"Commander, a reconnaissance plane flying a group reported that a large number of Northeastern troops are heading towards us." On the top of the west gate of Chaoyang County, Zhang Xinghan, accompanied by Liu Jianguo and others, was watching with interest a large number of Northeastern troops who had just surrendered below the city.

, a communications soldier rushed to the top of the city, saluted and reported.

Zhang Xinghan put away his smile when he heard this, and turned around and said: "The order was sent to the air group, and fighters and bombers were immediately dispatched to conduct air strikes to slow down the enemy's evacuation speed."

"Yes!" The communications soldier immediately saluted and took the order and rushed towards the city.

Watching the communications troops rushing down the city, Liu Jianguo asked incomprehensibly: "Commander, you just said that the air force will slow down the enemy's evacuation speed, what do you mean?"

"He Lichong and Li Shusen's troops have been wiped out. If my prediction is correct, our Marshal Zhang should order his additional troops to stop advancing and shrink back, right?" Zhang Xinghan asked with a smile.

Liu Jianguo suddenly understood, and immediately slapped his thigh and said: "Commander, please leave this pursuit mission to me. I will personally lead the pursuit!"

"Yes." Zhang Xinghan nodded, but did not forget to say: "Remember, we must cooperate closely with the air force and take advantage of the enemy's chaos to cover up and kill. We must not rush deep into the enemy. After all, our strength is limited.

Let’s give full play to our advantages in mobility and firepower. Next, we don’t want to annihilate the enemy, but just scare them so that they are exhausted from the harassment and have to retreat to the pass.”

"Yes, commander, please rest assured, Jianguo must be careful!" Liu Jianguo stood up and saluted with a snap: "Commander, take care!"

"Take care!" Zhang Xinghan saluted back solemnly.

Liu Jianguo immediately turned around and hurried downstairs, and was ordered to leave.

……………………

Shanhaiguan, Provisional General Headquarters of the Northeast Army.

As soon as Marshal Zhang got off the bus, He Zhuguo, who had been waiting for a long time, hurriedly stepped forward to greet him.

"Young Marshal!"

Zhang Xiaoliu did not return the gift, but opened his mouth and asked in a somewhat impatient tone: "How is it going? How are He Lichong and the others doing now?"

The faces of He Zhuguo and others suddenly turned pale and they lowered their heads.

Marshal Zhang had an ominous premonition and asked: "What's wrong? Tell me quickly!"

He Zhuguo raised his head with courage and replied quickly: "Young Marshal, most of the officers and soldiers of the **7th and 22nd Brigade mutinied in front of the formation. General He Lichong drew his gun and committed suicide, and Li Shusen was made a prisoner."

"What?" Marshal Zhang was shocked when he heard this. His face was full of disbelief. He stared at He Zhuguo with red eyes and gritted his teeth. He said with a ferocious face: "What did you say? Mutiny? What the hell is going on?"

He Zhuguo carefully reported briefly what he knew.

Zhang Xueliang was already livid with anger and trembling all over. When he first entered the headquarters, he kicked a conference table to the ground and became furious. He roared crazily: "Zhang Xinghan, I and you are irreconcilable!"

"Young Marshal, please calm down. The reinforcements led by General Zhang (Zhang Zuoxiang) have arrived in Jianchang County. Should we withdraw them? Let's discuss it calmly?" He Zhuguo advised.

"Immediately send a message to Uncle Fuchen and order him to immediately lead his troops to advance towards Chaoyang. I will personally lead the follow-up troops to follow up and suppress the formation. I want to fight Zhang Xinghan to the death!" Zhang Xueliang said with a ferocious expression.

"Young Marshal, you must not do this. Now our vanguard unit has been wiped out, the morale of each unit is low, and the mood of the officers and soldiers is extremely unstable. It is really not appropriate to fight anymore!" He Zhuguo urged again in a hurry.

Zhang Xueliang was furious and was about to reprimand He Zhuguo. A communications soldier suddenly walked in and saluted: "Young Marshal, Deputy Commander Zhang called. Our reinforcements were attacked by the enemy's air force and their morale was severely reduced.

He has ordered the troops to retreat towards Shanhaiguan."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xueliang's expression suddenly became gloomy and scary. He Zhuguo took the opportunity to persuade him: "Young Marshal, you need to calm down. Our army does not have air superiority. During the day, it is easy to expose the target and invite an air attack from the enemy.

Even if you plan to fight a decisive battle with the Northeastern New Army, you will have to wait until dark before you can move easily. Moreover, now that the enemy's main force is gathering in the morning sun, Jinzhou will definitely be empty.

I suggest that the young marshal should change the attack on Chaoyang to a surprise attack on Jinzhou. As long as Jinzhou is captured, we can advance, attack, retreat or defend, threatening the retreat of the Northeastern New Army."

"Young Marshal, what General He said makes sense, Young Marshal, please think again!"

