readsfreenovel Chapter 279: Confrontation with Zhang Futing's Forces
Chapter 279: Confrontation with Zhang Futing's Forces
In the command center, Fang Guoxuan looked at Zhang Wei and Li Zhongwu and said, "Zhang Futing's troops are marching towards our army. The troops should rest first and fight with them tomorrow."
Fang Guoxuan was glad that their intelligence work was done well and they had won many great victories. Without intelligence support, it would have been difficult to seize opportunities.
"Commander, we must also guard against Feng Zhangshan's troops on the other side." Li Zhongwu said worriedly.
Fang Guoxuan naturally would not forget Feng Zhangshan. He still had more than 100,000 troops, and they were much more elite than those of other warlords.
"Feng Zhangshan's troops will pass through Yuning and head towards Imjin. I will also send a telegram to the 16th Division to ask them to defend Imjin City."
"After our army has a decisive battle with Zhang Futing, we will turn around and eliminate Feng Zhangshan."
At this time, Fang Guoxuan felt somewhat fortunate in his heart that Feng Zhangshan and Ma Yunshan had a conflict, otherwise if the two armies joined forces, the Nanshan Army would be in danger.
Now that Ma Yunshan has been eliminated, Feng Zhangshan and Zhang Futing are in two different directions, which gives them enough room to operate.
The three of them discussed for a while before stopping and arranging for each unit to rest and wait for tomorrow's battle.
On the morning of the second day, the nine infantry divisions and armored divisions of the First War Zone moved eastward, preparing for a decisive battle with Zhang Futing's troops. As for the captured cavalry prisoners, Fang Guoxuan left a regiment in Shanyang to guard them.
In the afternoon, the Nanshan Army met Zhang Futing's troops in Hongquan County.
Zhang Futing was very surprised when he heard his subordinates report that they had discovered traces of the Nanshan Army, but he did not take it seriously.
Yu Kaizhong, an old general under Zhang Futing, said, "General, the Nanshan army is coming with great force, so we must be careful."
They originally came to rescue Ma Yunshan, but now they have encountered the Nanshan Army, and Ma Yunshan's fate can be imagined. After destroying Ma Yunshan, the Nanshan Army did not avoid their attack, which shows that they must have made sufficient preparations.
"General Yu, our army has 300,000 soldiers. Why are you still afraid of the Nanshan Army on the opposite side?" another general said sarcastically.
Although Zhang Futing also agreed with the latter person's words, he did not express it directly, but instead comforted Yu Kaizhong.
Yu Kaizhong continued to persuade: "General, our army has entered Sanjiang Province far away from the garrison. We are unfamiliar with the place and have to take more precautions."
"Okay, come here, send a telegram to Ma Yunshan, the Northern Government, and Sanjiang Province, and inform them to encircle and annihilate this Nanshan Army together." Zhang Futing had no choice but to say it as he could not persuade Yu Kaizhong.
Yu Kaizhong reminded: "General, Feng Zhangshan in the west can also be used as a helper."
"Okay, send a telegram to Governor Feng as well."
"Yes." An officer immediately responded and went to arrange for sending the telegram.
Before Zhang Futing paid attention to the Nanshan Army, the Nanshan Army had already completed its deployment and was ready for the attack.
Li Zhongwu and Zhang Wei came to Fang Guoxuan, and Li Zhongwu said, "Commander, all units have been deployed, with tanks in the front and infantry in the back."
"Okay, bombard in ten minutes, and attack immediately after the bombardment."
"Yes."
Ten minutes later, at exactly three o'clock in the afternoon, the Nanshan Army launched an artillery attack on Zhang Futing's troops.
When being bombarded, Zhang Futing was still a little confused, but veteran generals such as Yu Kaizhong were not in a hurry. They calmly commanded the troops to avoid the bombardment and organized the soldiers to dig defensive fortifications.
Zhang Futing was escorted by the headquarters guards into a bombardment shelter to avoid the bombardment.
