Chapter 265 Fighting with Wisdom and Courage to Build Miracles
Chapter 265 A battle of wits and courage to achieve extraordinary feats
After several days of alternating between sunny and rainy days, the weather finally stabilized among the dark clouds in the sky. Thick misty rain enveloped the earth. The howling strong winds that continued all night gradually calmed down, and the vast expanse of blue waves on the surface of Nvshan Lake
It looks cold and bleak, and the reeds by the lake are undulating and swaying like waves in the changing wind direction. The land of Jianghuai has entered the annual plum rain season.
The Third Regiment of the Independent Division, led by its commander Gu Changfeng, quietly came to Panjia Town to station. This place is only 7.3 kilometers away from Liuxiang, the center of material transfer for the Zhilu Army in the north. The distance turns northeast from Liuxiang and goes south.
The main stream of the Huaihe River is only five kilometers long. With the great help of the local people, Gu Changfeng's Third Regiment closely controlled the enemy's movements.
At noon, the reconnaissance team urgently reported that a battalion of enemy troops from Wuhe County, 20 kilometers to the west, had entered Liuxiang Town and was located at the east dock and the eastern periphery of the town. They were fighting against half of the battalion that had been dispersed by our army.
Together we are stepping up the construction of fortifications. Another regiment has arrived at Changhuai Town, 16 kilometers to the west. It is expected that reinforcements will be sent in the direction of Liuxiang after lunch.
Gu Changfeng immediately ordered the horse to report to Hu Jialin, who was five kilometers behind. He suggested that the direct mortar company that had stayed behind as a reserve force and the engineer battalion that returned last night should be urgently transferred to the front, using the strength of one company to pretend to attack Liuxiang. The third regiment
The main force marched eight kilometers westward and attacked the enemy crossing the river at the junction of the Tonghe River and the Huaihe River.
After receiving the urgent report, Hu Jialin ordered the mortar company, engineer battalion, and guard battalion demolition team to go to Panjia Town at full speed, leaving three regiments of engineer companies and one company of logistics officers and soldiers to closely guard the Huaihe River. After sending a report to An Yi, he
Under the escort of the platoon's guards, he rushed to Panjia Town first, and made a plan with Gu Changfeng to "encircle the town and provide reinforcements".
At one o'clock at noon, the mortar company, under the cover of the officers and soldiers of one company of the third regiment, successfully rushed to the mouth of Dagou, 2.3 kilometers west of Liuxiang Town, set up twelve mortars and began a ten-minute fierce attack on Liuxiang Pier.
shelled, and then immediately retreated south without stopping. The pier was in a mess with smoke billowing, and more than 50 ships, large and small, were destroyed.
Nearly half of them were destroyed, and three defense fortifications distributed on the shore were directly hit. More than 20 officers and soldiers were killed or injured. A dozen flat-bottomed transport ships broke their ropes due to the violent vibrations, and swayed downstream. The booming sound of cannons
The enemy defenders in Liuxiang were so frightened that the deputy of the garrison sent an emergency call to Wuhe County through the newly installed telephone line.
More than 1,800 officers and soldiers of the Second Regiment of the 9th Division of the Zhilu Army were dining in Changhuai Town, 16 kilometers to the west. When they received an urgent order from the division headquarters in Wuhe County, they immediately abandoned their jobs and rushed to the aid of Liuxiang in the rain.
The drizzle kept falling, and the roads became more and more muddy. Soldiers wore different footwear during the spring and summer seasons. Although the straw sandals were non-slip, they carried heavy mud. The few officers and soldiers wearing cloth shoes had their shoes and socks wet and loose.
It's difficult to slide, and there are many places to slide in the long queue.
Seeing the figure slumping forward and leaning back, a group of several people carried more than ten heavy machine guns forward. From time to time, one of them slipped and fell into the mud. The officers and soldiers complained and scolded each other, and the entire team could not move forward quickly.
You have to slow down after one kilometer.
At the temporary headquarters in Wuhe County, General Chu Yupu, deputy commander of the Zhili-Shandong Allied Forces and former commander-in-chief of the enemy, Jiang Yuming, commander of the 9th Division, Kong Fanrong, chief of staff of Major General, and other generals were nervously analyzing the latest emergency reports received. The former colonel of the garrison in Wuhekou area
Brigadier Zhang Yaoming became a handyman, running in and out to deliver urgent reports to Chu Yupu's colonel adjutant Qin Shanhu.
