The Japanese army's advanced weapons, air supremacy capability, artillery intensity, and individual combat capability were generally superior to our army's; in addition, the Japanese invaders had been planning for a long time and were prepared, and the situation was extremely unfavorable to our army from the very beginning of the war.

When the devil came up, he concentrated his heavy forces and used his powerful ground and air firepower to storm our defenders. However, due to poor communications, our army lacks effective coordination in the coordinated operations of various units, and there is a slight gap between the Japanese army in terms of weaponry and personnel quality.

By 9 May, the three divisions of the 73rd Army of our 29th Group Army had suffered heavy losses from the enemy, suffered heavy casualties among the troops, and had basically lost the ability to continue the fighting, so they were forced to withdraw to the vicinity of Changde to rest and recuperate, and the Japanese army occupied Anxiang, Nanxian, and other places. In this battle, a total of 13 Japanese front-line commanders, including Yoshiharu Masa, captain of the 90th Infantry Brigade of the 17th Brigade of the Japanese Army, were killed, and 32 officers and soldiers were wounded.

On the 12th, the 3rd Division of the Japanese invaders attacked the positions of Baiyangdi and Wangjiazui, the 13th Division forcibly crossed the Yangtze River under the cover of artillery fire and air force, and attacked near Zhijiang Town and Shipai, the Yegou detachment captured Yangxi, and the Japanese troops of the 3rd Route frantically launched a fierce attack on the positions of our 10th Army.

Also due to the lack of unity of orders at all levels and poor communication, the units of the 10th Group Army suffered heavy losses from the Japanese army and were forced to retreat to the west of Nuanshui Street and Liujiachang and Chayuan Temple, and the Japanese occupied Songzi on the 17th.

On the night of May 21, the 39th Division of the Japanese Army crossed the Yangtze River and attacked northward, the Field Detachment attacked west from Yichang, and the 3rd Division, the 13th Division, and the Yegou Detachment, several Japanese troops launched a third round of attacks on our positions at the same time!

Faced with such a passive battle situation in the Sixth Theater, Chen Cheng, who was the political director of the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government, returned to Enshi, where the Sixth Theater Command was located, on 19 May to command the operation.

From time to time, the war situation report came back with information about the defeat of the front-line troops, and Gao Quan's heart was anxious and at the same time there was more hope, the war situation would continue to develop like this, and it was almost a sure thing for the Central Military Commission to transfer troops to reinforce the Sixth War Zone, and the Ninth War Zone was the closest to the Sixth War Zone, and everyone was facing Dongting Lake. It is normal for the soldiers of the Ninth Theater to transfer a few armies casually, as for whether the 500 troops will be drawn, in fact, Gao Quan feels that he still has a great hope, and his troops are not fighting once or twice across the theater, and Commander Gao has experience in cross-regional operations!

Who would have thought that just when Gao Quan's troops were preparing to go to the battlefield to fight the Japanese invaders, the war report came again, and the Military Commission transferred the 79th Army and the 74th Army! It's Wang Yaowu again! This time, there is one more Wang Jiaben!

Seeing these two names, Gao Quan completely lost his temper, compared with the 500 Army, the 74th Army is obviously the firefighting team in the hands of the commission! Where there are vicious battles, where there are problems that cannot be solved, the first thing that comes to mind is Wang Yaowu, which is the 74th Army!

Speaking of Wang Jiaben of the 79th Army, General Wang, who was originally born in the Yunnan Army, was admitted to the Yunnan Lecture Hall at the age of 17, participated in the war against Chen Jiongming, and was sent by Chen Cheng to the army university at the age of 34 to study in the general officer class and joined the Central Military system. The 79th Army of the three Changsha Battles was on the list. In the third Battle of Changsha, Wang Jiaben led his troops to kill thousands of enemies on the bank of the Liuyang River, and set up a "mass grave of Japanese invaders" to make a name for himself.

Compared with these two, although Gao Quan thinks that his combat achievements are not less than these two, most of his achievements cannot be put on the table! Just like this time, Commander Gao personally led a small unit to infiltrate the enemy's important place, assassinated the enemy's chief of staff, Xiao Heshige, got rid of An Qilang, the head of the Japanese Kou Mei Agency, caused a collision between two Japanese trains, and killed the captain of the 91st Brigade of the Japanese Army, Kamura Masaki. Each of the several merits made on this trip to Yueyang is a well-known miracle achievement, but can he say it outside?

As a lieutenant general, he does not do his job, does not train the army in the station, does not go to greet the superior commanders, and does not go to the friendly army to get close to the relationship, but goes to the Japanese occupied area without authorization, it is too easy for people to find fault with this thing! It's too much to put on the table!

Therefore, Gao Quan obviously made a meritorious contribution by destroying the enemy, and he still had to give the credit to the military commander's spies! With these feats, he couldn't go to Chief Xue and ask for rewards from the commission! Fortunately, Gao Quan doesn't care too much about these things, he fights devils, not to get promoted and make a fortune, not to make a name for himself, just to feel comfortable, just for this country, for this suffering nation to suffer less humiliation from others!

Since the military committee did not point to his head as a military commander, Gao Quan did not have this extravagant expectation, and he still studied the battle situation with Wu Guangxing and others in the war room of the military headquarters every day, discussing with everyone the gains and losses of both sides of the battle, and looked like he was out of the way. It's just that the combat readiness of the 500 Army has not been relaxed since it was pulled up, Gao Quan did not give an order, and all the officers and men of the 500 Army are fully armed in the barracks every day to prepare for war, and Gao Quan seems to have forgotten about this.

On 25 May, the main force of the 39th Division of the Japanese invaded our stele fortress along the Yangtze River from the south. Defending the stele fortress was Chen Cheng's starting unit, the 11th Division of the 18th Army, and the backbone of the civil engineering department. Hu Lian, the commander of the 11th Division, became a world-famous general in one fell swoop with this battle. The Stone Monument Fortress was considered by the Military Commission to be the "Stalingrad of China", and the commission personally ordered that it must be held at all costs.

When the battle was at its most tense, Chen Cheng once called Hu Lian and asked, "Are you sure to hold your position?" Hu Lian replied: "Although success is uncertain, Chengren is indeed determined!" ”

The 11th Division, the backbone of the civil engineering department, with its sophisticated weapons, excellent soldiers, and the determination of every soldier from the division commander Hu Lian to fight to the death against the enemy, held its position for three days, fought bloody battles with the Japanese invaders for three days, annihilated more than 1,000 Japanese invaders, and finally ensured that our stele fortress was not lost, and made the first contribution to the final victory of our army in the Battle of Western Hubei.

Just when General Hu Lian was facing the Japanese invaders in the Stone Tablet Fortress, Gao Quan finally received a battle order from the Military Commission!

Speaking of this order, it is actually the fruit of Gao Quan's good deeds in Yueyang. At that time, when he left Yueyang, didn't he give all the credit of Yueyang to the military commander. Commander Gao sent it freely, but Cao Bin and Dong Jiayi of the Yueyang Station of the military commander accepted it, but they were not so at ease. The reason is because they have a superhuman Seat Lord!

Is Boss Dai so foolish? As soon as Cao Bin and Dong Jiayi reported the credit, Dai Li noticed that there was a problem. Although Director Dai can't say that he knows the character of everyone under him well, he still has a deep understanding of backbone generals like Cao Bin and Dong Jiayi, who are in important positions, just these two people, it's okay to spy on information, engage in a small conspiracy, and play a little trick, like this, it is killing the devil Dazuo and hitting the devil's train, this kind of big movement is not something these two boys can do at all! They don't have the courage to do such a big thing!