Interestingly, like Zhang Yanchuan's plan, Lieutenant General Shigeichi Harata was also preparing to launch a night attack on the position of the Ninth Division at night. Lieutenant General Shigeichi Harata is very optimistic about the more than 300 marines in his hands, although the role played by these 300 people in the big war is really limited, but if it is a night attack, then these 300 people play no less role than a complete infantry brigade.

At 11 o'clock in the evening, two carefully selected commandos from China and Japan set off in unison. In order to conceal himself, Zhang Yanchuan ordered Mao Daijun, who led the team, to quietly go out from the position on the right side of Peng Langji, and then bypass the Japanese position and attack the Japanese army from behind. And Hatada Shigeichi ordered the 1st Infantry Wing of Taiwan to lead the Marines and the guard squadron of the Hatada Detachment under the command commander Sato Yadaisa, to bypass the well-defended frontal position of the squadron and launch an assault from the right of Peng Langji.

No one could have imagined that the two commandos would suddenly meet on the march and engage in a fierce encounter. At first, Mao Daijun thought that he had fallen into the trap of the devil, but under the pretense of playing Mao Daijun, he found that the Japanese army on the opposite side did not seem to be prepared at all, and the rules were very chaotic, not like they were specially given a trap for the Ninth Division, and eighty percent of them had the same idea.

Mao Daijun, who figured it out, immediately organized troops to fight back, and he saw that the commando team he led had an advantage in numbers, and the Japanese army on the opposite side was only more than 450 people, while he had nearly 600 people in his hands. In addition, Mao Daijun led the absolute elite of the Pre-Ninth Division, and this is the guard of the division commander Zhang Yanchuan, so the combat effectiveness is naturally not a problem.

Mao Daijun thought that since it had been discovered, there would be no point in the sneak attack, and if this Japanese army could be annihilated at the moment, it would be a great result, so Mao Daijun decided to annihilate this Japanese commando on the spot.

The battle was very fierce, and there was almost no weak firepower of rifles on both sides, except for light machine guns and submachine guns, which were repeating rifles, and the Ninth Division was fortunate to be equipped with a complete submachine gun company because of Chen Cheng's special care, acting as Zhang Yanchuan's personal guard, which was rare in the Kuomintang troops. In addition, in order to complete this mission, Mao Daijun gathered all the light machine guns, barge guns, and pistols of the 35th Regiment and distributed them to the soldiers who participated in the commando.

Mao Daijun actually had no choice, the 35th Regiment had suffered all the casualties in the first two days of fighting, and an infantry regiment of more than 2,000 people now had only 350 people left, and most of them were wounded. It is not of much use to leave so many weapons and ammunition, it is better to use waste, which can also increase the chance of success of the night raid, so this night raid team on the Chinese side is very well-equipped, and it can be said that it is armed to the teeth.

Of course, in addition to the marines with strong combat effectiveness, excellent weapons and equipment, and extremely high-quality personnel, the Japanese commando team also had an elite infantry squadron of the Hata detachment, which was the guard of Lieutenant General Hata, and the squadron leader was a member of the Emperor's Guard given to Lieutenant General Hata.

The battle began to heat up, with no artillery on either side, not even the most common mortars, and thousands of men on both sides facing each other across a hill. The firepower of both assault teams was very fierce, and they both wanted to fight quickly and annihilate the enemy on the opposite side as soon as possible. However, this time both sides miscalculated, and the two sides exchanged fire for nearly an hour, and the army suffered heavy casualties, but neither side could achieve the expected results. Comparatively, the Japanese marines were slightly more combat-ready, but they did not have an advantage in numbers.

At one o'clock in the morning of the 22nd, Zhang Yanchuan led a regiment of reinforcements to the site where the two commandos faced each other, preparing to take advantage of the large number of people to completely annihilate the remaining devils of less than 200 people. But at this time, the Japanese reinforcements also arrived, and both sides knew that they had lost the best opportunity to completely annihilate the enemy army, so they had no choice but to withdraw their troops.

At dawn on 22 October, Lieutenant General Shigeichi Harata gathered a large number of infantry and, with the support of strong naval and air firepower, attacked Penglangji again. This time, the tactics of the Japanese army changed, and it was no longer the defenseless infantry that rushed to the front, but a small number of armored troops. The tanks and armored vehicles were followed by the Japanese infantry, and as the armored units marched, they were supported by a large number of artillery. For a while, thick smoke billowed from the position, and violent explosions continued to be heard.

When the battle of Penglangji began, there was also a large-scale battle in the watershed not far away, and this time Lieutenant General Hakuda Shigeichi was released, and he transferred all the artillery to the watershed, in addition to the original artillery wing of the Potian detachment, there was also a field heavy artillery artillery brigade of the 11th Army attached to the Potian detachment. Due to the dangerous terrain of the watershed, although it is not very high, it is better than the danger, and there is a posture that is not open for a man. ,

The 155th Division of the 64th Army built defensive positions along the mountain, and the Japanese did not take advantage of the attack for two consecutive days, not only losing heavy troops, but also seriously wounding the supreme commander of the watershed front, Takahashi Yoshidasa.