"Reporting to the deputy commander, the 2nd Regiment of the Ninth Division received an urgent report from the Changhuai garrison company and rushed to Liuxiang at full speed. The 1st Regiment was reorganized and immediately headed to Changhuai Town to await the next order. According to the supplementary report from the Liuxiang garrison,
Immediately after the shelling, the enemy attacked from the east and south
A fierce attack was launched on the outskirts of Liuxiang. Ji Dengyun, the former deputy of the 1st regiment of the garrison brigade, was leading his soldiers to resist tenaciously and has contained the enemy's offensive. However, the enemy's back-up continued and he was afraid that he would not be able to hold on and asked for reinforcements to be dispatched quickly." reported the colonel's adjutant.
Complete and wait for instructions.
Veteran Chu Yupu turned to the map on the long table in the middle of the lobby and began to think deeply. Jiang Yuming turned to the colonel's adjutant and asked loudly: "Shan Hu, what information has our reconnaissance team returned?"
Qin Shanhu, who had a mustache, shook his head: "Without any information on the location and movements of the enemy's main force, our reconnaissance team cannot go beyond seven kilometers south of the county seat. The security regiment reconnaissance team dispatched by the command starting last night
, encountered ambushes by small groups of enemy troops from all directions, and had lost fifty-nine elites.
Based on the reports of the brothers who escaped, we initially determined that what we encountered was a small enemy scout unit. Each of these small units had about eight to nine people. Their movements were concealed, fast, and their marksmanship was extremely accurate. They were often two to three hundred meters away.
A single salvo can accurately hit our reconnaissance team.
Starting from this morning, the guard regiment learned their lesson and sent out a cavalry team of more than one squad each time to conduct reconnaissance. However, the enemy's scout team was actually equipped with a light machine gun, which could accurately shoot at our troops from a distance of more than 300 meters, and succeeded with one hit.
They immediately fled far away and discovered our officers and soldiers first. The guard regiment suffered heavy casualties and had to stop dispatching. As a result, we were unable to approach the shores of Nushan Lake to survey the enemy's situation, which was very troublesome."
Jiang Yuming said angrily: "Send the main force straight to the west bank. I don't believe the enemy won't come out to fight!"
"Yu Ming, what are you so anxious about? As the commander of an army, he is most afraid of being provoked by the enemy and acting recklessly. Where has your experience gone over the years?"
Chu Yupu put down his two-foot-long pipe and raised his head to look at the drizzle outside the window: "There is no false scholar under the reputation. An Yi is not easy to deal with! From the analysis of his tactics and attack methods, I can see that
This man is cunning and vicious. He is very aware of the weaknesses of our Northern Army. He knows that in this wet and muddy place with dense water networks, our army cannot exert its artillery superiority.
The situation could not keep up with his marching speed. Therefore, he took advantage of the Confederate army's rainy night battles and used small groups of troops to carry out sudden attacks with more attacks and fewer attacks on the garrison in Wuhe. He waited for you to recover across the entire line of our army.
When the troops arrived, he took advantage of the opportunity to harass our various strongholds along the river. The purpose was to anger us and rashly send out a large army to fight with them.
But have you thought about it? The divisions of the Northern Expeditionary Army are very chaotic and completely different from our Northern Army. For example, the three divisions of the First Army, each with a number of between 8,000 and 15,000, are under the command of that Guangxi dwarf Li Delin.
The divisions were even more outrageous. Each division had as few as 16,000 and as many as 20,000 or 30,000 men, which was equivalent to the total strength of our entire army. For this reason, Marshal Sun suffered a lot.
Looking back, the enemy An Yi in front of us has no more than 10,000 troops, only 2,000 fewer than your 9th Division. And your artillery battalion cannot reach the front line due to road problems, minus these more than 800 people and heavy troops.
After the firepower, are you confident that you can defeat him in this rainy season and in unfamiliar terrain? He is eager for you to go out to find him."
"However, the current situation is very passive!" Jiang Yuming argued helplessly.
Chu Yupu glanced at Jiang Yuming, who was flushed with anxiety, returned to the table and lowered his head to check the map again. After a while, he suddenly raised his head and shouted an order:
"Yu Ming, you immediately order the next regiment under your command not to stay longer in Changhuai Town, but to go directly to Liuxiang to join the second regiment. If you encounter the enemy, build fortifications on the spot and continue to resist!"
