Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 222 Surprise Attack on Nianzhuang
Just as Huang Baitao was preparing to sacrifice himself, Wang Gensheng, through Du Yiman's radio positioning and various intelligence sources, determined the exact location of Huang Baitao's army headquarters, which was Huang Baitao himself, in Nianzhuang.

It should be noted that although Huang Baitao is now out of ammunition and food, and even lost an army before entering Nianzhuang, Nianzhuang still has a population of fifty to sixty thousand!

However, the Third Field Army commanders were forced by the situation to abandon Huang Baitao's army group, so they had to eliminate it no matter the cost.

This would naturally cause a large number of casualties, so when Wang Gensheng learned that the Third Field Army was going to launch a decisive attack on Huang Baitao's army, he still decided to lead the marines to the vanguard, directly attack Huang Baitao's army's command center, and kill Huang Baitao so that Huang Baitao's army would collapse in advance.

Although Huang Baitao's words made sense, Wang Gensheng still looked down on the idea of ​​sacrificing the lives of tens of thousands of Chinese people to achieve his own reputation.

Old Man Jin had shown Huang Baitao kindness and recognition, but that kindness was reserved for Huang Baitao himself, not for the soldiers under Huang Baitao's command.

Therefore, Wang Gensheng held Huang Baitao in utter contempt, as he led tens of thousands of his soldiers to be buried with him in gratitude for Huang's patronage.

After all, this is not the War of Resistance against Japan. If the soldiers below do not fight the Japanese to the death, their country will be wiped out and their people will be exterminated. The soldiers' families and relatives will also be persecuted and enslaved by the Japanese.

But this is a civil war. Whoever the people choose is the righteous one. If the people choose the Liberation Army, then Huang Baitao's side is wrong.

Therefore, in order to minimize casualties in the battle to annihilate Huang Baitao's army, Wang Gensheng decided to carry out a decapitation operation against Huang Baitao's army, that is, to eliminate the command of Huang Baitao's army.

However, Huang Baitao's army corps command post was located in the center of Nianzhuang, so it would be very difficult for Wang Gensheng to stubbornly lead a thousand or so marines to break into the center of a formation of fifty or sixty thousand people.

Therefore, Wang Gensheng could only take action when the Third Field Army launched a general offensive against Huang Baitao's army group.

Even if Huang Baitao discovered this, he wouldn't have enough troops to surround Wang Gensheng's Marines, preventing Wang Gensheng from being trapped in an encirclement.

Of course, the Third Field Army commander did not choose to launch the general offensive during the day, but rather at 8 p.m.

The reason for choosing nighttime was that launching an attack at night could weaken the firepower of Huang Baitao's army group's positions to the greatest extent possible.

After all, visibility is limited at night, with only a few dozen meters of sight, which greatly reduces the threat of firepower faced during an assault.

At 8 p.m., as signal flares soared into the sky, the artillery of the Third Field Army began to unleash its power, pouring a massive amount of artillery fire upon Nianzhuang.

At the same time, several columns of the Third Field Army that were surrounding Huang Baitao also launched an attack.

At this moment, Duan Peng, who was already wearing full-body bulletproof armor on the outer perimeter of Nianzhuang, asked Wang Gensheng:

"Si Ling, the Three Fields have launched a full-scale attack. When should we make our move?"

"Wait, let them fight for a few minutes until they get into a stalemate, then we'll suddenly break in!"

After speaking, Wang Gensheng turned to Du Yiman, who was fiddling with the radio, and asked:
"So, are you sure Huang Baitao's army headquarters is still in its original location?"

Du Yiman nodded in agreement.

"Yes, it's about 1.5 kilometers directly in front of us, and the radio waves are becoming more and more frequent, which should be due to the Third Field Army's attack."

Wang Gensheng naturally understood this. As the Third Field Army launched its offensive, Huang Baitao naturally needed to familiarize himself with the situation in all directions of the Nianzhuang position, so it was normal for the radio to be used frequently.

