The Japanese 6th Division was surrounded, and the encirclement area was about 50 square kilometers. The 26th Army, the 69th, 70th, 71st, and 72nd Divisions of the Sichuan Army launched a fierce attack from north to south, and the 209th and 210th Divisions of the 70th Division were reorganized to attack from the side of Tianzhu Mountain and Qianshan from west to east. Its 211th Division and 111th Independent Division attacked from south to north. Since the four divisions on the Huaining and Yueshan lines were in charge of blocking tasks, the attack was not launched on the eastern flank. There was no problem with the deployment of the campaign and the comparison of forces, but the weakness of the Central Army's lack of offensive skills was soon exposed.

Under the stubborn resistance of the Japanese army, the offensive on the western and southern fronts was in full swing, but it was difficult to break through the positions defended by the Japanese army. The Sichuan army had few bright spots, breaking through several defensive positions of the Japanese army, but in two days, the Sichuan army suffered more than 5,000 casualties. Surrounding the 6th Division, Xue Yue concentrated nearly 80,000 troops, and the troops were rich and surplus, but the attack was weak. The Japanese stubbornly defended, and two days later, the Japanese army dispatched transport planes to start airdropping ammunition to replenish ammunition and supplies the 6th Division, resulting in a great strengthening of the 6th Division's defense. Under the fierce attacks from the north, southwest, and southwest, the Japanese 6th Division was completely in a passive situation and also paid a heavy price.

There is a small mountain village in the core area of the encirclement, where the 6th Division of the Japanese Army is located. At this time, there was a miserable scene in the mountain village. The compound of the Japanese field hospital was full of wounded soldiers, and all the rooms in the mountain village were filled with wounded soldiers, and wounded soldiers were sent almost every half hour. The head of the division in the headquarters, Machijiri (Kao), was pale and depressed. He didn't expect that the invincible and formidable 6th Division would be surrounded here. Although a large number of military supplies are airdropped every day, they can only meet the maximum defensive operations. Although he blocked the enemy's attack, the huge casualties made him feel particularly gloomy.

As a result of the air raid of the 106th Division in Qing'an, although the loss of personnel was not large, a large number of military supplies were burned. Without logistical support, the 106th Division was temporarily unable to support the operation, and continued to hoard combat materials, which could not be done in a short time. The reinforcements on the north and south lines were intercepted, and it seemed that the 6th Division had to temporarily rely on its own ability to hold on. After the 6th Division completed its combat mission to capture Nanjing, it was criticized by the world media for its beastly killing. For this reason, the commander of the division, Toshio Tani, went to the field and was succeeded by Machijiri Liangki. After replenishing the lost troops in Shanghai, Machijiri was full of ambition, and this time he was ready to lead the 6th Division to continue to create brilliant achievements.

Machijiri Liangji belongs to the Young Zhuang faction, with more than enough courage and insufficient resourcefulness. At the beginning of the war, he was invincible, and in the blink of an eye, he became a caged bird. The Chinese army hated the 6th Division in particular, and the enemy used various means to shoot and wound Japanese soldiers, even at the cost of killing them. It seems that the slogan shouted by the Eighth Route Army is by no means empty, and there is another reason for the depression of Machijiri Liangji, which is to invisibly bear the charge of being an executioner.

At this time, a transport plane appeared in the sky again, and white umbrella flowers covered the sky, which made Machijiri Liangji feel a lot better. "Report to the general, the officers supported by the command have arrived by air." An operational staff officer reports. Due to continuous operations, the casualty rate of officers below was very high, and there were problems in commanding operations. One of the distinctive characteristics of the Japanese soldiers was that they could hardly fight without the commander, because the Japanese soldiers were accustomed to obeying commands, and it was impossible to promote officers from the ranks of the soldiers in the line of fire.

Soon after, an operational staff officer reported on the airdropped officers, numbering 220 men, the vast majority of whom were junior officers. After listening to the report, Machijiri ordered the officers to immediately be assigned to the combat unit. After 8 days of siege and fierce fighting, the attack power of the Chinese army weakened. Machijiri ordered the downsizing of his forces, knowing that it was impossible for the Shina army to eat him. Okamura Ningji called to inform him that tomorrow the 106th Division would approach the front line of Huaining and Yueshan, and asked him to prepare for a breakthrough. After the Japanese army shrank its forces, the defensive position became more solid.

