mtlumby2d Chapter 443: The Battle of Yezhou: The Straw That Broke the Camel's Back
Chapter 443: The Battle of Yezhou: The Straw That Broke the Camel's Back
On December 14, the 13th year of the Republic of China in Dahua, the troops of the Northwest Military Region of the Northern Frontier, under the personal leadership of Liu Chengxu, were unstoppable and took over the entire Ezhou. After almost annihilating the 120,000 Ezhou troops, they headed straight for Yezhou in the southwest of the Southern government. Under the order of Huang Guangtai, the governor of Yezhou, Shi Jian, set up a wall and cleared the fields. With the help of the complex mountainous terrain of Yezhou, he continued to deal with the 300,000 troops under Liu Chengxu, but was still defeated.
Although the complex and mountainous terrain limited the performance of the Northwest Military Region's armored forces, it could not stop the rampage of the air force. In desperation, the Southern Government adopted an attitude of desperate struggle and mobilized 350,000 troops from Fuzhou, Tangzhou, and Yingzhou, gathered in the southern part of Yezhou, and launched an unprecedented battle with the troops of the Northwest Military Region in the northern border.
The battle lasted for ten days, and the flames of war affected the entire Yezhou and even a small area in the southwest of Yangzhou.
The Northwest Military Region troops led by Liu Chengxu have demonstrated with practical actions what a true top-level army is and what the military soul of the Northern Frontier is.
With the assistance of the air force, the Sixth Army under Liu Chengxu took over the Amano Pass Fortress in the south of Yezhou in just three days, defeating the 120,000 enemy troops and causing rivers of blood.
The roaring planes, the artillery positions scattered across the battlefield, the thousands of Katyusha self-propelled rocket launchers, and the soldiers of the Northwest Military Region who were constantly charging and advancing bravely on the battlefield, constituted a unique war picture of blood and fire.
After the fall of Amano Pass, the Sixth Army marched lightly with a force of more than 50,000 people across the Amano Mountains which stretch for hundreds of miles, launched a lightning raid, and went around behind the main enemy force. At this point, the great battle that Liu Chengxu called the pocket tactic, which was to break through the surface with a point, finally came to an end. The 350,000 Southern Government troops suffered more than 80,000 casualties, and most of the rest became prisoners of the Northwest Military Region troops.
Liu Chengxu took Yezhou, Tangzhou, Yingzhou one after another, and successfully joined forces with the Central Plains Army Group led by Zheng Zeyu in Yangzhou. This undoubtedly dealt a heavy blow to the Southern Government, and made Song Yuanfeng and Huang Guangtai feel a deep sense of powerlessness. In terms of military strength, the Northern Frontier has already crushed them in all directions. How should they fight the next battle?
When the entire southwestern provinces of the Southern Government were in danger, Huang Guangtai personally called Songbu Linzan of Tibet Prefecture, hoping that he could lead the Tibet Prefecture army to block the pace of the Northwest Army Group and relieve the pressure on Song Yuanfeng.
But Songbulinza had already reached a preliminary agreement with Northern Xinjiang at this time, and the only thing missing was a formal statement of surrender to Northern Xinjiang. Therefore, Songbulinza ignored Huang Guangtai's orders. Even when Huang Guangtai gritted his teeth and promised Songbulinza that he would give Tibet State 1 billion oceans as long as the situation in the southwest could be stabilized, Songbulinza remained unmoved.
There are only four words in response to Huang Guangtai: it’s a pipe dream.
This became the last straw that broke the camel's back for the entire Southern Government. Huang Guangtai fell ill due to anger. The entire Southern Government was already on the brink of a cliff with no room for maneuver.
Shuoyang City, the capital of Yangzhou, has lost more than 60% of its territory under the fierce offensive of the Northern Frontier Army. What is even more terrifying is that with the release of a statement by the Northern Frontier government, a large number of soldiers from the three provinces under Song Yuanfeng's command have begun to flee privately. In this statement issued by the Northern Frontier government, it firmly stated that the unification of the North and the South is inevitable, and explained that as long as the soldiers of the Southern Army are willing to give up their hostility with the Northern Frontier, they will still be the people of China, and as for the civilians, the Northern Frontier will not harm them at all.
Even after taking over the southern government, they would distribute the lands held by the gentry and nobles to the southern people free of charge.
This statement caused an uproar in the South. A large number of ordinary people whose family members participated even sent letters directly to their families, hoping that they would give up serving in the army, return to their hometowns, and quietly wait for the end of the Civil War, because for them, this also meant the arrival of a new dawn.
Song Yuanfeng immediately issued an order that all soldiers who fled would be executed if caught.
But even so, it still could not prevent the large-scale spread of desertion, and it even caused most soldiers to hate the senior commanders of the Southern Army.
On December 359, a mutiny broke out in the th Regiment of the Yangzhou First Army under Song Yuanfeng's command. The reason was that a company commander could not bear to see his soldier die at the hands of his own people after he was caught after escaping. After some verbal conflicts with the upper-level commanders, it eventually turned into an extremely bloody mutiny and civil war. The mutiny ended with the victory of the company commander, because his actions represented the voice of most of the grassroots soldiers and won their support.
On December 30th, an army of 300,000 soldiers arrived at the city and surrounded Shuoyang City. Song Yuanfeng, who had the opportunity to escape, chose to stay and personally led his troops to fight the enemy until the city was broken. Finally, with no hope left, he shot himself.
With the destruction of the 400,000 troops under Song Yuanfeng's command, the final death knell of the Southern Government officially sounded.
At this time, Huang Guangtai was half lying on the hospital bed. He pulled off his oxygen mask with difficulty and looked at the black and white photo of himself with the two brothers Song Yuanming and Song Yuanfeng in his hand. Tears involuntarily flowed down his cheeks.
The entire Jian'an City was in chaos at this moment. Countless people took to the streets spontaneously, holding banners that supported the unification of the North and the South and hoped that Huang Guangtai would lead the Southern Government to surrender unconditionally and not to increase casualties and internal friction. They shouted the same slogans. Even the Jian'an City Guard Division did not dare to take tough measures at this time, for fear of arousing further public anger.
Although the Southern Government still has more than 500,000 troops including the Taizhou Army Group, the Central Army Group, and the Jingzhou Army, the balance of victory has completely tipped towards the Northern Frontier. Anyone with a discerning eye knows that the collapse of the Southern Government is only a matter of time.
Huang Guangtai's wife Song Yuanqing walked into the ward at this time and came to Huang Guangtai's side without saying a word. Although the pain of losing a loved one almost swallowed her up, Song Yuanqing still tried her best to force a smile, gently holding her husband's hand, and slowly said: "No matter what decision you make, I will support you. Life, death, success, failure, I will be with you."
Huang Guangtai's voice trembled as he put down the photo and said, "I...I can't accept this. Decades of hard work have been destroyed in an instant. How can I explain this to Mr. Hu and to the ancestors who founded the Southern Kingdom?"
"If you are unwilling, then fight. We are not in the final desperate situation yet, right?"
The lady's words seemed to give Huang Guangtai a bit of strength. Huang Guangtai struggled to get out of bed, sat palely on the bedside, lit a cigarette, and said after a moment of silence: "Let Dai Yuhong come to see me!"