Xu Ming at the military meeting looked confident and calm, but Xu Ming had no bottom in his heart, and the reason was that he did not understand the current situation of the enemy.

The military principles of thousands of years ago are still applicable today, and it is difficult to formulate an operational plan that suits the current situation without knowing the specific situation of the Japanese army. If it was possible, Xu Ming did not want to fight the battle of Jiujiang, in history, after Zhang Fakui was dismissed, Xue Yue concentrated the main force of the two corps, relying on the mountains near Lushan on the Nanxun line, blocking step by step, which made the Japanese army very headache, and also took advantage of the Japanese army's rash advance, almost killed the 106th Division.

But in this time and space, history was fanned beyond recognition by Xu Ming's big butterfly, first of all, the 106th Division was gone, this division was transferred to the south of the Yangtze River, and together with the 2nd Division, it fought with Bai Chongxi in the mountainous dense forests of Taihu Lake and Huangmei, and secondly, the current performance of the Botian detachment is not very good. How strong the Botian detachment in history is, others don't know, Xu Mingke remembers very clearly, the detachment of this brigade took Anqing without sweating, and was invincible in the battles of Madang Pengze Hukou, the battle of Nanxun, within three days, broke **3 armies, and took Jiujiang lightly, so angry that Lao Jiang almost tried Zhang Fakui's military court!

The Hatada detachment was weakened, but the strength of the 9th Division around him was significantly stronger than that of the hapless 106 traders (1). Xu Ming's strategy of defending the south and attacking the north was also based on this consideration, and the persimmon first pinched softly, first severely damaged the main force of the Botian detachment, and then chose the opportunity to fight a decisive battle with the 9th Division.

Of course, now the head of the Hatata detachment, Hakuda Shigeichi has no soft persimmon consciousness in his heart, he is now very proud, after the capture of Jiujiang, the Central China Dispatch Army and the 11th Army have sent him congratulatory telegrams, Okamura Ninji also personally issued him a letter of appreciation, there is news that he is likely to receive the third-class Golden Bird Medal, this medal is still worth a lot of money, 450 yuan annuity per year.

Now he is eating water chestnuts from Qili Lake with a group of subordinates, the tender ones are directly peeled and eaten by hand, and the old ones have been steamed, and they taste thick and mellow.

"Yanxi, it's really good, it's so delicious, there are water chestnuts in this season, and it's so delicious, it's really worth the trip!"

The one who spoke was Lin Yixiu, the new commander of Taiwan's First Wing, a chubby guy, his name sounded like a Chinese, but in fact, he was a Japanese with red roots, his father was the famous Lin Milling Shiro, and his brother was also a Japanese general, Lin Maoqing, who was the commander of the Xiaguan Fortress at the time.

"Lin Jun, the season here is more abnormal, under normal circumstances, water chestnuts should be off the market, but here it is just ripe, but there is one point, the fruits of the abnormal season are often better than normal." A thin man who looks like a fat head is talking, he is the captain of Taiwan's second wing, Nobuyoshi Watanabe.

There was already a pile of water chestnut shells underground, and judging by its scale, it was obvious that Ha Tian and the others had eaten very well. By the pond, the cool breeze continued to blow, and the stuffiness of the Japanese officers was dispelled to the slightest.

"Your Excellency Brigade Commander, I heard that Xu Ming, the deputy commander of the enemy army, is good at using troops, but I haven't felt it in the past few days, is the rumor wrong?" Lin Yixiu said.

The word "Xu Ming" once became a forbidden word for Hatada Shigeichi, and no one dared to say it in front of him, but after all, Lin Yixiu had a father who was a general, and he was in a good mood to see Hata, so he raised questions that bothered him for several days.

