Chapter 66: The Ambush of Ten Thousand Lotus (Four)
Just as the Second Army annihilated the Cili reinforcement troops, Liu Hua and Guan Xiangying led the 7th Division to quietly bypass Cili County and merge with the reconnaissance battalion that had arrived earlier for reconnaissance.
"Xiao Gang, are you familiar with the terrain from Cili to Shimen?" Liu Hua asked immediately as he looked at the team leader Liu Xiaogang who had just arrived.
"Report to the legion commander, the reconnaissance battalion has finished scouting the terrain. We are very familiar with the terrain here." Xiaogang replied affirmatively.
"Alright, let's think about it, is there a terrain around here that can accommodate an enemy force of over 10,000 men?"
"Commander, there's a place called Xiwangping that should work." Xiaogang thought for a moment before responding.
"Let's go, Commissar. Let's take a look together. If possible, the battlefield will be set at Wanmang Ping." Liu Hua turned his head to look at Commissar Guan Xiangying.
The political commissar nodded.
"Xiao Gang, lead the way forward. We'll go take a look right now." Liu Hua immediately led the guards to follow the reconnaissance battalion towards Cili.
Finally, at dawn, a few people rushed to Shiwanping. Standing on the top of the mountain, Liu Hua looked at the blurred highway in front of him and smiled.
"Commander, this is indeed a good place! It seems that heaven is helping us." Looking at the 100,000 troops in front of him who were about to become the battlefield, the political commissar not only let out a sigh.
Indeed, looking around, the entire Wanmingping is like a large pot, with the highway running through the middle, and two large mountains surrounding both ends of Wanmingping, with dense forests growing on them, making it an ideal place to hide troops. The entire highway stretches for 5 li, enough to accommodate over 10,000 people...
"Commissar, it seems our battlefield is here."
"Director Liu, send a telegram to the main force and let them rush to Shiwanping quickly. Ask each regiment commander, division commander, and cavalry commander to come on horseback. We will hold a combat meeting here in an hour. Send the telegram immediately."
"Commissar, let's go. We'll take another look at the terrain." Liu Hua said.
Before long, an hour had passed and Liu Hua, the political commissar arrived at the temporary command center. Looking at the dozen or so people standing in front of him, Liu Hua waved his hand: "Everyone sit down, where did all these formalities come from."
After all personnel were in place, Liu Hua began the meeting: "First let the political commissar report on the purpose of this operation and the current enemy situation!" Liu Hua said immediately after opening the meeting.
"Comrades, the purpose of this battle is to thoroughly and quickly eliminate Xiangxi Wang Chen Quzhen, turn all of Xiangxi into our base area, increase the room for maneuver in future battles. General He has brought the entire Second Army Corps to Xiangxi to personally command the operation. Our army corps' task is to eliminate Chen Quzhen's reinforcements heading to Cili County, inflict heavy casualties on the enemy's effective strength, and prepare for the attack on Shimmen. Just now, we received intelligence from the cavalry company that the enemy's reinforcements have approximately three regiments with 11,000 troops, just leaving the county seat, expected to arrive at Wanmangping at 5 pm today. My goal, along with the army corps commander, is to annihilate the enemy completely, so we must make sufficient preparations. That's all I have to say, now let the army corps commander assign combat tasks."
"Comrades, the political commissar has already fully briefed you on the situation. Whether we can win this battle depends on your performance. Now I order: The 1st Regiment will ambush in the forest behind Shimianping, and as soon as all the enemy troops enter the ambush circle, they will immediately launch a surprise attack, block the enemy's retreat, and prevent their counterattack. The artillery company of the 1st Division will be under your command; The 2nd Regiment will ambush in the forest south of Shimianping, and after the enemy's rear route is blocked, they will immediately launch a surprise attack, intercept the enemy's vanguard, build fortifications, and not let the enemy escape. The artillery company of the 2nd Division will be under your command; The 3rd and 4th Regiments will build fortifications on the two hills east of the highway, and the 5th and 6th Regiments will build fortifications on the west side. The heavy machine gun battalion, artillery battalion, and the 3rd Division's artillery company will all be arranged by the political commissar; The 7th Regiment will serve as the army's decoy unit, conducting layered ambushes against the enemy between Shimianping and Shimen, paying attention not to use heavy weapons, and must make the enemy think that our reinforcements are weak. You, the 7th Regiment, have a great role in this ambush battle; The 8th and 9th Regiments, as well as the guard battalion, will serve as the army's reserve unit, standing by at all times, and also be prepared to track down the enemy's reinforcement troops at any time. The sniper company will conduct free-range sniping on the battlefield." As he finished giving orders, one by one, the regiment commanders stood up.
Looking at the officials sitting upright and solemnly, Liu Hua added: "Comrades, this time we are facing a bandit gang, so we must not have the idea of underestimating the enemy. We must concentrate our firepower to inflict heavy casualties on the enemy, and not think about capturing prisoners. Without my order, any unit is forbidden to launch an attack."
"Yes, Legion Commander, mission will be accomplished."
"Alright. The order of command for this operation is myself, the political commissar, Director Li Qing, the division commander... and so on. Also, comrades should be mentally prepared for a long battle, as we may immediately launch the next campaign after the ambush. The third reserve division must make thorough preparations before the battle, you will go into battle at any time, when you return, you must do a good job of ideological work with the soldiers, and arrange the combat tasks well, don't leave any gaps, everyone must enter their positions and hide by 3 pm this afternoon."
"Yes."
"Alright, meeting adjourned."
Soon, the cadres left the temporary command post and rushed to their respective troops. The war atmosphere of Tianmen was getting thicker and thicker.
Just after Liu Hua gave the order to go into battle, Zhang Shizi led his troops out of Shimeng County town with more than 10,000 men, although they were all bunched together. Despite this, Zhang Shizi was extremely cautious and sent out all his scouts. In this way, they walked safely for nearly twenty miles. Suddenly, a sparse sound of gunfire came from the front.
"Chief of Staff, go ahead and ask, where did the gunfire come from." Zhang Shizi hastily asked the Chief of Staff in front.
"Reporting to the superior, a blocking position of the Communist Army was found ahead. The vanguard company lost several brothers and the Communist Army has a force of about one company." Just as the chief of staff was about to leave, a communications officer ran over.
Originally, the Seventh Regiment Commander received the order and on one hand commanded the troops to hasten their journey, while on the other hand seeking help from the reconnaissance battalion of the Military Region, and that one company's strength was just what Liu Xiao had just gathered.
"Order a battalion of vanguard troops to capture the Communist army's position quickly, we still have a long way to go." The division commander gave orders quickly.
Indeed, as Zhang Shilong had expected, under the attack of a vanguard regiment, a company of the Footprint's troops immediately "deserted" and soon, the enemy's reinforcement troops passed through the simple position constructed by the reconnaissance battalion and rushed towards Shimian.
At this time, after half an hour of rapid march, the strength of the 7th Regiment was constantly being divided, and about two companies were building positions in a place less than 1.5 kilometers ahead of the blocking position just now.
Collection required, recommendation required, reward required......
