svetikya Chapter 154 A Small Shock from a Motorized Infantry Division
Chapter 154 A Small Shock from a Motorized Infantry Division
System Panel
Funds per second: +1 pound
Current total funds: £8,562,342
Current sphere of influence: Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Anhui, and Fujian provinces
Current troop strength: One Guards Division, eight fully equipped German-trained divisions (including one motorized infantry division), four centrally reorganized divisions, the Tax Police Corps, the Wusongkou Fortress, the Shanghai Independent Fleet, and a submarine fleet.
Current industries: Ma'anshan Coal-Steel Complex (annual production of 50 tons of special steel), Jiangnan Shipyard, Fuzhou Mawei Shipyard
Current technologies: sulfonamide mass production line, Krupp artillery technology, submarine manufacturing technology
March 7st, 6:00 AM.
The headquarters of the German-equipped division in Quzhou, Zhejiang.
He Maofeng stood before the battle map, his finger slowly moving across the defensive line markings on the outskirts of Quzhou. After a whole night of deployment, all firing positions were in place, the armored vehicle battalion was hidden in the woods on the flanks, and the artillery positions were calibrated.
"Commander," the adjutant strode in, "Latest intelligence: the Northern Expeditionary Army isn't deploying three divisions this time, but rather a fully-fledged division, plus a division from the newly incorporated Jiangxi Army, totaling approximately 20,000 men, and they are advancing towards our positions."
He Maofeng's lips curled up slightly.
"Twenty thousand people? Eight times more than yesterday."
"Commander," the adjutant said gravely, "the enemy's forces outnumber ours by nearly ten. Should we request reinforcements from the young marshal?"
He Maofeng waved his hand, walked to the window, and pointed to the distant position.
"Reinforcements? No need. Look at our positions: twelve MG34s, eight 75mm field guns, and twelve armored vehicles. This equipment was bought from Germany at a high price by the Young Marshal. Twenty thousand men? In the face of our armored torrent, they're nothing but numbers."
He turned around, his eyes blazing.
"The young marshal entrusted Quzhou to me, which means he trusts me. If I can't even hold off these 20,000 ragtag troops, how can I face the young marshal?"
He turned to look out the window, where the marching troops of the Northern Expeditionary Army could be faintly seen on the distant horizon.
"Order all battalions to proceed according to plan. Let them in, then give them a good beating."
Meanwhile, Zhao Dehou, commander of the Second Division of the Northern Expeditionary Army, rode on horseback, followed by 20,000 troops. His adjutant held up binoculars, his face full of confidence.
"Commander," the adjutant said, "the vanguard regiment suffered a loss yesterday because they underestimated the enemy and advanced recklessly. Today, if we send 20,000 men forward together, Chen's army simply won't be able to stop us."
Zhao Dehou sneered, "That good-for-nothing Liu Deshan couldn't even defeat an entire brigade with his regiment. He's disgraced Whampoa Military Academy. Today, I'll show Chen's army what a true Northern Expeditionary Army is."
He turned around and glanced at Qian Shirong, the commander of the Jiangxi New Army Division behind him.
"Commander Qian, your troops will flank from the right, while my main force will break through from the front. I need to have lunch in Quzhou city before noon."
Qian Shirong nodded: "Commander Zhao, rest assured, my unit will fully cooperate."
"fire!"
At Zhao Dehou's command, the Northern Expeditionary Army's artillery positions were the first to fire. Dozens of cannons roared simultaneously, shells whistling as they pounded into the German-equipped division's lines, kicking up clouds of dust.
He Maofeng felt the ground shaking in the command post, but he remained completely still.
"Commander, the enemy's artillery fire is very intense," the adjutant said.
He Maofeng said calmly, "Let them bombard us. The forward positions should retreat two hundred meters, then let them all in."
"Yes!"
The German-trained soldiers at the front lines received orders and withdrew in an orderly fashion. The Northern Expeditionary Army's artillery fire ravaged the front lines, but Zhao Dehou saw the German-trained division "retreating" through his binoculars and laughed heartily.
"See that? Chen's army is nothing special! They ran away after a bit of artillery fire!"
He drew his saber, pointed it forward, and shouted, "All troops, charge! Take Quzhou, and the reward will be 100,000 taels of silver!"
Twenty thousand Northern Expeditionary Army soldiers charged forward with shouts, surging towards the German-equipped division's positions like a tidal wave. Zhao Dehou, riding on his horse, was full of vigor, as if he could already see himself receiving cheers from his subordinates in Quzhou City.
