Episode 9 An army crushed by rumors

The central command hall of the Purple Mountain Fortress in Nanjing echoed with the voice of the announcer:

“…… The vanguard of the Left Army Group had reached Nanyang and met with limited resistance from the Qing defenders...... No heavy howitzer fire, only mortars at the moment ......"

Li Gensheng telegraphed the newspaper and was about to order a direct attack, but Xiang Xiaoqiang stopped him:

"Wait a minute."

"My lord," Li Gensheng said hurriedly, "I can't wait any longer, it's more than three o'clock, and the left offensive has to take Nanyang before dark, and enter the Henan Plain tomorrow!" Now the left road is locked in the small basin of Xiangfan, surrounded by mountains, and the night is long and dreamy......"

Xiang Xiaoqiang interrupted him and said:

"No, no, wait a minute...... Let them not be busy attacking head-on first, first outflank and encircle, cut off the rear road of the entire Nanyang defenders, and strive to annihilate them all. ”

Li Gensheng was very surprised, and looked at Xiang Xiaoqiang with a kind of "you don't have a fever" look, and after a while, he finally couldn't help it, and said loudly:

"My lord! Right now, our speed is the first, and our subordinates don't see any need to sacrifice speed for the sake of total annihilation! The subordinates can't see what a few Qing soldiers in Nanyang are worthy of 'total annihilation'! Just like the front, chase and fight after the breakdown! This is the shortest time and the least costly! If we pursue total annihilation, then we must first spend time encircling on both sides, and risk the danger of being surrounded by the enemy between Nanyang and Fangcheng! Yes, my lord, there are a few high-ranking generals of the Qing army in Nanyang City, but it's not worth it! The highest is only a lieutenant general......"

Xiang Xiaoqiang waved his hand several times, and finally almost slapped the table before stopping Li Gensheng. He glared and said:

"Gensheng, let me tell you, your words are not wrong at all from a military point of view, and when I say that the encirclement is indeed worth the loss from a military point of view. But we are the People's Guard, and we have to learn to think from a political point of view...... This was the first real battle of Army Group Left, and we must make a deep impression on the Qing army. Their generals were afraid of being held accountable for the loss of Xinye, and wanted to use a tough battle in Nanyang to atone their merits and keep their future wealth...... It's not that cheap, and this wind can't last. We want to teach all the Qing generals a lesson, so that they understand that when they encounter us in the future, they will either run quickly or they will not be able to escape. If you want to stay and fight a good battle, you must be mentally prepared to be a prisoner. This will be of great benefit to the overall situation of the war in the future. Roots, understand? ”

Li Gensheng understood, but he still hesitated:

"Your Excellency, but...... On the side of the Chief of Staff? ”

At this time, a staff officer ran over, panting and saluted to Xiaoqiang and said:

"Lord Xiang, Lord Tang ordered the left offensive to encircle Nanyang, and asked the People's Guard Armored Division to provide fire support."

Xiang Xiaoqiang glanced at Li Gensheng and said with a smile:

"How?"

……

The Ming army attacked on the left, and four People's Guard divisions and eight army motorized infantry divisions, a total of twelve divisions, braved mortar bombardment and began to attack the two flanks of the Nanyang defenders.

Under the vanguard bombardment of the Ming army's army aviation, the dozens of heavy artillery targets of the Qing defenders were too large and had been smashed. The rest are mortars, infantry guns, and 37mm anti-tank guns that are small in target and easy to hide.

In the simple communication trench outside Nanyang City, the Qing artillery crew carried the barrel, chassis, bracket and artillery shells on their backs, braved the bombardment of the aircraft and lowered their heads, ran in the trench, and transported the mortars to suitable positions for assembly. The advantage of the mortar is that it is small in size, light in weight, and easy to transfer. The full weight of an 80-mm mortar is only a few tens of kilograms, while the weight of an ordinary gun of the same caliber is measured in tons.

In addition to the range and accuracy of mortars are not as good as ordinary artillery, the power is comparable, and the rate of fire is much faster. Now, in this kind of close-range exchange of fire outside the city, the few dozen mortars left by the Qing army have become very powerful things.

