readsfreenovel Chapter 218 Ambush Lin Zongde
Chapter 218 Ambush Lin Zongde
After receiving the order, the Second Division quickly assembled and boarded the transport trucks from Changhuan. It was already night when they entered Dehua County.
At this time, the 4th, 5th, 8th and 9th Divisions had gathered in Dehua County.
After Li Zhongwu arrived, several division commanders gathered in the temporary command center in the county town overnight.
After everyone exchanged greetings, Cai Tingwu said, "We have already found out the marching route of Lin Zongde's troops. His troops will be stationed at Fengxiang Creek tonight and will be able to reach Dehua County tomorrow afternoon."
After receiving Fang Jian's order, Cai Tingwu not only assembled the troops on the southern front, but also sent scouts to investigate Lin Zongde's troops.
"Don't worry, Commander Cai, the Second Division will fully cooperate with this operation." Li Zhongwu immediately stated.
Although his official military rank was much higher than Cai Tingwu's, their official ranks were the same, and Cai Tingwu was appointed commander of the southern front by Fang Jian, so Li Zhongwu kept a very humble attitude.
The remaining division commanders all expressed their determination to annihilate Lin Zongde's troops. Cai Tingwu nodded slightly and made arrangements:
"From Fengxiang Creek to Dehua County, we will pass Jiashi Mountain. I plan to have the Second Division ambush at Jiashi Mountain, the Eighth Division ambush on the plain south of Jiashi Mountain, and the Ninth Division go around to the rear of Jiashi Mountain."
"After Lin Zongde's vanguard passed Jiashishan, the Second Division and the Eighth Division immediately attacked his main force, while the Ninth Division attacked his rear army."
"The 2nd and 5th divisions are blocking Lin Zongde's vanguard in the Xiaotong River area."
"We have already found out that Lin Zongde's front is the 35th and 36th divisions, the rear is the 37th division, and the center is the nd army."
Cai Tingwu made full use of his military advantage, using a small force to defeat a larger one, separating Lin Zongde's front, middle and rear armies and surrounding and annihilating them separately.
All the division commanders had no objection to Cai Tingwu's arrangement, and immediately arranged for the troops to set off overnight and rush to the designated location.
Because a large number of trucks in Nanshan were requisitioned by Fang Guoxuan, and because ambushes and flanking arrangements were needed, except for the 4th and 5th Divisions that rushed to Xiaotong River by truck, the 2nd, 8th and 9th Divisions all marched on foot.
The 4th and 5th Divisions arrived at Xiaotong River first and began to set up defensive fortifications on the spot. At around 6 a.m., the 2nd, 8th and 9th Divisions had all arrived at the designated locations.
After simply setting up an ambush position, the soldiers of the 2nd, 8th and 9th Divisions began to rest on the spot.
The soldiers of the 4th and 5th Divisions arranged their defenses in the early hours of the morning and found a spot on the battlefield to sleep soundly.
At around 11 o'clock in the morning, the Nanshan Army, which had recovered a little, waited for Lin Zongde's vanguard troops.
Looking at Lin Zongde's troops passing through Jiashi Mountain, Li Zhongwu said with a sigh, "We have not yet fought against the new southern army, so I wonder how strong they are."
"Commander, we are about to go to war with the new army from the south. Aren't you ready yet?" the chief of staff beside him joked.
"Do you want me to command this battle and you can come next time?"
Knowing that the chief of staff was joking, Li Zhongwu curled his lips and said, "As a chief of staff, you should just assist me. When will it be your turn?"
It took Lin Zongde's vanguard more than half an hour to pass Jiashi Mountain. Seeing that they had all gone far away, Li Zhongwu relaxed and ordered:
"Let the soldiers continue to rest and prepare for lunch, as there will be a tough battle in the afternoon."
The Second Division immediately got busy preparing for lunch. Their lunch was canned meat produced by a factory in Nanshan Province, so the quality was very guaranteed. The soldiers of the Eighth Division were also eating lunch.
Around 2 p.m., Lin Zongde's main force in the middle entered the ambush circle at Jiashishan. Li Zhongwu put down his binoculars and shouted, "Fight."
