Chapter 28: The Battle Ends

  Kuo Sung-ling stood in the command post at the front line, staring blankly as his attacking troops dispersed from the front line like snow melting in spring.

  These soldiers were all trained by him and Zhang Xueliang in the Northeast for more than two years with a lot of time and money, not those old-fashioned Fengjun who retreated like the wind.

  However, in the brief battle of more than half an hour on the front line, only 200-300 soldiers out of the two battalions with over a thousand officers and men managed to escape back. The hundreds of horses and men trapped on the other side of the canal could not retreat and had no choice but to surrender to save their lives.

  The troops on the flanks also dispersed, and the soldiers who escaped reported that they had suffered a cruel artillery surprise attack, the entire ice surface was blown open, and most of the troops sank to the bottom of the lake before they could land.

  The worst was the artillery position, an entire artillery regiment was destroyed along with their men and cannons. Without long-range firepower, Guo Songling's troops could only passively withstand the beating, while the opposing artillery seemed to be firing for free, pounding shells onto the Fengtian Army's positions with great accuracy! The sixth division's artillery observers and calculators were all seasoned veterans from Germany.

  Kuo Sung-ling now fully understands Chang Tso-chang's feelings, what a tragic feeling it is! However, this is not the time for nostalgia. The pressing issue at hand is how to continue fighting? Or should we just retreat and return to Paoting?

  The Sixth Division artillery solved the problem of the Feng Army Artillery Regiment and adjusted its parameters to turn towards the second-line troops on the Feng Army's departure position and open fire!

  Kuo Sung-ling had only brought two infantry regiments and an artillery regiment when planning this action. Yesterday, when they arrived here, they hastily constructed some offensive positions, but as for trenches, there were none at all. Now it's too late to dig any. The infantrymen on the open plain, without any cover, could only lie down on the ground and endure the baptism of artillery fire.

  Although there were only twelve 105mm howitzers, each shell that fell destroyed a radius of at least ten meters, and the flying shrapnel and huge shockwaves brought great casualties to the Fengtian Army. The situation where they could only withstand the beating without being able to fight back put the officers and soldiers of the Fengtian Army on the verge of collapse.

  Most of the elite and veteran troops brought by Guo Songling were concentrated in the attacking troops that ambushed from the side, and most of them have not returned. The remaining main force lost more than a thousand soldiers in the recent offensive! Those who are still alive can no longer fight.

  Kuo Sung-ling quickly regained his composure and made a decision, leaving behind a small number of troops to monitor the canal front line, while the rest retreated beyond the enemy's artillery range to regroup and await reinforcements. The order was quickly passed down to each unit, and the fleeing momentum that had been barely contained suddenly burst out! Thousands of people fled towards the rear like receding seawater, with all kinds of supplies scattered all over the ground, and the collapsing morale of the troops completely lost command.

  Kuo Sung-ling did not expect it to be like this, and by the time he realized something was wrong, it was too late to stop it. Faced with the mutinying soldiers, he could only sigh and hastily leave under the protection of his guards. If they didn't hurry up and go, they might not have been able to leave at all.

  Gao Yang, who was still observing the battlefield through binoculars, suddenly saw that the enemy troops on the opposite side were desperately running backwards. Before he could understand what was happening, Bigler had already put down his binoculars and excitedly said, "The enemy has collapsed! Launch an immediate counterattack to pursue the fleeing enemy!" After finishing speaking, he hastily rushed out of the command center and personally led a battalion that was waiting in reserve behind the front lines, boarding trucks to head towards the opposite bank of the river.

  Gaoyang, who witnessed the entire battle, had a deeper understanding of the powerful force of artillery and machine guns. "Indeed, cannons are the backbone of soldiers." Gaoyang sat in front of the map, thinking about what to do if his own troops encountered an enemy with even stronger artillery. Should he buy more powerful cannons for counter-bombardment or use aircraft for bombing?

  The powerful artillery is not to mention whether it's good or bad to buy, but the current domestic transportation situation makes it very difficult to transport. As for aircraft, the current performance of aircraft is very poor, and if you want to rely on aircraft to take the initiative, you must have bought an aircraft from the original time and space. But even if you buy an aircraft, there aren't many people who can use it, pilots, ground crew, and ground controllers are all needed, and if you use biochemical warriors, there won't be enough energy points either. Gao Yang's hands were propped up on the table, his eyes staring blankly ahead, his mind already empty.

  The battle started and ended quickly. After dark, the pursuit troops led by Biggle returned one after another, each vehicle transporting a varying number of prisoners and supplies. Soon, Biggle came to the command center to report the results to Gao Yang: "At present, the enemy has been completely defeated, with preliminary statistics showing that over 1,500 enemy soldiers were eliminated in the battle, and hundreds more are missing. A total of over 2,000 enemy soldiers have been captured, and various supplies are still being counted."

  "Who is the captive with the highest military rank?" Gao Yang asked.

  "He is a lieutenant colonel and camp commander," Biggar replied.

  "What a pity, no big fish." Gaoyang pouted his mouth and was very dissatisfied with the fleeing Feng Jun officers.

  Gao Yang quickly left the front line of Han Zhuang Bridge and returned to the command center in Xuzhou. The follow-up work on the front line was handled by Biggle. Gao Yang had a lot of things to deal with, the purchased bullet production line had been installed at Jinling Arsenal and would soon be able to start producing ammunition. The only problem that needed to be solved as soon as possible was the issue of artillery shells.

