Chapter Fifty: Marching Towards Changde

  Three people sat at the table to discuss the battle plan, after half an hour, there was still no clue, several proposed battle plans were vetoed, and the command center fell into silence again.

  Liu Hua held a pencil and kept tapping on the map of Changde, thinking about how to prevent the reinforcements of the garrison in Changde, which was the current problem that needed to be solved.

  "Damn it. Why must I take down Shi Men Bridge?" Liu Hua suddenly slapped the table, and soon a battle plan emerged in his mind.

  Sun Xingbang and Zhao Dahai beside him were suddenly startled by Liu Hua's action, and they looked at Liu Hua together. Seeing the puzzled eyes of the two, Liu Hua smiled slightly.

  "Old Sun, my intention is that we only make a feint at Shimen Bridge, attracting reinforcements from Changde. We'll just fight the reinforcements and not attack the fortifications head-on. Earlier, we were thinking of taking down Shimen Bridge, haha, which led us into a misunderstanding. Isn't Changde garrisoned with two divisions of German troops? At most, they would send out one division to reinforce Shimen Bridge. Their divisions aren't even first-rate, and at most there are 8,000 soldiers, which is already an exaggeration. With our single division's strength, we should be able to handle it." Liu Hua explained his thoughts to the two of them, who suddenly understood.

  Immediately, the quiet command center was filled with discussion again.

  Finally, the three of them chose a battlefield 10 miles away from Shimen Bridge. Although the terrain was not very suitable for an ambush, it was the most open area in terms of topography. The combat mission was quickly divided: Liu Hua and Sun Xingbang led the main force consisting of three regiments and one reconnaissance company, as well as two mortar companies, to attack the enemy's reinforcements; Second Division Political Commissar Zhao Dahai led the guard company, reconnaissance company, and mountain artillery company in a feint attack on Shimen Bridge.

  After lunch, the troops set off on time and headed to their respective positions. Liu Hua and Sun Xingbang arrived at the battlefield, and indeed, just like the map captured from the enemy, the terrain here was open amidst the continuous mountains. Only countless shrubs grew, and a dirt road ran through the middle of this open area. This section of road was about 4 miles long. Looking at such a battlefield, Liu Hua suddenly thought of the episode in which Chen Geng ambushed the Japanese army at Shentou Ridge in the later years' "Eighth Route Army", and a smile floated onto his face.

  "Order the troops to dig trenches 30 meters away from the road, they must be one meter deep, and all the excavated soil must be removed, so that the enemy search party cannot find them." Liu Hua commanded immediately.

  "Commander of the legion, being so close to the road, won't the enemy be discovered?" Sun Xingbang immediately raised his own question.

  "Haha, Commander Sun, how far away are the enemy's search parties from their main forces?" Liu Hua asked with a smile.

  "Colonel, the enemy's search party is generally 500 meters away from the main force." Sun Shizhong still replied to the Colonel with a puzzled expression.

  "Director Sun, the most dangerous place is also the safest. Hehe, we will dig trenches in the enemy's most dangerous position. As long as our soldiers are all hiding in the trenches and covered with grass mats and floating soil on top, I believe the enemy will not discover us. When the time comes, we will use all automatic firepower and hand grenades. I don't think those Central Army troops are made of iron," he said, looking at Director Sun.

  Sun Xingbang nodded after listening, although he still had some misgivings in his heart, but it was clear that he agreed with the words of his own legion commander.

  Soon, three regiments of the division began to dig fortifications. After all, with nearly 5,000 people, everyone got started, some digging trenches and others transporting soil. Several hours passed, and Liu Hua looked around to see two ditches appearing on both sides of the road. Looking at the soldiers working hard below, Liu Hua was even more confident in victory.

  It was already eight o'clock in the evening, and all the trenches had been completed. The soldiers were so tired that they fell asleep as soon as they sat down in the trenches. Liu Hua saw this situation and immediately ordered all the cooks to make a hot meal for the soldiers, letting them have a good rest.

  The next day, Liu Hua saw the two trenches in front of him and felt deeply moved. It was indeed true that unity is strength. Liu Hua and Old Sun discussed it briefly and immediately brought all the collected grass mats here to prepare for camouflage. After all the soldiers had finished their deployment, the reconnaissance platoon and he himself, along with Commander Sun, personally inspected them, not giving the enemy any chance to discover their weaknesses.

  And immediately sent a telegram to Zhao Zhengwei, (due to the complete annihilation of the Hubei Army's Zhang Zhenhan Division, the radio team of the 7th Corps was rapidly expanded, and each division had two radio stations) ordering Zhao Zhengwei to attack Shimmen Bridge immediately. Upon receiving the order, Zhao Zhengwei immediately pulled out a hidden mountain artillery company, with all the gun barrels aimed at the enemy's artillery position. The 7th Corps is not short of big guns, but lacks shells, so they don't care about those big guns.

  At the command of the commissar, all six large cannons let out a roar and six shells accurately landed on the enemy's artillery position, immediately overturning two large cannons. Before the enemy's artillery could react, the second round of shells came down again. After several rounds of shelling, the enemy's artillery could no longer hold on and fled their positions, abandoning their cannons.

  After receiving the report from the scout who had entered Shimenqiao Bridge in advance, Political Commissar Zhao Dahai learned that all of the enemy's artillery positions had been destroyed. He immediately changed the target of the artillery fire, and the enemy army headquarters at Shimenqiao Bridge was suddenly engulfed in flames. Fortunately, the enemy regiment commander had left early, or he would have also fallen into the artillery fire.

  The enemy army corps commander immediately asked Changde for help, and after sending several rescue telegrams, he finally received a reply from Changde, agreeing to send a force of one division and two regiments for the rescue. Led by Wang Bing, the division commander, the rescue operation was carried out.

  After Liu Hua's reconnaissance report, he immediately ordered the troops to enter the position for concealment. The two artillery companies also hid their guns and took up infantry weapons, hiding in the trenches. After a round of concealment by the guard company, almost all traces were cleared. Liu Hua and Sun Xingbang even walked along the road again, conducting an inspection and making some corrections to eliminate weaknesses.

  Having seen that there was no way to discover any clues, Liu Hua nodded in satisfaction and walked to the hidden command post, waiting for the enemy's arrival, imagining the premature appearance of the great victory at Shen Tou Ridge, Liu Hua smiled.

  Enemy army brigade commander Wang Bing received the command from headquarters, although he didn't want to send troops, but it was an order from headquarters, so he had to go. Thinking that going to reinforce Shimen Bridge might bring some benefits to the defending regiment, he didn't have any other thoughts. However, Wang Bing was also a capable general, fearing trouble, brought enough ammunition, and to increase the combat effectiveness of his troops, specially strengthened an artillery company and a heavy machine gun company.

  Seeing his own firepower was strong and ammunition sufficient, Wang Bing had more confidence in reinforcing Shimeng Bridge, leading his troops to leave Changde County.