Chapter 52: The Battle of Nanling Blockade (4) One More Update!

  "What, the Communist army's sneak attack? With just a few dozen men, they dare to launch a sneak attack on our 8,000-strong main force. If this gets out, others will laugh at us. Order the Second Regiment, Third Battalion to counterattack immediately and annihilate these Communist troops, don't let any of them escape. I want to see who these Communist troops are, daring to provoke my 71st Division..." After hearing the chief of staff's response, Division Commander Yang Yaofang gave a loud order without any hesitation.

  "Yes, Commander, I will definitely annihilate this communist army." The third battalion commander, who was following the division commander, replied loudly and led his own third battalion of over a thousand men to quickly reinforce the rear team that had heard the gunfire.

  However, by the time the battalion commander arrived with a force of over 1,000 men. After several minutes of circling and surrounding the high ground where the soldiers were ambushing, Wu Tao's squad had already safely withdrawn from the position. Leaving behind only a pile of shell casings, as well as nearly a hundred wounded and dead bodies for the Shanxi Army.

  "Bastard... Crafty Communist Army, quickly tally up the casualties and report to the division headquarters." Seeing the scattered shells on the ground in front of him, Commander Wang's face turned red with rage, and he loudly ordered his deputy commander.

  "Yes, the regimental commander..." However, in just a few minutes, the deputy regimental commander brought him an unbelievable message. After getting the specific casualty data, although the regimental commander was shocked, he dared not to falsify military information and hurried back to the division commander Yang Yaofang's side.

  "Commander Wang, how's it going? Have you annihilated the Communist Army? How many Communists have you captured? I want to see their heads personally." Division Commander Yang Yaofang hastily asked as he saw the panting Third Battalion Commander running towards him.

  "Comrade Commander, we didn't engage in battle with the Communist Army. By the time we arrived at the battlefield, the small unit of Communist guerrillas had already retreated safely and we didn't even catch a glimpse of their shadow." The regiment commander hastily replied.

  "Nothing, no exchange of fire with the Communist Army. Damn it, I didn't expect this group of Communist bandits to be so cunning. However, they got lucky this time, but once we surround the Red Army in Shili Valley, I will make sure they are all torn to pieces. How about it, what's the casualty situation of our troops after the surprise attack just now?" asked Division Commander Yang Yaofang.

  "Commander, the casualty data has been counted. In the recent sneak attack, we had a total of 109 casualties, with 54 deaths. And these lost soldiers are basically all from our division's artillery battalion... However..." The regiment commander hesitated, unsure whether to continue answering.

  "But what's the big deal? It's just a small-scale communist guerrilla attack, report any losses immediately." Upon hearing that his troops had suffered less than a company's worth of casualties, Yang Yao Fang couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. However, seeing Captain Wang seemingly holding back on reporting something, he furrowed his brow.

  "Yes, sir. Among the 54 casualties, there were three battalion commanders, two regimental commanders, eight company commanders and some deputy regimental and company commanders, totaling 19 officers above the company level who died in battle. The Sixth Battalion, now at the very back of the entire troop, has almost lost all its officers." Wang Tuanzhang hastily said.

  "What? How can this be... how could we lose so many officers..." Yang Yaofang exclaimed in shock, asking incredulously after hearing Wang's answer.

  "Judging from the bodies of our fallen soldiers, they were mostly killed by a single shot. So, I reckon that there are expert marksmen in the Communist sneak attack teams who specifically target our military officers..." Captain Wang expressed his thoughts.

  "Bastards... crafty Communist Army... when we get to Shiliwan, I will annihilate every single one of you..." Regimental Commander Yang Yaofang clenched his fist tightly and said fiercely.

  "Commander, the 6th Regiment has almost lost all its officers and morale is collapsing. The vanguard brigade is constantly sending distress telegrams, and the Communist army's offensive is getting fiercer by the minute. What should we do next?" The chief of staff hastily reminded him, seeing the angry commander glance at a stack of distress telegrams from the vanguard brigade that had just been received.

  "Let the deputy commander of the 3rd Regiment temporarily take over as the commander of the 6th Regiment, and all other officers will be promoted from their deputy positions. If a deputy position becomes vacant due to death in battle, it will be filled by the regimental commander. The troops must speed up immediately, we've already wasted more than ten minutes and can't afford to waste any more." Regiment Commander Yang Yaofang reacted quickly and gave orders to his chief of staff.

  "Yes, sir..." In less than ten minutes, the main force of the Jin-Sui army started moving again. However, after the sudden attack just now, the morale of the troops had clearly dropped a lot. Especially the 6th Regiment, which was walking at the back, saw that all the officers in the regiment were either shot directly by the Red Army or killed with a single bullet to the chest, and almost every soldier's face turned pale.

