readsfreenovel Chapter 189
Chapter 189
As the Yunshan Army retreated, the Eighth Division's position advanced another 300 meters and continued to deploy defensive positions, encircling the Yunshan Army in the middle plain.
"What?" Upon hearing that the defensive troops on the front line were defeated, Commander Liu was full of disbelief.
He found it hard to accept that the battle line he had set up was defeated before the battle even started.
Commander Zhang on the north bank encountered the same problem. Under the attack of the 7th Division, they had to narrow the encirclement.
Both of them placed their hopes of breaking through on the other, not knowing that their situations were already very dangerous.
On the north bank, the 704th Regiment had joined forces with the 701st Regiment, blocking the middle road and encircling more than people on the north bank.
Li Weiling looked through the telescope and saw that his side had completed its deployment. He then instructed the staff officer beside him: "Send a message to each regiment to launch a general attack at 10 a.m., and send a telegram to the Eighth Division to inform them of the situation."
The staff officer immediately went to convey the order and asked the communications office to send a telegram to the Eighth Division.
Soon, at the Eighth Division Command Headquarters, a communications officer came to Du Feiyun with a telegram.
"Commander, telegram from the Seventh Division."
Du Feiyun took the telegram from the officer and read through it at a glance.
Then, with a happy look on his face, he ordered: "Pass the order, at 10 a.m., all regiments will launch a general attack together with the north bank."
"Commander, there are still more than 20,000 enemies on the south bank. We can defend safely with automatic firepower. If we attack, I'm afraid there will be many casualties." The chief of staff hesitated.
Du Feiyun waved his hand and said, "It's okay. The regiment still has a lot of mortar shells. Tell them not to save them and fire them all. Destroy the enemy's defense line as quickly as possible."
Seeing that Du Feiyun insisted and had his own ideas, the chief of staff did not persuade him anymore and immediately arranged for someone to convey the order.
At the last stop in Nanchuan, the 8th Division's supply convoy had not arrived. The supply truck convoy would join the main force only after the Nanchuan Campaign ended.
The convoy brought a lot of weapons, ammunition, artillery shells, etc., so the Eighth Division had sufficient mortar shells.
At ten o'clock in the morning, the positions of the 801st, 802nd and 803rd Regiments on the south bank once again launched an artillery attack on the more than people under Commander Liu on the south bank.
Although the mortar was not as powerful as the 155 and 203 caliber heavy artillery, it still brought considerable psychological pressure to the Yunshan Army, which had just suffered an artillery bombardment, and caused them to become confused.
The north bank also used mortars and general-purpose machine guns to clear the way and broke through the defense line set up by Commander Zhang.
Seeing the front line being easily torn apart, an officer came to the side of Division Commander Zhang and said, "Division Commander Zhang, our brothers can't hold on any longer. What should we do?"
"Let's go, cross the river and return to the south bank." Since the pontoon bridge is still usable and there are more than 20,000 people on the other side of the river, Commander Zhang will not stay in this dangerous place on the north bank for long.
Commander Zhang crossed the river with some guards and was seen by many Yunshan troops on the north bank, which caused chaos on the north bank. Many people rushed to the pontoon bridge or the Nanguan River under the attack of the Nanshan troops.
On the south bank, under the mortar attack of the Eighth Division, the Yunshan Army on the south bank also had no fighting spirit and no desire to fight.
"Captain Liu, if this continues, our brothers will not be able to hold on any longer."
"Yes, Commander Liu, please think of a solution. We can't just wait here to die."
Several regiment commanders came to Commander Liu and started to complain, which made Commander Liu feel overwhelmed.
"Everyone, organize the brothers on the front line to hold on for a while. I will contact Commander Zhang and arrange for the brothers to cross the river."
Upon hearing the arrangements to cross the river, the regiment leaders were delighted, but they quickly suppressed their emotions and became worried.
"Commander Liu, how do we arrange the crossing? Who will cross first and who will stay behind to cover the rear?"
Faced with this problem, Division Commander Liu was also very troubled. These people were originally a temporary organization and he was not the legitimate commander.
It's okay when we are working together to save our lives, and everyone can still work together. But when it comes to escaping, choosing who escapes first will become the last straw that breaks the camel's back.
Just as Commander Liu was about to speak, an officer walked in with a senior officer.
"Commander, Commander Zhang is here."
Commander Liu turned around and saw that the person who came in with the officer was none other than Commander Zhang who was supposed to be on the north bank.
"Lao Zhang, weren't you on the North Bank? Why are you here on the South Bank?"
"Hey, Old Liu, it's a long story." Commander Zhang stammered and told the story of the defeat on the north bank.
Upon hearing what Division Commander Zhang said, the regiment commanders standing here were all furious and looked panicked.
"How could this happen? What will we do if the North Shore is lost?"
"Yes, if the North Bank is lost, we will have nowhere to retreat."
Seeing this chaotic scene, Commander Liu was also quite helpless: "Okay, stop arguing. The situation is critical now. What's the point of arguing here? The most urgent thing is to find a way to get out of this predicament."
Commander Liu's calmness infected many people, and the panic of several regiment commanders subsided and they all calmed down slowly.
"The situation is critical now. I won't say anything else. Although the enemy's firepower is strong, we are numerous and cannot be eliminated in a short time."
"I plan to divide the troops into five groups and charge from five directions. Tell the brothers that if they charge out, they will live, but if they can't, they will die."
"Everyone, life and death are up to fate. Whether you can get out depends on luck."
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Isn't this asking everyone to take their brothers and choose a direction to die? But after thinking about it, it seems that other than this method, they can only wait to die here.
Commander Liu added, "Everyone, time is running out. If you are willing to join us, please express your opinions."
"Damn it, let's do it. We're just waiting to die if we stay here anyway." said a leader with a rather ferocious look.
As one person expressed his opinion, another said, "Yes, since staying here is just waiting to die, we might as well fight it out."
"Count me in."
"Count me in too."
There were a total of fourteen regiment commanders, and twelve of them agreed to lead their troops to break out. As for the two who did not express their opinions, Division Commander Liu did not force them.
He divided the troops evenly according to the number of people in each regiment, ensuring that each of the five troops had more than 3,000 people, with the largest number having 5,000.
After the distribution was completed, Division Commander Liu said, "Brothers, hurry up and break out to the designated location."
"Lao Zhang, will this work?" Commander Zhang asked after the regiment commanders went down to make arrangements.
Captain Zhang brought hundreds of guards and some soldiers from the north bank. Naturally, he wanted to follow Commander Liu to feel more secure.
Commander Liu shook his head slightly: "Alas, we should do our best and leave the rest to fate."
While the five breakout forces on the south bank were preparing, the Eighth Division had already rushed in. Division Commander Liu did not dare to hesitate and led the assembled more than 3,000 people to break out in the selected direction.
The other two groups also hastily broke out in the selected directions, but the remaining two groups were approached by the troops of the Eighth Division before they could break out.
The two regiment commanders who did not agree to follow the breakout decisively surrendered to the Nanshan Army with their subordinates.
Although the Eighth Division had already penetrated into the Yunshan Army on the south bank, there were still many Yunshan troops resisting or at a loss.
For the Eighth Division, all that remained was to capture prisoners, but of course that also took time.