readx; Chapter 425

Changed strategy

Under the dark and dreary night, there was not the slightest starlight in the whole heaven and earth, and in the deep darkness, there was almost no finger visible. Pen ~ fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info huge and dilapidated Erie Fortress lay on the ground like a dead dragon, and from the sporadic fires inside, you could vaguely see the soldiers on duty patrolling with rifles on their backs.

And the sound of gunfire from time to time in the dark night also made everyone who heard it understand that this is still the front line of the war. Even on a quiet night, the confrontation between China and the United States has not stopped.

The headquarters of the North Route Army of the Huo Jiajun American Theater is located in a three-story concrete structure building behind the city of Yili, which used to be the parliament building of Yili City, but it was requisitioned after being occupied by the Huo family army.

"Bang Bang ......!" With a slightly hurried footstep, Xi Yong pushed open the door of the combat command room and walked in.

Looking at Diao Fei, who was still looking at the map under the light, Xi Yong couldn't help but smile and said, "I saw the lights here down just now, so I don't have to guess to know that it must be you here!"

Hearing this, Diao Fei put down the pencil in his hand, got up from his chair, looked at Xi Yong and asked, "Why are you back, the retreat of the troops has been arranged?"

"Well, now all the army units have taken the train and left, and our remaining logistics have all been transferred, and there are still five trains left unused. Just now I communicated with Huo Linsheng of the artillery division, and they will arrange for the artillery units to retreat one after another!"

After listening to Xi Yong's words, Diao Fei couldn't help but show surprise on his face. Asked: "How can it be so fast, only one day before the order to retreat, all the army units have been withdrawn?" They calculated that if they wanted to safely withdraw the 300,000 troops of the Northern Route Army, it would take at least two and a half days. And the premise of achieving this goal is that the Americans do not launch a large-scale attack.

But now it is clear that the time of this retreat has been significantly shortened.

After listening to Diao Fei's words, Xi Yong smiled, pulled out a chair next to Diao Fei and sat down, "Actually, the retreat plan we made at the beginning still has big problems in itself. Though. The command gave us the order to retreat to the Wobash River in three days to form a second line of defense, but you know that the biggest difficulty in our retreat is not the distance of thousands of miles, but how to achieve the minimum cost. The slightest loss brought the troops, withdrawn from the Erie front, and freed from the entanglement of the US Army units. ”

Hearing this, Diao Fei nodded slowly. Of course, he knew this. Troop retreat is not just two words. It's really about the survival of life and death. Once the Huo family army has no strong fortress to rely on, and once it is entangled by the U.S. Army, which has the advantage of the number of troops behind, then the retreat is likely to turn into a rout. There are countless examples like this in China's thousands of years of war history.

It is precisely because of this consideration that retreating in batches has become an inevitable choice for the Huo Jiajun Northern Route Army.

"Actually, this time, I didn't retreat all my troops to Gary, the big city of Gary, on the second line of defense, but put my troops in Cleveland first!" Xi Yong continued.

"Cleveland?" Diao Fei repeated.

"Well, Cleveland is two hundred kilometers west of Erie, and it only takes six hours for the train to go back and forth. It saved two-thirds of the time compared to the retreat plan we had originally made. Cleveland is a little closer to Erie, but if we break the railroad. The Americans, even if they marched in a hurry, would not have been able to get there in three or four days, and even if their cavalry had passed, it would have taken at least two days. With so much time, we would have withdrawn our troops a long time ago!"

After listening to Xi Yong's words, Diao Fei couldn't help but nodded, this is a good idea. As long as they did so, they would be able to withdraw their Northern Route Army from the Erie front as soon as possible and minimize the losses of their troops.

"Lao Xi, this is a good note, it seems that your guy's head is very good?"

Facing Diao Fei's praise, Xi Yong couldn't help but smile bitterly and shook his head, "This is not something I came up with, it was the idea of the army headquarters, and Chief of Staff Wang Xiangzong specially explained it after seeing our retreat report!"

Hearing this, Diao Fei's face was stunned, and then his face turned bitter, and he couldn't help but shake his head and said, "It seems that when we return to the theater headquarters this time, we will be criticized again!"

"That's right!" Xi Yong nodded.

After a moment of silence, Xi Yong asked again: "When I was at the station just now, I listened to the gunfire around me and never stopped, it seems that the Americans should have noticed something!"

