"You're crazy! The Volunteer Army Command's order is for us to withdraw to the Uijeongbu area to establish a defense line. What if you transfer all the troops back to the Uijeongbu area!"
Upon hearing Li Qiufan's order, Zhao Gang quickly stopped the correspondent who was going to notify the troops, and then said to Li Qiufan.
"I'm not crazy! Our two divisions are surrounded by enemy troops, why don't we just watch them fold there!"
Seeing Zhao Gang stopping him from going back to support, Li Qiufan immediately said to him.
"But what about the Uijeongbu government? What about the orders from the Volunteer Army Headquarters!"
Although Zhao Gang was also very anxious, considering the current situation, it was very important to quickly establish the second line of defense.
"In this case, Old Zhao, you take the First Army to the Uijeongbu area to establish a defense line. I will take the two divisions and the armored division of the Fourth Army back to support, and go to Seoul to rescue the Third Division and the Tenth Division!"
After hearing what Zhao Gang said, Li Qiufan thought for a moment and then said to him.
"No! You are the first deputy commander of the Volunteer Army and the leader of our first corps. You cannot do this!"
"You take the First Army to Uijeongbu, and I will take the Fourth Army and the Armored Division back to support!"
After hearing Li Qiufan's arrangement, Zhao Gang immediately shook his head, and then he wanted to exchange with Li Qiufan and lead his troops back to support.
"Old Zhao, listen to me, I'm not as good as you in political work, so don't argue with me about the war. What we lack most now is time, don't delay here!"
"Correspondent! Order the Fourth Army and the Armored Division to turn around and march toward Seoul immediately!"
Li Qiufan had no intention of arguing with Zhao Gang at this time. After hearing Zhao Gang's words, he immediately held Zhao Gang's shoulders and said to him, and then gave the order to the correspondent before Zhao Gang could speak.
Seeing this, Zhao Gang could only nod helplessly, because he was indeed inferior to Li Qiufan in terms of fighting.
After bidding farewell to Zhao Gang, Li Qiufan led the Fourth Army and the Armored Division towards Seoul.
On the other side, the 693rd Regiment at this time had retreated to the position of the 10th Division, and the commander of the 10th Division also knew that an entire division from the Meili Country was coming from the flank.
But the commander of the 10th Division did not ask Li Qiufan for help because he knew what the order from the Volunteer Army Headquarters was to their first corps.
The commanders of the other three divisions also understood their current situation. After communicating with the commanders of the tenth division, they decided that the third division would withstand the enemy's attack on the south bank of the Han River, while the tenth division would withstand the enemy's flank attack, and then attack Eliminate as much as possible.
They already know that they can't leave, and now they can only kill as many enemies as possible to reduce the burden on other troops in the subsequent battle.
But what they didn't know was that the enemy's ace unit, the 1st Marine Division of the United States, had already circled behind them.
On Li Qiufan's side, after deciding to turn back for support, he ordered the tank regiment and air defense regiment to serve as the vanguard and rush to the Seoul area to provide support, with the large troops following behind.
But the tank regiment and air defense regiment, like the 693rd regiment, collided with the 1st Marine Division of the United States as soon as they arrived in the Seoul area.
After Li Qiufan learned the news, his already anxious heart sank to the bottom. He did not expect that there was actually a First Marine Division conducting a roundabout encirclement.
"Inform the tank regiment and the anti-aircraft regiment to retreat first and wait until the large forces arrive!"
After learning that the tank regiment and the air defense regiment were intercepted by the First Marine Division, Li Qiufan immediately gave them the order to retreat to prevent the two troops from suffering heavy losses.
By the time Li Qiufan arrived with a large force, the First Marine Division had already deployed an encirclement and was launching an attack from the rear of the Third and Tenth Divisions.
"Order the three heavy artillery brigades of the armored division to immediately build artillery positions, and when ready, directly bombard the enemy!"
"Order the 11th Division to be ready, wait for the heavy artillery brigade to bombard the enemy, and then launch an attack to open a gap to help the 3rd and 10th Divisions break out!"
"Order the Twelfth Division to build a defensive position on the left flank to prevent the enemy from making a surprise attack from the flank!"
"Order the 1st Battalion of the Tank Regiment to be ready and wait for the heavy artillery brigade to launch an artillery attack to cover the charge of the 11th Division!"
After arriving at the predetermined position, Li Qiufan immediately issued orders to all units and made preparations for the attack.
At this time, the situation of the 3rd Division and the 10th Division, which were trapped in the encirclement, was not good. The enemy surrounded them with superior strength. Coupled with the fierce artillery fire suppression from the south bank of the Han River, both divisions had suffered nearly half of their casualties.
Just when everyone fell into despair, the three heavy artillery brigades belonging to the Armored Division finally made preparations, and then covered the positions of the First Marine Division with artillery fire.
Hearing the explosion from behind, everyone in the Third Division and the Tenth Division turned their heads to look. The commanders of the two divisions instantly understood something.
"Brothers! Our support has arrived. The commander has come back with his troops to rescue us. Let me withstand the enemy's attack. Let's go home together!"
The commander of the Third Division shouted from the position, and the same thing happened on the Tenth Division position.
On Li Qiufan's side, after the artillery bombardment by three heavy artillery brigades, the 1st Battalion of the Tank Regiment covered the troops of the 11th Division and launched an attack on the 1st Marine Division position.
The 1st Marine Division, which suffered heavy shelling, immediately withdrew its troops and began to defend the rear of the position.
With the withdrawal of the troops of the 1st Marine Division, the pressure on the 3rd and 10th Marine Divisions was greatly reduced, and the hope of survival rose in the hearts of the soldiers.
"Notify the Third Division and the Tenth Division to move closer to the First Marine Division and prepare to break out!"
After the 11th Division launched the attack, Li Qiufan immediately asked the correspondent to issue orders to the 3rd Division and the 11th Division to prepare for a breakout.
On the enemy's side, the commander of the 1st Marine Division had already reported the situation to the commander of the beautiful country, and the commander of the beautiful country even guessed that the people in the encirclement were not the main force of the volunteers on the Western Front.
Then the commander of the beautiful country issued an order to the 24th Infantry Division, asking it to divide its troops to attack the flank positions of the volunteers behind the 1st Marine Division, and wipe out all the volunteer troops in the encirclement and the volunteers who came to support them.
After receiving the order, the 24th Infantry Division immediately dispatched an infantry regiment and launched an attack on the 12th Division's position from the flank.
"Order the Third Battalion of the Air Defense Regiment to enter the position of the Twelfth Division and cooperate with the Twelfth Division to repel the attacking enemy troops!"
After learning that the Twelfth Division on the flank was attacked by the enemy, Li Qiufan immediately transferred an air defense battalion and used self-propelled anti-aircraft machine guns to supplement the firepower of the Twelfth Division.
"Inform the commander of the 11th Division and ask him to continue sending troops to press up. Order the tank regiment to send another battalion to press up. Be sure to open a hole for me!"
After arranging the 12th Division, Li Qiufan issued an order to continue to increase the intensity of the attack, preparing to tear a gap in the defense line of the 1st Marine Division.
