Chapter 27: The Battle of Blocking at Han Zhuang Bridge

  The forward command post of the 3rd Army of Fengtian, Deputy Commander Guo Songling stood at the observation position of the bunker and observed the position of the 6th Division across the way with a high-power telescope.

  A week ago, Zhang Zongchang reported to General Zhang that he couldn't hold on anymore and whoever wanted to go south to Jiangsu could go. General Zhang was very surprised, it had only been a few days? The usually arrogant Zhang Zongchang had been beaten into submission, the young man surnamed Gao was not weak after all.

  At a high-level meeting within the Fengtian clique, a group of bandits all wanted to get their own territory. Jiang Dengxuan, Yang Yuting and Guo Songling all wanted to go, after a dispute, with Zhang Xueliang's strong support, Guo Songling, who performed well in the Battle of Shanhai Pass, got this opportunity.

  However, the Fengtian Army had tens of thousands of troops, but at least half of them had to stay in their hometowns in Northeast China to keep an eye on the Japanese and the Russians. General Zhang did not trust them one bit.

  The troops entering the pass were scattered in Rehe, Zhili, Shandong, Chahar and other places. In addition to Feng Yuxiang's National Army in Suiyuan, Yan Xishan in Shanxi, and the remaining troops of the Straight Military in Henan, Guo Songling could only bring two divisions of men to the front line in Zaozhuang, which was also deliberately taken care of by Zhang Xueliang. Yang Yuting and others did not say anything on the surface, but they were all secretly trying to make things difficult for him.

  "What the heck, what's for lunch at this hour?" Seeing the food truck directly driving onto the campsite and starting to distribute lunch, Guo Songling cursed in envy. In this era, everyone eats two meals a day, no reason, just not enough food to eat.

  Three days ago, when Guo Songling had just arrived in Zaozhuang, he went to the front line of Tai'erzhuang to observe Zhang Zongchang's attack. The luxurious style on the opposite side made Guo Songling very surprised.

  Three meals a day are not to mention, but when the battle starts, it's like pouring water and opening fire. Guo Songling's eyelids keep jumping. Although the Feng Army has its own Fengtian Arsenal, it hasn't seen such waste before. What Guo Songling saw with his own eyes was just an attack by two or three hundred people, but the other side actually used 105mm heavy artillery to fire two rounds! How much does one shell cost?!

  The troops on the south side are so fierce? I heard that the opposing side is still a security team compiled by the Security Regiment. Guo Songling thought to himself, if even one security regiment in the south is so powerful, he wouldn't go and do what Jiangsu Military Governor does, immediately took off his military uniform and went back to Fengtian to open a grocery store.

  Kuo Sung-ling had been in the army for many years and fought many battles. After observing Zhang Zongchang's troops for a day, he realized that it was impossible to break through the front line at Taierzhuang. The timing, geography, and human factors were all unfavorable. Returning to his own command post, Kuo Sung-ling pondered over the map for a long time before discovering a weakness - Weishan Lake.

  The defensive line of the Sixth Division only reached the edge of Weishan Lake, and except for the area near Weishan Lake, where there were more troops near Han Zhuang Bridge, the rest were mostly picket units.

  Kuo Sung-ling planned to use the Northeastern people's winter transportation tool, ice crawler sleds, to cross the frozen Weishan Lake from the flank and attack the rear of the Han Zhuang Bridge. After capturing the Han Zhuang Bridge, they would advance along the Tianjin-Pukou Railway to Xuzhou. As for the troops on the Taierzhuang front line of the Sixth Division, Zhang Zongchang was watching them, if they dared to return to Xuzhou, they would be attacked from both sides by Zhang Zongchang.

  After the plan was set, Guo Songling was very satisfied and had a good sleep. On the second day, he began to secretly mobilize his troops towards Han Zhuang Bridge. On the third day, December 28th, Guo Songling's unit launched a probing attack on Han Zhuang Bridge, scouting out the Sixth Division's firepower deployment while drawing attention. After breakfast, thousands of elite soldiers took advantage of the winding path around Weishan Lake to advance towards the rear of the Han Zhuang Bridge position.

