Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 510 Who will take the blame?

After the Battle of Nianxu ended, the East China Field Army, without even cleaning up the battlefield, immediately dispatched reinforcements southward to provide support.

However, the main task of the East China Field Army was to help the Central Plains Field Army block the troops from Pengcheng in the north and the two army groups of Li Yishou and Liu Ziliang in the south.

The task of encircling and annihilating Huang Peiwu's army group was still mainly undertaken by the Central Plains Field Army.

Inside Nakano Noji's room, the three on LCD spread out Nakano's belongings.

Apart from the A and D columns, which were fully equipped and manned, the other columns only had five or six regiments, averaging about 15,000 people per column.

The entire Central Plains Field Army totaled only 120,000 men, a number exactly matching that of Huang Peiwu's army corps in front of them.

In terms of manpower and combat effectiveness, the men were confident that they were superior to the 12th Army Corps, but in terms of weaponry and equipment, the two units were almost a generation apart.

In the brutal fighting in the Dabie Mountains, the Central Plains Field Army fought day after day. In addition to heavy casualties, almost all of its heavy weapons were buried in the mountains, and its heavy artillery was also destroyed.

At this point, the entire Central Field Army had only a few dozen cannons and two hundred mortars left, along with light and heavy machine guns, grenades, and rifles.

On the other hand, Huang Peiwu's army was equipped with a large amount of American weaponry, including hundreds of cannons and dozens of advanced aircraft and tanks.

The most critical issue here is the huge disparity in the number of artillery pieces.

On the battlefield, artillery is the god of war, playing a decisive role in land warfare.

Nakano, a unit lacking heavy equipment, was preparing to proactively encircle and annihilate an enemy of similar size who possessed a large amount of modern military equipment.

Such a battle is unprecedented in history, both in China and abroad.

But the group decided to do it anyway.

The decision was made, and on the 23rd, the D column set up a blocking line at Nanpingji on the south bank of the Huai River.

They need to buy time for the other columns in Nakano to deploy and create a trap to surround Hwang Pei-wu.

To demonstrate his resolve, Nakano moved his command post to Zhangjia Village, located between Pengcheng and Suxian.

This is the very center of the Huang Peiwu Corps, the Qiu Li Corps, and the Li Liu Corps.

Historically, no army has ever had its core command post placed in the heart of the battlefield in this way.

This is the Field Commander telling the entire army through his actions that if they are defeated, they will die here together.

"The main force of Army G has finally appeared!"

Huang Peiwu was genuinely relieved to learn that a G Army position had appeared in Nanpingji.

If the G army in Suzhou doesn't show up, it means that the main force of the G army is deliberately letting him penetrate deeper, which is not a good thing.

"Pass on my order: the 18th Army will launch an attack on the Nanpingji position! Heavy artillery and tank units will support the 18th Army!"

"Yes!"

Upon receiving tank support, Yang Buyuan, commander of the 18th Army, immediately ordered the 118th Division to launch a fierce attack with twenty tanks as the vanguard, under the cover of heavy artillery fire.

"Boom!" "Boom!"
Li Yunlong's mouth watered as he watched the massive flames exploding on the battlefield.

"Damn it, what a fine cannon! It's a waste to leave it in the hands of the Kuomintang army."

Zhang Dabiao, standing to the side, laughed and said, "Isn't this just preparing to devour them? Once we've eaten up Huang Peiwu's army, why are you worried about not having good stuff?"

"Good stuff?" Li Yunlong curled his lips: "If we take out Huang Peiwu, we might be able to get some American mountain guns, but if you're talking about heavy artillery of 105mm or more, we can only take a second look."

Li Yunlong was confident that the 105mm artillery would never fall into the hands of the 2nd Division before the artillery regiment was equipped.

"Damn it, it makes me angry just thinking about it. Why does Chen Chengxing get all the good things?"

"Not to mention the many major battles he fought in the East China Field Army, the Central Plains Field Army even gave him heavy artillery before advancing into the Dabie Mountains."

"An independent artillery regiment comprising one howitzer battalion and three field artillery battalions! Good grief, they're really getting cocky!"

"We have to admit the Second Division's combat capabilities, otherwise the commander wouldn't have given them the cannons."

"I didn't say they were weak in combat."

Li Yunlong had witnessed the Second Division's combat capabilities when they cooperated in operations in the Runan area.

