Blood-Red Front

After meeting up with the remnants of the 119th Regiment at the gate, Lin Zhiyuan led the Independent Battalion straight to the front line.

Along the way, Lin Zhiyuan saw a large number of wounded soldiers retreating from their side, and the stone pavement on the ground was almost stained red with dripping blood.

Shang Kebing remained pressed tightly against Lin Zhiyuan, not daring to look up.

Having just arrived in Nanzhen, Lin Zhiyuan was about to ask someone where the command post was when Shang Kebing suddenly tugged at his arm.

"Young Master, I've received a message. The Wenhe position is requesting reinforcements."

"Received the message? How did you receive it?" Lin Zhiyuan was puzzled, looking at Shang Kebing's empty hand.

Pointing to his ear, Shang Kebing said, "I'm a psychic; I can hear messages from other psychics within a hundred miles."

Lin Zhiyuan tilted his ear, but heard nothing.

"Can everyone hear it?" Lin Zhiyuan asked.

Shang Kebing nodded. "As long as the ritual is completed within the Temple of Earth, all spirit mediums within a hundred miles of the sender can hear it, but the farther away they are, the less clearly they can hear it."

Lin Zhiyuan understood: Shang Kebing was a radio, and the Temple of Earth was very likely the signal transmitter.

"What if the psychic betrays us, and the enemy receives the news?" Lin Zhiyuan asked curiously.

"Normally, psychics use secret codes to send messages, but this time I received a message in plain language, which is why I was able to understand it," Shang Kebing explained.

"However, a psychic cannot become a traitor, otherwise he will lose the protection of his ancestors and will no longer possess the ability of a psychic."

Shang Kebing had never served in the military. If the psychic sent a message in secret language, she could hear it but wouldn't understand it. This time, the Wenhe position directly requested reinforcements in plain language, so she was able to understand what was going on.

"Sending messages in plain text, it seems they're really in a hurry."

Lin Zhiyuan took a map out of Shang Kebing's map bag and spread it out by the roadside. Ma Daxi and Sun Yu also gathered around.

Pointing to the map, Lin Zhiyuan said, "Judging from the overall situation map, our army has established nearly 200 kilometers of defensive positions from Jingshan and Liuhe in the northwest to Jinshan in the southeast."

"The Chu Sheng Army is using its main force to hold back troops in the direction of the concession, while its flank troops are landing and maneuvering from the direction of Chuankou and Laohulin. It is now launching a central breakthrough at the junction of our left-wing army group and the central army group."

"This Wenhe position is one of the enemy's main attack directions."

After listening to Lin Zhiyuan's introduction and looking at the map, Sun Yu analyzed, "Geographical location determines everything. I think Wenhe is the best location for our independent battalion."

Sun Yu was indeed crazy and wanted to fight the enemy to the death, but being crazy doesn't mean being stupid. With only 300 men in the Independent Battalion, if they were to be thrown into the salient, they probably wouldn't even make a sound.

Lin Zhiyuan nodded. "I think so too. The Independent Battalion plays the most important role in this 200-kilometer-long front."

"Wenhe is the most important natural defense line in the northwest of Binzhou. Once it is breached, the enemy will be able to launch a pincer attack on our main force, and the entire line will inevitably collapse."

"Judging from the current situation, as long as Wenhe can hold its ground, the entire front line will be fine, and the enemy will be unable to encircle it."

This is also why Lin Zhiyuan was allowed to come to Nanzhen from the headquarters of the 8th Army. Turning left from Nanzhen leads to Wenhe.

However, Lin Zhiyuan did not expect the battle situation to be so urgent. Before he even reached Nanzhen, Wenhe was already in imminent danger.

"Using minimal force to achieve maximum effect." Ma Daxi said, "Battalion Commander, we probably need to hurry. The Wenhe position is likely already at its breaking point."

"We need to hurry." Lin Zhiyuan stood up and put away the map. "Destination: Wenhe. Forced march!"

Sun Yu shouted, "Run! Everyone, run!"

……

At this time in the Wenhe direction, the 6th Regiment of the 2nd Detachment of the 8th Army was suppressed by the heavy firepower of the newly promoted army and could not even lift its head.

Shrapnel from a 75mm shell explosion can cause serious injury or even death if it grazes the target.

The newly formed army's planes also circled overhead, dropping bombs from time to time.

The bombs made a sharp whistling sound as they fell, leaving a crater several meters deep on the ground. Nearby soldiers were blown to pieces.

The air on the entire position seemed to be on fire.

Inside the underground command post, Ji Qiu, the commander of the 6th Regiment, put down his binoculars and angrily slammed his fist on the wall: "Damn it, this is too much!"

When the Battle of Binxi first broke out, the number of aircraft in Xia and Chusheng were not much different, and the two sides fought back and forth. The Xia Air Force even had the upper hand at one point.

However, as naval reinforcements arrived, the number of newly launched aircraft began to increase dramatically.

Faced with several times the number of aircraft, the Xia Kingdom's air force has now essentially lost air superiority.

This forced the Xia army at the front to passively endure the attack. The three-dimensional firepower of the Chusheng Army forced the soldiers to huddle together in the trenches as much as possible.

They would only stick their bodies out of the trenches to return fire during lulls in the artillery fire.

"Have you made contact with the rear? When will the reinforcements arrive?" Ji Qiu asked, turning his head.

All the phones in the regimental headquarters were ringing for help.

The chief of staff approached: "Regimental commander, it seems there will be no reinforcements for the time being."

"The troops have suffered heavy casualties, and the detachment commander has already sent all the reserves to the front line."

"Damn it." Ji Qiu sighed helplessly upon hearing the chief of staff's words.

Without reinforcements, the 6th Regiment will have to hold out to the death. After this battle, it is unknown how many men will be left.

As if things weren't going to go wrong, just as Ji Qiu was thinking about how to hold on a little longer, an advisor rushed over.

"Commander! Something's wrong! An enemy company has crossed the Wen River and is attacking our flank!"

"What?!" Ji Qiu exclaimed in surprise, "How did the enemy break through?"

When the newly promoted army was engaged in combat, they always regarded flanking maneuvers as the supreme doctrine. Large troop formations had large flanking maneuvers, and small detachments had small flanking maneuvers.

Ji Qiu had anticipated this move when setting up the defenses, but he still couldn't prevent it.

The chief of staff explained, "The heavy machine guns at the front have been largely destroyed by the enemy's infantry artillery, and we have no aircraft or artillery support. It will be difficult to withstand the enemy's strong attack with only light weapons."

When your side has neither heavy machine guns nor artillery, the enemy's heavy machine guns will have an exceptionally strong suppressive effect.

"We must push back the enemy's flanking attacks, otherwise it could cause the entire front to collapse."

The pressure on the main battlefield was already immense; if problems arose on the flanks, Wenhe would absolutely not be able to hold out.

Ji Qiu grabbed a submachine gun from the nearby table and shouted, "Except for the duty officer, radio operator, and messenger squad leader, everyone else who can move, grab your weapons and follow me!"

Those in the regimental headquarters who had guns took them, and those who didn't picked up wooden sticks or stools.

Not a single person hesitated or retreated; they all followed behind Ji Qiu and charged toward the flank positions.

However, as the main force and elite unit of the newly promoted army, the Nishimura Company, which crossed the Wenzao River, was extremely powerful.

Faced with the fierce attack of nine grenade launchers and nine light machine guns, the soldiers of the 6th Regiment fell one after another.

Even if Ji Qiu led his team to arrive, they could only stabilize the position for a while. It was impossible for them to push the Nishimura Company back.

……