The beacon of youth

In the oppressive attack on Longxi County, the Independent Brigade used only one tank battalion to force the local security regiment with less than 1000 people to surrender. Longxi, on the other hand, didn't waste a single bullet, relying on his powerful aura to make the enemy surrender.

Li Yong and Wang Chengde, who entered the city again, were very moved. In the face of absolute strength, all intrigues and schemes are scum, just like the Kuomintang security regiments in Wushan and Longxi. Surrender, no matter how much you resist, you cannot escape the fate of being wiped out.

Still like in Wushan, the independent brigade who entered the city did not set off in a hurry, but used this period of time to rest and recuperate, but the brigade commander Li Yong made the troops ready for a big battle, and each battalion and company had to come up with a complete set The battle plan for attacking the city is coming.

Not only the soldiers were surprised, but even political commissar Wang Chengde didn't quite understand Li Yong's order. Up to now, the missions of several regiments of the Northwest Field Army have been clearly defined. The Zhou Shidi Division of the [-]th Corps was responsible for oppressing Hu Zongnan's Central Army, and used the Xu Guangda Division of the Second Corps and the Yang Dezhi Division of the [-]th Corps to encircle and wipe out the Qingma Army in Lanzhou.

Everything seems to be perfect. Of course, the Independent Brigade belonging to the Second Army of the Cunyi Corps must act with the large troops of the Corps. In this way, it is impossible for the Independent Brigade to participate in the operation against Lanzhou. As the vanguard of the First Corps, the Independent Brigade At this stage, the brigade is mainly dealing with the enemy's local security regiments, such as Wushan and Longxi, as well as the local Kuomintang armed forces in Lintao, the next opponent it will face soon. Is it necessary to prepare any attack plan to deal with such armed forces? ?

But in the independent brigade, there is a habit that everyone doesn't know very well. As long as the decision made by the brigade commander Li Yong, no matter whether it is reasonable or not, it must be strictly implemented. That's right, even Wang Chengde, the political commissar, recognized this very much. Under the influence of this atmosphere, the entire independent brigade set off another operation to practice urban battles.

Lintao, another county town stuck on the route of the independent brigade, or a county town that was drawn into the attack range of the army by the leaders of the field army.

The independent brigade once again used its usual methods. This time, the brigade commander Li Yong stepped up his deterrent efforts. In order to be sure, he placed all the tank battalion and heavy howitzer battalion in front of this county. On this basis, he also let Wushan and Longxi The prisoners of the security regiment shouted to the city.

Densely packed tanks and armored vehicles, black cannon barrels, and the local armed commander of the Kuomintang in Lintao has never seen such a guy at such a big size. Army, even the most domineering Qingma army doesn't have a few cannons, not even a single tank, and the security forces in these places have never thought of having such equipment.

(There is only one howitzer battalion in the 82nd Army, the most elite unit of the Qingma Army. This is what Ma Bufang spent a lot of money to get special approval from Chairman Jiang in order to take care of his son, and the one that was wiped out a few days ago. There is an artillery unit in the [-]th Brigade of Iron Cavalry. Generally, the troops are only equipped with rifles and sabers, plus a small number of machine guns. There are two reasons why the Qingma Army’s equipment is not good. It cannot be produced within the scope of the production, and the second is that Chiang Kai-shek deliberately did it in order to control the power of the local warlords)

What else can we do? Even the brothers in Wushan and Longxi have surrendered, and we in Lintao don’t have superpowers, so there is nothing we can resist, surrender.

Another county was captured without bloodshed. Under the strong pressure of the People's Liberation Army, the Independent Brigade took down three cities without losing a single soldier, which is a miracle.

Li Yong, who was stationed in Lintao, asked Li Jia, the company commander and communication platoon leader of the guard company, to immediately send a report to Commander Wang of the Corps and Commander Guo Peng of the Second Army: Our troops have successfully captured Lintao and are now preparing supplies for crossing the river.

After capturing Lintao, what the Independent Brigade had to face was the raging Daxia River. Only after crossing the Daxia River could they advance to Xining. The Daxia River was a big test for the Independent Brigade.

The independent brigade has a lot of weapons and equipment, including cars, artillery, and tanks. However, these weapons also have a common disadvantage, that is, the pressure on logistics is extremely high, whether it is fighting or marching. In Xiahe, it is time to test the logistics capabilities of the troops.

To cross the river, you need a bridge and a boat. Of course, the huge independent brigade is not suitable for ferrying by boat, so you can only use a bridge. The requirements for building a pontoon bridge are different. If it is an ordinary infantry unit, it may not take much effort. A simple pontoon bridge will be created, but now it is different. The tanks and heavy artillery of the independent brigade have very high requirements on the quality of the bridge. A little negligence will lead to catastrophe. For this reason, brigade commander Li Yong and political commissar Wang Chengde came to Go to the river to observe the situation and see what method to use to send out｜Build a pontoon bridge that can pass heavy artillery and tanks in the shortest time.

