A portion of the 4th division from Hanyuan County had managed to escape. Fan Shaozheng's reaction speed was very fast. He led two regiments and quickly retreated in the direction of Ya 'an. As the ammunition and fuel of the fighter jets were almost exhausted, Deng Ziye did not continue to pursue.
Anyway, even if they let a few thousand people escape, these frightened soldiers would not pose any threat to them at all.
Not to mention these soldiers, even the commander of the 4th division, Fan ShaoZeng, was scared out of his wits and quickly fled.
After taking down Hanyuan County, the road to Yingjing County had almost been opened up. At least, it was unlikely to encounter any serious obstacles before reaching here.
When the left army of the 1st Red Alert Division took down Hanyuan County, the other two armies also broke through the front line of defense set up by the Sichuan Army and continued to move deeper into the city.
The right-wing troops went upstream along the road by the Dadu River (the left-wing troops went downstream). Only the road leading to Kangding was in good condition. It was not a big problem for trucks to pass through, but tanks could not pass through. Tanks weighing more than ten tons could easily crush the road.
The right-wing army only met with greater resistance when they reached Luding County, which was more than 30 kilometers east of Kangding City. Here, Liu Xiang's mixed brigade and a few independent regiments relied on the county town as their position. They planned to fight the Red Guards here, while Kangding City would be their rear support.
The Sichuan army had already moved most of the people out of the county town. At least they still had a little conscience. The remaining people who had not left were the old, the weak, women, and children. To them, moving meant death.
Shimian County was only about 80 kilometers away from Luding County. If they walked, it would take them a few days. If they were to march on motorcycles, they would be able to reach it in about seven hours.
The road from here to Kangding was only slightly better than the mountain roads. It still required the engineering corps to reinforce the road or open up a wider road. The average speed was only about 15 kilometers per hour.
This was because they were using the Opel Lightning truck with good off-road capabilities. If they were using other ordinary trucks, they probably wouldn't be able to move at all. In addition, they also carried a 105mm howitzer battalion, so their marching speed was relatively slow.
It was not until the afternoon that they arrived near Luding County. They encountered a patrol from the Sichuan Army here, and the battle began.
The second and third regiments were not in a hurry to launch an attack. When they arrived, it was already three or four o'clock in the afternoon. There were still two or three hours before it would be ten o'clock at night. Therefore, the deputy division commander decided to rest for the night and wait for the soldiers to recover their spirits before attacking tomorrow.
This time, the right-wing troops brought along a battalion of 105mm howitzers, 27 howitzers, and two battalions of 75mm howitzers, a total of 36 howitzers. In total, they had 64 howitzers, which was enough to bombard the entire Luding County.
When the cannons took turns to fire for the entire night, they knew that they had enough to eat and drink. On the other hand, the Sichuan army was exhausted. They would definitely not be able to sleep under the bombardment.
Facing the 8000-odd soldiers of the Right Army who did not immediately attack, the 10,000 Sichuan soldiers stationed in Luding County were still very nervous. Their city gates were tightly shut, and the Sichuan soldiers on the city walls were in full alert.
It took about one and a half hours for the Second and Third Regiments to set up the temporary camp. Half an hour ago, the artillery position was already set up.
The weapons and equipment of the Sichuan army were still very poor. The number of cannons that the entire Sichuan army was equipped with was pitifully small. Only the elite troops of the Sichuan army were equipped with cannons, and they could not have a share.
When the deputy commander gave the order to fire, shells began to fall on Luding County, which was six or seven kilometers away. When they heard the dense sound of shells, the Sichuan soldiers on the city wall immediately changed their expressions and ran down the city wall in a panic. The Sichuan soldiers in the county also looked for cover in panic.
The 64 cannons were divided into about 10 artillery squads. Each time, three to four artillery squads would fire. When their barrels were red, they would rest and let another artillery squad continue firing.
The bombardment lasted for more than 12 hours. Thousands of artillery shells of various types were fired, and almost the entire county was demolished.
When they launched their attack, they found that the resistance of the Sichuan army was very weak. Many of the Sichuan army even surrendered. There were less than 2000 Sichuan soldiers in the entire county. They stayed in the county because they were separated from the army and did not receive the order to retreat.
The rest of the Sichuan soldiers were either killed or injured, or they had already left the city and fled back to Kangding.
They couldn't stand the bombardment. In their minds, an army that could last for more than half an hour was considered a wealthy army. The enemy's artillery had many cannons and was powerful. The most important thing was that the artillery shells were free. In just a few hours, thousands of people were killed or injured.
Therefore, they could only retreat overnight. Otherwise, the morale of the entire army would collapse.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。