Chapter 96 Zhang Gufeng Incident

"Brother Wen, there is an order from the regiment, asking us to be the vanguard at ten o'clock tomorrow and drive to Xishui."

Before Zhang Ziwen could wait for Tian Jiaying to answer, he was interrupted by Ma Xiaobao.

"The order is given, all the people who went out will return to the camp immediately, and the wounded brothers will return to Lu's house in Wuhan to recuperate from their wounds, waiting for my follow-up orders."

Zhang Ziwen knows what this transfer means, now that the weather is hot, the march of the troops is a problem, and if you bring wounded soldiers, it is not conducive to recovery. After Zhang Ziwen finished explaining, he looked back at Tian Jiaying, hoping to know a positive answer.

"No one except Second Lieutenant Rao is qualified to use the radio yet, and we will continue to teach them until they learn."

Tian Jiaying said that the righteousness is good, Zhang Ziwen is not good to ask again, and now the situation is good, Zhang Ziwen is not worried about them running away, because of Wu Yongqing's explanation, there is a class of people who take turns to watch the four of them every day.

Early the next morning, just after a slight light day, the three battalions began to pull out the camp, and when the sky was completely opened, the three battalions set out for camp.

At this time, the battle sequence of the three battalions was as follows: battalion commander Zhang Ziwen, battalion deputy Ma Xiaobao, teaching team leader Zhang Li, second detachment captain Wen Zhijun, machine gun platoon Zhou Lipeng, artillery platoon Sun Liang, and engineer platoon Wang Yi. Ma Qi, the commander of the seventh company, Li Hai, the commander of the first platoon, Mo Changan, the commander of the second platoon, and Gu Zhigao, the commander of the third platoon. The commander of the eighth company, Mao Wenguang, the first platoon commander Peng Lin, the second platoon commander Cai Wen, and the third platoon commander Zhao Luo. Wang Dexin, the commander of the ninth company, Li Yusheng, the leader of the first platoon, Zhu Qian, the commander of the second platoon, and He Yicheng, the commander of the third platoon.

Because the 615 regiment had just been reorganized, He Shaozhou was not at ease, and he was directly under his nose, as soon as the 613 regiment was pulled, he immediately followed with the 615 regiment, leaving Wan Shijiong to fight with the 618 regiment.

The 103rd Division set out from Macheng, bypassed the Daqi Mountain extending from the Dabie Mountain, walked through Huanggang for three days, and arrived at Xishui, the current headquarters of the Fourth Corps, at the end of July.

At the same time that the 103rd Division arrived, the Japanese army had already touched the area of Xiaochikou southeast of Huangmei.

It was because Jiujiang had fallen on the 27th. After Okamura Ningji captured Xiangshan, Xiangkou, Pengze, and Hukou, as Zhang Ziwen envisioned, he divided his troops into Poyang Lake and attacked Jiujiang from Gutang, and at the same time used his naval superiority to occupy a large area of water in Poyang Lake. However, because Jiujiang was surrounded by water on three sides, it was also shelled by Japanese ships on three sides, and under the advantage of artillery fire, Zhang Fakui did not want his second corps to make fearless sacrifices, so he abandoned Jiujiang on the 27th.

As soon as the Jiujiang River was lost, the operation of controlling the river surface in the north and south of the Yangtze River changed, and the Japanese 11th Army immediately divided its troops into two routes and prepared to march westward along the north and south banks of the Yangtze River.

As the southern foot of Dabie Mountain, Huangmei is an important node of the Yangtze River impact plain, which can attack Guangji and protect Jiujiang when retreating, and at the same time can threaten the Tianjiazhen fortress at the next node of the attack. The Japanese Sixth Division and the newly formed Imamura Detachment marched west from the Anqing Line into Hubei, while the Imamura Detachment landed on the Yangtze River and advanced to Huangmei.

The Huangmei garrison was the 84th Army, composed of the Gui Army, known as the Iron Army, composed of the 188th and 189th Divisions, under the jurisdiction of Liao Lei's 21st Group Army. It can be said that most of the troops on the north bank of the Yangtze River were defended by troops withdrawn from Xuzhou.

As soon as the Japanese army landed, they prepared to go west to Huangmei, but they did not expect that the 84th Army did not rely on Huangmei City to resist, but only left the 188th Division to defend the two cities of Huangguang and Guangzhou, and the 189th Division directly pounced on the Imamura detachment that had not gained a firm foothold.

Although the 189th Division was caught by surprise by the Japanese army, the Japanese army reacted quickly and immediately called for aircraft support, and the 189th Division was pushed back to Huangmei City.

The 189th Division and the 188th Division in Huangmei City were attacked on three sides by the enemy, and were beaten by Japanese aircraft and artillery, and the Japanese army rushed directly to Guangji, and the 189th Division was able to retreat westward.

Okamura Ningji's side was in full swing, but the Higashikure Palace, which was attacking along the northern foot of Dabie Mountain, did not dare to move at all, and the five divisions in his hands were ready to go north to support at any time.

