Chapter 228: The first battle was frustrated

The Northwest Field Army attacked Luochuan for a week with two columns, three and sixth, but the troops paid a certain number of casualties and costs, but did not make any real progress.

The rest of the columns waiting to hold the pockets of the enemy's large corps were also distraught, and the soldiers were speculating wildly whether the enemy would come yet, and if they didn't, we would have waited in vain.

Putting aside the speculation and suspicion of the soldiers, there is a small village with only about 20 households at a distance of about dozens of miles from Luochuan.

The village has been surrounded by a number of trees of various kinds, which have been planted by the people who have lived here for generations, and now the vicinity of the village has been put up by guards and soldiers, and several metal-like antennas have protruded from the roofs of several houses, where the headquarters of the Northwest Field Army is temporarily stationed.

The simple house was full of old-fashioned tables and chairs, and it was evident that the family was doing well, and the furniture was not new but still very strong, which was already good in the countryside of the great northwest at that time.

Several black hand-cranked telephones on the table rang from time to time, and the staff officers who answered the phones were trying to keep their voices down and talk to each other.

Mr. Peng stood at a table covered with maps for a long time, and Mr. Peng, who had always been very steady, was a little anxious.

"Could it be that something is wrong with the tactics of our field army? Or are our hands too soft? Why hasn't the enemy come for reinforcements yet?

Thinking of this, Mr. Peng shouted to an operational staff officer: "Order Xu Guangda of the Third Column and Luo Yuanfa of the Sixth Column to beat me hard, continue to fight, and be sure to fight hard." ”

A few more days passed after this order was given, but there was still no progress in the two attacking columns, but the casualties of the troops continued to increase.

Mr. Peng was really anxious when he looked at the casualty figures reported by the troops: "How did you do it?" The enemy has only more than 7,000 people, why is it that such a large number of casualties has no effect? Is this Luochuan's Yang Yinhuan really so hard? Or did our two columns become a bag, the third and sixth columns, into cotton bales? ”

Looking at Mr. Peng, who was a little angry, the other headquarters personnel didn't dare to squeak, only the political commissar Xi who was not far away came over at this time, and the political commissar Xi seemed to guess what Mr. Peng was going to say next:

"Boss, don't be angry, Xu Guangda and Luo Yuanfa are both generals who are very capable of fighting, the battle that neither of them can take down, they must have encountered difficulties that are difficult to overcome, and it may not work if they change other troops, my opinion is that it is best not to change generals on the spot, other troops are not as familiar with the geography of that area as they are, besides, the withdrawal of troops will dampen the enthusiasm of the soldiers, and it will also have an impact on the future development of the troops."

Mr. Peng breathed a sigh of relief and nodded slightly: "The political commissar is right, let them continue to besiege the city, I want to see how long Hu Zongnan and Pei Chang will be able to survive?" Do you really want to do without Luochuan? ”

The troops fought for more than 10 days in a row, but Luochuan still did not take it, and the field army had been besieging Luochuan for more than 20 days, and it had not yet achieved victory in besieging only one brigade of troops for such a long time, which had never been achieved before.

The cadres and soldiers of the 3rd and 6th columns in charge of the attack were very uncomfortable, and the pressure on the troops was very great, and the two main columns, totaling more than 40,000 people, could not even take the place where the enemy's brigade of more than 7,000 people was guarding, and this face was about to be lost.

There was no need for others to say anything, and there was no need for the head of the headquarters to give any orders, just attack desperately, and after hard work, finally knocked out some peripheral strongholds outside the city, and also recovered some small places, such as Hancheng, Heyang, Chengcheng, etc.

However, the troops fought all the positional battles, and the consumption of personnel and ammunition was extremely high, which must be said to be thanks to the great victory of Yichuan, which was at the bottom, and captured a large number of enemy weapons, otherwise even ammunition would have been a problem.

Mr. Peng felt that this would not work, this was not the result we wanted, we had to adjust the deployment, the purpose was to attract Pei Changhui's Fifth Corps to come to help, even if it could not be completely annihilated, it would be good to destroy several of its brigades.

But Mr. Peng had just prepared the troops, and God seemed to be deliberately against the soldiers, and it rained sleet for more than ten days in a row, but Pei Changhui's corps still did not move.

The weather was wet and cold, the soldiers were soaked in snow and mud, the number of sickness gradually increased, colds, fevers, and diarrhea were fatal on the battlefield, although they were not a major event in peacetime.

The commanders are very anxious, before the big battle starts, the troops have already been reduced a lot, how can this be fought, if Pei Changhui does not come, the troops will soak in the muddy water for more than ten days, there is no need to fight, the cold and injuries will drag the troops across.

It can be seen from this that logistics has a great impact on the combat effectiveness of the troops, and sometimes it is simply a logistical decision, and this influence will become more and more obvious in later generations because of the improvement of the mechanization process of the troops.

