Chapter 62: The Battle of Cili (Three)
After resolving the two sentries, Zhou Lianzhang waved his hand and the reconnaissance company that had been hiding outside the town immediately followed in. The same thing happened in the other two directions of the town.
Zhou Lianchang led an elite squad, silently arriving at the enemy's barracks. At the entrance of the barracks, a heavy machine gun was set up, and from a distance, three sentries were huddled together for warmth inside the machine gun emplacement.
Although they were dozens of meters away, Zhou Lianchang clearly heard several sentries humming. Zhou Lianchang waved his hand and two soldiers quietly followed him to sneak towards the heavy machine gun position. A few muffled sounds later, three sweeps lost their lives in their dreams.
The scouts of the reconnaissance company crossed the sentry and entered the enemy's barracks. Without seeing a few soldiers assigned to the house, under Zhou Lianchang's order, all the soldiers threw the hand grenades they had prepared for a long time into the room through the window.
The sound of explosions accompanied by wails rose up, until the room fell silent. The soldiers then kicked open the door, and all that was left was to sweep the battlefield. A whole battalion of soldiers vanished into thin air after a single grenade from the reconnaissance company.
At the same time, the enemy's camp was also annihilated by the guard company's surprise attack. In this way, the town fell into the hands of the Seventh Army Corps. Just as Sun Xingbang arrived at the camp, the First Division received a report that the Second Division had completely annihilated the defending army. Sun Xingbang hastily ordered his troops to radiate outward, search for remaining enemies, prevent the enemy from sending out news, and report their victory to the Military Department.
"Comrade Commander, Commissar, the First Division has taken down Yanbai Du and Longtan River areas, annihilating all defending troops."
"Alright, Commissar, the first division has completed its task. We need to speed up and try to reach Yanbo Ferry by tomorrow. Send a telegram to the second division and ask where they are now and how long it will take them to get to Yanbo Ferry." Liu Hua turned to the communications officer beside him.
The temporary command post of the Second Legion, "General He, the Seventh Legion has sent a telegram. They have taken down Yánbó Du and the surrounding areas. The main force will arrive at Yánbó Du tomorrow afternoon. How much time do we need?" The communications staff officer rushed in.
"Send a telegram and say that the Second Army Corps will arrive tonight." Also, notify the troops to depart at 6:00 tomorrow morning and head towards Yanbai Du. General He said while looking at the map.
The next day, from the sky above Xiangxi, three large armies rushed towards Yanbo Ferry at the same time. At this time, Xue Yue no longer had the energy to suppress the bandits, as the troops only brought a week's worth of military rations when they marched, and all the supplies in Changde County were emptied by the Red Army, and the troops were immediately facing the danger of lack of food. Since returning to Changde, several reports have been sent to Chen Cheng for help, and now it is like an ant on a hot pot, unable to pursue Liu Hua's 7th Regiment again.
Liu Hua, after learning of the situation, immediately began a forced march with confidence and boldness, without even needing to dispatch a rear guard. After several hours of marching, all three divisions of the Seventh Army Corps finally converged at Yanbo Ferry. Taking advantage of the fact that the Second Army Corps had not yet arrived, Liu Hua and the political commissar convened a summary meeting of the Changde Campaign for the Seventh Army Corps.
After this battle, the Seventh Legion suffered heavy casualties, especially the First Battalion, which had been tasked with the main assault. The entire battalion of 450 men lost 280 killed and 30 seriously wounded, with almost all the rest lightly injured. Everyone was silent in the face of such losses.
In this battle, the first division lost 420 people, the second division lost 215 people, and the third division had the least casualties with 155 people. The total number of casualties was close to two battalion's strength.
"Now I order, to draw a class of troops from each camp to give to the first regiment of the first division. In this assault, our greatest contributor is the first regiment, and we must let the first regiment maintain its best combat effectiveness. The remaining personnel shortages in various divisions will be supplemented by prisoners who are willing to join the Red Army, and those who are not enough will be drawn from the logistics department's heavy camp. All division commanders must prioritize ensuring the combat effectiveness of their troops, equipping them with ammunition and equipment. This time, it is estimated that there will be another big battle, so you should make preparations for continuous combat. Are there any other requirements?" Liu Hua looked at the silent crowd.
"It's all gone."
"Alright, except for the division commander and political commissar who will stay behind, everyone else will disperse and supplement other troops."
After watching the team leader leave, Liu Hua sat down. "Commissar, count how many people are left in our army?"
The political commissar asked several division commanders and then handed over the data to Liu Hua.
"The entire army has been reduced from the initial 19,000 to just over 18,400 after this battle, a loss of 600 men." Liu Hua fell silent at the sight of the number 600, this is war.
"I'm leaving you all here, just to give you a heads up, our target this time is not someone else, but the king of Xiangxi in our backyard, Chen Quzhen. This operation will be commanded by President He himself. Right now, President He is leading the Second Army Corps on their way here, and they should arrive tonight. What do you all think?" Liu Hua looked at the shocked crowd.
"Heh heh, Commander Legion, I have no opinion. General He is personally commanding this time, we will definitely win." King Shi Chang immediately followed up and said.
"Alright, victory is certain. What I want to tell you is that this time we must be extra careful in annihilating Chen Quzhen's troops, and not cause too many casualties for our own troops. It's getting harder and harder for us to replenish our troops now. Losing one soldier means losing one soldier, although prisoners can be converted into the Red Army, but as for this King of Xiangxi's troops, we shouldn't have too much hope." Liu Hua continued, seeing the puzzled looks on everyone's faces.
"This Chen Quzhen, although he is the King of Xiangxi, was born as a bandit, so his troops are particularly brutal and many are desperate outlaws who joined his army. We shouldn't consider them a regular Central Army, although their equipment isn't great, but their combat effectiveness is very good. So we can't underestimate them, we must minimize our casualties. Do you understand?" Liu Hua asked.
"Understood!" Several instructors and political commissars nodded in agreement.
Alright, let's discuss the specific plan again, and immediately the conference room was filled with murmurs of discussion.
"Report to the Legion Commander and the Political Commissar, the Reconnaissance Battalion reports that the Second Legion will enter Yanbo Ferry in 20 minutes." A staff officer walked in.
"Alright, Director He has arrived. Let's go out and greet him together. Director Li, there should be many delicious things among the supplies we've seized, right? Today, let's indulge in some corruption and treat Director He well, how about that?" Liu Hua looked at Li Qing and the political commissar.
"Yes, I agree." The crowd echoed in agreement.
"Since everyone agrees, I'll go make arrangements. Tonight, the soldiers and cadres of our two legions will have a good meal to celebrate and relax." Li Qing said as he walked out of the temporary meeting room. Liu Hua led the crowd towards the outskirts of the town.
