Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 548 Sir, this arrangement is not right.
After their joint attack on Xianyang failed, Ma Zixiang convened a joint operations meeting in Jincheng.

At the start of the meeting, Ma Zixiang didn't even have time to drink her tea before she came up to question Ma Sanyuan and the representatives sent by Hu Shoushan.

"We agreed on a joint attack, so why haven't we seen any of your troops after the Longdong Corps has been fighting for two days?!"

"President Chang personally ordered the three of us to join forces to retake Xianyang and Chang'an. How dare you disobey?!"

Faced with Ma Zixiang's questioning, Pei Dingchang, representing Hu Shoushan, was completely unfazed and casually explained:
"Commander Ma, you're wronging us."

"Your Longdong Corps only encountered one division in Xianyang, but we encountered two divisions!"

"If you can't even take down one division, how much more difficult will it be for us with two divisions?"

Li Zhongliang, Ma Sanyuan's representative, immediately chimed in, "That's right. We also encountered fierce resistance from the G army. The G army set up multiple positions on the Xi'an-Lanzhou highway, and we suffered heavy casualties."

Along the way, three people from the Ningxia Production and Construction Corps sprained their ankles!

Hearing their sophistry, Ma Zixiang was almost furious. Were they trying to fool him like a fool?

However, Ma Zixiang also knew that he couldn't protect the Northwest on his own.

Only by joining forces with Ma Sanyuan and Hu Shoushan can they possibly fight against the G army.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I must remind you that our home, our roots, are in the Northwest!"

"We can't retreat, and there's nowhere to retreat to!" Ma Zixiang pleaded.

"We must fight the G army, and we have the strength to do so now! Only by fighting can we protect the Northwest and our home!"

Listening to Ma Zixiang talking at length about the Northwest and her roots, Pei Dingchang and Li Zhongliang both curled their lip in disapproval.

We can get them to cooperate; but we can't get them to send troops.

The military and political leader of the Northwest is you, Ma Zixiang, not Hu Shoushan and Ma Sanyuan.

Seeing that the two were completely unmoved by her words, Ma Zixiang had no choice but to give up.

In the end, we had no choice but to settle for second best and, based on the current situation, discussed a joint defense plan with the two of them.

Although their previous plans to attack Xianyang and Chang'an failed, they successfully pushed their front line to the Qishui River area east of Fufeng.

If we can establish a foothold here and build a defensive line using the Qishui River and the Wei River, we can consider the initial plan completed.

At least the Shaanxi-Gansu Highway was no longer exposed to the K army's blades, which Ma Zixiang could barely accept.

After discussions, the Hu-Ma alliance finalized its joint operational plan once again.

Among them, Ma Zixiang and Ma Sanyuan's troops were responsible for guarding the Yongshou and Linyou areas on both sides of the Xilan Highway, respectively.

Hu Shoushan's troops set up three lines of defense in the Qishui River, Wugong, Fufeng, and Meixian areas to prevent the G army from continuing its westward advance.

The defensive areas of the Hu and Ma tribes were divided by the Linyou South Mountain, with the north side belonging to the Ma family army and the south side belonging to Hu Shoushan.

However, although the three parties reached a good agreement, when it came to implementation, it was still just a formality.

At this time, Ma Jixiang was still angry with Hu Shoushan.

Therefore, although the agreement was for joint operations, Hu Shoushan's reconnaissance troops would be driven away as soon as they approached the warning line of the Ma Clique's defense zone.

Hu Shoushan had no idea about the deployment of the Ma family army.

Moreover, even the several armies under Hu Shoushan were deceiving each other, and they didn't inform neighboring units of their specific garrison locations.

After Pei Dingchang returned to Chencang and made all the necessary arrangements, he then went to the front line on behalf of the Chencang Command Post and Hu Shoushan for an inspection.

As soon as he arrived at the 119th Army, the army commander, Wang Zhiqi, began to complain.

"Commander Pei, Commander Hu's deployment is not right."

“From Wugong in the east to Fufeng in the west, five armies were squeezed together in a 100-mile-long and 50-mile-wide area from north to south.”

"It looks like layers upon layers, scattered like stars, with a very dense defense."

"However, each army, each division, and even each regiment and each battalion must form a three-line configuration when deploying their positions."

"Our density is just too high. You could hear a fart from one house being heard from another. Isn't that like sheep pooping?"

Upon hearing Wang Zhiqi's complaint, Pei Dingchang immediately defended Hu Shoushan, saying, "You need to understand Commander Hu's plan correctly."

"According to Commander Hu's deployment, our army is positioned in a pincer formation both horizontally and vertically, making it impossible for the G army to encircle us, while our army can advance and retreat freely."

"Under this arrangement, the G army's usual tactic of 'digging out the heart' becomes ineffective."

After hearing Pei Dingchang's words, Wang Zhiqi was speechless.

With five armies positioned here, Fufeng and Meixian do seem very secure, but what comes after that?
There was no more systematic defense force after that.

In other words, they have no defensive depth whatsoever.

Once Fufeng and Meixian are breached, Guanzhong will be completely lost immediately.

Seeing Wang Zhiqi's constipated expression, Pei Dingchang said again, "I know what you're thinking, but you don't need to worry too much about this."

“We have 5 men in five armies, and there are also two cavalry brigades in the area east of the Qishui River and around Mawei Station as the vanguard.”

"With so many people, no matter what, the G army shouldn't be able to easily break through the defense line."

"Moreover, the First Army is also in Chencang, and they can join the battlefield at any time."

