Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 541 No wonder it felt like I stepped on a tail.

The three warships dispatched by Tang Keqin were spotted by the observation team as soon as they arrived in the shelling zone.

"The Guo army is in such a hurry; it seems Tang Keqin has given them a death order."

"Tell Wang Chengzhu to shift the target and concentrate fire on the Guo army's warships. I want to see how they respond."

"Yes!"

At this time, the mountain guns and rocket launchers of the Second General Headquarters had not yet arrived at their designated positions, and only the howitzer regiment was still able to launch an attack.

Although it was only a concentrated barrage of about twenty howitzers, it was still difficult for the three destroyers sent by Tang Keqin to cope with.

Despite the great risks, the destroyer's sailors still had to risk connecting the two ships.

Looking at the special forces' report, Chen Chengxing became even more certain that there was a big fish in there.

"Increase the density of firepower. Once the rocket artillery regiment and mountain artillery regiment are in position, they should immediately participate in the attack without waiting for orders."

"I want to see how many fish this bait can catch."

The rescue efforts by the Guo army continued until dawn, with the Second General Headquarters' mountain guns and rocket launchers also joining the battle.

Even though the Kuomintang warships were repeatedly hit and smoking, Tang Keqin still had no intention of giving up.

The First Fleet then dispatched three more warships to participate.

Furthermore, an artillery battle ensued with the Second General Staff.

However, the Second General did not come alone. Upon learning that the Guo army's warships had increased, the Field Army's reinforced heavy artillery regiment also joined in.

The two sides engaged in a night-long artillery battle, and ultimately the First Fleet chose to retreat.

"Commander, we can't fill it any more. The G Army is clearly using the tactic of besieging the point and attacking reinforcements."

"If the G Army wanted to, they would have sunk those transport ships long ago!"

"The Taikang is extremely important and must not fall into the hands of the G army!" Tang Keqin said firmly.

"Commander Tang! I must remind you, the strength of the navy is crucial to defending Frog Island!"

"Even if the warships are damaged, the G Army's wooden boats can still cross the sea!"

Despite having dozens of warships, the Kuomintang army had no ability to maintain them.

Three ships were shot down last night alone. I don't even want to know what will happen if this continues.

Upon hearing what the naval officer said, Tang Keqin calmed down, which was a rare occurrence.

Although the Taikang is important, it is clearly not comparable to Frog Island.

If Frog Island is lost, the Kuomintang army will truly have nowhere to stand.

Despite the hundreds of thousands of KMT troops still in the southwest and northwest, Tang Keqin did not believe they could hold out against the KMT for long.

Moreover, Tang Keqin also understood what the naval officer Siling meant; he was already planning a full retreat.

At this point, even if he gave the order, probably no one would listen to him.

Tang Keqin intended to emphasize the importance of the Taikang, but then hesitated, remembering the situation on Fuxing Island.

Ultimately, Tang Keqin had no choice but to accept reality: "I agree to the navy's withdrawal."

"But before you leave, you must completely sink the stranded Taikang."

Since the ship can't get out, the cargo inside can't be handed over to the G army.

“No problem!” Navy Siling readily agreed.

Upon receiving the order, several warships fired a couple of shots haphazardly at the stranded transport ship, then accelerated and sailed away from Wusongkou.

They're all stranded; they'll sink even if we don't fight them.

The few shots fired so far have already done justice to the Party and the country.

Upon learning that Guo Jun's warships had fled, Chen Chengxing felt a pang of regret.

It would be great if we could also ground a few of the KMT's warships.

"The howitzer regiment will continue to blockade the Wusong Wharf and those cargo ships, while the remaining detachments will continue their advance towards Wusongkou!"

"Now that Guo Jun has given up, we should go and set up our nets."

"Yes!"

Although Tang Keqin withdrew the main force of Shanghai to Wusongkou, intending to defend the retreat route to the death.

