PFC Chapter 219: Defeat Lin Zongde's Forces
Chapter 219: Defeat Lin Zongde's Forces
When the two battlefields broke out, the 37th Division also launched an attack on Lin Zongde's rear army's th Division.
Under attack from the Nanshan Army, the commander of the 37th Division immediately organized his troops to defend and quickly built defensive fortifications.
The chief of staff of the 37th Division came to the division commander with a telegram and said, "Division commander, it's bad. The commander and the nd Army were ambushed by the Nanshan Army. Let us go to support them immediately."
The commander of the 37th Division snatched the telegram and read it carefully. The more he read, the deeper his frown became.
"Commander, what should we do now?" asked the chief of staff.
The commander of the 37th Division said helplessly: "I wanted to hold on and wait for help, but now the commander has also been ambushed by the enemy. I think the Nanshan Army has dispatched a lot of troops."
"Before the enemy can completely surround us, the entire division should break out to the east."
The chief of staff hesitated and asked, "Division Commander, if we break out, what about the commander?"
"Let's save our lives first." The commander of the 37th Division couldn't help but sigh.
Although the 37th Division's encirclement was not tight, its attack range was wide enough. The th Division struggled to break out, but in the end only more than people managed to break out. The rest of the troops were either killed or captured.
The 9th Division left behind a regiment to clean up the battlefield, and the division commander Li Yueshan led the remaining troops to surround Lin Zongde's main force.
On the main battlefield, seeing that the situation was becoming increasingly unfavorable, Lin Zongde could not help but curse: "Asshole, why haven't the 35th, 36th, and 37th divisions come to help?"
"Commander, the 35th and 37th Divisions sent a telegram saying that they were attacked by the Nanshan Army. Please send reinforcements." At this moment, Adjutant Lin Zongde came to report.
Upon hearing this news, Lin Zongde turned pale: "How could this happen? How many troops did the Nanshan Army dispatch?"
The Nanshan Army that surrounded the 32nd Army alone numbered no less than 40,000, and they even had enough strength to attack his front and rear armies.
"How is this possible? Doesn't the Nanshan Army need to guard against the Northern Army?" Lin Zongde couldn't help but murmured.
Lin Zongde thought that even if the Nanshan Army had 200,000 troops, 40,000 to 50,000 would have to be deployed in Nanchuan, and 30,000 to 40,000 should be left in the hinterland of Nanshan. The remaining troops would still have to guard Sanjiang Province. So there should only be 40,000 to 50,000 people who could deal with him.
The scale of the Nanshan Army dispatched this time is probably no less than 70,000.
Adjutant Wang Yunhai said, "Commander, this place is too dangerous. Let Commander Liu lead the troops to protect you and break through."
Wang Yunhai knew that the situation on the battlefield was extremely unfavorable to the 32nd Army. If he did not find a solution, his fate would be nothing more than being captured or dying on the battlefield.
"Let the 32nd Army launch a counterattack to the east and south to break the enemy's encirclement." Lin Zongde said after a long silence.
After receiving Lin Zongde's order, the commander of the 321nd Army dispatched the 322st and nd Divisions to attack to the south and east respectively.
The main force of the 321th Division of the Nanshan Army was located in the south, and the st Division was quickly defeated.
To the north is Jiashi Mountain where the main force of the Second Division is located, to the east is guarded by the 204th Regiment of the Second Division, and to the west is defended by the 904th Regiments of the Ninth Division.
The 332nd Division attacked the position of the 204th Regiment. Because they blocked the east side in a hurry and did not set up many defensive fortifications, the 332th Regiment's line was shaky under the attack of the 204nd Division.
Seeing the distress in the east, Li Zhongwu immediately ordered: "Let the firepower battalion, guard battalion, and special service battalion go to support the 204th Regiment. We must defend the east."
"Yes, commander." The staff officer beside him immediately went to convey the order.
The three battalions of the division headquarters immediately assembled and went to support the 204th Regiment.
On the eastern battlefield, seeing a faint trend of breaking through the 204th Regiment's front, the commander of the 332nd Division shouted: "Brothers, follow me and charge. Only by breaking out of the encirclement can we survive."
