At noon, all the scouts of the entire legion gathered at the entrance of the headquarters. 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 was not in vain.
"Comrades, I think you all already know that this time our entire army will serve as the rearguard of the entire army, covering the main force of the Red Army in expelling the enemy's encirclement. I can say that the success or failure of this cover mission depends entirely on you."
Liu Hua paused and continued, "This time your mission is to put on the military uniforms of the Hunan Army and do everything possible to control the gates of Changde County in advance and control the important facilities in the city, so as to achieve what I have done before.
The beheading mission entrusted to you is to prepare the main force for the successful capture of Changde County. The commander-in-chief of this battle is Comrade Liu Xiaogang, the commander of the regiment's reconnaissance battalion. Let's set off now."
"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 Xiaogang's shoulder and said.
When the reconnaissance battalion left the headquarters, the logistics office of the Seventh Red Army was also nervously distributing ammunition. After nearly half of the ammunition was sent out to the originally oversaturated baggage regiment, all the remaining supplies were reduced to mules and horses.
After loading and unloading, we are waiting for the order from the legion commander.
At the same time, the soldiers from each division who came to receive ammunition were excited with a hint of seriousness. Although after this ammunition distribution, the entire Seventh Army Corps not only had the largest amount of ammunition in the entire army, but also the largest amount in the entire Chinese army. However,
This also indicates that there will be a big battle in front of them.
Watching the orderly troops moving in and out of the city, Liu Hua was indescribably excited. "There must be no big losses this time. We must take the troops out." Liu Hua said secretly.
After a day of preparation, all troops completed pre-war mobilization and ammunition was also distributed. "Send a report to each division. At six o'clock tomorrow, our army will begin to march towards Changde. I will move with the first division, and the political commissar will lead
The artillery battalion, heavy machine gun battalion, second division, and third division followed suit and maintained radio contact at all times." Liu Hua said, holding the telegrams sent by each division.
The next day, Liu Hua brought a radio, and after a whole morning of pursuit, the guards finally caught up with the 1st Division of the 7th Army Corps, which was marching in a hurry.
"Commander Sun, how is the situation in the army now?" Liu Hua asked eagerly.
"Haha, legion commander, you don't know that since I followed you, I have only won battles, and each time I have suffered less casualties and captured more. Now the soldiers' ammunition bags are full. You know, since I became
Since the Red Army, I have never seen such good equipment and so much ammunition. The soldiers have high morale and are clamoring to capture Changde and attack Changsha. Look, they can walk much faster now." Sun Xingbang looked at it.
Liu Hua said with a smile.
"Commander Sun, you have to tell commanders at all levels that our encounter this time is different from the past. There may be heavy casualties, and there will be no replacement. So we must not underestimate the enemy, try to reduce the casualties of the troops, and do we have the confidence to complete the mission.
"Liu Hua looked at Mr. Sun Xingbang with encouraging eyes.
"Report to the commander of the army, the first division will resolutely complete the mission, achieve the greatest victory with minimal casualties, and bring glory to the army." Sun Xingbang replied loudly, Liu Hua nodded without saying anything, and continued to move forward on horseback.
While the entire Seventh Army Corps was marching urgently, the 26th Red Army Corps also began to gather secretly. All regular troops began to arrive at fixed locations, waiting for orders from their superiors. At this time, General He, Political Commissar Ren and others were sitting at the headquarters, waiting.
By Liu Hua, Telegram from the Seventh Army Corps.
In the evening, the camp of the First Division of the Seventh Army Corps. "Regiment Commander, telegram from the reconnaissance camp." The accompanying radio operator read a telegram.
"Report to the commander of the regiment that the reconnaissance battalion has successfully arrived in Changde. Due to the heavy enemy guard, we were unable to capture the city gate. Now we have left one company outside the city to continue reconnaissance. The remaining five companies have all entered the county seat at night and are waiting at any time.
Order from the Legion Commander. Reconnaissance Battalion Commander: Liu Xiaogang."
It seems that the enemy has really spent a lot of money this time. 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 camp and the location of the artillery position, and be sure to send the specific coordinates tomorrow morning.
Come here and send it out like this." Liu Hua thought for a while and said.
After a night's rest, the First Division finally arrived at Changde County at noon the next day. After receiving Liu Hua's order, the First Division successfully surrounded Changde County and used the division's artillery company to attack the city gate twice.
Volleys were fired. Now Changde County was even more chaotic. Nearly 10,000 enemy troops began to enter the city for official defense. At the same time, news that the Red Army was surrounding Changde County was also passed to the headquarters of Supreme Commander Chen Cheng.
"What, the Communist army has surrounded Changde County, and they also have artillery." Chen Cheng looked at the telegram in front of him and asked in disbelief, "Chief of Staff, what do you think about the Red Army surrounding Changde County? Is He Long really prepared?"
Attacking Changde and breaking through from Changde is still a false shot."
"Commander, I can't tell right now. We can only make a judgment based on the Communist Army's next move." the chief of staff replied cautiously.
"Well, call Changde back and ask them to hold on to the county seat. Reinforcements will arrive soon, and they will report to the general headquarters the situation and battle situation of the peripheral Communist forces at any time.
Finally, in the evening, the follow-up troops of the Seventh Army slowly arrived outside the city. There was no excitement after the gathering, and there were not too many words. Everyone ran to their posts without caring about rest. The artillery battalion was looking for
The artillery positions were set up, artillery shells were transported, and a dense firepower network was finally built outside the two city gates. Even the infantry ate some dry food in a hurry and began to dig trenches according to the siege tactics originally taught by Liu Hua.
When it dawned the next day, Changde County was already in chaos, because the outside of Changde City, which was deserted yesterday, was now bustling with people. The entire outside of the city was covered with trenches. What was even more terrifying was that the Communist Army's trenches were dug all the way down.
It is less than a hundred meters away from the city wall. And looking around, more than 1,000 meters away from the city wall, the muzzles of six mountain cannons are facing the city wall. At the same time, the mortars on both sides also have their muzzles raised.
At this time, Changde's top commander was looking at the Communist positions outside the city with binoculars, wiping sweat from time to time. "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 town, and
It has a large number of mortars and mountain artillery. Request reinforcements, request reinforcements," the commander said urgently.
After saying that, he quickly walked off the city wall and ran towards his headquarters.