readsfreenovel Chapter 280: Withdrawal of troops leads Zhang Futing into an ambush
Chapter 280: Withdrawal of troops leads Zhang Futing into an ambush
"What?" Upon hearing the news, Zhang Wei and Li Zhongwu were shocked, and Fang Guoxuan couldn't help but frown.
The three of them came to the map, and Fang Guoxuan said, "Based on the distance, Feng Zhangshan will be able to enter Hongquan County and reach the battlefield by tomorrow night at the latest."
"Commander, send a message to the front line immediately and ask them to increase their offensive strength."
Zhang Wei and Li Zhongwu were full of worries about the current situation. The main reason was that the tanks on the front line had suffered setbacks. They might not be able to completely wipe out Zhang's army today.
Fang Guoxuan chuckled and said, "Don't worry, send orders to all units, and the entire army will retreat to the southeast."
"Retreat?" Li Zhongwu was puzzled. Now that the Nanshan Army had the initiative, why should they retreat?
Moreover, the retreat of the Nanshan Army would not give the Zhang Army and Feng Army an opportunity to join forces. The two armies would have more than 400,000 soldiers, and the Nanshan Army would have even less advantage.
Fang Guoxuan explained: "Since we cannot eliminate Zhang Jun in a short period of time, we are facing the danger of being attacked from both sides."
"Our army will retreat, and the initiative will return to our hands."
"When our army retreats, and Zhang's army does not pursue us, we can change our direction and destroy Feng Zhangshan's troops first."
"If Zhang's army pursues them, we can lead them to Anping. This place is located on a plain, which is conducive to the tanks' advance. Moreover, advancing here can further increase the distance between Zhang Futing's troops and Feng Zhangshan."
After listening to Fang Guoxuan's explanation, Zhang Wei and Li Zhongwu nodded in agreement.
They acted immediately and sent orders to all units on the front line to withdraw and to organize the army to retreat immediately.
It was now four o'clock in the afternoon, and when the entire Nanshan Army retreated, it was already half past four.
Seeing that the Nanshan Army had suspended its attack, all the officers under Zhang Futing breathed a sigh of relief. When the Nanshan Army retreated, the generals under Zhang Futing were a little confused.
At this time, in Zhang Futing's temporary command center, looking at the generals at all levels arguing in a mess, Zhang Futing couldn't help but feel a headache.
The reason for the generals' quarrel was naturally whether to pursue the Nanshan Army or not.
The young officers naturally tended to pursue and expand the victory, while the veteran generals were mature and prudent and suggested waiting and seeing before making a decision.
"The Nanshan Army is retreating at this time, and must be under threat. This is the opportunity for our army to pursue the victory."
"No, what if the Nanshan Army lures our army into chasing us and we fall into a trap?"
"A trap? We have 300,000 troops, plus General Feng's 100,000 troops, twice the number of the Nanshan army in front of us. How can we be afraid of them?"
"Who knows where Commander Feng is and whether he will really come to rescue our army?"
Seeing that the two parties were arguing, Zhang Futing made the decision: "Contact Feng Zhangshan's troops immediately and ask about their location."
Soon, an officer from the communications office came with a telegram to report the current location of Feng Zhangshan's troops.
Zhang Futing saw that the two armies were less than a hundred kilometers apart and could reach the destination in more than a day's march. He couldn't help but sigh. He had looked down on Feng Zhangshan's troops before, but he didn't expect that in the end he would have to rely on the other side to rescue him.
Finally, Zhang Futing said, "I have decided to send the entire army to pursue the Nanshan Army, and at the same time send a telegram to General Feng to have his troops follow closely behind."
When the young officers saw this, they naturally praised Gao Futing for his wisdom. Although the old officers frowned, they did not object.
Although the Nanshan Army is strong, they are not weak either. Although they may not be able to destroy the other side, they are still confident that they can remain undefeated.
So Zhang Futing's troops set out immediately to pursue the Nanshan army.
On the other side, Feng Zhangshan looked strange when he received the telegram from Zhang Futing asking them to pursue the Nanshan Army together.
