In order to attack Duchang and Wucheng, the Japanese army successively dispatched nearly 10,000 people, and mobilized the T combat unit of the Chinese fleet to coordinate the operation from the water, but the result was defeat after defeat, not only did the war make no progress, the soldiers of the unit suffered heavy losses, and even the commander of the unit---- Murai Quanichi, the commander of the Murai detachment, committed suicide by disembowelment.

The news spread quickly.

With the successive defeats of the Murai detachment's offensive, it didn't take long for Okamura Ninji, who had moved the headquarters of the 11th Army to Jiujiang due to the needs of the war, to receive the news. When he learned the news of the annihilation of the Murai detachment, Okamura Ninji was furious and slapped the soldiers who came to report the news a few times, and the chief of staff, Yoshimoto Sadachi, dissuaded him from the side: "Your Excellency Commander, please calm down, the destruction of the Murai detachment is indeed regrettable, but we must also understand, who is the opponent of the Murai detachment?" ”

Okamura Ninji heard this, and sure enough, he slowly let go of the beaten soldier, but glared at Yoshimoto Sadachi fiercely.

Yoshimoto Sadachi stubbornly continued: "Your Excellency, Commander, it is not for me to raise the enemy's morale and destroy my own prestige, it is not for nothing that Bai Fei and his subordinate military police regiment can become the number one henchman of the Imperial Strategy China. They are cunning, well-equipped, and extremely powerful in firepower, which is very difficult to deal with. During the attack on Wuhan last year, in the mountains of the Chaohu area, we used four divisions to encircle and suppress hundreds of them, but not only were we not able to destroy them, but on the contrary, our own troops were lost and lost, causing considerable losses. So, let's ask how much can a village detachment do now? ”

"Yaga..."Okamura Ninji immediately became angry when he heard this, and was about to reprimand him, but he calmed down and thought about it, and felt that there was nothing wrong with what Yoshimoto Sadachi said.

In fact, Okamura Ninji didn't understand these truths, otherwise he wouldn't have had such a headache after receiving the news from the 101st Division that Duchang was suspected to be the "regiment directly under the Gendarmerie of China", and finally kicked the ball to the division commander of the 101st Division, Saito Yauta, and asked him to organize troops to recapture Duchang. At that time, he used the word "act on the opportunistic basis" in the telegram, and it can be seen from this word that Okamura Ninji actually had insufficient confidence in the 101st Division to recapture Duchang. It was only later that he heard that the 101st Division had dispatched nearly 10,000 men and organized a huge fleet to fight from amphibious operations in order to recapture Duchang.

It's just that the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment, and after looking forward to this ending for a long time, this is the reason why Okamura Ninji was furious when he heard that the Murai detachment had lost the battle.

With a "bang", Okamura Ningji slapped his palm on the desk angrily, gritted his teeth and said: "The regiment directly under the military police of China!" I swear that this army will be torn to pieces! ”

Yoshimoto Sada: "Your Excellency Commander, rest easy, although the Murai detachment failed this attack, in my opinion, this is not entirely a bad thing, at least it proves that Bai Fei and his troops are indeed in the area of Duchang and Wucheng..."

"Huh?" Okamura Ninjiki said, "What is the truth? ”

Yoshimoto Zhenyi: "Your Excellency Commander, what do you think, now we are facing the Chinese army on the front line of Xiushui, and the Chinese army has gathered more than 100,000 troops on the south bank of Xiushui in order to prevent us from passing through Nanchang, which is already a lot of pressure on us, if we don't figure out where Bai Fei and his troops are, let them hide in the shadows to support other Chinese defenders, and even suddenly strike at us when the two armies are stalemate, then our strategy plan is likely to encounter more twists and turns." ”

Okamura Ninji frowned and exclaimed, "Not bad! You're right! This has to be guarded against. Especially now in the Wuning, Qiujin, and Tujiabu areas in the upper reaches of the Xiu River, the 6th, 116th, and 101st divisions of our army are engaged in fierce battles with the Chinese defenders on the south bank. ”

