Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 520 When a general is in the field, he may disobey orders (Bonus chapter, please vote with monthly tickets)
Just as the various units of Nakano were launching successive general offensives against the Huang Peiwu Corps, Hano Noji was also deeply reflecting on the current situation.

The first problem is insufficient troop strength.

In order to complete this unprecedented encirclement of hundreds of thousands of Kuomintang troops, the Kuomintang army has exhausted all its field troops in the Central Plains.

Even the general reserve team has joined the ranks of those besieging Huang Peiwu.

If other Kuomintang troops were to join the battle at this point, the hard-won front line would be at great risk.

However, the Central Plains region had already been mobilized to the maximum extent, and its combat forces had been utilized to the fullest extent.

Where can we build another army?
After thinking for a long time, Ye Si finally remembered that there were indeed troops that could be mobilized.

"Deputy Chief of Staff, immediately send a telegram to the East China Bureau, ordering them to dispatch Wu Shaozhou's troops to the southern front at top speed!"

The deputy chief of staff immediately said, "Sir, Wu Shaozhou's troops have only been in revolt for three months and have not yet received a complete education and reorganization."

"I know that."

Not to mention the deputy chief of staff didn't trust this unit, even he himself was uneasy about it.

"However, the situation is different now. The war in Northeast China has ended, and the defeat of the Guo army is inevitable."

“Even if Wu Shaozhou was most prone to betrayal, the probability of him turning around and running back to the Guo Army was almost zero.”

Wu Shaozhou was a fence-sitter, but he wasn't stupid. If he jumped back to the Kuomintang army at this point, he would truly be doomed.

Since it can be confirmed that Wu Shaozhou will not jump back to the Kuomintang army, transferring them here will be beneficial for the reform.

Those unstable elements, especially bad officers, might flee when threatened by the enemy during battle.

The G army was happy to see this happen.

Moreover, having a fully equipped regular army as a reserve force is better than nothing.

"By the way, since we're transferring Wu Shaozhou, let's also transfer He Jifeng and Zhang Shutang's divisions over here."

One sheep is driven, two sheep are herded.

Let's bring them all over and give it a try.

"yes!".
With the sudden addition of two more armies, the problem of the strategic general reserve force has been resolved.

Now comes the real challenge: how to break the deadlock of seeing things clearly.

Since the start of the general offensive, Zhongye has been fighting hard for four days, but Huang Peiwo's army is still holding on and has not shown any signs of collapse.

Meanwhile, the blocking force on the southern front consists of only one column, and its actual combat strength is weaker than the 100,000 troops under Li Yishou and Liu Ziliang.

Once Chang Ruiyuan sends in new reinforcements, the blocking forces risk being unable to withstand the attack.

For the G army at this time, time was life.

They had to eliminate Huang Peiwu's army group before Chang Ruiyuan could mobilize reinforcements.

Guo Jun still has considerable strength at his disposal, and as time goes by, Chang Ruiyuan is very likely to mobilize more troops to reinforce the Central Plains battlefield.

After pondering for a long time, Noji finally made a decision.

Troops were diverted from the encirclement of Du Guangting to support Nakano.

Although this would increase the danger to the East China Field Army, the adjustment of the layout of attacking in the north and defending in the south would not pose a major problem.

"Send a telegram to the General Front Committee and the Central Committee"

On the other hand, just as Nakano launched a general offensive against Huang Peiwu's army group, Chang Ruiyuan issued reinforcement orders to Du Guangting and Li Liu's army groups.

Du Guangting felt overwhelmed by Chang Ruiyuan's orders.

G has already surrounded him, and now they're even rescuing Huang Peiwu. It's a miracle he managed to save himself.

Helpless, Du Guangting once again convened the commanders of various corps to discuss countermeasures.

Having suffered a loss before, Sun Yunliang said directly this time, "When a general is in the field, he may disobey the emperor's orders."

"The road to the south is blocked, and the covering positions have been lost one after another. We must make a decisive decision and break out quickly!"

"Only in this way can we save our army!"

Qiu Feng and Li Bingwen immediately agreed to Sun Yunliang's suggestion.

