While receiving these front-line intelligence, Okamura Ninji also discovered a problem many times, that is, they all mentioned the shadow of the Southern Expeditionary Army intentionally or unintentionally. The 33rd Division, the Southern Expeditionary Army blocked them in Yong'an; The Battle of Yingtian was mainly an air force attack and artillery attack by the Southern Expeditionary Army; The attack on the middle road, the Southern Expeditionary Army attacked Taolin Temple and Huangsha Street Station; Even in the Battle of Northern Jiangxi, the Southern Expeditionary Army also helped the 32nd Army recapture Gao'an City.

What is going on with this Southern Expeditionary Army, do they have the art of clone, how many troops are there?

After the staff officer brought the information, Okamura Ningji was surprised when he saw it, this Southern Expeditionary Army actually had 3,000 people, and they could flexibly move between various battlefields, all because they were mechanized troops. They have advanced aircraft, tanks, and artillery, and their officers and men are all capable of recruiting soldiers.

The intelligence officer reported: "The advanced planes of the Southern Expeditionary Army are equipped with a new type of weapon called missiles, and now the Japanese air force cannot crack it at all, so it has suffered a lot of losses." The tanks of the Southern Expeditionary Army are M2 type, and their speed and firepower are currently insurmountable by the speed and firepower of Japanese combat vehicles. Even their light weapons, a submachine gun called an assault rifle, and a weapon called a fire dragon, could not be dealt with by the existing troops of the Japanese army. ”

After listening to the intelligence officer's introduction, Okamura Ninji sat on the chair for a long time and did not speak, and it took a long time before he said: "This Southern Expeditionary Army is very powerful, very powerful!" We've really met an adversary. Xue Yue, a tiger boy, and then with the helper of the Southern Expeditionary Army, it is really a tiger with wings, which is amazing. ”

He took the telegram sent by the 33rd Division again, read it again, and felt that there were all kinds of dangerous smells revealed between the lines, and if they didn't rescue them, they would really die. But if they withdraw, what will happen to the 6th and 13th Divisions?

Now the 6th Division and the 13th Division have attacked to the front line of the Laodao River, that is, the suburbs of Changsha, and if they go one step further, they will enter Changsha City. They have now caused more than 10,000 casualties, and if they stop attacking and retreating, won't they be beaten by chickens and eggs, and slapped themselves? How to explain to the commander of the Chinese dispatch army, Nishio Shouzo?

Therefore, this order to retreat of the 33rd Division still cannot be given.

At this time, a staff officer sent a telegram from Lieutenant General Shiro Inaba to Okamura Ninji, commander of the 6th Division. Okamura Ninji was full of joy, he thought, it must be a hundred victories, and Lieutenant General Shiro Inaba, who is on the table, has brought good news to himself.

The 6th Division and the 2nd Division led by Lieutenant General Shiro Inaba are known as the two strongest and most effective units in the Japanese Army, and as long as they participated in the battle, they never lost at all.

Whether it was the Sino-Japanese War or the Russo-Japanese War, the 6th Division always played the vanguard. In the First Sino-Japanese War, under the leadership of Heimu Weizhen, Weihaiwei was captured in one fell swoop after landing on the Jiaodong Peninsula. In the Russo-Japanese War, the 2nd Army, which was attached to Obaogong, also fought quite well.

The reason why the 11th Army placed them in the middle and served as the main offensive was to take a fancy to their combat effectiveness.

Shiro Inaba's telegram reads:

"Dear Commander Okamura Ninji,

On the 29th, the first division of our division forcibly crossed the Laodao River. It was surrounded by the 60th and 195th divisions of the Chinese army, and after a hard battle, the encirclement of the Chinese army was highlighted.

The next day, when the main force of our division was desperately attacking on the front line of the Laodao River, it was suddenly surrounded by a large number of Chinese troops. Our troops fought valiantly, but suffered heavy casualties, and it was already difficult to move on.

The main force of our division used mobile forces, and one part crossed the Laodao River again and approached the vicinity of Changsha, but it was strongly blocked by elite troops such as the 4th Army and the 52nd Army of the Chinese army, and was forced to switch to local defense.

At present, our logistics are cut off, there is a shortage of troops, and in the event of a strong enemy, we cannot advance, and we ask the commander to decide whether to retreat or not. ”

After reading this telegram, Okamura Ninji fell into deep thought again.

What's wrong with Shiro Inaba, he has never complained bitterly, he has always been full of confidence and arrogance. What's wrong with this now, I admit it, and I cry out for suffering.

If Shiro Inaba admits it, then does it mean that his situation is already quite dangerous.

If the 6th Division is in danger, then the 13th Division is no better. And if they retreat as soon as possible, what will happen to the 33rd Division, the 106th Division?

These are all chain buckles, and one button can't be undone, and the whole thing is a dead end.

Just when Okamura Ninji was in a dilemma and undecided, a staff officer suddenly came in. He said to Okamura Ninji: "Report to the commander, the navy has sent an important piece of information, and the commander is invited to take a look. ”

Okamura Ninji took the telegram and read it urgently, which read: "According to the reconnaissance of the naval aviation seaplanes at Dongting Lake, on the Changsha front, about six elite divisions of the Chinese army have been assembled, and there is a possibility of attacking our 6th and 13th divisions at any time. ”

After reading the telegram, Okamura Ninji was taken aback, just when the two sides were deadlocked, and the Japanese troops could not hold on. China's 6 elite divisions joined the battlefield, and what it would mean was that even a small soldier could see it.

