Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 493 The Time It Takes to Pee

"Siling, something terrible has happened!"

"The Maolin Mountain and Yanchi Mountain on the eastern front have been completely occupied by the G Army. The 15th Brigade was wiped out, with less than 500 men retreating!"

Wang Yaowen stared silently at the small flags of his own side that had been pulled out of the sand table and the small flags of the G army that had been planted on the hilltop.

At that moment, he had a bad feeling.

After watching for a few minutes, Wang Yaowen suddenly said, "Go to the 73rd Division!"

"yes!".
At this time, Cao Zhenze, the commander of the 73rd Division, was supervising the execution.

Previously, the 15th Brigade had deployed a battalion behind Maolin Mountain.

Firstly, it serves as a reserve force; secondly, it is to prevent the G army from flanking and attacking from behind.

Upon receiving the order, the battalion not only failed to provide support, but instead, led by their battalion commander, they fled.

After Cao Zhenze sent men to stop them, he planned to execute Battalion Commander Zhu Guohua in order to suppress the retreat of the troops.

Just as Cao Zhenze raised his hand to strike, Wang Yaowen's car pulled up.

Cao Zhenze immediately stopped the execution and ran quickly to the car.

Before Cao Zhenze could speak, Wang Yaowen, sitting in the car, asked:

"Commander Cao, who said that Maolin Mountain could hold out for at least half a month?!"

"Who said that if they can't hold the outer perimeter, they'd rather be buried in the dense forest?!"

They said it would take half a month, but I couldn't even last half a night.

"I am guilty!" Cao Zhenze did not deny it; he had indeed said this before.

"But please rest assured, Siling, I will personally lead the counterattack. If we fail to retake Maolin Mountain and Yanchi Mountain, bury me on the mountain!"

After hearing what Cao Zhenze had said, Wang Yaowen had nothing more to say, so he got out of the car.

"Commander Cao, I believe in your determination. There's no need for oaths or vows."

"But can you tell me why my defenses, which I've painstakingly built up over the years and seemed impregnable, were all lost overnight?"

“Si Ling, look.” Cao Zhenze pointed to the execution ground where the execution was about to take place.

"The battalion commander of the Maolin Mountain garrison led his troops to desert on the day the G army attacked."

Upon hearing this, Wang Yaowen was furious.

After quickly walking up to Li Guohua, Wang Yaowen asked, "As the battalion commander, why don't you fight to the death with the position?!"

Zhu Guohua turned his head and glanced at Wang Yaowen: "I think we can't hold on any longer. I want to leave a way out for the brothers."

"A way out? You've left yourself a way out!"

"As long as more brothers can live, it's worth it!" Zhu Guohua had no regrets.

If he hadn't withdrawn, his battalion would have been completely annihilated by now, just like the defenders on Maolin Mountain.

“But your death was not worth it!” Wang Yaowen said.

"As a brother, I respect you as a man, but as a soldier, I despise you!"

“If you die in battle on Maolin Mountain, I, Wang Yaowen, will inscribe a monument for you and make your name go down in history.”

"But if you die on the execution ground, you will be a sinner for all time!"

After saying that, Wang Yaowen angrily turned and left.

All the soldiers in the battalion who were forced to stand by and watch the execution knelt down before Zhu Guohua, expressing their gratitude to their battalion commander for saving their lives.

At the same time, these soldiers also hoped that Cao Zhenze would let Zhu Guohua off the hook.

However, Cao Zhenze did not hesitate and waved his right hand: "Execute him immediately!"

"Da da da"

With a few bursts of gunfire, Zhu Guohua fell directly into a pool of blood.

"battalion commander!".
The soldiers kneeling on the ground immediately burst into tears.

This is not only mourning Zhu Guohua, but also mourning themselves.

They knew without a doubt that their superiors would assign them to the most dangerous places next.

With Zhu Guohua dead, there was no one left to shelter them from the wind and rain.

On the other side, Wang Yaowen, who was observing the Maolinshan position through binoculars, suddenly spoke up:

"The previous judgment may have been wrong. The main direction of the G army's attack is most likely to be the east."

"Chief of Staff, relay my order: Zhou Da will lead the 19th and 57th Brigades to immediately relocate from the western front to the eastern front, to cooperate with Division Commander Cao in recapturing Maolin Mountain and Yanchi Mountain!"

Upon hearing Wang Yaowen's order, Luo Xingli hesitated: "Siling, the reserve force has just arrived at the western front and will be running around in a short time."

Wang Yaowen waved his hand to interrupt Luo Xingli, then pointed to the soldiers of the 73rd Division next to him.

"Look at this morale, it won't be long before Cao Zhenze is buried on this mountaintop!"

Not far away, Cao Zhenze also heard Wang Yaowen's words.

"Assemble! I, Cao Zhenze, will fight the G Army to the death!"
On the western front, Zhou Da had just led his troops to the Yuhe River, preparing to cross the river to support the Lashan position.

Just as Zhou Da was releasing water into the Jade River, a combat staff officer ran over.

"Brigade Commander, Commander Wang Siling has ordered the 19th and 57th Brigades to immediately return to support the eastern front and cooperate with the 73rd Division to recapture Maolin Mountain and Yanchi Mountain."

"What? Support the Eastern Front?" Zhou Da was immediately shocked: "It changed in the blink of an eye?!"

"Damn it, the generals are incompetent, and the whole army is dying of exhaustion."

"If we keep running around like this, we'll either get killed by the G army or be exhausted to death!"

Zhou Da cursed for a long time, but he could only obey orders.

When the order was relayed down, the Guo army soldiers immediately began to shout.

Unlike their superiors who rode in jeeps, they all had to walk. "Damn it, we're human beings, not livestock! We need to rest!"

