Chapter 55: The Changde Battle (Part 2)

  After a day of waiting, Liu Hua finally learned that Xue Yue had arrived at Shimen Bridge with his troops, and immediately issued a series of orders after receiving the intelligence.

  "Commissar led the Second Division troops to quietly advance towards Shimen Bridge, not allowing an attack, following from a distance. If the enemy retreated or reinforced Changde, they would devour them if possible, and block them layer by layer if not, in order to give us enough time to capture Changde."

  "First Battalion, Third Battalion, all units directly under the division will move to the vicinity of Changde and secretly surround the city of Changde County. Do not attack without my order."

  "Director Li brought the logistics department here as the rear of the whole army. After I broke through Changde, he immediately entered Changde and helped me evacuate the county seat."

  Soon, all the troops began to move, and Liu Hua led his troops quietly to surround Changde. After a night of effort, four regiments of the 1st and 3rd Divisions had quietly surrounded Changde, leaving two elite regiments for Liu Hua to launch the main attack, and all artillery was in place, waiting for Liu Hua's order.

  After completing the encirclement, Liu Hua did not rush to attack the city. He knew that it would take a long time to break through the heavily guarded Changde County City, so he quietly waited, hoping that Xue Yue could walk further away. Meanwhile, the scouts had already sneaked into the city under Liu Hua's orders, carrying short guns.

  Liu Xiaogang received the most important order from the regimental commander, which was to protect the ammunition depot and material warehouse inside the city. Liu Xiaogang led his troops into the county seat and began to continuously assassinate the enemy's scattered soldiers, disrupting the enemy. In less than one night, all the scouts in the reconnaissance battalion put on the uniforms of the Central Army, held the equipment of the Central Army, and hid in several residents' houses.

  "Something's gone wrong, sir. We've lost over 300 soldiers." The division commander, who had been left behind by Xue Yue, heard this bad news as soon as he got out of bed yesterday morning.

  "Damn it, such a small thing still comes to bother me. See if you're not coming back tonight, don't make a big fuss over nothing." The teacher said with a gloomy tone, but didn't take it to heart.

  At this time, the political commissar was woken up early by the scout and found that Xue Yue had left Shimenqiao early in the morning and marched towards Taoyuan. The political commissar hastily led his troops to bypass Shimenqiao and closely followed them.

  Another day passed, and Liu Hua received a report from the political commissar that Xue Yue had already taken down Taoyuan. The opportunity has arrived, thought Liu Hua to himself.

  "Order the troops to hurry up and rest tonight, start attacking the city tomorrow. Send a message to Scout Regiment Liu Xiaogang, let them take action tonight, harass the enemy, disrupt their military morale, and make it impossible for them to rest tonight." Liu Hua ordered the communications staff officer.

  The temporary command post of the reconnaissance battalion, "Battalion commander, battalion commander, telegram from the regimental commander." Liu Xiaogang, who was walking back and forth in the yard, immediately called over all the company and platoon leaders after seeing the order.

  "The regimental commander sent a telegram just now, asking us to launch a surprise attack tonight, harass the enemy and make them unable to rest tonight, strike their morale. What do you think, comrades? Do you have any ideas?" Liu Xiaogang said excitedly to the soldiers below.

  It was soon discussed and the results were that all troops were dispersed in units of companies throughout the county, attacking the enemy's command center and military camps, without requiring large-scale casualties, just making them unable to rest.

  Liu Xiaogang led the reconnaissance battalion's guard squad to sneak near the headquarters, the enemy defense was very tight, with a heavy machine gun at the door and patrol teams passing by every few minutes. Liu Hua led his troops to lie on the roofs of several civilian houses, quietly observing the surroundings.

  "With a single order, the 12-man patrol team was instantly engulfed by the powerful firepower of the guard squad, not one survived. Xiaogang did not collect the weapons and ammunition from the 12 men, immediately leading the 30 or so people to disappear from the ambush battlefield, rushing to the other side of the command post to choose another battlefield."

  "Commander, the patrol team outside the headquarters has been attacked and suffered a loss of one platoon." The regiment commander of the headquarters guard rushed over to report, waiting for the commander's orders.

  "What are you still dazing about? Take your troops and wipe out those attackers for me!" the division commander bellowed.

  Suddenly another explosion sounded. "Quickly check what's going on!" The teacher asked hastily.

  "Commander, a stockpile of ammunition has been blown up by the enemy. The attacker's whereabouts are unknown." The chief of staff said in a low voice.

  "Good-for-nothing! I order you to find out who the attacker is at all costs!" The commander said sternly.

  "Bad news, sir! The 3rd Battalion Command Center has been attacked and annihilated..."

  ...........................

  Slowly. The gunfire within the city walls rang out one after another. "Order all troops to enter combat readiness. Send a telegram to Commander Xue." The division commander said this sentence with a scoundrel's tone.

  In this way, the whole county town was immediately lit up, all troops were called up, and began to search for the attacking troops. At this time, the gunfire that had been ringing out for half a day suddenly fell silent. In this way, the continuous attacks made everyone in the city tense their nerves, including the division commander.

  "Superior officer, the commander-in-chief said this is a usual trick, let us handle it ourselves." The superior officer heard these words and shook his head.

  After a night of turmoil, every person in the city had red eyes and was listlessly patrolling. "Report to the army commander, mission accomplished." Liu Hua said as soon as he received the reconnaissance information about the enemy.

  "Colonel, Reconnaissance Battalion has successfully completed its mission."

  Order the artillery to prepare for bombardment, I immediately went to the front line position.

  "Director Sun, you take two mortar companies to the east gate for a feint attack. Director Wang, you also take two mortar companies to the west gate for a feint attack. When the cannon fire starts at the south gate, it will be the order to launch the attack. Execute immediately." Liu Hua commanded the two of them.

  Liu Hua rode his horse and soon arrived at a hidden artillery position.

  "Chen Guangrong, how's the preparation going?" Liu Hua asked as he saw the artillery regiment commander walking over.

  "General, don't worry, I guarantee that the first shot will blow down the city tower." Chen Guangrong said with a smile.

  "Alright, if you don't surrender, see how I'll deal with you. Orders, start the artillery attack in ten minutes, bombard for ten minutes, then extend the firing." Liu Hua said solemnly.

  "Yes, Legion Commander, the artillery battalion guarantees to complete the task, please be assured." Seeing Liu Hua's serious gaze, Chen Guangrong immediately stood at attention and said.

  "Yes, go and execute the order, don't save ammunition for me." Liu Hua nodded.

  "Where's Liao Wen-hua?" Liu Hua shouted.

  "Reporting to Legion Commander, Luo Wenhua has come to report." Seeing Luo Wenhua in front of him, Liu Hua nodded slightly.

  The current sniper company of the 7th Legion is already very large, it can be said that there is no such thing in all Chinese troops, a 120-man sniper company. Although they are not equipped with standard sniper rifles, due to the 7th Legion's continuous victories, they have captured countless telescopes and after the efforts of countless craftsmen, they finally converted them into the first sniper rifle. Although it was modified from Mauser rifles, for the snipers in the company, they can already hit enemies beyond 600 meters. The entire company is equipped with 60 modified rifles, which is a strong force to be reckoned with.

  " Luo Lianchang, in a moment the artillery battalion will launch a 10-minute bombardment. You must use this 10 minutes of artillery cover to sneak up to within 500 meters of the city wall. When our troops attack, any enemy who shows their head will be taken out by me, providing cover for the troops to storm the city."

  "Yes, Legion Commander, Sniper Platoon guarantees completion of mission." Luo Wen Hua said with a military salute.

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