Fortunately, he has these veterans, otherwise the 300,000 troops under his command would probably be thrown into chaos in an instant.
Although the half-hour bombardment caused some losses to Zhang's army, it still allowed the veteran generals in his army to stabilize the situation and arrange defensive fortifications.
When the Nanshan Army's tank troops attacked, they found that these iron lumps were invulnerable to swords and guns, but Yu Kaizhong and others did not panic.
Yu Kaizhong ordered: "Quick, let the soldiers dig holes in the rear positions to slow down their marching speed. The soldiers in the front positions hold their positions tightly to buy time for the rear troops."
Although digging holes cannot directly destroy tanks, it can block their advance, just like digging horse pits.
Machines are different from human labor. Although tanks can go off-road, they cannot cross potholes. Of course, it is too late to dig potholes at the front line, so we can only hope for the rear positions.
The Nanshan Army did not give Zhang's army much time to prepare. Each unit advanced very quickly, and the infantry in the rear quickly cooperated and quickly broke through Zhang's front-line positions.
After receiving the battle report from the front line, Zhang Futing felt a little flustered.
Zhang Futing's huge empire was built by his father. After he inherited the empire, he relied on the support of these veteran generals. However, in order to better grasp power, he vigorously promoted young officers, which greatly weakened the power of the veteran generals.
In the military, Zhang Futing was very ambitious and believed that he could lead troops in battle. However, it was proved that without the help of veteran generals, he was only good at talking about military matters on paper.
Zhang Futing asked the officer beside him, "Have you contacted the Northern Government, Ma Yunshan, and others for any news?"
"Reporting to the commander-in-chief, Colonel Zhang is still in contact." The officer next to him shook his head.
"The Northern Government has contacted Feng Zhangshan, but Sanjiang Province and Governor Ma Yunshan have not been able to contact them."
Zhang Futing frowned: "What does the northern government say?"
In Zhang Futing's opinion, only if Sanjiang Province and Ma Yunshan sent reinforcements could the Nanshan Army on the opposite side be annihilated.
Contacting the Northern Government would not be of much use. Not to mention that the Northern Government was already short of troops. Even if it had sufficient troops, it would take several days to rush over from the capital, and by then the battle might have been over.
"The Northern government asked us to hold on." The officer lowered his head and whispered.
Zhang Futing almost couldn't hold back his anger and cursed out loud. This was extremely urgent. The Northern Government did not provide any help and asked them to hold on. Would holding on make the Nanshan Army retreat?
As the Nanshan Army attacked, Zhang Futing no longer underestimated the enemy. Not to mention the artillery bombardment, the front-line troops were all in a state of emergency, which was enough to show how fierce the Nanshan Army was.
The officer seemed to have thought of something and said to Zhang Futing, "General, there is news from Feng Zhangshan's army that he is leading his troops to Hongquan County."
Zhang Futing waved his hand to let the officer go, and he didn't care about Feng Zhangshan.
Feng Zhangshan was once badly defeated by the Nanshan Army, and he only had over 100,000 men. He was beaten so badly by the Nanshan Army, so how could he count on the other side?
The Nanshan Army on the front line had broken into the first-line positions and repelled Zhang's army, but after entering the second-line positions, the tanks were blocked by trenches and potholes.
"The tank troops are not invincible and still have drawbacks." Fang Guoxuan said helplessly after receiving a report from the front-line troops.
Zhang Wei frowned and said, "Commander, the tank troops are blocked. What should we do now? Should we let them withdraw?"
Fang Guoxuan also anticipated the situation where the tanks would be restrained by the enemy, and he did not panic.
"No need to withdraw. Let the infantry continue to advance and the tank troops change their attack direction."
Fang Guoxuan didn't believe that the other side could dig such pits all around to prevent the tanks from advancing. If that were the case, Zhang Jun might block himself.
After the officer went to convey the order, a communications officer suddenly entered the headquarters and reported: "Report to the army commander, Feng Zhangshan's troops have changed their marching route and are heading towards Hongquan County."