"yes!"
Jiang Yuming seemed to suddenly understand and called his adjutant to give the order quickly.
Kong Fanfu, chief of staff of the Ninth Division, approached the table and asked respectfully: "Deputy Commander, are you saying that the enemy might ambush the Second Regiment in the middle of the battle, which was the first to rush to the rescue?"
Chu Yupu nodded: "Yes! Otherwise, why would Mr. An Yi spare no effort to attack our scouts? Isn't the purpose to prevent our army from knowing about his troop movements? In this case, he is very likely to attack Liuxiang and reinforce me at the same time.
To launch an ambush, he has such strength and confidence. Especially under the current circumstances, he has many more advantages than us, and he is very good at using them. Through these three
Judging from the current situation, he has already made preparations. Therefore, before Suqian's 11th Division crosses the Huaihe River and enters the battlefield, we must not act rashly, otherwise we may fall into his trap. This man is young but full of tricks.
He is a formidable enemy... Prosperity, give me another order to transfer your 3rd and 4th regiments stationed in the west of the city to Changhuai, to coordinate with the Liuxiang garrison at any time, so as to avoid being defeated by the enemy one by one."
"This... deputy commander, we can't all leave! There is less than one regiment of troops around you..." Jiang Yuming had already strode back and was surprised to hear Chu Yupu's order.
Chu Yupu shook his head slightly: "Go ahead. If the enemy does not dare to attack Wuhe County today, I will ask Shan Hu to send an order to transfer Ji Junbao's brigade from Gu Town. Don't worry! But you should be careful and don't do it easily.
Attack, do you understand?"
"yes!"
Jiang Yuming and Kong Fengsheng answered in unison.
Nushanhu Town, Independent Division Headquarters.
"Report, Deputy Division Commander Hu called, one enemy regiment will arrive at Tonghe Ferry within ten minutes. In addition, Chief of Staff Yang called, the forward battalion of the Second Regiment successfully occupied Gupei Town. If the enemy is as the intelligence shows, it will
We all retreated to Wuhe County last night, and all the remaining units of the Second Regiment have also crossed to the west of the lake."
Lieutenant Colonel Peng Jianqing, captain of the communications brigade, loudly reported that after Zhan Huanqi followed Yang Bin and set off with the radio, Peng Jianqing temporarily served as An Yi's communications staff officer.
An Yi nodded: "Very good, the enemy is afraid of being beaten. It seems that he is unwilling to have contact with us before the arrival of his main force... Dou Fang?"
"arrive!"
Dou Fang threw away half of his cigarette and stood up.
An Yi kept drawing lines on the map without raising his head: "Mingguang City was captured by General Ye Kaixin's troops. The power line said that the battle was fruitful. It is estimated that the enemy's South Road military station was captured before they could move away. What about you?
can stand
We are about to take away the third team and work side by side with the three companies of Chen Kan's teaching brigade to capture Qiaotou Town in the south as soon as possible to support the left wing security of Chen Zhibiao's second regiment. We only need to leave one company in Suxiang Town where the teaching brigade is stationed."
Dou Fang nodded happily, but suddenly felt something was wrong, and said quickly: "Brother, when we leave, you will only have 200 people from the communications brigade left with you. That's no good!"
An Yi raised his head and took out a cigarette: "What a joke, what danger is there for me to be among you? What's more, Xiaojiu's guards are here, what are you worried about?"
Get lost! I give you eight hours to capture Qiaotou Town. There are only more than 300 defenders there. I heard that Mingguang City in the south was breached and I was so scared that I wet my pants. Go and deal with them, and you will share half of the weapons captured.
To the fishermen's self-defense force in Suxiang Town, they ferried us by boat day and night, and even helped us lead the way and carry ammunition boxes, without charging a penny and taking care of our meals. We have to give them something, right?"
"yes!"
Dou Fang saluted and left excitedly. An Yi saw the 22-year-old lieutenant colonel and battalion deputy commander growing up so fast, and felt very satisfied. He turned to Peng Jianqing, who had been standing next to him, and ordered loudly:
"Jian Qing, send a telegram to Deputy Commander Hu to tell them how to follow them. Then we will immediately move the headquarters to Deputy Commander Yin's Luozui Pier. I hope that Li Guang's independent regiment will also capture Gupei Town and Xia Jian."