Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 518 Let me do it!
"Commander-in-Chief, we have received a telegram from the Field Command."

"Du Guangting's group suddenly halted its advance and changed course to attack in the southeast!"

Upon hearing Chu Yunfei's report, Chen Chengxing immediately ordered the car to stop and reached out to take a map.

"Advance southeast! Du Guangting is heading to rescue Huang Peiwu!"

Chu Yunfei understood that Du Guangting wanted to rescue Huang Peiwu, but he couldn't figure out why.

"Captain, if Du Guangting really wanted to rescue Huang Peiwu, why did he go through all this trouble?"

"Wouldn't it be better to concentrate all our efforts on heading south from Pengcheng?"

Chen Chengxing suddenly remembered what had happened, and then laughed and said, "Old Chu, you shouldn't ask me about this. You should ask your dear principal."

"Sometimes, I really wonder who the underground party members are within the Kuomintang."

"Commander-in-Chief, please stop joking. Even if everyone in the Ministry of National Defense is an underground party member, he couldn't possibly be one."

Chu Yunfei felt a little embarrassed at this moment. Being the student of such a person was sometimes quite shameful.

"Okay, enough joking around."

“Since Du Guangting is going to rescue Huang Peiwu, he will definitely go to Lujiaji.”

Lujiaji is located right next to the Yinhe River, and it is the only way for Du Guangting to get closer to Huang Peiwu's army.

"Pass on my order! The entire army changes direction and seizes Lujiaji! Once we capture Lujiaji, we'll block the entrance to the irrigation canal!"

"If you want to save Huang Peiwu, first ask me if I'll allow it!"

"yes!".
Because of the turn, the Second General Manager, who was originally lagging behind, suddenly became neck and neck with Du Guangting.

Moreover, it's not something that can be accomplished with just a few words if Du Guangting wants 300,000 people to turn around.

By the time Du Guangting finished readjusting the layout, the various units of the Second General Headquarters had already set off more than an hour earlier.

Relying on its light load and speed advantage, the Second General traveled 120 li overnight and arrived in the Lujiaji area at dawn.

"Order the troops to build fortifications as quickly as possible, and to dig a large number of anti-artillery holes on both sides of the trenches."

The Second Infantry Corps got ahead of Du Guangting, but the artillery was still quite a distance away.

Although they were using trucks for rapid movement, there were still several rivers on the way to Lujiaji, so they wouldn't arrive so quickly.

If our side has no artillery, the Nationalist army's artillery will bombard us indiscriminately.

At this time, the anti-artillery bunker could effectively resist the bombardment of cannons and aircraft.

The various departments of the Second General Headquarters, without taking a break, worked diligently to dig trenches while restoring the command chain.

At 10:00 a.m., the vanguard of the Guo army, the 89th Division, arrived in the Lujiaji area.

"Commander, we have discovered the G Army in Lujiaji. They are building positions, which are very deep, and must be a force of at least tens of thousands of men."

"The speed of the G Army should not be underestimated." Huang Xiangfu, commander of the 89th Division, said with a hint of helplessness.

His 89th Division's mission was to seize Lujiaji, but unexpectedly, the 89th Division, which relied on mechanized marching, could not outrun the G Army, which had two legs.

"Chief of Staff, order the troops to launch an immediate attack along the diversion canal! Take advantage of the G army's unstable foothold and concentrate firepower to capture Lujiaji!"

"yes!".
As a mechanized unit, the artillery battalion of the 89th Division has always used howitzers.

Twelve 105mm howitzers opened fire on Lujiaji.

The hastily constructed fortifications of the Second General Corps were destroyed by artillery fire.

However, the soldiers, who were sheltering in the pre-dug anti-artillery bunkers, suffered no casualties.

A dozen minutes later, the shelling stopped, and the infantry of the 89th Division, under the cover of the tank battalion, rushed towards Lujiaji.

The 21st squad was responsible for defending Lujiaji. Xu Wu saw the enemy approaching and immediately shouted:
"Fire the mortars to cut off the communication between the tanks and the infantry!"

"Rocket launcher teams, prepare!"

"Boom!" "Boom!"
The well-prepared 82mm mortars immediately began a fierce attack.

However, because they were moving too fast, each cannon didn't get many shells, so the gunners didn't dare to fire too many.

Once the infantry was confirmed to be blocked, the artillery positions immediately reduced their firing rate, maintaining only a certain level of suppression to prevent the KMT soldiers from gathering behind the tanks.

At the same time, the rocket launcher team also began to move forward.

While digging fortifications, the 21st team had already dug shallow pits in front of the position, allowing rocket launcher teams to lie prone and fire.

Using the shallow crater as cover, the three tanks at the forefront were hit by several rockets and caught fire.

The tanks following behind, seeing that things were not going well, turned around and ran away.

The Guo army infantry suddenly lost their cover.

The machine gun emplacements, which were prepared in advance, immediately opened fire at full capacity.

"Da da da"

Caught off guard, the KMT infantry suffered heavy casualties immediately.

"Fuck you! The tank just fired one shot and left without firing a single word!"

"Retreat! Retreat now!"
Huang Xiangfu's expression was grim as he looked at the troops that had been shot down.

Although the G army did not use heavy weapons this time, their combat effectiveness and tactical arrangements were extremely sophisticated.

"Send a telegram to the Commander and Commander Qiu requesting support!"

Based on the combat effectiveness demonstrated by the G Army, the 89th Division's firepower alone was insufficient to suppress them.