  Let's not talk about the cost for now, what if others don't sell to you? Jung's mouth is very strict and he only indicated that he would negotiate with Gao Yang's preferential conditions, but never mentioned selling the cannon production line.

  In addition, new troops arrived this time and our side was completely unaware of it. The intelligence work is not good enough. After returning to the command center, Gaoyang sent a telegram to Yang Dong in Nanjing, ordering him to immediately go north to carry out intelligence work in Beiping. As soon as the telegram was sent, he received intelligence from Duan Qirui through secret channels: "It's actually that devil Guo." Gaoyang muttered. The battle is already over and the message has just been delivered - what a waste!

  Two days later, the Lunar New Year arrived, and Gao Yang had taken a train back to Nanjing. That evening, he attended a banquet hosted by prominent figures in Nanjing society to celebrate the new year.

  On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, I attended the expansion ceremony of Jinling Arsenal. With the addition of six new bullet production lines, Jinling Arsenal's ammunition output can now meet the consumption of Gao Yang's troops. The urgent problem to be solved now is the issue of artillery shells.

  Xuzhou frontline tacit temporary ceasefire, across the canal are celebrating the New Year. However, the mood on both sides is different. The Sixth Division gave each soldier a month's salary as a holiday allowance, and various supplies were sufficient. Soldiers can eat meat every day, and each person can receive a pack of cigarettes every day.

  The scene on the side of the Fengtian Army was completely different. In the icy and snowy weather, not to mention that Guo Songling and Zhang Zongchang, who had just suffered a disastrous defeat, were in no mood to provide their subordinates with good food and drink, let alone festival expenses. It would be fine if they didn't deduct your money. The morale of the Fengtian Army was extremely low, some soldiers deserted and ran away, some looted villages around them in groups, and even some secretly crossed the river to surrender to the Sixth Division.

  Kuo Sung-ling had not given up yet, although one division under his command was severely damaged in the previous battle. However, after another division arrived at Zaozhuang, Kuo Sung-ling still wanted to try again. After all, becoming a provincial military commander was much better than being Zhang Xueliang's deputy commander. As for the casualties of the soldiers, he didn't care at all - if there were no more soldiers, they could be recruited again.

  Just as Kuo Sung-ling was actively deploying troops and searching for weaknesses in the Kao-yang defense line to prepare for another southern expedition, Shantung Tuchun Chang Tsung-ch'ang arrived at his command post.

  "Guo brothers, this New Year's I won't say anything unnecessary. This time I came at the behest of my subordinates to tell you that they no longer want to fight, and I have decided to retreat back to Jinan." Zhang Zongchang's words immediately made Guo Songling furious.

  "Commander Zhang, I am the commander-in-chief's appointed frontline commander for the southern expedition. If you retreat without orders, it will be hard to explain to the commander-in-chief." Guo Songling warned after regaining his composure.

  "Haha, Commander Guo, we brothers haven't treated you unfairly. In order to send you to Jiangsu as a military commander, I've lost at least 3,000 to 4,000 troops in the past few days, and also helped you pin down Gao's main force at Tiazhuang! Originally, I thought that with your large army, you could defeat Gao's forces immediately. Unexpectedly, your division couldn't even hold on for a day and was annihilated by the enemy! Haha, we brothers are just helping you out of kindness, not because it's our duty! As for General Zhang, I'll go talk to him myself. Farewell!" Zhang Dujuan finished speaking, turned around and walked away, leaving Commander Guo standing alone in the room with a gloomy face.

  Kuo Sung-ling originally planned to continue operating near the Han Village Bridge, and he had already deployed all his troops on this line. On one side was Weishan Lake and on the other was Chang Tso-chang. Originally, everything was well-planned, but now that Chang Tso-chang is about to leave, the entire flank will be exposed. Kuo Sung-ling's subordinates are currently in a state of preparation for an attack. If the main force of the Sixth Division crosses the canal and launches a flanking attack from the direction of Tai Village, everything will be over.

  That night, Zhang Zuobo led his troops to retreat directly back to Jinan. The remaining troops of Guo Songling were left to face the Sixth Division alone. Under helpless circumstances, Guo Songling gathered his troops and retreated to Zaozhuang to defend it, while also reporting to Generalissimo Zhang in Beiping and requesting reinforcements.

  At this time, all parties had received reports of the battle at Hanjia Bridge and were amazed by the combat effectiveness of Gao Yang's troops. Zhang Daoyuan was also very dissatisfied with Guo Songling, who had been defeated in less than a day, which was really embarrassing. Yang Yutong and others also framed Guo Songling in front of Zhang Daoyuan.

  That night, Duan Qirui invited Zhang Zuolin to have tea. Duan Qirui said that as the anti-Chihliang alliance army, the current confrontation would only make the remaining Chihliang forces and the people of the world laugh, so it's better to stop fighting now. The two commanders drank tea and chatted for nearly two hours afterwards.

  The next day, the Fengtian clique publicly telegraphed to acknowledge Gao Yang's appointment as the inspector of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and governor of Jiangsu. Guo Songling, whose dream of becoming a warlord had been shattered, could only lead his troops back to Baoding with the captives brought back by Gao Yang, but his dissatisfaction with Zhang Zuolin and other Fengtian generals began to sprout in his heart.

  This anti-Japanese war that started in September last year and swept across half of the country has come to an end. After the war, Gao Yang led the Sixth Division back to Nanjing for rest and reorganization. Biggle was promoted to Colonel Chief of Staff of the Sixth Division, and medals were awarded to officers and soldiers who participated in the battle, a large number of meritorious personnel received awards.