Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 220 The Escape Route is Cut Off
Of course, none of this had much to do with Wang Gensheng. Right now, Wang Gensheng was thinking about how to fight next.

After all, Wang Gensheng's Marine Corps only had a little over a thousand men, so figuring out how to fight and striking at the most critical moment was the most important thing.

Good steel should be used where it's needed most. The targets that Wang Gensheng's Marine Corps wanted to attack were at least command posts of the Lion level or above, or important strategic facilities such as airports and oil depots.

Just as Wang Gensheng was thinking about his next key objective, the commanders of the Second Field Army and the Third Field Army were discussing how to cut off Xu Zhou's retreat route.

Compared to Dongbei, Jinzhou was the gateway to Dongbei, so Suxian served a similar function to Jinzhou.

Because once Su County is captured, it will be equivalent to cutting off Xuzhou's escape route. At that time, Xuzhou will become an isolated city like Shengyang, and the troops in Xuzhou will be unable to escape, just like Huang Baitao's troops.

Of course, this is because the Second Field Army is currently besieging Huang Baitao's army group, and at the same time is also resisting the reinforcements from Qiu Qingquan's army group and Li Mi's army group.

Dealing with three army corps totaling over 300,000 men at the same time was the limit for the Third Field Army. After all, the Third Field Army only had 420,000 troops deployed in the battle at this time, so it was naturally difficult to divide its forces to attack Suxian. If it did divide its forces at this time, it would be very likely that Huang Baitao's army corps would escape, thus making all previous efforts futile.

Therefore, the task of attacking Suxian and cutting off Xuzhou's retreat route naturally fell to the Second Field Army.

Although the Second Field Army was smaller than the Second and Fourth Field Armies for various reasons, it still had more than 200,000 troops, approaching 300,000.

Therefore, attacking Suxian was still possible. However, in order to prevent Huang Wei's 12th Army Corps from providing support, the Second Field Army command decided to use the 3rd Column as the main force in attacking Suxian.

Then, a portion of the Ninth Column was sent to cooperate with the Third Column. To prevent Huang Wei's army from coming to the rescue, the Second Field Army commander sent Huang Wei's old classmate, Wang Gensheng's old sergeant, to the rescue.

Then, one column is left as a reserve force, just in case. After all, in large-scale troop operations, not leaving a reserve force would be suicidal!

The reserve force is a force designed to provide timely assistance should unforeseen circumstances arise during a campaign.

This is fundamentally different from Wang Gensheng's small-scale special operations. Wang Gensheng's special operations emphasize a single, decisive strike; it's all or nothing. Every mission is undertaken with the mindset of never returning, like dancing on a knife's edge.

However, in campaign-level battles, it is essential to ensure absolute safety or to be able to promptly mitigate any unforeseen circumstances. Therefore, it is natural to adopt the approach of keeping reserve forces as a backup plan to cope with changes on the battlefield.

Although Suxian was equivalent to Jinzhou in the Liaoshen Campaign, Suxian did not have the same military strength as Jinzhou, which had a corps of over 100,000 troops stationed there.

The defending force of Suxian County was actually only a few tens of thousands of troops from one army. It was precisely because of this that the Second Field Army commander only sent out one column, plus part of another column, to attack the city.

Of course, the speed of capturing Suxian was much faster than that of capturing Jinzhou; Suxian was taken in just thirteen hours.

Upon hearing this news, Xu Zhou's general commander Liu Zhi and deputy commander Du Yuming were extremely uneasy.

Liu Zhi looked at the sand table and sighed:
"Oh no! This is really bad! Suxian has fallen. We can't move here, and we can't evacuate. We're practically sitting ducks in the hands of the relief forces!"

Du Yuming, however, looked at Liu Zhi with a face full of anger and disappointment, and said:
“Teacher, you must know how important the strategic location of Su County is. Why don’t you send a large number of troops to defend it?”

However, in response to Du Yuming's complaints, Liu Zhi stated confidently:
"If you want to ask, you'll have to ask Liu Ruming. I've urged him countless times to send troops to Beishang to defend Suxian, but he's afraid of the Jiefang Army attacking, afraid of losing his own strength in battle, so he simply won't carry out orders!" Du Yuming was also helpless at Liu Zhi's words. How could they fight if their soldiers wouldn't obey orders? He could only sigh helplessly.
"Everyone is thinking about avoiding the relief army and leaving. That's how we can hold onto the city and win the battle."

At this moment, Liu Zhi took a more relaxed view and said:
"What's the use of complaining now? We should think about how to explain this to the old man!"

Just as Liu Zhi finished speaking, Lao Zi called. Liu Zhi didn't dare to answer it, so he asked Du Yuming to pick it up instead.

After Du Yuming answered the phone, Lao Zi told him to hand it to Liu Zhi, so Liu Zhi had no choice but to take the phone.

The old man didn't hold back at all when he started cursing Liu Zhi:

"People call you a bunch of pigs and dung beetles, but I think you're even dumber than pigs. The battle between Xuzhou and Bengbu has turned out like this. How are you going to explain this to me? How are you going to give an account to me? Touch your head and see if it's still there."

Liu Zhi directly addressed this, saying:

"Chief, I am incompetent and unable to share the principal's burdens. I deserve to die, I deserve to die! But since Guangting came to Xuzhou, I have already handed over all command to him. Wouldn't it be better to let him explain?"

Indeed, Liu Zhi's method was very simple: to shirk responsibility. And that was exactly what happened. After Du Yuming arrived in Xuzhou, the command was indeed given to Du Yuming. Liu Zhi did not covet power!

Du Yuming naturally had no way to explain himself, so he could only take the phone and say to the old man:

"I bear a heavy responsibility for the loss of Su County. I request that my superiors hold me accountable and punish me!"

However, the old man was still furious at Du Yuming's admission of wrongdoing and immediately said:

"Guangting! Don't call me Xiaozhang, you're my principal! You made the Xuzhou-Bengbu battle plan, didn't you? Why did the war turn out like this? Is it like Jinshen? People say you're the fire brigade leader, but wherever you go, the fire gets bigger. Are you even capable of doing your job?"

Du Yuming coughed in anger upon hearing the old man's scolding, and the old man, hearing Du Yuming cough in anger, knew he couldn't scold him too harshly.

After all, he really didn't have anyone else under his command right now, so he couldn't very well let his old man personally go to the front lines to command! Therefore, his tone softened as he said:

"Guangting! I know you went to Xuzhou and Bengbu with a lot of illness, and I know you were under a lot of pressure. The officer's words were a bit harsh just now. Guangting! You know the significance of Xuzhou and Bengbu. This position is the gateway to Nanjing. I know you are a person who cherishes your reputation, and I believe in you and have always valued you. You must hold on and help me turn this battle around! I am waiting for your good news!"

Hearing the old man's words, Du Yuming could only say:
"Guangting understands. Guangting will do everything in his power, even unto death!"

After hanging up the phone, Lao Jing stared blankly at the battle map. There was nothing he could do. Lao Jing had also reviewed Du Yuming's battle plan and thought it was quite good, but the result was not as expected.

In particular, the defeat at Suxian cannot be entirely blamed on Du Yuming. After all, what could be done if Liu Ruming disobeyed orders?

(End of this chapter)