Globe Trekker

Chapter 80

On the second day after the Independent Fourth Division of the Red Army reported the situation to the regiment commander Lin Biao, he received an order from Lin Biao: to launch a surprise attack on the enemy at Mao Pailing as planned, causing the main force of our army to gather at Nancheng to Yihuang. The illusion of time, cover the main force and retreat quietly, luring the enemy's main force to go south!

The siege of Nancheng was cancelled, but the surprise attack on Mao Pailing had to be carried out!
This means that the Independent Fourth Division needs to continue to fight independently in the high mountains to the west of Nancheng, and the first task is to capture Mao Pailing, an important traffic throat in the mountains, as soon as possible.

After receiving the order, Guo Tianming, the commander of the division, immediately held a combat meeting above the regimental commander, read out the regiment's order, and asked for opinions by pointing to the self-made simple map:
"We have three regiments, but none of them has more than 800 people. Even with the surrounding Red Guards, there are less than 500 people. There are no heavy machine guns, let alone artillery or mortars. Faced with the construction of many Fortifications, and a thousand enemies equipped with a large number of machine guns, this battle will be very difficult to fight, and there is no other way but sneak attack. Let's use our brains and express our opinions to see which direction and how we should fight It's better."

The participants knew the weight of the burden on their shoulders. Although they had firm beliefs and high morale, they faced the enemy's sudden census of household registration and strict checks of people entering and leaving. Mao Pailing Village is like a tortoise shell, and even Deng Tinggan, the head of the first regiment with the most combat experience, is worried.

After more than four hours of repeated discussions, the Independent Fourth Division finally came up with a combat plan:

The three regiments were divided into three groups, sneaking to the west entrance of Mao Pailing, the Hewan Road crossing in the south, and Baiguo Village in the southeast of Mao Pailing. The surprise attack forced the enemy in the village to reinforce Baiguo Village, and the other two regiments then seized the opportunity to attack the west and northwest gates of the village, striving to take Mao Pailing within half a day!

The task was issued, and the heads of the regiments left quickly. The new chief of staff also led a group of division staff and political officers to supervise the regiments in person. The guards had never seen the expressions of the two Shangguans so solemn, they stayed honest and did not dare to go in to refill the tea.

Xie Weijun raised his head from the map on the table, looked at Guo Tianming who was frowning and asked in a low voice: "Old Guo, I haven't seen you so solemn in so many years, do you think Mao Pailing's defense is not easy to fight?"

Guo Tianming nodded slightly, and pointed to several defense points outside Mao Pailing Village on the map: "You and I have lived in Mao Pailing, you see, the enemy has built as many as twelve fortifications at three crossings, and the terrain is well-chosen. It is very good, the heights are staggered, the distribution is reasonable, and only two machine guns are placed in each direction to seal off all attack surfaces, leaving almost no dead ends."

Xie Weijun has never been to a military academy, but he has developed a solid military quality and accumulated a wealth of actual combat experience during the years of transition, so he understands Guo Tianming's concerns very well:
"That's right! It seems that the commander of the regiment guarding the enemy surnamed Wu has received formal military education. Not only is the military discipline strict, but he is also very meticulous. This is the first time I have heard of such things as copying the list of the whole village and closely interrogating Enwei. Who in the army can come up with such a dirty but very effective bad idea?"

"This is where the enemy is terrifying. Once this list is copied, coupled with strict investigations, the folks in the village dare not help us even if they want to. What's more terrible is that they have strict military discipline, fair trading, and do not requisition the village. Houses and ancestral halls, and built thatched huts outside the village by myself, instead of bullying and exploiting the people, they gave the whole village a hundred catties of refined salt that our headquarters chiefs were not blessed to enjoy. Under such circumstances, who can make the villagers hate them? I’m afraid it won’t work if you disguise yourself as a commoner and sneak in, it looks better than what we’ve done.” Guo Tianming expressed his worries in a low voice.

Xie Weijun looked around nervously, approached Guo Tianming and warned in a low voice: "Old Guo, don't complain like this in the future. Recently, the political review has become more and more strict. Even the political officers in the headquarters have been sent down to the regiment level. I don't want to You're getting in trouble for a few quibbles."

Guo Tianming nodded helplessly, pointed at the map again and said worriedly: "The key to this battle is how to successfully sneak into the southeast side of Baiguo Village. Throwing explosives from top to bottom is a clever plan to destroy the enemy's fortifications, but the key is whether you can get close to Baiguo Village smoothly."