After hearing Pei Dingchang's explanation, Wang Zhiqi thought about it and felt that it made sense.

A position with 100,000 men can't be easily overturned by the G army.

"Commander Pei, I have another concern." "Speak."

"As you know, although my 119th Army has three divisions, it was only recently formed and they were all reorganized from local security regiments, so its combat effectiveness is not strong."

"As the northern defense zone of the Guanzhong defense system, my defense zone is adjacent to the Linyou Mountain area, which is well-concealed."

"However, our army currently does not know the specific location of Ma Jixiang's army group. The southern part of the Linyou Mountain area is likely to become a blind spot in the defense zone."

This is another problem that Wang Zhiqi discovered.

Their five armies were deployed in an extremely tight formation, but a huge gap appeared between them and the two Mas.

“I am aware of this matter,” Pei Dingchang nodded.

Not to mention Wang Zhiqi, even he was completely clueless about the Ma family army's deployment.

However, Pei Dingchang did not pay much attention to this.

"Zhiqi, you don't need to be too nervous. If Guanzhong is lost, the Ma family army will be the first to suffer. They won't be that short-sighted."

"We just need to defend our own area."

Wang Zhiqi felt helpless about Pei Dingchang's optimism.

He had absolutely no belief that the Ma family army could hold his flank.

With no other option, Wang Zhiqi had to draw a regiment from the front lines.

They were to be moved to Famen Temple to guard the flanks.

Famen Temple is 10 kilometers north of Linyou and 6 kilometers south of Fufeng.

At this distance, it would be perfectly feasible for a regiment to be on guard in the southern mountainous area of ​​Linyou.

While Guo's army was busy digging fortifications on both sides of the Wei River, the North China army also crossed the Jing River and advanced into the area of ​​Xianyang and Chang'an.

Chen Chengxing also led the Second General to the front line at Mawei Post Station.

Although there were two brigades of cavalry from the Nationalist Army roaming around, the cavalry had no chance to fight back against the reconnaissance combination of the Second Division's jeeps and machine guns, as well as the high-speed support of armored vehicles and trucks.

After several skirmishes, facing a situation where they could neither fight back nor run away, the two cavalry brigades of the Guo Army decisively chose to retreat.

As for the original guard duty, let whoever wants to go do it.

Mawei Post Station Headquarters.

Chen Chengxing, who had just returned from a meeting at the field headquarters, convened a combat meeting.

Chen Chengxing pointed to the map and said, "With the high mobility of their cavalry, the Qingning and Ma forces have spread their main forces out to places like Yongshou, Linyou, and Cuimu Town, making it difficult for us to annihilate a large number of enemy troops in one go."

"Therefore, the field headquarters' plan this time is to pin down Hu and attack him. The combat target is Hu's troops in the Fufeng and Meixian area."

Unlike the scattered movements of the Ma Clique army, Hu Shoushan deployed five armies on both sides of the river, intending to use this to defend the western region.

However, under normal circumstances, in order to make the river play an advantageous role in defensive operations, the direction of the operation should be perpendicular to the direction of the river flow.

If the deployment is along both sides of a river, it's hard to say whether the river is more advantageous for defense or offense.

"The target is Hu Shoushan? If we can wipe out these 100,000 men, it will definitely be advantageous for our future advance into the southwest."

"Yes, so Nobuo entrusted us with the most important task," Chen Chengxing said, pointing to the map.

“Look here, Hu Shoushan’s troops are mainly in the Fufeng and Meixian area.”

Most of Hu Shoushan's five armies were deployed on the north bank of the Wei River, with only the two divisions of the 90th Army stationed on the south bank of the Wei River, in the area from Meixian to Qinghua Town.

"If our army advances from east to west, the Guo army will definitely retreat to Chencang, or directly retreat from Xiegu Pass into Guanzhong."

"If we want to annihilate these three armies north of the Wei River, we must first block their retreat."

"Juluo Town was a crucial point in the retreat of Guo's army."

“Blocking Juluo Town and cutting off the Longhai Railway is equivalent to cutting off the retreat route of the enemy’s 119th, 38th and 65th Armies.”

"Our mission is to send two detachments to infiltrate the Juluo Town area."

Upon hearing Chen Chengxing's words, Xu Wu and the others immediately perked up.

No matter how you look at it, this interspersed mission is the most important mission for the First Field Army, and they all want to get their hands on it.

“You don’t need to glare at me.” Chen Chengxing waved his hand: “I’ve already chosen the right people.”

"Xu Wu, Sun Xun."

"Here!" The two immediately stood up, grimacing.

"This time, your two detachments will be tasked with infiltration and interception."

"Yes!"

"Don't laugh yet. There are quite a few of you. You must advance stealthily," Chen Chengxing emphasized.

"If you encounter small groups of enemy on the road, do not get entangled with them. Quickly penetrate behind enemy lines, occupy Juluo Town, then forcefully cross the Wei River, seize Meixian Railway Station, and take Caijiapo to cut off the Longhai Railway and prevent the enemy from retreating to Chencang."

“As long as this gate is blocked, Hu Shoushan’s five armies will be like a stagnant pool, and he won’t be afraid of not becoming corrupt.”

In this battle, no one in the First Field Army was worried about whether they could defeat the enemy on the front. Their only concern was that Hu Shoushan's troops would run away as soon as they were attacked.

Therefore, occupying Juluo Town and cutting off the Longhai Railway became crucial.

(End of this chapter)