Chapter 136
Ningxia City is the capital of Ningxia Province. It will be renamed Yinchuan City in 1944.
The topography of Ningxia City is still very interesting.
It is a city built on the alluvial plain area on the bank of the Yellow River. This plain is also called the Ningxia Plain.
The entire Ningxia City is divided into mountainous terrain and plain terrain.
On the edge of Ningxia City is the famous Helan Mountains, which run from north to south.
The 120,000 troops of the Northwest Four Horses and Sun Dianying's troops are located in this Ningxia Plain.
This is also the transportation hub of the entire Ningxia.
It is also the only way to the hinterland of Ningxia.
As long as it is blocked here, it is equivalent to holding the entire Ningxia.
This is also determined by the topography of Ningxia.
Ningxia City is located at the junction of Suiyuan, and Ningxia City is on the other side of the Yellow River.
If the Helan Mountains go west, it is a vast desert Gobi area, which is also a vast uninhabited area.
However, on the edge of this vast uninhabited area, there is also a city at the foot of the mountain west of the Helan Mountains-Alashan Banner.
The battle plan of the commander of the Eighth Army was very simple.
The Eighth Army was divided into two routes.
One route went along the plains along the Yellow River and attacked the Sun-Ma coalition forces in the Ningxia plains.
The other route bypassed the Helan Mountains and blocked the north and south directly. To the east was the natural barrier of the Yellow River from south to north.
The 120,000 troops were trapped in a jar, and none of them could escape.
This battle plan seemed simple, but it required very high mobility of the troops.
After all, the four horses were also cavalry, and they were tens of thousands of highly mobile cavalry.
It was not easy to block them.
The four horses and Sun Dianying probably did not expect that the appetite of the Eighth Army was so big.
Of course, it was mainly due to cognitive problems.
They did not know the specific strength of the Eighth Army, nor did they know that the Eighth Army was a mechanized corps.
Of course, even if they knew it, it would be useless.
In this era, most of the strong still positioned tanks as infantry support tanks.
As for infantry fighting vehicles, this thing is still just a concept.
The real full-track infantry fighting vehicle was after the end of World War II.
It was not until the BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle of the Russian bear came out that there was a real tracked infantry fighting vehicle.
So it's no wonder that they don't have a specific concept of the mechanized corps.
They don't know the horror of the mechanized corps.
Not to mention them, even the Kwantung Army of the Japanese suffered a great loss.
The 71st Armored Division and the 73rd Mechanized Division of the Eighth Army took a detour through the Helan Mountains.
A total of two divisions and 50,000 people.
This huge mechanized corps is now galloping on the way to Alashan Banner.
Crossing the no-man's land is a very risky thing, not to mention a 50,000-man army.
Fortunately, the area of this no-man's land is not large, only less than 50 kilometers away.
As long as you arrive at Alashan Banner, it will be a manned area.
And this will undoubtedly alarm Ningxia City.
At this time, both sides need to race against time.
Under the guidance of the Air Force, the West Route Army of the Eighth Army is quickly crossing the no-man's land.
The commander of the Eighth Army led an armored division, three mechanized infantry divisions and a heavy artillery division to launch a fierce attack on Sun Dianying's troops in Suhai Bay.
Sun Dianying's troops were arranged in the northern part of the Ningxia Plain.
There is an important town called Wustai Town here. This town is located between the Suhai Bay of the Yellow River and the Helan Mountains, and is responsible for guarding the northern gate of the Ningxia Plain.
The terrain here is relatively narrow, with the narrowest place being only 5 kilometers.
So Sun Dianying's 70,000 troops were deployed in this place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack.
Sun Dianying also knew what the four horses were planning.
Just push him up.
Once the situation is not right, they will run away with the troops.
The cavalry has high mobility and runs very fast.
How could Sun Dianying not know this trick?
But he had no choice.
The four horses did not trust him as an outsider very much, not to mention that he was still thinking about Ningxia before.
What's more, they are now in the same boat, forced to be tied to a warship.
He was unwilling to let him join the Red Alert Force.
And if he didn't come, the four horses would probably attack him.
So this is his only choice.
The Eighth Army came very quickly, which caught him off guard.
Soon the outer positions came under heavy artillery fire.
"Marshal, the Red Alert Corps is here."
Hearing the rumbling sound of artillery from afar, he knew it without him saying anything.
In the command center, Sun Dianying frowned and paced back and forth.
He seemed a little anxious.
"Immediately abandon the outer positions and withdraw all troops to the Wustai Town position."
The outer positions only serve as a warning.
Sun Dianying also knew his own strength and did not expect the outer positions to be able to stop the opponent.
So he put his main energy on Wustai Town.
With Wustai Town as the core, three lines of defense were built to block the opponent layer by layer.
The main force of tens of thousands of cavalry of the four horses was less than 50 kilometers away from them in the Shizuishan area. They could rush to their aid in a very short time.
Before his order was issued for a long time, the soldiers in the outer positions began to retreat in a rout.
The artillery of the Red Alert Corps was too fierce.
Sun Dianying's face became more and more solemn.