His confidant Sun Yunliang sneered at the side and said, "Zhang Futing really thinks we are his subordinates. It's good enough that we can rescue him, but he still orders us around."
"Forget it. I can understand that he is young and full of energy." Although Feng Zhangshan was also unhappy, he suppressed his temper and said.
Feng Zhangshan said he understood, but he ordered each unit to set up camp on the spot and prepare to rest.
Feng Zhangshan naturally hated the Nanshan Army very much. At that time, more than 100,000 troops were annihilated by the Nanshan Army. Of course he wanted revenge.
But revenge is revenge, but one cannot sacrifice oneself. It would be nice to let Zhang Futing fight with the other party first, consume some of the strength of both sides, and then they can emerge and reap the benefits.
Sun Yunliang and others all agreed with Feng Zhangshan's arrangement to set up camp on the spot.
Who asked Zhang Futing to send such an irritating telegram, ordering them to act in a commanding tone, treating them as his subordinates?
"Ha ha ha ha……"
On the other side, Fang Guoxuan received the news of Zhang Futing's movements and Feng Zhangshan's troops stationed on the spot, and he couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Zhang Wei asked, "Mr. Fang, is there any good news?"
"Take a look for yourself." Fang Guoxuan smiled and handed the two notes in his hand to Zhang Weidao.
After reading the note, Zhang Wei also smiled and said, "God is really helping me."
The armies of Zhang and Feng were originally separated by nearly a hundred kilometers. If they did not travel overnight, it would take them two days to meet up, which gave them the opportunity to defeat them one by one.
At eight o'clock in the evening, after the Nanshan Army had arranged its defenses, they arranged for each army to rest.
After finding out that the Nanshan Army had set up camp on the spot, Zhang Futing's troops also stopped to rest. The soldiers from all units were exhausted after traveling for days.
On the second day, January 1, the Nanshan Army did not follow the established route east to Anping, but continued to march south to Dongyun City.
Feng Zhangshan's troops still kept a distance from Zhang Futing. The Nanshan Army did not have to distance themselves from them to the east. They could still achieve their strategic goals by heading south. After all, there were also plains in Dongyun City.
Upon discovering that the Nanshan Army was continuing to retreat southward, Zhang Futing did not hesitate and immediately led his troops to follow.
At around 10 o'clock in the morning, shortly after Zhang Futing's troops had all entered the plain, the tank troops of the Nanshan Army, which had been lying in ambush for a long time, rushed out and caught Zhang's army by surprise.
Tanks inherently march faster than infantry, but there's no way around it. Human power will get tired and exhausted. As long as there's oil, tanks can work continuously for days.
After the tanks advanced, the infantry troops, which had been prepared, immediately turned around and rushed towards Zhang's army.
In order to annihilate Zhang's army, the Nanshan Army slowed down its marching speed after entering the plain. On the one hand, it was to shorten the distance between the two armies, and on the other hand, it was naturally to preserve the physical strength of the Nanshan Army.
Faced with the counterattack of the Nanshan Army, many officers of Zhang’s army panicked, while the veteran generals cried out that they had fallen into a trap.
However, on the plains they were sitting ducks, with no defensive positions or cover, and no time to dig trenches for them.
Moreover, the tank troops advanced very quickly, and even Zhang Jun's veteran generals felt powerless.
Yu Kaizhong came up to Zhang Futing and said, "General, you lead the troops to retreat first, and I will cover your retreat."
As a matter of course, Yu Kaizhong wanted to sacrifice the car to save the king, but was it really that simple?
"Uncle Yu." Zhang Futing was very moved when he heard that Yu Kaizhong was willing to cover the retreat. He held his hands, his throat choked and tears welled up in his eyes.
Yu Kaizhong didn't want to waste time, and kept saying to Cui Chu: "Let's go."
Zhang Futing was assembling the rear army when the front army was dispersed by the tank troops and the Nanshan Army infantry also rushed in. When Zhang Futing led his army to retreat, he was caught up by the tanks and his army was immediately in chaos.