Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 556 Something's Absolutely Wrong (Combined Chapter, Requesting Monthly Tickets)
After the liberation of Yinchuan, the First Field Army units each had their own tasks.

On October 1, after several days of celebrations with the masses, the Second General received the latest orders.

The entire army proceeded to Chencang to accept the unified command of the Southwest Bureau.

Late October, Chencang, Second General Headquarters.

Luo Ping smiled and put the newspaper down: "The Second Field Army is making a big splash in Shangdu. I think Chang Ruiyuan must think that southern Shaanxi is our main direction of attack this time."

"A feint attack to the north while striking to the east; it seems we'll have to take on the task of a feint attack again."

As instructed by higher authorities, the main direction of this offensive was eastern Sichuan.

The main force of the Second Field Army will attack into Sichuan from eastern Sichuan, first attacking Chongqing, and then joining forces with the First Field Army to encircle Chengdu.

In order to cover the Second Field Army's movements, the 18th Army Corps and the Second Army Corps in southern Shaanxi had to make it appear as if they were taking the initiative to enter Sichuan, to mislead Hu Shoushan and prevent them from supporting the eastern front.

The main force of the Second Field Army took a large train journey and held a press conference in Shangdu, where they discussed tactics for attacking Hanzhong from southern Shaanxi.

“We’re used to feints,” Chen Chengxing said casually.

"The higher command ordered the northern front to contain Hu Shoushan's hundreds of thousands of troops and prevent them from supporting the eastern front and affecting the liberation of Chongqing."

"But how can we prevent it if we don't already prevent it?"

"Killing Hu Shoushan's troops is also to prevent them from providing reinforcements, so this naturally counts as completing our mission."

“That’s over 300,000 people,” Luo Ping said. “Even if we include the 18th Army Corps, we only have 120,000 to 130,000.”

Chen Chengxing chuckled: "If it were our 300,000 troops fighting against the 120,000 Guo troops, I really wouldn't be interested and wouldn't want to fight."

"Besides, don't be fooled by the fact that Hu Shoushan has more than 300,000 men, with seven army corps and seventeen or eighteen divisions."

"But only the 5th, 7th, and 8th Corps are still considered combat-effective."

"As for the rest, look at what kind of grotesque and flawed works they are? They're either newly compiled or runaways."

"Unfortunately, this time Hu Shoushan placed his core 5th Army Corps in the rear as a general reserve."

"Otherwise, I really would have to test Hu Shoushan's abilities."

Just as Chen Chengxing was pointing and gesturing at Hu Shoushan's troops, Hu Shoushan was lying on his bed listening to a play, feeling depressed.

Suddenly, there was a knock on his door.

"Get out!" Hu Shoushan cursed angrily, then continued to lie down and listen to the opera.

At this moment, his feelings were just like those of a character in a traditional opera singing lines.

As Wu Zixu passed through Zhaoguan, day after day passed, and his heart felt as if it were being fried in boiling oil.

Upon hearing Hu Shoushan's angry curses, the person outside the door hesitated for a moment, but the knocking soon resumed.

Hu Shoushan got up angrily, turned off the radio, and stormed to open the door, wanting to see who was so clueless.

Upon opening the door, he found it was his chief of staff, Lü Hanwen.

"Oh, it's the Chief of Staff. What's the matter?" Hu Shoushan composed himself and let Lü Hanwen in to speak.

"Director, we have received reliable intelligence that the acting chief of staff of the G Army recently arrived in Chang'an and has now gone to Chencang."

"What?!" Hu Shoushan was taken aback, his face filled with disbelief. "I just heard the broadcast from the Beiping G Army. Wasn't he accompanying the ** to inspect the troops?"

“This intelligence is definitely correct.” Lu Hanwen said solemnly, “There is also intelligence that the G army is busy with transportation in the Tianshui and Jincheng areas and is advancing rapidly.”

"Judging from all indications, the G army's attempt to enter Sichuan from the north is becoming increasingly obvious."

