PFC Chapter 202 The Battle of Yanping Begins
Chapter 202 The Battle of Yanping Begins
Feng Huamin shook his head slightly. If they could really capture Yanping, the 13th Army would not have achieved no results in the past few days.
"No need. I will send the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and sixteenth divisions to capture the outer positions of Yanqiu." Feng Huamin waved his hand.
It was thought that by dispatching three armies of 90,000 people, they would be able to capture the six counties easily and meet up at Changhuan City.
Unexpectedly, none of the three armies made any progress, which made the Northern Army seem too incompetent and also caused its morale to plummet.
Under this circumstance, if the main force fails to capture Yanping with ease, it will be a huge blow to the Northern Army.
Seeing that Liu Tianhai seemed unwilling, Feng Huamin said, "When the Sixth Division attacks, the Thirteenth Army will assist."
"Don't worry, Commander. My Thirteenth Army will fully cooperate." Upon hearing that the Thirteenth Army was asked to cooperate, Liu Tianhai nodded repeatedly.
The 13th Army was originally the main force of the attack. If it was kicked away like this, where would the 13th Army go? Even if it was just assisting, it was still participating, wasn't it?
Feng Huamin did not make any other arrangements for the 11th and 14th Armies. He only needed them to contain the Nanshan Army in front of them. Once the middle route was broken through, the retreat of the Nanshan Army in Lingshan and Jingshui could be cut off and they could be surrounded and annihilated.
As Feng Huamin's forces arrived in Yanping County, Fang Guoxuan also led the First Division to Yanping and deployed defenses in the area around the west gate of Yanping.
In the temporary command center, Fang Guoxuan looked at the map and fell into deep thought. They had won the Nanchuan Campaign, and Fang Jian transferred the 8th, 9th, and 13th Divisions to Changhuan.
Including these three divisions, the Nanshan Army has 160,000 people, which is not much different from the Northern Army.
Seeing Fang Guoxuan remained silent, the chief of staff asked, "Commander, what are you thinking about?"
"I'm thinking, should we fight with the Northern Army, slowly retreat, continuously consume the Northern Army through positional warfare, and lure them to the city of Changhuan, or should we have a decisive battle with them on the Yanping front?" Fang Guoxuan said after a long silence.
If they defend Yanping to the death, both sides will end up in a war of attrition, so he needs to transfer the 11th Division to Yanping.
When the Northern Army was almost exhausted and three divisions of reinforcements arrived, they were able to counterattack the Northern Army in Yanping.
If a decisive battle with the Northern Army were to take place in Yanping, the Nanshan Army would certainly suffer heavy losses.
If the Northern Army retreats step by step and consumes its combat power, a large area of land will be lost. When retreating to Changhuan, the Northern Army will gain a certain strategic depth.
If they are allowed to gain a foothold and counterattack, the Nanshan Army will also suffer considerable casualties.
The chief of staff said, "Commander, when will the three reinforcement divisions arrive at Changhuan?"
"If the reinforcements can reach Changhuan in a short time, our retreat will only damage the morale of the soldiers. If it takes a long time to enter Changhuan, we can only retreat."
Fang Guoxuan tapped the table with his fingers. It only took three or four days to travel from Guangshan to Yanshan County. Trucks could be used to transport troops from Yanshan to Changhuan, and the journey could be completed in one day.
According to this time calculation, it will take at most one or two days for the three divisions to reach Changhuan.
After being reminded by the chief of staff, Fang Guoxuan realized that reinforcements would arrive in a day or two, and it would not make much sense even if the troops retreated.
Thinking of this, Fang Guoxuan ordered: "Send a telegram to the 11th Division and ask them to march to Yanping County immediately. At the same time, send a telegram to the commander, hoping to transfer the 4th Division to Changhuan for reinforcement."
To be on the safe side, Fang Guoxuan naturally hoped to have more support troops.
"Yes, commander." The chief of staff immediately went to arrange for the communications office to send the message.
