Chapter 529: Breaking the Dilemma

The communications soldier gasped and finally calmed down. He shook his head helplessly and said aggrievedly: "The regiment seat is too much. The second battalion suffered heavy casualties, and the fingers of the battalion were blown off. The third battalion was suppressed by the enemy's artillery fire at the top of the stream and did not have time to catch up. The Fujian army laid heavy defenses at several intersections entering the city. The location was too clever. A heavy machine gun could block one of our company."

Xu Haiying was very angry and shouted loudly: "Didn't the three mortars from the regiment headquarters be sent to your second battalion? Whatever you do, you can't even shoot a heavy machine gun!"

The communications soldier was in a miserable state and quickly explained: "The enemy's position is condescending, and it is really difficult to fight. The second battalion was set up in the communications office below, and now the transmission of messages depends on his legs and feet. The camp said that the artillery must be asked to suppress it, otherwise it would be difficult to fight into the city."

Xu Haiying slapped the truth in the face. The 39th Division is now fighting every second, striving to advance quickly. The artillery troops are slowly moving and naturally fall behind. Now where can he transfer artillery from!

Adjutant Li Wenshi quickly came forward to persuade him: "The regiment seat has been fighting for several hours since the early morning. All the brothers are working hard. Since the enemy's defense is fierce, we should adjust our offensive plan and not be rushing to achieve success."

Li Wenshi was an instructor at the Whampoa Military Academy and was temporarily assigned to the army as a commander and fighter. Although Xu Haiying was young and energetic, he rarely listened to other people's remarks, but he still trusted the officers from the Whampoa Military Academy very much. After listening to Li Wenshi's words, Xu Haiying took a deep breath to calm down his emotions. He was a staff officer and naturally understood strategic analysis. If he continued to act recklessly, he would be really counterproductive.

"The enemy's army deliberately guarded the inland county town, clearly trying to drive us to the beach and force us to eat naval cannons. It seems that Nan'an County is really a tough one." Xu Haiying said slowly after careful analysis.

"Yes, this is the enemy's strategy. If we can't find a suitable opportunity, we can't eat here in Nan'an." Li Wenshi nodded and said.

"Send the order to let the second and third battalions retreat and rest. We must discuss the situation here with the headquarters. "Xu Haiying quickly made a decision. Because he was young and energetic, he was not afraid of taking responsibility. Once he encountered any difficulties on the front line, he would never hide it and report it. As the saying goes, only when the top and the other party work together can do great things.

Li Wenshi was older than Xu Haiying. Before he served in the Whampoa Military Academy, he was an instructor at Guangdong Army Middle School. His qualifications were no worse than Xu Haiying. The reason why he was willing to be an adjutant in the hands of a young man was that he appreciated Xu Haiying's courage to act and never lie about military affairs. The Guangdong Army and the Beiyang Army have many differences, and the unity of the top and the bottom is one of them.

At about 1:00 p.m., the degree of firefighting in Nan'an finally weakened, and the two battalions of the Guangdong Army retreated to the suburbs to rest. The Second Battalion finally established another communication point, reported the losses of the morning combat, and sent scouts to depict several main enemy strongholds and sent them back to the regiment headquarters for reference.

Xu Haiying made corrections on the map based on the battle report sent back by the front-line troops. Only then did he find that Nan'an County had arranged several circles of defense lines from inside the city to outside the city. No matter which angle the Guangdong army attacked, it would face more than two firepower points at the same time. Even if it broke through the first level, the enemy could quickly move to the second line of defense to continue fighting.

"The ten-sided ambush formation used by Han Xin to siege Xiang Yu at Gaixia, it seems that we have met today." After reading the re-marked map, Li Wenshi sighed.

"Old Li, you are too proud of the Fujian army. In fact, these positions on the periphery are not worth worrying. As long as we concentrate light machine guns and mortars, we choose a slightly appropriate time to attack, which is enough to break through these positions. But what worries me is here." Xu Haiying said, stretching out his finger and pointing on a river in the center of Nan'an County.

"Dongxi!" Li Wenshi blurted out.

Dongxi is the largest tributary that runs through the entire Nan'an County and divides the county into two. From the map, the shortest river surface of Dongxi is more than 100 meters. I believe that the Fujian army has collected all ships long ago and does not leave any opportunity for the Guangdong army to use. Even if the Guangdong army bit the bullet and attacked the city, the Fujian army would just retreat to the other side of Dongxi in time, burn all ships, and set up strongholds on the shore with cannons and heavy machine guns. It would be really a one-man who could pass the pass and ten thousand men.

Li Wenshi shook his head helplessly and said in embarrassment: "It's really difficult now. Just imagine that the losses we face head-on here may not be easier than going to the beach. The Fujian Army is clearly blocking the inland route, so it must have been letting us go to the beach. It's really too ruthless!"

Xu Haiying gritted her teeth and said, "The brothers suffered heavy losses in the morning, so I can't swallow this tone!"

Liu Yonghao walked out of the communication room and met Mo Qingyu head-on.

"Commander, the Eighth Regiment encountered obstacles in Nan'an County, and the enemy has built the entire Nan'an County into a fortress." He said with a calm face.

"Can you take it down?" Mo Qingyu asked directly.

