"Send a telegram to the First Division and ask where they are."
"Also send a telegram to the political commissar and ask them to advance at full speed towards the bend along the river!"
Li Qiufan looked at the national army opposite and said to the correspondent beside him.
At this time, the First Division was still some distance away from Chen Tuangou, and it would take the next day to reach Hezhuangping.
After Li Qiufan learned of this result, he immediately ordered his troops to attack the national army opposite them to prevent the other party from discovering his intentions.
Although Li Qiufan and the First Division were escaping in one direction, they were not converging on one point at all, which led to the national army not thinking much about it.
However, when the First Division arrived at Chen Tuangou, it did not continue northward, but changed its route to the southwest toward Hezhuangping, which attracted the attention of the national army.
But it was too late now. Just when the sky was just getting dark, the First Division finally arrived at Hezhuangping.
After arriving at Hezhuangping, Erhu started to break out as planned.
The national army, which was engaged in a tug-of-war with Li Qiufan, was suddenly attacked from the rear.
And before they could even react to what was going on, Li Qiufan opened up his firepower and launched a fierce attack on a certain point, which seemed to open a hole in an instant.
"Inform the heavy artillery division and ask them to suppress the enemy and cover the evacuation of the first division!"
Seeing that the hole was open, Li Qiufan immediately issued an order to the heavy artillery division to suppress the enemy and prevent the enemy from refilling the defense line.
On the First Division's side, after seeing the hole opened, they immediately started to break out and successfully merged with Li Qiufan's troops under the cover of artillery fire from the heavy artillery division.
After the two units merged, Li Qiufan was no longer willing to fight. He even ordered the troops to start fighting and retreating along the river bend.
Because at this time the reorganized 1st Division, which was chasing the 1st Division, was also coming up, and the 17th Reorganized Division, which was coming for reinforcements, was not far away from the other corps.
Facing such a large number of troops, Li Qiufan could not resist it at all. Now he could only withdraw to the bay along the river as soon as possible and wait for Zhao Gang to bring reinforcements with the second and third divisions.
On Zhao Gang's side, after receiving Li Qiufan's telegram, he immediately ordered the troops to march towards the bend along the river. He probably guessed that Li Qiufan had made some big noise.
In this way, Li Qiufan led his troops to retreat while fighting, followed by the reorganized first division and two other remnant troops. Both sides chased me until they reached the bay along the river.
After arriving at the bay area along the river, Li Qiufan stopped escaping and found a favorable position to build a position and start fighting head-on with the pursuing enemies.
"Li Yunlong, can you still move?"
At this time, the pursuing enemy troops had not yet caught up, so Li Qiufan asked Li Yunlong beside him.
"Report to the commander, our old Li can not only move, but also kill the enemy!"
After Li Yunlong heard Li Qiufan's words, he immediately stood up straight and shouted loudly.
"Okay, take the rest of your fifth division to defend the high ground on the left. Be sure to hold your position!"
Li Qiufan nodded towards Li Yunlong, and then assigned him a task.
At this time, the Fifth Division only had a little more than one brigade of troops left. Fortunately, the three brigades of the Fifth Division had much more troops than other troops. One brigade had about 8,000 men.
Li Qiufan had previously mobilized a brigade of the Fifth Division to escort and capture prisoners. Then Li Yunlong went on a mission and took away more than 5,000 people. Now there are about 10,000 people left.
After receiving the order, Li Yunlong immediately led people to the high ground on the left.
After Li Yunlong left, Li Qiufan looked at Erhu again.
"Er Hu, you lead a division to defend the high ground on the right. I will transfer an artillery regiment from the heavy artillery brigade to you first. You must hold it!"
Li Qiufan knew that all the artillery of the First Division had been destroyed, so he immediately transferred an artillery regiment from the heavy artillery division and asked it to assist the First Division in defending the high ground on the right.
After hearing this, Er Hu nodded and did not refuse. Now there are only more than 8,000 people left in his first division, which is not as many as those left in Li Yunlong's fifth division.
Fortunately, he has an advantage in weapons and equipment. What he lacks is heavy firepower. With the help of an artillery regiment, it will be much easier.
After the positions on both sides were arranged, only the fourth division and one division were left in the front. The fourth division now still has about 18,000 people and has strong firepower, so Li Qiufan is not worried.
"Send a message to the political commissar to inform them of our location and ask them to come here quickly, otherwise they will have to collect the body for me!"
After arranging the various units, Li Qiufan asked his correspondent to send another telegram to Zhao Gang, urging him to rush over for support.
But before he could receive Zhao Gang's reply, the pursuing enemies pressed forward.
The reorganized first division plus the other two corps that were crippled by Li Qiufan still had about 60,000 troops, which was better than the situation on Li Qiufan's side.
Now Li Qiufan only had the advantage of the terrain and the heavy artillery division's big killer.
All he has to do is block the enemy from charging into his position.
If the opponent rushes into the position and engages in close combat, his advantage will be gone.
The national army obviously knew this, and immediately began to organize troops to attack, hoping to rush into the position and fight Li Qiufan.
The two sides started fighting immediately after meeting. Guns and gunshots continued to sound, and people were falling every second.
Especially after discovering that Li Qiufan's flanks were weak, Dang even launched a fierce attack on both wings, leaving Li Yunlong and Erhu disgraced.
"Let the heavy artillery division be divided into two parts and provide artillery support to the two flanks of the position. The enemy must not be allowed to rush into the position!"
After Li Qiufan understood the opponent's purpose, he directly asked the heavy artillery division to support the two flanks. However, in this way, he lost a major advantage on the frontal battlefield.
Without the suppression of artillery fire, the enemy troops on the frontal battlefield quickly rushed forward, and the Fourth Division could only rely on powerful firepower to repel them.
Li Qiufan's crazy output of this ammunition was obvious. The enemy suffered heavy casualties.
The two sides fought for a whole day and night, resulting in numerous casualties. The national army finally couldn't bear it anymore and stopped.
Seeing that the opponent stopped attacking, Li Qiufan finally breathed a sigh of relief, and then asked people to count the number of casualties.
After a day and night of fighting, Li Qiufan's three divisions lost a total of more than 5,000 people, not counting minor and serious injuries, which made Li Qiufan feel a little distressed.
The casualties of the national army on the opposite side were even greater. As the attacking party, their casualties were nearly double that of Li Qiufan.
But even though the casualties were so heavy and they fought for a whole day and night, they did not rush into Li Qiufan's position. This really made the commanders of the national army a little angry.
But the good times did not last long. Before Li Qiufan could take a breath, the reorganized 17th Division and another army arrived for reinforcements.
At this moment, more than 50,000 new troops were added. The national army was more confident in the upcoming battle, while Li Qiufan frowned.
