What everyone didn't expect was that this time the Japanese army was just preparing to annihilate 1 division of the national army, and this division was the 74th division. Why? Because the Japanese army already knew the specific location of the headquarters of the 33rd Group Army, and knew that Zhang Zizhong was with the 74th Division.

The General Headquarters of the 33rd Group Army, which crossed the Hanshui River from the Yicheng area to the east, and the intelligence department of the 11th Army Corps of the Japanese Army has always grasped the external liaison situation of the radio station of the General Headquarters of the 33rd Group Army from the transmission frequency, weekly rate, and method of tapping the code, the contact call signs and methods with the superior and subordinate radio stations, and through radio direction finding.

Based on the fact that the radio stations were located near the headquarters station, the Japanese army roughly knew that the headquarters of the 33rd Group Army had crossed the Han River and was currently located in an area about 10 kilometers northeast of Yicheng.

In fact, radiolocation was not a sophisticated technology in World War II, and there were ways to deal with it. It was only because the national army was a backward army, and its communication technology and equipment were all imported from the West, and it had long lagged behind the world for many years, so it was taken advantage of by the Japanese army. This is just like the Japanese army's code was later deciphered by the U.S. military, resulting in the death of Yamamoto Isoroku, it is a technical gap.

Kazuichiro Sonobe believed that at this moment, the retreat route of the Japanese army to the west had been cut off, and it was extremely dangerous, and it was impossible to fully encircle the main force of the national army. Without destroying the main force of the national army, it is impossible to open up long lines of communication by force alone. The most practical thing at this moment should be a direct attack on the headquarters of the 33rd Army.

Once the headquarters of the 33rd Army is eliminated, the strength of the 33rd Army will be greatly reduced, and even the entire line will collapse due to the loss of the commander, and the Japanese army will have a great advantage.

Therefore, Sonobe and Ichiro ordered the 39th Division and the 13th Division, the main forces of the Japanese army in the middle route, to abandon secondary targets and concentrate the main forces of the division at all costs to annihilate the headquarters of the 33rd Army.

It is estimated that Zhang Zizhong will only have a maximum of 2 to 3 regiments, no more than 3,000 troops, and the Japanese army can concentrate as many as 2 to 30,000 troops, which can be described as 10 to 1 in comparison.

At this time, Zhang Zizhong continued to integrate the troops in Hedong, and in order to meet the 179th Division and the 180th Division, he ordered the troops to be divided into two columns on the left and right: the left route was commanded by Huang Weigang, the commander of the 38th Division, and the 38th Division met the 179th Division, and then pursued to Xinjie and Tianjiaji; The right route was personally commanded by Zhang Zizhong, and the 74th Division was ordered to meet the 180th Division to concentrate at Fangjiaji, and then enter the mouth of the jar to pursue southward along the east bank of the Xiang River.

In fact, as soon as he crossed the Han River, Zhang Zizhong felt the seriousness of the situation. The fierceness of the Japanese offensive this time was different from the Battle of Suizao and the Winter Offensive, and it seemed that the Japanese army had already broken the kettle and set out.

Zhang Zizhong already knew his danger at this time and had already made up his mind to die in battle.

On May 8, when Zhang Zizhong rushed to the 38th Division to hold an officer meeting, he found that the commander of the third regiment of Yang Gan was in a hurry, carrying only a pistol holster, but not wearing a pistol.

Zhang Zizhong seriously criticized Yang Gansan, saying: "Now is the combat period, and every officer must be ready for battle anytime and anywhere. As a commander, you must always wear a pistol, the first is to defend yourself, and the second is to kill yourself. ”

Yang Gansan was deeply ashamed and immediately ordered the guards to get a pistol.

The Japanese 13th Division and the 39th Division had already given up attacking other national armies, especially the 39th Division, which had given up the encirclement of the 38th Division and went all out to the south, preparing to attack the headquarters of the 33rd Army.

On May 14, 2 regiments and 1 special battalion of the 74th Division led by Zhang Zizhong encountered the vanguard troops of the 39th Division in Fangjiaji.

