Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 584 Tank Company

Ridgway's expression turned somewhat grim as he read Albert and Robert's telegrams requesting assistance.

The speed at which the central army infiltrated was quite beyond his expectations.

According to Ridgway's estimate, the British 29th Brigade should arrive at Gaoyang before the central army.

Now, the British 29th Brigade is stuck in Gaoyang.

A single step can make all the difference.

Seeing Ridgway remain silent, Chief of Staff Dane couldn't help but speak up.

"Sir, should we send reinforcements to provide support?"

"With motorized marching, we can arrive in half a day."

“No.” Ridgway thought for a moment, but ultimately shook his head.

"I have studied the Chinese army's combat style. Since the Eighth Route Army period, they have been good at using the tactic of besieging a point and attacking reinforcements."

"Now, they should be planning the same thing."

The telegrams sent to him by the British 29th Brigade and the American 27th Regiment did not provide details about the Chinese offensive.

However, Ridgway could tell that the central army had not launched a full-scale offensive.

Otherwise, the language in their telegrams pleading for help should have been much more vehement.

"But."

Dane didn't know what to say.

This is 10,000 men, and they're not the rabble of the Southern Army.

If it's just lost like this, I'm afraid it will be difficult to explain to my superiors.

Seeing Dane hesitate to speak, Ridgway waved his hand.

"General MacArthur has handed over command of the Korean War to me, so I have the final say."

"Since the Chinese army has surrounded the British 29th Brigade and the American 27th Regiment, let them surround them."

"The main force must immediately retreat to the 37th parallel!"

Upon hearing that they were to retreat, Dane hurriedly asked, "Now?"

The supplies to Seoul haven't all been transported yet; leaving now would inevitably result in significant losses.

"Let's retreat now." Li Qi nodded slightly.

All supplies that cannot be taken away will be destroyed.

"Important locations such as Seoul Airport, library, schools, museums, hospitals, and factories were all blown up."

"All bridges and roads across the Han River are for military use only. Any civilians who set foot on them will be shot on the spot."

Seeing Ridgway's serious expression, Dane could only stand at attention and say, "Yes, sir!"

Although the Second General Headquarters did not launch a general offensive throughout the night, the shelling continued unabated.

At first, it was just 82mm mortars and sporadic 120mm mortars, but later, mountain guns gradually joined in as well.

Previously, the UN forces used their firepower to bully others, but now that the tables have turned, they are finding it difficult to cope.

Inside the underground command post of the British 29th Brigade, the constant explosions made Albert extremely agitated.

As a shell landed on the ground near the command post, a cloud of dust tumbled down inside the underground command post.

Albert couldn't take it anymore, so he took off his mud-covered hat and slammed it on the table.

"Fuck! Fuck! Why hasn't command replied yet?!" Albert slammed his fist on the table.

"Where are the reinforcements?! Why haven't they arrived yet?!"

Everyone in the command center looked grave. With no response for so long, it was obvious what had happened.

"Sir, command has probably abandoned us."

"I think we should send a telegram directly to General MacArthur."

The chief of staff's suggestion made Albert fall into deep thought.

In the military, reporting to higher-ups without authorization is a major taboo, but it seems that the British 29th Brigade has no other choice now.

Albert nodded: "Send the message!"

However, Albert did not have much hope at this point.

As far as he knew, after a series of major defeats, MacArthur was eager to shift the blame for the Korean War.

At this point, the possibility of him sending a telegram to Ridgway is extremely slim.

And things unfolded exactly as Albert had predicted.

MacArthur replied quickly and with a lengthy telegram, clearly dictated.

But after reading the whole thing, Albert only managed to extract two words: 'no way out'.

After putting down the telegram, Albert let out a long sigh: "Tell all units to prepare for a fight to the death!"

With all hope shattered, the British 29th Brigade became even more determined.

Just as the British 29th Brigade and the American 27th Regiment were preparing to fight to the death, Chen Chengxing also received a telegram from the headquarters of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army.

"Commander, the US military is withdrawing from Seoul."

Looking at the telegram, Chen Chengxing shook his head helplessly: "Well, it seems this fishing trip is off."

Since the main force of the US military is withdrawing south, it is impossible for them to send reinforcements north alone.

Xu Wu said, "I didn't expect that Li Qiwei is such a ruthless person."

Chen Chengxing casually handed the telegram to the staff officer next to him, asking him to file it.

“A cunning and ruthless enemy is the most dangerous,” Chen Chengxing said solemnly.

“Ridgway must have seen through our plan, but most people wouldn’t make the decision to abandon tens of thousands of British and American soldiers.”

At this point, Chen Chengxing had already perked up.