Under the charge led by the commander of the 332nd Division, the morale of the entire division was high and its combat effectiveness increased by threefold.
"Brothers, our Nanshan Army has never lost a battle. Reinforcements will arrive soon. Follow me to defeat the enemy." The commander of the 204th Regiment also became ruthless and shouted to the soldiers beside him.
After a loud shout, the commander of the 204th Regiment grabbed a general-purpose machine gun and fired at the attacking troops of the 332nd Division.
At the critical moment, reinforcements from the Second Division arrived. More than 332 people from three battalions defeated the nd Division.
The commander of the 332nd Division was unwilling to give in, and once again organized his troops to launch an attack on the eastern front, but the positions of the 204th Regiment, which had been reinforced with three additional battalions.
Five thousand men defending against an attack by eight thousand men, and equipped with sophisticated weapons, naturally defeated the 332nd Division easily again.
After two more attacks, the commander of the 332nd Division had no choice but to retreat.
The 332nd Army was under full attack from the Nanshan Army on both the north and south sides. It was shrinking its defense line and the commander of the nd Army had to recall the nd Division.
Seeing that they had been unable to break through the Nanshan Army's defense line, the troops suffered heavy losses, and their space was constantly being compressed, Lin Zongde couldn't help but curse at the temporary command center: "Waste, waste, all waste."
"Commander, what should we do now?" Adjutant Wang Yunhai was also very anxious.
Lin Zongde was in a very irritable mood and had no mood to pay attention to his adjutant. He just paced back and forth in the command center, thinking about ways to break the impasse.
At the same time, he felt a little regretful, blaming himself for being so impatient and reckless, and falling into the encirclement of the Nanshan Army.
It was five o'clock in the afternoon. After three hours of attack, the 32nd Army's strategic space had been further compressed.
At the same time, the 4th, 5th and 9th Divisions also surrounded them.
Seeing the battlefield situation, Cai Tingwu couldn't help but smile: "Great, send a message to each division and launch a general attack in half an hour."
After resting for half an hour, five divisions with more than 100,000 people launched an encirclement and annihilation campaign against the 32nd Army's less than 30,000 troops.
After more than an hour of fighting, the 32nd Army was divided and surrounded, all the stubborn resistance fighters were killed, and the rest chose to surrender.
While the various units were cleaning up the battlefield, the Fourth Division had already collected all the prisoners.
Cai Tingwu asked the Chief of Staff: "How is it going? Is there any news about Lin Zongde's whereabouts?"
"Division Commander, no trace of him has been found, and the commander of the 32nd Army has not been found either." The chief of staff shook his head.
Cai Tingwu smiled and said, "Detain the prisoners, don't let them escape, and urge all units to clean up the battlefield as soon as possible."
The chief of staff immediately went down to arrange for a messenger to convey the order to each division.
Among the captured prisoners, there squatted a man in his thirties with thick eyebrows and big eyes wearing a soldier's uniform. Next to the man with thick eyebrows and big eyes, there squatted a man in his thirties with fair skin, also wearing a soldier's uniform.
The man glanced around and whispered to the man next to him: "Commander, what should we do now?"
The man with thick eyebrows and big eyes is Lin Zongde, and the one with fair skin is his adjutant Wang Yunhai.
Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Wang Yunhai came up with an idea. He and Lin Zongde put on military uniforms and mixed in with the surrendering soldiers with some of their trusted aides.
"Wait until late at night and everyone is asleep, then we'll find a chance to sneak out." Lin Zongde responded in a low voice.
Lin Zongde thought that when it was late at night and everyone was asleep, he might be able to kill the guards and release the prisoners, thus causing some unrest.
If you have to run away, you may still have a chance to turn defeat into victory.
What made Lin Zongde confident was that in addition to the dozens of loyal guards beside him, he also found the commander of the 32nd Army, Liu Huangyuan, among the crowd of prisoners.
At this time, Liu Huangyuan, also wearing an ordinary soldier's uniform, was whispering something to the person next to him.