Xie Weijun recalled for a moment, pointing to the creek on the southeast side of Baiguo Village: "I have been to this place. To the east of the creek is a steep mountain ridge. There is a trail hidden in the dense forest. Almost hunters and herb collectors in the village only go once a year. A few times, outsiders don't know that there is a road in the steep dense forest. Follow this rugged path and climb over the back of the mountain ridge. There is a deep ravine about 200 meters wide over [-] meters to the north. The single-plank bridge built directly by the tree, as long as you cross the single-plank bridge, you will be able to reach the top of the cliff above the crossing on the east side of Baiguo Village by walking about [-] meters, and you don’t have to worry about hitting whatever you want.”

"Do you think that defending the enemy will have discovered this trail?" Guo Tianming asked.

Xie Weijun thought for a while: "Probably not, they have only changed defense for a few days? I guess the barracks have not been set up yet, how could they find the steep mountain road that the villagers usually don't walk? Unless someone in the village informs, otherwise the enemy will be stationed for a month None will know."

Guo Tianming finally felt relieved: "Let's go, go and have a look around, and give encouragement to the soldiers who are about to go to war!"

# # # # # #
In the afternoon of the next day, in the tent next to the east ancestral hall of Mao Pailing Village, Wu Ming carefully read the enemy situation bulletin sent by Yu Jishi, and immediately dictated a call back to the radio operator: "Call back: Please rest assured, the division. Organize reconnaissance teams to search in three directions: due south, southwest and due west.”

Xiao Du, a 19-year-old radio operator, quickly recorded the telegram, handed it to Wu Ming for signature, and quickly returned to the row of ammunition boxes on the side of the radio station, converting each text into a group of numbers.

Wu Ming turned to Dai Ziran who marked the situation of the enemy and us on the map: "Don't you find it strange that the main force of the Red Army suddenly appeared on the line from Guangchang to Ningdu, a hundred miles to the south?"

Dai Ziran raised his head: "That's right! The Red Army retreated rapidly after winning the battle, and the retreat was hundreds of kilometers, which is abnormal no matter how you look at it. Maybe it's just like you said, arrange a big bag in advance, and the main force of our army If you want to find the enemy and fight, you have to drill inside."

Yin Dizhong, the commander of the first battalion who came to report, also came forward: "The key is that the Cantonese Army on the South Road does not actively cooperate, otherwise the Communist Army will not dare to retreat to the edge of the Cantonese Army's defense line no matter how powerful it is. The Communist Army must have seen several Cantonese troops. The master puts on a posture of defense with all his strength, so he has nothing to fear."

"That makes sense!" Zhang Dongning echoed Yin Dizhong's point of view.

Wu Ming frowned, and stretched out his finger to draw an imaginary circle on the densely marked mountains between Guangchang Jibei, Nanfeng and Huangpi on the map: "What if the main force of the Red Army is here?"

Everyone was stunned, and Dai Ziran quickly realized: "If this is the case, it will be troublesome... The communist army may quietly gather superior forces to launch a sudden siege against any division of our army going south. Disappeared in the vast mountains again..."

"This kind of situation often happened in previous years of battles. Moreover, this area is a mountainous area with high mountains, dense forests, and ravines. Most of the residents are She people who are far away from the city. It is difficult for us to listen to the accent. Even if the main force of our army is based on The aerial map is successfully driven in, and there will never be any help from the locals, which is tantamount to black eyes!"

Yin Dizhong also became serious: "The communist army is good at marching day and night. It is not uncommon to use night and early morning sneak attacks. Even if you enter a division, you will inevitably be passively beaten!"

"So there's really nothing we can do with the Communist Army?" Zhang Dongning felt a headache.

Everyone quickly looked at Wu Ming. Wu Ming thought for a while: "There is still a solution, but it doesn't have much to do with us. Let's do our own work well first. How about the two directions you are responsible for?"

Yin Dizhong quickly replied: "The deployment of the secret sentry has been completed, and the reconnaissance platoon was divided into six teams and sent out in turn. The search range has been expanded to five kilometers."

"Are there many businessmen?" Wu Ming asked.

"Two groups came here at noon, a total of 34 people, including more than a dozen folks from nearby villages who came to visit relatives. One group came from Lixi in the west, and the other came from Rongshan in the north. They were all recognized by the villagers. , the goods sold by the caravan are also genuine." Yin Dizhong replied.

