lcionline Chapter 205 Reinforcements Arrive
Chapter 205 Reinforcements Arrive
Early in the morning of the second day, the Northern Army launched a strong attack on three positions. The front position of Yanqiu remained solid because of the reinforcement of the 104th Regiment.
As for the left and right wings, the Northern Army still made little progress.
In the morning, the Fourth Division arrived in Yanping County and stationed next to the First Division.
Entering the First Division Headquarters, Cai Tingwu asked, "Captain Fang, what do you need our Fourth Division to do?"
"Please take a seat, Commander Cai." Fang Guoxuan said as he led Cai Tingwu to the conference room and sat him down.
"The 8th, 9th, and 10th Divisions will be able to reach Yanping County tonight. I am preparing to launch a counterattack against the Northern Army tomorrow morning."
Then Fang Guoxuan expressed some of his ideas, while Cai Tingwu stared at the sand table for a long time.
"The 8th, 9th, and 10th divisions were all newly formed. Wouldn't it be unsafe to use them to encircle and annihilate the Northern Army?"
Fang Guoxuan shook his head and said, "Although the 8th, 9th, and 10th divisions are newly established, they are all reserve soldiers who have undergone years of training. Moreover, they participated in the Nanchuan Campaign, and their achievements are obvious to all."
Fang Guoxuan was quite confident about the four newly established infantry divisions.
Seeing that Fang Guoxuan had his own ideas, Cai Tingwu relaxed his brows and didn't say anything else.
The fierce fighting on the three battlefields lasted until noon, when each unit took a break and had lunch on the battlefield.
At noon, the adjutant brought lunch to Feng Huamin. Seeing that he was still frowning, he could not help but persuade him: "Commander, eat lunch first, and then think of a strategy to defeat the enemy."
"Oh." Feng Huamin sighed, unable to suppress his inner anxiety.
Today is the third day. The front line has been attacking with all its might for three whole days, but there has been no progress at all. If this continues, the morale of the Northern Army will eventually be exhausted.
The adjutant couldn't help but say: "Commander, the Nanshan Army is brave and well-equipped. Even if we can't make any progress for the time being, we can eventually defeat them with our numerical advantage."
"Commander, I have an idea, but I wonder if it will work." After seeing Feng Huamin finish his lunch, the adjutant scratched his head and said.
Feng Huamin raised his head and said with a smile: "Tell me about it."
The adjutant was in his thirties, with the rank of colonel. He was originally a military staff officer, but was temporarily dispatched to this expedition to serve as Feng Huamin's adjutant.
Feng Huamin had a good impression of this adjutant.
"Commander, why don't we dig trenches in front of the enemy's position and engage in direct fire with them to wear them down."
Currently, the biggest problem facing the Northern Army in attacking the Nanshan Army’s position is that they will be hit by general-purpose machine guns about 800 meters away, and they can only charge through this section.
If you rush within 300 meters, you will be attacked by submachine guns and rifles of the Nanshan Army.
The power of the fully automatic rifles was naturally much greater than that of the Daxin XI Type they were equipped with. Within a distance of 300 meters, although they were equipped with light machine guns, their firepower was still not as good as that of the Nanshan Army.
In addition, the Nanshan Army also had positions to protect it, resulting in heavy losses for the attacking forces.
When Feng Huamin heard the idea of digging trenches to the enemy's position, he stood up and paced back and forth, lost in thought.
After a moment, he said, "Okay, let's do it. As long as we have the bunkers and the Nanshan Army is attrited, even if the Yanqiu position has the advantage of being high above, we can hold out to the end with our numbers."
He then called in many staff officers from the command center, as well as the chief of staff and others, to perfect the trench digging strategy.
"Do a good job. After this battle, I will recommend you for merit to the military." Feng Huamin patted his adjutant on the shoulder and said.
After receiving Feng Huamin's guarantee, the adjutant's face turned red with excitement.
