dtnovels Chapter 134
Chapter 134
However, in less than a minute, they were routed by the 22nd Division's artillery. A single shot from twelve Type II and six Type I artillery pieces could create an open area of hundreds of meters.
After only three rounds of firing, the Yanzhou army dared not charge forward anymore. Everyone knew that whoever charged the fastest would die the fastest.
The rout was a fait accompli. An hour later, the Yanzhou army suffered a crushing defeat, with only six or seven thousand escaping alive. The battlefield was filled with the wailing of soldiers. The 22nd Division also paid a heavy price. Under the desperate counterattack of the Yanzhou army, the 22nd Division suffered more than four thousand casualties, including more than 1,300 killed in action.
After defeating the Yanzhou army, the 22nd Division was gone. They didn't even bother to collect the spoils on the ground. They didn't care about matchlock guns at all. The 22nd Division, which came and went in a hurry, left only a legend for the people of Qulu: a legend of hearing gunshots but never seeing the people.
On the Rencheng front, Ju Yi was also caught in a dilemma. He could neither retreat nor advance. Yuan Shao's military orders were delayed, and after several days of siege, he saw no hope of breaking through the city. Ju Yi even had a feeling that the enemy forces in Rencheng were deliberately stalling him and that they might be brewing a bigger conspiracy.
"Sir, has the lord's order not arrived yet?" Ju Yi walked into the main tent and quickly asked Shen Pei, who was sitting inside. Today's attack had failed again, and Ju Yi was already somewhat dejected. He could clearly feel that his subordinates were beginning to tire of the war. No matter what kind of army it was, it would collapse if it saw hope for too long.
"General Ju Yi, the lord still hasn't issued any military orders." Shen Pei was also somewhat tired. Since the campaign, he hadn't had a proper rest for a long time. Shen Pei said to Ju Yi, "General, I have a feeling that the banks of the Si River may have already been controlled by the enemy. After all, Chen Er's cavalry is very powerful. In the days when Rencheng fell, our army had no intelligence sources and had no understanding of the situation along the Si River. If the situation is worse, it is even possible that your messenger was unable to return to Yanzhou safely."
"Sir, what should our army do?" Ju Yi asked anxiously. Shen Pei shook his head and said, "I don't know either. We have too little information right now. I suggest that our army should immediately break away from the enemy forces in Rencheng and march south."
"South?" Ju Yi asked, puzzled.
"That's right. Only the south is safe now. There are likely to be large enemy forces in other directions. Only heading south offers a glimmer of hope."
"Can't we just cross the Sishui River directly?"
“No, it’s been almost a week, and there’s still no news from headquarters. That speaks volumes,” Shen Pei said.
Just as Ju Yi was still hesitating, a commotion suddenly arose outside the tent. Ju Yi and Shen Pei looked at each other in confusion, and then went outside.
"Which unit are you from? Why are you making a racket outside the main tent?" Ju Yi frowned as he looked at the remnants of the defeated army before him.
A captain stepped forward and said to Ju Yi, "Reporting to the general, we are under the command of General Wang Gang."
"Wang Gang?" Ju Yi and Shen Pei were shocked; something terrible had happened.
Where is Wang Gang?
"General, after our army captured Qulu, just as we were about to leave the city and head to Jiqiu, we were suddenly attacked by Chen's army. We suffered heavy losses, and out of our 30,000 brothers, only 3,000 or 4,000 of us managed to return to Rencheng," the captain cried.
"It's over." Ju Yi and Shen Pei exchanged a glance and said with bitter smiles, "Now the only option left is to retreat."
If we don't evacuate now, it will really be too late.
In Rencheng, Li Ji also received a report from the 22nd Division that the mission had been successfully completed. Li Ji said to Chen Bang, "Ju Yi is very likely to withdraw his troops. If they want to escape, there is only one route to the south. Order the 22nd Division to temporarily reduce its size to two regiments and march rapidly to ambush a hundred miles south of Rencheng!"
"At the same time, immediately send someone to inform General Gao Shun of the changes here and urge reinforcements to arrive as soon as possible," Li Ji said to Chen Bang.
Within Rencheng, the Seventh Army still had 20,000 combat-ready soldiers. If reinforcements couldn't arrive in time, Li Ji would only be able to rely on his own strength to hold off the enemy, which was not what he wanted. Although the enemy wasn't strong, they still outnumbered him by a factor of two. Li Ji wanted to win, to achieve a great victory, to add a medal to his chest, but he didn't want his men to suffer too many casualties. That would not only contradict the spirit advocated by his lord, but also Li Ji's own principles. He wouldn't risk his brothers' lives for merit, but if the battle required him to make sacrifices, Li Ji would have no choice but to bite the bullet and go. After all, spirit is just spirit; an army is for fighting. Cherishing the lives of soldiers doesn't mean being afraid of battle.
The best-case scenario now is that Gao Shun's main force of the First Army Corps can arrive as soon as possible. Three days have passed since the last message was sent, and Li Ji feels that there is still hope to see the main force of the First Army Corps arrive at the Rencheng battlefield tomorrow. As long as Gao Shun's army is no more than a hundred miles away, Li Ji is confident that he can hold back Ju Yi's army, which wants to retreat south, without suffering too many casualties. This is a good opportunity to severely damage the Yanzhou army. Li Ji regrets attacking that detachment too early, but it is too late to regret now. Li Ji can only try his best to make up for his mistakes.
Chen Er received Gao Shun's message late at night, after he had already fallen asleep. He was still woken up by the message that the plan had begun.
The next morning, news came that Rencheng had been captured.
Chen Er was overjoyed and immediately wrote a letter to Gao Shun, telling him not to wipe out the Yanzhou army and to leave some seeds for Yuan Shao.
However, Ju Yi's troops within Xuzhou are a crucial target. Ju Yi must not be allowed to cross the Si River and return to Yanzhou; this is the bottom line for this operation.
However, Chen Er was unaware that before his letter could be sent out, Gao Shun had already begun his operation. The Seventh Army had already bogged down Ju Yi at the foot of Rencheng, while the main force of Gao Shun's First Army Corps was also marching rapidly toward Rencheng.
On February 7, 2190, the main force of Gao Shun's First Army Corps arrived 120 li from Rencheng. Gao Shun, who personally led the army, did not take Ju Yi seriously. Although Gao Shun was very cautious, he had no interest in Ju Yi's strength. In fact, Gao Shun had delegated command to the two army commanders and asked them to discuss it. Compared with the First Army Corps, Ju Yi's strength was very average and there was no challenge.