Lieutenant General Shigeichi Harata saw that the casualties in the assault on the watershed were really unbearable, so he ordered all the artillery to fire at the watershed position at all costs, and he wanted to raze the watershed to the ground and let the hateful Shina completely disappear into this even more hateful hill.

Due to the lack of complete fortifications, let alone anti-aircraft and anti-artillery fortifications, the 155th Division suffered extremely heavy losses in the Japanese artillery bombardment, three regiment commanders were killed and two were wounded, and even the deputy division commander was seriously wounded. Under the instructions of Lieutenant General Shigeichi Hata, the Second Infantry Wing of Taiwan did not attack, but completely attacked by artillery. During the three-hour shelling, the Potian detachment fired a total of nearly ten tons of shells, and the watershed was bulldozed by more than one meter.

The effect of the three-hour artillery bombardment was still obvious, and the 155th Division, which originally had more than 6,000 people, lost less than 1,500 men after two days of heavy fighting, but in less than three hours of shelling, it lost more than 2,000 people, and now there are less than 2,500 people who can afford to hold guns. If this continues, there is no need for the Japanese infantry to do anything, and the artillery can completely leave the entire 155th Division in the watershed with ten tons of shells. In desperation, the commander of the 155th Division had no choice but to send a telegram to Xue Yue, asking for support.

However, Xue Yue put the Ninth Division and the 155th Division in Penglangji and the watershed mainly to temporarily block the Japanese army and buy time for the 187th Division to build fortifications. At the same time, it was also to rub the morale of the Japanese army. After receiving the telegram of the 155th Division asking for help, Xue Yue ordered the two Chinese divisions stationed at Penglangji and the watershed to withdraw immediately, and at the same time, Xue Yue ordered Li Hanxun, the commander of the 29th Army Corps, to lead the main force of his headquarters to meet the Ninth Division and the 155th Division.

The squadron withdrew very suddenly, without any warning, so Lieutenant General Shigeichi Harata thought for a while and decided not to pursue, and put the cunning Shina man in the spot. After withdrawing to Hukou, the 155th Division and the Pre-9th Division immediately received a supplement from Xue Yue, a complete infantry regiment for each division, and sufficient weapons and ammunition. Although the losses of both divisions are more than this, it is already very good to receive a replenishment at this time, in previous battles the soldiers died when they died, and the troops were crippled, and no one would pay attention to you. The troops of the Nationalist Government's descendants are fine, at least there are still necessary replenishments, and even if there are no soldiers, there are always weapons and ammunition. However, the situation and fate of the miscellaneous armies in those places are very poignant, and the general troops are disabled and the number is revoked, and the other personnel are scattered and supplemented to other troops, or even annexed to the descendants of the Kuomintang. This is also a very important reason for the low combat effectiveness of the squadron, after all, those warlords regard the army as an important basis for their promotion and enjoyment of glory and wealth.

The Nationalist Government's treatment of local miscellaneous troops is very disgusting to these warlords, big and small, so sometimes they deliberately preserve their strength and delay military aircraft, and the commander of the 16th Army, who was removed not long ago, is a good example.

At this time, there was still a replenishment of troops, and it was a fully equipped infantry regiment, which greatly surprised the expectations of the 9th Division and the 155th Division. The situation in Pengze County is not bad, although the Japanese army is still in a favorable position to attack, but the defenders are not too difficult to defend. Compared with some time ago, the current defenders have a certain amount of strength to fight back, and they are no longer passive defenses, waiting for the Japanese army to fight.

This is thanks to the ** unit led by Han Yunhua, it is precisely because of the merits of Han Yunhua's department that the main force of the Japanese Third Fleet is not only the flagship Shanyun in Shanghai, but also the few warships such as the Ghost Fury, Natori, and Yura under the jurisdiction of the 8th Sentai Fleet

Yaeyama, Atakaku, Toba, Seta, Katata, Hira, Hozu, Retsu, Futami, Kuri, Kun, Lotus, etc., all became trophies of the squadron. Therefore, the vitality of the Japanese Third Fleet was greatly damaged, and for this reason, the Yangtze River was no longer an era when the Japanese army covered the sky with one hand, and the Chinese Navy also had the right to speak here. Just yesterday, the Chinese Navy, with the cooperation of the Air Force, engaged in a water battle of acceptable scale with the Japanese Navy on the river in the first section of the lake.

In this battle, the Chinese Navy sank one Japanese destroyer, three torpedo boats, and one troop carrier, and only lost two small boats. Therefore, the Japanese navy is not as unscrupulous as before to attack China's cities along the river, and it can no longer support the army in combat. The unprecedented victory of the Chinese Navy raised the morale of the troops on the Wuhan front, and the Chinese Navy's first major victory against Japan not only meant that the Chinese Navy had a voice in the inland waterways, but also marked the end of the days when the Japanese Navy was rampage on China's inland waterways.