Seeing the three of them so united, Du Guangting was speechless.

If they had agreed to disobey the emperor's orders earlier, the army would have already reached the Huai River.

However, since things had already come to this point, Du Guangting didn't say anything more.

"Since it's a breakout, it's impossible for our 300,000 troops to break out in the same direction. The positions we currently occupy are not enough to deploy 300,000 troops on one side."

"The only option now is to break out separately."

“I completely agree with what the Deputy Chief Commander said.” Sun Yunliang nodded immediately.

If they really want to break through, the G army will definitely focus its main attention on Qiu Feng's Second Army Corps, followed by Li Bingwen's 13th Army Corps.

Currently, his 16th Army Corps has the fewest members and is the least noticeable in the entire group.

After everyone discussed and agreed on a breakout plan, Du Guangting adjourned the meeting and told them to go back and prepare immediately.

We acted promptly at 10 PM.

After returning to the Second Army Corps, Qiu Feng summoned the army commanders and explained the situation.

As a result, Chief of Staff Li Hanping immediately raised an objection: "Officer, you've been tricked by Sun Yunliang!"

"Judging from the battles of the past few days, the G army has focused its main efforts on us. Once we break out separately, Sun Yunliang and Li Bingwen will definitely not be our main targets!"

"If the 12th Army Corps is surrounded alone and has no fortifications available, it will absolutely not be able to withstand the G Army's siege!"

The 12th Army Corps has a lot of heavy equipment, but the more heavy equipment it has, the more it relies on positional warfare to conduct frontal combat.

In a sudden encounter in the field, heavy weapons are simply not effective; in such a situation, a fire poker would be more useful.

Reminded by Li Hanping, Qiu Feng immediately realized what was going on.

He said that he felt something was off during the previous meeting.

"Damn it! They're trying to use me as bait! No wonder Sun Yunliang agreed so readily!"

For the G army, wiping out one elite unit is more effective than taking out ten ragtag units.

For Du Guangting, sacrificing the 12th Army Corps but being able to bring back another 200,000 troops was a win-win situation.

"No! We can't break through!" Qiu Feng immediately changed his mind.

Once they break through, the 12th Army Corps will essentially be washing themselves clean and putting themselves on the chopping block.

Qiu Feng immediately got up, picked up the phone, and called Du Guangting.

"Hello? This is Qiu Feng! Deputy Commander Du, breaking out now would be self-destruction. I've decided to abandon the breakout and hold the line!" Du Guangting was stunned, not expecting Qiu Feng to change his mind so quickly.

"Qiu Siling, didn't we already agree to split up and break through? What happened?"

"Deputy Commander Du, after I returned, I learned about the situation below. There are many wounded, and the situation is not optimistic. It is impossible to break through at full speed."

"I've decided to hold the position to the death and wait for reinforcements!"

"The Chairman will definitely come to our rescue!"

Faced with Qiu Feng's stubbornness, Du Guangting had no choice but to change his plans again after his attempts to persuade him failed.

After hanging up the phone, Du Guangting quickly called Li Bingwen and Sun Yunliang.

Li Bingwen had no particular thoughts and readily agreed to continue holding the position.

However, when they tried to call Sun Yunliang, they couldn't get through at all.

Not only could they not get through by phone, but they also couldn't contact the walkie-talkie or radio.

The title of "Flying General" is well-deserved.

Having finally received the order to break out, Sun Yunliang returned to the command post and, without wasting a second, immediately ordered the telephone lines to be cut and the radio to be shut down.

What he feared was that Du Guangting would change his mind.

Unable to contact Sun Yunliang, Du Guangting had no choice but to send a messenger to the 16th Army Corps to convey the latest instructions.

However, to Du Guangting's surprise, his messenger also disappeared without a trace.

That evening, without communicating with anyone, Sun Yunliang launched the breakout operation directly according to the previous plan.

Without the cover and distraction of the other two army corps, Sun Yunliang's breakout was destined to be disastrous.

"Officer, the other corps haven't made any moves. We've drawn all of the G Army's attention!"

