Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 543 A Great Retreat

After resting briefly in Shanghai for two days, Chen Chengxing prepared to take the Second Division to meet up with the Fourth Army Corps.

The battle has gone on for so long that the elite troops of the Guo army have been almost completely wiped out, and there are not many more battles to fight.

If we don't hurry, we'll just be watching others feast.

However, just as the troops had finished assembling and were preparing to depart, the Second General Staff suddenly received a telegram from the Central Committee.

"Commander-in-Chief, Political Commissar, we have been ordered to halt our southward advance and return to Taiyuan immediately, then cross the river at Fenglingdu."

"Back to Taiyuan at this time, across the river?" Luo Ping took the telegram from Chu Yunfei's hand.

He didn't quite understand what his superiors meant.

"And they're demanding we set off immediately," Chu Yunfei said. "I heard it was General Manager P who personally selected them."

"Old Luo, it seems we can't go fight Bai Jiansheng, but we can go fight Hu Shoushan instead."

"Now the Guo army only has these two waves of enemies left. Whichever wave we take down, it doesn't matter."

“However, we need to speed things up,” Chen Chengxing said.

The offensive into the Northwest couldn't have involved only the First Field Army and the Second General Corps; the two army groups in North China must have been included as well.

Hu Shoushan wasn't stupid; seeing hundreds of thousands of troops pressing in, the probability of him retreating was very high.

To contain Hu Shoushan, they had to enter Shaanxi before the two North China Army Corps.

"It's several thousand miles away. Even if we go the fastest, it will probably take more than a month to get there." Luo Ping said helplessly. By the time they arrived, the war would probably be over.

"Hehe. Since the higher-ups have this idea, they won't let us make a wasted trip."

"Old Luo, we're not the same old Eighth Route Army anymore. You need to learn to keep up with the times."

"Look," Chen Chengxing said, pointing to the map.

“We can take a train to Nanjing first, then cross the river, and from Pukou take another train along the Jinpu Railway, Shide Railway, and Zhengtai Railway to Taiyuan. From Taiyuan, we can take a train directly to the Yellow River.”

"When we marched into Nanjing and Shanghai, I saw quite a few trains."

The Nanjing Guo Army fled in an emergency, while the Shanghai Guo Army did not flee at all, thus leaving behind a large amount of belongings, including many trains.

"Three thousand five hundred li, even with the speed of a train, it would take at least ten days to cross the Yellow River, including all the stops and transfer times."

Hearing Chen Chengxing's explanation, Luo Ping finally realized, "Right, right, look at my brain! Now we can enjoy some rapid maneuvering too!"

"But I have a question, why not just take the Longhai Railway?" Luo Ping asked, somewhat puzzled.

Although Tongguan is still in Hu Shoushan's hands, given the current situation, Luo Ping doesn't believe that Hu Shoushan would dare to deploy a large army in Tongguan.

If one or two divisions were stationed at Tongguan, the Second Division would be strong enough to break through the Guo army's defenses.

"The reason is simple," Chen Chengxing said.

"If we go to Taiyuan, we can save the trouble of using transport capacity to replenish our ammunition."

"Moreover, when I called earlier, Wen Ying said that the arsenal had successfully trial-produced and produced a batch of the weapon blueprints that were seized from Fu Yi."

"This time, it's a good opportunity to put it on the battlefield and give it a try."

"As a weapons testing unit, how can we not use the new weapons?"

Once it was confirmed that the focus would shift from the southeast to the northwest, the entire Second General Headquarters immediately sprang into action.

After all, it's easier said than done, and even when traveling by train, their time is actually not that sufficient.

Before taking the train, the first thing to do is to coordinate, especially the issue of taking the train after crossing the river.

Currently, there are no bridges across the Yangtze River, so trains cannot cross it directly.

In addition, ensuring the smooth flow of traffic and loading heavy equipment onto trains are also problems.

The reason the Second General was appointed to enter Shaanxi was not because they had a large number of troops.

The biggest reason is that the Second Division is arguably the only independent heavy armored unit.

In particular, the 36-gun howitzer regiment that has been replenished is unique, apart from the heavy artillery regiments of various field armies and the howitzer regiments of corps.

After two busy days, the Second General finally arrived in Nanjing from Shanghai.

After crossing the Yangtze River and getting back on the bus in Pukou, it was already the fourth day.

However, things become much simpler after that. You can take a direct train from Pukou all the way to Taiyuan and even Fenglingdu.

A few days later, the Second General arrived in Taiyuan, weary from his journey.

"Let's get off and rest for a bit!"

"Rest here! Don't wander off!"

As the train came to a stop, commanders at all levels shouted to begin maintaining order.

The soldiers, who had been bored all the way, jumped off the vehicle in a disheveled state.

Sitting in a freight car is really uncomfortable.

The completely enclosed carriage made the smell inside indescribable.

What's strange is that this carriage can seal off the smell, but it can't block out the coal dust outside.

Therefore, everyone looked disheveled.

Even Chen Chengxing and the others, who were hanging at the very back and furthest from the front of the vehicle, were covered in coal dust.

Chen Chengxing patted the coal dust off his clothes and hair and casually said, "Old Luo, I'm leaving this to you."

Luo Ping nodded: "Okay, go ahead, use your charm to get more back."

"What 'handsome man trap'? I can get whatever I want with just a word!"

"I mainly went home to visit. Do you think everyone is an old bachelor like you?"

