Chinese martial arts! Grandmaster

Chapter 310 Night Raid! Catching Him Off Guard

Sun Zhong led the remaining rebel troops away from Tongshankou Fortress.

Next,
The rebels were then bombarded by the Ximentang reconnaissance company and fled in disarray.

After retreating several kilometers, they finally saw Ximentang withdraw his troops.

Fortunately, Sun Zhong had made preparations in advance and had laid artillery in ambush along the retreat route, blocking the pursuit of the Ximentang reconnaissance company.

otherwise,
Given the rebels' current state of utter demoralization, they would suffer heavy losses if Ximen Tang caught up with them.

The rebels only managed to stabilize their position after retreating all the way to the Ganhe River and Nanchuan Lake.

Sun Zhong then set up camp and convened a meeting of his elite generals to discuss what to do next.

General Wang Shikang spoke first:
"General, we are very close to Yunxi City, less than fifty li away!"

"Although Yunxi City is just a small city, it has a considerable population. We can go to Yunxi City to settle down first, replenish some supplies, and then make plans."

Another general, Zhou Fu'an, took a deep breath and said:
"No! Ximentang has won a great victory this time, they will definitely press their advantage."

"Ximentang's next target should be Tongshan County."

"If we want to take Tongshan County, we must take Yunxi City. If we go to Yunxi City now, we will likely run into the people of Ximentang."

"In my opinion, at the latest, Ximentang will take Yunxi City directly in two days. They might even launch their operation tonight."

"Our team's morale is very low. Yunxi City has no natural defenses, and we are in great danger if we engage in a direct confrontation with Ximentang."

"Therefore, it is best to travel overnight, return to Tongshan County to garrison, and request reinforcements from the Prince of Han."

Generals like Wang Shikang, Zhou Fu'an, and Ma Nanshan were among Sun Zhong's most capable subordinates.

They fought countless battles alongside Sun Zhong and made great contributions.

but.

Now only Wang Shikang and Zhou Fu'an remain; Ma Nanshan has already been killed on the spot by Chen Jie.

Another general thought for a moment and said:

"General, it's already late. If we travel through the night, we won't reach Tongshan tonight!"

"In my opinion, it would be better to set up camp in Yunxi City tonight and let the soldiers get a good night's rest."

"Although Ximentang is very strong, they are few in number and probably won't dare to pursue them."

"Besides, even if they pursue us, with so many of us, we're not afraid of them in open field battles."

Sun Zhong nodded upon hearing this.

After a while,
He took a deep breath and said:
"It's too late to get to Tongshan County tonight."

"Although we were defeated, our losses were not significant, and our main force is still intact."

"Simon Tang wants to pursue us, but we should think twice before they dare to do it."

"There's no need for us to go to Yunxi City; we'll just camp at Ganhe Nanchuan Lake."

"The terrain here is flat, and there is a water source nearby, making it the best place to set up camp."

“I’ve made up my mind. We’ll stay here tonight and not go anywhere else. We’ll head back to Tongshan County first thing tomorrow morning.”

Hearing that Sun Zhong had made up his mind, the other generals said nothing more.

then,

The rebels began to set up camp near the Ganhe River and Nanchuan Lake, while sending out scouts to patrol the surrounding area.

While ordering people to start fires and cook, Sun Zhong also ordered people to tally the losses from this battle.

"Damn it—!"

Upon hearing the results of the battle, he couldn't help but burst into a tirade of curses.

In the battle of Tongshankou Fortress, he never expected that his elite troops would lose nearly 20,000 men.

Among them, the troops under Ma Nanshan's command were almost completely wiped out.

What pained him even more was the heavily armored warhorse.

Three thousand heavily armored warhorses, gone just like that!

Another loss was of a large portion of the Japanese field artillery and heavy machine guns, all of which were provided by the Japanese.

lost heavily!

well--!
After hearing the statistics, Sun Zhong let out a long sigh.

He never expected to lose so quickly and so miserably this time.

The thought of Ximentang's insane firepower sent chills down his spine.

If we encounter Ximentang's army again, how can we break through their firepower?

Thinking of this, Sun Zhong suddenly felt extremely anxious and overwhelmed.

He simply couldn't figure out how to defeat Simon's army.

-

10 PM!

The rebel camp, 500 meters away, was completely silent.

However, from a distance, it was still possible to see that bonfires were lit in many parts of the military camp.

Although all the rebels were resting, they didn't appear to be asleep.

Right,

It's only 10 p.m., not time to go to sleep yet.

Liu Ergou put down his far-infrared binoculars, walked over to Chen Jie's side, and whispered:
"Young master, it seems that old rascal Sun Zhong is quite shrewd."

"The rebel camps were arranged in a zigzag pattern, with each end supporting the other, and were very well defended."

"Furthermore, they left many people on night watch, making it quite difficult to launch a surprise attack on them!"

"I underestimated this man before. He truly deserves his reputation as a general under Prince Li Ben of Han."

Chen Jie said calmly in a low voice:
"No matter how clever you are, it's useless. In the face of overwhelming firepower, all tactics are just decorations."

"They'd never expect us to launch a surprise attack tonight. Is everyone ready?"

Liu Ergou nodded, his face serious.

"Don't worry, the incendiary bombs and flashlights are ready. We can take action at any time and catch them off guard."

Chen Jie didn't waste any more words and directly gave the order:
"Now that we're all ready, let's begin the attack."

Although Sun Zhong led his troops to retreat to Ganhe Nanchuan Lake, they were unaware that their movements had been monitored by Ximentang's scouts.

Therefore,
Chen Jie led the main force of Ximentang straight from Tongshankou Fortress, without taking any detours.

