Blood-Red Front

"Gentlemen! Today is the day to fight to the death!" Heishiro shouted, raising his command sword.

After Lin Zhiyuan joined the battle, the situation began to deteriorate rapidly.

Heishiro had no choice but to concentrate all the remaining troops around the regimental headquarters in the landlord's mansion, preparing for a final desperate attempt.

As for the troops surrounded in other places, Heishiro had lost contact with them and could only hope that they could hold on.

The newly promoted army's radio communication only extends to the regimental level; below that, they can only communicate by telephone. At this time, all telephone lines of the 7th Regiment have been cut off.

Upon hearing Heishiro's resolute cry, the other newly promoted soldiers also shouted in unison.

"Long live Her Majesty the Empress!"

"Long live!"

Regardless of what the newly recruited soldiers were thinking, no one dared to utter a word of dissent at this moment.

All the documents in the regimental headquarters had been burned, the radios and telephones had been smashed, and all the newly promoted soldiers were prepared to die in battle, with demolition charges and grenades all hanging on their bodies.

However, seeing the newly promoted troops clinging to the compound and holding out to the last, Lin Zhiyuan ordered a halt to the attack.

"Commander Lin, the newly promoted army is definitely working hard to build up their positions. We should launch a demolition assault in one fell swoop." Zhu Sheng, the commander of the 511th Regiment, ran over.

第9师团的援兵被502团和第5师96团牢牢挡在河对岸，第7联队也被分成3坨。

One of the battalions near Yushan was surrounded by the 5th Division and was being bombarded by 150mm howitzers.

Another battalion was blocked at Dingjiazhuang by the 512th Regiment.

The rest were all in front of them.

For Xia Jun, the most important thing is to complete the annihilation as soon as possible. After all, the 7th Regiment is just an appetizer, and there is an entire reinforced brigade waiting for them.

"No need for that." Lin Zhiyuan waved his hand.

The 511th Regiment wanted to launch a strong attack because they had no artillery, but Lin Zhiyuan was not one to lack artillery.

Lin Zhiyuan would never sacrifice lives for a problem that could be solved with artillery shells, even if the 511th Regiment was not his subordinate.

Lin Zhiyuan gestured to Shang Kebing beside him and said, "Notify the cannon company and the mountain artillery battalion to strike the last coordinate."

"How much?"

"Keep beating them until I make them stop."

Shang Kebing immediately jumped into the square pit that had been dug in advance.

Moments later, artillery shells from the cannon company and the mountain artillery battalion came whistling in.

"Boom!" "Boom!"...

Seeing the shells falling continuously and the compound collapsing under the bombardment, the soldiers of the 511th Regiment were filled with envy; they wanted artillery too.

Five minutes later, seeing the shells still falling, the soldiers all gave Lin Zhiyuan a thumbs up, thinking he was a good commander.

Ten minutes later, the soldiers had started discussing among themselves. Everyone was cursing the newly promoted army and shouting that they wanted to let the newly promoted army experience what it meant to be bombarded by artillery.

Thirty minutes later, the soldiers were numb. They had never imagined such a barrage of artillery fire, especially since all they were facing was a large compound.

At this time, the landlord's mansion had been bombed into ruins. The walls and houses had all collapsed, and the precious trees and artificial rocks that were originally used for decoration had all been blown to pieces.

Only after confirming that the newly formed army was no longer capable of organizing a systematic defense did Lin Zhiyuan order a halt to the shelling.

The soldiers, who had been waiting impatiently, rushed into the ruined courtyard and easily wiped out all the enemies inside.

At the same time, the 5th Division also annihilated the enemy forces in the encirclement. As for the remaining battalion, they were even less likely to withstand the combined attack of the two divisions.

By daybreak, apart from the more than 300 wounded who were captured, the rest of the 7th Regiment had been completely wiped out.

Lin Zhiyuan met Qiu Yu'an again.

"Ha ha ha ha……"

From a distance, Qiu Yu'an burst into laughter.

