Just when everything was going smoothly, an accident suddenly happened. The enemy's reconnaissance plane discovered the Third Corps and the Ninth Corps rushing to the Gwacheon area.
After the enemy's reconnaissance aircraft detected the 38th Army and the 42nd Army, they reported to the Naval Command and then received the order to return.
But as luck would have it, the enemy reconnaissance plane's return route coincided with the reinforcement routes of the Third and Ninth Corps, and the two sides met between Yeongdeungpo and Anyang-ri.
Then the commander of the beautiful country received news that hundreds of thousands of volunteers were heading to the Gwacheon area for reinforcements.
Although the commander of the beautiful country had great hatred for the First Corps, he did not dare to push the five infantry divisions and one cavalry division in the Gwacheon area into a pit of fire.
And before that, the beautiful country had already been crippled with a 44th Infantry Division and annihilated a 13th Airborne Division.
The senior leaders of the beautiful country have already criticized him as the commander-in-chief of the peninsula region, and they may dismiss him at any time.
Therefore, although the commander of the beautiful country was eager for revenge, for the sake of his own future and reputation, he had no choice but to issue the order to retreat.
After receiving the order from the commander of the beautiful country, the enemy army began to make preparations to evacuate the Gwacheon area, and this change was naturally discovered by Li Qiufan.
"Damn, something's wrong, the enemy seems to be trying to escape!"
Seeing that the enemy no longer launched an attack and instead began to shrink their troops, Li Qiufan frowned and cursed.
"Correspondent, order the three heavy artillery brigades belonging to the armored division to immediately shell the enemy positions!"
"In addition, notify the First Army and ask them to send troops out to test and see if the enemy wants to escape!"
After scolding, Li Qiufan asked the correspondent to give orders to the three heavy artillery brigades belonging to the armored division to shell the enemy positions.
In addition, the First Army was asked to take the initiative and use the artillery brigade's artillery cover to launch an attack on the enemy to test whether the enemy was trying to escape.
As Li Qiufan's order was issued, the three heavy artillery brigades belonging to the armored division opened fire immediately, directly covering the enemy's positions with firepower.
Taking advantage of this moment, the First Army directly sent out the third division and launched an attack on the enemy's position.
After being suddenly covered by artillery fire and raided, the enemy did not fight back, but began to shrink its defense line.
This strange reaction confirmed Li Qiufan's suspicion that the enemy was trying to escape.
Because if the enemy didn't want to run away, they would definitely counterattack vigorously, and the more than 300 howitzers were not just decorations, they would have been fired to suppress them.
But now the enemy has directly reduced its defense line and does not want to tangle with them at all.
More importantly, the enemy's howitzers did not fire, which makes people even more suspicious.
Because the enemy has no shortage of artillery shells, and is not willing to consume artillery shells, there is only one reason for not firing. The enemy has put away all the howitzers.
"Damn it, these bastards are really going to run away!"
"Correspondent, immediately notify the First Army, Second Army, Thirty-eighth Army, and Forty-second Army to all attack. Let me nail these bastards to Gwacheon!"
"In addition, give an order to the three heavy artillery brigades belonging to the armored division. Let me not care about consumption and directly extend the artillery fire to seal the enemy's retreat!"
After confirming that the enemy was going to evacuate Gwacheon, Li Qiufan immediately cursed, and then gave orders to the four armies except the Fourth Army to launch an attack to contain the enemy.
In addition, the correspondent was asked to issue an order to the armored division, allowing the three heavy artillery brigades to directly extend artillery fire to seal the road.
It was impossible for Li Qiufan to let the enemy troops escape like this. This was related to whether the war in the peninsula could end.
Moreover, Li Qiufan had just given the old brigade commander a guarantee that he would not let the enemy troops leave the Gwacheon area, so the old brigade commander should put his heart into his stomach.
If the enemy is allowed to escape again, then he will really be slapped in the face, and it will be directly slapped and swollen.
When the enemy saw that the volunteers took the initiative and launched a large-scale attack, the remaining troops stopped pretending and ran away without looking back.
At this time, the enemy had withdrawn all its troops from their positions, leaving only two regiments to confuse the volunteers.
If it weren't for the roundabout encirclement being carried out by the old brigade commander and Li Qiufan always paying attention to the enemy's movements, the enemy's plan might have been successful.
Fortunately, Li Qiufan discovered it in time and reacted as soon as the enemy troops withdrew from their position, thus preventing them from succeeding.
Then came the three heavy artillery brigades belonging to the armored division, which directly extended their artillery fire to the maximum range to seal the road, which immediately stopped the enemy's attempts to escape.
After the enemy army was stopped by nearly 300 heavy artillery pieces, they reported to the commander of the beautiful country.
But before they could get a response, the Third Division of the First Army, which rushed out first, caught up with them, and then the enemy and we started a fierce battle.
However, the enemy had no intention of fighting at all. After repelling the attack of the third division, they prepared to continue their evacuation from other directions.
But after being delayed like this by the Third Division, they were even more unable to escape, because the First Army and other four armies were also catching up.
The four armies were divided into two parts. The First Army and the Second Army directly attacked the 40th Infantry Division of the Beautiful Country from the left flank.
The 38th Army and the 42nd Army circled to the right wing and became entangled with the 45th Infantry Division of the Beautiful Country.
Li Qiufan gave them a very clear order, which was to contain the enemy and avoid direct combat with the enemy. The task would be completed after the two armies of the 19th Corps and the 13th Corps arrived.
Therefore, the First Army and four other armies directly moved around to the two flanks to contain and harass the enemy. They adopted the sixteen-character policy of "when the enemy advances, we retreat, when the enemy is stationed, we harass, when the enemy is tired, we attack, and when the enemy retreats, we pursue."
In this way, the enemy could neither fight nor retreat, and was directly pinned to death in the Gwacheon area.
At this time, the commander of the beautiful country also reacted. He had expected that the retreat would not go smoothly, but he did not expect to be overtaken so quickly.
Then the commander of the beautiful country resorted to his old tricks and immediately contacted the naval headquarters and sent air aid to assist the ground troops in breaking out.
Just as the enemy planes took off for the Gwacheon area, Li Qiufan also sent a request for assistance telegram to the Volunteer Army Headquarters, requesting Shisi to send air force troops for reinforcements.
Li Qiufan had already anticipated what cards the enemy would play next, so he directly prescribed the right medicine. If you have a plane, I also have one. It just depends on who can outlast the other.
