Chapter 42: The Wind Rises in Ji Nan (5)
The Zengjiashan battle was in full swing, but the atmosphere on the battlefield of the First Battalion was very depressing. Zhang Yafei and Chief of Staff Xu Zheng set up their forward command post at the First Battalion's command center. Since the artillery fire at Zengjiashan started, the staff officers in the command center had been constantly calling to ask about the situation of the 26th Brigade. The bombardment of Zengjiashan had already begun for half an hour, but the 26th Brigade still didn't make a move. According to the battle plan, if the attack on Zengjiashan started one hour ago and the 26th Brigade still didn't make a move, they would launch a general offensive against the bandits at Zengjiashan. After solving the bandit problem, the special forces company that followed the Second Battalion would go to ambush and annihilate the 26th Brigade in the ambush circle.
Deputy Commander Xu Zheng kept glancing at his watch, while Battalion Commander simply sat down beside the phone waiting for a call.
Zhang Yafei fully understood the emotions of both men, having endured hardships and bitter training for two years. Everyone wanted to try their hand at it, even he himself had an impulse to pick up the phone and ask Song Zhiwu to let Ye Changgui take action ahead of time. He knew that he was no longer a regimental commander in Song Zhiyuan's Northwestern Army during the Southern Kuo battle three years ago. He was now the division commander of the Security Guard Army, a general commanding more than 20,000 elite soldiers. He had to remain calm, otherwise his subordinates would become hot-headed and even do things that would affect the entire battle plan.
Time passed minute by minute in the anxious waiting of the crowd, just a few minutes before 7:30, which was an hour after the battle to attack Zengjiashan began.
Just then, the phone suddenly rang. The team leader grabbed the phone from the staff's hand. Ye Changgui's voice came over the phone, sounding somewhat disappointed: "Tell Zhang Shuai, the two regiments of the 26th Brigade in Ren Village have already begun to assemble. There are orderlies going towards Hui Mountain Angle, and it is very likely that they will notify the regiment at Hui Mountain Angle to launch a joint attack."
He hung up the phone, and a team leader excitedly reported to Zhang Yafei. Xu Zheng was so excited that he shouted: "Good! Commander, I'll go check the battlefield." After finishing speaking, he rushed out of the command center without waiting for Zhang Yafei's response.
Liu Yuru's telegram for help had been sent out long ago, but he could only contact Sun Dianying in Jiaodong. As soon as Sun Dianying received Liu Yuru's telegram, he immediately sent a telegram to Shi You San, who immediately sent another telegram to the commander of the 26th Brigade, Fang Shao, ordering him to rush to the rescue at all costs. If Zengjiayao was breached, be sure to pay attention to the treasure hidden in Zengjiayao. Regarding the fact that Zengjiayao had a large amount of treasure stolen by Sun Dianying from the tomb, Shi You San had revealed it to him, and this brigade was sent by Shi You San at the request of Sun Dianying, who paid him 200,000 yuan per month.
Although the telegram said that the Shanxi-Suiyuan army attacking Zengjiashan had a division, Fang Shao was not afraid. His 26th brigade was newly downsized from a division-level unit and not only had three regiments with over 6,000 men but also consisted of elite soldiers who were left after eliminating the old and weak. Shanxi-Suiyuan army had its own way of defending, but Fang Shao still had confidence in fighting against them in a field battle. Moreover, there were still 3,000 to 4,000 people at Zengjiashan. And if that treasure could be seized by himself...
Due to the temptation of a huge reward, after receiving the telegram, Fang Shao immediately ordered the troops to assemble and ordered the entire regiment stationed at Hui Shan Jiao to advance towards Zengjiazhai and meet up with him on the way. He had the newly formed artillery battalion pull up the 6 75mm mountain guns that Shi You San had just handed over, which were said to have been specifically given to him by Sun Dianying. They hastily advanced towards Zengjiazhai. In less than an hour, the vanguard company of the 26th Brigade had already entered the ambush circle.
The deputy commander of the 1st Regiment of the Security Guard Division, Zhang Ya-fei, had just put down the phone when the regimental commander excitedly reported to him: "The 26th Brigade is now entering the ambush area in a hurry. The vanguard company has already entered the center of the ambush area. At this speed, by the time the vanguard company reaches the bottom of the pocket, the rear guard of the 26th Brigade will not have entered the ambush area yet."
The command post was set up on a mountain at the bottom of the ambush circle, and Zhang Yafei was observing the enemy situation through the observation hole with binoculars. After listening to the team leader's words, he put down his binoculars, turned around and ordered: "Order the troops at the bottom of the pot to let this enemy company go, and start attacking after the 26th Brigade's rear guard enters the ambush circle. I want to annihilate them completely. Also, transmit my order, asking the Third Battalion to dispatch a strong force to eliminate this vanguard company after the ambush battle starts."
