Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 511 The Most Favorable Time

"We have to wait again?" Yang Buyuan became anxious immediately. "Didn't we already have a plan for breaking out? Why has it changed again?"

“It’s not that things have changed.” Huang Peiwu shook his head: “It’s that one of the staff officers I sent to the 85th Army to convey the transfer order has gone missing.”

"The situation is unclear right now, so I plan to wait until I find this advisor before making any decisions."

Upon hearing Huang Peiwu's words, Yang Buyuan felt like he was going crazy.

"An army of 120,000 is in imminent danger! And now we're waiting for a mere staff officer?!"

However, no matter how much Yang Buyuan urged him, Huang Peiwu refused to give the order to depart.

Although the staff officer's disappearance had no substantial impact, it gave Huang Peiwu, who was already very hesitant, another excuse to hesitate.

This is only natural. If you're already hesitant about doing something, and you reluctantly start doing it, you'll immediately start to hesitate again if things don't go smoothly.

And so, Huang Peiwu's 120,000-strong army lined up in a marching column and waited in the wilderness for an entire day.

The operations staff officer who haunted Huang Peiwu's dreams never appeared.

Until 4 p.m., he managed to come up with an excuse that "the G army at the front is difficult to break through due to the river terrain, and it would be faster to advance by changing course and taking the railway."

Huang Peiwu then decided not to wait for the staff officer any longer and finally issued the order to advance in the southeast direction.

This unfortunate staff officer was captured along with his jeep by the B column, which was on the march, early in the morning.

It was precisely because of capturing this staff officer that Nakano learned of the movements of the Huang Peiwu Corps.

Ye Si immediately ordered a change in the direction of the attack, with all troops advancing at full speed to encircle Huang Peiwu.

The only one in the 12th Army Corps who truly sensed the danger was Yang Buyuan, the commander of the 18th Army. As soon as he received the order, he led the 18th Army on a frantic march.

In just two hours, the 18th Army arrived at Jianduiji.

However, just as Yang Buyuan was preparing to speed up and march overnight, he received another telegram from Huang Peiwu.

Huang Peiwu felt that tanks and armored vehicles could not operate at night, so he ordered the 12th Army Corps to camp at Jianduiji for one night.

Upon seeing the telegram, Yang Buyuan angrily cursed, "Ground up! Ground up! What a load of crap, grounding up at a time like this!"

"It's already extremely dangerous, the troops should escape this place as quickly as possible! Once we get to Guzhen, we can sleep for three days and three nights without anyone caring!"

After finishing his rant, Yang Buyuan sat down weakly: "If Commander Hu were here, we'd probably already be in Guzhen."

At this moment, Yang Buyuan missed his old superior, Hu Ziqi, terribly.

"Commander, what about us?"

"The order has been issued, execute it." Yang Buyuan threw the telegram onto the table.

Whether Yang Buyuan liked it or not, Huang Peiwu was the commander of the 12th Army Corps, and the 12th Army Corps could only act according to his orders.

"I'll make the arrangements." The chief of staff nodded and left the temporary command post.

That night, Yang Buyuan did not rest for a long time; he stood on the roof, holding a telescope and looking around.

Suddenly, Yang Buyuan froze.

In the distance, dots appeared, and they were visible from all directions.

Yang Buyuan jumped off the roof and rushed into the command post, shouting, "Battle preparation! Order all units to immediately take their battle positions!"

"The G army is coming!"
Inside the 12th Army Corps headquarters, Huang Peiwu immediately learned that the G Army had surrounded them.

"Officer, according to reconnaissance, the G army has completely surrounded us," Chief of Staff Wenxiu reported.

"Based on the number of people, this should be all of Nakano's main force."

Seeing the tense atmosphere, Huang Peiwu comforted everyone, "Don't be nervous, everyone. The 12th Army Corps is currently the strongest army corps on the Central Plains battlefield. The G Army can't do anything to us yet."

"If we hold our ground, we can draw the attention of the G army, and then they can surround both Pengcheng and Zhucheng."

Huang Peiwu planned to use the Guo army's ancestral center-blossoming tactic, and he was confident that he could hold the position with his four armies.

"Chief of staff, pass on my order: the troops are to form a defensive formation. I want to see how the G army will crack this tough nut!"

"yes!".
After completing the encirclement, the main force of the Nakano Army quickly built up its deep defensive positions and launched a probing attack on the positions of the Sen-dui-ji-guo Army.

However, the 12th Army Corps' firepower is indeed very strong.

After deploying their forces, the concentrated artillery fire inflicted heavy casualties on the attacking troops.

The fierce battle between the two sides continued until the afternoon before it briefly subsided.

At this moment, Gu Mosan arrived over Jianduiji by plane.

After the plane circled once in the air, Gu Mosan answered Huang Peiwu's call.

“Officer Huang, the Chairman has assigned me to express my respect to you and all the soldiers of the 12th Army Corps.”