“It’s becoming increasingly obvious.” Hu Shoushan sighed: “Chief of staff, I’ve been dealing with the G Army since the day it came into existence. For decades, I’ve only had one piece of experience.”

Seeing that Lü Hanwen was somewhat puzzled, Hu Shoushan explained, "That is the G Army's operational deployment. We have never guessed it before."

"You mean, the G army is using a feint attack this time?"

"Should we report to the CEO and adjust the plan?"

"What report? Song Yingguo and I discussed this long ago, after Hunan fell to the Japanese."

"The Guo army troops in Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Kang, Hubei and southern Shaanxi, even including the security regiments, only numbered 900,000, and most of them were newly formed."

"What about the G Army? Its main force alone has four million men, and the local forces have another million."

"It would be difficult to hold onto any piece of land on the mainland. Only a few islands, such as Frog Island, Hainan, and Zhoushan, might have a chance to be held for a period of time."

"The G Army's infantry is formidable, but it will take at least three to five years to develop the naval and air power to conduct amphibious operations."

"Moreover, the southwest region is vast, with complex terrain and dilapidated roads, making it impossible to quickly assemble troops or easily maneuver them."

"A decisive battle in the southwest would be a dead end."

"Director Song and I agree that we should shift our main force to the Yunnan-Burma border region. As long as we can preserve our strength, there is still great potential for the future."

"This plan is excellent!" Lu Hanwen said excitedly.

Let alone 900,000, even if we only withdraw the core troops of the Central Army to the Yunnan-Burma border region, that would still amount to 400,000 to 500,000.

No matter how capable the G army is, they can't possibly fight their way to Burma.

When World War III breaks out, these 400,000 to 500,000 people will be a sharp sword, ready to pierce the heart of the G army at any time.

Hu Shoushan sighed: "It's very good, but the president doesn't agree."

"The president told me and Song Yingguo that we must protect the southwest region."

"Even those people in the Ministry of National Defense believed that the Qinling Mountains, eastern Sichuan, and southeastern Guizhou were mountainous and dangerous, and could block the G army from entering Sichuan."

When it comes to the Ministry of National Defense, Hu Shoushan doesn't want to say anything.

These idiots have never actually fought against the G army on the front lines; they're just commanding based on maps.

Upon hearing the Ministry of National Defense's name, Lü Hanwen also felt a bit of a headache: "Director, we can block it once, but we can't block it every time."

"These 900,000 troops in Sichuan are either remnants of defeated forces or newly assembled recruits. Once they go into battle, it is hard to guarantee that they will not collapse."

"Moreover, the warlords in Sichuan and the central army have always had deep conflicts, and they will not work together."

"Once the G army presses in, the situation will be completely out of control."

"Stop talking about this." Hu Shoushan waved his hand, becoming more and more frustrated the more he listened.

"No matter what, we still have to listen to the principal."

"What's the situation in the east?" Hu Shoushan asked.

"The Chen Corps of the G Army has suddenly appeared in the Guangzhou area and is now advancing westward in coordination with the Fourth Field Army of the G Army."

"That's completely irrelevant! I'm asking about Song Yingguo's place in the border region of Sichuan, Hunan and Hubei."

"Oh," Lu Hanwen finally realized, "Nothing happened."

"Nothing happened?"

"If everything is calm and peaceful, then something big is bound to happen."

As the saying goes, "A long illness makes a good doctor," and Hu Shoushan felt that something was very wrong in eastern Sichuan.

"Chief of Staff, send a telegram to the General Staff and Song Yingguo to remind them."

"yes!".
Hu Shoushan's guess was correct this time, but Chang Ruiyuan simply didn't believe in Hu Shoushan, this perpetually defeated general.

Chang Ruiyuan's telegram arrived quickly.

"Urgent telegram from the president." Lu Hanwen walked over with the telegram in his hand.

"My brother Shoushan, I have learned that the bandit leader has handed over the position of the puppet mayor of Nanjing to the bandit leader in East China."

The Second Field Army of the Communist Party of China has been mobilizing for entry into Sichuan for several days.

