northernbook Chapter 234: The 5th Corps Escapes, 48-Hour Ultimatum
Chapter 234: The 5th Corps Escapes, 48-Hour Ultimatum
Headquarters of the Shanghai Front!
"Commander, the 38th Army from Wusong Fortress called.
The vanguard of the Renaissance Army has successfully landed and is launching an attack on our positions.
The Fuxing Army's warships have already reached the Changhe River and are bombarding the depths of the Wusong Fortress. Hundreds of fighter planes are circling and attacking from the air. The offensive is extremely fierce, and the Wusong Fortress is in imminent danger.
After hearing this, Chen Rui's eyes narrowed and his heart became particularly heavy.
"It seems that Wusong Fortress may not be able to withstand the attack of the Restoration Army."
He originally thought that the sturdy Wusong Fortress could block the attack of the Fuxing Army.
But in the face of huge ships, cannons and endless bombing, even the strongest fortresses are just targets.
They spent several months reinforcing the Wusong Fortress, using a lot of concrete.
However, the fortifications they had built with huge manpower and material resources were destroyed in just a few days of artillery and bombing by the Renaissance Army.
Without the support of Wusong Fortress, could the tens of thousands of troops of the 38th Army withstand the attack of the Fuxing Army?
Even if they hold on, the Fuxing Army's troops are about to enter the city.
The troops from the Nicheng Fortress were unable to provide support.
A call has also come in that the Renaissance Army is launching artillery and air strikes on the Mud City Fortress.
And they also discovered the ground forces of the Restoration Army.
This also means that the Fuxing Army launched an attack on the southern area of Shanghu and the Nicheng Fortress at the same time.
Even if Wusong Fortress can hold on, we can't.
Unless the Southern Alliance immediately sends him an army of more than 100,000 or 200,000, he can still fight a street battle with the Fuxing Army in Shanghu and delay them.
Two hours later, the arrival of a telegram shocked Chen Rui again.
"Commander, the Huangpu River defense line has been lost and the defenders have been defeated. We are mobilizing other troops to organize a defense line in the Sheshan and Sijing areas.
But I’m afraid it won’t last long.”
"It's lost already?"
The two temporary divisions had more than 10,000 people, but they were wiped out in less than three hours. This speed was too fast.
“The Renaissance Army has a very novel fighter plane that can fly straight up and down.
They used this new aircraft to transport troops behind our lines to launch an attack, and many troops were caught off guard by this tactic."
After hearing this, Chen Rui had already made a decision in his heart.
We definitely can't stop the Fuxing Army here.
"Order the 69th Army to break out at night and move towards us as quickly as possible.
The 38th Army was ordered to prepare to transfer the fortress defense line to the Provisional 117th and Provisional 118th Divisions at night, and the remaining troops were immediately moved to the Yangcheng Lake area.
Order the 27th Army to move towards the Suzhou area and build a new line of defense with the help of the terrain of Taihu Lake.
We will also go to Gusu with our troops."
Zhang Ran, the Chief of Staff of the Fifth Corps, was shocked and said, "Commander, are you going to give up on going to Shanghai? But Nanjing requires us to defend for at least a month.
Furthermore, if we report Jinling's unauthorized retreat, the higher-ups will definitely come after you."
Chen Rui smiled bitterly and said, "A month? Given the current situation, I'm afraid even a week wouldn't be enough. Even if we fight with all our might in Shanghai, how long can we hold them off?
Besides, can we still contact Jinling now?"
The radio was interfered with and has not been restored yet. No radio station can contact the outside world, and telegrams from the outside world cannot be sent in.
Chief of Staff Zhang Ran was speechless when he heard this.
Just as Chen Rui said, given the current situation, it would be difficult to survive even a week.
The offensive of the Renaissance Army was too fierce, and now that their most powerful 18th Army was gone, how could they stop the offensive of the Renaissance Army?
Therefore, retreating and preserving some strength is the most correct approach at the moment.
The daytime was too difficult for the Southern Alliance's Shanghu defenders.
The offensive of the Fuxing Army was extremely fierce.
At Wusong Fortress, the Fuxing Army has completely occupied the beachhead. The entire 1st Marine Division has completed the landing operation and has occupied one-third of the area of Wusong Fortress.
So far, the 38th Army has suffered casualties of , more than half of the entire army.
Two divisions of troops fled from the Nicheng Fortress, and two divisions remained in the fortress, but the situation was not very good.
The main fortifications of the Nicheng Fortress were focused on anti-landing, and there were no decent fortifications in the rear.
So now they are just barely holding off the fierce offensive of the Restoration Army, but they have suffered heavy casualties.
In half a day, they wiped out the troops of two regiments and barely managed to stop the offensive of the 4th Motorized Infantry Division of the Fuxing Army.
Not to mention the Sheshan and Sijing lines, which were once again penetrated by the Fuxing Army.
Two divisions of the 27th Army organized a defense line in the Hongqiao area and were exchanging fire with the reconnaissance troops of the Fuxing Army. It wouldn't be long before fighting broke out here as well.
The situation was extremely precarious for the Fifth Corps, and they were in danger of being wiped out at any time.
As night fell, the Restoration Army's air force had retreated.
Without the support of various night vision and infrared imaging sensors, current air force fighter jets face great risks in night operations.
In addition, daytime combat consumes a lot of physical and mental energy for pilots.
However, the ground offensive is still advancing steadily.
Xie Zixuan wanted to take down Shanghu in one go and not give the enemy any time to breathe.