  It has to be said that Guo Songling is quite skilled at fighting, and this move would normally have worked. Unfortunately, in front of the German staff who had been fighting in Europe for several years, it was seen through within two hours. A frontal feint with a surprise attack on the flank - this is something the German army often does.

  Beigle Middle School quickly assembled a reserve team of one regiment from Xuzhou City and took the train to advance to the Han Zhuang Bridge position. The division's artillery battalion had a battalion of 12 105mm howitzers that could provide fire support, but Guo Songling did not understand the strength of Gaoyang clearly, thinking that Gaoyang concentrated its main artillery on the Taierzhuang line position.

  Gao Yang bit into the steaming hot mantou and lay on the telescope to observe the opposite bank. The opposing Feng army had no cavalry, and their uniforms were uniform, with standard tactical movements, at least they all knew to run with their waists bent when walking.

  Unlike Zhang Zongchang's subordinates, who were afraid of being seen by the enemy and stood upright with their waists straight, making a loud noise. However, they have all improved in the past few days, and frontline reports say that there are generally no human shadows on the opposite side, all shrinking into the trenches.

  The German mercenaries brought the sharpshooters trained in the troops to give Zhang's bandits a vivid lesson. Those who swaggered around with their chests out were named by the sharpshooters. The loud noise would be greeted with shells, and later at night, even hiding in trenches to smoke would bring a barrage of shells!

  Now Zhang Zongchang's troops are quietly hiding in the trenches, not even a ghostly figure can be seen, and morale has fallen very low.

  After lunch, Biggle led the reinforcements to arrive and immediately took over the on-site command, which was Gao Yang's order. The search troops were dispatched one by one, with the Korean Village Bridge position as the center, conducting a fan-shaped search within a three-kilometer range towards Weishan Lake. Why is it three kilometers? First, the visibility is not high on snowy days, and secondly, the artillery positions that mainly provide firepower support have the farthest coverage range at three kilometers towards Weishan Lake.

  In the afternoon, at more than 3 o'clock, a faint sound of gunfire came from afar on the ice surface of Weishan Lake and grew louder. At this time, the command post received a report that a large number of enemy troops were discovered about two kilometers away from the shore on the ice surface of Weishan Lake behind the Korean Village Bridge position, rapidly rushing towards the main position. Bigler quickly telephoned orders to supporting artillery to adjust parameters and calculate firing coverage, waiting for further commands.

  At this time, the Feng Army on the opposite side of the battlefield also began to move. Thousands of soldiers with their waists bent were divided into several scattered lines along the river and rushed towards the first camp's position. At the same time, more than a dozen armored vehicles quickly drove onto the bridge, followed by a large number of infantrymen. The sound of artillery fire rang out, and a large number of shells exploded on the first camp's position.

  Gao Yang raised the corner of his mouth "The tactical coordination is not bad, the artillery covers the infantry charge, with flanking and suppression, and there are armored troops. The Japanese tactics are indeed learned like a model."

  "Commander, we are already within the enemy's artillery range. Please retreat to the backup command post." said Zhang Xinhai, the regiment commander, as he came to Gao Yang's side. Zhang Xinhai was one of the few non-German regular commanders in the Sixth Division, where German mercenaries usually held key positions.

  He was a graduate of Baoding Military Academy and served in the 13th Division after graduation, serving as a battalion commander. He left the army several years ago to return to his hometown of Anqing to do business. After Gao Yang's uprising, he joined Gao Yang and performed exceptionally well in the battle to attack Nanjing, and was recommended by the staff department to serve as the commander of the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Regiment.

  "Can't you hold on?" Gao Yang said with a glance at him. "I guarantee to hold the position," Zhang Xinhai exclaimed loudly. Gao Yang waved his hand, "Go do your own thing." He turned his head and continued to observe the battlefield.