  "Rumble...", however, in less than ten minutes after the entire troop started marching, a loud explosion suddenly came from the front of the team. Immediately, the rapid march of the troops also stopped.

  "Chief of Staff, what's going on? Why have the troops stopped advancing?" Seeing the troops crowded together in a mess on the highway, Division Commander Yang Yaofang frowned without asking.

  "Reporting to the commander, the road ahead has been completely destroyed and landmines have also been buried. Just in the recent explosion, we lost a whole squad of soldiers, and the troops can no longer advance." Just as the chief of staff didn't know how to respond, the company commander of the vanguard battalion rushed over and loudly reported.

  "What's going on? The highway is destroyed. How did this happen? Why didn't the vanguard regiment report it just now? Come, take me to see..." Yang Yaofang replied anxiously.

  "Yes, sir..." Under the leadership of the company commander, several people rode fast horses and soon arrived at the location of the vanguard company. Just in front of the vanguard company, less than five meters away, a large crater that had just been blown out suddenly appeared before their eyes. Next to the crater were four soldiers' corpses lying horizontally and vertically. At the same time, seven or eight soldiers were found writhing on the ground in agony in the troops.

  Raising the telescope and looking along the entire highway, almost all sections of the road within his field of vision had been dug up with various large and small pits. In some places, it was even cut off by trenches. Yang Yaofang knew that marching on such a road would not speed up the troops at all. Especially since there was still a battalion of 12 mountain guns behind him, making it even more impossible to rush forward.

  "Chief of Staff, the road ahead has been completely destroyed. What do we do now?" Yang Yaofang's eyebrows furrowed again as he looked at the road and turned to ask the Chief of Staff who was also silent beside him.

  "Commander, in order to timely feel the Tenli Valley and rescue the vanguard brigade surrounded by the Communist Army. Now there is only one way, that is to divide the troops... Leave behind the artillery regiment and all the heavy equipment. We will only bring mortars and other weapons, quickly passing through the mountains and forests on both sides of the highway, bypassing this section of the severely damaged highway." The chief of staff proposed.

  "Alright, let's divide the troops then. Today, no matter what, I must rescue my vanguard brigade and annihilate the Communist army units that dare to attack me, Yang Yaofang." The division commander Yang Yaofang replied firmly.

  "Yes, sir. Please give your orders." The chief of staff also replied immediately.

  "Order, Second Division will be led by me personally to reinforce the vanguard division at Shiliwan. The remaining troops will be led by Commander Wen Ruyu and follow slowly afterwards. This time, we must annihilate this main force of the Communist Army and let them know that Shanxi is not so easy to enter." Yang Yaofang commanded loudly.

  "Yes, Commander...". In an instant, the mighty army corps was divided into two. One division, together with the troops directly under the command of Division Commander Yang Yaofang, totaling 4,000 men, immediately took to the highway, advancing swiftly along the woods on both sides of the road towards Shili Valley.

  At last, after passing through nearly a kilometer of mountain forest, the troops finally walked onto the highway and rushed to Shiliwan with their fastest speed. However, what Yang Yaofang did not expect was that the reconnaissance platoon, the guard platoon, and the sniper platoon, which were combined into two small teams, were quietly lurking on both sides of the road like a hungry wolf, waiting for their arrival.

  Finally, the entire unit was subjected to two consecutive attacks in just ten minutes. Once again, they abandoned hundreds of soldiers' bodies and more than a dozen officers' lives, arriving at a place less than one kilometer away from the Special Troops Battalion's blocking position.

  "Commander, after crossing the Nanling Ridge ahead and walking for another 10 minutes, we can reach Shiliwa and join forces with the vanguard brigade..." The chief of staff pointed to two nearby hills and said to Commander Yang Yaofang beside him.

  "Alright, tell the brothers that we're approaching Shili Valley. Let's hold on for the last ten minutes. For every Communist soldier killed, you'll be rewarded with one big ocean (a silver dollar). For every Communist soldier captured, you'll be rewarded with two big oceans. I, Yang Yaofang, am a man of my word and will not go back on it." As he spoke, the sound of gunfire grew louder in the distance. Commander Yang Yaofang's mouth curled into a cold smile, as if victory was already within his grasp. He gave loud orders to the two regimental commanders beside him.

  "Yes, Commander... Brothers, speed up the march. The Commander said that whoever kills a Communist soldier will be rewarded with one big ocean (silver dollar). Two big oceans for two. Brothers, for the sake of the silver dollars, follow me in the charge..." Each battalion commander shouted orders to their already exhausted and panting soldiers.

  However, the temptation of the ocean is still very great. Under the temptation of the blooming flowers in the ocean, the marching speed of the troops suddenly increased a lot. The entire army was like a sharp sword, quickly thrusting towards Zhang Hua's rear at Shili Valley.

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