"Yes, Marshal, please think twice!" Chief of Staff Rong Jing and others advised him one after another.

……………………

Liaodong Peninsula, Wafangdian battlefield.

Thanks to Zhang Xinghan's instructions, Wang Yizhe and Zhao Zhenfan commanded troops to crack the smoke warfare method invented by the Japanese army in Yingkou following the example of Okamura Neji.

Relying on the powerful firepower and the flexible mobility and assault firepower of the tanks and armored units, the defense line was defended.

He repelled repeated attacks by Japanese troops three times his own size.

At night, without the threat of the air force, the Japanese attack was particularly fierce.

While the Battle of Chaoyang was being victorious, the officers and soldiers of the 2nd and 3rd Divisions of Wafangdian were also fighting the Japanese attack with blood.

Perhaps because they fought too hard last night, the Japanese army did not launch another attack this morning.

The Wafangdian battlefield calmed down for a rare moment.

In the trenches of the 1st Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Division, Liu Zhenhu, deputy division commander and commander of the 1st Infantry Regiment, was inspecting the position with two guards.

Wherever he went, everyone, whether injured or not, saluted him immediately.

Liu Zhenhu comforted them one by one, and unknowingly came to the front trenches.

The fighting conditions in the frontline trenches were the most brutal, and broken limbs and broken arms could be seen everywhere in the trenches.

The bodies of many fallen soldiers had not yet had time to be carried down, it was not because they did not want to carry them down.

The officers and soldiers were really too tired. They had been fighting fiercely for days. Those who could survive had already seen everything and their hearts were numb.

As soon as the gunfire stopped, the first thing they thought of was to rest. Apart from eating, they almost didn't even bother to move.

But when they saw Liu Zhenhu arriving, the officers and soldiers immediately cheered up and stood up to salute with their tired bodies.

"Team seats!"

"Adjutant's seat!" the officers and soldiers shouted in unison.

Liu Zhenhu didn't care at all, and after returning the courtesy to them one by one, he said: "Brothers, you have worked hard, please continue to rest."

The officers and soldiers did not show any pretense, they sat back down one after another and rested against the trench again.

Liu Zhenhu stood in a foxhole and just raised his binoculars when he discovered that a warning post set up in front of the position sent out a warning signal.

Liu Zhenhu immediately turned his head and shouted: "The Japanese are attacking again, prepare to fight!"

The officers and soldiers who seemed to be sick just now seemed to regain their energy in an instant, stood up one after another, and quickly prepared for the battle.

Liu Zhenhu looked through his binoculars and could vaguely see a large group of Japanese troops slowly advancing towards them in a wide line of skirmishers.

During the day, the Japanese did not dare to shell, for fear of exposing the location of their regiment-level artillery positions and suffering retaliation from the Northeastern New Army's air strikes or heavy artillery.

Therefore, the Japanese attack during the day is purely based on people. Of course, large-scale shelling is not dared, and there will still be no shortage of small-caliber artillery.

At this time, two alert sentries returned to the front main trench along a narrow secret communication trench.

Liu Zhenhu immediately waved his hands towards them. When he came closer, he immediately opened his mouth and asked, "Have you seen clearly? Are there any abnormalities with the Japanese this time?"

The two sentries shook their heads almost at the same time, and one of them said: "Reporting to the regiment, no abnormalities were found."

"Okay, I understand, you can enter the combat position." Liu Zhenhu waved his hands towards them.

After the two sentries dispersed, Liu Zhenhu raised his binoculars uneasily. Seeing the Japanese attacking formation as before, Liu Zhenhu muttered to himself in confusion: "The little Japanese has been holding it in for a long time and he managed to come up with such a fart? Why?

I don’t think it’s that simple.”

As the Japs advanced, a second lieutenant officer not far away in the trench suddenly shouted in surprise: "Commander, look quickly, there seems to be something happening behind the Japs."

Liu Zhenhu quickly looked around and saw several balloon-like things suddenly rising in the direction of the Japanese attack position.

Although Liu Zhenhu had attended the Northeastern Martial Arts Lecture Hall, he had never been exposed to military hot air balloons.

"What do you want to do, little devil?" Liu Zhenhu was puzzled.

"Commander, what's the matter with this little devil? It looks like a balloon." The second lieutenant platoon leader not far away said in the same puzzlement.

"How about we shoot it down with a machine gun?" a machine gunner next to the second lieutenant platoon leader asked tentatively.

Liu Zhenhu observed it carefully and said: "There is no need to waste ammunition. The distance is too far and it is difficult to hit."

Just as he finished speaking, a harsh whistling sound suddenly came from the sky.

Soon, as the distance got closer, Liu Zhenhu, who was holding the telescope, suddenly changed his expression and shouted angrily: "Quick, lie down! Everyone lie down!" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come.
Chapter completed!