The military staff discussed the plan for more than three hours and finally completed it, which was then transmitted to the three fronts.
The General Staff planned four longitudinal trenches at each position, digging from 900 meters away to 300 meters away from the Yanqiu position, a total of 600 meters long.
Then a horizontal trench was dug at the end of the longitudinal trench to serve as a position for firing at and consuming the Confederate Army.
Three horizontal trenches were also planned to be dug, one at 300 meters away from Yanqiu, one at 200 meters, and one at 100 meters.
In the initial stage, one horizontal trench will be dug temporarily, and the remaining two horizontal trenches will be dug only after certain results are achieved.
After receiving the order from the military, the three attacking forces naturally began to act immediately.
Of course, digging trenches in front of the enemy's position would require digging hundreds of meters, and this workload could not be completed in a short time. In addition, it was already afternoon, and all units were ready to rush the work overnight, hoping to complete the digging work tomorrow.
At around four o'clock in the afternoon, the Northern Army slowed down its offensive and started digging trenches in front of the position. Naturally, this was discovered by the regiment commanders and reported to Fang Guoxuan.
The First Division Command Headquarters, where Cai Tingwu was also located.
Cai Tingwu said: "Digging trenches in front of the position is a way to attack the position."
"It's a good idea, but it's not suitable for us." Fang Guoxuan shook his head slightly.
Not to mention that their general-purpose machine guns have a range of 98 to meters, the z rifle equipped by the army commander has an effective range of meters and a maximum range of meters.
With the coordination of artillery fire, there is no need to get within 300 meters and then fight with the enemy for consumption.
Cai Tingwu could not help but be speechless. Indeed, the other party came up with this trick because the performance of their weapons was not as good as that of the Nanshan Army, so they had no choice but to come up with this solution.
Fang Guoxuan couldn't help but smile: "The other party came up with a way to dig trenches, which is a good thing for us."
"Reinforcements will arrive tonight. Since they have figured out a way to consume our army, they will certainly not make any other moves. When our army launches a counterattack tomorrow morning, any other moves by the other side will be useless."
What Fang Guoxuan feared most was that the Northern Army would abandon the three positions and go directly around the city of Yanping to surround Yanping.
Once all the enemy troops are gathered together, it will be much more difficult to launch an encirclement and annihilation campaign than when they are scattered.
Cai Tingwu couldn't help but smile and asked, "What time will the reinforcements arrive tonight?"
"Based on the distance calculated, they should have entered Changhuan now and will reach Yanping County before dinner," Fang Guoxuan introduced.
Sure enough, at around 6 p.m., the truck convoy transported the 8th, 9th, and 10th Divisions to Yanping County.
Thanks to the cement roads throughout Nanshan, it only took more than a day to travel from Nanchuan Yanshan County to Nanshan Yanping County.
In order to transport these six divisions to Changhuan, Fang Ji'an used more than 2,000 trucks. Fortunately, Nanshan was able to produce its own trucks, so there were a lot of them in stock, otherwise the convoy would not have been able to complete the transportation so quickly.
At the First Division Command Center, seven division commanders including Fang Guoxuan, Li Zhongwu, Cai Tingwu, Du Feiyun, Li Yueshan, Fang Tianming, and Xie Yuan gathered together.
After Fang Guoxuan exchanged pleasantries with everyone for a while, he got down to business: "Since the reinforcements have arrived, in order to prevent any more trouble, I plan to counterattack the Northern Army tomorrow."
Upon hearing about the counterattack against the Northern Army, the three new division commanders were eager to try.
"Commander, please give the order. The 10th Division will definitely complete the mission." Fang Tianming said.
Xie Yuan also stated: "All officers and soldiers of the 11th Division are ready and are waiting for the order from the division commander."
Li Zhongwu, Cai Tingwu, Du Feiyun and Li Yueshan also expressed their positions and showed their determination to fight the Northern Army.
Fang Guoxuan couldn't help but nod slightly, very satisfied with the performance of several senior officers.