Chen Rui has now packed up his belongings and run away.
Trains depart from Shanghai Railway Station and head towards Suzhou along the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway.
In the direction of Nicheng Fortress, troops from two divisions organized a large-scale counterattack and broke through directly from the north of the weak point.
However, two regiments were left behind to block the pursuit of the Fuxing Army.
The total strength of the two divisions that broke through was less than 10,000.
The 38th Army in the direction of Wusong Fortress also gradually transferred its positions to the two temporary divisions.
However, they did not run away for the time being, but waited until other troops in Shanghai evacuated before they could retreat.
Some slight changes on the battlefield caught Xie Zixuan's attention.
"Oh no! The enemy might be about to escape. Order all units to launch a new offensive immediately. Don't let them escape."
The Fuxing Army launched a new round of offensive, and the Fifth Corps fought desperately to stop it. The battle once again entered a white-hot stage.
The firepower advantage of the Restoration Army was indeed weakened at night, and coupled with the fact that they were fighting in the city, their advancement was not fast.
By 2: a.m., many units of the Fifth Corps had completed their evacuation.
The 38th Army also decisively fled with its troops.
This time, Chen Rui took away more than 27 people from the 38th and th Armies.
None of the four divisions of the 69th Army escaped. By the time they crossed Shanghu and reached the city, the Fuxing Army had already occupied key locations such as Shanghu Railway Station, Wusong Fortress, and Nicheng Fortress.
By the time the morning sun rose, the troops of the 3rd, 4th and 24th Divisions of the Fuxing Army had completed the recovery of all areas except the Upper Shanghai International Settlement.
When hundreds of thousands of people who were crowded near the International Settlement woke up, they found teams of patrolling Fuxing Army soldiers.
In the International Settlement, consuls from various countries gathered together urgently.
"Shanghu has been occupied by the Fuxing Army. I'm afraid we have to evacuate."
Lancaster Field, John's consul in Shanghai, said with a gloomy expression.
What happened in the Tianjin Concession is still vivid in our minds.
The Restoration Army is extremely powerful and will not give any face to these old powerful empires.
Moreover, the Renaissance Army now has at least two heavy aircraft carriers and four large battleships, so they will be even less likely to give them face.
They did not have the confidence to be tough when facing the Renaissance Army.
Therefore, the evacuation of the Shanghai International Settlement has become an fait accompli.
If they don't retreat, the Renaissance Army will definitely deal with them without mercy.
Therefore, they did not have to wait for the Renaissance Army to issue an ultimatum, and had already taken the initiative to consider evacuating the concession.
"Mr. Consul, the Fuxing Army stationed in Shanghai has issued an ultimatum, demanding that we evacuate the concession within 48 hours, otherwise they will use force to reclaim the concession."
After hearing this, the consuls from various countries looked extremely ugly.
They felt deeply humiliated by this ultimatum, but they could do nothing about it.
"Notify the institutions and businesses within the concession to pack up their important belongings and evacuate the concession within 40 hours. If it exceeds 48 hours, let them negotiate with the Renaissance Army themselves."
In the Shanghai International Settlement, consuls from various countries issued detailed orders to evacuate the concession.
These orders directly caused a huge sensation and chaos in the concession.
These foreigners can withdraw, but the compradors and slaves who depend on the concessions for their survival cannot withdraw.
Their masters don't care whether they live or die.
The news that the Fuxing Army had successfully captured Shanghu also caused a huge sensation among the top leaders of the entire Southern Alliance.
They had just issued an order requiring Shanghu to hold out for a month.
It had only been a few days, and the huge city of Shanghai was lost.
The Fifth Corps withdrew its troops directly to Gusu and reorganized the defense line to block the westward offensive of the Fuxing Army.
Chen Rui also returned directly to Jinling to report on his work.
As expected, he was beaten to a pulp by the angry Wu Zhichang.
No matter what difficulties Chen Rui had, he could not retreat without authorization at this time.
After getting rid of Chen Rui, he dispatched another senior general to Gusu to take charge.
At the same time, the designation of the Fifth Corps was cancelled, and all soldiers were incorporated into the Eighth Corps.
This corps is on its way to Gusu.
The Fifth Corps' retreat directly sold out the Ninth Corps.
The Ninth Corps is having a very difficult time now.
They led tens of thousands of troops to Guangxin, hoping to stop the eastward offensive of the Fuxing Army.
Unexpectedly, just after they arrived, their rear base, Hangzhou, was lost.
Then they launched an attack towards Hangzhou, but were blocked by the 21st Airborne Division of the Fuxing Army.
The Ninth Corps not only had to attack Hangzhou, but also had to block the attack from two divisions of the Seventh Army in the rear, and was caught in the awkward situation of being attacked from both sides.
And they couldn't run away even if they wanted to, because there were continuous mountains on both sides of them and there was not even a road. How could they run?
Now that the Fifth Corps has evacuated Shanghu, the Fuxing Army can free up its hands to deal with the Ninth Corps.
The 4th Motorized Infantry Division was already on its way south.
So after the Ninth Corps learned that Shanghu had fallen, the corps commander surrendered to the Fuxing Army without saying a word.
Anyway, their Ninth Corps is not a direct force of the Southern Alliance, and has no intention of continuing to work for the Southern Alliance.
Since then, the war in the south has undergone a shocking reversal, which caught the Southern Association for Regional Cooperation and the Quad Alliance off guard.