Chapter 69: The Ambush of Ten Million Sprouts (7)

  "Report to the Commander-in-Chief, the vanguard encountered a blocking detachment of the Communist Army, and the vanguard battalion suffered more than half losses." A communications staff officer ran over.

  Chen Quzhen looked at the telegram in his hand, gazed at the sky lit up by the flames of the distant Wanping, and listened to the faint sound of gunfire from Wanping. Chen Quzhen knew that the Communist army must be trying to annihilate his main force at this moment, and he couldn't let He Long succeed. After all, the one in front was his only main force, and no matter what, he had to preserve this troop. Chen Quzhen made up his mind immediately.

  "Order the vanguard to dispatch a battalion-sized force to launch a group charge, and we must break through the Communist army's blocking positions with our troops."

  Immediately, a battalion of the vanguard walked out of the marching column and began to adjust its attacking formation. At this time, Wang Nanhu saw the enemy's offensive through binoculars and smiled, the enemy had fallen into the trap. It turned out that since Wang Nanhu received the order from the division commander, he had been guessing that this time was not only to block the enemy, and later when the division commander sent another telegram to try his best to kill the enemy's living forces and provide sufficient time for the main force to surround the enemy, Commander Wang finally knew the ultimate goal of the division commander.

  "Order, artillery to open fire at my command during the enemy's first wave of attack, infantry to open all light and heavy firepower when the enemy is 100 meters away from the enemy's front line, and must annihilate half of the enemy in the first volley."

  Soon, the enemy's first wave of attack began. The enemy, a regiment of 1,000 men, marched slowly towards the position in dense formation, and soon they were only 100 meters away from the position. "Fire!" With the commander's order, all the light and heavy firepower of the two regiments opened fire at the same time. A dense network of firepower immediately appeared on the front line of the position, and many enemy soldiers fell down in the first row. Then, a large number of enemy soldiers who did not lie down in time also fell down in the second row.

  "Order the artillery company to launch indiscriminate attacks on the enemy's concentrated positions, and have the heavy machine guns ready to attack any enemy who stands up. Don't let a single enemy go." Commander Wang gave the order decisively.

  Just as he finished giving the order, the artillery company that had been prepared for a long time began to fire, and 12 mortar shells fell on the enemy's position in an instant. The enemies who were lying on the ground got up one after another and retreated towards the rear. However, no matter how fast they retreated, they couldn't outrun the bullets. Under the attack of both artillery and heavy machine guns, less than a hundred men from the attacking regiment managed to retreat intact.

  Chen Quzhen stared blankly at the losses in front of him, and this was only his first attack. Just as he thought about retreating, a dense artillery fire came from the direction of Wanping, absolutely unable to retreat. His main force was still surrounded by He Long, and he had to rescue the troops. This was not right for himself to start with. Thinking of this, Chen Quzhen's face suddenly became resolute.

  "Order the vanguard brigade to leave out the remaining two regiments and continue attacking, must open up a passage for advancement within an hour, I will follow with the troops, personally directing the battle, and deal with those who retreat according to military law."

  The eyes of the vanguard brigade commander who received the order also turned red, ordering the second battalion to launch a charge immediately. One by one, I'll get you up, I don't believe the Communist Army is invincible, and we can't take it down. The guard company followed me to the front line to command in person, retreating and killing without mercy.

  Soon, the atmosphere spread to the entire reinforcement unit, and everyone shouted and rushed up. This was when the pressure on the three divisions suddenly increased. Facing the continuously attacking enemy army, the two regiments of defenders began to tire after twice battalion-level attacks, with every soldier's eyes turning red. Looking at the tired soldiers in front of him, the division commander started to get a little worried.

  "Order the artillery company to conduct indiscriminate shelling of the area 100 meters in front of the position during the enemy's next attack, reducing the intensity of their assault and alleviating pressure on our soldiers."

  With the arrival of the artillery company, the enemy's attack was once again easily repelled. An hour had passed, and Commander Wang took stock of the results and losses: after more than an hour of blocking, they had lost 500 men, while the enemy had lost over 1,500 men, with a casualty ratio of 1:3.

  "If it goes on for another hour, my division might lose its combat effectiveness." Commander Wang looked at his political commissar and shook his head. Just then, the enemy launched another attack. The commander could only remind the soldiers to fight while praying that the army corps commander would hurry up.

  Perhaps his prayers were answered, for after repelling the enemy's attack, the telegram from the army commander also arrived. "The entire army has completed its final encirclement of the enemy, and in ten minutes, the entire army will launch a general offensive, with five minutes of artillery preparation, followed by concentrated fire from all the big guns, and then all troops will split and infiltrate, cutting the enemy into small pieces, using the mobility of mortars to annihilate the enemy one by one, ultimately wiping out the enemy with minimal casualties."

  Looking at the telegram from the corps commander, the division commander's brow, which had been furrowed all along, finally relaxed.

  "Order the artillery to prepare for bombardment." The division commander loudly roared towards the artillery position.

  "Boom, boom, boom!" With the firing of three signal flares, all the mortars of the Red Seventh Army Corps began to roar "Rumble, rumble, rumble..." The enemy's position instantly burst into a riot of colorful fireworks.

  "Damn it, now it's time for me to show my power!" The commander of the Third Division, Wang Nanhu, fiercely punched his fist into the ground.

  The five-minute cannonade was over, "Tick-tock... Tick-tock..." The charge sounded, "Charge!" The angry roar shook the sky, all the injustices were like a thousand arrows firing at once, charging towards the enemy's position. Every soldier had only one goal in mind: to break through the enemy's position and reunite with comrades on the other side.

  Due to the destruction of Chen Quzhen's original troops in Shimian, most of the soldiers in the two regiments he now led were forcibly conscripted. During Liu Hua's five-minute artillery preparation, many soldiers were stunned by the intense bombardment, and those who came to their senses ran around wildly, unable to mount effective resistance. When faced with the Red Army soldiers charging down like fierce tigers, these soldiers completely collapsed...

  Half an hour passed, and the three troops, after suffering some casualties, finally split the enemy into several small pieces. Facing the concentrated small blocks of enemies, the three division commanders coincidentally thought of the artillery.

  "Boom, boom, boom..." With the sound of a salvo, the enemy's first gathering point was occupied by the soldiers of the Seventh Army Corps...

  The sky has brightened, and the bustling battlefield of the 100,000-strong army that had been noisy all night finally quieted down.

  "We won, we won... Long live the Red Army, long live the Red Army..." Seeing the scarred battlefield, every soldier showed their excited emotions after victory.

  "Commissar, we have won! Chen Quzhen has been defeated by us!" The political commissar excitedly looked at the regiment commander Liu Hua in front of him.

  "Yes, Commissar, we won, we won! Quick, send a telegram to General He." The two people simply hugged each other.