On the same night that the commander of the 40th Heavy Infantry Wing of the 40th Division of the Japanese Army was killed, all the Nationalist troops stationed at Yazui Mountain and Piaofeng Mountain withdrew from the positions they were still holding during the day.

In particular, the 95th Division, when it attracted the attention of the two divisions of the Japanese army, suddenly disappeared without a trace, which greatly frustrated the arrogant Kanda Masasa and Toshima Botaro, and also made Anan Yuji himself in Yueyang feel incredible.

Beginning on 26 July, the battle was fought for almost a week, and although the battle line was pushed from the Xinqiang River to the south bank of the Miluo River, it actually did not achieve the tactical goal of annihilating the living forces of the national army.

Anan was at a loss as he stared at his own offensive arrows on the military map, because except for the direction of his own troops' advance, the movements and defensive posture of the Chinese army were completely blank.

For war, the opponent's every move is completely unclear, and even the opponent's main position cannot be found, how can such a battle be fought?

Like Anami, Kinoshita Yong also felt confused, he and his staff officers did not understand the intentions of the Chinese army at all, the 11th Army had never fought such a battle since its formation, first of all, the intelligence was almost zero, and the intelligence agency that the Japanese army was proud of, before this battle, there was no information about the deployment of the Chinese army in the Ninth Theater of Operations, let alone like last time, directly got the secret code book of the national army. Secondly, the serious shortage of ammunition, which is also something that the Eleventh Army has never faced, the "invincible" Imperial Army will actually have a shortage of guns and artillery, who will believe it? The third point is that the Chinese army has never been like this operation, although it seems to be holding on to the death, but in fact it has not done its best, the current situation is that the Chinese army will take the initiative to appear where they want to appear, if they retreat, then the imperial army troops on the front line will quickly lose the trace of their opponents, and now it is a problem to find the Chinese army, let alone find their main force, and then the two sides will concentrate their forces for a decisive battle. The fourth point is also a headache for Anan Wei, the Ninth Theater of the Chinese Army, which has hundreds of thousands of elites, actually sent a lot of small troops to attack its own logistics supply lines, and previously received a report from the 40th Division Aoki Chengichi that the commander of the 40th Heavy Infantry Wing of his subordinates died in Changhu Town, northeast of the Xinqiang River, and together with more than ten military vehicles and materials were burned, and the military station that had only been set up for a few days was uprooted by the Chinese army.

"Kinoshita-kun, I think we have to change our tactics!" Anan Weiji suddenly spoke up, and from his grim expression, it could be seen that he was really a little haggard.

"Yes, Your Excellency Commander, I don't think we should go around looking for the main force of the Chinese army, so that they will always lead the way." Kinoshita replied.

"Does Kinoshita-kun mean that we should turn our guns and attack Changsha City with all our might?" Anan Yuji still has some respect for this chief of staff who has assisted three commanders, although he is a subordinate, but the tone of his speech is like a negotiation between peers, this attitude is simply incredible compared to the previous Enbe Kazuichiro, which also makes Kinoshita Yong almost wholeheartedly to assist him.

"Yes, Your Excellency, the staff officers and I agree that the commanders of the Toshima Division and the Kanda Division must be ordered immediately to change the direction of the attack and not to try to find the main forces of the Chinese army again. I believe that as long as the Imperial Army launched an attack on the city of Changsha, it would be impossible for the Chinese army to gather on a large scale to come to the rescue. Kinoshita pointed to a dot on the military map, on which were written two characters in Chinese: Changsha.

On the first day of the New Year in 1942, the Japanese 11th Army Headquarters issued a new operational order, abandoning the plan to encircle and annihilate the main force of the Nationalist Army in the Ninth Theater and turning the target of attack to Changsha.

After receiving the new combat order issued by Kinoshita Isa, the main force of Toshima Botaro's 3rd Division immediately transferred its troops, crossed the Laodao River through Liqiao and Fenglin Port, passed through Pailoupu, and attacked Changsha at Langli City and Dongshan; With the assistance of the planes of the 1st Flying Regiment of the Japanese Army, the 6th Division of Kanda Masasang advanced from Xinshi on the south bank of Mishui, passing through Changling, Fulinpu, Malin, and arriving at Langli City, intending to launch an attack on Changsha in coordination with the 3rd Division; Aoki Seiichi's 40th Division used a part to resist the 37th Army's Luo Qi's 95th Division at Yajian, Modaojian, and Tianjing Temple in Mishui River Bay west of Hukou, and the main force reached the Jinjing area south through Lishan Lane, Changling, Tianwangmiao, and Xiangbiqiao, pinning down the Nationalist troops in the eastern mountainous area, and responding to the attack of the 3rd and 6th Divisions.