Huang Peiwu led an army of 120,000 men to the Central Plains battlefield at full speed, and Chang Ruiyuan was deeply moved. "Thank you for your concern, Chairman."

"Officer Huang, I have observed our position."

"The 12th Army Corps is truly a pillar of the Party and the country, capable of constructing relatively complete fortifications and forming a solid defense system in a short period of time."

"Officer Huang, how is the battle going these days?"

"Please rest assured, Chief of Staff, our defenses are very robust, and the G army has suffered heavy casualties," Huang Peiwu said confidently.

The 12th Army Corps set up its battle formation, making full use of its firepower advantage.

"very good!"

"Officer Huang, I have brought the Chairman's order. He hopes that the 12th Army Corps can take advantage of the fact that the Central Plains Army has not yet established a firm foothold and break out to the southeast."

"After breaking through, advance quickly and be sure to join up with Li and Liu's army groups!"

Huang Peiwu felt somewhat helpless upon hearing Gu Mosan's order.

Previously, when he requested to advance southeast, they disagreed; now that the 12th Army Corps is preparing to hold its ground, they are requesting to advance southeast again.

After communicating with Gu Mosan about the situation, Huang Peiwu hung up the phone and immediately summoned his officers to discuss countermeasures.

Huang Peiwu had no objection to the order to break through, since that was his original plan.

After joining forces with Li and Liu's troops on the southern front, Guo's army will be able to form a large military group, at which point they will be able to easily take back Suxian and open up the retreat route for the Pengcheng troops.

However, Huang Peiwu was a little worried about the officers of the Guo army at this time, as it was very likely that none of them would be willing to take on the important task of breaking through the encirclement.

Because this is a mission that sacrifices one's own strength to help other units.

Such a task is something that everyone in the Guo army has always avoided.

"You all know the orders from your superiors."

"I have decided to select one division from each of the four armies, and have the four divisions advance simultaneously to break through the encirclement with overwhelming force!"

Huang Peiwu didn't even ask who was willing to lead the charge; instead, he decided to give the order directly.

However, to Huang Peiwu's delight, after he announced the breakout mission, Zhou Yunliao, the commander of the 110th Division of the 85th Army, stood up.

"The Lord Siren's decision is wise! My master is willing to lead the charge! Please allow me to return immediately to prepare for the operation!"

As soon as Zhou Yunliao spoke, everyone present turned to him with surprise.

Huang Peiwu was almost moved to tears when he heard that Zhou Yunliao had volunteered for the mission.

After all, even the main force of the 12th Army Corps, the 18th Army, did not show such initiative.

Zhou Yunliao's 110th Division came from the 85th Army, which Huang Peiwu was least confident in.

Unlike the other three armies, the 85th Army was not part of the Civil Engineering Clique, but rather belonged to Bai Jiansheng's Central China Suppression Headquarters.

Before the war, Chang Ruiyuan forcibly assigned the 85th Army to the 12th Army Corps.

When the 12th Army Corps was advancing towards Pengcheng, Bai Jiansheng was reluctant to let the 85th Army out. It was only after Chang Ruiyuan urged them repeatedly that the 85th Army set off to catch up with the 12th Army Corps.

The 85th Army, which was rushing to catch up with the 12th Army Corps, caught up with them at the last minute and was then surrounded by the Central Plains Field Army.

If the 85th Army had delayed for a few more days, they wouldn't be in the encirclement now.

"Excellent! Commander Zhou's actions are truly admirable!"

"Commander Zhou, rest assured, I will definitely explain the 110th Division's achievements to Chairman Chiang Kai-shek after the war!"

Huang Peiwu praised Zhou Yunliao highly, and then told him to go back immediately to prepare for the breakout.

Zhou Yunliao hurriedly returned to the 110th Division headquarters and held a secret meeting with several key people.

"Gentlemen, the time has come, as our superiors have said!"

Hearing that the time had come, everyone became excited; they had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

Zhou Yunliao had been working undercover in the Kuomintang army for twenty years. In 1937, he joined the 110th Division and rose through the ranks to become its commander.

The underground Party Committee of the 110th Division was established in 1947, and the 110th Division began to continuously reorganize its ranks from then on.

The die-hards were all ousted, and a large group of young officers united together.

Zhou Yunliao had contacted the higher-ups about the uprising many times, but their response was always to patiently wait for the most opportune moment.

Previously, Zhou Yunliao and the underground party committee did not know what the most favorable opportunity was.

The moment Huang Peiwu announced the order to break through, Zhou Yunliao understood that twenty years of infiltration had been for this very moment!
On the battlefield of this decisive battle in the Central Plains, the 110th Division will disrupt the 12th Army Corps' most threatening breakout attempt by revolting as a whole division.

This will deal a fatal blow to the morale of the entire 12th Army Corps, and even the entire Central Plains Guo Army.

(End of this chapter)