Fortunately, the Independent Brigade has been prepared for this kind of problem. The brigade commander Li Yong usually thinks hard about how to solve the logistics support problem of the troops. He is also equipped with a professional engineering company. The company commander Xiao Cheng has already put his company Pulling to the Daxia River, more than 200 people from the whole company are preparing various tools and equipment.

The engineering company of more than 200 people was specially selected by Xiaocheng himself from the whole brigade. The composition of the company is very complicated. There are liberation fighters who have worked as engineers in the Kuomintang army before, and some joined the army from the liberated areas. The craftsmen found in the militia, as well as some local people who are familiar with the water conditions, were also pulled over by Xiaocheng.

Fighting in the independent brigade has been frequent recently, and Xiao Cheng has less opportunities to meet the brigade commander Li Yong. Xiao Cheng, who was busy with the soldiers, suddenly looked up and saw the brigade commander Li Yong and political commissar Wang Chengde coming over. The brigade commander has been a security guard for a long time, and it is a lie to say that he has no feelings. Xiao Cheng ran over in a few steps, forgot to raise his hand to salute, grabbed Li Yong's hand and shouted: "Oh, brigade commander, you Why are you here?"

This is Xiaocheng's habitual action. When he first became a soldier, he always made this mistake. At that time, he was still young, and no one blamed him. Later, he was corrected by veterans such as Li Jiangguo and Zhang Jinsong. Xiaocheng often does this in front of him, especially when he is in a hurry.

Xiaocheng and Sanniu were Li Yong's guards at the earliest time. They are no different from brothers if they are guards. In front of Li Yong, as long as they are not in front of everyone, Xiaocheng and Sanniu have no scruples. Yong didn't regard himself as a brigade commander.

"How about Xiaocheng? How long will it take to build the pontoon bridge? Can our brigade's tanks and heavy artillery pass through?"

Xiaocheng: "Brigade Commander, I observed carefully just now. We are sure about building a pontoon bridge, but it will take time. It will take at least a few hours to build a pontoon bridge that allows tanks and cars to pass through. If you are prepared, the tools and equipment are ready, otherwise the time will be longer.”

Xiaocheng has matured, and more than two years of fighting life has turned this young boy into an excellent grassroots commander of the People's Liberation Army. Xiaocheng, who has more than 200 soldiers under his command, believes that building pontoon bridges is the duty-bound task of the engineering company. The weapons, equipment and personnel of the whole brigade must be safely crossed the Daxia River. If there is any problem, he, the company commander, will be responsible.

Li Yong, who read it in detail, was very satisfied. The engineer company did a good job. At this speed, it will be no problem to build the pontoon bridge in a few hours. As long as it can cross the river, the independent brigade will be a domineering dragon. What? Qinghai and Xining are about to tremble under the feet of PLA soldiers, Ma Bufang's lair, here we come.

Just as Brigadier Li Da expressed his good wishes, Li Jia, the company commander of the guard company, ran over panting from behind: "Brigade commander, political commissar, telegram, an urgent telegram from the corps."

Li Yong was stunned, and saw that Li Jia stuffed a telegram into his hand. The content of the telegram was as follows: Order, Li Yong and Wang Chengde of the Independent Brigade, stop advancing and return the same way.

King of One Field One Corps

Li Yong handed the telegram to Wang Chengde casually: "Old Wang, it was issued by Commander Wang of the Corps himself. What do you think it means?"

Wang Chengde glanced at the simple telegram, thought for a while and said: "Who can say it well, it may be that our mission has changed, no matter what, we will execute it first."

Xiao Cheng, who had been standing beside the two of them, asked suspiciously: "Brigade Commander, Political Commissar, is our pontoon bridge ready?"

Li Yong: "Build it, continue to build it. We don't cross the river, and other troops have to cross it. Let's finish it first, and save the trouble of the troops behind. Don't worry about your engineering companies. After the bridge is built, use some soldiers to look after it. Then come after us."

Under the orders of their superiors, the independent brigade, which was advancing like a mad dragon, turned around in place, left Daxiahe, and returned along the way it came from.

The back team turned into the front team, and the soldiers were endlessly discussing: "Seeing that we are about to cross the Daxia River, why did we suddenly go back? What's the matter?"

Another one took over and said: "You ask me, how do I know, I am not the brigade commander or political commissar, if you want to know the reason, you can ask them."

The questions of the soldiers turned into questions of the battalion commanders and company commanders at all levels. Li Yong and Wang Chengde were asked all the way. Before the jeep of the first battalion commander Li Jiangguo came to him, he shouted loudly: " Brigadier, aren’t we going to Duan Ma Bufang’s lair in Xining? Why did we go back again? Why did we let the cooked duck go? I can’t figure it out.” T! .