PFC Chapter 182: Breaking through Ganxi City
Chapter 182: Breaking through Ganxi City
Following the order from the artillery commander, the artillerymen placed the prepared shells into the cannon and then fired.
Under the bombardment of 5 155-caliber howitzers, 5 155-caliber cannons, 5 203-caliber howitzers, 5 203-caliber cannons, and twenty heavy cannons, the walls of Ganxi were like paper and were easily torn to pieces.
Seeing sections of the city wall being destroyed, Li Weiling smiled and said, "Okay, let the 701st and 702nd Regiments get ready. In half an hour, we will enter the city through the gap in the city wall."
"Yes, commander." The messenger beside him immediately went to convey Li Weiling's order.
Of course, some shells also landed in the city, filling it with black smoke and destroying many buildings in the city.
There is no way around it. This is a drawback of using cannons to attack cities. There is no way to accurately control the landing point of the shells, which can easily hurt innocent civilians.
For this reason, Li Weiling only allowed twenty heavy artillery to fire and did not use the other forty cannons.
When the shells landed behind the city wall, near Commander Luo's temporary command post, Commander Luo was still a little confused.
Only after leaving the command center did Commander Luo realize how powerful artillery shells with a killing radius of hundreds of meters were.
The area outside the headquarters was in shambles, and the buildings near the center of the explosion were reduced to ruins. Most of the guards he had stationed outside the headquarters were killed by this shell.
The division chief of staff came to Commander Luo and said tremblingly: "Commander, the enemy's artillery fire is too fierce. You should take shelter first and come out after the enemy's artillery fire ends."
He was also frightened by the result of the bombardment. One shell had such great power. If there were more, he would be killed.
"Alas." Commander Luo sighed.
He thought that he could hold out in Gansi for a long time, but unexpectedly, the enemy used this powerful weapon on the second day.
With such powerful artillery, it would be extremely difficult to defend Ganxi.
"Send an order, have the blocking troops in the city prepare for battle and engage in street fighting with the enemy." Although he was not optimistic about the outcome of defending the city, Commander Luo did not give up resistance.
Once they enter the street fighting stage, they are familiar with the terrain, and even if the enemy is well-equipped, they believe they can still bite off a piece of their flesh.
At this time, Commander Luo did not think that he could defeat the enemy. He just hoped to hold out for a few more days and kill a few more enemies.
As the order was conveyed, all units in Ganxi City prepared for street fighting.
After the 701th Division stopped shelling, the 702st and nd Regiments immediately rushed to the break in the city wall and attacked the city.
On the east city wall, there were more than a thousand defenders, but only two or three hundred were left due to the artillery bombardment. Most of them were injured and unable to stop the attack of the Seventh Division.
The thousand men deployed behind the city wall and the two thousand reserve troops led by Commander Luo also suffered heavy losses in the recent bombardment and retreated a long distance to the center of the city.
Therefore, except for sporadic resistance on the city walls, the 701st and 702nd Regiments easily entered the city.
Qi Rongwu, the head of the 701st Regiment, and He Liangwei, the head of the 702nd Regiment, were both not careless.
Qi Rongwu suggested: "My 701st Regiment will attack the center of the city. Commander He, your 702nd Regiment will go to the south city and open the south gate to welcome the 704th Regiment into the city. What do you think?"
"Okay." The situation was unclear, so it would be most beneficial to allow more troops to enter the city. He Liangwei agreed to this resolution.
The two regiments separated, the 701st regiment attacked the city center, and the 702nd regiment took a detour to the south city.
After marching one kilometer towards the city center, the 701st Regiment encountered stubborn resistance. Not only were there enemy positions in front of them, but there were also many enemy harassment on the flanks.
The regiment chief of staff said with an unpleasant expression: "Commander, this is too passive. The enemy is familiar with the terrain and suddenly rushed out from the flank, causing us a lot of losses."