I urge my brother to strictly instruct his troops to strengthen defenses on the northern front and prepare for the invasion of Liu's bandits.

Hu Shoushan had mixed feelings upon hearing Chang Ruiyuan's reply.

However, for him, loyalty to Chang Ruiyuan was the most important thing.

"Call the principal back." Hu Shoushan sat down in a chair, feeling somewhat weak.

The operations staff officer standing nearby quickly took out his notebook to take notes.

"I have received your telegram. Students and soldiers of the three armed forces shall keep their weapons at the ready until dawn, and with the utmost determination, defend the Great Southwest to the death."

After saying that, Hu Shoushan said to Lü Hanwen with some helplessness, "I estimate that even if we invite them, the G Army may not be willing to come."

Before Lü Hanwen could speak, the operations staff officer next to him asked, "Should we write this down too?"

Hu Shoushan immediately turned to look at the operations staff officer, his eyes practically popping out of their sockets.

Everyone in the command center turned their attention to this staff officer.

He then realized he had said the wrong thing and immediately lowered his head to silently send a telegram.

As time went on, troop movements on the eastern front became more and more frequent.

Song Yingguo, director of the Hunan-Hubei Border Pacification Headquarters, and Gu Jichang, director of the Guizhou Pacification Headquarters, also sensed that something was wrong.

They discovered that the Second Field Army was approaching them.

"Father, urgent telegram from the southwestern front."

"Read it."

Today is Chang Ruiyuan's 63rd birthday. Although he is not in a good mood, his eldest son still threw him a small family celebration.

“This telegram was sent by Director Song Yingguo.” Chang Jianfeng picked up a telegram.

He said that the Second Field Army of the G Army had amassed a large force on its left and right flanks, posing a significant threat to invade eastern Sichuan.

“This letter was sent by Director Gu Jichang.” Chang Jianfeng picked up another one.

He said that the G army has amassed a large force on the border of Hunan and Guizhou, seemingly intending to invade eastern Guizhou.

Upon hearing Song Yingguo and Gu Jichang's report, Chang Ruiyuan was speechless. He had just started to feel better on his birthday when these two came to ruin it.

"A fool is worrying himself, a fool is worrying himself!" Chang Ruiyuan didn't even answer the telegram.

"During the Three Kingdoms period, Deng Ai came to Shu from southern Shaanxi and Longnan into Sichuan."

"The terrain in eastern Sichuan is treacherous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, making it impossible to launch large-scale troop operations."

"**He is a renowned general who would never shy away from the easy path or seek the distant one instead of the easy one."

"Tell Song Yingguo and Gu Jichang that this is a common trick used by the G Army, a feint attack. Tell them not to lose their composure because of it."

"Yes!"

Just as Chang Ruiyuan was brimming with confidence, Chen Chengxing received orders for the Second General Corps to begin its advance towards Hanzhong along the Sichuan-Shaanxi Highway.

Chen Chengxing planned to first enter Hanzhong via Chencang Road, and then take Jinniu Road directly to Chengdu.

At the same time, Chen Chengxing also ordered the three infantry regiments and the rocket artillery regiment of the 23rd Detachment to set off from Qishan and advance along the Qishan Road as a detachment.

As for the 18th Army Corps of the First Field Army, it took one of the other routes.

Faced with the Second General Headquarters' strong offensive, Hu Shoushan's guard troops stationed on the Qinling Mountains front collapsed at the first sign of trouble.

Upon learning of the fierce and rapid advance of the G Army's offensive, Hu Shoushan had no choice but to brave the heavy rain and rush to Laifeng County, the garrison of the 7th Army Corps, to personally command the blocking operation.

“Officer Li, the G army’s offensive is exceptionally fierce. I have already ordered the Pacification Commissioner’s Office to move south, so I have no choice but to borrow your Siling Department.”

Li Zuobin, the sergeant of the 7th Army Corps, laughed and said, "Now that the director is here, the headquarters of the 7th Army Corps is the director's."

Hu Shoushan didn't exchange many pleasantries; after taking off his raincoat, he went to the map.

