Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 505 Flanking Attack
Because Du Guangting's reinforcements failed to break through the G army's blocking position, Chang Ruiyuan was extremely anxious in Nanjing.

He once again dispatched Chief of the General Staff Gu Mosan and Operations Director Guo Gui to Pengcheng to oversee the battle.

As soon as Gu Mosan saw Du Guangting, he asked impatiently, "Why can't our two army corps defeat three columns of the G Army?"

Du Guangting glanced at Guo Gui beside him, then said with a wry smile, "The G Army is united from top to bottom, but we are all harboring our own agendas. How can we fight a battle like this?"

"Guangting, we can't let this stalemate continue." Gu Mosan said with a serious expression.

"Huang Huanran is sending several telegrams a day for help. If this continues, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold on for much longer."

"Sigh, let me think of another way," Du Guangting said helplessly.

"But since Huang Huanran is in such a hurry, I think it would be better to send someone to encourage them and boost their morale."

"Even if it's just gaining an extra hour, it's good."

"Yes, you make a good point." Gu Mosan nodded.

"Guo Gui, I'll leave it to you. Take the plane we came in on to Nianwei and make a call to Huang Huanran from the air to boost the morale of Huang's army."

"yes!".
After watching Guo Gui leave, Gu Mosan asked again, "Why did you send Guo Gui away?"

Don't underestimate Gu Mosan just because he may not be a master in battle. When it comes to insight and observation, he is confident that he is second to none.

When Du Guangting suggested sending someone to Nianwei to boost morale, Gu Mosan immediately understood.

“I’ve never trusted Guo Gui. I suspect he’s a member of the CCP!” Du Guangting said seriously.

"What?! The G Party? Do you have any evidence?" Gu Mosan almost jumped up.

Among the Kuomintang army, the G Party is the most heinous charge.

“Evidence? I don’t have any.” Du Guangting shook his head.

"However, after the war, when I and a few others visited Guo Gui’s home, I discovered that the sofa in his living room had several patches on it."

Gu Mo was dumbfounded: "What's this? Isn't being honest and upright in public service a good thing?"

"Hmph! A general of his rank living such a high position, yet so frugal at home, is nothing like one of us from the Kuomintang!"

"From that time on, I suspected he was a member of the G party! I just hadn't found any clues until now."

Du Guangting spoke with absolute certainty, but Gu Mosan found it extremely grating.

"Guangting, there are some things that can't be said!" Gu Mosan said sternly.

"If the Chairman heard this, he would be furious. Does he think our party is only fit for corrupt officials?"

"I'll be careful," Du Guangting agreed verbally, but in his heart, he didn't think so at all.

The Kuomintang was able to defeat the Beiyang warlords, which was certainly due in no small part to its incorruptible and patriotic individuals.

However, all these people who were devoted to the country were arrested and executed on April 12th.

After all, the more honest and upright someone is, the more they resemble the CCP.

When it's better to kill a thousand innocent people than let one guilty person go free, they are the first to die.

"However, Chief of Staff, I hope that the next operational plan for Pengcheng will be kept secret from Guo Gui," Du Guangting emphasized.

"If Guo Gui finds out about our plan, I'd rather disobey orders than follow the original plan!"

"Okay, okay, I'll keep it a secret!" Gu Mosan said irritably.

"That's good." Du Guangting nodded and went to the map.

"The G army's frontal defense is very tenacious, and I am not confident of breaking through it in a short time. The only way to break through the G army's defense is to adopt a flanking maneuver."

"I have decided to send an army to outflank the G army's position from the Danji direction, attacking the flank and rear, and coordinating with the frontal forces to launch a pincer attack to break the stalemate."

“Okay, I completely agree!” Gu Mosan nodded.

Du Guangting's strategy was excellent, but Qiu Feng, who received the order, was immediately caught in a dilemma.

His most capable 5th and 70th Armies are already engaged in direct combat with the G Army, and he simply cannot spare them in the short term.

The remaining 12th Army was not only weak in combat, but also consisted of old Northeast Army soldiers, who could defect to the Communist Party at any time.

Sending them to take a roundabout route is like delivering goods to your door.

Qiu Feng thought for a long time but couldn't come up with a solution. In the end, he could only go to Du Guangting in person to ask for the 74th Army, the general reserve force.

After the 74th Reorganized Division was completely annihilated at Diecui Mountain, the Ministry of National Defense reorganized the 74th Army with the remaining wounded soldiers and supplementary regiments.

Although this unit has relatively new personnel, it is well-equipped and its combat strength is considerable.

Inside the Second General Headquarters.

"Commander-in-Chief, a telegram from the Field Command." Chu Yunfei handed over a telegram.

After glancing at the telegram, Chen Chengxing picked up the map and drew a few circles on it.

"The enemy's 107th Army in the south has been annihilated, and the B Column, M Column, and F Column of the Central Plains Field Army are now free to deal with the situation."

"The field command ordered us to send an elite force to outflank Qiu and Li's army groups from the rear."

"What are your thoughts?" Luo Ping asked.

"Because B column is in the south, our flanking force must also go south so that we can coordinate to cut diagonally behind enemy lines."

“The most suitable road for this area is this one, which will facilitate the march of large troops.” Chen Chengxing drew a line on the map.

"Moreover, B column is also marching towards this area, and we can cooperate to infiltrate Pengcheng Airport."

"If we can take down the Guo army's airfield, our pressure will be greatly reduced."

The amount of aerial bombs that a bomber can drop is almost equivalent to a salvo from a heavy artillery division.

Destroying the airfield would directly halve the KMT's firepower projection capability.

After nightfall, the 21 squads that received the order set off in the dark.

