Rebirth from the Ashes: Rebuilding the Red Soviet Area

Chapter 110: Southwestern Fujian Melee 4

Li Yan's heart skipped a beat: "Is there any news about the 3rd and 10th Divisions?"

Tong Liang took a breath and said hurriedly: "Instructor, now not only the enemy's Third Division, but also the Tenth Division has moved..."

"When we attacked Yong'an, several divisions from Changting, Liancheng, Wuping, Longyan, and Shanghang were mobilized."

"Changting dispatched a brigade, Liancheng dispatched a regiment, plus three regiments near Pengkou Town."

"An entire enemy division is attacking the Second Regiment led by Commander Gao Xuan in Pengkou Town."

"At the same time, the enemy's 80th Division, which was supporting a brigade in Yong'an, suddenly turned around in the middle of the night and attacked a brigade of the 10th Division."

"It was also a division's force attacking the Third Regiment of Zhang Dong, the commander of Wan'an Town."

"In addition, Wuping's 75th Division, Longyan's 3rd Division, and four security regiments, totaling more than 30,000 people, are moving towards Maozishan's Southwestern Fujian Military Sub-district."

Li Yan's head buzzed.

He didn't expect the enemy to mobilize such a large force this time.

This is to wipe out the Red Army in southwestern Fujian.

Li Yan didn't think twice and ordered directly: "Zhao Wu, Su Shan, take all your soldiers with you!"

"Go to Wan'an Town and Pengkou Town respectively to support the Second and Third Regiments in retreating to Meishan."

"Then we will utilize the fortifications and traps set up at Meishan, deploy troops in stages, and resist step by step."

"Tong Liang, tell the stonemason to take the artillery back to the source cave immediately and enter our artillery position."

"Go back and tell the old squad leader to call the militia on Meishan to assist in the defense."

Su Shan asked, "Should Shuangyang Town and Gutian Town be relocated? And what about Yong'an?"

Li Yan said: "Gutian Town is easy to defend but difficult to attack. For the time being, we will leave a battalion of troops to guard it."

"Residents of Shuangyang Town are temporarily evacuated"

"As for Yong'an City, we will take away half of the weapons and ammunition as a supplement."

"The rest will be handed over to Captain Wang of the 19th Route Army. It won't be long before the 19th Route Army will be stationed in Yong'an."

"Song Tao, Leopard, your Special Forces Battalion and the Dragon Blood Special Operations Brigade will stay here. I will make other arrangements after handing over to the 19th Route Army."

"Remember, don't fight the enemy head-on."

"The enemy's appetite is huge this time, be prepared for a long battle"

"Everyone take action now"

After everyone took action, Li Yan said coldly to the 83rd Division Commander Chen, Mei Ping, and Brigade Commander Song: "You heard what I said just now, right?"

"It seems your superiors are using your entire 83rd Division as bait for sacrifice."

After saying that, Li Yan turned and left

Commander Chen and the other two looked ashen. They knew what Li Yan said was right.

Without the decision of their superiors, they would not dare to stand by and watch the fall of Yongan.

This is the advice given by the General Staff of the Southwest Fujian Red Suppression Campaign

Taking advantage of the Meishan Red Army's attack on Yong'an

Cut off the four towns protruding from Meishan

These four towns are located on important transportation routes and pose a great threat to the national army in southwestern Fujian.

At the same time, the Red Army in Meishan did not react and completely destroyed the Southwest Fujian Military Sub-district in Maozishan.

This would not only reduce the number of Red Army troops in southwestern Fujian, but also dampen the morale of the entire Red Army.

Finally, we can deal with other forces openly and honestly. After all, the Chen family is not a member of the Huangpu faction.

This really kills three birds with one stone.

After Yongan's problem was solved, Li Yan led the special forces battalion and the Dragon Blood Special Operations Brigade to Liancheng, north of Meishan.

Li Yan knew it was too late to go south to Maozi Mountain to rescue the Minxi Military Sub-district.

Liancheng and Changting counties in the north are located at the intersection of Fujian and southern Jiangxi.

