readsfreenovel Chapter 121 Attack on the 3rd Army
Chapter 121 Attack on the 3rd Army
"What?" Upon hearing the news, the commander of the Third Army was shocked and a hint of astonishment flashed in his eyes.
The commanders of the 71st and 72nd divisions also stood up. The commander of the 71st division asked hurriedly, "Do you know the details?"
Seeing the officer shaking his head, the commanders of the 71st and 72nd Divisions hurriedly left the Third Army Headquarters and returned to their respective bases.
Anger flashed in the eyes of the commander of the Third Army, while the commanders of the 32nd and 33rd Divisions looked at each other, not daring to say a word for fear of bringing bad luck to Zeng He.
"Send a telegram to the capital and ask what arrangements our department should make now?" After a long time, Zeng He gave the order.
After the officer went down to arrange for the sending of the telegram, Zeng He waved to the commanders of the 32nd and 33rd Divisions and others in the conference room, signaling them to go down.
After everyone left, Zeng He fell into deep thought.
Under the current situation, the New Army's attack on the Northern Government and the battle in Nanshan Province will definitely not be able to continue. The best outcome for Li Bingqing is to resign.
As a die-hard supporter of Li Bingqing's camp, Zeng He felt a little scared. Once Li Bingqing stepped down, he would have to resign...
Nanling City, Nanshan Army Headquarters, Fang Jian had just finished listening to Tao Yunong’s report on the New Army’s Northern Expedition.
Although the historical process of Diyuan Star has some similarities with that of Blue Star, its geography and history are completely different from those of Blue Star.
According to the same period on Blue Star, the Northern Government could not be as powerful as Daxin is now. According to the same period on Blue Star, the Northern Expedition Army had not yet been established. Of course, even after the Northern Expedition was established, it was far less powerful than the Southern New Army on Diyuan Star.
Moreover, during the Northern Expedition, the territory actually controlled by the Northern Expedition Army was very limited.
Unlike Diyuanxing, there are a total of 29 provinces. The northern government directly controls eight provinces, and the southern new army also controls seven provinces. Including the warlords including Fang Ji'an, they control 14 provinces.
The strength of the North and the South seemed to be similar, but because the Northern government had the support of local warlords, the Southern New Army was at a disadvantage.
Tao Yunong, who was standing nearby, saw that Fang Jian had been silent for a long time, so he bowed slightly and asked in a low voice: "Commander, the new army is heading north, should we also take advantage of this opportunity..."
"The Northern Army seems powerful, but it is certainly not as good as the New Southern Army." Fang Jian came back to his senses and shook his head slightly.
"The way to survive is to unite the weak to fight the strong. For example, if we unite with the new army and defeat the northern government, how can we fight against the new army?"
"The Northern Government is hostile to us. We can just stand aside and watch for now. This is a good opportunity for us to focus on training the new army."
Seeing that Fang Jianan had made a decision, Tao Yunong did not dare to say anything else. He was about to leave when Fang Jianan's voice rang out again:
"Even if we have to stand aside and watch, we cannot let the Northern Army that attacked us this time go easily."
"Send a telegram to Fang Guoxuan, asking him to pay attention to the Northern Army's movements. If the Northern Army retreats in an orderly manner, let them go. If there is an opportunity to fight, you can act at your convenience."
"Yes, Commander." Tao Yunong immediately went down to send the message.
This Northern Expedition was not a deliberate preparation by the New Army in the South, but happened in a hurry.
The cause was that the 15th Army of the South noticed that there was a troop movement in Heyuan Province, and while conducting reconnaissance in Heyuan, it engaged in a firefight with the 10th Army of the Northern Government.
As the scale of the fighting expanded, the South's new army sent in reinforcements, and the North's Tenth Army was fully mobilized, with nearly 50,000 troops participating in the battle. Jin Changjiang and Chang Kun had no choice but to send in reinforcements.
As the war in Heyuan Province expanded, Lin Zongde of Jiyang Province decisively led his troops to invade Sanjiang Province, which turned into the Northern Expedition.
Jiang Changkun deployed two armies in Heyuan Province with a total force of nearly 70,000, and the 10th Army could only retreat step by step.