The attacking troops were extremely fatigued during the continuous night, and the offensive of the attacking units was sharply reduced. In the Qingshan Theater Headquarters, Xue Yue received reports from various departments and sighed helplessly. "Commander, the 106th Division of the Japanese Army launched an attack on the blocking positions of Huaining and Yueshan for 3 consecutive days, and the blocking troops suffered great losses, whether to put them into reserves." "Tonight, I ordered the Sichuan Army and the 70th Army to continue to launch an offensive, ordered the reserve 69th Army to enter the positions of Tianzhu Mountain and Qianshan, and ordered the Huaining and Yueshan blocking troops to withdraw from their positions at midnight and withdraw to Yueshan and Tianhu respectively."

Everyone relaxed when they heard this, and they knew that Xue Yue had withdrawn his troops. Everyone knew in their hearts that the 20 days of continuous attacks on combat units were exhausting and suffered heavy losses. In the 20 days of fighting, more than 30,000 casualties were inflicted. Xue Yue kept a reserve team, probably thinking of this kind of ending. Although it did not eat the Japanese 6th Division, it broke up the Japanese offensive, which was a positive side. The Japanese 6th Division was surrounded, and all units struggled to rescue, destroying Okamura Ninji's overall battle plan, and the Japanese offensive on the Eastern Front was forced to stop.

Two days later, at a position in Wolsan, the 6th Division of the Japanese Army joined forces with the 106th Division. When the officers and men of the 106th Division of the Japanese Army saw the tragic scene of the 6th Division, they all gasped. The long line of wounded soldiers was in disarray, and the scene before them was like that of refugees. Due to the large number of wounded, many lightly wounded people supported each other and walked, and many soldiers had white ashes of fallen soldiers hanging on their chests, and the queue was full of gloomy and tragic atmosphere. After the war, the Japanese 6th Division suffered more than 12,000 casualties, and the support troops also suffered more than 3,000 casualties.

The commander of the 6th Division, Machijiri Mitsuki, met with the commander of the 106th Division, Junrokuro Matsuma. "Machijiri-kun, your department fought very tenaciously and inflicted heavy losses on the Shina army, I would like to pay tribute!" "Matsuura-kun, we have underestimated the enemy, the army of China has changed, and we dare to make a dangerous move, it seems that the battle of Wuhan is not easy to fight, you have to be more careful!" The two were not in the mood to ridicule, and they separated after a few simple conversations. According to Okamura Ningji's order, all units stopped the attack and stood by, and ordered the 106th Division to defend on the spot on the front line of Huaining and Wolsan, and the 6th Division to withdraw to Qing'an to rest and replenish personnel.

In the headquarters of the 3rd Corps of the Eighth Route Army in Jiujiang, everyone's mood was very depressed, the boiled duck flew, and the expected victory was abandoned halfway. "Chief of the General Staff, the weakness of the tedious offensive of the Central Army has been exposed again, as a result we expected. The 6th Division of the Japanese Army was already at the end of its strong crossbow, and the key was that the attack was unfavorable and the encirclement time was too long, which caused casualties in all units to aggravate extreme fatigue. There was no problem with General Xue Yue's campaign deployment and command of operations. Su Yu sighed. It's a pity to bring the 6th Division back from the dead! Luo Ronghuan shook his head.

Ouyang Jian said: "This result is already good, at least the Japanese offensive has been disintegrated, the eastern front will tend to be stable, the 9th Theater Chen Cheng Division, as the general reserve, will support Xue Yue at any time, and the Japanese offensive on the eastern front will enter a state of scorching." Now I am most worried about the northern defense line, although Lao Chiang deployed elite troops on the northern front, but there are great weaknesses in the defense of the northern front. In particular, Song Xilian's Dabie Mountain defense line is worrying. "After the Japanese army occupies Xinyang, it should attack and advance along the Jinghan Railway."