When the Japanese discovered the 74th Division, they immediately bombarded it with heavy artillery fire, and then charged with a large number of infantry.

Fangjiaji is a small town, and in order to deal with bandits, there are earthen walls on all sides.

It's a pity that the Japanese army is not comparable to bandits with earthen guns. Under the shelling of more than a dozen artillery pieces of the Japanese army, in just half an hour, Fangjiaji became a ruin.

Zhang Zizhong carefully observed the terrain and ordered the 74th Division to hold on to a high ground.

The Japanese attacked until noon, with heavy casualties on both sides, and the battle was very fierce.

The commander of the 39th Division of the Japanese Army asked for air support, and soon several Japanese planes arrived and strafed and dropped bombs back and forth on the high ground.

The 74th Division had some casualties, but under the Japanese air raid, it could not withstand it for a while.

The 74th Division was originally the army of the warlord Han Fuyu, with half of the Shandong soldiers and half of the Northwest Army, and its combat effectiveness was only in the middle of the Northwest Army.

After being assigned to Zhang Zizhong's command, because the division had gone through several major battles, suffered heavy casualties, and had a large number of new recruits, its combat effectiveness was only at the middle and lower level of the 33rd Group Army, and it was used as a reserve of the group army.

The only advantage of the division lies in the officers at all levels, most of whom are Zhang Zizhong's old subordinates, such as the division commander Ma Guanyi, who has been Zhang Zizhong's subordinate since he became the head soldier.

In 1921, Ma Guanyi joined Feng Yuxiang's Northwest Military Cadet Corps to study, and Zhang Zizhong was the head of the regiment at the time.

Ma Guanyi is quite capable and rises quickly. In 1929, he served as the colonel of the 1st Regiment of the 86th Brigade of the 29th Division of Han Fuqu, and in 1930, he served as the commander of the 222nd Brigade of the 74th Division.

Finding that the 74th Division was beyond its reach and part of its positions had collapsed, Zhang Zizhong immediately ordered the headquarters special service battalion to support.

The commander of the special service battalion, Du Lanzhe, is a well-known combat hero of the 59th Army (in fact, Du Lanzhe himself is very gentle, like a scholar).

When Zhang Zizhong assigned a task to Du Lanzhe, suddenly a heavy artillery shell fell from the Japanese army, blowing down an earthen wall less than 50 meters next to Zhang Zizhong and Du Lanzhe, and mud and gravel fell on the two like raindrops.

Zhang Zizhong didn't even blink his eyebrows, and said Du Lanzhe said: "Battalion Commander Du, you immediately take people up and attack the devils from the flank." The devil's flanks are empty, and if you rush, they will definitely not be able to support it! ”

Duranzhe immediately replied: "Commander-in-chief, we will definitely complete the task." But it's too dangerous here, you have to move to the rear quickly! ”

Zhang Zizhong laughed: "Don't look at the devils now, they will wilt at night." ”

After receiving the order, Du Lanzhe led the elite special service battalion (also known as the pistol battalion in the Northwest Army) and stormed it.

The Japanese army was caught off guard, and as expected, it was crushed in one blow, and it was late at this time, so the Japanese army retreated to several nearby villages.

The battle was very fierce on this day, among the more than 3,000 people under Zhang Zizhong, more than 1,000 were killed or wounded, and only 2,000 people remained in the remaining division, and the commander of the 74th Division, Li Yanzui, the deputy of the regiment, Liu Zejiao, and the battalion commanders Guo Youyin and Wen Kui were all seriously wounded.

And the Japanese casualties were nearly 1,000!

Through the onslaught of the Japanese army on this day, Zhang Zizhong also felt that the situation was not right.

Because the 74th Division was not a powerful force, with only 2 regiments in strength and did not occupy a strategic transportation hub, it did not make sense for the Japanese army to concentrate so many troops to attack.

At this time, the commander of the 38th Division, Huang Weigang, sent a telegram informing him that the Japanese army had suddenly abandoned the attack on the 38th Division and that the whole army had turned south.