Qian Shirong, the division commander of the Jiangxi New Army, also led his troops to flank from the right. Riding on horseback, he said to his adjutant, "Today, let's follow Commander Zhao and take advantage of the situation. Chen's army is already drawn to the main force on the front; if we attack from the flank, we'll get half the credit."
"The division commander is brilliant!" the adjutant laughed. "Once we take Quzhou, we'll get a share too."
Qian Shirong laughed heartily and spurred his horse forward.
However, what he didn't know was that He Maofeng was coldly watching all of this from the command post.
"We're inside the encirclement," He Maofeng said. "Armored vehicle battalion, start moving!"
The next second, the roar of engines suddenly came from the flank of the battlefield.
Twelve armored vehicles emerged from the hidden woods, their tracks crushing dry branches, their engines roaring like beasts unleashed. The armored vehicles charged at astonishing speed toward the flank of the Northern Expeditionary Army, their MG34 machine guns already aimed at the advancing enemy.
"What is that thing!" a Northern Expeditionary Army soldier shouted in terror.
Before he could react, the machine guns on the armored vehicle spewed fire. Bullets rained down on the Northern Expeditionary Army, felling swathes of soldiers, their blood starkly visible in the rising sun.
The armored vehicles did not slow down and charged directly into the Northern Expeditionary Army's assault ranks. The sound of their tracks crushing human bodies was chilling, and the machine gun turrets kept spinning, sweeping down enemy soldiers who tried to resist from all sides.
"Ironclad monsters! Ironclad monsters again!" the Northern Expeditionary Army soldiers shouted in terror and began to scatter and flee.
Qian Shirong was directing the encirclement on the right flank when he suddenly saw several armored vehicles charging towards his troops. His face turned deathly pale instantly.
"What is that? What is that thing?!" he screamed in terror. "Get out of here! Get out of here!"
However, his Jiangxi New Army had no time to react. Armored vehicles had already rushed in front of them, and the MG34 machine guns mercilessly swept across, with swathes of soldiers falling like straw. Qian Shirong's horse was startled by the gunfire, its front hooves rearing up and throwing him heavily to the ground.
"Help! Help!" Qian Shirong lay on the ground, desperately crawling backward. His military uniform was covered in mud, and he no longer had any of the imposing demeanor of a division commander.
However, their retreat had been cut off. The armored vehicle battalion sped through, tearing the Northern Expeditionary Army's formation to shreds.
"Counterattack!"
At He Maofeng's command, the German-equipped division's artillery positions began to unleash their power.
The shells from the 75mm field guns landed precisely on the Northern Expeditionary Army's artillery positions. One shell hit Zhao Dehou's artillery position directly, sending several cannons flying. Before the Northern Expeditionary Army's artillery could react, a second round of shelling arrived, and the entire artillery position was engulfed in flames.
"My artillery! My artillery!" Zhao Dehou saw his artillery position destroyed through his binoculars, and his face turned deathly pale.
But this is just the beginning.
The German-equipped division's MG34 machine gun positions opened fire across the battlefield, the crossfire like the Grim Reaper's scythe, mercilessly reaping the lives of the Northern Expeditionary Army soldiers. The charging Northern Expeditionary Army soldiers were as if they had crashed into an impenetrable wall of fire; soldiers in the front ranks fell in droves, and those in the rear halted in terror.
"Charge! Don't retreat!" Zhao Dehou shouted hysterically, but no one listened to him anymore.
The battlefield was littered with the corpses of Northern Expeditionary Army soldiers and abandoned weapons and equipment. Some soldiers knelt on the ground, their hands covering their heads, crying and begging for mercy. Others abandoned their armor and fled desperately, only to be overtaken by armored vehicles and crushed under their tracks.
Zhao Dehou watched all of this, trembling all over.
"This...this is impossible..." he muttered to himself, "Twenty thousand men...how could twenty thousand men not be able to defeat them..."
His chief of staff, his face covered in blood, ran over: "Commander! Retreat now! It'll be too late if we don't retreat now! The enemy's armored vehicles are already near our command post!"
Zhao Dehou then came to his senses, turned his horse around, and ran away.
"Retreat! All troops, retreat!"