The Japanese army suddenly turned its gun, it was expected, Sun Yumin originally suggested to Lao Chiang's tactics to let the national army along the line try their best to harass and block the devils, the idea was to drag them to the exhaustion, and then the decisive battle under the city of Changsha, now the Japanese army is just entering Sun Yumin's tactical intentions, slightly unexpected is that the Japanese army is nearly three days behind the time of attacking Changsha than originally expected.

After the Ninth Theater synthesized the enemy situation in various places and discovered that the Japanese army had already swarmed to Changsha, it immediately sent a report on the battle situation to the Military Commission and Lao Chiang.

Seeing that the war had completely entered Sun Yumin's inference at that time, Lao Jiang did not hesitate or hesitate, and immediately replied to Xue Yue: All units in the Ninth Theater must make all pre-war preparations in accordance with the drawn up battle plan. In the decisive battle around Changsha, it is necessary to guard against the enemy to contain Changsha with one section, first force our second-line corps to fight a decisive battle, and then besiege Changsha. If the enemy attacks Changsha, all units should take advantage of the setback of their attack, and at the same time gather all forces to encircle the enemy in one fell swoop, and must take the initiative to grasp the decisive battle. (The original text of the message is excerpted from "The Frontal Battlefield of the Anti-Japanese War")

The 29th Brigade, the vanguard of the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army, first crossed the Liuyang River near Mopen Prefecture, and the 3rd Engineer Wing began to build bridges, and at 18 o'clock in the afternoon, the 68th Wing arrived in Langli City.

At this moment, the war has gradually entered the most critical stage.

It can be said that the Japanese army has completely entered the pocket arranged for them in advance by Sun Yumin, and even the forward of the Japanese army at the front, the 29th Brigade of the Third Division, has reached the bottom of the bag of the "big pocket".

After receiving Lao Chiang's reply telegram, Xue Yue immediately ordered all units in the Ninth Theater to begin to advance to the flank of the Japanese army, demanding that all units must complete the counter-encirclement of the Japanese army by 3 days and launch a full-scale counterattack against the Japanese army the next day.

The Japanese army was completely unaware of these movements of the national army, and the new set of passwords purchased by the old Chiang spent a lot of money played a huge role in this war.

On January 2, 1942, the Japanese Third Division first launched an attack on Changsha, and Li Yutang's 10th Army, which had long been holding its breath, rose up to resist.

The battle around Changsha City finally kicked off under the eyes of the world.

Fang Xianjue's 10th Division, in accordance with the operational plan formulated by the 10th Army Headquarters, built fortifications in the southern part of Changsha City.

During the Second Battle of Changsha, the punishment received by the Tenth Army and the charge of abandoning the battle and fleeing made the entire army unable to raise its head, especially Fang Xianjue and his 10th Division, which could be regarded as having a "bad name" and participating in this battle.

When he participated in the pre-war meeting when he was in the military headquarters, he heard in the words of the old commander Li Yutang that he was determined to die for the country, and also understood that this battle was a life-and-death battle for the Tenth Army, if Shangfeng was satisfied, the Tenth Army might be safe and sound, but if the Japanese army broke through Changsha City again, then there was no need to think about it to know that not only the Tenth Army could not be saved, but even their several army commanders were afraid that there would be no day to turn over.

After returning, he convened a meeting of the division headquarters as soon as possible, expressing the determination of the army commander and himself to stick to Changsha, and even decided at the meeting to place the division headquarters on the south wall of Miaofeng, expressing his idea of co-existence with the position.

The three regiments of the 10th Pre-10th Division were assigned their own tasks, and the 29th Regiment was used to build three strong strongholds to undertake the front-line defense, with the regiment commander Chen Xinshan, the deputy regiment commander Zeng Xinwen and the regimental chief of staff each leading a battalion to personally guard the town; The 28th Regiment was responsible for the defense of the southern city walls; The 30 regiment served as the reserve of the whole division.

In the early morning of the 3rd, the Japanese 3rd Division broke the habit of fighting at night and launched an attack on the Wujiazhuang position and Xiaolinzi position controlled by the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 29th Regiment of the 10th Pre-10th Division.

Fortunately, due to road and weather restrictions, the Japanese artillery could not move together with the troops, and the 29th Brigade advanced too fast, and all the field artillery and mountain artillery assigned to its command were still stranded on the right bank of Mishui, so except for mortars and grenadiers that could be taken away at any time, the Japanese troops attacking Wujiazhuang and Xiaolinzi Street did not have a single Type 92 infantry gun.

The late night after the snow melted was even colder than when it snowed, and it was uncertain when it would rain heavily, which made the devil soldiers involved in the attack miserable, and also made the defending Chinese troops hungry and cold.

Muddy roads, cold weather, and this unexpected attack made the first wave of attacks of the devils pay off. By the time the regiment commander Chen Xinshan commanded the troops to counterattack, the devil's infantry had already rushed to Zhuangzi.