Wu Ming nodded: "Very well. Continue to maintain a strict interrogation system. We must not allow anyone to take advantage of loopholes. After the engineer company is transferred to the south of the village to repair the bridge, the west and northwest directions will depend on your battalion."

Yin Dizhong puffed up his chest: "Tuan Zuo, don't worry, the First Battalion will never let the enemy touch you!"

Wu Ming asked again: "What else do you want?"

Yin Dizhong smiled and said: "Can you send us two military dog ​​search teams? The surrounding mountains are high and densely forested, and the roads are winding and narrow. Many places cannot be seen."

Wu Ming readily agreed: "No problem, the three military dog ​​teams staying at the regiment headquarters are planning to assist you, but these three military dogs are only one year old and have not been trained well. If you want to bark and expose yourself when you find something abnormal, it is not as smart and obedient as the two military dogs attached to the Baiguozhai spy company, you can use it first, it is worse than nothing."

"Thank you Tuanzao! This subordinate is going to lead the dog, haha!"

Yin Dizhong left happily, and Zhang Dongning sighed: "This military dog ​​is really useful. When you brought back a few puppies from Hangzhou, I didn't think much of it. I just thought that this kind of German shepherd dog was very impressive. After two years, I can really train according to your method... In this mountain, military dogs are more effective than the top scouts of the spy company, but the cost is too high, and the food and treatment are even higher than that of battalion-level officers!"

Everyone laughed loudly, but Wu Ming didn't care: "If it wasn't for your father-in-law and his men who forcibly snatched five puppies last summer, our military dog ​​reconnaissance platoon would have been established long ago. In the past few years, we have obtained two batches of purebred dogs German shepherds are not easy, the price of each puppy is more than a professional sniper rifle, gold is very expensive!"

"Turn back and tell your father-in-law that you can't let a breeder dog mate with a native dog casually. The puppies you give birth to must be used first. Also, don't let that Shandong boy who trains dogs do other jobs, let him Professional dog training, I'll give him a lieutenant when he's done."

Everyone couldn't help laughing again. Wu Ming looked at his watch, stood up and began to put on his clothes: "I'll go to Baiguo Village, which is the most important point of the entire defense zone. Let's see how the spy company is doing."

Dai Ziran asked with a smile: "Are you worried that the communist army will suddenly come out from that direction?"

Wu Ming nodded solemnly: "That's right! That's the main reason why I ordered the special agent company to expand the search range to ten kilometers. By the way, have you searched the high mountain southeast of the Baiguo Village crossing?"

Dai Ziran replied immediately: "The search was completed yesterday afternoon. On the way back, two experienced brothers were chasing two roe deer. After hunting down the prey, they went up to fetch it. They accidentally found a trail behind the mountain ridge. Along the trail, they passed a nine roe. In the deep stream with a width of one meter, a big moss-covered tree was brought down and placed horizontally on the deep stream. Through the single-plank bridge, it is easy to reach the top of the cliff at the eastern crossing of Baiguo Village. The report submitted by the spy company last night stated that , Standing on the top of the cliff, you can see the movements in the village clearly without binoculars, and you can see all the fortifications in the northwest of the village with binoculars."

Wu Ming immediately became alert, and after thinking for a while, he called Dai Ziran: "Let's go and have a look together. We can't destroy the single-plank bridge first. I'd rather help the villagers to repair it before leaving, and I can't let a hidden danger exist."

Everyone followed Wu Ming and formed a habit of being cautious. They all nodded their heads and wanted to follow. Finally, Wu Ming let Zhang Dongning stay and rode to Baiguo Village [-] kilometers southeast with his brothers.

At the same time, a Red Army commando composed of 45 officers and soldiers of hundreds of battles quietly arrived at the mountain pass five kilometers south of Baiguo Village through the vast mountains.

Zhou Dezhi, the reconnaissance platoon leader who served as the guide, took the lead to turn into the crossing, and the rest of the team immediately followed. Under Deng Tinggan's whispered order, the team quickly marched northward along the rugged mountainside path.

　It is estimated that the long-term illness has caused the body to develop drug resistance. After three days of continuous infusion, Tianzi's cold symptoms are still severe. After posting this chapter, I have to continue to go to the community hospital!Here, I would like to thank Li Xiaofan for his continuous success!Thank you Jing Ji, Jin Mu Canchen, Brother Ji, My Heart Attachment, Shang Yu, Luo-Ye Dada for your rewards, and thank you brothers and sisters for your recommendation tickets and collections!Tianzi continues to ask for recommendation tickets and collection support, thank you!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)