"I'm afraid it's very difficult. Nan'an County has trenches, bunkers and artillery. The Eighth Regiment is moving forward too quickly. The standard mortars are thrown on Tong'an's side, so it's hard to say." Liu Yonghao frowned slightly.

Mo Qingyu took the telegram from Liu Yonghao, carefully read Xu Haiying's report, and soon got to know Li Houji's Quanzhou defense line. He walked back to the staff room and studied the map for a while.

Liu Yonghao followed behind and said, "Commander, since the Fujian army can set up such strict defenses in Nan'an County, Luojiang County will never be far behind. At present, no matter whether we break through Nan'an, or go to Shishi, Fengze, Licheng and Luojiang, there will be no good fruit. Otherwise, we will still take a roundabout battle, go to Anxi, Yongchun County, and then transfer to Yongtai County, and directly attack the north of Fuzhou, so that Li Houji's plan will be completely ruined."

Mo Qingyu followed the route mentioned by Liu Yonghao and looked at it one by one on the map. This route completely violated the previous strategy of taking coastal towns and quickly attacking Fuzhou. Although it avoided the defense of Li Houji's elite soldiers, the detoured route was extended by twice. Although he was not from Fujian, he also heard from Fujian soldiers that he had crossed Anxi and went eastward with mountains and terrain. Not only could he get lost, but he was also likely to be ambushed.

He shook his head and said decisively: "The journey is too long, the time is too short, and we people from other provinces are not familiar with the terrain, and I don't know if Li Houji will quickly react to set up an ambush on our way to march. The risk is too great."

Liu Yonghao said again: "Otherwise, we can only ask the navy to come and support, even if we restrain the enemy's fleet, otherwise we will suffer a lot of losses along the way. Even if we survived the city of Fuzhou, we would not have the strength to fight again."

Mo Qingyu didn't say anything, staring at the map intently, as if he wanted to find a way out from the map. For him, it was not difficult to ask the navy to come forward. It was worth sacrificing some personal feelings for the victory of the war. However, as the highest commander of the Fujian War Zone, he had to grasp the cost of combat. Once a naval battle broke out, the cost consumption would rise sharply, and the price of a naval shell was enough to rival the base ammunition of an infantry company. Furthermore, the Guangdong Navy now has no main ship at all, and if it was not done well, it would return in a defeat. At that time, not only would the maintenance fund be a burden, but the Guangdong Navy would also be greatly damaged.

Before we can’t do that, we should be cautious about this kind of decision that hurts people with our own nature!

He thought to himself: It seems that Lee Houji is still a little capable! But there must be other ways to break this line of defense.

Liu Yonghao looked at Mo Qingyu's face and knew that the commander would not give up his current action easily. He had to start thinking about countermeasures and never let the army trap Quanzhou.

"Since Li Houji wants to consume us with the power of naval artillery, then let's use our brains to think about how to avoid naval artillery!" Mo Qingyu said to himself.

"The cannon has heavy firepower and killing, with great destruction and a wide range of killing, so it is difficult to hide!" Liu Yonghao said.

"What will soldiers do when they encounter heavy firepower during charge?" Mo Qingyu's mind flashed.

"Scattering, lying down, and rushing quickly can all reduce shell killing." Liu Yonghao didn't understand why Mo Qingyu suddenly asked this, and he replied according to his own understanding.

"Li Houji deliberately left no defenses in Shishi, Fengze and Licheng counties, and lured us to go this road to be bombarded by naval shells. Then we simply took advantage of this opportunity as he wished, so that Li Houji knew whether his defense line was perfect." Mo Qingyu showed a smug smile on his lips, and he couldn't help but say proudly.

Liu Yonghao blinked his eyes and couldn't react for a moment. Should the commander fight head-on?

Before Liu Yonghao could ask why, Mo Qingyu had already made a quick decision and said, "Go and call He Yingqin."

When he heard the summoning of He Yingqin, Liu Yonghao realized that the commander wanted to order the special mission company to carry out the action.

In the early morning of that day, He Yingqin received an order and a task plan, and once again led the special task company to set off.

However, this time the situation was special. The special forces participating in the operation did not select individual elites, but all 183 soldiers from the entire special mission company set off. They would carry three light machine guns, a mortar and a series of blasting equipment, all wearing camouflage combat suits, and launch a rapid rush towards the stone lion at night.

He Yingqin's mission was to lead this special company to march through Shishi and Fengze, then turn north and go directly to the rear of Nan'an County to fight an unexpected surprise attack on the enemy's back.

Mo Qingyu's sudden whim was born from the principle of soldiers avoiding shells. He used a small group of troops to advance and quickly passed through the enemy's weak defense Shishi County and Fengze Line. These two counties were located in the southeast of Nan'an County. Once they successfully broke in, they would detour north quietly and directly appear behind the enemy in Nan'an County.

Of course, Li Houji would never be so stupid that he let the enemy invade the rear without any preparation. Although Shishi, Fengze and other counties did not have heavy troops to guard, the scouts and eyeliners must be countless. As long as the Guangdong army is discovered, the news will soon spread throughout the Fujian army, and then make corresponding tactical adjustments. If the Guangdong army's main force attacks, the naval gunboats will immediately hit the head-on attack after locking the coordinates; if the small Guangdong army squad performs other tasks, the defense strongholds in various places will send people to ambush and block them.
Chapter completed!