Chapter Thirty-Eight: Great Victory
Victory came suddenly, unexpectedly and surprisingly, even without giving them a chance to catch their breath! The bloodthirsty slaughter made them lose their commander, broke the morale of these farm boys who had been intimidated by ghosts and gods since childhood, and under the slogan "Red Army doesn't kill those who surrender", they put down their weapons one after another! Even if there were a few who managed to escape, when facing the ferocious and bloodthirsty soldiers with fresh blood all over their bodies and killing intent in their eyes, they were so scared that they couldn't even lift up their heavy guns!
A team of over 3,000 people! When Old Liang led his hundreds of brothers to raise their hands, he was really crying in his heart: "When did the fighting strength of our brothers from Guanzhong reach this point? It's actually weakened to this point! Softer than tofu flower!"
Although not well-read in history books, as a Han Chinese from the Guanzhong region, the heroic spirit of the Han Dynasty's Yu Lin, Ji Men, and the Tang Dynasty's Guanzhong Prefecture Army has been passed down through generations. Even during the weak Song Dynasty, the archers and soldiers from Guanzhong were not to be underestimated by their enemies, who would either flee in terror or truly marvel at their formidable fighting strength! Even in the Qing Dynasty, the Green Standard Army from Guanzhong was renowned!
When the 74th Division solved more than 3,000 people in less than an hour, Shi Zhu San on the mountain was also frightened! Three thousand people! This is not a small cat or dog! Even three thousand pigs cannot be caught within an hour! The northwest wind howled with heavy snow, dyeing the whole world gray and hazy, and there were more than 300 icy hearts...
Shi Zhu San withdrew very consciously, without bringing any trouble to Gao Quan, and the withdrawal was so hasty that there were still many scattered bullets on the wall, as well as those who removed the cover, pulled out the string, and neatly arranged them in the hand grenade box.
More than 2,000 prisoners, except for the officers who were isolated, were numb and carrying rifles with removed bolts or ammunition boxes, carefully advancing on the treacherous mountain pass under the piercing gaze of icy eyes and the glint of bayonets.
The total defeat of the expedition made Yang Hucheng lose the courage to send troops into Ningxia, continuing to besiege Gao Daguang's cunning and powerful army. The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deepened, and a thread of bitterness and resentment slowly accumulated in his heart. "I really wish I could go to the front line immediately! Go and have a good fight with the little Japanese! Even if we lose half of our men in one battle, it's not a complaint! But now we're inexplicably fighting an internal war with our own people! And suffering such heavy losses! I'm so angry at my own incompetence!"
Looking at the telegram that Chiang Kai-shek had just sent to cancel the guard's one-travel arrangement, Yang Hucheng was really not in a good mood! Although his wife's gentle and watery gaze had smoothed out the pain in his heart countless times: "But this time it's really infuriating! Old Chiang borrowed a knife to kill people! And he doesn't want to resist Japan! The last seed of our Northwestern Army, will it be consumed away in the internal strife with the Communist bandits?"
In early December, the Qinling Mountains were already in sub-zero temperatures of minus ten degrees or so. The icy mountains allowed Yang Hucheng to have a good excuse to recall all the tens of thousands of troops who were suppressing bandits! As for whether Wu An Guo had the mood to continue staying in Shanyang County and endure the constant attacks of Gao Quan's guerrilla forces, this was no longer within his consideration. Anyway, providing military rations for these guest armies was already a great kindness!
Riding on high-headed horses, Li Guang and Wu Anguo did not have the slightest arrogant expression. The confidence that had been full when entering the mountainous area had turned into endless sorrow in the wounded camp. It was all sorrow! From being attacked by a few people every day to making a false show of attacking the city! From attacking transport teams to cut off food and grass, to boldly occupying towns and recruiting soldiers!
The mighty troops were like sponges thrown into water, and under the prestige of successive victories, the 1,800 soldiers expanded to over 3,500, nearly doubling in size! Moreover, these soldiers continued to hone their combat skills through raids on Wu An'guo and others. In just one month's time, Gao Daquan seemed to have brought out a new Red Twenty-Fifth Army!
Wu Ankuo and Li Guangtou's withdrawal from the mountains this time was not only due to Yang Hucheng's order, but also because of their own concerns about being trapped in the ice-locked mountain county town, unable to contact or support each other. The consequences were worrying! Since Gao Guanzhong could annihilate a division within half an hour, who knows whether he could annihilate them within a month? Anyway, they did not have the guts to try this kind of danger of being trapped in an isolated city.
Moreover, it seems that the bandit army has spread again, with a large army of 3,500 carrying tens of thousands of civilians about to besiege the county city! This made Wu An and others even more frightened and uneasy. After their limited ammunition was consumed, they did not think that the fire sticks in their hands could withstand the ghostly big knives of those robust and fierce Guanzhong warriors, let alone hoes!
This time, the two troops came out of the mountain just to prevent Gaoquan from launching a surprise attack on them or adopting a tactic of separate attacks. Apart from the two reconnaissance camps that dispersed in all directions, Wu An and Li Guang also made some camouflage for their own troops' withdrawal from the county town. Anyway, they sneaked out of the county town at dawn and left behind hundreds of local militia to cover up their tracks.
Two men looked at the troops fleeing in disarray, and their hearts were truly suffocated! They were also reinforcements from Henan, who had previously chased the Red 25th Army into a state of disarray. But who could have imagined that within just one short year, they would be the ones fleeing in defeat? This was indeed a decisive joke!
Li Guang and Wu Anguo arrived at the high ground by the road, accompanied by many guards. They looked down at the troops with low morale, feeling despondent and disheartened. Li Guang sighed and said: "Wu, my brother, remember when we first entered Qinling Mountains? We were strong and ambitious, claiming that we would annihilate the remaining communist guerrilla forces within a month! But less than half a year has passed, and we've retreated with our tails between our legs! The communists have instead gained 3,000 to 4,000 more men!"
"Look at us!" he said, pointing to the long line of stretchers behind his army. "There are two or three hundred men sitting on stretchers marching, and if you add those who don't need stretchers but have lost their combat effectiveness due to minor injuries, and those carrying stretchers, Li Guang's brigade has actually lost nearly half its combat strength! This time Li Guang was really crippled!" Wu Anguo took a deep breath, his face pale with shock as he looked at the long line of stretchers below.
"Let's hurry back and think about how to recover our strength! I'm afraid that if we come to Qinling again, we won't be able to return! My heart really has this worry!" Looking at the desolate Qinling, Wu Ankang had an indescribable feeling in his heart. "Three or four thousand men and horses, defeated in the blink of an eye! I don't know what will happen to Gaoquan in the future..." He thought to himself, but he had a faint fear for the future, especially when facing Gaoquan again, this powerful opponent.
The situation in Shaanxi is not as good as Gaoquan imagined, although Nan Han has been constantly working on Yang Huicheng's old friend, but at this time Yang Huicheng's control over Shaanxi Province has also greatly decreased. Gaoquan is in southern Shaanxi, Xu and Liu are in northern Shaanxi, making a big fuss, everyone is secretly supporting each other, attracting the attention of the Northeast Army that has just entered Shaanxi!
Moreover, at this time, the main force of the Red Army, with more than 6,000 people, had already entered northern Shaanxi under the leadership of the Chairman and joined forces with the 15th Red Army Corps. Although news from the mountainous areas was relatively closed off, it could still be inferred from the decrease in the number of enemy troops and the decline in their quality that the main force of the Red Army had indeed entered northern Shaanxi!
