PFC Chapter 231 Abandoning the First Line
Chapter 231 Abandoning the First Line
The reinforcements led by the commander of the 204th Regiment and the division chief of staff arrived at the center road, at which time the enemy in the center road had already broken into the position.
"Brothers, rush."
The commander of the 204th Regiment led the charge and fiercely attacked the northern and southern armies that had entered the position. With the support of the two battalions of reinforcements, the northern and southern coalition forces in the middle were finally repelled, which made everyone feel relieved.
Before everyone could rest, an officer came to report: "Captain, the enemy is rushing up the north and south wings again."
"Captain Li, take the remaining people and retreat together." The division chief of staff spoke at the right time.
The regiment commander glanced at everyone. Even though the two reinforcement battalions had lost 204 to people each, the th Regiment had only more than people on the battlefield, and everyone was injured.
The leader sighed and nodded, "Retreat."
After a simple cleanup of the battlefield, the Nanshan Army, led by the division chief of staff and the commander of the 204th Regiment, evacuated the front-line positions. Shortly after the Nanshan Army evacuated, the North-South Allied Forces entered the positions and completely occupied the first line of defense in Xinyuan.
The commanders of the 313th Division and the th Division in the rear were very happy to see this.
"Great, we've finally taken the front-line position. Let's report this to the two commanders quickly," said the commander of the 20th Division.
What the commander of the 313th Division was most concerned about was the casualties among the soldiers. Although the high-intensity attack today had captured the Nanshan Army position, the two vanguard divisions also suffered heavy losses.
This was equivalent to causing the four divisions of the Northern and Southern armies to lose most of their combat power in order to fight on the front line.
The commander of the 313th Division smiled bitterly, hiding his helplessness before forcing a smile and saying, "Okay, I'll send a telegram to the commander right away."
The two men each instructed their officers to have the communications office send a report of victory to the headquarters.
"Okay, everyone says that Xinyuan is in a strategic location. I'll see if he can stop our attack." After receiving the telegram, Chang Yunxian was still very happy.
Wu Peisheng was a little worried: "Commander Chang, after defeating the first line of the Nanshan Army, our four divisions lost most of their combat power. The Nanshan Army still has three lines of defense, which are probably intended to consume our strength."
"Commander Wu, don't worry." Chang Yunxian had also considered this matter, but he obviously saw it more deeply than Wu Peisheng.
"As long as we break the signal source, we can freely roam the hinterland of Nanshan. The only ones the Nanshan army can rely on are the armies of Xuan County and Pan County."
Chang Yun paused at this point, walked to the map, pointed to the place where the rear army was stationed, and said, "I plan to build a defensive position on this line to resist the attacks of the two armies."
"After taking Nanshan, the two armies will become isolated. We can completely use the information source to isolate them."
In Chang Yunxian's opinion, since Xinyuan can completely block the attack of the North-South Allied Forces, it can naturally become their battlefield to block the Nanshan Army in the two counties.
Leaving behind more than 100,000 people to guard the source of information, they led other troops to attack the hinterland of Nanshan. As long as they captured Fang Jian, the rest of the Nanshan army would naturally collapse.
After listening to Chang Yunxian's strategy, Wu Peisheng agreed: "Okay, we can give it a try, but the troops defending Nanshan Army must be more than the enemy."
Wu Peisheng studied the battles in which the Nanshan Army participated and was very surprised at their tactics and operational capabilities.
Most of the victories achieved by the Nanshan Army were achieved by seizing opportunities and reversing the situation in an instant.
Of course, as long as there are no gaps in the defense and the army is densely deployed and can provide timely support, the Nanshan Army’s previous tactics will lose their effectiveness.
After communicating with Wu Peisheng, Chang Yunxian felt that he benefited a lot. While he admired Wu Peisheng, he also felt a little wary of him, but he did not show it.
"The 313th Division and the th Division have entered the Nanshan Army's position. The defense of the position will be left to them. We will have to dispatch new troops to attack the second position." Chang Yunxian said.
Chang Yunxian did not care about the current losses of the troops. These were originally Lin Zongde's subordinates. The more they were consumed, the easier it would be for him to control them.
Wu Peisheng thought for a moment and then said, "Okay."
Now the only intact unit of the Northern Army at the vanguard is the Seventh Army, and troops can only be transferred from the Seventh Army.
The Northern Army and the Southern Army were organized differently. The Northern Army's divisions were different from the independent divisions. The Northern Army's divisions had three main regiments and only 8,000 soldiers. The independent divisions had four main regiments and 10,000 soldiers.
The Southern Army had the same organization regardless of whether it was a division under the army or an individual division.
"We will select the 73rd Division to serve as the attack force for the second-line position," Wu Peisheng arranged.
Chang Yun first dispatched the 312th Division to cooperate with the 73rd Division of the Northern Army to attack the Nanshan Army's second front in Xinyuan.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, the 312th Division and the 73rd Division launched an attack on the second position. The 203rd Regiment of the Second Division of the Nanshan Army was defending the second line.
It is now the end of mid-October and the weather has cooled down. It is no longer as hot as before, which is just right for troops to fight.
Facing the northern and southern armies charging at him, the head of the 203rd Regiment, Xue He, showed no fear. He picked up a general-purpose machine gun and fired while shouting, "Brothers, hit them hard."
The second line of defense was nearly 500 meters away from the first, a distance at which submachine guns could reach but rifles had difficulty in accurately striking.
Moreover, the Nanshan Army had filled the space between each line of battle into flat ground beforehand, leaving no room for hiding and causing considerable trouble for the attacks of the Northern and Southern armies.
After several consecutive attacks, the commanders of the 312th and 73rd Divisions lost more than a thousand people and were very helpless.
"This terrain is too unfavorable for us," complained the commander of the 312th Division.
The commander of the 73rd Division also sighed: "Yes, this kind of terrain makes it very difficult even if we want to replicate trench tactics."
The positions on both sides were too close to each other, so it was impossible to dig trenches. You should know that the trench digging work in front of the first position was carried out 900 meters away. Only when you are out of the precise attack range of heavy machine guns can you dig calmly.
Digging trenches here is not possible unless you dig a tunnel from the defense line and then slowly dig towards the second position.
"I got it." Thinking of the tunnel, the commander of the 73rd Division's eyes lit up and he said happily.
Hearing that replicating trench tactics was very difficult, the commander of the 312th Division was full of disappointment. He was pondering on how to break the impasse. While he was thinking, he was startled by the sudden voice of the commander of the 73rd Division.
The commander of the 312th Division immediately felt something was wrong, and quickly restrained his expression and asked, "Commander Zheng, what solutions do you have? Tell us so that we can discuss it together."
Afterwards, the commander of the 73rd Division expressed his ideas, and the commander of the 312th Division also thought it was feasible.
The two men hit it off and began sending engineers to dig tunnels from the first position. After digging for a distance, they dug up the upper layer of soil and dug towards the second line of defense in the shape of a trench.
The 203rd Regiment soon discovered the movements of the North-South Allied Forces. Xue He snorted coldly: "Even if you approach our positions through the trenches, what does it matter? If you don't rely on your numbers, can you capture the front-line positions?"
They were very close to the first position, and he could see clearly what was happening on the front line.
If the division headquarters had not allowed it, he would have led the 203rd Regiment to rush into the first position to provide support.
The reason why the 203rd Regiment was not allowed to support the first-line position was naturally to preserve the defensive strength of the second-line position. If it was sent to support the first-line position, who would defend the second-line position?
The reason why four fronts were constructed was to gradually deplete the manpower of the northern and southern armies.