Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 494 If only they were all in Jinan

Not long after Mu Zhongyan left, Liu Bin walked into the command post.

"Siring!"

"Commander Liu?" Wang Yaowen asked, somewhat surprised.

"Come on, come on," Wang Yaowen called out.

With the war situation urgent, Wang Yaowen did not go to the courtyard with Luo Xingli, but the two of them set up a small table by the window with two glasses of American red wine on it.

"Lieutenant Pang," Wang Yaowen gestured for another glass of wine.

Holding his wine glass, Wang Yaowen said, "Commander Liu, today is the fifteenth of August, let me toast you."

Liu Bin took the wine glass but did not drink it: "Siling, I have no merit to accept this reward. I request Siling to take my troops out."

"I will definitely retake Maolin Mountain before nightfall!"

Although the elite 74th Division was annihilated, Liu Bin, as the veteran regimental commander after the reconstruction, still possessed a heroic spirit.

"Alright! Get to work right away!" Wang Yaowen raised his glass: "I'll see you off!"

On the eastern front, the most important position was Maolin Mountain. If it could be recaptured, there would still be a fight to be had.

"Siling, I won't drink this wine. I'll drink it when I take back Maolin Mountain!" Liu Bin placed the wine glass on the table.

"Good! Good! This really has the spirit of Guan Yu when he warmed wine before beheading Hua Xiong!" Wang Yaowen's face showed a gratified smile.

They truly are the troops I trained.

"Commander Liu, after you take Maolin Mountain, the Chief of Staff and I will be here to discuss heroes with you over wine!"

"Yes!"

After Liu Bin left, Wang Yaowen looked at his wine glass with deep emotion.

If only Chang Ruiyuan hadn't squandered all his former troops, they would all still be in Jinan.

After leaving the command post, Liu Bin led seven companies in a hurry to the eastern front.

Upon arriving at the designated location, Liu Bin immediately found Cao Zhenze, the commander of the 73rd Division.

"Commander Cao, the sergeant has ordered my unit to assist the 73rd Division in recapturing Maolin Mountain and Yanchi Mountain."

"Great! Great! With you guys, my chances of winning have greatly increased!" Cao Zhenze said excitedly.

The 73rd Division had just suffered a defeat, and morale was a major problem.

Although the 19th and 57th brigades rushed to the eastern front, they were exhausted from their continuous travel.

Chen Chengxing, who was facing them, was a notoriously ruthless character, and Cao Zhenze was truly unsure of himself.

At this time, Chen Chengxing had moved the command post to Maolin Mountain and was observing the situation of the 73rd Division through binoculars.

"Captain, this is too close," Xu Wu advised from the side.

If Chen Chengxing were to cause him even the slightest harm, he'd be in deep trouble.

"Who are you getting too close to?" Chen Chengxing turned his head and glanced at Xu Wu.

"What's wrong with being too close to your own soldiers? What's wrong with being too close to the enemy?"

"Won't we get through in a minute?!"

"Does this headquarters of ours have to move around and accommodate you?!"

"Yes!" Xu Wu dared not speak.

At this moment, Luo Ping led several local comrades over: "Old Chen, today is the fifteenth of August, and the villagers have brought us mooncakes."

"Oh, comrades from the local area, you've worked so hard. Please be sure to convey my thanks to the people in the liberated areas." Chen Chengxing hurriedly went up to shake hands.

"Commander Chen, the soldiers are fighting on the front lines, so we must ensure their logistical support."

"Only after you drove away the Guo bandits can the villagers have a good life."

"Hahaha"

After exchanging pleasantries, Chen Chengxing ordered, "Old Chu, immediately arrange logistics and distribute the mooncakes to the soldiers. After they finish eating the mooncakes, we can fight Wang Yaowen."

"yes!".
Although each soldier only received a small amount of mooncake, they were still very happy, eating the mooncakes while reinforcing their position.

However, this greatly displeased Cao Zhenze on the other side.

"Damn it, the G army even has mooncakes to eat!"

"Pass on my order: bombard Maolin Mountain!"

The 73rd Division's mountain artillery regiment and howitzer battalion began a massive bombardment of Maolin Mountain.

After being shelled, the 21 units immediately moved into their respective positions as planned.

A few minutes later, the Second General Staff's howitzer battalion began to counterattack.

However, due to distance and location, the howitzer battalion could only threaten the mountain artillery positions of the 73rd Division.

Seeing that the artillery of both sides had begun to engage in artillery combat, Cao Zhenze immediately ordered the 19th Brigade and the 77th Brigade to launch simultaneous attacks on Maolin Mountain and Yanchi Mountain.

Liu Bin led his troops to serve as the supervisory team in the rear.

The Guo army's attack was very brave. Despite being blocked by the firepower of 21 units, they still charged forward headlong.

Those in front fell one by one, but those behind did not retreat.

The 21st Army did not occupy Maolin Mountain for long. Apart from the renovation of the semi-permanent fortifications on the mountaintop, only a few trenches were hastily built on the western slope.

Despite the intense firepower, the Guo army quickly reached a position 200 meters from the front line of the 21st unit.

"Go! Go now!" Cao Zhenze shouted, waving his submachine gun and moving forward with the charging troops.

"Commander! Don't go!" The adjutant grabbed Cao Zhenze's arm.

"Get out of my way!" Cao Zhenze shook off his adjutant's hand.

"Anyone who's afraid of death, I'll shoot them on the spot!"

"Charge! All of you, charge!" Cao Zhenze shouted, waving his submachine gun.