"Gentlemen, the greatest threat to us right now is Chen Chengxing's troops from Chencang."

"According to reliable sources, they have now reached Dasanguan Pass," Hu Shoushan said, pointing to the map.

The source of the news was quite simple: the troops at Dasanguan had already been defeated.

"The G army is trying to launch a pincer attack, flanking Hanzhong from both the left and right wings."

“Once Chen Chengxing’s troops have made their detour and reached their positions, our route to Chengdu will be cut off.”

"At that time, all of our troops under the Pacification Headquarters will be at risk of being besieged in the Hanzhong area."

Hu Shoushan does not believe that the G army in Guanzhong can defeat him, but once he is trapped in Hanzhong, half of his southwestern forces will be gone immediately.

"If the G army finishes off the rest of the southwest and then surrounds us, we'll still face the same fate of being completely annihilated." "So, what's the director's opinion?" Li Zuobin asked.

"Order the main force of the 38th Army and the 84th Division of the 17th Army to launch an attack on the G Army coming from Chencang."

Hu Shoushan planned to strike Chen Chengxing's troops of the G Army first, since they were the fastest advancing.

"We must stop them from continuing south, no matter what," Hu Shoushan affirmed.

"Only in this way can the other troops of the Pacification Headquarters advance into Sichuan at a leisurely pace."

Upon hearing Hu Shoushan's order, Li Zuobin hesitated, "This awful weather..."

It's raining heavily outside, and even if he gives the order, the troops might not be able to arrive on time.

Upon hearing Li Zuobin's words, Hu Shoushan immediately understood what he meant and thus decisively issued a death order.

"Officer Chen, order the 38th Army to act immediately, even if it means fighting with knives!"

"Yes!" Li Zuobin reluctantly agreed.

The troops originally stationed further west, responsible for defending Qishan Road, were redeployed to prepare for a joint attack on the main force of the Second General Headquarters.

However, this also gave 23 teams an opportunity.

Led by Sun Xun, the 23rd Detachment quickly advanced from Qishan.

Soon they encountered the blocking position of the 69th Army of the Guo Army in Daliang Mountain.

The 69th Army was a force cobbled together by Hu Shoushan from defeated soldiers and new recruits, and its personnel and equipment were basically at the bottom.

Faced with the 69th Army's resistance, Sun Xun didn't waste any words and immediately launched a salvo from his rocket artillery regiment.

The 69th Army's forward positions were instantly and completely covered by the explosion. The 69th Army was originally a group of defeated soldiers, and they were always nervous about encountering the G Army.

After being subjected to such fierce shelling, the KMT troops on the front line collapsed instantly.

Sun Xun was overjoyed at the sight: "General offensive! Immediately launch a general offensive! Send the Guo troops to storm their positions!"

The rapid collapse of the front-line troops of the Nationalist Army, coupled with the three-pronged attack of the 23rd Detachment, meant that the 30th Army did not even last a night before fleeing in disarray.

The 7th Army Corps received the report the following morning.

"Hey?"

"Daliang Mountain? Which Daliang Mountain?!"

"Speak louder!"

Hu Shoushan, who was leaning back in his chair and sleeping, was awakened by the noise and immediately looked over.

Hearing the same thing, Li Zuobin walked over and took the phone: "Hello! This is Li Zuobin!"

"Speak slowly, what happened to Daliang Mountain?"

"What did you say? Daliang Mountain has fallen?!" Li Zuobin's voice rose three octaves.

Upon hearing that Daliang Mountain had fallen, Hu Shoushan hurriedly went to the table and looked at the map spread out on it.

Li Zuobin, who was next to him, was still on the phone: "When did this happen?"

"Is it dawn today?"

"Why didn't you report this sooner!"

"Don't panic! Director Hu is right here!"

"Quickly gather the routed troops and await orders!"

After hanging up the phone, before Li Zuobin could speak, Hu Shoushan ordered, "The order to attack Chen Chengxing's troops is rescinded."

"Cancel? Why stop the attack?"

The 7th Army Corps has concentrated all its troops for this offensive.