Ridgway lives up to his reputation and must be taken seriously.

However, before dealing with Ridgway, we need to eat the meat first.

"Since the UN forces are not planning to provide assistance, let's close the net."

"Pass on my order! Have the 21st and 24th Detachments launch a general offensive and annihilate the enemy!"

"yes!".
After Xu Wu left, Chen Chengxing thought for a moment and then called out, "Monk! Monk!"

Wei Dayong rushed over from outside: "Captain."

During this period, the various squads of the special operations brigade took turns going out to conduct reconnaissance.

Wei Dayong, along with the command center and logistics of the special operations brigade, followed the headquarters' operations.

"There should be no more fighting north of the Han River, so the special operations brigade can cease its battlefield reconnaissance missions."

"After each squad returns, they will rest for two days, and then the entire army will be mobilized to pursue and reconnoiter the American forces."

"I need to find every division and every regiment of the U.S. military, and report any unusual activity immediately!"

"Yes!"

Going deep behind enemy lines has become a daily routine for the special operations brigade, and Wei Dayong is already used to it.

Moreover, the special operations brigade is now armed to the teeth.

Even their firearms were unique, being the latest production automatic rifles.

Although Wen Ying initially named it the Type 71 submachine gun, it was changed to the Type 71 assault rifle at Chen Chengxing's 'suggestion'.

After the Second Battle, a batch of assault rifles were delivered to the Second General Staff Headquarters along with supplies, in preparation for battlefield testing.

One of them has a wooden stock, and the other has a folding stock.

This automatic rifle is similar to the Type 81 rifle that Chen Chengxing remembers; its magazine can be shared with a light machine gun.
However, since there is no need to fire rifle grenades, the muzzle is not designed with a flash suppressor.

In addition, due to the habit of using light machine guns and semi-automatic rifles, the barrels used are heavy barrels and are also a bit long.

However, the flaws did not detract from the overall merits, and Chen Chengxing expressed great satisfaction after firing a few rounds.

The rifles with wooden stocks were assigned to the special operations brigade, while those with folding stocks were assigned to the armored battalion.

Now was the time for the special operations force to step in. Ridgway's decision bought the UN forces time to safely withdraw.

However, the fate of the British 29th Brigade and the American 27th Regiment, which were completely surrounded, was not so good.

After receiving the order, the 21st and 24th detachments launched their attack during the last hour or so before nightfall.

Seeing the sudden increase in the intensity of the artillery fire, Albert realized that the final battle had arrived.

"For Her Majesty the Queen! For the British Empire!"

"Gentlemen! Fight to the death, never retreat!"

"Fight to the death, never retreat!"
Inside the command post, everyone wore expressions of resignation, as if the lobster soldier who once faced death without fear had returned.

However, the situation of the British 29th Brigade on the battlefield was not as resolute as the expressions of the British troops.

The fact that rocket launchers could not destroy Centurion tanks head-on did not mean that the soldiers had no other options.

The demolition expert, carrying explosive charges and cluster grenades, went into action once again.

The British soldiers looked at the Chinese People's Volunteer Army soldiers charging forward carrying explosive charges with disbelief on their faces.

They had seen Germans throw cluster grenades at close range, but they had never seen anyone carry an explosive charge and go head-to-head with a tank.

As tanks exploded and caught fire one after another, the morale of the British soldiers deteriorated further.

"Fuck! They're all crazy! They're all crazy!"

"We're fucked!".
When dawn broke, Ridgway's air support arrived at the battlefield.

Although the battle was not yet over, the Second Division was already entangled with the British and American forces.

US bombers dared not press the bomb release button casually.

If a large number of friendly troops are killed, they will definitely face a military court.

Of course, they were already on the battlefield, so they had no choice but to drop the bomb.

However, dropping bombs did not mean dropping them on the battlefield where the fighting was taking place; they felt that there might be enemies lying in ambush on the nearby hills.

Seeing the inhumane actions of the air support, the British 29th Brigade, which had been hanging on by a thread, completely lost its will to fight and began to surrender.

Of the entire British 29th Brigade, only the soldiers of the Gloucester Regiment were still fighting to the death there.

However, with the surrender of the remaining British troops, a large number of artillery pieces were moved to this location.

The Gloucester Regiment, which was already struggling to hold on, was now even more unable to withstand the onslaught.

On the other hand, the US 27th Regiment wasn't doing much better.

They don't even have men like the Gloucester Battalion who are willing to fight to the death.

By noon, the battle was basically over.

"Commander, the battle is over."

"The British 29th Brigade was basically annihilated, with less than a hundred men escaping in different directions. All the officers, including Albert, were captured."

