Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

However, unlike Michael Aser, Li Qiwei's goal was very clear: he wanted victory and to defeat his opponent. As for the process or whether the battle was fought well or not, it was not worth mentioning compared to the victory of the war.

After taking office, Li Qiwei repeatedly pondered the tactics of the reinforcements to Chaozhou and finally discovered a problem with the timing of their attack:

From October 26 to November 2, 1950, the troops supporting Chaozhou launched a large-scale ambush, which lasted for eight days.

From November 25th to December 2nd, 1950, the aid troops to Chaozhou launched a proactive attack and dealt a heavy blow to the American troops, lasting eight days.

From December 31, 1950 to January 8, 1951, the reinforcements from Chaozhou advanced to the vicinity of the 37th parallel, lasting eight days.

Why did the attacks by the Chaozhou reinforcements mostly last only about eight days? Li Qiwei quickly figured out the underlying logic: with the US military having complete air superiority, the Chaozhou reinforcements' supplies were severely limited. The attacking Chaozhou reinforcements typically carried rations and ammunition, which were only enough for seven days. Therefore, the Chaozhou reinforcements' offensives could only last about a week, after which they had to stop and rest. Li Qiwei called this type of offensive a "weekly offensive."

The reason why the reinforcements to Chaozhou could only launch "weekly offensives" was that they lacked air superiority. This lack of air superiority also gave the reinforcements another characteristic: they were accustomed to launching attacks at night.

The night raid by the Chaozhou reinforcements caused great distress to the US forces. This was because the Chaozhou reinforcements were organized in a very special way, and this special organizational form was even more effective at night.

During the Liberation War, the Liberation Army invented a combat organization that later caused headaches for the US Army on the Chaozhou battlefield: the three-three tactical group.

When the reinforcements launched their attack, they did not rush in all at once. Instead, they formed tactical groups of three people and took turns providing cover for each other. The advantages of this were twofold: firstly, the personnel organization was more flexible, as a tactical group of three people could launch an attack; secondly, it avoided the situation where the personnel were too concentrated and could be killed in large numbers by the US artillery fire.

Since the Chaozhou reinforcements could form a combat team of three, their infiltration and penetration were almost impossible to defend against. The elusive Chaozhou reinforcements caused great distress to the US army. When is this elusive tactic most effective? Without a doubt: at night.

Composed of countless three-man tactical teams, the Chaozhou reinforcements launched attacks around the US positions under the cover of darkness. The US forces had no way of knowing how many Chaozhou reinforcements there were, and thus could not effectively counterattack based on the number of Chaozhou reinforcements attacking them. The Chaozhou reinforcements' terrifying night attack capabilities led to the saying among the US troops that "the moonlit night belongs to the Chaozhou people."

Of course, there was another important reason why the aid-to-Chaozhou army was used to launching "nighttime offensives": at that time, the technology of the US military was not advanced enough. Passive infrared night vision technology and low-light night vision technology had not yet been invented, so US Air Force bomber pilots could not take effective targeting and bombing actions at night.

In fact, both the Sunday Offensive and the Moonlit Offensive were countermeasures devised by the reinforcements of Chaozhou without air superiority. The lack of air superiority has always been a sore point for the reinforcements of Chaozhou.

Thus, Li Qiwei had roughly figured out the advantages and disadvantages of the US army and the aid-to-Chaozhou army.

The US military's advantages include: advanced weaponry, strong logistical support capabilities, and absolute air superiority.

The advantages of the reinforcements to Chaozhou: extremely brave in combat, extremely hardworking and resilient, flexible in tactics, and extremely good at infiltration and penetration.

The US military's disadvantages: poor battlefield adaptability, rigid tactical application, and less courageous combat than the troops aiding Chaozhou.

The disadvantage of the reinforcements to Chaozhou: it could even be said to be the only disadvantage, which was the fragile logistics.

Having clarified the strengths and weaknesses of both sides, Li Qiwei quickly devised a tactic—the "magnetic tactic," a crucial element in the history of the Chao-Guo War. Because the Chao-Guo reinforcements were adept at infiltration and penetration but lacked heavy weapons and air superiority, their rations and ammunition could only last about a week. Therefore, the first principle of Li Qiwei's magnetic tactic was to increase the number of artillery pieces and armored vehicles in the US forces. If surrounded by the Chao-Guo reinforcements, they shouldn't rush to break out; they could rely on the terrain. If there was no cover on the battlefield, they could also rely on armored vehicles. Unfortunately, the Chao-Guo reinforcements at this time did not yet have a large number of anti-tank and anti-armor weapons.

In this way, the US forces could hold their ground with superior firepower and await reinforcements, while simultaneously calling in air support to make it difficult for the reinforcements to quickly eliminate the surrounded US forces.

The reinforcements to Chaozhou were skilled at night raids, but they lacked mechanized units and could only march on foot. Since human physical strength has its limits, another principle of the magnetic tactics was: after engaging the reinforcements to Chaozhou during the day, if the position was not secure, they would retreat more than 30 kilometers without disrupting their formation. The reason for the 30 kilometers was that it was the distance the reinforcements to Chaozhou could march overnight, and then engage the reinforcements to Chaozhou in a decisive battle during the day.

The food and ammunition supplies for the reinforcements to Chaozhou could only last for about a week. Therefore, the third principle of the magnetic tactics was: when the battle reached the seventh day, regardless of the battlefield situation, a counterattack should be launched resolutely.

In fact, there is another principle to the magnetic tactics, but this principle has its own weakness, and it is precisely because of this weakness that Li Qiwei has difficulty achieving a complete victory: because the reinforcements to Chaozhou are good at infiltration, the US army should strive to advance all units at the same time when counterattacking, leaving no gaps on the position, so that the reinforcements to Chaozhou have difficulty carrying out infiltration.

So although the third campaign seemed like a great victory, directly driving the American troops out of Khan City.

However, the actual situation is that the US military's combat power has not been damaged at all.

On the contrary, because the reinforcements had pushed their lines too far forward, logistical support became even more difficult.

Under the bombing of US aircraft, not only trains but also cars could hardly pass. Therefore, the reinforcements to Chaozhou had no choice but to push back again and again in the fourth and fifth campaigns until they retreated to the vicinity of the 38th parallel before they began to build defensive fortifications.

However, the third battle also presents a very good opportunity: if the Khan River Bridge is blown up.

It's important to know that Li Qiwei withdrew from Khan City via the Khan River Bridge during the Third Battle, so if the Khan River were destroyed...

Then Li Qiwei will be trapped and die in Khan City.

It's important to understand that the Hanjiang Bridge is completely different from the Shuimen Bridge; the difference between the two is like heaven and earth.

The water gate bridge is only eight meters long, and even with the two piers, it is only a dozen meters long.

Therefore, it wouldn't be too difficult for the US military to build a steel bridge using steel frames in a short period of time.

However, the Hanjiang Bridge is different. You should know that although the first version of the Hanjiang Bridge was not 1,005 meters long, it was still 625 meters long.

Therefore, all that is needed is to blow up the Khan River Bridge, and the 100,000 American troops in Khan City will ultimately be trapped inside the city and fighting a siege against the Chaozhou reinforcements.

Just like the defense of Jincheng and Xucheng during the war, though different from Lao Jing, the US military had a large number of aircraft for airdrops, making it difficult to use siege tactics. (End of Chapter)