  Beigle didn't pay attention to this matter, in the German army during wartime it was very normal for division commanders to go deep into regimental and battalion command posts, of course if the division commander ran to the company level he would be stopped.

  The battle has just begun, and the soldiers on the battlefield all know that their commander is right behind them. It's exactly when morale is high that if Gao Yang were to flee at the start of the battle, it would inevitably deal a heavy blow to the soldiers' morale.

  Feng Jun's troops moved quickly, and in no time, the scattered soldiers rushed onto the ice surface. The officers and men of the first battalion on the blocking line were silently enduring the artillery fire in their trenches, waiting for the order to open fire. Since the formation of the army, it was the first time that they had been suppressed by enemy firepower.

  The Fengtian soldiers quickly crossed the middle of the canal, and with a loud shout, a burst of gunfire suddenly erupted on the front line, and the Fengtian soldiers who were charging at the forefront fell down in a row. Guo Songling, who was watching from the rear, had his eyelids twitching wildly - the marksmanship was too accurate! The results of several months of live-fire training finally showed up.

  The rear Fengtian Army was still advancing rapidly. The machine gun firing points on the first camp's position did not open fire, they were waiting for the Fengtian Army on the bridge to enter the machine gun's lateral shooting range.

  As soon as the troops on the bridge entered the flank firing range, dozens of firepower points opened fire almost simultaneously. The 11.43mm caliber bullets turned the armored vehicles into beehives, and in a short while, more than a dozen vehicles were all knocked out.

  The infantry following the armored cars were immediately mowed down by withering crossfire, like wheat before a scythe; even lying flat on the bridge did not guarantee safety from the hail of bullets. Soon the infantry turned and ran, leaving behind a trail of bodies as the pursuing bullets struck the bridge.

  After the defeat of the warlord troops on the bridge, the heavy machine guns turned their muzzles and began to fire at the scattered soldiers who had approached the shore. At this time, hundreds of warlord troops were about to cross the canal but suddenly suffered a fierce machine gun sweep, immediately suffering heavy casualties.

  Kuo Sung-ling hastily ordered the artillery to provide cover for the retreating Fengtien Army, but it was easier said than done. How could they run back and forth on the slippery ice surface? Not to mention the physical exertion, how could they cross the vast expanse of several hundred meters of open ice under the enemy's intense gunfire?

  The artillery position received a strict order to provide full-speed firepower support for the front-line troops, and the artillerymen didn't care about the cannon's lifespan anymore, starting to crazily shoot at the enemy's position on the other side of the river.

  Just as they hadn't fought for long, a shrill whistling sound came from the sky. Three large-caliber shells stirred up countless dust near the artillery position, and the Beiyang Army artillerymen suddenly realized "Oh no, it's a shell test!" All of them in the artillery unit were very familiar with this procedure.

  Close on the heels of this was a barrage of fire that covered the artillery positions, with dozens of large-caliber shells sending the Fengtian Army's artillery positions into chaos, several large guns were overturned and sent flying, and the shells stacked next to the guns also exploded in a chain reaction, causing the artillery positions to be engulfed in a sea of flames.

  The 12th Battalion of the Artillery Regiment, which belonged to the Sixth Division, launched a fierce artillery attack on the Feng Army with 105mm howitzers during the previous battle, blowing up countless huge ice caves on the surface of Weishan Lake and sending hundreds of Feng Army soldiers to the bottom of the lake. The remaining Feng Army fled in disarray.

  The artillery of the Fengtian Army on the front line had been firing continuously for a long time, and the position of the artillery had already been calculated. After the artillery of the Sixth Division adjusted their aim to lock onto the position, there was no time for counterattack or dispersal. The artillery position of the Fengtian Army became a sea of fire, with huge explosions, flying debris and limbs scattered everywhere, and rolling thick smoke shot straight up into the sky!