Because the Seventh Army in Sanjiang Province had only one division, and even with the reinforcement of the Ninth Army, there were only about 20,000 people, the Seventh Army could only retreat continuously under Lin Zongde's offensive.
On March 71, after retreating another 72 miles, Wu Lihuang entered the newly-arranged command post and asked, "Any news about the st and nd Divisions?"
"Commander, the 71st and 72nd Divisions set out yesterday. It will take at least three days for them to reach the battlefield." The staff officer beside him replied immediately.
Wu Lihuang slapped the table with his right hand and couldn't help cursing, "A bunch of bastards."
He was not scolding the officers of the 71st and 72nd Divisions, but the government officials. He had agreed to dispatch two divisions, and the northern government would dispatch the th Army to assist Sanjiang Province.
However, the Ninth Army only sent one division and kept saying that reinforcements were gathering. By now, Jiyang Province had already pressed its frontier with a large army, but the Ninth Army's reinforcements had still not arrived.
"Where is the 93rd Division now?" Wu Lihuang asked again, suppressing his anger.
Glancing at Wu Lihuang secretly, the Chief of Staff said carefully, "Commander, I have urged you three times, but the 93rd Division is still in Imjin and has not set out yet."
"What?" Wu Lihuang stood up, his eyes flashed with anger, and he looked like a volcano that could erupt at any time.
"Send a telegram to the capital, denouncing the Ninth Army and the 93rd Division for their passive behavior. At the same time, request support and tell them that Sanjiang Province will be lost if they don't send reinforcements."
Restraining his inner anger, Wu Lihuang came to the edge of the map, thinking about countermeasures in his mind.
Yanping County, Headquarters of the First Division of the Nanshan Army.
"Division Commander, the enemies on the left and right wings have withdrawn one after another. Although the enemies on the front have not retreated, they have stopped attacking." Fang Guoxuan was standing in front of the sand table, listening to the report from the chief of staff.
Looking at the sand table, Fang Guoxuan said to himself: "This is a good opportunity to encircle and annihilate the enemy in front, but we must also be on guard against traps set by the enemy."
"Send an order, soldiers of the reconnaissance battalion, make sure to find out the exact movements of the enemy's 71st and 73rd divisions. And search a radius of miles to make sure there are no enemies hiding."
"Also, have the 102nd, 103rd, and 104th Regiments prepare for battle. At dawn tomorrow, we will encircle and annihilate the enemy in front of us in one fell swoop."
"At the same time, send a message to the 101st Regiment, asking all its troops to assemble in Yanping County."
"Yes, Commander." The messenger on the side saluted and went to do as Fang Guoxuan instructed.
Fang Guoxuan was confident that even if the Third Army was a trap set by the enemy, he would be able to capture a part of it.
Of course, with less than 20,000 men in his hands, Fang Guoxuan was not so arrogant as to think of completely annihilating the Third Army in one go. It was still possible to defeat the enemy and capture some prisoners.
It was not until nine o'clock in the evening that the scouts brought news that no trace of the Northern Army was found in the surrounding area, and Fang Guoxuan was slightly relieved.
On the second day, at seven o'clock in the morning, the artillery of the First Division launched an artillery attack on the positions of the Third Army.
"Why are the Nanshan Army going crazy? They are getting more rampant even though we don't take the initiative to attack." Zeng He complained while hiding in the anti-artillery cave next to the command center.
He did not realize that this was a proactive attack by the Nanshan Army. After all, the Nanshan Army had been on the defensive before.
The Chief of Staff sighed helplessly and said, "Commander, our friendly forces on both wings have retreated. For safety reasons, we should retreat to Linjiang City."
Of course, the chief of staff said this not because he had discovered something. He was simply nervous because he was within the range of enemy artillery fire every day.
After half an hour of shelling, the Third Army's positions were all plowed and some simple positions were also destroyed.
In order to prevent the First Division's artillery bombardment, the Third Army dug a number of anti-artillery holes and a small number of defensive fortifications. Because they thought the First Division would not actively attack, the fortifications were built rather perfunctorily, mainly just to prevent artillery bombardment.
After the shelling stopped, the 102nd, 103rd and 104th Regiments launched an attack on the Third Army from three directions.