"Hmph, don't panic. Let the first battalion disperse and occupy the commanding heights. At the same time, send out in platoons to guard the flanks and rear of the main force." Qi Rongwu glared at the chief of staff with dissatisfaction before giving the order.
It's just a street fight. The most important thing in street fighting is to use the terrain to hide, and then launch sneak attacks from the rear or flank.
As long as the troops are concentrated, advance steadily, occupy the commanding heights, and find out the enemy's movements, the enemy's threat can be minimized.
In addition to hiding and catching the enemy by surprise, street fighting still requires a competition of weapons and equipment, as well as the military capabilities of the soldiers.
If the enemy can no longer hide, they will suffer a severe blow from the 701st Regiment.
Things turned out just as Qi Rongwu had expected. After the soldiers of the first battalion dispersed to guard the flanks and occupied the commanding heights, the Gansi troops that had circled around the flanks were found and killed one by one.
Without any flank intrusion, the frontal blocking positions were also defeated under the attacks of the 701st Regiment's mortars and general-purpose machine guns.
Seeing the heavy losses of the troops, Division Commander Luo's eyes were bloodshot and his face flushed: "Gather the troops, retreat to the next line of defense, and continue to block the enemy."
"Go and tell the defenders of the blocking positions in the south, west, and north to gather at the south gate and stop the enemy's attack."
When Commander Luo led his troops to resist the attack of the 701st Regiment, the 702nd Regiment arrived at Nancheng and launched a surprise attack on the defenders of Nancheng.
Because they did not expect the enemy to appear from behind and were not prepared, the defenders behind the South City suffered heavy losses in the first wave of attacks, allowing the 702nd Regiment to successfully open the South Gate.
"The first battalion goes up to the city wall and eliminates the enemy troops on top of the city wall." He Liangwei ordered after opening the city gate.
A battalion commander answered loudly, then led a battalion of officers and soldiers up the ladder to the city wall.
The 704th Regiment outside the city saw the city gate open, and the regiment leader Shu and his entourage smiled and said, "Brothers, the friendly troops have entered the city, follow me and charge."
Under the leadership of Shu and his party, after the 704th Regiment entered the city, they cooperated with the 702nd Regiment and quickly wiped out the defenders in the south city.
After the two regiments joined together, one battalion was left to defend the south city, and the remaining troops went straight to the command post in the center of the city.
Because all the mobile forces in the city were transferred to the east of the city, the 702nd and 704th Regiments arrived at the Ganxi City Command Headquarters unimpeded.
The headquarters had been under martial law and had set up defensive positions. The two regiment commanders looked at each other and without hesitation, they directly ordered an attack. Under the powerful firepower, the soldiers guarding outside the Ganxi headquarters were defeated and suffered heavy losses.
At this time, Commander Luo was leading his men in a bloody battle with the 701st and 703rd Regiments in the east of the city.
The 703rd Regiment joined later. Seeing that the two regiments had entered the city smoothly, Li Weiling decisively ordered the 703rd Regiment to enter the city to provide support.
"The brave warriors in Nankang and Ganxi are all fearless and brave enough to fight to the death," said Zeng Changrui, head of the 703rd Regiment, with emotion.
Zeng Changrui never hesitated to praise even his enemies.
Qi Rongwu shook his head gently: "He is brave, but unfortunately he followed the wrong person. Even if he shed blood and sacrificed his life, it was not to protect his homeland and people, nor to make Nanchuan prosperous. What a pity."
Although they felt sorry for these people, both regiment commanders ordered their respective troops to increase the intensity of their attacks in order to eliminate this unit as quickly as possible.
The battle at the city center command headquarters ended first. The 701st and 703rd regiments took more than half an hour to easily wipe out the two thousand defenders of the Ganxi command headquarters.
Faced with the aggressive Nanshan Army, Yang Wei in the command center decisively chose to surrender.
"Everyone, don't shoot, don't shoot, I surrender, I surrender." Yang Wei raised his hands and begged for mercy, fearing that the Nanshan army on the opposite side would accidentally shoot him to death.