This was the first battle between the two sides, how could Chen Xinshan be willing to give up his position like this, and launch a desperate counterattack with all the officers and soldiers of the first battalion.

The same situation also happened in Xiaolinzi Street, where Zeng Xinwen, deputy of the 29th Regiment, also made the same choice as the regiment commander Chen Xinshan, and led the second battalion to meet the devil soldiers who had already rushed into the village.

After Fang Xianjue received a call for help, he personally led the 30th Regiment to come to support, but he was still a step too late, although the two positions were saved, but the 29th Regiment Commander Chen Xinshan and the regiment deputy Zeng Xinwen were both martyred, becoming the first officers above the colonel level of the National Army to die in the Battle of Changsha.

The almost frantic attack of the Japanese army annoyed Li Yutang, and he said to a group of staff officers in the headquarters: "Since the devils don't allow us to breathe, then we can't let them be comfortable." He issued an order on the spot: The 190th Division in the direction of the North Gate counterattacked Zuojiatang at night, and the 10th Division in the South Gate counterattacked the army storage.

After receiving the order from the division headquarters, Fang Xianjue personally led the 30th Regiment of the 10th Division and began to attack the enemy entrenched in Baishaling, and at dawn, he completely annihilated this group of devils.

At this time, an unexpected surprise came, a Japanese army did not know whether it was lost or intended to come to reinforce the besieged friendly forces of Baishaling, and rushed to Baishaling, which had been occupied by Fang Xianjue's troops.

This part of the Japanese army was the strength of nearly a brigade led by Kato Nakasa, and the arrogant Japanese army did not expect that Baishaling had been occupied by the Chinese army at this time, so they rushed over.

After a night of fighting, Fang Xianjue was resting at this time, and when he was sad for the martyrdom of his two tiger generals, he suddenly heard an urgent report from the commander of the 30th regiment: "Division, the devil is here!" ”

"How did it come so quickly?" Fang Xianjue was a little incredulous, he hurriedly got up and said, "Hurry up and take a look." ”

When he arrived at the position, Fang Xianjue found that something was wrong, the devil who came was not an offensive posture, but drove towards Baishaling like a mountain and a river.

"Master, how do I think these devils don't look like they're here to attack?" The words of the 30th regiment were also Fang Xianjue's doubts, and he was also puzzled, the devil should know that there was a war here, how could he be so arrogant, and he didn't even have the most basic vigilance.

"Regardless of what these devils are all about? Destroy them, then give the order to go down and prepare for battle. "For the dishes delivered to the door, how could Fang Xianjue let it go.

Kato was very depressed and entangled, and the loss of the leading army made his troops wander around the perimeter for a night, and on this cold night, who wanted to scurry around like headless flies.

After slapping the leader in the face a few times, Kato decided to find out the current location of his troops on the map himself.

In the northern Hunan region, the terrain and scenery of most places are not much different, and after watching for a long time, I still can't figure out where the bottom is now?

In desperation, Kato decided to lead his troops to the south, but he was afraid that he would accidentally break into the hinterland of the Chinese army if he kept marching south, so after traveling south for a distance, he turned west and entered the Baisha Ridge in a daze. When the troops were ordered to set off, Baishaling had already been occupied by the troops of the "Imperial Army", so in Kato's consciousness, he could finally rest and rest, and the hunger and cold of this night had already tortured him and his soldiers.

When he reached the foot of the mountain, he didn't notice anything unusual, until he suddenly heard a "familiar" gunshot, and Kato's nerves suddenly tightened.

Veterans are very sensitive to the judgment of gunfire, Kato has fought with the Chinese army for so many years, and naturally he can hear that this is the gunfire of the pistol used by the officers of the Chinese army, and at least the gunfire of the "picker" used by officers at and above the regiment level, which is very different from the shell gun used by officers below the battalion level of the Chinese army.

Kato's heart contracted violently with the sound of this gunshot, and an inexplicable sense of helplessness hit his mind, there is the main force of the Chinese army here, what to do?

Before he could think of countermeasures, before he could remind the soldiers to take precautions, there was a strange sound in the sky, and almost at the same time, the Makqin heavy machine gun unique to the national army also rang out.

The unprepared devil soldiers were suddenly knocked down on the spot by the machine gun, and Kato, who was at the forefront of the troops, also felt a heavy blow to his abdomen, although he didn't feel the pain, but the numbness still made him understand something, and subconsciously reached out to wipe it, and saw the red eyes that he didn't want to believe.

I was shot, I was shot, and there must have been more than one bullet that got into my body, but for Kato, these are all meaningless. In just a moment, his mind was blank, he could no longer feel his body, this noisy world, this white world, could no longer enter his eyelids.