Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 221 Critical Situation

However, the news that came to Lao Jing was not all bad. There was also good news: the United States had agreed to allocate the remaining 40 million US dollars in military aid that had been previously signed for Lao Jing.

However, this does not mean that Du Lu has forgiven Lao Zi for his previous betrayal, but rather that Du Lu is unwilling to break the previous agreement.

After all, a country's reputation is extremely important. Therefore, in order to protect the United States' reputation, even if the Du Lu people hate the old man very much, they will hold their noses and complete the previously signed contracts. Besides, forty million US dollars cannot change anything in the overall war situation.

Of course, with Su County captured, Lao Zi couldn't just sit idly by and watch; he decided to do something to deal with the situation.

Now, the only force that Lao Jing can mobilize is the Fu Group stationed in Beiping. You should know that the Fu Group has a force of more than 600,000 troops at this time!

If Fu's group had followed the old man's advice and used ocean-going ships to support this side via the Yangtze River, it would have had a significant impact on the Huaihai Campaign.

Therefore, in order to ensure the successful completion of the Huaihai Campaign, it was necessary to resolve the encirclement of Huang Baitao's army group as soon as possible.

This would free up the Third Field Army to deal with Qiu Qingquan's and Li Mi's corps.

Of course, although Qiu Qingquan's army was only ten kilometers away from Nianzhuang, even that short distance was enough to terrify Qiu Qingquan. He had lost his previous arrogance and was now sighing as he addressed Li Mi:
“Brother Bing, I have witnessed the fighting spirit of the Jiefang Army. If we continue fighting like this, not only will we fail to save Huang Baitao, but we might also be left with nothing by the time we reach Nianzhuang!”

Li Mi also sighed:

"The Liberation Army is incredibly tenacious; to put it bluntly, they are an impregnable fortress!"

"We've been advancing eastward, getting closer and closer to Nianzhuang, but further and further away from Xuzhou. If our retreat is cut off by the Third Field Army, I don't want to become the next Huang Baitao!"

Li Mi deeply agreed with Qiu Qingquan's concerns:

"Brother Yu'an, what's your opinion?"

Seeing that Li Mi agreed with his opinion, Qiu Qingquan continued:

"After fighting for so long, our troops have long lost their fighting spirit. It's time to deploy a spearhead tactic!"

Li Mi was taken aback by Qiu Qingquan's words, not understanding what the "spike tactic" meant. Qiu Qingquan then explained:

"Configure the attacking forces in a cone formation and maintain the offensive posture, but keep the majority of the troops in the rear to maintain uninterrupted contact with Xu Zhou."

Li Mi understood Qiu Qingquan's explanation; he was just dawdling. But he said, "..."

"This way, we can stay on the offensive and it's easier to explain to the old man, but it doesn't look very good on the surface!"

Qiu Qingquan offered words of comfort:

"What time is it? Who cares about whether it looks good or not? We were forced into this by the Liberation Army."

In response, Li Mi asked in return:
"So how should we report the tactics?"

Upon hearing this, Qiu Qingquan thought for a moment and then said:

"The tactical report said that in order to break through the defense line of the Jiefang Army, we had to pierce the enemy's heart like a sharp cone."

There was no other way; the fighting spirit of the Jiefang Army truly impressed Qiu Qingquan. So, as Qiu Qingquan saw himself getting closer and closer, he was naturally getting further and further away from Xuzhou.

Fearing he would become the next Huang Baitao's army, he naturally had no choice but to resort to this desperate measure. Liu Zhi, Qiu Qingquan's direct superior, immediately understood Qiu Qingquan's meaning after seeing his report. He speechlessly said to Du Yuming:

"This, isn't this just playing dirty tricks! And they call it some kind of 'spike tactic,' but I still want to run! Do you think the squad leader will allow that!"

Meanwhile, Du Yuming, standing to the side, sighed helplessly at Qiu Qingquan's method:

“I know Qiu Qingquan well. He’s only good at fighting when things are going well, not when things are going badly. I’m worried that the longer the battle in Xudong goes on, the worse it will be for our army!”

Having no other options, Liu Zhi could only rely on Du Yuming, so he said to Du Yuming:

"Guangting, you've always been resourceful and decisive, you need to think of a solution! If the magistrate blames us, we'll both be in deep trouble. It's not just that I might be dismissed from my position as the head of the Xuzhou tax collection department, but you might also be implicated!"

Du Yuming helplessly replied, "What can I do about this?"
"The commander has already given Qiu Qingquan a death order, but we still can't break through. What can I do? The only hope now is that Huang Baitao can hold out for a few more days until Huang Wei's army arrives in Beizhou and we can join forces in Xuzhou to see if we can turn the tide of the Xuzhou-Bengbu war."

Regarding Du Yuming's hopes, Liu Zhi said:

"Guangting! I advise you not to be too optimistic. This time Huang Wei has entered Xuzhou and Bengbu, but his 12th Army Corps is directly under the command of the commander-in-chief and is not under the general command of Xuzhou. In my opinion, it's still a long way off before we can meet in Xuzhou!"

Of course, Xu Zhou was only worried, while Huang Baitao had been besieged for ten days and had even slaughtered and eaten his warhorses.

Actually, Lao Jing was going to airdrop some more, but after Wang Gensheng blew up the oil depot at Xuzhou Airport, things got even worse.

They didn't even bother airdropping food anymore, so when Huang Baitao's army was starving, they called Liu Zhi again and said:

"Commander! Does the President have any further instructions? You've seen the current state of my Seventh Army Corps. If our allies don't arrive soon, we'll have to meet again in the next life!"

In response, Liu Zhi comforted Huang Baitao by saying that Qiu Qingquan's army was only ten kilometers away from Nianzhuang.

Of course, Huang Baitao could already hear the artillery fire from Qiu Qingquan's army, and Qiu Qingquan's artillery could even reach Nianzhuang, but he just couldn't get there. Moreover, Qiu Qingquan was already considering retreating and was adopting a spear-and-spike tactic.

Huang Baitao, who was commanding from the top of Nianzhuang Tower, looked speechlessly at Qiu Qingquan's troops ten kilometers away and said:

"It's only ten kilometers from Nianzhuang, he should be able to get here even if he had to crawl, but why can't he make it?"

Regarding Huang Baitao's disappointment with his lack of ambition, the chief of staff of the 7th Army Corps said to Huang Baitao:

"Si Ling, the soldiers at the front have run out of food and even killed their warhorses. Si Ling, we have held out for more than ten days. Now that we have broken through, we can have a clear conscience!"

Hearing this, Huang Baitao scoffed, "Breakout? What's the point of breaking out! Show that madman Qiu what a pathetic sight we're going to make! We'll just keep fighting in Nianzhuang. One for one, that's enough. We're going to die anyway. We'll show the commander and those Huangpu people that they shouldn't be so selfish and scheming against each other anymore. If the country turns the tide, that'll be a contribution from my Seventh Army Corps!"

In response to Huang Baitao's words, the chief of staff could only say helplessly:

"Si Ling, if this continues, then death is truly the only outcome!"

"Fight if you can, die if you can't!"

However, Huang Baitao's stubbornness frustrated his subordinates, or rather, those who wanted to break out and surrender. After all, if Si Ling wanted to die in battle, his subordinates would be executed without a doubt if they wanted to surrender.

(End of this chapter)