As dense gunfire rang out, the 32nd Army of the Southern New Army suffered heavy casualties.
After the Second Division opened fire, the Eighth Division on the other side, led by Division Commander Du Feiyun, also launched an attack on the 32nd Army.
Lin Zongde, who was in the team, was furious after being attacked: "These Nanshan soldiers actually dared to resist."
"Send a message to Commander Liu, asking him to lead his troops to set up defensive positions to block the Nanshan Army's attack and wait for the front and rear armies to come to support them."
After the staff officer conveyed Lin Zongde's order, the 32nd Army began to shrink its defense and built simple defensive fortifications to resist the attack of the Nanshan Army. Because the Nanshan Army occupied the high ground on the left, the 32nd Army was slightly passive and suffered a disadvantage.
At the same time, the 35th and 36th Divisions of the Southern New Army arrived at the Fifth Division's position at Xiaotong River.
After discussing with each other, the two division commanders launched an attack on the 504th Division of the Nanshan Army. The th Division only had one regiment on the battlefield, and the Southern New Army, relying on its numerical advantage, fought back and forth with the th Regiment on the battlefield.
The commander of the 35th Division looked at the situation on the battlefield and said with emotion: "In addition to being well-equipped, the Nanshan Army's soldiers are also elite."
"So what if they are elite? Do you think a mere few thousand of them can stop 36 of us?" The commander of the th Division snorted coldly and said disdainfully.
The commander of the 35th Division smiled. He also agreed with the words of the commander of the 36th Division. There were only a few thousand people. How could they stop them?
The Nanshan Army’s equipment was not bad, but the Southern New Army’s equipment was not much behind, and they were also equipped with a large number of light and heavy machine guns, as well as quite a few submachine guns.
While the two were discussing, they had no idea that the Nanshan Army had appeared behind and on their flanks.
The 4th Division appeared in the rear, and the main force of the 5th Division was on the flank.
Seeing that the 504th Regiment was having a harder time resisting, Zhao Linyu immediately stood up and shouted, "Brothers, charge!"
随后501、502、503团，相继从侧翼冲向35、36两师。在第五师发动冲锋时，第四师也从后方发动攻击。
Seeing the large-scale Nanshan army appearing behind and on the flanks, both of them became a little panicked.
"Lao Wu, what should we do?" the commander of the 36th Division asked hurriedly.
The commander of the 35th Division shook his head slightly: "There are Nanshan troops in front and behind, ambushes on the flanks, and a river on the other side, blocking our way."
"For now, we can only hold on and wait for help. I hope the commander can lead the army to rescue us in time."
After hearing the words of the commander of the 35th Division, the commander of the 36th Division's face became very ugly, but he had no other choice but to follow his advice.
Now surrounded on three sides, crossing the river is not realistic as he cannot swim.
The commander of the 35th Division immediately asked the Communications Office to send a message to the headquarters, requesting support from the headquarters.
Soon, the head of the 35th Division's Communications Department came to the two division commanders with a serious face. The 35th Division commander hurriedly asked, "How is it? What did the headquarters say?"
"Commander, a telegram from headquarters: the 35nd Army encountered an enemy ambush. Please return for support." The communications chief handed the telegram to the commander of the th Division.
After receiving the telegram and reading it, the commander of the 35th Division looked even worse. The commander of the 36th Division said in panic, "How is it possible? We have tens of thousands of Nanshan troops here, and they still have enough strength to ambush the commander's main force. How many troops are there in the Nanshan Army?"
"Inform all units to prepare for a fight to the death." The commander of the 35th Division sighed.
Although the two divisions of the Southern New Army put up a tenacious resistance, their defense space was constantly compressed under the attack of the Nanshan Army and they eventually collapsed.
By four o'clock in the afternoon, two divisions of the Southern New Army were wiped out, the commander of the 35th Division committed suicide, and the commander of the 36th Division surrendered.
The Fifth Division left two regiments to clean up the battlefield, and the remaining main force boarded trucks with the Fourth Division to support the Jiashishan battlefield.