Fortunately, each battalion and company of the independent regiment had newly made cotton tents that could protect against the rain, and this time it was obvious that the advantages of having equipment were seen, and the grass-green field tents were erected in a large area, and in each tent there was a small stove with charcoal fire, on which rice and hot soup could be cooked.

The soldiers came out and went very proudly, their faces were also very ruddy, they were warmly dressed, they were well fed, and they drank some hot soup.

This guy envied the soldiers of other units to death, and some soldiers said: "Look at the independent regiment of others, it is not a loss to our commander's treasure, and even this equipment is remarkable for B." ”

If you understand, he said: "You are just talking nonsense, what does this have to do with the commander, the equipment of the independent regiment was all brought back by himself, to put it bluntly, it was snatched from the Kuomintang, and the Kuomintang troops are placed there, anyone can go to grab it, and you can also go if you are angry." ”

While the soldiers were talking, the commander of the Fifth Corps of the Kuomintang, Pei Changhui, was holding an operational meeting.

Pei Changhui, lieutenant general of the 6th Army of the Kuomintang, the eighth phase of the infantry section, was enabled by Chiang Kai-shek and Hu Zongnan in 48, served as the deputy director of the Xi'an Pacification Office and the commander of the Fifth Corps, and was reappointed as the commander of the Seventh Corps in 49, in December 49, he led the Seventh Corps to revolt in Deyang, Sichuan, after the founding of New China, he served as the director of the Southwest Textile Industry Bureau, deputy mayor of Chongqing, etc., and died of illness in Chongqing in 92 at the age of 92. (Now some people think that all the generals who surrendered to the Kuomintang or rebelled did not end well, which is not right, Pei Changhui will die a good life)

He said to the officers above the brigade level who came to the meeting: "Just now, Commander Hu Zongnan called the superintendent again to speed up the march and go all out to help Luochuan and relieve Yang Yinhuan. ”

As soon as Pei Changhui's words were finished, the generals and colonels below exploded: "I know that it is a pocket and let us drill it, is this called a battle?" The communist army must have made a big bag waiting for us, and we are still stuffing our heads and rushing in, what is the difference between this and fools? ”

Some said, "What if you don't drill?" Can Commander Hu's order not be carried out? Do you dare not implement it, besides, Luochuan is different from Yichuan, Luochuan is our ** supply base, what do you want for food, clothing, and ammunition, and what do the communist army lack? What the communist army lacks is these things, should we just give up Luochuan to **, in addition, if we don't go, we will lose Brigadier Yang Yinhuan, Brigadier Yang is not Zhang Hanchu, he is a very capable person, it would be a pity to give him to the communist army?

Looking at the noisy subordinates, Pei Chang stretched out his two hands and pressed them down: "Don't quarrel, let you come to discuss the problem, not to let you complain and quarrel, I first state one point, Luochuan, we must go to the rescue, Commander Hu's order we must also carry it out, and even if the boss's order is not implemented, what do you want me to do as the commander of the corps."

Brigade Commander Yang is the pillar of our party-state, a small Luochuan and the main force of the entire northwest communist army for more than 20 days, not only did not lose but also caused a large number of casualties to the communist army, which is rare in the history of our party, such a soldier is the most lacking model of our party-state now, it is absolutely impossible to give up, pass on my order, the troops immediately pulled out, attack and advance. ”

The order was given, and the troops were also mobilized, but the marching brigade could walk for more than two hours, and it was estimated that it would be about ten miles away, so Commander Pei ordered the troops to stop advancing and rest in place.

Several reconnaissance units were dispatched to conduct a carpet inventory within a radius of more than 10 kilometers around the area, and if there was any abnormal situation or disturbance, it would be reported immediately.

In this way, the troops walked for a day, stopping and walking, walking and stopping, and by the time the sun was about to set, they could walk for more than 20 kilometers, and Pei Chang, who was sitting in an American jeep, would shake his head and ask an officer next to him: "How far has the troops gone?" ”

The officer cautiously replied: "Report to the commander, I have already walked more than twenty kilometers." ”

Pei Changhui snorted from his nose and eyes: "Order the troops, turn around on the spot, change the avant-garde into the rearguard, and the rearguard into the avant-garde, and set off." ”

The officer was a little stupid after listening to the order, he was very afraid that he had heard it wrong, so he immediately asked again: "Commander, you said that you want our troops to go back?" ”

Pei Changhui glanced at him: replied a little impatiently: "Don't ask so much, carry out the order." ”

The Kuomintang Fifth Corps, after going out for more than 40 miles, suddenly turned around and walked backwards, and this time it was more than 30 miles.

The thirty-odd miles of going back is walking very fast, more than two hours is about the same, go back, who is not faster and farther away from the communist army, at this time the commander Pei Changhui ordered the troops to camp in place and bury the pot to cook.