Luo Ping retorted angrily, "You bastard, you're a bachelor, what's with adding 'old' to it?"

"The literal meaning." Chen Chengxing didn't waste any more words, got into the Willys that had driven up, and drove away.

Now that they were in Taiyuan, there was no time to waste talking to these guys. Early the next morning, Chen Chengxing returned in a Willys.

"You're in such good spirits?" Luo Ping was a little surprised.

"I am known as Little Dragon."

"what?"

"Forget it, Lao Luo, you wouldn't understand." Chen Chengxing waved his hand casually.

"Have all the supplies been delivered?" Chen Chengxing asked.

"They're already on the bus." Once the conversation turned to business, Luo Ping didn't continue the topic of Zilong.

"They also sent over several types of machine guns. Would you like to take a look?"

"No need, I've already seen it at the arsenal."

Yesterday, Chen Chengxing went to the arsenal first, where he tested the three newly produced machine guns and also made suggestions.

After all, this light machine gun can be easily converted into an assault rifle with just a few minor modifications.

Moreover, both types of equipment can share parts and magazines, which is extremely advantageous for squad firepower.

"So how do you plan to distribute these weapons?" Luo Ping asked.

This batch of weapons was mainly experimental and not numerous.

“I’ve thought about this for a while now,” Chen Chengxing said. “I’ll prioritize equipping the guard battalion and the armored combined arms battalion. I’ve calculated it, and the numbers should be about right.”

"Those dozen or so 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine guns were all placed in the guard battalion."

"The armored combined arms battalion has vehicles, so we can use the captured American-made 12.7mm heavy machine guns for now. Weight doesn't matter."

“Just as I thought.” Luo Ping nodded.

Because it was only experimental, the equipment sent was not even enough to equip a regiment; it was more suitable for the guard battalion and armored battalion.

Moreover, these two battalions are not only the two most elite battalion-level units in the Second General Staff Headquarters, but their organizational size is also different from that of other units.

According to Chen Chengxing, they represent the future direction of development.

Although Luo Ping didn't know how Chen Chengxing found out, he decided to leave the professional matters to the professionals.

Of all the staff at the Second General Manager's Office, Chen Chengxing is the most professional.

After confirming that there were no problems with the supplies, Chen Chengxing ordered the Second Chief to get on the vehicle.

A series of trains sounded their whistles and continued their southward journey with a clattering sound.

Operations conference room of the Chang'an Pacification Headquarters.

At this point, Hu Shoushan was already feeling uneasy.

"Now most of North China, Central China and East China have been occupied by the Communist army, and Guanzhong and the eastern side of the Qinling Mountains have been exposed to the threat of the Communist army."

“Once the Northwest G Army receives support from other G armies, we will immediately lose our previous absolute advantage.”

Although he had easily taken over the Weibei region in the previous few months.

However, he did not believe that he had achieved a great victory, after all, the G army had retreated voluntarily without losing a single soldier.

If the G army counterattacks at this time, the Weibei troops will not have time to retreat.

"Officer, do you mean to retreat?" Chief of Staff Lü Hanwen asked.

“Not bad.” Hu Shoushan nodded.

"The retreat is to preserve our strength and then wait for an opportunity to counterattack."

"From now on, our strategy is to retreat and advance in large strides, and seek opportunities to annihilate the main force of the G army."

“Perhaps we will suddenly advance into northern Shaanxi, or suddenly retreat to Sichuan.”

No one present objected to Hu Shoushan's plan to retreat.

By retreating at this point, they could not only preserve their strength but also expose the two Mas to the G army.

Whether the G army wipes out the two Mas or the two Mas drive out the G army, they can always be the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

Hu Shoushan then explained his major retreat plan on the map.

This means abandoning the cities north of the Wei River, leaving a large vacuum area, and constructing two lines of defense with the Jing River and the Wei River as the core.

The 30th Division of the 30th Army was located in Sanyuan, the 38th Army was located in Gaoling, and the 17th Army was located in Chang'an.

These three locations, situated east of the Jing River, form the first line of defense.

The second-line troops consisted of the 65th Army located in Qianxian County and the 90th Army located in Jingyang County; the 57th Army in Yongshou County and the 36th Army in Xianyang County formed the northern and southern wings.

As for Hu Shoushan's elite First Army, which had never fought a battle, they retreated to Chencang.

This troop deployment is actually an old method used by Hu Shoushan.

The remaining troops and local forces were placed at the front, while the main force with real combat capabilities was placed in the rear.

After explaining his strategic plan, Hu Shoushan emphasized:

“Once the North China Army enters Shaanxi, we will definitely be the first to be hit.”

"Therefore, all your units at the front must pay close attention to the movements of the G army and be prepared for a full retreat."

"In my judgment, if the G army doesn't move, it will be a move that will shake the world."

At this time, Hu Shoushan had 170,000 troops under his command. If the 140,000 troops of the Ma brothers from Qing and Ning were added, there would be 300,000 troops on the Northwest battlefield.

According to Hu Shoushan's estimate, with less than 100,000 troops in the First Field Army of the G Army, it does not yet have the ability to completely annihilate him.

As long as he retains his main force in the Guanzhong region, he can retreat to Hanzhong or advance to attack the north of the Wei River.

However, given the current uncertain situation, he cannot simply leave.

Of course, he couldn't just stay in Guanzhong like that; he had to prepare a plan for retreat at any time.

(End of this chapter)