Fang Jian, who was in Yanshan County, received Fang Guoxuan's telegram and agreed immediately to send the Fourth Division to Changhuan for assistance.
On the second day, the 5th and 6th divisions of the North Army attacked the left wing of Yeonqiu. The 7th and 8th divisions attacked the front of Yeonqiu, and the 9th and 10th divisions attacked the right wing of Yeonqiu.
On each of the three positions, the Nanshan Army deployed a main force regiment, with only more than 3,000 people.
Faced with an attack by 20,000 people, even with powerful firepower, the three main regiments felt tremendous pressure and could only ask for help from the division headquarters.
The Second Division had only one main regiment and the division's direct-affiliated troops left in Yanping County, so Li Zhongwu had to ask Fang Guoxuan for help.
After receiving the telegram for help, Fang Guoxuan immediately dispatched the 102nd, 103rd and 104th Regiments to support the three battlefields in Yanqiu.
At the same time, Fang Guoxuan ordered: "Let the front line report the enemy's coordinates in front of the battle, and let the artillery bombard the enemy's attacking forces."
Shortly after the Chief of Staff conveyed Fang Guoxuan's order, he received the enemy's coordinates from various regiments.
Before the battle, the Second Division had already marked the coordinates of various locations, so now they only needed to compare and report the enemy's position. After getting the coordinates, the artillery regiments of the First and Second Divisions immediately launched artillery attacks on the three positions.
Yesterday, the artillery of the two divisions was combined by Francis Xavier and deployed outside the west gate.
On the front battlefield of Yenqiu, as countless Northern troops approached the position, although countless people died under the general-purpose machine guns, many people also rushed to the position.
Seeing this, the head of the 201st Regiment, Zhao Zhang, said to the staff officer, "Gather all the people in the regiment and follow me to the battlefield."
"Yes, Commander." The chief of staff was also not afraid of death. After answering loudly, he went down to make arrangements.
All the people in the regiment, except for the machine gun company, guard company, reconnaissance company, etc., as well as logistics and civilian staff in the army, were mobilized.
Soon Zhao Zhang led the support troops to the front line and shouted, "Brothers, there is no man in the Nanshan Army who is afraid of death. Charge with me and drive these people away."
The support troops, except for the brave guard company and machine gun company who risked their lives, even the logistics and civilian personnel were not afraid of life and death.
With the fearless support of these people, the Northern Army that rushed to the position was driven off.
As soon as the Northern Army retreated, artillery fire was heard on its position and countless shells fell. It was the Nanshan Army artillery regiment that opened fire.
Seeing this, Zhao Zhang couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief: "Quickly clean up the battlefield and clear the defense line."
Following his orders, the soldiers of the 201st Regiment immediately took action.
Many fortifications on the position were destroyed by the enemy's mortars and grenades, so they naturally needed to be repaired urgently.
Similar things were happening at the other two positions. The 202nd and 203rd Regiments, led by their respective commanders, temporarily drove the Northern Army out of their positions.
Then, the Northern Army in the three positions was thrown into chaos by the artillery fire of the Nanshan Army and all ran around in panic.
The shelling lasted for half an hour, buying a lot of time for the First Division's support troops to arrive at the battlefield.
In the Northern Army Headquarters in the rear, Feng Huamin's face turned extremely ugly when he heard the artillery fire from the front line.
"Damn it, which country did the Nanshan Army buy its artillery from? Why is its range so much longer than the artillery we are equipped with?"
When attacking the position in the morning, the Northern Army used artillery bombardment, but after just a few minutes of shelling, the artillery position was hit hard by the Nanshan Army, resulting in the loss of a lot of artillery and cannons.
However, when he ordered a counterattack on the enemy's artillery positions, he received news that the Nanshan Army's artillery positions were not within range. This was very embarrassing.
You know, the military production equipment purchased by the Northern Army from Xionghui Country, although it is an obsolete product, is the most powerful equipment currently available.