Hearing this, Diao Fei also nodded in agreement, "Joseph Johnston is a veteran of a hundred battles, with rich combat experience and excellent command ability, and he is one of the few outstanding generals in the US Army. If it weren't for the fact that we had the advantage of good weapons and defense, I am afraid it would be difficult to fight him now. So, I don't doubt his abilities. ”

"And, tonight our patrol reported that they have intercepted hundreds of U.S. Army reconnaissance squads. Obviously, our sudden change in tactics has been noticed by Johnston!" After a pause, Diao Fei continued in a muffled voice: "Old Xi, did you say that the retreat plan we made at the beginning was too hasty! So much so that now Johnston has seen our flaws!"

After hearing this, Xi Yong was silent for a while before slowly shaking his head, "We have more than 300,000 troops on the Yili front, and it is impossible to retreat quietly in front of Joseph Johnston. No matter what you do, you will be noticed by him, and the difference is only between the time and the evening!"

"Yes, how can there be no flaws in the retreat of more than 300,000 troops! I hope that the old guy opposite us will notice it a little later!"

After finishing speaking, Diao Fei stood up and kept pacing in the headquarters with a solemn face, and it could be seen that the current battle situation had put him under a lot of pressure!

"Old Xi, the artillery is retreating now, right?" Diao Fei turned around abruptly and asked with a serious expression.

After getting along for many years, Xi Yong knew that Diao Fei's heart must have been ready for the last battle at this moment: "Yes, but because the heavy artillery is too heavy, it may take a while for them." And now we only have five trains, and the fastest of the other trains will be two hours later! So, now we can only choose some of the artillery to evacuate!"

Hearing this, after nodding, Diao Fei continued: "You are like this, hurry up and send a telegram to Huo Linsheng of the artillery division, and hurry up and ask him to transfer the 203mm and 152mm caliber heavy guns first, and give priority to the new artillery first, and put the rest of the artillery last." And get their artillery ready for battle, and if the Americans attack, give me a damn blow!"

"Understood, Commander!" Facing the military order, the look on Xi Yong's face became extremely solemn.

"Well, and! Now that we have reached the last moment, the three cavalry divisions are our last decisive force, let them be more vigilant. In addition, strengthen all the ammunition in the stockpile, and take it away anyway, and occupy the space, so I will simply give it all to them, and if the Americans really attack, let them let me go and fight!"

After finishing speaking, after Diao Fei finally took a few steps back and forth, he suddenly clenched the pencil in his hand, and the expression on his face became extremely fierce, "Take out the killer weapon we prepared at the end." Now it's time to use them!"

Hearing this, Xi Yong's face changed suddenly, he stood up and stared at Diao Fei's face, and asked in a solemn tone: "Commander, you have to think about it, if you really want to use it, the consequences will be unimaginable! Moreover, it is likely to have a very bad impact on your reputation in the future!"

Facing the concerned eyes of his old friend, Diao Fei nodded firmly, "I have already decided, as long as I can let the troops retreat safely, I will not hesitate to be infamous even if I am infamy!"

―――――――――――――――――――――――――――

"General, the person you are looking for, I have already brought it!" After speaking, the middle-aged officer with the US Army Major's Brochure on his body waved to the door, and then a total of twelve soldiers walked in. Looking at the apprehension on their faces, it was obvious that they had also come to the headquarters of the US Northern Military District for the first time, and it was also the first time they had met their own Supreme Commander.

Hearing this, Johnston raised his two white eagle eyebrows, withdrew his gaze from the military map in front of him, put down the pencil in his hand, and turned his head to look in the direction of the door.

"You're the one who spotted the squadron on the other side retreating?" asked Johnston after taking a few steps forward.

"Yes, Commander!" spoke a blonde and blue-eyed white man from Gundam, who was the squad leader of this small unit as it was evident from his epaulettes. In addition, Johnston was able to tell from his slightly Bavarian accent of English and physical characteristics that he was German-American.

"What's your name, from that unit?"

Hearing his question, the young American soldier was a little nervous, knowing that the biggest officer he usually saw was his company commander, but now standing in front of him was indeed the top commander of the 900,000 troops of the entire US Northern Front Corps, this feeling was really different. However, although he was nervous, he did not forget to answer the commander's question.

"Report to the commander, I am Ron Weidenfeller, squad leader of the second platoon of the first company of the second battalion of the second brigade of the second brigade of the ninth division of the second army!"

"Okay, Ron, now tell me how you found out that the squadron is retreating!" Johnston continued. (To be continued.) )u