Fortunately, Li Yunlong's third column did not lose its chain, and successfully broke through the enemy's second line of defense positions, tearing apart the enemy's last line of defense.
"Let all one column press forward and cooperate with the three columns to harvest the enemy!"
Seeing that the third column had penetrated deep into the enemy's army, Li Qiufan hurriedly ordered someone to give the order to Erhu, asking him to lead the first column and press forward directly to surround the enemy.
Under the continuous stranglehold of the two columns, the enemy troops who lost their defensive positions were unable to resist at all, and were soon surrounded.
Seeing the strength and combat effectiveness of the People's Liberation Army, coupled with the situation they faced, the commander of the national army immediately chose to surrender.
"Brother, the enemy has surrendered, and there are about 12,000 or 3,000 prisoners. How to deal with this?"
After Heizi learned about the prisoner's situation, he came to Li Qiufan and asked him,
"Leave them three days of food rations and let them all go to Tianshui. If anyone dares to turn back, shoot them!"
After thinking for a moment, Li Qiufan made the decision to abandon these prisoners and let them leave.
Because if they are left behind, they will have to be divided into groups for custody, which will seriously affect their combat effectiveness.
After all, this is just the first battle in Baoji, and it can be regarded as an appetizer. There are many big battles waiting for them to fight later.
Originally, without the second column and the garrison brigade, there was a slight shortage in strength. If we continue to divide the troops because of the prisoners, the gains outweigh the losses.
Heizi also understood what Li Qiufan was thinking, and immediately executed it after hearing what he said.
"Go and call the commander of the third column, Li Yunlong, over here!"
After dealing with the prisoners, Li Qiufan planned to deal with Li Yunlong, and then just let someone go find him.
Not long after, Li Yunlong came over with a grin on his face, holding a submachine gun in his hand.
"Brother, look, American equipment! This time, we, Lao Li, have to match it with whatever they say!"
Li Yunlong hadn't realized his mistake yet, so he excitedly said to Li Qiufan while holding a submachine gun.
"Haha, it's really a good thing. It's all thanks to you, Commander Li, this time!"
Li Qiufan looked at Li Yunlong and smiled, then reached out and took the submachine gun and said to him.
"No, no, this is all thanks to the brothers!"
Li Yunlong still didn't feel anything was wrong, waved his hand towards Li Qiufan and said.
"Li Yunlong!"
Seeing this, Li Qiufan stopped pretending, and his smiling face immediately turned serious, and he roared Li Yunlong's name.
"arrive!"
Li Qiufan's roar startled Li Yunlong, and he immediately stood at attention after reacting.
"Why didn't you act according to the plan! Why did you divide the battlefield on your own initiative! What if your three columns did not entangle the enemy and let the enemy escape!"
Li Qiufan stared at Li Yunlong and asked him questions.
Hearing Li Qiufan's words, Li Yunlong opened his mouth to refute, but suddenly thought of something and swallowed the words that came to his lips.
"This kind of thing only happens once. Next time, don't blame me for dismissing you from your post on the battlefield!"
"Also, after the battle is over, write a review to me!"
Seeing that Li Yunlong didn't open his mouth to defend himself, Li Qiufan felt a lot less angry.
In addition, this was on a battlefield, and there were many soldiers watching around, so Li Qiufan didn't say anything more.
Afterwards, Li Qiufan threw the submachine gun back to Li Yunlong, and then asked his three columns to stop cleaning the battlefield and withdraw directly to the rear of the team.
Li Yunlong's face, which was originally as happy as a lotus flower, turned into a bitter gourd in an instant, and Heizi almost couldn't hold back his laughter.
"Order the troops to quickly clean the battlefield, and the captured American equipment will be directly replaced. The excess equipment will be thrown into the third column and let Li Yunlong take it!"
After dealing with Li Yunlong, Li Qiufan urged the troops to seize the time to clean the battlefield. After all, this was the old fox's territory, and it was unclear whether the enemy reinforcements would arrive.
Under Li Qiufan's order, the troops quickly cleaned up the battlefield and replaced all the captured American equipment with them.
"Order the troops to continue heading towards Baoji, with Yizong as the vanguard."
"Let Erhu send more scouts out. This is the enemy's territory. Be careful not to be ambushed!"
After the troops assembled, Li Qiufan immediately issued the order to continue moving forward.
At the same time, the two armies transferred to Baoji for support by the old fox also arrived, and quickly rushed to Zhangjiashan and Guchuan to set up defense lines.
Zhangjiashan and Guchuan are not far from Pingtou Town, one in the south and one in the north, separated by the Wei River.
In this way, no matter which side Li Qiufan marches from, he will hit the national army's defense line.
Li Qiufan led his troops to march from the south side of the Weihe River. On the south side of the Weihe River is Zhangjiashan, which is defended by the 65th Army.
The 65th Army had about 30,000 troops and was a semi-American armed force, so it didn't even bother with an ambush and directly set up a formation in Zhangjiashan to wait for Li Qiufan's arrival.
This situation was quickly reported back by the scouts. After learning about the situation, Li Qiufan immediately sent people across the river to conduct reconnaissance on the north side of the Weihe River.
The purpose of conducting reconnaissance on the north side of the Weihe River was not to detour, but because Li Qiufan was afraid that while they were fighting, they would be suddenly attacked by enemy troops crossing the river.
The results of the investigation also confirmed Li Qiufan's worries. The scouts discovered the position of the 38th Army in Guchuan, on the north side of the Wei River.
After learning about this situation, Li Qiufan couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, we sent someone to cross the river to investigate. It would be quite painful if we really stole his butt.
"Let Li Yunlong lead the three columns to build positions on the south bank of the Wei River. They must block the enemy troops on the north side of the Wei River and don't let them cross the Wei River!"
After pondering for a moment, Li Qiufan decided to let Li Yunlong's third column attack the enemy forces on the north side of the Weihe River.
Although Li Yunlong's three columns only have about 20,000 people, with the Wei River as a barrier, it is not a problem to resist an enemy twice his size.
After solving the hidden danger on the north side of the Weihe River, Li Qiufan ordered the first column to start building positions and prepare to launch an attack on the enemy forces in Zhangjiashan.
After the 65th Army discovered the People's Liberation Army troops, they immediately reported to the old fox.
In view of the previous loss of the two divisions of the First Army, Old Fox immediately sent the remaining troops of the First Army to Zhangjiashan.
In addition, the 38th Army on the north side of the Wei River was ordered to cross the river to the south bank and launch an attack on the People's Liberation Army from the flank.
After making these arrangements, Old Fox was still a little worried, and finally transferred the 36th Army in Xieguguan to Baoji to support the 65th Army.
As a result, Li Qiufan was about to face three and a half armies, with a total strength of more than 90,000.
But Li Qiufan didn't know all this. After the first column and the heavy artillery division were ready, they launched an attack on the 65th Army position.