We need the support of the Corps. If that's not possible, the artillery and tank regiments of the Fifth Army must also be reinforced.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have a chance to fight at all.

Qiu Feng took Huang Xiangfu's request very seriously. He not only ordered the Fifth Army to provide full support, but also led the Second Army Corps to accelerate its advance.

Looking at Huang Xiangfu's report, Qiu Feng felt that the G Army in Lujiaji seemed familiar.

In the afternoon, after the three artillery regiments of the Guo army arrived, the Lujiaji position was immediately subjected to fierce concentrated bombardment.

The entire Lujiaji area was shrouded in the smoke of artillery fire, and many trenches were directly blasted flat. Qiu Feng personally went to the forward command post, looked at the G Army positions covered by artillery fire, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Very good, let's fight like this!"

"When fighting against the G army, we must make the most of our advantages and try to avoid close combat."

Half an hour later, seeing that it was almost time, Qiu Feng finally ordered, "The artillery preparation can be stopped."

"Order the tank regiment to cooperate with the 89th Division to attack forward, and call for air support."

"The 45th and 46th Divisions each dispatched a regiment to attack from the left and right."

"yes!".
The Fifth Army launched multiple group attacks on the Lujiaji position.

Although they were driven back each time, the front lines, lacking heavy weapons, faced immense pressure.

"The tanks are coming up again!"

"Rocket launcher! Rocket launcher!"

"Battalion Commander! We've run out of rockets!"

"Horse riding!"

"Prepare cluster grenades!"

"Under no circumstances can we allow the tanks to enter the position!"

Before the battalion commander's order arrived, the soldiers on the front lines were already strapping on grenades.

When Xue Ping, the deputy squad leader of Class 6, saw that Squad Leader Shi Hong was about to rush forward with a cluster grenade, he immediately grabbed him.

"Old Shi, you're the squad leader, and Squad 6 still needs your command. I'll go!"

"Old Xue!"

"Stop arguing, it's settled!" Xue Pingqiang snatched the grenade from Shi Hong's hand and rushed out of the trench.

He already had a target: a Sherman tank was advancing while firing its cannon a few dozen meters away.

The infantry, who were supposed to follow the tanks, fell behind by more than ten meters because they had to avoid artillery fire.

Xue Ping did not risk rushing directly to the tank, but instead chose to ambush it on its likely route.

He was hidden in a shell crater, and neither tanks nor KMT infantry could spot him unless they got close.

Wiping the blood from his face, Xue Ping pulled the fuse with one hand and gripped the cluster grenade tightly with the other.

Cluster grenades are powerful, but not enough to destroy the entire tank; his target was the tank's tracks.

As the tank drew closer, Xue Ping took a deep breath, suddenly burst out of the shell crater, and lunged at the tank.

The grenade did not explode instantly; he had to move with the tank for several seconds until the grenade exploded.

"boom!!"

With a huge explosion, Xue Ping was blown away, and the tank's tracks broke off.

The Guo army's tank driver stepped on the accelerator a few times and found that the tank was no longer moving. His face instantly turned ugly.

"Damn it! The tracks have been blown off!"

On the battlefield, once a tank loses its mobility, even the strongest defenses render it a sitting duck.

"Throw smoke grenades and withdraw the tank!" Without further ado, the tank commander immediately opened the door, took out the smoke grenades he carried with him, and threw them outside.

However, Shi Hong had been watching them for a while. After estimating the time, the 6th Platoon's light machine guns and rifles fired wildly into the smoke.

Inside the Second Army Corps' forward command post, watching his troops being driven back once again, Qiu Feng felt like his head was about to explode.

Du Guangting just called him, demanding that Lujiaji be captured before nightfall, otherwise the main force of the G army is very likely to catch up.

"Damn it! Chen Chengxing, that bastard, he's like a leech, he's everywhere!"

Qiu Feng had already recognized the identity of the Lujiaji G Army based on their fighting style and weaponry.

"Pass on my order: deploy the 32nd and 96th Divisions of the 70th Army to participate in the attack!"

"I refuse to believe that five divisions can't take down Chen Chengxing!"

Qiu Feng chose to take a desperate gamble.

In addition to mobilizing all available troops, he also personally went to the front lines to oversee the battle.

Looking at the division commanders, Qiu Feng said directly, "If we take Lujiaji, we can return to Jinling. If we fail to take Lujiaji, no one should lose their life!"

"Attack!"

Under the supervision of the heavy machine guns of the supervisory team, a large number of KMT soldiers, with the cover of aircraft and tanks, rushed towards Lujiaji again.

This time, fierce battles broke out almost simultaneously in all of the Second General's positions.

The bloody battle lasted for more than two hours, with both sides engaging in hand-to-hand combat multiple times, and several positions being lost and regained.

The Second General successfully repelled five attacks by the Guo army group.

"Commander, the enemy's offensive is too fierce, and all units have suffered heavy casualties."

"Where are the headquarters, logistics, and artillery regiments now?" Chen Chengxing asked, putting down his binoculars.

He had already seen the situation at the front lines, and it was not optimistic. The wounded and support personnel from each detachment had already been sent to the front lines.

If the Guo army concentrates its firepower and launches a fierce attack on one point, it will be really difficult to win next.

"Judging by their speed, they should have already crossed the Qi River."

"Tell them to speed up, stop pushing the group forward, let them act independently, run as fast as they can."

"The artillery regiment and its battalions set up positions in the vicinity of Honggu Village to provide long-range support."

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)