In accordance with the orders issued by Li Qiufan, the three armies retreated in an orderly manner with alternating cover, while the enemy troops followed closely in pursuit.
At this time, the commander of the Beautiful Country also learned that the First Corps was about to escape, and immediately contacted the Navy Command and asked it to send bombers to bomb and intercept it.
After receiving the order, the US Navy Command dispatched a large number of bombers and fighters to the Zhuyi Mountain area without saying a word.
But just as the enemy flight formation flew to Waidu Ridge, the long-hidden air defense regiment opened fire.
The air defense regiment, in company-level units, spread anti-aircraft armored vehicles over most of Waidu Ridge. The huge cross-fire network prevented enemy aircraft from taking a step forward.
And since they went to Zhuyi Mountain for bombing before, they did not encounter any interception, so they thought that the First Corps did not have anti-aircraft weapons, so they did not have any vigilance.
Therefore, when flying to Waidu Ridge, all enemy pilots were unprepared. This resulted in the enemy's flying formation being shot down by the air defense regiment in one encounter. Eleven aircraft were shot down.
Seeing that eleven planes were shot down, other enemy pilots desperately changed their flight directions to avoid them.
The self-propelled anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft guns on the ground fired wildly into the air, constantly blocking the routes of enemy aircraft.
While fierce fighting was going on in Waidu Ridge, a regiment on the other side had already withdrawn to the pass of Zhuyi Mountain.
"Correspondent, order the tank regiment to go up immediately and help the three armies cut off the rear!
After the troops withdrew to the Zhuyi Mountain pass, Li Qiufan immediately asked the correspondent to issue an order to the tank regiment, asking it to insert directly between the two armies to help the infantry break up the rear.
After receiving the order, the tank regiment did not hesitate at all and pushed directly in the direction of the enemy, helping the first, second and fourth armies to distance themselves from the pursuing enemy troops.
"Correspondent, order the First Army, the Second Army, and the Fourth Army to march in the direction of Namjihyeon and enter the Bujia Mountain through the Namjihyeon area as quickly as possible!"
After seeing that the tank regiment successfully stopped the enemy, Li Qiufan immediately asked the correspondent to issue orders to the three armies to march and retreat in the direction of Nanzhi Xian.
Li Qiufan had already made a plan for the retreat route, which was to pass through the Nanzhi Xian area and then enter Muka Mountain, where he would throw off the enemy troops.
Then they crossed from Mukapsan to Gyeongan-ri, passed through Guangzhou and rushed to the ferry on the south bank of the Han River, and then crossed the river directly to the north bank to meet up with the large army.
Of course, this is only the first plan. If the enemy cannot be shaken off at Mukapsan, they will have to continue marching westward and look for opportunities to cross the river in the Yeongdeungpo area.
After receiving the order, the three armies made slight adjustments, and then the First Army opened the way and marched towards Nanji Xianang.
After establishing a certain distance from the pursuing enemy troops, Li Qiufan gave the tank regiment and air defense regiment a retreat order. The retreat direction was also Nanzhi Xian.
After receiving the order, the air defense regiment and the tank regiment immediately began to retreat, but the tank regiment encountered trouble while retreating.
On the air defense regiment's side, after a fierce battle with enemy aircraft, both sides suffered losses, but the enemy's losses were greater, with a total of twenty-three aircraft shot down.
After the enemy pilots consumed all the ammunition they carried, they began to return and did not pursue the air defense regiment.
But the tank regiment was in danger. In order to help the three armies break up the rear, the tank regiment directly carried out mobile warfare with the enemy under heavy artillery fire to delay the attack.
But just as they were preparing to retreat, the mobile troops of the Second Cavalry Division caught up and held on to the tank regiment.
And other American infantry divisions also dispatched their tank battalions to pursue Li Qiufan's tank regiment.
Because it was entangled by the mobile troops of the Second Cavalry Division, the tank regiment missed the best opportunity to retreat and was bitten by the enemy's tanks and armored vehicles.
"Report to the commander-in-chief that the tank regiment has been bitten by the enemy's mobile troops of the Second Cavalry Division. There are also a large number of enemy tanks and armored vehicles following behind, and they cannot escape the pursuit."
"Damn! These bastards!"
After hearing the correspondent's report, Li Qiufan immediately cursed angrily.
Because once a tank regiment is bitten by an enemy's mobile force, it is impossible to get rid of it unless the enemy's tanks and armored vehicles run out of fuel.
"Commander-in-Chief, I haven't finished reading yet."
Seeing Li Qiufan's angry look, the correspondent swallowed and said to him.
"Bring it!"
Hearing that the report was not finished yet, Li Qiufan couldn't wait for the correspondent to read it, so he directly reached out and took the message.
The subsequent report of the tank regiment was that it decided not to retreat in the direction of Nanjihyeon, but to divert to Cheondeok Peak to divert the enemy's mobile troops away and continue to cover the evacuation of the large forces.
After reading it, Li Qiufan clenched the telegram tightly in his hands, his fists shaking with too much force.
"Reply to the tank regiment and agree to their retreat plan!"
"One more thing, I, Li Qiufan, feel sorry for them!"
After a moment of silence, Li Qiufan released his clenched hands and said expressionlessly to the correspondent beside him.
The tank regiment gave up retreating in the direction of Nanjixian and instead led the enemy's mobile troops to Tiande Peak. Li Qiufan knew that they might never return.
But at this moment, he was not allowed to be emotional. After reading the message from the tank regiment, he wanted to order the troops to stop and respond to it several times, but he rejected this idea several times.
Because the three armies of the First Corps finally withdrew from Zhuyi Mountain, he could not let the more than 70,000 people who survived fall into desperate situations again.
Therefore, he could only bury this impulse deep in his heart and agreed to the tank regiment's plan to attract the enemy's mobile troops and retreat to Tiande Peak.
After receiving the reply, the tank regiment immediately changed its retreat route and began to lead the enemy's mobile troops in the direction of Tiande Peak.
Everyone in the tank regiment knew that they might never return, but there was no resentment or unwillingness in their hearts, and everyone was willing to die.
Because they knew that they had saved 70,000 to 80,000 people in the First Corps and Three Armies, giving their comrades a chance to survive.
So their efforts are worth it. Those brothers who survive will help them avenge themselves, win this war, and come back to take them home!
"I regret it."
"It's really not worth sacrificing so many brothers for my future plans."
"I will come back to take you home, and I will apologize to you when I get down."
After the correspondent left, Li Qiufan looked in the direction of Tiande Peak with a sad look on his face and murmured in a low voice.
