Just as Sonobe and Ichiro hit their forces to find Zhang Zizhong and his 33rd Group Army for a decisive battle, the 3rd Division was attacked by the superior forces of the Chinese army. Sonobe and Ichiro hurriedly sent two wings of troops to reinforce them.

On 13 August, all the telegrams received by the Yuan Department were urgent telegrams, and the 29th Brigade of the 3rd Division was suddenly surrounded by Tang Enbo's 13th Army when it withdrew to the vicinity of Shuanggou and Dadian, and the two sides fought a bloody battle until the early morning of 14 August.

Sonobe, who received the telegram, was shocked! The troops surrounding the 29th Brigade turned out to be Tang Enbo's 13th Army, this unit was Tang Enbo's starting force, and the 29th Brigade was destined to pay a heavy price. The garden department was silent, thinking in his heart where to mobilize reinforcements, first of all, the Sixth Division stationed in Xianning did not need to be considered, this original imperial veteran powerhouse was eaten by Su Jin after the strength of the 36th Brigade plummeted, and now it is hiding in Xianning to replenish and wait for the replenished soldiers to lick their wounds.

And now the 40th Division stationed in Huangmei County is close to the evil neighbor of the 202nd Army, and it must not be moved. It is also interesting to say that after the news of the expansion of the 202nd Division into the 202nd Army reached the headquarters of the 11th Army, those staff officers in the headquarters had a sad face for several days. It is said that Emperor Hirohito once said to the ministers at the Yuken meeting that whoever can destroy Su Jin and his troops will be praised by all the generals and officers. Those below the rank of general were promoted two levels in a row, and Hirohito would personally award him with honors.

After the news came out, countless people cheered. It's just cheers and cheers, but more people are secretly smiling bitterly, once upon a time, the Japanese army's sense of superiority against the **** was not generally strong, and it was very common to use the strength of a brigade to attack a division of the national * army when formulating a battle plan, but now many Japanese generals think that it is unlikely that a Japanese army will meet the 202nd Division with a horse-pulling division, and at least two divisions will be sure. But now Su Jin is about to be promoted again, if he waits for him to complete the training of the expansion of an army. If the Japanese wanted to deal with him again, they would need at least four or five divisions. Therefore, the newly appointed Yuan Department would rather make the decision to encircle and annihilate the 33rd Group Army than touch the Jiujiang of Su and Jin.

After thinking for a long time, the park department couldn't find a way to save the 29th Brigade, and finally it was the new director of the war room, Amano, who saw the commander and Chief of Staff Aoki in a dilemma, so he came over and said, "Your Excellency, Commander." Chief of Staff Aoki, right now we only have two options, and the middle way does not exist. First, immediately order the 13th and 39th Divisions to abandon the siege of Zhang Zizhong. Immediately return to Fancheng to relieve the siege of the 3rd Division. Then attack to the south. Just to implement this method, it is necessary to abandon the blocking of Zhang. Second, the 3rd Division was asked to solve it on its own, and then withdraw to Zaoyang. ”

Aoki Shigenari leaned over and took a circle on the map, and then said: "The Third Division is in danger, if it can't catch Zhang Zizhong in the south, or if it is entangled by Zhang's department, then the situation of the Third Division will be even worse." "It's clear that Shigetari Aoki is leaning towards the first option.

Kazuichiro Sonobe did not immediately take a stand. Instead, he asked, "Has the Third Division suffered more than half of its casualties now?" ”

Shoichi Amano replied, "About a quarter." ”

The garden department asked again: "Is the encirclement of Zhang formed now?" ”

Masakichi Amano: "The division and encirclement of Zhang has been preliminarily completed, and now a fierce battle is underway. ”

Shigenari Aoki was a classmate of the besieged 29th Brigade Commander Oye. He was afraid that Sonobe and Ichiro would immediately make the decision to give up rescuing the 29th Brigade, so he hurriedly said: "The Third Division is not all surrounded, I'm afraid that the battle losses of the Third Division cannot be calculated in such a one-size-fits-all manner." ”

"Yo Xi!"

After a pause, Sonobe Kazuichiro pondered for a while before he said: "Judging from the honor and combat effectiveness of the Third Division, they will solve it on their own, more than 10,000 brave imperial soldiers, are you still afraid of less than 50,000 Zhina Army?" Now that we have finally surrounded Zhang Zizhong and his troops, this Zhina man has repeatedly defeated our army, and its importance is needless to say. I think the 3rd Division will also understand which is more important. Amano-kun, you immediately convey these two plans to the commander of the Mountain Association Division, and he will decide on it, I have just arrived in Wuhan not long ago, and I don't know if the Third Division can fight in the end. After that, Sonobe and Ichiro didn't look at Aoki Shigenari anymore, and actually walked towards his bedroom.

Aoki Shigenari and Amano are looking at each other, and Amano is looking at each other, and Amano is helpless, and then walks away, leaving only the stunned Aoki Shigenari.

Looking at the two who left, Aoki Shigenari smiled bitterly, he knew that Sonobe and Ichiro had already given himself face by doing this just now, and his mind was spinning quickly, and he hurriedly shouted to Amano Shoichi before Sonobe and Ichiro walked into the bedroom: "Amano-kun, when you contact the Third Division, please tell them, just say that I prefer the Third Division to solve it on its own." ”

Soon, the commander of the 3rd Division, Yama Xie Masataka, who received the telegram, was also angry, and the 29th Brigade crossed him and asked for help directly from the headquarters, in his opinion, this was simply not to take him as the division commander in his eyes, so angry that he couldn't help but scold: "The matter of the 3rd Division will be solved by itself, how can Daye skip the level and ask for help?" Where did the spirit of the 3rd Division go? ”

Soon, Sonobe and Ichiro made a decision to let the 13th and 39th Divisions still carry out the original plan and attack the main forces of the 5th Theater of Operations assembled in Tanghe and Shinno.

On the morning of 16 August, the weather was fine. The 3rd Flying Division and the 44th and 77th Bomber Brigades of the Japanese Sangming Regiment began to bomb the Pumpkin Dian area in turn, and soon thick smoke began to billowing here, and tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides began to fight to the death with the rumbling roar of the planes in the sky.

"What's going on, why are the Japanese planes all coming at us?" In a secluded place in the pumpkin shop, Zhang Zizhong squinted his eyes as he looked at the Japanese fighters flying in the sky.

"Sir, our troops have been dragged down by the devils, there is no way to rush to help, we have to find another way." Qian Benchu, chief of staff of the 33rd Group Army, shook his head and said.

Just when Zhang Zizhong's heart couldn't help sinking, the voice of the communications staff officer came from behind: "Sir, we received a telegram from the 202nd Division, and the commander of the 202nd Army, Commander Su, told us that we must hold on, and the support will arrive soon!" (To be continued.) )