But the Guo army, which was holding Wusongkou at this time, clearly did not think that way.

The fighting situation in the entire Shanghai area has visibly deteriorated rapidly.

They didn't want to be buried with the three soldiers in Shanghai's urban area.

Moreover, all the high-ranking officers on the Shanghai battlefield had fled, so the soldiers were even less likely to fight to the death.

With the constant paddling of the Guo army soldiers, the Second General Corps, in coordination with friendly forces, gradually pushed them back to Jiangqiao Town near Wusongkou.

This is the last stronghold of the Kuomintang army. If they retreat any further, they will either have to jump into the river or the sea.

Seeing that the Guo army still refused to surrender, the heavy artillery regiment of the T column and the howitzer regiments of various units did not waste any words and directly chose to raze Jiangqiao Town to the ground.

Even though the Guo army's Wusong Fortress was still fighting back desperately, it could not change the fact that the Guo army in Jiangqiao Town was gradually wiped out.

"Commander, the vanguard battalion has taken control of those cargo ships. They are full of valuable furniture, clothes, and some large antiques."

Upon hearing Chu Yunfei's report, Chen Chengxing was incredulous: "This is absolutely impossible!"

"Even if these things belonged to Chiang Kai-shek, Tang Keqin wouldn't have gone so far as to send several warships to rob them."

“There must be something else in the boat! Let’s go take a look.” With that, Chen Chengxing prepared to get up.

"Old Chen, that's the front line, within the range of the Wusong Fortress's attack. It's too dangerous!" Luo Ping immediately grabbed Chen Chengxing.

As the political commissar of the Second General Headquarters, he would never allow his commanders to go to such a dangerous place.

"Can't I go check it out first and then go over tonight?" Chen Chengxing said helplessly.

"No way!" Luo Ping didn't leave any room for negotiation.

"Alright, alright, I won't go then." Chen Chengxing plopped down again.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Chengxing said, "Let the director of the political department take the security section over there. First, interrogate the captain and crew, and then thoroughly search all the ships."

"Tang Keqin dispatched several warships; there must be something he's in a hurry about."

“That’s fine.” Luo Ping nodded. “I’ll make the arrangements.”

While the director of the political department led a team to inspect the stranded warships, Chen Chengxing also began to arrange for the troops to turn around, cross the Huangpu River, and participate in the attack on the city.

Just as the various detachments were clearing out the enemy forces on the perimeter, Luo Ping rushed over. "Old Chen! We found it!"

"What is it?"

"Gold! The Political Department searched all the ships and found 200,000 taels of gold on the Taikang!"

"Damn it! No wonder Tang Keqin acted like he'd stepped on a tail!"

"How cunning of them to use furniture as a cover."

Chen Chengxing realized that this must be the ship that the Guo army used to smuggle supplies.

Two hundred thousand taels of gold sounds like a lot, but when piled up, it only takes up half a cubic meter of space.

It is obvious that Tang Keqin did not inform the crew during the transport; it must have been carried up by a designated person.

Thinking of this, Chen Chengxing immediately said, "Those crew members need to be thoroughly screened; there must be people from the Kuomintang's intelligence agency among them."

"The security department is already working on it," Luo Ping nodded.

"That's good. Send a telegram to the Noshi and have them send someone to take over this batch of gold."

"I want to tell the security department to keep an eye on things. I don't want to see anyone ruin their future because of this."

“Okay, I will draft the secret telegram myself.”

Upon learning of the existence of the gold, the higher-ups took it very seriously and immediately dispatched the Field Division Special Service Regiment to take over the scene.

After handing over the gold incident, Chen Chengxing led the headquarters forward.

Gold is important, but so is attacking the Shanghai Composite Index.

The Second General Team's cleanup of the outer perimeter of Shanghai went very smoothly, but in the end, they were stopped by the Jingbo River, which is more than ten meters wide.

Although Tang Keqin's main force was defeated at Wusongkou and could not raise its head, the miscellaneous troops left in the city defended very well by using several rivers.