In addition to the 38th Army and the 84th Division of the 17th Army, which will be the main attacking force, four other divisions and corps-level units are also ready to provide support.

"It's no use." Hu Shoushan shook his head; his face looked even worse than the weather outside.

"Daliang Mountain has fallen, and the G army has penetrated deep into our flank and rear. If they take Dingyang County and control Lianghekou, they will form an even larger encirclement."

"The 7th Army Corps, and even the 8th Army Corps, are in danger of being completely annihilated!"

Li Zuobin was somewhat skeptical: "The G army only sent a reinforced corps, at most a little over 50,000 men. Do they have such a big appetite?"

"Officer Li Siling, the 7th and 8th Corps combined only number 120,000 to 130,000."

"And how many of them actually have combat capabilities? I think you should know better than I do."

Why did the 69th Army collapse so easily?

Hu Shoushan knew very well that the military was his only means of survival.

Once the G army cuts off their retreat, it won't be so easy for the 7th and 8th Corps to withdraw back to Sichuan.

Even if Chen Chengxing couldn't take on so many troops, the rest of the G army would be doomed if they surrounded him.

"Pass on my order: all troops of the 7th and 8th Army Corps shall immediately retreat."

After the order was given, Hu Shoushan did not hesitate and decisively got into the car and retreated.

At the Second General Temporary Command Post, Chu Yunfei walked in from outside; "Commander-in-Chief, the Guo army has abandoned the attack and retreated across the board."

Chen Chengxing put down the documents in his hand: "Hu Shoushan may not be good at fighting, but he's first-rate at running away."

"If we hadn't run so fast, we would have wiped them out in Guanzhong, and then we wouldn't have had all this trouble."

For the G army, the best outcome would be to eliminate Hu Shoushan and the two Ma generals of Qingning in Guanzhong.

However, they all ran very fast, which allowed the army to fight across thousands of miles.

"If the Guo army retreats, we have no choice but to pursue them." Chen Chengxing stood up and ordered, "Order all units to launch a full-scale pursuit!"

The Second General Corps units, organized into detachments, advanced rapidly along the Sichuan-Shaanxi Highway.

Braving the continuous rain, the 23rd detachment also took shortcuts over mountains and valleys to rush towards Hongshiba.

Along the way, everyone braved the heavy rain and waded through mountains and rivers.

In order to catch up with the schedule, the artillery regiments of each detachment disassembled the mountain guns and transported them by pack.

Even so, they could not keep up with the infantry's advance; only the heavy mortar battalion of the entire artillery regiment could barely keep up.

As for the armored battalion and howitzer regiment, the soldiers could only push the vehicles from behind, suffering terribly.

Seeing that the supply corps men, carrying loads on shoulder poles, could run faster than the armored battalion, Sun Desheng wiped the mud off his face, feeling extremely frustrated.

"Damn it, it used to be people riding bikes, now it's bikes riding people!"

The more excited Sun Desheng was when he was dominating the battlefield, the more helpless he felt now as he looked at his armored vehicle stuck in the mud.

In this terrible weather, even the tank tracks are constantly slipping.

Faced with this situation, Chen Chengxing had no good solution. His special abilities could be applied to soldiers, but not to armored vehicles.

Chen Chengxing and the brigade headquarters had no choice but to abandon their vehicles and ride horses in order to catch up with the troops' advance.

On the 15th, just as the headquarters set up its command post, Chu Yunfei rushed in.

"The 23rd Detachment reported that they had blocked the 17th and 30th Armies of the Guo Army at Xujiaping, a total of 5 divisions, about 3 men."

Chen Chengxing immediately looked at the map: "The speed of the Guo army is really not slow."

"The command post will not be built here; we will go to Horseshoe Bend."

Chu Yunfei immediately reminded, "Commander-in-Chief, we're too close to the front lines."

Horseshoe Bay is less than 5 kilometers from Xujiaping. If the Kuomintang army set up mountain guns on the high ground, it would be possible to hit them at a high angle.