"Due to air support, a lot of the US 27th Regiment escaped, but the 24th Squadron also annihilated more than 3,000 people, most of whom were prisoners."

As he spoke, Xu Wu handed a report to Chen Chengxing: "This is a summary of the spoils seized by each department."

Looking at the report in his hand, Chen Chengxing nodded in satisfaction.

"That's good. Although the American commander escaped by helicopter, it's still good to capture a British brigadier general."

"Report this to the General Headquarters immediately; the commander is waiting."

Upon seeing the Second General's telegram, the leader finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Although Ridgway did not take the bait, it was still barely acceptable to take down the British 29th Brigade and the American 27th Regiment.

"Sir, Chen Chengxing has captured 6 155mm howitzers, 18 105mm howitzers, and 16 British howitzers this time."

"Eight British Centurion tanks, six American Pershing tanks, and ten Sherman tanks."

“M19双联40毫米自行高炮4辆，M16四连12.7毫米自行防空车6辆。”

"The remaining 22 armored vehicles of various types, and more than 300 trucks are available for use."

"And countless other supplies were seized!"

The chief of staff laughed heartily, "Sir, Chen Chengxing has struck it rich this time!"

The commander was pleased with the spoils, but not overly excited.

"We seized quite a lot, but they're not very useful."

"Don't be fooled by the number of cannons captured this time; there are definitely not many shells. Otherwise, Chen Chengxing wouldn't have directly said to send them to the headquarters."

The chief of staff laughed and said, "The artillery doesn't have many shells, but these tanks and armored vehicles must have ammunition, otherwise Chen Chengxing wouldn't have been hiding it."

"Let him decide for himself," the commander waved his hand.

British and American tanks are indeed good, but Soviet and Russian tanks and artillery are being hauled to Northeast China by the truckload.

For logistical reasons, the Chinese People's Volunteer Army could not rely primarily on captured weapons.

Even if the Second Division is sent to the headquarters, it will only take up logistics capacity.

"By the way, tell all the units that, apart from prisoners and necessary supplies, they should keep the rest of the spoils themselves and not send them to the headquarters."

"Use what you can use directly, and blow up what you can't."

"yes!".
Upon receiving Zhi Si's reply, Chen Chengxing laughed and said, "Well? I told you Zhi Si wouldn't want it."

The Chinese People's Volunteer Army is no longer the same as it was when it fought the Japanese and the Kuomintang.

With its own independent logistics and production, it's impossible to focus on the spoils of war.

Apart from some spoils that can be used for other purposes, or scarce supplies like medicine, most of the items will definitely remain with the capturing troops.

And the more they seize, the more likely this will happen.

This is why Chen Chengxing meticulously documented every single item captured during his last battle against the US 2nd Division and this battle against the British 29th Brigade and the US 27th Regiment.

"Captain, it has to be you." Xu Wu gave a thumbs up.

"So, what do you think of this seizure?"

"Tanks and armored vehicles were assigned to armored battalions, and two tank companies, one air defense company, and supporting combat support and logistics support companies were formally established."

"Those repair vehicles and spare parts must be carefully separated; not a single one can be missing."

"Zhou Weiguo can make the decisions about the allocation of equipment and personnel himself; he just needs to submit a report."

Previously, Chen Chengxing had only separated the infantry companies of the armored battalion, but he hadn't moved any of the technical troops.

Now, as long as the armored battalion can operate and maintain it proficiently, it can form a preliminary combat capability.

"We can't find enough people to drive the trucks. We'll leave as many as the logistics and artillery regiments can, and the rest will be handed over to the headquarters' logistics."

"The cannon is running out of shells, let's just blow it up."

After arranging the logistics for handling the spoils, Chen Chengxing looked at the map; he hadn't forgotten his mission.

"Now that the enemy coalition has been defeated, it is time for us to press our advantage and pursue them."

"Pass on my order: the entire army is to immediately pursue them south!"

The following afternoon, the 23rd detachment was the first to enter Seoul and take control.

Soon, Chen Chengxing also led his team into Seoul.

As Chen Chengxing stepped into Seoul, the long-silent system notification sounded in his ears.

[Main Quest: The Capital! The Capital! Completed!]

[Obtain a complete instruction manual for the production process of nuclear fission weapons.]

[Rewards are being distributed, please wait]

Upon hearing the system notification, Chen Chengxing became curious about how the instruction would be distributed.

If it's just about the principle, a single sheet of paper and a few words might suffice.

However, if we're talking about something as detailed as the Manhattan Project, it might require a million drawings.

However, Chen Chengxing's doubts were answered after arriving at Ridgway's original command post.

(End of this chapter)