nucmednet Chapter 439: Retreat to Advance and Draw the Snake Out of Its Hole
Chapter 439: Retreat to Advance and Draw the Snake Out of Its Hole
"Mobilize the armies of Guangjing City, Luyuan City, and Quanzhou City, and quickly detour from Yanfu Town to the rear of the front-line positions. Only one regiment-level force will be left to garrison each city. I will use my absolute military advantage to defeat the First Army of the Central Plains in Northern Xinjiang!"
In the combat conference room, Song Yuanfeng issued his own orders. Over the past four or five days, the troops from the three provinces, especially the Yaozhou Army, had not been at a disadvantage in the head-on confrontation with the Central Plains First Army. This gave Song Yuanfeng enough confidence again. He swept away the haze of his previous defeats in the hands of the Northwest Revolutionary Army when he led the Western Route of the Northern Expedition, and made a very bold decision.
Deputy Commander-in-Chief Tian Jialiang hesitated and said, "Commander, isn't this a bit too risky? Behind the enemy, there is the Second Army of the Central Plains Military Region. If there is any accident in our plan and the battlefield situation is reversed, the high-quality defense line we have built in the northern part of Yaozhou relying on the urban agglomeration will collapse instantly."
Other generals also raised their concerns.
Song Yuanfeng shook his head at this time, and said firmly: "The 300,000-strong army of the Northwest Military Region in the northern border has officially moved south from Hanzhou. The troops of the Northwest Military Region are the most capable and most powerful troops in the northern border. The Ezhou Army can hardly cover their edge. Now is the time when the Southern Government is in danger. Our three provinces' troops are the most elite troops besides the Central Army Group. We must help the Southern Government open up the situation. The only way is to achieve a hearty victory!"
"Besides, Zheng Zeyu didn't take our troops from three provinces seriously at all. Facing our 400,000-man army, he only mobilized 200,000 troops to the south. For a long time, the might of the Northern Frontier has made everyone afraid, and also made these reckless people in the Northern Frontier so arrogant. Facts have proved that our troops from three provinces are definitely capable of confronting them head-on. This time, I must make the Northern Frontier pay the price for their contempt! Execute the order."
Tian Jialiang wanted to persuade them, but thinking of the serious situation currently faced by the Southern Government, he finally chose to remain silent.
In the headquarters of the First Central Plains Army, Zheng Zeyu was squatting on the ground with a bowl of noodles in his hand, very down-to-earth, taking bites of noodles and garlic, sweating profusely while eating. From time to time, he chatted with the nearby soldiers, and his words were filled with extraordinary friendliness. Compared with the Southern Government, the scene in the Northern Frontier was completely different.
After the meal, an intelligence officer appeared in front of Zheng Zeyu in a hurry and whispered a few words in his ear. Zheng Zeyu's eyes flashed with a gleam of brilliance. He stood up and ordered his guards: "Notify them to hold a full military combat meeting in 20 minutes!"
"Yes! Commander!"
Twenty minutes later, the generals of the First Central Plains Army sat in the combat meeting room. Zheng Zeyu was the first to speak: "How is it? I have been asking you to hold back these past few days and only use 30% of your skills and momentum to fight against Song Yuanfeng's troops. Are you feeling very angry?"
Sitting at the end of the conference table, a division commander with the rank of major general said bluntly: "Yes, we can obviously crush them with a thunderous force and win the final victory in this Yaozhou battle, but we choose to waste time here, deliberately show weakness to the enemy, and engage in a tug-of-war with the Southern Government's troops. Excuse me, I really can't understand it!"
The commander of the First Army, Wang Hua, glared at his division commander fiercely and said, "The commander must have deeper considerations and arrangements for doing this. As a soldier, you should obey orders as your duty, instead of complaining like a woman!"
Zheng Zeyu shook his head with a dumb smile, put down the teacup in his hand, stood up, and walked to the huge sand table in the adjacent room. The generals of all levels of the First Army looked at each other, followed Zheng Zeyu's steps, and surrounded the sand table.
Zheng Zeyu picked up the baton, pointed at the military sand table representing the entire Yaozhou terrain and slowly said, "Yaozhou has been a famously prosperous place since ancient times. It is a land of fish and rice, with good weather and many plains. Logically speaking, under such terrain conditions, our troops should be unstoppable and invincible. I think you must be very curious why we have to act like we are evenly matched with Song Yuanfeng's Yaozhou Army."
"You see, although the northern part of Yaozhou is flat, there are extremely dense urban clusters here, including Guangjing City, Luyuan City, Quanzhou City, Zuofeng City, and Pingqiu City. The five cities and twenty-one counties have complete city defense systems and facilities. The farthest distance between them is only 45 kilometers, and the closest is even 20 kilometers. These county cities have basically been carefully arranged and repaired by the Southern Government, and the city defenses are strong. Once the battle on the front line of Guangjing City is unfavorable, they will immediately retreat and clear the fields, which will cause us huge trouble."
"These city clusters are mutually supportive. Once we launch a general attack on a city, the troops from the three provinces in other cities will be able to provide support in the shortest possible time, and even form a siege on us. Even if we can storm all the way and capture cities one after another, huge casualties and losses are unavoidable. The reason why I let you show weakness to the enemy and form a situation of equal strength with Song Yuanfeng's troops is to paralyze him and make him feel that the combat effectiveness of our Central Plains Military Region's troops is just so-so."
"Now, our three armies in the northern border are advancing in parallel. The Southern Military District has penetrated deep into the heart of the southern country. The combat effectiveness of the Northwestern Military District troops is second only to the Central Military District. The pressure they bring to the southern government is unparalleled and enormous. What we have to do is to give Song Yuanfeng's troops in the three provinces hope, a hope that they can turn the tide with their own strength."
After Zheng Zeyu finished speaking, the generals present could not help but look at each other. They did not expect that Zheng Zeyu had such a far-reaching strategic vision. Everything he did was to lure the snake out of its hole and let Song Yuanfeng, who was originally hiding in the northern urban agglomeration of Yaozhou, take the initiative to attack.
"Just now, our intelligence personnel lurking in Quanzhou and Luyuan have sent back specific information. Large enemy troops in the two cities and surrounding towns have secretly begun to mobilize, intending to pass through Yanfu Town and bypass our First Army. They will use their superior forces to divide the battlefield, block the Second Army's support, and swallow up our First Army in one gulp."
Zheng Zeyu paused, his whole person showing his sharp edge at this moment, and said solemnly: "This is an opportunity for us, an opportunity that we must not miss. Since they have already stretched their glans out of the turtle shell, we must chop them off with a knife, and decide the outcome of the battle in one battle!"
In fact, the combat strength of the Central Plains Military Region has always been able to crush the so-called three-province troops under Song Yuanfeng. Retreating to advance is a psychological game, a performance that made Song Yuanfeng jump into the fire pit on his own initiative.