Li Qiufan led his troops quickly toward Chengxian County. It didn't take long for the scouts to report that they had discovered enemy troops.
What hit Li Qiufan and the others was the enemy's fifth corps, with a total of about 50,000 troops.
At this time, the Fifth Corps also discovered the traces of Li Qiufan and the others, and was already building a blocking position and reported it to the old fox.
After the old fox learned that the People's Liberation Army was breaking through to the north, he immediately ordered the 18th Corps and the newly formed 7th Corps to go north and cooperate with the 5th Corps to encircle them.
At this time, Li Qiufan was in a place called Baosha Town. There was a Nanhe River in Baosha Town, and they were in Hanpo on the south bank of the Nanhe River.
The location of the Fifth Corps is Bangziya northeast of Hanpo. The distance between the two armies is about seven or eight kilometers.
"Heizi, order the troops to cross the river!"
"The enemy has discovered us. The enemy troops in Kang County must be heading north. This will make the Fifth Corps hold us back and prevent us from leaving!"
After taking a look at the map, Li Qiufan immediately ordered to cross the river and make plans after crossing to the north bank of the south river.
"yes!"
After Heizi heard Li Qiufan's order, he immediately asked the communications troops to notify the troops to start crossing the river.
The Fifth Corps in Bangziya also discovered their intentions and hurriedly sent a telegram to the old fox to report the situation.
After the old fox learned that the People's Liberation Army was going to cross the river and flee north, he immediately gave the Fifth Corps a death order, asking it to launch an attack immediately and make sure to drag the People's Liberation Army to the south bank of the Nanhe River.
After receiving the order, the Fifth Corps directly abandoned half of its built positions, and then launched an attack on Li Qiufan's department.
"Erhu! Take the First Army to block the Fifth Corps for me and cover other troops to cross the river. Hurry!"
After receiving information that the enemy was attacking them, Li Qiufan directly sent the First Army to block the Fifth Corps.
After receiving the order, Erhu directly led the First Army to start building positions, and then waited for the arrival of the Fifth Army.
The Fifth Corps was very fast. Just after passing the troops of the First Army, they rushed to the position of the First Army and then launched a charge.
"Heizi, order the mortar regiments of all armies to assemble and go to the First Army's position to provide artillery suppression. Let me fight back the Fifth Corps!"
After hearing the sound of gunfire from the direction of the First Army position, Li Qiufan immediately shouted to Heizi.
With mortar reinforcements from the entire corps, the Fifth Corps company could not charge half the distance and could only watch the People's Liberation Army cross the river.
Soon all the troops except the First Army had crossed the river. Li Qiufan immediately ordered the troops to build positions along the river bank and at the same time withdrew the mortar regiments belonging to each army.
After the artillery regiments also crossed the river, Li Qiufan ordered the First Army to start alternately covering the withdrawal positions, and then cross the river to the north bank.
Seeing that the last People's Liberation Army was about to run away, the Fifth Corps desperately pursued them.
The old fox gave them a death order, but they failed to complete the task.
Now that the last remaining 30,000 or so People's Liberation Army troops were about to flee, the Fifth Corps was in a hurry.
The First Army withdrew all the way to the river, and the enemy's Fifth Army also pursued them all the way here.
Seeing the enemy pursuing behind the First Army, Li Qiufan immediately ordered all units to open fire to cover the First Army.
The Fifth Corps seemed to have finally caught up, but was instantly beaten back by a fierce attack from the north bank, and overwhelming mortar shells continued to fall overhead.
Taking advantage of the Fifth Corps being repulsed, Erhu immediately ordered the troops to start crossing the river, and it didn't take long for them all to reach the north bank.
"Order the troops to withdraw from their positions and continue marching north!"
Seeing that the First Army had all crossed the river, Li Qiufan finally breathed a sigh of relief, and then ordered the troops to continue withdrawing north.
When the commander of the Fifth Corps saw this, he immediately ordered the troops to start crossing the river.
At this moment, he did not dare to report the situation to the old fox. If the old fox knew that he was not entangled with the People's Liberation Army, then dismissal would be a luxury.
At this moment, the only option is to catch up and make up for the mistake. Even if you can't catch up, you must try your best, so as to save your own life.
On Li Qiufan's side, the troops went all the way north to Chenyuan Town in the northwest of Chengxian County, and at this time he also learned that the Fifth Corps was still chasing them.
"Brother, should we go back and eat this Fifth Corps? Being chased like this is not an option!"
Hearing that the Fifth Corps was still chasing them, Heizi immediately suggested to Li Qiufan.
"No, although the Fifth Corps only has 40,000 to 50,000 people, it is unrealistic to defeat them in a short time!"
"And at this time we don't know how far away the enemy's reinforcements are from us. If their reinforcements arrive, it will be even harder for us to leave!"
After hearing Heizi's suggestion, Li Qiufan immediately shook his head and refused, and stated his reasons.
"But if they keep chasing us, we can only run back to the northwest!"
Although he knew what Li Qiufan said made sense, Heizi still couldn't help but complain.
"Stop making noise! Let me think!"
Li Qiufan reached out and pressed Heizi's shoulder, and then began to think deeply.
"Yes!"
After thinking for a moment, Li Qiufan suddenly clapped his hands and shouted.
"What's left?"
Heizi was startled by Li Qiufan's reaction, and then asked him doubtfully.
"Heizi, transfer a division from your Fifth Army and ask them to continue retreating north. Leave more traces and more footprints during the retreat!"
After hearing Heizi's inquiry, Li Qiufan immediately said to him.
"The golden cicada escapes from its shell?"
After hearing Li Qiufan's words, Heizi immediately understood what he was thinking.
"Yes, let this division lead the fifth corps to run north, and our main force will withdraw eastward!"
"You must leave more traces and more footprints, otherwise the enemy will not be fooled!"
"In addition, inform the troops performing the mission that if they are about to be overtaken, they should go into the woods and never fight head-on with the enemy!"
Li Qiufan nodded after hearing Heizi's words, and then warned him.
After hearing this, Heizi immediately transferred a division from the Fifth Army, and then continued to march north according to Li Qiufan's instructions.
The large troops dispersed and hid in Lianglou Village and Luojiawan on the east side of Chenyuan Town, while also covering up the traces of their passage.
At this time, Li Qiufan was not sure whether the Fifth Corps would be fooled, and could only pray that the other party would not see through his plan.
At this moment, the Fifth Corps was in a hurry to catch up with the People's Liberation Army and make up for its past mistakes. It didn't pay attention to some details at all, and followed the traces left by the Fifth Army division to catch up.
After learning that the Fifth Corps had been successfully led away, Li Qiufan finally breathed a sigh of relief and then ordered the troops to set off eastward.