He didn't even see the opponent's ground troops, but relied on artillery to defeat his outer defense line.
This gave him a very bad premonition. He had never come into contact with the Red Alert Corps, and he had only heard how powerful it was.
When he was really on the line with the opponent, he felt tremendous pressure.
"The main position of Sun Dianying's troops is ahead."
The army chief of staff pointed to the position across the plain ahead.
After seeing the position ahead, the commander of the Eighth Army sneered.
"It seems that Sun Dianying does not take our armored forces seriously.
He dared to set up positions in the plains. (To read the exciting novels, go to Faloo Novel Network!)
This will make it much easier to fight. Let the artillery move first.
Gather all the artillery and launch an artillery attack on the front position for three hours.
Contact the Air Force, we need ground fire support."
Four artillery brigades and one heavy artillery division.
This is all the artillery of the Eastern Route Army of the Eighth Army.[]
The four artillery brigades have a total of 12 Wild Bee 155mm self-propelled artillery battalions, totaling 144.
Including the 6 Wild Bee 155mm self-propelled artillery battalions equipped by the 13th Heavy Artillery Division, there are a total of 72 guns.
Adding up, there are 216 155mm self-propelled howitzers alone. There is also a Black Panther self-propelled artillery brigade, with a total of 36 210mm Black Panther self-propelled howitzers.
In addition to these heavy artillery, there are up to 5 battalions of V1 self-propelled rocket launchers.
There are a total of 120 V1 self-propelled rocket launchers.
If these 120 self-propelled rocket launchers are fired in unison, 4,800 rockets can be fired at one time.
Since we are going to blitz Ningxia City, the faster the better.
Using rocket launchers is also the most effective way to attack.
He didn't believe that Sun Dianying's troops would be so tough and able to withstand such a large-scale artillery attack.
What's more, there is the Air Force.
He couldn't run away even if he wanted to.
How could two legs outrun tracks.
It is obvious that Sun Dianying has not yet realized the seriousness of the matter.
"put!"
"Fire!"
On the huge artillery position, hundreds of artillery pieces were lined up in rows.
120 V1 self-propelled rocket launchers were at the forefront of the large artillery position.
Accompanied by the sound of more than 200 heavy artillery pieces.
The rocket artillery group composed of 120 V1 self-propelled rocket launchers was not to be outdone.
"whoosh whoosh whoosh......."
Rockets whizzed out like monkeys flying through the sky.
In an instant, the artillery position was filled with smoke and flickering flames.
The whistling sound of the rockets even drowned out the sound of the heavy artillery.
Thousands of rockets formed a dense rain of rockets in the sky, and the scene was extremely spectacular.
On the main position of Sun's army, shells suddenly fell like raindrops.
This is not an exaggeration at all, it is really a rain of shells.
When the soldiers of Sun's army saw the rain of rockets in the sky that illuminated the daytime, they were all stunned, their eyes filled with fear.
"Artillery fire, hurry into the anti-artillery cave."
However, such a large-scale artillery fire was beyond the limit of what Sun Dianying's soldiers could bear.
"Boom boom boom........"
Suddenly, the entire position was filled with dense explosions.
A wave of rockets came down, and Sun Dianying's troops suffered heavy losses.
Seeing such a large-scale bombardment, Sun Dianying could no longer contain his fear. How could he have the courage to continue fighting? If his troops were wiped out here, it would be the end.
"Damn it! Retreat immediately, retreat to Ningxia City."
Sun Dianying decisively issued the order to retreat.
At the same time, he ordered���More than 10,000 people from the two divisions on the first line of defense held their positions.
He led his troops to flee.
The Eighth Army did not expect Sun Dianying to run so decisively.
"Order the troops to launch an all-out attack. Don't let him get away."
Sun Dianying's escape completely disrupted their combat deployment, but they had to chase him.
Suddenly, a huge steel torrent consisting of thousands of tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and armored personnel carriers swept in.
The blocking troops in front were like an egg hitting a stone.
Just one charge easily broke through the opponent's defense line, and they surrendered very decisively.
Sun Dianying did not run away after all.
He led an army of more than 50,000 and was crushed by the 72nd Armored Division after running more than ten kilometers.
When the subsequent mechanized troops arrived.
Sun Dianying's troops were surrounded and suppressed.
Sun Dianying saw that the situation was not right, so he took a car and ran away one step ahead.
But all his troops stayed here.
Sun Dianying's 70,000 troops didn't even last half a day before they were all captured.
More than 15,000 were annihilated and more than 50,000 were captured.
The four horses from the northwest panicked as soon as they saw it.
They already felt that the situation was not good.
After a discussion, the brothers finally decided to run away.
Sun Dianying's 70,000 troops were defeated so thoroughly. Could they really stop the opponent's attack with the flat Ningxia City?
Although they were reluctant, they had no choice but to run away.
But they didn't run away after all.
Because the air force arrived at this time.
A total of more than 500 fighter planes flew over the Ningxia plains and launched a fierce bombing on the camps of the four horses from the northwest.
This also bought precious time for the two divisions on the west route to encircle and block.