However, the firepower of the Qing army's defending troops was too weak, if it weren't for the fact that the position was too close to Nanyang City, and the Ming army did not plan to use heavy artillery for fear of accidentally injuring civilians, the Qing army of this division would have been blown away by superior firepower.

At this time, the benefits of the Ming army's dive bombers were manifested. Dozens of dive bombers took turns rushing down, and the heavy bombs shook the Qing army's position, and all the Qing troops shrank in the trenches, almost buried by the falling soil, and none of them dared to show their heads. The mortar crew didn't care to look at the flags of the observers at the head of the city, so they lowered their heads in the trenches, aimed at the general direction, and just filled the barrels with shells.

It is precisely because of this that when the tanks, armored vehicles, and automobiles of the Ming army charged to the two wings, they would not flash out of the range of the mortars and spend more time making a large radius detour.

Although not a single Ming vehicle has been hit by shells, machine gun bullets and shrapnel continue to hit the armor baffle, clanging, making the Ming soldiers inside tremble. The planes in the sky could only suppress the positions of the Qing army at a distance, and where the Ming army charged close, the bombing would stop. And those Qing troops in the trenches who still have combat effectiveness will be threatened by the commander with pistols, pull them up, and pick up anti-tank guns, machine guns, and grenades to block them.

Light tanks and armored vehicles were constantly pierced by armor-piercing shells, causing casualties among soldiers. But they still rushed forward quickly, crossing trench after ditch, and closing the encirclement before the Qing army intended to retreat.

The motorists in the back also followed. They are not the same as the infantry division, they just march in a car, and they still have to get off the car in battle. They followed closely behind the infantry division, taking advantage of the brief gap in fire from tanks and armored vehicles, rushed up, jumped into the trenches, and cleared them with submachine guns and flamethrowers, trench by trench.

In this way, the two flanks of the Qing army's defenses were easily broken through. At the same time, the bombers of the other two squadrons suppressed the Qing army in Fangcheng, which was 50 kilometers away, and did not allow them to come for reinforcements.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, Nanyang City and the Qing army defenders were surrounded by 12 Ming army divisions and trapped in an encirclement with a circumference of 30-40 kilometers.

……

The Ming army began the final persuasion to surrender. The planes kept dropping leaflets, and the armored vehicles drove to a distance of several hundred meters with loudspeakers, braving the "clanging" bullets and shrapnel, shouting to the positions of the Qing army:

"Brothers of the 115th Division of the Qing Army...... Brethren of the 115th Division of the Qing Army...... Everyone is Han, and all the Han people in the world are brothers and sisters, and the Han people do not fight the Han people...... Together, we will turn our guns and aim at the evil Manchu magnates...... They are your real enemies...... Yes? What are you doing, I'm shouting here...... Ah, sir! ”

It turned out that another armored car drove up, and the two cars were close together, and Sun Gaogang, the commander of the Fourth Armored Division, actually came in person, and he boarded the armored car and pushed aside the officers of the political work team who were shouting:

"Let's go, let's go! What about your recitation? It's useless to shout like this, until it's dark. You didn't get to the point. Come on, watch me shout to you...... Listen, ahem. ”

He looked at the Qing army's position with his eyes against the observation window, picked up the microphone and shouted:

"Brothers of the 115th Division of the Qing Army, you have no other way out, throw it over, you can't fight...... We have thousands of planes, hundreds of tanks, thousands of artillery pieces...... What do you have? In addition to a couple of mortars, is there a cannon? …… If you fight, you will lose, and if you don't fight, you will lose, so you might as well surrender......

"What do you officials say about meritorious service and rewards, and make a wish for you to be crowned officials...... Do you think it's possible? You can't run out now, you can't run down with a heavy artillery, and your brothers will die without corpses, so what kind of meritorious service will you be rewarded...... As long as you vote over, we will treat you equally, give you a Daming ID card, and enjoy the national treatment of Daming...... The common people on our side are not bullied by the government, they can move at will, and the income of the peasants is seven or eight times or more than ten times that of the north, and they can afford to eat meat every day......