Fifteen minutes passed, and Wang Gensheng waved his hand and said:

"Charge with me! Take down Huang Baitao!"

After saying that, Wang Gensheng, wearing two full suits of armor and carrying an M2 heavy machine gun, jumped out of the trench and charged straight toward Huang Baitao's position.

As Wang Gensheng charged forward, Duan Peng followed suit, also carrying an M2 heavy machine gun.

Of course, besides Duan Peng, Wei Dayong, also dressed in full body armor and carrying an M2 heavy machine gun, charged out to Wang Gensheng's right. That's right, Wang Gensheng had taken Wei Dayong, the fake monk, from Li Yunlong's hands.

The reason is simple: Wei Dayong's skills were wasted by following Li Yunlong. After witnessing Wang Gensheng's ability to capture Chu Yunfei, Li Yunlong agreed to release him. Of course, this may also be due to Wang Gensheng's refusal of a cannon.

With Wang Gensheng at the center, Duan Peng and Wei Dayong, two martial arts masters, formed a cone-shaped attack formation on the left and right, heading straight for Huang Baitao's army headquarters.

The firepower generated by the three M2 heavy machine guns was extremely powerful.

The firing points on Huang Baitao's army's positions were all built with blue bricks, which could withstand ordinary rifle bullets and even some shrapnel from small-caliber mortars.

However, it proved somewhat ineffective against the 12.7mm bullets of the M2 heavy machine gun.

Even a 30-centimeter brick wall could be easily penetrated by a 12.7mm bullet and torn apart by the machine gunner behind it.

And so Wang Gensheng led a thousand marines at an extremely fast pace.

All the gun emplacements that blocked their path were blown up by Wang Gensheng, Duan Peng, and Wei Dayong with heavy machine guns.

The 1.5-kilometer distance was breached by Wang Gensheng in less than ten minutes.

Of course, Wang Gensheng, Duan Peng, and Wei Dayong also took a lot of bullets along the way, but unfortunately, Huang Baitao's army was a miscellaneous army, and the soldiers were armed with both Chinese Maxim machine guns and Japanese Type 92 machine guns.

However, neither the German Maxim heavy machine gun nor the Japanese Type 92 heavy machine gun could penetrate the bulletproof gear worn by Wang Gensheng, Duan Peng, and Wei Dayong.

The only firearm capable of penetrating Marine Corps body armor is the 12.7mm bullet from the M2 heavy machine gun.

Unfortunately, Huang Baitao's army was not equipped with Japanese-made weapons.

Just before Wang Gensheng attacked Huang Baitao's army, facing the fierce offensive of the Jiefang Army, some people in Huang Baitao's army command advised him to retreat and surrender.

However, Huang Baitao stated firmly:

"Pass on my order: anyone who dares to retreat will be shot on the spot! Go now!"

At this moment, Huang Baitao's corps chief of staff spoke up again to persuade Huang Baitao:

"Si Ling, the situation is hopeless, let's retreat quickly! That would be the best way to repay Old Man Jin!"

Huang Baitao, however, remained calm and said:

"The Liberation Army has broken through Nianzhuang!"

"They've already reached Silingbu, let's make a mess of things and get out of here as quickly as possible, every one of us who can escape is a chance!"

However, Huang Baitao's top confidant, Liu Zhenxiang, the commander of the 64th Army, responded resolutely to the chief of staff's words:
"If you want to retreat, then retreat. I will stay behind. I, Liu Zhenxiang, am determined to fight the Liberation Army to the death!"

However, the chief of staff scoffed at this, saying:
"Commander Liu, what time is it? You're still spouting nonsense!"

However, faced with Chief of Staff Wei Yao's disdain, Liu Zhenxiang was extremely angry and said:

"We all swore an oath before the general manager, so you have to keep your word, even if it means death!"

(End of this chapter)