Yoshimoto Sadachi continued: "So, since the gendarmerie regiment is now in the area of Duchang and Wuseong, then we must leave them there to prevent them from posing a threat to the front to the west. ”

Okamura Ninji nodded, "Well, it really needs to be so. According to the telegram sent by the 116th Division in Qiujin, the Chinese defenders on the south bank of the Xiu River here have suffered heavy casualties due to the frequent blows of our Sixth Brigade of heavy artillery, and have been overwhelmed. However, if we want to keep the regiment directly under the gendarmerie in the area around Poyang Lake, we need to dispatch heavy troops, and we now do not have many available troops, and what is even more worrying is that the strong combat effectiveness of the regiment directly under the military police in China will not work at all if there are fewer people. ”

Yoshimoto said confidently: "Your Excellency Commander, don't worry, I have already thought of a strategy, but this operation still needs to mobilize the Chinese fleet of the Navy to assist." In addition, I have a request that I personally command this operation, and I hope that His Excellency the Commander will approve it..."

Okamura Ninji thought for a while and said, "Although the last operation caused the navy to lose several warships, it did not shake the overall situation, and I will deploy them to fully assist." As for the fact that you want to lead the troops yourself, I need to think about it. Tell me about your plan..."

Yoshimoto Sadaichi then told Okamura Ninji about the plan, and Okamura Ninji groaned after listening to it, and said, "Although the plan is good, I still can't see the certainty of victory." ”

Yoshimoto Sadachi: The combat effectiveness of the regiment directly under the Shina gendarmerie is indeed very strong, but their biggest shortcoming is that they cannot go into the water. I have just analyzed the reasons for the defeat of the Murai detachment, and the biggest factor is that they seriously underestimated the enemy, and did not give full play to their strengths and attacked rashly. However, the main purpose of our operation this time was to drag down the regiment directly under the military police of China and let them stay in the Duchang area without a flawless west. Therefore, I did not need to engage them directly, but only kept my distance and used gunboats on the surface to deter the defenders of Wucheng and Duchang. ”

Okamura Ningji said: "There is an ancient Chinese saying that the plank road is darkened and Chen Cang is repaired, and there is an ancient saying that the plan is calculated. Bai Fei is a very cunning person, how can you guarantee that he will not see through your plan and pretend to continue to garrison Duchang and Wucheng on the surface, but secretly go to the west to support? Or was there only a small number of men left to defend the city, but the large army went somewhere else? ”

Yoshimoto thought for a moment and said, "First of all, Wucheng and Duchang are very important places for us and our army. I therefore conclude that it is impossible for the regiment directly under the Gendarmerie of China to abandon these two places. Second, if they build the plank road in the dark and Chen Cang, then I will plan and take the opportunity to occupy these two places. Once these two places fall into our hands, our warships will be able to drive straight in, even behind the Chinese defenders on the south bank of the Xiu River, and their defenses will be breached. Thirdly, Your Excellency, I only said earlier that the main purpose is to contain them, but in the course of the operation, I will also send the land forces for landing operations. We have warships, we have artillery. As long as we strictly follow the range of the ship's cannons, step by step, always protect our soldiers within the range of the cannons, and encroach on Wucheng or Duchang little by little, then the Chinese defenders will be very uncomfortable, and in this way, I think, we can ensure that nothing goes wrong. ”

"Yo Xi!" Okamura Ninji nodded with satisfaction after listening to this, and said: "Since this is the case, then please Yoshimoto-kun, this operation, you can assemble and use the garrison troops in Jiujiang Lake, Lushan and other places, and I will also transfer 2,000 people from the headquarters guard to you, and help you succeed!" ”

"Hey!" Yoshimoto Zhen put his legs together and said, "I will live up to the expectations of His Excellency the Commander!" ”