"Report to the commander, there is a call from the Volunteer Army Headquarters, ordering our first corps to retreat to the rear immediately and withdraw to the Uijeongbu area to form a defense line!"
After several days of fighting with the enemy forces on the south bank of the Han River, Li Qiufan suddenly received an order from the Volunteer Army Headquarters, asking them to abandon Seoul and withdraw to the Uijeongbu area.
"what happened?"
After hearing what the correspondent said, Li Qiufan frowned and asked.
Because in his mind, there was still some time before retreating to the second line of defense, but now it had only been a few days, and it was actually about to retreat to the second line of defense.
The correspondent did not know the reason for the retreat, because the Volunteer Army Headquarters only issued an order and did not explain the whole story.
What Li Qiufan never expected was that all this was caused by the First Corps' bombardment with the enemy on the western front in the past few days.
After a few days of bombardment on the Western Front, the commander of the Beautiful Country felt unprecedented pressure and decided not to be entangled with the volunteers on the Western Front, and to make an all-out breakthrough from Dipingli and Hengcheng.
After making this decision, the commander of the beautiful country quietly transferred the 24th Infantry Division and the 1st Marine Division away from the western front and rushed to the Dipingli area.
The dozen howitzer battalions and tanks and armored vehicles that were fighting against the First Corps did not move, in order to confuse the volunteers on the Western Front.
And Li Qiufan did not notice the enemy's movements. After all, they did not have planes to detect the enemy's movements. In addition, both sides were bombarded by large-caliber heavy artillery, and their positions were deployed very far back, so they were even less aware of the enemy's movements. Action.
This also doubled the pressure on the volunteer troops on the defense line in the Tuopingli area, and they were caught off guard by the enemy, resulting in heavy casualties.
The commander of the beautiful country took advantage of this opportunity to let his troops cross the two lines from Dipingli and Hengcheng to the volunteer army.
If the center point of the first line of defense is penetrated, the troops stationed on both sides of the defense line will be in danger and may be divided and surrounded by the enemy. That's why Li Qiufan received the order to retreat.
At the same time that Li Qiufan received the telegram from the Volunteer Army Headquarters, the 3rd Infantry Division of the Beautiful Country, the 1st Division of the Southern Dynasties, and the 6th Division of the Southern Dynasties on the south bank of the Han River launched a brazen attack.
On the other side, after repelling the volunteer troops stationed in Dipingli, the 1st Marine Division and the 24th Infantry Division of the United States immediately surrounded them from east to west.
This was exactly the order issued by the commander of the beautiful country. Other troops continued to penetrate deep into the Volunteer Army, while the 1st Marine Division and the 24th Infantry Division were divided and surrounded in the direction of Seoul.
Because Li Qiufan's First Corps had brought them too much trouble, and the weapons configuration of his troops was not inferior to their ace troops, the commander of the beautiful country tried to eliminate this serious trouble.
At this time, Li Qiufan did not know what was happening. After receiving the order from the Volunteer Army Headquarters, he was arranging for the troops to retreat.
"Order the Third Division of the First Army and the Tenth Division of the Fourth Army to block the enemy troops attacking on the south bank of the Han River and cover the retreat of the large forces!"
After the enemy troops on the south bank of the Han River launched an attack, Li Qiufan immediately ordered the Third Division and the Tenth Division to block the attack and cover the retreat of the large forces.
Li Qiufan's idea was that these two divisions would hold back the enemy forces on the south bank of the Han River, and then the large forces would withdraw to the Uijeongbu area to establish a new defense line, and then cover the retreat of these two divisions.
But before the large forces could withdraw to the Uijeongbu area, Li Qiufan received a telegram from the 10th Division. Their flanks were attacked by a small group of enemy troops.
It was the 24th Infantry Division that was attacking the flank of the 10th Division, while the 1st Marine Division was making a detour towards the rear of the 3rd and 10th Divisions.
At this time, the enemy did not know that the large troops of the First Corps had evacuated, let alone that there were only two divisions in their encirclement.
"Something's wrong. How could the enemy attack from the flank? Have the troops stationed in Di Ping been penetrated?"
After hearing the correspondent's report, Li Qiufan frowned and murmured.
In fact, the Volunteer Army Headquarters did not expect that the enemy would focus so much on taking care of Li Qiufan's First Corps. In addition, the Commander-in-Chief had just returned to China a few days ago, so there was some deviation in judging the direction of the enemy's attack.
The Volunteer Army Headquarters thought that the enemy was still using magnetic tactics, with troops on the east and west fronts advancing at the same time. Little did they know that the enemy had learned from them this time and was using interspersed and divided tactics.
"Inform the Fourth Army and ask Li Xiping to dispatch a regiment to turn back and go to the flank of the Tenth Division to block the enemy and cover the retreat of the Third and Tenth Divisions!"
After thinking for a long time, Li Qiufan ordered a regiment from the Fourth Army to be transferred back to cover the retreat of the Third Division and the Tenth Division.
What Li Qiufan never expected was that only the vanguard of the 24th Infantry Division would attack the flank of the 10th Division, and the main force was still behind.
On the enemy side, in order to prevent the volunteers on the Western Front from escaping, the 24th Infantry Division used cars to transport an infantry regiment as the vanguard to contain the Volunteers on the Western Front.
The commander of the 10th Division didn't think much about it. He just thought it was a small group of enemy troops that had penetrated their side, and then reported it to Li Qiufan.
But when the regiment of the Fourth Army returning to support arrived, the large force of the 24th Infantry Division of the Beautiful Country also arrived. The regiment of the Fourth Army directly collided with the 24th Infantry Division of the Beautiful Country.
"Report to the commander, the 693rd Regiment of the 12th Division of the Fourth Army reported that the attack on the flank of the 10th Division was not a small enemy force, but an entire division of the Beautiful Country!"
After the returning regiment of the Fourth Army encountered the 24th Infantry Division of the Beautiful Country, they immediately reported to Li Qiufan and then launched a blockade.
"What? An entire division from Beautiful Country?!"
After hearing the correspondent's report, Li Qiufan's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and then he questioned him.
"How can it be a whole division? Please confirm with the 693rd Regiment!"
Zhao Gang on the side was also shocked, and then immediately asked the correspondent to confirm with the 693rd Regiment.
The 693rd Regiment responded immediately after receiving the confirmation telegram and reported the casualties of the troops. Nearly half of their regiment had suffered casualties.
After rushing back, the 693rd Regiment collided directly with the 24th Infantry Division of the Beautiful Country without any preparation at all.
Facing the enemy's strength several times our own, coupled with the charge of tanks and armored vehicles, the 693rd Regiment suffered heavy casualties.
"Order the troops to stop advancing! The rear army will change to the front army and go back immediately to support!"
"Order the tank regiment and air defense regiment as the vanguard to go to the Seoul area for support!"
After receiving the confirmation from the 693rd Regiment, Li Qiufan's face instantly turned pale, and then he issued an order to the correspondent.