“Let’s go to Horseshoe Bay,” Chen Chengxing said firmly. “Communication is inconvenient in mountainous areas, and commanding from a distance is difficult.”

Faced with Chen Chengxing's insistence, the others had no choice but to quickly pack up and move forward.

By the time the command post was moved back to Horseshoe Bay in the early hours of the morning, fire had already broken out at Xujiaping.

The sound of cannons can be heard constantly at Horseshoe Bend.

"Where are the various units now?"

"The vanguard regiments of the three detachments have already surrounded them," Chu Yunfei reported, pointing to the map.

"The rocket artillery regiment fired a battalion's worth of salvo, causing considerable casualties to the Koso army. However, the Koso army did not stop its offensive and has launched three large-scale assaults so far."

"Looks like they're in a hurry," Chen Chengxing said with a smile.

"Tell all units to speed up and not be held back by the small number of troops in front of us. There are many more enemies waiting for us ahead."

"After the main force of the 21st Detachment arrived, it immediately attacked Jianyashan and cut the enemy in half from the flank."

"Send a message to the rocket artillery regiment, asking them to provide fire support to the 21st detachment."

"yes!".
After arriving in the rain, the three detachments of the Second General Headquarters immediately threw themselves into battle without any rest.

Although the 17th Army of the Guo Army was Hu Shoushan's direct subordinate, it was not a core main force and was short of personnel.

As for the 30th Army, it belonged to the former Northwest Army and was also short of manpower and equipment.

Faced with the Second Division's all-out attack, they were simply unable to withstand it.

They didn't even need to use the mountain guns and heavy mortars of each detachment; the 82mm mortars and infantry guns of each regiment alone would be enough to give them a hard time.

Guo Jun was beaten so badly he couldn't even lift his head.

Lu Chongyi, commander of the 30th Army, looked at the G Army troops covering the mountains and plains with an extremely heavy expression.

"Zhou Junzhang, we're already surrounded by the G army."

"It seems that the Siren and Director Hu are not coming back to save us."

"Save them?" Zhou Wentao, the commander of the 17th Army, shook his head speechlessly.

"Don't think that just because the 17th Army is Commander Hu's direct subordinate, I'm not afraid to admit it. Among all the troops in the Pacification Headquarters, we're not that different."

"At this point, in Commander Hu's eyes, the 30th Army was probably more important than my own 17th Army."

The 17th Army had only 13,000 men, while the 30th Army had 18,000 men.

Moreover, although the 30th Army was a mixed unit with poor equipment, it had many veterans.

On the battlefield, even seasoned veterans are more effective than new recruits.

“Commander Zhou, we must save ourselves,” Lu Chongyi said. “From what I’ve observed, although the G army has formed an encirclement, their forces are probably not sufficient.”

"I estimate that their encirclement is only one layer. If we can break through the encirclement, we should be able to escape alive."

The G army in front of us is well-equipped and powerful in combat, but this is both their strength and their weakness.

Once they get into the mountains, the G army, with its guns and cannons, will definitely not be able to catch up.

Lu Chongyi is very confident about this.

During the War of Resistance against Japan, his 30th Army was defeated by the Japanese more than once, but as long as they lost their heavy weapons, the Japanese could not catch up.

The same applies to the G army, which has even better equipment.

"It's not that simple." Zhou Wentao shook his head.

"The troops coming from Chencang are Chen Chengxing's troops. They are known for their speed, and we probably can't outrun them."

"How will we know if we don't try? Do we have any other way out?" Lu Chongyi said, "Surrendering at this time is probably no different for either of us than surrendering after our troops have been wiped out."

Zhou Wentao fell silent.

He really didn't have any good solutions.

After thinking for a long time, Zhou Wentao nodded vigorously: "Okay, hold on until nightfall, then we'll break through to the west. We can't go south."

Hearing that Zhou Wentao agreed to break through, Lu Chongyi breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhou Wentao was right; he indeed lacked the confidence to outrun Chen Chengxing's second-in-command.

However, he was confident that he could outrun the 17th Army.

(End of this chapter)