Blood-Red Front

The 14th Brigade encountered difficulties at Niutou Mountain, but the other units of the newly promoted army continued to make progress smoothly.

Although the Xia army fought desperately, the defensive lines were still being smashed by sledgehammers and bombs, and the lines continued to retreat.

After the newly promoted 9th Division, responsible for the central offensive, advanced to the south bank of the Qinhuai River, Lieutenant General Yoshino, the division commander, was somewhat annoyed by the occasional artillery fire from the direction of Niutou Mountain.

"Okazaki is a complete waste of space. He hasn't made a single step forward in three days."

"Division Commander, I heard that the 14th Brigade has stopped its offensive and switched to earthmoving operations. I estimate that they won't make any major moves until the 18th Division counterattacks," said Colonel Hirokawa, the chief of staff standing beside him.

"It will take at least two more days for the 18th Division to be fully in place. Are we supposed to wait here for two days?" Yoshino was even more annoyed.

"Division Commander, we can first occupy the Qinhuai River Bridge and shell Yushan. After the 18th Division and the 14th Brigade capture Niutou Mountain, we can then launch a coordinated attack on Yushan."

"Too slow!" Yoshino waved his hand. "Order the 7th Regiment to attack and advance immediately, capture the bridge, and continue the attack towards Amazan."

The 9th Division consisted of two brigades and four infantry regiments, in addition to one cavalry regiment, one artillery regiment, and one engineer regiment, for a total strength of nearly 30,000 men.

With the assistance of a heavy artillery regiment and a tank regiment, Yoshino was confident that he could easily take Amazan and encircle Kyoto from the south as planned, while also helping the 14th Brigade complete the encirclement of the area west of Kyoto.

Seeing that Yoshino had made up his mind, Hirokawa said no more. In fact, he also believed that the 9th Division could easily encircle Kyoto. His previous analysis was just his job as chief of staff.

The Xia Army's 5th Division, responsible for defending Yushan, began to be shelled.

……

That evening, Chang Zhongshi convened a military meeting at the command post, which Lin Zhiyuan also attended.

Standing in front of the map, looking at the attendees, Chang Zhongshi's expression was serious.

"In Binxi, our army and the newly risen army were evenly matched, if not even evenly matched. If it weren't for the newly risen army's flanking landing, our army wouldn't be retreating now."

"When we arrived in Kyoto, our army was clearly well-fortified and well-supplied, but we were instead defeated by the newly promoted army."

"I don't understand what caused all this. Was it the weapons? Were the soldiers reckless? Or were the generals incompetent in command?"

Chang Zhongshi really couldn't understand it.

Before the decisive battle in Kyoto, Chang Zhongshi knew that Kyoto could not be defended, since the forces participating in the decisive battle in Kyoto were only one-third of those in Binxi.

However, according to his original estimate, it would be easy to defend with 13 divisions for one or two months, after all, Binxi had been fighting for half a year.

This period of one or two months is the international mediation time he estimated.

Moreover, even if the mediation fails, once he has gained enough political prestige, he can arrange for the troops to withdraw to Jiangbei in an orderly manner.

As a result, now, let alone a month or two, it's difficult to even hold on for a week.

This completely caught Chang Zhongshi off guard. Now, let alone gain some political prestige, he will probably lose all the prestige he already has, and it's hard to say whether he will be able to command troops in the future.

Ignoring Chang Zhongshi's confusion, Lin Zhiyuan stood up and said, "Commander-in-Chief Chang, now is not the time to consider these things."

"The newly formed 18th Division of the military has already surrounded us from the direction of Wuhu. If we don't make a change immediately, all 13 of our divisions will be encircled."

"Zhiyuan, what are your thoughts?" Chang Zhongshi asked.

"Retreat north immediately!" Lin Zhiyuan said, pointing to the map.

"As far as I know, the political department had prepared two large railway ferries, several small steamships, and several hundred civilian boats before the war."

"With so many ships, as long as we coordinate well, we can transfer more than 5 people in one night. At most, our entire army can complete the crossing to the north in three nights."

"I am willing to lead the 404th Detachment to cover the rear and buy time for the main army to cross the river to the north."

The Political Department has already mobilized most of the people in Kyoto. As long as this main force is successfully taken out, all that will be left for the Rising Army is an empty city.

However, Chang Zhongshi's expression turned somewhat ugly after hearing Lin Zhiyuan's words.

"We don't have a boat right now," Chang Zhongshi said dryly.

"Where's the boat?" Lin Zhiyuan asked in surprise.

He had seen those ships with his own eyes and confirmed with Lin Xing that they were prepared for the retreat of the main force of the Xia army.

Chang Zhongshi remained silent, but Chen Xiu spoke up, saying, "In order to inspire the courage of all departments to fight to the death, all steamships have been moved upstream, and most of the civilian ships have been scuttled."

Upon hearing this, Lin Zhiyuan was so angry that he wanted to pull out his gun and kill Chang Zhongshi. He knew perfectly well that this was Chang Zhongshi's doing.

Chang Zhongshi didn't want to owe the radicals a favor, but he ended up leaving hundreds of thousands of people stranded on the crater.

Just as Lin Zhiyuan was about to explode, Qiu Yu'an, the commander of the 5th Division sitting next to him, tugged at Lin Zhiyuan.

"Now is not the time to discuss these ships; what's most important is what to do," Qiu Yu'an said.

"Flank and outflank, break through from the front!" With the ship gone, Lin Zhiyuan decisively changed his plans.

"Although the newly formed 14th Brigade and the 9th Division are not far apart, they are separated by the Qinhuai River. We can concentrate our superior forces to launch a proactive attack."

"As long as we defeat the 14th Brigade head-on, our army can break free from the encirclement of the newly formed army."

"I agree with Lin's plan," Qiu Yu'an said. "My 5th Division is willing to work with the 404th Detachment. As long as we add one or two main divisions, even if we can't completely annihilate the newly formed 14th Brigade, we can still defeat them."

With no chance of crossing to the north, breaking out to the south became the only option.

"That's not appropriate." Chang Zhongshi shook his head repeatedly.

"One regiment of the 9th Division has already crossed the river. If we attack the 14th Brigade now, the 5th Division's rear will be directly exposed to the 9th Division's blade."

"At that time, let alone defeating the 14th Brigade, Yushan will probably be captured by the enemy first."

"Then let's wipe out the vanguard of the 9th Division first and block them on the other side of the Qinhuai River," Lin Zhiyuan said decisively.

"Commander-in-Chief Chang, there are still two reserve regiments in Kyoto. If you reinforce them and coordinate with the 5th Division, I guarantee we can take care of them tonight."

"This reserve force of 5 men is Kyoto's last line of defense; it should not be mobilized unless absolutely necessary," Chang Zhongshi said, shaking his head in refusal.

"It is too early to break out now. All units should vow to live and die with their positions and must not give up easily, lest it shake the morale of the troops."

"As long as we hold firm, there is a way," Chang Chung-shih affirmed.

Chang Zhongshi is now pinning all his hopes on international mediation.

If Kyoto can be defended, Chu Shengjun will likely take the initiative to seek peace talks, and Chang Zhongshi will then become a hero of the Xia Kingdom.

……