The Japanese army concentrated its forces in the south and bypassed the 38th Division, which had more troops, and ignored it, obviously for a purpose. Either to annihilate the 74th Division and the headquarters of the group army, or to try to open up lines of communication, and maybe even cross the Han River to attack Yichang.

Zhang Zizhong, Chief of Staff Li Wentian, Senior Staff Officers Zhang Jing, Li Zhiyuan, Wu Guangliao, Xu Weilie, and Soviet advisers unanimously agreed that the situation was grim.

Soviet advisers believed that the enemy had a clear aim of encircling the 74th Division and the headquarters of the 33rd Army and should consider an immediate retreat.

Li Wentian, chief of staff, held that the 74th Division was weak at present, and the 9th Cavalry Division could not collide head-on with the Japanese army, so it should not be trapped here for a long time, so it should return to the west bank with the 74th Division and the 9th Cavalry Division.

However, Zhang Jing and Li Zhiyuan believed that at present, these two divisions should still stay in Hedong and insist on active defense on the outer front. Because the war in Hedong was at the most critical juncture, our three main divisions were still fighting to the death against the enemy. If at this time, the headquarters retreats across the river, will it have a great negative impact?

Li Zhiyuan also said: "Even if we retreat to the west bank, we will be passive and defensive along the river. If the Japanese army storms Yichang at this time, how can we hold it? With our two divisions holding the 120-mile defensive line, it is obvious that the number of troops is not enough. Besides, staying in the east of the river and dealing with the enemy is the best defense, and if the enemy does not expel our troops east of the river for a day, he will not dare to cross the river rashly for a day, and our army can intercept his rear road and make it suffer from the enemy at the end of the day, which is beneficial to us. ”

At that time, Zhang Zizhong was faced with a choice, if he gave up the interception and led the whole army of the 74th Division to retreat to the west bank of the Han River, it might still be too late. But in this way, the most critical stage of the Battle of Zaoyi to intercept the Japanese army and annihilate the Japanese army also failed.

The Japanese army could calmly retreat to its own occupied area, or after receiving sufficient supplies, and then continue to counterattack the Fifth Theater, or even cross the river to attack Yichang (in fact, the Japanese army also did this), then the sacrifice of the previous Nationalist army would be meaningless.

If the battle continued to be fought east of the Han River, it would naturally play the role of intercepting the Japanese army. Even if the enemy was outnumbered, it would not be easy for the Japanese army to completely defeat the 33rd Group Army, so as to create favorable conditions for the encirclement and annihilation of the Japanese army by other heavy troops of the national army.

More importantly, as long as the 33rd Group Army was still fighting on the east bank of the Han River, it would be impossible for the Japanese army to casually cross the Han River and attack Yichang in the south.

After much thought, Zhang Zizhong decided that he could not save his life and fled back to the west of Hanshui like a coward, thus sabotaging the deployment of the entire battle.

Despite this, Zhang Zizhong also knew that the Japanese army was gaining momentum this time, and if it really wanted to encircle the headquarters of the 33rd Group Army, there would indeed be a certain danger, and it was necessary to make countermeasures.

Therefore, on the evening of the 14th, Zhang Zizhong ordered a Japanese army to attack Fangjiaji at night and the 9th Cavalry Division to leave a guard, and the rest of the troops moved to the pumpkin shop in the east overnight to get out of the way and prevent being surrounded by the Japanese army.

Unexpectedly, on the 15th, the 74th Division was constantly exchanging fire with the Japanese army, and the Japanese army's firepower and strength were getting stronger and stronger.

In the distance, dust could be seen in the distance, apparently a large Japanese army was interspersed with movements.

On the afternoon of the 15th, Zhang Zizhong led two regiments of the 74th Division and a special battalion to the pumpkin shop after a series of battles. Unexpectedly, just arrived at the pumpkin shop, and it happened that a troop had just arrived.

The sentry made urgent contact and found that the army was wearing gray uniforms, which was a Chinese unit, and after asking, he learned that it was the Southern Expeditionary Army that had "swept up" several back and forth in the Fifth War Zone, and hurriedly came forward to report Zhang Zizhong.