Now the troops are empty

If we attack these two counties by force, we will create a situation where we must take them down.

The Kuomintang army would never dare to give up these two counties like they gave up Yong'an.

Once these two counties were occupied, it would be equivalent to opening up the connection between the Gannan Red Army and the Fujian Red Army.

That would completely defeat the Nationalist Army's strategy of dividing, encircling, and destroying them one by one.

Therefore, the national army will definitely come back to support, and in disguise, rescue the Southwest Fujian Military District.

Less than 100 kilometers of mountain roads

Li Yan, with the Special Forces Battalion and the Dragon Blood Special Operations Brigade, arrived at Guanzhi Mountain east of Liancheng on the morning of the next day.

Li Yan asked Song Tao: "What is the current situation of the enemy?"

Song Tao said: "Except for Gutian Town, our troops have withdrawn from the other three towns to Meishan."

"The enemy now has two divisions attacking Meishan from Pengkou Town and Wan'an Town respectively."

"However, due to the distraction of our troops and militia, the attack speed is very slow."

"The source cave cannot be found within ten days"

"The 30,000 troops heading south to encircle and suppress the Fujian-West Military Sub-district are still over 40 kilometers away from Yongding and are expected to arrive tomorrow."

Li Yan nodded and asked: "Where are Zhao Wu and the stonemason's troops?"

Song Tao replied: "According to your order, they are already on their way to Guanzhi Mountain."

“We’ll probably arrive around noon.”

Li Yan calculated and said, "We are short of time now."

"Song Tao, send someone back to tell the old squad leader and the chief of staff."

"Tell them to hold off the enemy for at least 15 days."

"Also tell Su Shan to pass the message to the Southwest Fujian Military Sub-district, and also ask them to hold out for 15 days."

"If you really can't bear it, you can move west to Guangdong."

"Now the Southern King has formed a secret alliance with the 19th Route Army."

"I have asked Dai Ping to contact the 19th Route Army and have them mobilize troops in Guangdong to leave us some space."

Song Tao agreed and sent someone to convey the order

Leopard asked, "Instructor, what should we do next?"

Li Yan said: "The next step is to capture Liancheng and attack Changting."

"Then the troops attacking Meishan from Pengkou Town will definitely return to support."

"We'll strike back immediately."

"Concentrate our forces to destroy the division entering Meishan from Wan'an Town."

"Then prepare to attack Longyan."

"Longyan currently only has one brigade of soldiers, and Longyan is the command center for the Nationalist Army's suppression of the Red Army in Southwest Fujian."

"Forcing the enemy heading south to return for support"

Leopard then asked: "The national army heading south will reach Yongding tomorrow."

"With our troops, we can attack Liancheng and Changting successively."

"Even if we take it down, it will take a long time. Is it urgent?"

Li Yan smiled and said, "The 45th Division in Liancheng is called a division, but in fact it only has three regiments."

"Zhang, the commander of the 45th Division, was originally the commander of the 3rd Brigade of the 21st Division, known as the 'King of Jiaodong'"

In September 1932, during the Battle of Shandong, the "King of Jiaodong" was defeated.

"Zhang then led the 3rd Brigade to break away from the 21st Division and join the Nationalist Army."

"I was transferred to western Fujian"

"Because this unit was surrendered by warlords, it has never been taken seriously by the National Army."

“There are basically no heavy weapons.”

"It is said that the military pay they receive each time is not enough for them to eat pancakes with green onions."

Leopard laughed when he heard this: "The Nationalist Army withheld their wages so severely, and they didn't resist?"

Li Yan said: "In fact, in order to win people's hearts, the National Army did not equip the 45th Division with heavy weapons, but did not deduct military pay."

"It's just that most of the 45th Division are Shandong men, they like to eat noodles and have big appetites."

"In Fujian, rice is all you can eat. Noodles are very expensive and often unavailable."

Leopard nodded: "Why would you come here to suffer instead of staying in the north?"

"What about Chang Ting?"