As the distance closed, the firepower density of the 21 forward positions increased significantly. The firing of submachine guns, machine guns, and semi-automatic rifles caused the Kuomintang troops to fall in droves.

Seeing this, Liu Bin, who was overseeing the battle from the rear, shouted, "Brothers! The time has come to serve the Party and the country!" "There's no need for supervision anymore, everyone, follow me!"

Chen Chengxing, standing atop the mountain, watched as the Guo army charged recklessly, and knew that the enemy was desperate.

"When two brave men meet on a narrow road, the bravest will prevail!"

"Pass on my order! All available shells should be fired to hit the German troops in the waist!"

"When the shelling begins, sound the charge immediately and crush the morale of the Nationalist troops in one fell swoop!"

"yes!".
"Boom!" "Boom!"
A series of mortar shells landed in the middle of the KMT army's formation, cutting off the KMT troops from the front and rear.

"Beep beep beep beep."

"Comrades! Follow me and kill!"

"Kill!"
The 21 soldiers leaped out and rushed towards the attacking vanguard of the Guo army.

Close combat is G Army's forte, and the Second Division is even stronger than the rest.

The vanguard of the Guo army was defeated in less than five minutes.

The retreat of the vanguard also caused the collapse of the troops behind.

Upon seeing this, Liu Bin raised his submachine gun and fired a burst.

Four or five retreating KMT soldiers were killed instantly.

"Hold on tight! Anyone who dares to back down will face the consequences!"

"Go back! All of you, go back!"

Faced with Liu Bin's threat, the Guo army soldiers could only turn back cautiously and continue forward.

However, the morale of the Guo army at this time was completely different from before, and their fighting power was almost non-existent.

Seeing that his troops hadn't moved an inch in ten minutes, Cao Zhenze immediately moved forward, preparing to personally lead the charge.

"Commander, Regiment Commander Liu is ahead, please don't go!" The adjutant pulled Cao Zhenze back again.

Their current position is far enough forward that light machine guns can already attack them.

Cao Zhenze forcefully shook off his adjutant's pull again: "Screw you! All of you, get on me!"

It has to be said that Cao Zhenze is really fierce, leading his guard squad directly to the front line.

The morale of the Guo army soldiers was also boosted.

However, facing the Second General Headquarters' attack, the Guo army was still no match, either retreating or surrendering on the spot.

Cao Zhenze charged so fast, and the soldiers weren't blind; such obviously different clothes meant he must be a high-ranking officer.

Immediately, a burst of heavy machine gun fire swept over them.

Inside the Siling Department of Quancheng, Wang Yaowen was looking at Liu Bin's wine glass, waiting for good news.

However, when he saw Liu Bin running back covered in gunpowder and with bandages wrapped around his head, he realized that the Eastern Front had definitely been defeated.

"Siring, the G army has reached the weather station!"

The 21st Regiment didn't just stand there taking the beatings; taking advantage of the retreating Guo army, the soldiers advanced a considerable distance and were about to reach the Thousand Buddha Mountain area.

"Commander Cao... sacrificed his life for his country!"

Everyone in the Siling Department immediately looked up, staring at Liu Bin with disbelief.

Wang Yaowen also slammed his fist on the table and stood up.

Cao Zhenze's death was a major blow to the morale of the Quancheng troops.

Seeing Wang Yaowen pacing around inside the Siling unit, Liu Bin immediately said, "Siling, I'll organize the troops right away and continue the charge to push the G army out!"

The troops on the eastern front are currently in disarray, and they must be reorganized before they can launch another offensive.

"Stop!" Wang Yaowen immediately called out to Liu Bin.

"Chief of Staff, order all troops on the eastern front to withdraw into the city and consolidate their positions. I want to fight a street battle with the G Army!"

Luo Xingli looked at Wang Yaowen with some hesitation: "Si Ling, this means that we have nowhere to retreat and nowhere to defend ourselves."

“Si Ling, it is all because of my incompetence. I have failed Si Ling’s teachings over the years and have failed the hopes of the Party and the country.”

"Siling, I'm so sorry." Liu Bin was extremely dejected.

Last year, the 74th Division fought a fierce battle with the G Army in Diecui Mountain. The G Army only dared to attack if its forces outnumbered the 74th Division several times over.

As a result, now, more than 10,000 G troops dare to chase and kill four fully-fledged brigades.

Seeing that the members of the Siling Department were somewhat dejected, Wang Yaowen encouraged them:

"Gentlemen, we still have two more city walls! As long as we cooperate sincerely, we can definitely hold off the G army!"

"We're just waiting for the Chairman's reinforcements to arrive, and then we can turn the tide and win!"

Just then, a staff officer from the Guo army ran in: "Siring, siring! Deputy Siring him, Mu!"

"What happened to the Deputy Siren?!"

"Deputy Siling Mou has run away with his family!"

Upon hearing that Mu Zhongyan had run away, Wang Yaowen felt as if he was about to suffer a heart attack.

Luo Xingli, standing to the side, angrily retorted, "With the nation in peril, how dare he desert his post?!"

Wang Yaowen was so devastated by this news that he almost lost his fighting spirit.

"A dignified lieutenant general and deputy clerk of the Pacification Zone, a high-ranking general of the Party and the State, is actually so cowardly and afraid of death."

"Alas, the fate of the Party-state is sealed."

"Siling! I'm going to bring him back!" Liu Bin said, heading off to search for Mu Zhongyan.

Now that the G army has blockaded Quancheng, Mu Zhongyan can't go far.

"Forget it!" Wang Yaowen stopped him, "Let him be."

However, the bad news didn't stop there. The eastern front collapsed, and problems arose in the west as well.

(End of this chapter)