Su Yu continued: "It is understandable for Song Xilian to put heavy troops on both sides of the Jinghan Railway, but his left flank is the weak link. "Deputy Commander Su, you are very sharp. Yes, although the left flank of the Jinghan Railway is dangerous, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. But often the safest places are also the most dangerous places. Once the Japanese army broke through, the Dabie upper defensive line would collapse. "Is the Department of Defense informed?" "Aren't we adding to the chaos at this time, and I can't afford to be charged with interfering with military deployment and battlefield command. I hope that the Japanese army did not discover its weakness, but Okamura Ninji is difficult to say. ”

"Report! News came from the 5th theater of operations that the Japanese army had captured Hefei! "A combat staff officer." It should be said that the 5th Theater of Operations fought well, and the Japanese army took Hefei in half a month, and Zhang Fakui still had two shots. However, the Japanese army took Hefei and threatened the Dabie Mountain defense line from the east, and the situation on the northern front was even worse. "At present, Ouyang Jian can effectively support the 4th War Zone, which is close at hand, but he can't do anything about the 5th War Zone, and he can't reach the Dabie Mountain Defense Line, so he can only watch the trend of the battle situation and express some helpless opinions.

At the beginning of August, Okamura Ninji ordered the offensive to continue, but due to the heavy losses of the 6th Division, it had to be replaced by the 35th Division as a reserve. At this time, Xue Yue's corps increased its strength, and Chen Cheng's division of the 9th Theater of Operations in Jiangnan transferred two armies to support the operation on the Eastern Front. Okamura Ninji carefully analyzed the situation on the Eastern Front and believed that it would be too difficult to break through the Eastern Front by force. In particular, the 9th theater of operations of the Chinese army seems to have turned into a general reserve corps. He believed that it would be difficult to achieve the objectives of the campaign on the Eastern Front.

In fact, Okamura Ninji had long seen the weakness of the northern front, but he did not make up his mind to make a proposal to the commander Shunroku Hatata. At present, the offensive on the Eastern Front has fallen into a passive situation, and the Japanese army is unable to break through on the Eastern Front, and the offensive pressure on Wuhan is formed from the south, which is an unfavorable factor caused by the defeat in the Battle of Jiangxi. Before the Battle of Wuhan began, Okamura repeatedly raised this issue with the base camp. However, the Japanese base camp believed that the defensive ability of the Chinese army had been greatly reduced after the Great Battle of Songhu, so the Japanese base camp still placed the center of attack on the eastern front.

Okamura Ninji pointed out that the 101st and 27th Divisions of the 5th Theater of Operations, which were responsible for the offensive mission, suffered heavy losses after taking Hefei. In particular, the Chinese army relied on the favorable terrain to carry out stubborn resistance, causing heavy casualties to the 101st and 27th divisions. To this end, Okamura Ninji sent a telegram to Commander Shunroku Hata and pointed out that the defensive strength of the army on the eastern front was getting stronger day by day, and the battle situation would enter a state of scorching, and if the offensive situation was to be reversed, it was imperative to break through on the northern front.

Okamura Ninji pointed out that the defense line of Dabie Mountain seems to be a natural barrier, easy to defend and difficult to attack, but once it is broken, the defensive system of the Shina army will be fragmented. At present, after the 101st Division and the 27th Division took Hefei, they attacked along the eastern foot of the Dabie Mountains, which has attracted the attention of the Chinese army. Therefore, the troops of the Northern Front took the opportunity to break through along the Jinghan Railway, and the time was ripe. Okamura emphasized that the left wing of the Jinghan Railway was the weak link. Soon, Okamura Ninji's suggestion was endorsed by Commander Shunroku Hatata.

In order to cooperate with the smooth breakthrough of the northern front, Shunroku Hahata ordered Okamura Ninji to launch a fierce feint attack on the front line of Tianzhu Mountain and Qianshan to create an illusion. In mid-August, Okamura Ninji ordered the 106th Division to launch a large-scale attack on the Tianzhu Mountain and Qianshan defense lines, and concentrated a heavy artillery brigade and three mountain artillery regiments. In addition, all the air forces of the Eastern Front were concentrated to support the attack on the Tianzhu Mountain and the Qianshan Line. The defense line of Tianzhu Mountain and Qianshan is the second line of defense of Xue Yue's corps, and it must be defended.

The offensive and defensive battles were fierce, and the Japanese occupied positions during the day and were recaptured by the Nationalist army at night. Some positions have even changed hands several times, and the misery is unbearable. There is no doubt that the Japanese army's attempt is very obvious, that is, to break through the defense line of Tianzhu Mountain and Qianshan and quickly advance into Hunan. This move successfully deceived Lao Chiang, who then ordered Chen Cheng to requisition two more armies to support Xue Yue in the battle.

However, the calm and terrible calm of the northern front indicates that danger is approaching step by step.