"Brother Zhiyuan, that was exhilarating! Absolutely exhilarating!"

Wiping out an entire regiment of the newly promoted army in one night was something Qiu Yu'an would never have dared to imagine in the past, but now it was as easy as cutting melons and vegetables.

If it weren't for the fact that the newly promoted troops still displayed elite combat capabilities during the attack on the newly promoted brigade, he would have truly believed that these newly promoted troops were fake.

Although Qiu Yu'an didn't know how Lin Zhiyuan managed to destroy the Chu Sheng Army's mountain guns before the battle, it didn't diminish his admiration.

"Commander-in-Chief Chang can't say anything now that the 7th Regiment has been taken down so easily, can he?" Qiu Yu'an said with a smile.

No sooner had he finished speaking than the communications officer ran over with a telegram.

"Commander-in-Chief Chang is calling."

Lin Zhiyuan took it, glanced at it, and handed it to Qiu Yu'an.

Qiu Yu'an's smile vanished, and he let out a cold snort.

"At this crucial moment, Commander-in-Chief Chang has stepped up; is there really any need for him to give orders?"

"Brother Zhiyuan, what do you suggest we do?"

"Commander-in-Chief Chang has dispatched two divisions that were withdrawn from the eastern front to reinforce this area, but these two divisions will not be able to arrive in a short time," Lin Zhiyuan said.

"I think the 5th Division should continue to advance south. I'll lead the 404th Division to take the road between General Mountain and Niutou Mountain to outflank the 11th Regiment. If we can replicate tonight's battle, things will be much easier from here on out."

"Alright." Qiu Yu'an nodded. "No matter what Commander-in-Chief Chang says, we will proceed according to the established strategy!"

"Once reinforcements arrive, we will decide whether to let them join the battle."

The attack on the 7th Regiment was a surprise operation, and it happened at night. The newly promoted army was caught off guard and couldn't react in time, but the battle that followed was not so simple.

Putting aside everything else, the 9th Division would never sit idly by and watch the 14th Brigade be completely annihilated. In addition, with the 7th Regiment also destroyed, they would definitely try to cross the Qinhuai River to attack the flank of the Xia army.

The 404th Detachment and the 5th Division began their respective operations.

The 14th Brigade also received news that the 7th Regiment had been completely annihilated.

Looking at the telegram in his hand, Okazaki felt something was wrong no matter how he looked at it.

The chief of staff was also somewhat surprised. "Why would Xia Jun suddenly attack the 7th Regiment? And where did they get such strong combat capabilities?"

In just one night, the 7th Regiment was gone. The newly promoted army had never encountered such a situation before.

Looking at the map, Okazaki frowned. "Right now, it's the newly promoted army attacking and the summer army defending. What caused them to suddenly make such a move?"

After erasing the 7th Regiment from the map, Okazaki analyzed the overall situation again and subconsciously said, "Damn it! Is the Xia army planning to break out?"

"That's unlikely," the chief of staff said. "Xia's capital city is backed by the Yangtze River. Even if they were to break out, they should cross the river to the north. How could they possibly choose to break out head-on?"

Although the newly established army also sent a brigade to cross the river from the direction of Wuhu to the north bank, it was impossible for a single brigade to block the long riverbank.

Moreover, the Pukou Wharf in Jiangbei is still in Xia Jun's hands, and no normal person would choose the more distant option.

"What you said makes sense," Okazaki nodded, "but I still feel that Xia Jun's actions are a bit unusual."

"So what do we do now? Should we send the 41st and 11th Regiments to launch an attack to probe the enemy's situation?" the chief of staff asked.

After a moment of contemplation, Okazaki finally shook his head.

"Pass on my order: the entire army shall retreat immediately. The 41st Regiment shall retreat to Jingshan, and the remaining troops shall all retreat to Moling Pass."

The 14th Brigade was going to wait for the 18th Division anyway, so there was no difference between waiting at Niutou Mountain and waiting at Moling.

"Tell them to prepare, the Xia army may launch a major attack!"

"Hi!"

……