Because the Kwantung Army planned to start a war against the Soviet Union in February this year, but it did not expect the Soviet Union to seize Zhang Gufeng ahead of schedule at the end of June, and the Japanese army was actively placing its forces on the frontal battlefield in Central China, hoping to end the war on the Chinese battlefield at an early date, so it grovelled and asked the Soviet Union to withdraw Zhang Gufeng, and asked the Soviet troops to withdraw Zhang Gufeng in the name of going to investigate the killed surveyor Matsushima before 16 July.

On 20 July, the 19th Division of the Japanese Army had rushed to the Qingxing area near Zhanggufeng, preparing to recapture Zhanggufeng. After Shigemitsu Aoi, the ambassador, waited for a reply that "no threat can frighten Moscow", the Japanese army made up its mind to recapture Zhanggufeng with one blow.

On July 29, the Soviet army sent a squad to build a position, the Japanese army was forced to retreat, and on the 30th, the Japanese army fought back against the Soviet army. On the night of the 31st, the Japanese army shelled Zhanggufeng, capturing Zhanggufeng with one brigade and the other capturing Shacaofeng.

The Japanese army wanted to stop fighting, but it was the Soviet artillery shells and tanks that ushered in it, and the Soviet army fought back fiercely with the strength of two divisions and one tank battalion, and also sent planes to bomb the Japanese invasion and occupation areas many times, and the Japanese army could only continue to increase its troops to meet it.

The fighting did not stop until the 10th, and the armistice was stopped under the condition of reconciliation between the two sides, and there was a theory in later generations that it was Chiang Kai-shek who asked the Soviet Union to send troops, but he did not want to be betrayed by the Soviet Union.

"Gathering, Target Dilan Creek"

Zhang Ziwen had just arrived in Xishui and had not yet entered the city, so he was transferred to Lanxi to garrison by an order.

On the evening of the 29th, the 3rd Battalion finally arrived at Lanxi, and followed the 103rd Division to the south of Xishui to garrison.

At this time, the 189th Division withdrew from Huangmei and rushed to the area of Longtouzhai to block the westward advance of the Japanese army with the 188th Division.

Zhang Ziwen put the three camps in the area of Jiangjiashan and built fortifications in case of accidents. Jiangjiashan is backed by Lanxi, and in front of it is the Guangxi Highway, which can be attacked and defended, and there is no need to clean the people. Zhang Ziwen knew that the landing of the Japanese army in Jiangbei meant that the war had begun, and he could not be sloppy at all now. The third battalion no longer conducts training, but goes to a state of rest, and at the same time is ready to go to the front at any time.

On the morning of the 30th, the 103rd Division all entered Lanxi, and He Shaozhou did not prepare for local defense, but supervised Zhou Xiangkui's reorganization of the 615th Regiment.

Zhang Ziwen took advantage of his leisure to write a letter to Lu Qingman.

Qingman, it's been good lately, I've now driven from Macheng to Xishui Lanxi. I heard that the Japanese army has captured Jiujiang, and now the Huangmei area is also in the flames of war. It is only about 300 miles from Huangguang to Wuhan, and I am afraid that our army will not be able to resist the Japanese army, so please go west to Chongqing with your uncle or Guizhou to the west, and please do not stay in Wuhan.

Zhang Ziwen's letter was as simple and direct as ever, and after writing the letter, he immediately arranged for radio training, and if the radio station could not be used before rushing to the front line, Zhang Ziwen could only leave the radio station in the rear.

On the afternoon of the 30th, the reorganization of the 615th Regiment under the supervision of He Shaozhou was finally completed, the regiment commander was still Zhou Xiangkui, and the first battalion commander Xia Ying, and the original two battalion commanders were transferred to the division headquarters as staff officers, and He Shaozhou inserted two of his cronies.

At present, the battle sequence of the 103rd Division is as follows: division commander He Shaozhou, deputy division commander Wan Shijiong, and division captain Li Wei. Chen Yongsi, commander of the 613th Regiment (acting), Hou Tian, commander of the first battalion, Wen Renli, commander of the second battalion, and Zhao Xu, commander of the third battalion. Zhou Xiangkui, commander of the 615th Regiment, Xia Ying, commander of the first battalion, Wang Long, commander of the second battalion, and commander of the third battalion. Wang Jingyuan, commander of the 618th Regiment, Wu Zijian, commander of the first battalion, Dai Jun (acting), commander of the second battalion, and Zhang Ziwen, commander of the third battalion.

Now that the 103rd Division has all returned, and its number of soldiers has reached the standard line of 9,000 for the three-regimental division, most of the officers above the warrant officer level have been replaced, and three-quarters of the division's soldiers are all new recruits.

The 103rd Division, stationed in Lanxi during this time, Bai Chongxi was unwilling to lose the Taihu Lake and Qianshan area east of Huangmei, and sent troops to attack the Japanese army's logistics supply line from north to south.