However, it was too late. The armored vehicle battalion had completely cut off the Northern Expeditionary Army's retreat route, and the German-trained division's infantry, under the cover of MG34 fire, steadily advanced, dividing and encircling the routed Northern Expeditionary Army, and annihilating them one by one.
Zhao Dehou hadn't run far when an armored vehicle blocked his path. He fell off his horse, lay on the ground, trembling all over.
"Don't kill me! Don't kill me!" Zhao Dehou knelt on the ground, his hands raised above his head. "I surrender! I surrender!"
Soldiers from the German-equipped division came over and dragged him up like a dead dog. Zhao Dehou's face was deathly pale, and his trousers were soaked. He was completely devoid of the swagger he had displayed earlier when he said he was "having lunch in Quzhou."
The battle began at dawn and ended by noon.
He Maofeng walked out of the command post, looked at the battlefield in front of him, and nodded in satisfaction.
The battlefield was littered with the corpses of Northern Expeditionary Army soldiers, abandoned rifles, artillery wreckage, and military flags. German-equipped soldiers were clearing the battlefield and gathering prisoners for guard.
"Let's take stock of the results," He Maofeng said.
The adjutant rushed over, his face beaming with excitement: "Reporting, Commander! We annihilated over 8,000 enemy soldiers and captured over 6,000! Among them, Zhao Dehou, commander of the 2nd Division of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and Qian Shirong, commander of the Jiangxi New Army Division, were captured alive, both lying on the ground like dead dogs. We seized over 40 artillery pieces, tens of thousands of rifles, and countless ammunition! We also captured Zhao Dehou's command post, even his binoculars and sidearm! Our casualties... are over 300!"
He Maofeng smiled slightly.
"Three hundred men for fourteen thousand. That was a brilliant victory."
He turned and walked back to the command post, picked up the phone.
"Pick me up and take me to Shanghai, to the Chen Mansion."
Shanghai, Chen Mansion.
Chen Zijun was looking at a map in his study when the phone rang.
"Young Master." Mo Lanzhi took the phone, listened for a few moments, and then handed it to Chen Zijun, "Commander He's battle report."
Chen Zijun answered the phone.
"Young Marshal!" He Maofeng's voice came through the phone, filled with barely suppressed excitement. "The Northern Expeditionary Army of 20,000 men has been routed! We annihilated over 8,000, captured over 6,000, and seized over 40 artillery pieces. Our own casualties were only a little over 300!"
Chen Zijun's lips curled into a smile: "Uncle He, another brilliant victory."
"These Northern Expeditionary troops are numerous, but they scatter as soon as they're attacked; they're utterly ineffective," He Maofeng said with a smile. "Young Marshal, rest assured, even if there were two hundred thousand, let alone twenty thousand, I, He Maofeng, would accept them all!"
"Okay," Chen Zijun said. "Continue to hold the line and don't launch any attacks. When they come again, continue to strike hard."
"clear!"
Chen Zijun put down the phone, walked to the window, and a cold smile appeared on his lips.
"Twenty thousand men, wiped out in half a day. Uncle He's knife is sharp enough."
He turned around and looked at Moranzhi.
"Sister Lanzhi, what's the situation behind the Northern Expeditionary Army?"
Mo Lanzhi's expression was grave: "Young Master, after the news of the Northern Expeditionary Army's defeat reached the rear, the entire area was in an uproar. It is said that upon receiving the battle report, Chiang Kai-shek smashed his teacup on the spot, enraged beyond measure. His trusted generals didn't dare to utter a sound."
Chen Zijun sneered: "Smashing a teacup? He still has the mood to smash a teacup?"
Moranzhi added, "Furthermore, according to our spies, Chiang Kai-shek has ordered the mobilization of five divisions in preparation for a general offensive against Quzhou. At the same time, he secretly summoned a mysterious figure—a military advisor who had studied in Germany."
A hint of interest flashed in Chen Zijun's eyes.
"A military advisor who studied in Germany?"
He walked to the window and looked out at the Shanghai Bund.
"Interesting. It seems Chiang Kai-shek has finally realized that he can't defeat me by sheer numbers."
Chen Zijun turned around, a cold smile appearing on his lips.
"Since you can't beat me head-on, why don't you use his methods against me?"
He shook his head and said calmly, "Chiang Kai-shek, no matter who you invite or what methods you use, it's all in vain in the face of absolute power."
"Pass down the order: the entire army must maintain a state of first-level combat readiness. If Chiang Kai-shek wants to play games, I'll play along to the very end."