Upon hearing Qi Liangcai's report, Sun Yunliang was furious.

"Damn it, they've already made a plan, but now they're not carrying it out!"

"Isn't this putting our 16th Army Corps in a very difficult position?"

Sun Yunliang felt that Qiu Feng and Li Bingwen had deliberately made his 16th Army Corps take the lead.

Once the 16th Army Corps has drawn away the main force of the G Army, they will inevitably break through without looking back.

"Officer, what should we do now?" Qi Liangcai asked anxiously. "Judging from the current situation, it is absolutely impossible for us to break through the G army's blockade head-on."

"What to do? Humph! Since they're so heartless, don't blame me for being ruthless too!" Sun Yunliang gritted his teeth and ordered, "Order the troops to turn south!"

"Qiu Feng wants to watch the show, right? Then I'll drag him into it!"

"Yes!" Qi Liangcai immediately relayed Sun Yunliang's order.

For them, the muddier the water, the easier it is to escape.

Qiu Feng had been keeping an eye on the actions of the 16th Army Corps.

Upon learning that the 16th Army Corps had suddenly changed course, Qiu Feng immediately understood Sun Yunliang's meaning.

"You son of a bitch! You dare drag me into this?!"

"chief of staff!"

"To!"

"Pass on my order! Any troops that enter the area in front of our positions are within my strike range!"

"If they appear, beat them to death!"

"This clerk is, after all, an ally; what if the higher-ups investigate?"

"Investigate what?" Qiu Feng interrupted. "We are currently fighting the G army. Who can guarantee that the troops appearing directly in front of our position are not G army soldiers in disguise?"

"If your superiors are unwilling, give me the order now, and I guarantee I'll immediately give way!"

"I'll pass on the order right away." Li Hanping picked up the phone.

This time, Sun Yunliang's army was in deep trouble.

They had just reached the front of the Second Army Corps' position when they were immediately subjected to fire from the Nationalist army.

When the 24th detachment on the opposite position saw that the KMT army had opened fire, they were naturally not to be outdone and opened fire on the KMT army outside their position as well.

Faced with attacks from both sides, Sun Yunliang's troops simply could not hold out.

In less than half an hour, the 16th Army Corps completely collapsed.

Some of the routed soldiers turned back to their original positions, while the majority of the other soldiers chose to become prisoners of the G army without resistance.

However, the Flying General himself did not squander his many years of experience.

Sun Yunliang skillfully disguised himself as an ordinary citizen and managed to break away from the group early in the chaos.

Then he ran headlong and quickly escaped the encirclement, eventually running all the way back to Jinling.

Chen Chengxing almost laughed his head off at the tens of thousands of prisoners who suddenly appeared at his door.

Immediately instruct Luo Ping to expedite the screening and training, and instruct Chu Yunfei to promptly arrange the training.

Moreover, all steps that could be streamlined were streamlined. The Second General Staff suffered considerable casualties during this period and urgently needed to replenish its troops.

Upon learning that Sun Yunliang's entire army had been wiped out, with only less than a regiment escaping, Du Guangting nearly spat out blood.

"How could the 16th Army Corps collapse so quickly?! That's 80,000 men! 80,000 men!"

Du Guangting wasn't actually alarmed that he hadn't been able to contact Sun Yunliang before.

In his view, even if Sun Yunliang did attempt to break out, he would return to his position after the breakout failed.

Although there may be some losses, it will also cause casualties to the G army, so it's not a loss no matter how you look at it.

But Du Guangting never expected that in just one night, Sun Yunliang's army would be reduced to only about two thousand men.

"Officer, I sent people to investigate. When the 16th Army Corps broke out, there was no communication between the various armies and divisions."

"At the beginning of the breakout, the 16th Army Corps was already in disarray, and their breakout directions were even different."

Upon hearing the staff officer's report, Du Guangting closed his eyes in anguish.

With already insufficient troops, losing these 80,000 men left him with no choice but to hold his ground and continue to carry out Chang Ruiyuan's order to "open up a passage and rendezvous with Huang Peiwu."

Battalion commanders, please cast your votes! I'll add more.

(End of this chapter)