"Brothers, cast it! As long as you have the ability on our side, everyone has a bright future! We don't need to be an official here, and we don't need to spend money on gifts! As long as you are virtuous and talented, and you pass the exam, even if you are a child of a poor family, you will still be a big official! As long as you have real skills, no matter how big an official you are, you can become an official! …… How is our First Auxiliary Minister Shen Ge Lao? One person is below ten thousand people, and he is from a poor background...... Brethren, it doesn't matter if you don't know how to read! As long as you come here, marry a wife and have children here, your son will be able to go to school for free, and if he studies well in the future, maybe he will be the next minister......

"Brothers, you don't have to worry about your family being implicated, our Ming army is overwhelmed, and it will soon be able to reach your hometown......

……

At the same time, the loudspeakers on the positions of the Qing army were also shouting:

"Brothers, that's a lie! Don't listen, don't preach, don't believe! The Ming army liked to bury prisoners alive, and all captured prisoners were buried alive...... Saying that you eat meat every day is a lie...... They themselves are suffering from famine every year, and the common people are dying of starvation, otherwise why would they invade us? It's just that the poor can't live anymore, and they come to grab food...... Brothers, hold out until dark, and when it gets dark their planes will not work, and the army from the north will come to reinforce us! Brothers fight hard, receive rewards for meritorious service, glorify the ancestors, and the court does what it says! …… Again, don't pick up leaflets, don't listen to rumors......"

In the loudspeaker of the Ming army opposite, Sun Gaogang shouted again:

“…… Brethren, you are no longer children, you all have eyes to see, you all have brains to think...... Which is a lie at a glance...... Brothers, think about what you are fighting for...... Do you want to fight for those officers who beat and scolded you all day long and drank the blood of your soldiers? Do you want to fight for the government bullies in your hometown who bully men and women and fish and flesh villagers? Fight for the policemen who took your brothers in and extorted money from your parents?

“…… Do you want to protect them so that their descendants can continue to oppress your descendants? …… Do you want your children and grandchildren to be like you, to be cattle and horses for them all their lives? …… Don't you all envy those who flee south, and don't you dare to do it yourself? …… Now's your chance! Kill your chief, then drop your guns and run! You are the Ming people! Your children and grandchildren have also become Ming people! ”

The officers on the Qing army's position also showed fear in their shouting, but they were still shouting hoarsely:

“…… It's all rumors, don't listen to it, don't believe it! They didn't tell the truth! Who dares to kill the chief and shoot the whole family! Who would dare to go over and shoot the whole family...... Don't listen, don't believe! That's all a rumor......"

"Fuck you! Syllable! ”

"Ah......h

A gunshot rang out from the position, and the officer screamed and fell to the ground and died. Then a loud voice roared:

"Wang Bacao's turtle grandson, if you don't kill it, you will keep it and let your son practice my son again! Brothers, there is a kind of vote for Daming with me! ”

Almost instantly, a shout sounded on the position of the Qing army, followed by a series of gunshots, several officers were killed, and then "hulala", hundreds of Qing soldiers jumped out of the trenches, and ran to the side of the Ming army.

The Ming army was overjoyed, and cheers rang out. Sun Gaogang in the armored car was also happy, but he didn't forget to shout:

"Throw away the guns! Throw the gun! ”

In fact, it was redundant to shout this, and the Qing soldiers also knew that they ran slowly with their guns, so they threw the guns away at the beginning. Hundreds of Qing soldiers ran desperately, and the machine-gun bullets on the Qing army's position behind them flew towards them, "whooshing", and people kept being shot and fell to the ground. Soon the mortars also came, and several people were killed in one "boom". But these hundreds of Qing soldiers still didn't stop, and they ran for their lives.

"Fire suppression! Fire suppression! ”

Sun Gaogang called for the fire suppression of his division, and at the same time asked the aviation to bomb and suppress.

He is now a few hundred meters away from the Qing army's position, which is undoubtedly equivalent to shouting "fire at me". But he didn't expect so much, and it wasn't until the mortars in the back came over and blossomed again and again on the Qing army's position that he understood what he was doing, broke out in a cold sweat, and hurriedly squatted low.

A few minutes later, the sky dive bombers also rushed down to strafe and drop bombs.

The firepower on the Qing positions was immediately suppressed. After a while, these hundreds of Qing soldiers successfully ran through the middle ground of nearly two thousand meters, and collapsed in front of the Ming army's position.