At noon, all the scouts of the whole regiment came to the gate of the headquarters to gather, looking at the well-equipped soldiers of the two battalions in front of him, Liu Hua secretly thought that these weapons were not in vain, and the training during this period of time was not in vain.

"Comrades, I think you already know that this time our whole army will act as the rear guard of the whole army, covering the main force of the Red Army to spit out the enemy's encirclement, and I can say that the success or failure of this covering mission is all on you."

Liu Hua paused for a moment and continued, "This time your task is to change into the military uniform of the Hunan army, and do everything possible to control the gate of Changde County in advance, and control the important facilities in the city, as far as possible to achieve the beheading task I gave you before, and prepare for the main force to successfully take Changde County. Let's go. ”

"Yes, resolutely complete the task." Liu Xiaogang stood up and said.

"Well, let's go, I'm waiting for your good news." Liu Hua patted Xiao Gang's shoulder and said. 、

When the reconnaissance battalion left the headquarters, the logistics office of the Red Seventh Army was also nervously distributing ammunition. After sending out nearly half of the ammunition, all the remaining supplies of the oversaturated baggage regiment were mule-horse, and all the loading and unloading were completed, waiting for the order of the corps commander.

At the same time, the soldiers of each division who came to receive ammunition were excited with a hint of seriousness, although after this ammunition distribution, the ammunition of the entire Seventh Army Corps was not only the first in the whole army, but also the largest in the entire [***] team. However, it also indicates that a big battle will lie ahead of them.

Watching the orderly troops in and out of the city, Liu Hua was indescribably excited, "This time there must be no big losses, we must bring the troops out." Liu Hua said secretly.

After a day of preparation, all units completed their pre-battle mobilization and ammunition was distributed. "Send a report to all divisions, tomorrow at six o'clock, our army will begin to march to Changde, I will act with the first division, the political commissar will take the artillery battalion, the heavy machine gun battalion, the second division, the third division will follow up, and keep in radio contact at any time." Liu Hua said with a telegram from each division.

The next day, Liu Hua took a radio station, and the first company of the guards finally caught up with the first division of the Seventh Army Corps that was marching rapidly after a morning of pursuit.

"Commander Sun, how is the situation of the troops now!" Liu Hua asked eagerly.

"Hehe, corps commander, you don't know, since I followed you, I have only won battles, and each time the casualties are small, the captures are many, and now the soldiers' ammunition bags are full, you know, since I became a Red Army, I have never seen such good equipment, so much ammunition. The morale of the soldiers is high, and they are all shouting to take Changde and attack Changsha, you see, they are walking much faster now. Sun Xingbang looked at Liu Hua and said with a smile.

"Division Commander Sun, you have to tell commanders at all levels that our encounter this time is different from the past, there may be large casualties, and there is no supplement, so we must not underestimate the enemy, minimize the casualties of the troops, and have the confidence to complete the task." Liu Hua looked at Master Sun Xingbang with encouraging eyes.

"Report to the corps commander, the 1st Division resolutely completes the task, achieves the greatest victory with the smallest casualties, and wins glory for the corps." Sun Xingbang replied loudly, Liu Hua nodded and did not speak, and rode on a horse to move forward.

Just as the entire Seventh Army Corps was on a rapid march, the Red 26th Army Corps also began to secretly assemble, and all the regular troops began to go to fixed locations, waiting for orders from their superiors. At this time, Mr. He, Political Commissar Ren and others were sitting at the command headquarters, waiting for a telegram from Liu Hua and the Seventh Army Corps.

In the evening, the camp of the 1st Division of the 7th Army Corps. "Regimental commander, reconnaissance battalion telegram." The accompanying telegraph operator received a telegram.

"Report to the corps commander, the reconnaissance battalion has successfully reached Changde, due to the enemy's heavy guard, we can not take the city gate, now there is a company outside the city to continue the reconnaissance, the remaining five companies of troops all enter the county at night, waiting for the order of the corps commander at any time. Commander of the reconnaissance battalion: Liu Xiaogang. ”

It seems that the enemy has really made a bloody investment this time, and Changde County is also heavily guarded. "Call back to the reconnaissance battalion: order the reconnaissance battalion to find out the specific location of the enemy's camp and the location of the artillery position, and be sure to send the specific coordinates tomorrow morning. Just send it out. Liu Hua thought for a while and said.

After a night's rest, finally at noon the next day, the first division successfully arrived at Changde County. After receiving Liu Hua's order, the 1st Division successfully surrounded the county town of Jiangchangde, and used the division's artillery company to fire two salvos at the city gate. Now the county seat of Changde is even more chaotic, and the enemy army of nearly 10,000 people has begun to enter the city defense business. At the same time, the news of the Red Army's siege of Changde County was also transmitted to the headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Chen Cheng.

"What, the communist army surrounded the county seat of Changde, and it also carried artillery." Chen Cheng looked at the telegram in front of him and asked in disbelief, "Chief of Staff, what do you think of the Red Army's encirclement of Chang's county seat, is it that He Long is really preparing to attack Changde, break through from Changde, or make a false shot." “

"Commander-in-chief, I can't see it now, and now we can only make a judgment by looking at the next move of the communist army." The chief of staff replied cautiously.

"Well, call Changde back, let them stick to the county seat, reinforcements will arrive later, and report to the general headquarters at any time the situation and battle situation of the communist forces on the periphery.

Finally, in the evening, the follow-up troops of the Seventh Legion slowly arrived outside the city. There was no excitement after the reunion, there were no too many words, everyone didn't care about resting and ran to their posts. The artillery battalion searched for gun emplacements, erected cannons, and carried shells, and finally built a dense network of fire outside the two city gates. Even the infantry, who hurriedly ate some dry food, began to dig trenches according to the siege tactics that Liu Hua had originally taught.

The next day, when the sky was bright, the city of Changde County had become a pot of porridge, because yesterday it was still deserted outside the city of Changde, now it is very lively, the whole outside the city, the trenches are dense, what is even more terrifying is that the trenches of the communist army have been dug to a place less than 100 meters away from the city wall. And as far as the eye can see, at a distance of more than 1,000 meters from the city wall, the muzzles of the six mountain cannons are facing the city wall, and at the same time, the mortars on both sides of the door are also erecting the muzzles.

At this time, the supreme commander of Changde was holding a telescope to look at the position of the communist army outside the city, and wiped his sweat from time to time. "Quick, quickly send a report to Commander-in-Chief Chen Cheng, the main force of the communist army is about 20,000 people surrounding the county seat, and with a large number of mortars, as well as mountain artillery, ask for reinforcements, ask for reinforcements." The commander said eagerly,

After saying that, he hurriedly walked down the city wall and ran towards his headquarters.