At six o'clock in the evening, Ximentang arrived at the camp ten miles away from the Ganhe Nanchuan Lake.

Everyone concealed their whereabouts, waiting for nightfall to launch a surprise attack.

It wasn't until 8 p.m. that Chen Jie led his troops closer and closer to the Ganhe Nanchuan Lake camp, bringing them within 500 meters.

but,

Although the rebels suffered a major defeat at the Tongshankou Fortress.

However, Sun Zhong was no ordinary person; he was a veteran who had fought for decades.

His combat experience was extremely rich, and although it was already night, Sun Zhong never let his guard down.

He not only deployed the stationed troops in a zigzag battle formation, but also arranged for them to take turns on night watch.

More than a dozen scout teams were stationed around the perimeter of the encampment to maintain vigilance. Fortunately, the Ximentang reconnaissance company had successfully eliminated the rebel sentries, otherwise they would have alerted Sun Zhong long ago.

and,

To prevent enemy attacks, the rebels deployed heavy machine guns in concealed locations within 100 meters of their encampment.

The entire Ganhe Nanchuan Lake camp was heavily guarded.

in fact,

In those days, night raids in the wild were not common.

It is difficult to see the command flags at night, and commanding troops in battle is subject to many restrictions.

In general,

Very few people would choose to fight at night, as it is easy for both sides to suffer heavy losses.

This is why Chen Jie chose to launch a night raid.

Night raids, when timed correctly, are highly effective and can even minimize casualties.

All along,
Chen Jie placed great emphasis on nighttime combat. When arranging training courses, he specifically required all departments of Ximen Hall to conduct nighttime combat training.

The elite special operations regiments, in particular, consider night combat a mandatory training subject.

This night raid will be a good opportunity to test the results of our night combat training.

in addition,

Chen Jie has a thermal imaging camera specifically designed for nighttime use.

He equipped each commander with far-infrared military binoculars, which have night vision capabilities.

At night, the enemy's movements can be clearly seen from a distance of several hundred meters.

With so many advantages, a night raid on Sun Zhong's rebel army would naturally not pose much of a danger.

Therefore,
Ximentang took the lead by sending out a reconnaissance company to continuously ambush and eliminate the rebel scouts.

With the aid of thermal imaging, ambushing and killing rebel scouts in the woods would be a piece of cake.

They successively eliminated the rebel scouts.

Ximentang's army successfully reached within 500 meters of the rebel camp.

Military thermal imagers can clearly display all enemy movements in the surrounding area.

Within a three-kilometer radius, from Ximentang's current position, one can clearly see the entire rebel battle formation, the mobile sentries, and the movements of the rebels responsible for perimeter security.

in fact,

Given the rebels' current defenses, if Ximentang were to approach within 100 meters, he would definitely not be detected.

but,

There's no need to get too close at this point.

Being too close would actually cause more damage to Ximentang.

Because next,
Chen Jie prepared a weapon for these rebels to use in nighttime combat—a flare!

Once the flare is launched, it will be immediately followed by an incendiary bomb.

When Simon chased Seymour's fleet at sea, he used incendiary bombs for the first time and knew how terrifying this "restricted" weapon was on the battlefield.

Although incendiary bombs are launched like 'grenades' from mortars, they are completely different from ordinary artillery shells.

The only downside is that it's too expensive!

Its cost was dozens of times that of ordinary artillery shells, and each incendiary shell cost the equivalent of fifty silver dollars.

If a massive attack were to launch, firing a thousand incendiary bombs...

One attack cost fifty thousand silver dollars!
Without a strong financial foundation, they simply cannot afford to fight.

Therefore, unless there are special circumstances, Chen Jie would never easily use incendiary bombs.

in fact,

His favorite enemy was actually the Western Allied Forces.

The Western Allied Forces plundered too much wealth in Daqian, but unlike the Japanese, they did not use all of this wealth to exchange for guns and ammunition.

Therefore,
They gained many benefits from fighting the Western Allied Forces and became extremely wealthy.

On the contrary, it was almost impossible to gain any real benefits from fighting the Japanese or the rebels in various parts of Daqian.

These bastards are too poor!
They used all the wealth they plundered to arm themselves, leaving almost nothing behind.

The incendiary bombs produced by the Simond Arsenal have been improved and cost-saving measures have been implemented.

but,

With such high fixed costs, it's simply unrealistic to expect it to be used like ordinary artillery.

Like armor-piercing projectiles and extended-range artillery, they are very expensive to manufacture.

After being modified by the Ximentang Arsenal, these powerful weapons have been put into service.

but,

Each time it is used, it must be confirmed by the leaders of each department.

If you don't use it without limit, you'll end up impoverished after just one battle.

When Chen Jie led troops to quell the rebellion this time, he only brought 10,000 incendiary bombs.

He brought a hundred 120mm mortars with him for the night raid.

for the rest of the time,

All 120mm mortars were set up on the ground and their angles were adjusted.

in addition,

Next to it, at the artillery battalion's position, a thousand 60mm mortars were positioned and aimed.

unconsciously,

It was already 11:30 p.m.

Chen Jie glanced at the flares and incendiary bombs prepared beside him.

Then he glanced at the 60mm mortars at the artillery battalion's position.

everything's ready.

The shells around were already stacked up.

Next to each mortar, there were three boxes of shells.

Thirty thousand shells are ready for battle.

call--!
Chen Jie took a deep breath and glanced at the time.

Next,
He used his binoculars to observe the rebel camp 500 meters away.

It was probably very late, and the rebels had already begun to sleep, although the campfire in the distance was still burning brightly.

but,

The rebel soldiers on night patrol were yawning and drowsy.

Chen Jie gestured and said in a deep voice:

"Time's up! Prepare to fire!"

(End of this chapter)