Opposite the Second General Hospital, there are only a dozen or so low bridges for crossing the river.

Meanwhile, the Guo army, with its sturdy buildings such as high-rises, factories, and warehouses, as well as a large number of reinforced concrete fortifications, formed a tight, three-dimensional firepower network.

On the road, tanks and armored vehicles patrol day and night.

To enhance their firepower, the KMT army even moved anti-tank guns and mountain guns onto the rooftops.

Across from Chuan'an Bridge, the 241st Regiment fought from dawn until noon, but still failed to cross the bridge.

"Commander! This is too frustrating. Let the demolition team go!" Battalion Commander Dou Yang called the regimental headquarters.

The soldiers were all seasoned veterans, but now, in just a few minutes, an entire squad launching an attack would fall.

Unable to use heavy firepower, they were simply unable to suppress the KMT forces' firepower on the other side of the bridge with only rifles and light and heavy machine guns.

"Trying to break the rules?!"

"Commander, our specialty is demolition and artillery coordination. Isn't this like fighting with our hands tied?"

"There are strict orders from above not to use explosives. What, you weren't notified?"

The General Front Committee had a clear directive that no demolitions or artillery should be used during attacks on urban areas.

"I've notified them, but Commander, I just don't understand!"

"If you can't figure it out, then think about it slowly. Your task now is to take down the Chuan'an Bridge for me without using explosives!"

"yes!".
After hanging up the phone, Dou Yang shouted helplessly, "Machine gun cover! Second squad!"

"Second Class is ready!"

"Second shift, on your way!"

"follow me!"

However, on the wide and unobstructed Chuan'an Bridge, there was simply no place to hide.

Faced with the intense firepower of the Guo army, the soldiers of the second squad fell one after another.

"Battalion Commander, we can't keep fighting like this!"

"The second squad fought their way from the river to Shanghai without a single casualty, but now they've all fallen on the Chuan'an Bridge!"

"Comrades, one foot has already stepped into the threshold of the new China!"

A prolonged siege can easily lead to rash decisions, especially for an invincible army.

With one comrade-in-arms after another sacrificing their lives before his eyes, Dou Yang's eyes turned red.

"Battalion Commander! I beg you, just fire two shells, just two!" the company commander pleaded desperately from the side.

"Fire!" Dou Yang gritted his teeth and gave the order.

Dou Yang called the recoilless rifle platoon: "Bring your recoilless rifles over here!"

"Battalion Commander! We can't fire!" The artillery platoon leader immediately tried to stop them.

This order not to fire wasn't given by the detachment commander or the chief commander; it was issued by the Central Committee and the General Front Committee. If they had fired, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

"Bring him over here! Beat him up! I'll take responsibility!"

At this moment, Dou Yang couldn't care less about orders; he couldn't let his soldiers die here.

The artillery platoon leader had no choice but to take his three 57mm recoilless rifles to the front line.

"See that heavy machine gun emplacement in that window? Take it out!" Dou Yang said, pointing to a window of the post and telecommunications building across the river.

The post and telecommunications building was constructed of reinforced concrete, and these few small cannons alone could not penetrate the walls. Dou Yang only hoped that the recoilless gun platoon could hit the window with a single shot.

"Battalion Commander, should we reconsider? If we fire the artillery, things might get complicated."

"Just hit me when I tell you to! Stop talking nonsense!"

"Fire!"

"Yes, sir! Fire!"

"boom!"

A shell hit the KMT heavy machine gun firing point squarely.

Black smoke began to billow from the window that had been continuously firing bullets.

"Well done! Now take out the one on the left!" Dou Yang was overjoyed as he looked at the destroyed heavy machine gun emplacement.

The news of the first battalion firing artillery also spread quickly throughout the Jingbo River position.

The soldiers on the front lines were filled with excitement and eager to fire.

(End of this chapter)