This section of the road into the mountains was a river valley that dried up in winter, with the mountain road clinging to the northern foot of the mountain. The mountains on both sides were not high, and only a few exceeded 100 meters. The valley was very wide, with the widest point being around 500 meters. Since this place was not suitable for ambushes, and Fang Shao did not believe that the Shanxi-Suiyuan army besieging Zeng's village would think that his Henan troops would come to stir up trouble on the north bank of the river, he did not send out search parties to the mountain ridges on both sides. Instead, he ordered the troops to quickly pass through, and if the vanguard encountered the Shanxi-Suiyuan army, they were to immediately launch an attack without asking for instructions.
Here, the sound of cannons from Zengjiayao could be heard very clearly, and Fang Shao loudly urged his troops to speed up their march. Suddenly, gunfire erupted on both sides of the road, with hundreds of shells and thousands of grenades exploding in the long column of the 26th Brigade, while light and heavy machine guns and rifles fired incessantly. Almost at the same time as the shots rang out, Fang Shao, relying on his years of battlefield experience, rolled off his horseback, did several somersaults, and dived into a ditch washed by a mountain stream. Hiding in the water ditch, Fang Shao looked around to see that both sides of the mountain were troops wearing grass-green uniforms he had never seen or heard of before, not the blue uniforms of the Shanxi Army. The sound of intense gunfire was coming from all directions, and Fang Shao realized that his 26th Brigade was surrounded by a much larger enemy force. Understanding the situation, Fang Shao immediately ordered his chief of staff, who had crawled over: "Immediately transmit my order, each regiment will fight on its own, charge northwards to the high ground, and break through from there." The chief of staff acknowledged and signaled for the orderly to transmit the order.
The remaining troops after this contraction were all old soldiers with many years of actual combat experience, although they suffered heavy casualties in the sudden and intense firepower strike. But after all, they were experienced and only panicked for a while before finding cover to start shooting back from the mountain. As Fang Shao's order came, each regiment followed their officers, ignoring the dense firepower, shouting as they charged up the mountain at various points.
The second battalion led by Fang Shao was trapped in the middle of the troops. He knew that in this river valley without effective cover and firepower support points, if they couldn't quickly occupy the high ground, they would be annihilated by concentrated firepower in the valley very soon. In order to achieve a quick victory, he even sent his guard battalion up.
The rapid reaction of the 26th Division made Zhang Yafei, who was observing the battle situation in the command post, break out in a cold sweat. He was very familiar with the combat effectiveness of the Northwestern Army, and as long as they were allowed to charge up the mountain and engage in close combat, their own firepower advantage would be unable to be brought into play. Moreover, at the breakthrough point, the 26th Division had a numerical superiority in a local area, and even if they engaged in hand-to-hand combat with their own soldiers, they wouldn't have much of an advantage. The best result would be killing 1,000 enemies while suffering 800 casualties themselves.
Zhang Yafei saw the situation was urgent, and immediately ordered: "All firepower on the eastern high ground, intercept and block the 26th Brigade's charge; The reserve troops immediately reinforce the position of the 2nd Battalion in the ambush circle." The high ground where the 2nd Battalion's position was located was relatively low, with a very small slope. The enemy there was Fang Shao's guard battalion, which attacked particularly fiercely, and fifty or sixty men had already rushed onto the position, engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the 2nd Battalion.
The people in Fang Shao's guard battalion were all handpicked by him from various troops, and he was very clear about their combat effectiveness. Once they charged onto the enemy's position, it meant that the position had been taken down. As soon as the guard battalion charged forward, Fang Shao led his guards to follow up and charge out. Before he could climb over the ditch, a shocking scene appeared: the guard battalion, which had already rushed to the top of the mountain, was beaten back by the enemy soldiers with bayonets, who were roughly equal in number. At this time, the charging troops from all sides also retreated. Fang Shao knew that his 26th Brigade was done for.
The 26th Division, trapped in the valley, was soon disrupted by the dense firepower on both sides of the mountain. Zhang Yafei saw that the opponent had lost its organization and could not resist effectively, completely disintegrating its formation. He couldn't bear to see his former superior's troops being slaughtered without any chance of fighting back, so he ordered a charge.
As the bugle sounded, tens of thousands of Guardsmen with bayonets at the ready charged down the slopes from the high ground on both sides.
In the midst of cries of "Surrender and we won't kill!", except for his guard battalion and a portion of soldiers from the 2nd Regiment who were still resisting around him, gunfire elsewhere quickly came to a halt. Fang Shaoyi saw that the situation was hopeless, and that continuing to fight would only lead to more casualties, so he reluctantly ordered surrender.