At this time, Okamura Ningji suddenly realized: it turned out that Xue Yue's purpose was not to hold Changsha, but to try to completely defeat his more than 80,000 attacking army in the middle. This tiger cub has such a big appetite that he actually ate it on his head.

Okamura Ningji himself deduced the battle situation again: if he attacked Changsha regardless of the waiting, as long as he did not win for a few days, the combat effectiveness of the troops was exhausted, and there was no supply, at this time, Xue Yue concentrated the main force to give a head-on attack, wouldn't he be completely defeated.

Even if the Japanese army did not suffer a devastating defeat near Changsha, it would have to retreat more than 100 kilometers north if it could not attack Changsha. This road is all controlled by the national army, and there will be heavy casualties.

Now the Japanese army in the entire middle road, as well as the Japanese army in northern Jiangxi and the 33rd Division, will be at a crossroads. In fact, this attack on Changsha is already a foregone conclusion.

Aborting the attack on Changsha and retreating northward was still quite difficult for Okamura Ninji to make a decision.

Perhaps for the average soldier all over the world, victory and defeat are a common thing in soldiers, and there is no shame in advancing or retreating. However, for the so-called Imperial Japanese Army, it has always advocated offensive and has not retreated, and the Japanese army has never taken the weak national army in its eyes.

Okamura Ninji had previously said that he would occupy Changsha in September, but now he retreated at will, which was a blow blow and a great humiliation. He has a huge responsibility to bear.

Otherwise, Okamura Ninji is a strategist and tactician!

Okamura Ningji, an old devil, has the best quality, that is, he is pragmatic, not as arrogant and arrogant as Ryosuke Isoya of Taierzhuang before and Imamura Jun of Kunlun Guan later, and he is so happy. He weighed the weight and decided to take a great risk of being accused of defeat and let the troops begin to retreat.

Why? Because at this moment, in order to save face, he will be defeated in Changsha City in the future, and he will still have to retreat, and the losses will be even heavier. Compare the lesser of two evils!

But the retreat is not so easy either.

On October 1, Okamura Ninji urgently ordered the 6th Division, which was farthest south, to immediately stop the offensive and gradually return to the north of the Laodao River.

Why didn't Okamura Ninji give the order for a general retreat at this time? Because, he knew that the front-line troops were exhausted, and once the general retreat order was issued, there might be a rush for all units to retreat, and even a rout under the blow of the national army.

In addition, Okamura Ninji also made an amazing move.

He instructed in a telegram to Shigetaro Gansu: "It is okay for your unit to retreat if you want to, but you must wait until the 6th Division withdraws from the Laodao River, and then you must plan to send out the 106th Division to break out of the heavy encirclement of the Chinese army." ”

Why did Okamura Ninji give such an order to the 33rd Division's Tataro Katsu?

Where is the 33rd Division, it is on the Yong'an front, and where is the main force of the 106th Division, which is in the areas of Ganfang, Shangfu, and Huangsha, one in northern Hunan and one in northern Jiangxi, the difference between the two divisions is nearly 170 kilometers, and there are thousands of mountains and rivers along the way, and the road is rugged and difficult to walk.

This is also the demeanor of Okamura Ningji's general, he is a China expert, there is a saying in China, a hero has three gangs, a fence has three piles, he just wants the 33rd Division and the 106th Division to respond to each other, help each other, and withdraw from the crisis.

When Shigetaro received this order, he hurriedly consulted with Chief of Staff Osui about the military situation.

"General Okamura Ninji is really wise, he wisely judged the current situation and agreed to our retreat, but at the same time gave us two big problems. One is that we retreat on our own, and no one will help us. Second, not only do we have to retreat, but we also have to help the 106th Division retreat. If we get to the front line in northern Jiangxi, the cucumber vegetables will also be cold. ”

The chief of staff of Dashui was also thinking about this problem repeatedly, he thought for a while, and suddenly said: "Your Excellency Commander, is it okay to do this, while we are thinking about the problem of our breakthrough, we let our follow-up troops along the way retreat, their task is to assist the 106th Division, coordinate with each other, and withdraw from northern Jiangxi." ”

It suddenly occurred to him that it was only the infantry wing that came to the front line of the Yong'an Line, and he also had the mountain artillery wing, the heavy artillery wing, the baggage troops and some other troops. He asked these troops to mobilize all of them, first, to help them retreat, and second, to cover the breakthrough of the 106th Division.

Gansu Shigetaro said: "Or the chief of staff is thoughtful, so I ask the chief of staff to coordinate all departments, not only to assist us in retreating, but also to cover the retreat of the 106th Division!" ”

As a result, the 33rd Division simply gave up preparations for attacking Changsha, and once the 6th Division withdrew from the line of the Laodao River, they would have to break through with all their might, where did they come from, and where did they go back.

The 15th Group Army was defending bloodily on the front line, and when it found the right opportunity, it fiercely pinned the 6th Division, and suddenly saw that the 6th Division was no longer attacking and retreated one after another.

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