"A perfectly good team, wandering from east to west and then from west to east, treating our brothers like dirt! How can we possibly fight?"

Despite their curses, the Guo soldiers had no choice but to turn back.

However, they are noticeably slower than before.

Wang Yaowen's transfer also led to a vacuum in the defense of the western front.

Upon learning that Chen Chengxing had captured Maolin Mountain, several columns on the western front immediately accelerated their advance.

Throughout the day, the Guo army's counterattacks had no effect.

Conversely, on the western front, the various columns made rapid progress, and the Kuomintang's strongholds were being eliminated one after another.

On the eastern front, the counterattack of the 73rd Reorganized Division was also easily repelled by the Second General Staff.

If it weren't for the dozens of planes overhead, making it inconvenient for the artillery regiment to be deployed, Chen Chengxing would have already ordered the 73rd Division to be infiltrated and divided.

As darkness fell, Wang Yaowen became increasingly restless in the command post.

During the day, he has aircraft to support him, but once night falls, it becomes the G army's home ground.

The operations staff officer knew that Wang Yaowen was in a bad mood. After walking up to him, he hesitated for a moment, but still did not dare to report the latest bad news to him.

So the staff officer secretly removed the blue flag for the Majiazhuang location from the sand table, replaced it with a red flag, and prepared to leave quickly.

However, Wang Yaowen still saw it.

"stop!"

"Majiazhuang has also been lost?!" Wang Yaowen exclaimed in disbelief.

The operations staff officer didn't dare to speak, but simply nodded.

"You dare to lie about military intelligence! I'll kill you!" Wang Yaowen was almost losing his mind.

It's only dusk, and he hasn't even heard the cannon fire yet. How did he lose another important stronghold?

The operations staff officer was terrified and immediately looked to Luo Xingli for help: "Chief of Staff!"

Luo Xingli hurried over: "Go and find out more about this immediately, and report back truthfully!"

"Yes, sir!" The operations staff officer breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly left.

After dismissing the operations staff, Luo Xingli walked over to Wang Yaowen and said, "Officer, the Chairman just called."

"What did you say? When will the reinforcements arrive?"

"The Chairman said: The G Army has the intention to use its superior forces to capture Quancheng before the reinforcements arrive, and then concentrate its forces to counterattack the northward reinforcements."

"The Chairman hopes that we will be determined to live and die with Jinan. He has ordered General Liu and Deputy General Du to urge the reinforcements to advance quickly."

"Reinforcements? Heh," Wang Yaowen sneered, pointing to the newspaper on the table beside him.
"That's the Central Daily News, take a look."

Luo Xingli, puzzled, quickly picked up the newspaper.

"Contacts have already been made on the outskirts of Jinan, and with war clouds looming, there are clear signs that the autumn campaign will take place in the middle section of the Jinpu Railway."

"What does this mean?!" Luo Xingli exclaimed in surprise.

Jinan is clearly under attack right now, and reinforcements haven't even reached the middle section of the Jinpu Railway yet.

"What do you mean? This is definitely Liu Jingfu's doing!" Wang Yaowen was very certain.

"What's the purpose of emphasizing the defense of Pengcheng at this moment? Isn't it simply to avoid sending reinforcements to Quancheng?!"

"Siling, don't worry too much. Although we've lost a few strongholds on the outskirts, we still have two city walls, and we can fight street battles."

"I estimate that we can hold on for about twenty days," Luo Xingli reassured him.

“Even if you and I can hold out for twenty days, what about after that?” Wang Yaowen asked rhetorically.

Upon hearing Wang Yaowen's words, Luo Xingli was taken aback: "Could it be that the old man from Jinling really just stands by and watch someone die?"

Didn't we agree to meet at Jinan?

"It's not that the old man is unwilling to help, it's just that I'm afraid Du Guangting will stand idly by," Mu Zhongyan chimed in.

Despite Mu Zhongyan's solemn vow before the war to fight Wang Yaowen to the last man and die without regret, and his statement that Du Guangting would not dare to disobey the old man, Mu Zhongyan did not stand up for himself.

But seeing the situation is not good now, they immediately backed down.

Wang Yaowen sighed, walked to the window, and looked outside.

"For some reason, I have a feeling that this may be my last battle with the G army."

"This may be my last Mid-Autumn Festival."

"A soldier's duty is to obey orders, and I am determined to shed my blood on the walls of Jinan."

"If you two manage to survive, I hope you will take care of my family in Jinling."

Upon hearing Wang Yaowen's words, Luo Xingli immediately replied, "Siling, I, Luo Xingli, am just a martial artist. I owe my current success entirely to Siling's constant support. I am deeply grateful."

"Since Siling has decided to live and die with Quancheng, I, Luo Xingli, swear to live and die with Siling!"

Mu Zhongyan smiled awkwardly: "Hey Siling, Chief of Staff, today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, a major holiday, why are you talking about life and death?"

"How about we go sit in the yard?"

Wang Yaowen understood what Mu Zhongyan meant: "Deputy Commander, you should go back. It's the Mid-Autumn Festival, and you should reunite with your family. By tonight, the fighting will probably get tense again."

These words struck a chord with Mu Zhongyan, but he still pretended to be nonchalant: "Si Ling, you're still on duty here, how can I leave?"

“There’s no need to be polite now,” Wang Yaowen waved his hand. “Go ahead and have some time with your wife.”

"Thank you, Siling!"

As soon as Mu Zhongyan got home, he didn't care about the Mid-Autumn Festival at all and immediately told his wife to start packing their luggage.

However, not all of Wang Yaowen's men were like Mu Zhongyan; there were also loyal and brave men among them.

(End of this chapter)