To ensure concealment, all 21 artillery battalions switched to being pulled by mules and horses, and the entire force began its silent infiltration behind enemy lines.
On the way, a young soldier whispered to his squad leader, "Squad leader, my stomach hurts."

"You son of a bitch, you lazy bum who pisses and shits all the time!" the squad leader whispered.
"Get away from the road, pull it into the field, so it won't get trampled and beaten up."

"Hey!" The young soldier clutched his stomach and ran off the road into the farmland next to it.

This is good stuff, we can't waste it.

Just as the young soldier was firing away, another person ran over and squatted down not far away.

"Hey bro! Got any paper?" the person next to him asked in a low voice.

"Gentlemen, what do you need paper for? There are plenty of clods of dirt on the ground, just grab any piece," the young soldier said casually.

"Fine, I'll figure it out myself."
After relieving himself and wiping himself quickly, the young soldier pulled up his pants and ran back.

"Are you blind, you bastard! The team is over here!" the person squatting on the ground immediately shouted.

The young soldier turned around in surprise, and the two looked at each other.

That's when the two realized something was wrong.

"Damn it! The KMT/Kuomintang!"

Without thinking, the young soldier instinctively grabbed his gun and charged forward.

"Fuck!"

The KMT soldiers, startled, didn't even bother to finish pulling up their pants and ran back frantically, not even bothering to pick up their guns from the ground.

The young soldier didn't chase after them much; he picked up his rifle from the ground and ran back as fast as he could.

"Something's wrong! Enemy troops!"
The once quiet environment suddenly became restless.

"Captain, we have spotted some bandits to our left front."

"Order the vanguard battalion to immediately organize its troops and scatter the enemy!" Xu Wu immediately issued the order.

The mission of the 21st Detachment is to outflank the enemy and go behind enemy lines. There is no time to deal with the enemy forces here. The important thing is to leave quickly, break through this area, and penetrate deeper into enemy territory.

On the other side, the Guo army made the same choice, and a vanguard regiment also rushed forward.

Both sides launched continuous attacks, and reinforcements kept arriving, but neither side gained the upper hand in the short term.

"Damn it! Where did these Guo soldiers come from? They're so troublesome!" Xu Wu was somewhat annoyed.

Judging from the gunfire, the opposing KMT forces consisted of only one regiment, yet they were able to fight a battalion to a standstill, which indicated that the enemy was definitely not a ragtag unit.

"We have an important mission to accomplish, and we can't afford to waste time here like this!"

"Pass on my order: the Second and Third Battalions are to immediately reinforce the First Battalion and crush the enemy as quickly as possible!"

"yes!".
Qi Weida, the commander of the 74th Army on the opposite side, made the same response, sending another regiment to reinforce the army.

The two sides were deadlocked again.

The stalemate was making both sides extremely anxious.

The fighting continued until dawn, at which point both sides finally understood the situation.

This surprised everyone, and the intensity of the battle immediately increased.

"Commander, the opposing Nationalist army has at least 30,000 troops!"

"Damn it, where did this unit come from?!" Xu Wu put down his binoculars, somewhat incredulous.

Within this area of ​​several miles, the enemy and our forces were completely intertwined, with tens of thousands of people crisscrossing the battlefield.

"Order the troops to launch a full-scale attack!" Xu Wu commanded.

"Fourth Battalion, wipe out the Nationalist troops on the other side of the ditch!"

Amidst yesterday's chaos, one of the Kuomintang troops had already infiltrated the ranks of the 21st brigade, and was now separated from the brigade headquarters by only a ditch.

On the other side, after learning that the nearest G army unit was less than three miles from his command post, Qi Weida immediately dismounted and retreated quickly to prepare to regroup.

The Guo army's advantage lies in its firepower and defense. He really couldn't guarantee anything if they were to engage in a skirmish or melee with the G army.

Even if this G army only has one-third the number of its troops.

More than 80% of the 74th Army were new recruits; they had never fought a hard battle.

After suffering more than 2,000 casualties, the 74th Army successfully disengaged from 21 units.

After both sides deployed their forces, they unleashed their full firepower, with artillery battles being the first to begin.

The intense artillery fire almost completely covered both sides' positions.

"What did you say? Were we attacked by the main force of the G army in a single episode?!" Qiu Feng immediately became agitated upon hearing Qi Weida's report.

To say whether the 74th Army had combat capability, the answer is definitely yes.

But if you ask Qiu Feng if he's at ease, he definitely isn't.

The 74th Army was a newly formed unit that had not been tempered by bloody battles, and Qiu Feng had no confidence at all.

After hanging up the phone, Qiu Feng immediately called Du Guangting to report.

"We absolutely cannot lose any episodes!" Du Guangting concluded.

If Danji falls, the G army can advance directly to Pengcheng Airport and cut off the retreat route of Qiu and Li's army groups to Pengcheng.

"Deputy Commander Du, I don't have any spare troops left," Qiu Feng reminded him.

The main force of the Second Army Corps was all on the front line, and Qiu Feng's 12th Army dared not move lightly. At this time, Qiu Feng could not even muster a single regiment.

"Then we'll draw troops from the main attack direction!" Du Guangting said solemnly.

At this moment, a tremendous chill had already crept into Du Guangting's heart.

If I hadn't happened to send out a flanking force, the G army would probably have already captured Pengcheng Airport, which would have cut off the rear of Qiu Feng and Li Bingwen's two major army groups.

In other words, the G army had not only set its sights on Huang Huanran from the beginning, but also planned to wipe him out together with the reinforcements!
However, Du Guangting, who saw through the G army's plan, found himself seemingly helpless.

The only thing he could do was prevent more people from going to their deaths.

As for Huang Huanran, his face was practically screaming "death."

(End of this chapter)