Even though he was confident in his combat prowess, he still had to give a thumbs up to the Second Boss's performance.

Even without artillery support, the combat effectiveness of the troops under the Second General Headquarters is top-notch.

Those uprising soldiers were just so-so when they were in the Kuomintang army, but when they came to the Second Division, they were completely transformed and immediately became elites. How could anyone argue with that?

As they were talking, Li Yunlong heard the sound of artillery fire outside gradually subside.

"Zhang Dabiao, the enemy has run out of artillery fire! Move the frontline rocket launcher teams forward and prioritize attacking the enemy tanks!"

Li Yunlong would not allow tanks to get within 100 meters of the front line before firing, as that would only lead to a rapid breach of the front line.

Without long-range anti-tank weapons, the rocket launcher operator had no choice but to risk moving forward.

However, this is already much better than using explosive charges for close-range demolition during the War of Resistance against Japan.

Faced with repeated attacks from the 18th Army, Li Yunlong's 2nd Division fought desperately for a whole day.

Yang Buyuan also ordered his troops to attack from other directions, but the D Column resisted fiercely and the 18th Army did not advance an inch.

"The main force! This is definitely the main force!" Huang Peiwu's expression was somewhat solemn.

The 18th Army was one of the five elite forces of the Kuomintang army, but even with the support of heavy artillery and tanks, it fought the Kuomintang army here for a whole day without making an inch of progress. This is enough to show how difficult the Kuomintang army was to deal with.

"chief of staff."

"Here!" Wenxiu ran over.

"Send a telegram to the Ministry of National Defense, requesting to change course and join forces with Li Yishou and Liu Ziliang's army groups before heading north."

The 18th Army fights for a whole day at a time, so he doesn't have that much time to waste.

At this point, turning around and converging into a larger force would be advantageous for the next step of the operation.

"yes!".
However, to Huang Peiwu's disappointment, Chang Ruiyuan did not agree to Huang Peiwu's request.

The main force of the East China Field Army is now in a standoff with the Pengcheng Suppression Headquarters south of Pengcheng. Chang Ruiyuan wants Huang Peiwu to quickly move north to encircle the main force of the East China Field Army of the G Army.

Huang Peiwu had no choice but to readjust his plans.

"Commander Yang, send a troop to move north along the river, cross the river at a different location, and outflank the G army at Nanpingji."

This flanking force will be extremely useful to the 12th Army Corps. If the infiltration is successful, it can cut off the retreat route of the G Army at Nanpingji and attract other G Army units to come to its aid.

Even if their infiltration fails, they can still provide ample intelligence, allowing one to better assess the situation.

As soon as Yang Buyuan dispatched his infiltration troops, the D Column immediately received the intelligence.

Inside the Siling headquarters, looking at the intelligence report, the chief of staff laughed and said, "Siling, Huang Peiwu really did send reinforcements."

"Hehe. Huang Peiwu and I were classmates. During the Huangpu Military Exercise, I was able to accurately predict his actions."

"Now that the main force in the midfield has had enough time to develop, we should withdraw."

"Let's leave this position to Huang Peiwu."
The following night, when the outflanking force finally crossed the Huai River and prepared to outflank the rear of the D column, they discovered that the G army had already abandoned its position overnight.

At the Nanpingji position, Yang Buyuan rushed over: "Officer, half of the 18th Army has crossed the Huai River and has not encountered any favorable resistance from the G Army. Could this be a trap?"

"Unlikely," Huang Peiwu shook his head.

"I don't believe the G army would dare to give up the Nanpingji ferry crossing on its own initiative. It is the last natural barrier they can rely on."

Less than 20 kilometers ahead after crossing the Hui River is Suzhou County, at which point the G army will have no defensible terrain.

"I judge that this is because the Central Plains G Army suffered too many casualties and had no choice but to retreat," Huang Peiwu affirmed.

Although the G Army and the 18th Army had fought back and forth, given the strength of the 18th Army, it was inevitable that the G Army would suffer heavy casualties.

Yang Buyuan immediately reminded him, "Officer, the military tactics of the G army cannot be judged by conventional standards."

"In this battle, Nakano's fighting style is completely different from before. He actually chose to fight head-on. They must have a trick up their sleeve!"

The Central Plains G Army lacked heavy equipment and usually attacked from the flanks rather than engaging in direct confrontation.

But this time, Zhongye actually went head-to-head with them despite their absolute equipment advantage, and fought particularly stubbornly.

