude!" Commander Chen said disdainfully.

It's such a pity that the Second General Manager is no longer part of his staff.

“You’re so strong, so the main attack is up to you and Li Yunlong. I’ll lead the 13th and 14th Divisions to the south to set up blocking positions and block the reinforcements from the enemy’s 20th Division.”

"No problem, no problem!" Chen Chengxing patted his chest and assured them. If time allowed, a single detachment could easily take down a small 3rd Division.

After confirming the battle plan with Chen Chengxing, the main force of the D column continued to advance south, while Chen Chengxing and Li Yunlong's 2nd Division began to build attack positions on the outskirts of Leshan.

"Old Chen, what do you think of this main attack?"

As soon as Li Yunlong bent over, Chen Chengxing knew what he meant.

"Old Li, you actually think highly of the entire 3rd Division, which is such a small force?"

"Oh dear, everyone says Chen Chengxing is rolling in money now, and it seems they're right," Li Yunlong laughed.

"Although the 3rd Division's equipment can't compare to the elite Kuomintang troops, it still has tens of thousands of men. In your mouth, Chen Chengxing, it's become so small?"

"Hehe. You, Li Yunlong, are not bad either. I just checked, your 2nd Division must have 15,000 men, right?"

"Oh, not at all. There are only four regiments, 13,800 people. They can't compare to your Second Commander."

"Alright, Lao Li, I know what you mean. Don't say I'm not taking care of my old comrades. I can give you the weapons from the 3rd Division, but I want more ammunition, especially mortar shells and American bullets."

When escorting the F and M columns south, Chen Chengxing also drew some ammunition from the stockpiles of various units.

Currently, the 82mm and 60mm mortars in each battalion are not in short supply of ammunition.

"No problem, no problem," Li Yunlong immediately patted his chest and agreed.

The entire 3rd Division only had less than one-tenth of the American-made equipment. Even if all the American-made bullets were given to Chen Chengxing, he would still be getting a huge advantage.

"Then it's settled." Chen Chengxing nodded.

“Your 2nd Division will launch an attack from the north of Leshan, while I will launch an attack from the south and east.”

"After the battle begins, my artillery will prepare for the attack, and 20 minutes later, we will launch a simultaneous attack from three sides."

“Alright! I will also launch artillery strikes from the north simultaneously.” Li Yunlong nodded.

His 2nd Division is no longer purely infantry; it now has an independent mountain artillery battalion, and a reinforced one at that, with as many as 18 mountain guns of various types.

Because 105mm shells were scarce, Chen Chengxing again did not order the howitzer battalion to fire.

The main units responsible for fire support were the various mountain artillery battalions and mortar battalions.

However, this also resulted in heavy casualties for the entire 3rd Division.

"Commander, the 20th Brigade reports that they can't hold out any longer."

"Useless! The G army has only been shelling for five minutes, and the infantry hasn't even attacked yet, and they can't hold on?!"

"Tell them that anyone who dares to retreat without my orders will be court-martialed!" Lu Kezhen shouted sternly.

The supervisory team had already set up heavy machine guns behind the 20th Brigade. If they dared to retreat easily, the heavy machine guns would teach them a lesson.

Faced with Lu Kezhen's strict orders, the soldiers of the 20th Brigade had no choice but to huddle in the trenches and pray that the shells would not fall directly on their heads.

Twenty minutes later, the shelling stopped.

"Comrades! Follow me and kill!"

"Kill!"
Seeing the G army rushing towards them, the soldiers of the 20th Brigade were terrified, but under the threat of the supervising officers and soldiers, they had no choice but to get up and fire.

However, when faced with a dense hail of bullets, they would often close their eyes, fire, and then pull back to reload, not caring where the bullets went.

From the moment the infantry launched their attack to the infantry artillery's pinpoint elimination of firing positions, and then to the assault team storming the front lines, the entire process took less than half an hour.

Even when exchanging rifle fire, the soldiers of the 20th Brigade dared not raise their heads, let alone engage in close combat in the trenches.

Faced with the skillful tactics of first using grenades, then firing submachine guns, and finally charging with bayonets, the Kuomintang army, whose combat effectiveness was already questionable, was routed.

At this point, the soldiers of the 20th Brigade no longer cared about the supervisory team or anything like that, and turned around and ran towards Jingang Temple.

Of course, the supervisory team wouldn't stop them at this point, because the supervisory team had already run off first.

As the front lines advanced, the general offensive soon began.

Luke Zhen ordered his 107mm mortar battalion to fight back desperately.

The 3rd Division, with its full firepower, did cause some trouble for the attacking forces. However, faced with the 2nd General Staff's feint and the heavy mortar battalion's artillery suppression, the 3rd Division continued to lose ground.

By three or four o'clock in the afternoon, the 3rd Division had only one position left.

Just as Chen Chengxing was preparing for a swift victory, Li Yunlong called.

"Hey? Old Chen! Old Chen! I'm handing over the last stronghold to you, you're handing it over to me!"

This is a battalion's worth of 107mm mortars. Although shells might be hard to find, Li Yunlong doesn't mind at all.

"Li Yunlong, I already told you, do you think I can just ignore it?" Chen Chengxing said irritably.

"How could that be? Everyone knows you, Chen Chengxing, are the most loyal. I just don't want to get something for nothing," Li Yunlong chuckled.

"Come on, do you think I don't know your tricks?"

“If you want the final assault, then here you are,” Chen Chengxing said.

The remaining troops of the 3rd Division had lost their courage and would fall at the slightest exertion.

"Thank you! Old Chen, thank you so much!"

"Alright, alright, hurry up."

After hanging up the phone, Li Yunlong excitedly said, "Da Biao, I'm coming over to the position. Tell the comrades to give us a wave of attacks into Jingang Temple!"

"Don't worry, Commander, the comrades have been waiting for a long time."

As he spoke, Zhang Dabiao walked to the phone.
(End of this chapter)