Seeing this scene, Yang Buyuan felt extremely uneasy.

"Lord Siling, I suggest we change our strategy. Let's establish a firm foothold first, and then figure out a solution once we have a clear understanding of the situation."

Yang Buyuan's meaning was simple: focus on Mengcheng and stabilize the situation there first.

“I can also tell that something’s wrong with the G Army,” Huang Peiwu said confidently.

"However, I believe that flesh and blood are ultimately no match for steel."

If the Central Plains Army were to confront the 12th Army Corps head-on, its equipment would be more than enough to crush them, just like what happened at Nanpingji this time.

"Order the troops to accelerate their crossing of the river! Continue northward!"

"yes!".
After crossing the Hui River, the 12th Army Corps continued to advance.

As one of the elite forces of the Kuomintang army, the 18th Army was highly vigilant about danger. The 18th Army's search team quickly brought back extremely dangerous information.

"Officer, something is wrong. A large G Army force has been spotted moving on the highway in Suxian County. Fish-scale formations have also been discovered on both sides of the highway. The formations are very deep and appear to be for the use of a large force."

Upon hearing Yang Buyuan's report, Huang Peiwu's expression turned serious.

The G army isn't just idly digging in the dirt; the fact that they've set up positions means there must be a large force there.

Just as Huang Peiwu was pondering G Army's intentions, the phone next to him rang again.

Wenxiu reached out and took it: "This is the Corps Headquarters."

"Okay, okay, I understand."

After hanging up the phone, Wenxiu reported with a serious expression: "Wu Zibin, commander of the 85th Army, reports that Mengcheng behind us has been occupied by the G Army, which has about 30,000 troops."

"Mengcheng has been occupied?" Huang Peiwu's heart skipped a beat.

All indications now suggest that the 12th Army Corps is in a precarious situation.

Huang Peiwu dared not delay and immediately convened a military meeting to discuss countermeasures.

After listening to the operations staff officer's report, Yang Buyuan immediately became serious.

He had dealt with the G army for many years and knew how formidable they were.

"The situation is now extremely serious!"

"The G army is deliberately abandoning the Wohe and Huihe rivers and has laid a trap."

"We are now in a trap, but we are not yet in a desperate situation where we are surrounded on all sides."

"But if we continue to follow the instructions of the Ministry of National Defense and Liu Jingfu and stubbornly push forward without any changes, then we will really be heading down a dead end."

"My suggestion is that, before the G army's encirclement is fully formed and the southeast direction is not yet sealed off, the 12th Army Corps should immediately march rapidly towards the southeast."

"As long as we reach Guzhen and join up with Li Yishou, we will be invincible."

Yang Buyuan's suggestion immediately gained the approval of most people.

But Huang Peiwu hesitated at this point: "It's not a good idea to change the marching direction without consulting the Ministry of National Defense."

Huang Peiwu is in a difficult position. The 12th Army Corps does not belong to the Pengcheng Suppression Headquarters, but is directly under the command of the Ministry of National Defense.

However, the Ministry of National Defense did not inform Huang Peiwu of any battle situation at all, and simply ordered him to advance.

This resulted in Huang Peiwu being completely unaware of the situation in Pengcheng, and he was even unaware that Huang Huanran had been completely annihilated.

Huang Peiwu can only infer from the G army's reaction that Pengcheng is still in the midst of a major battle.

Moreover, he is now facing a problem of the century.

So who will take the blame?
If he listens to the Ministry of National Defense and continues to advance, although it may lead to the 12th Army Corps being surrounded, he himself will not be in trouble.

However, if he chooses to change course without consulting his superiors, then whatever problems arise afterward, he will have to take the blame.

Don't be fooled by Yang Buyuan's enthusiastic shouting and seemingly logical analysis; it's because no matter what happens, he, as the army commander, won't have to take the blame.

However, at this time, the G army's intention to encircle them was very obvious, and Huang Peiwu could not ignore it.

Huang Peiwu pondered the matter for a long time, agonizing over it until late into the night, before finally making up his mind and issuing the order to move to Guzhen.

Speed ​​is of the essence in war. Upon receiving the order, Yang Buyuan immediately began to deploy his troops for the transfer.

However, when Yang Buyuan returned to Huang Peiwu and asked Huang Peiwu to give the order to depart, Huang Peiwu told him to wait a little longer.

(End of this chapter)