Ha Tian Zhong seemed to have stepped out of the shadow of the horse's nest, and laughed and said, "Xu Ming, this bastard, still has some ability, but it is useless for him to have ability." Lin Jun, you have been in Taiwan, you don't know the characteristics of the Chinese army, the generals of the Chinese army have a very serious phenomenon, one is that the deputy commander and staff officer have no real power, and the other is that the Chinese people are scattered, the generals of this system cannot command the army of another system, in essence, their army is not the armed forces of the state, but the armed forces of individuals, even if it is the elite troops of the Central Army, they are just the Jiang Jiajun. ”

Watanabe also echoed, "The brigade commander is right, now is the last chance for the empire to conquer China, if China is like the empire back then, establish a national compulsory military service system, nationalize the army, and use the wealth of China's resources and the vastness of its territory, not to mention the conquest of China, I am afraid that the hegemony of East Asia will also change hands." ”

"After winning the battle, eating water chestnut is indeed a beautiful thing, but I hope you will remember that the war is far from over, and whether our brigade can become a sharp blade to split the Yangtze River depends on the efforts of you."

A Japanese communications soldier rode over, said a few words to the guard, and then came to Harata Shigeichi, "Your Excellency Brigade Commander, the enemy has been found near Jiujiang, there are about 500 people. ”

"Oh," Hakuda Shigeichi put down the half-eaten water chestnut, he was not surprised, Jiujiang is an important town on the Yangtze River in China, and the squadron is very likely to counterattack, but these hundreds of people are the vanguard of the enemy's main force, or is it just that, just for him to make trouble, you have to analyze it carefully.

But in any case, Jiujiang must be reinforced, and Shigeichi Harata knows the specific situation of Jiujiang City, which is... But before the order was issued, other information came one after another, and the squadron on the front line from De'an to Jinguanqiao moved frequently, and all signs showed that the enemy was preparing a counterattack.

************

Yang Ruifu's 643rd Regiment set out from Saihu Lake on the west side of the Jiujiang River, and a battalion of the vanguard set out by land and routed a Japanese squad guarding the lake.

The rest of the troops rode on special small rows, and under the cover of dusk, they successfully passed through the lake for several miles, and landed directly on the Shili River in Shilipu Town.

Carrying a jet-black 98k, wearing a gray military uniform, with a grenade pinned to his waist, each combat group of 3-7 people also had a light machine gun, and the mortar unit was attached separately, but that was all, because it was a harassing feint, only 2 heavy machine guns were carried, and none of the mountain guns were there.

The regiment commander Yang Ruifu was the last to go ashore, he jumped onto the shore from the rickety paddle, and after listening to the report of the vanguard team, he immediately divided the troops into two parts, a battalion sneaked into Jiujiang from the west, where there was not even a city wall, it was full of residential houses, easy to penetrate, and Zhao Ren led the main force of the regiment to search and advance along Shilipu in the direction of Miaozhi Town.

A regiment has to be divided into 2 parts, and Zhao Ren is also out of the way. At the operational meeting of the military headquarters, army commander Xu Ming and division commander Xie Jinyuan repeatedly explained the danger of this sneak attack, Jiujiang is an important military town, how can the Japanese army say that there is at least one wing in the city, and there are many Japanese troops around Miaozhi Town, and there may be devilish warships on the riverside to help in the war. This sneak attack operation was absolutely life-and-death, and the soldiers who participated in the attack, from the regiment commander down, everyone left a suicide note.

"Haven't you found any devils in front? Search well, and the search distance expands to 5 kilometers on both sides! ”

Miaozhi Town is the south gate of Jiujiang, Jiujiang Railway Station is set up here, and no Japanese troops were found! Yang Ruifu felt incredible, "Could it be that the devil has already discovered the actions of our army, hidden in the shadows, and then..."

He looked at Jiujiang in the northeast, which was less than 20 miles away from Jiujiang City, and it was already evening, but he could still see the outline of Jiujiang, and there was no movement quietly, even if the Japanese army lured the enemy and encircled and annihilated it, it would not kill all of his elite battalions without firing a shot.

It was just dark, in a building, lit by a faint light, and it seemed that someone was still talking, a squad leader put his pistol into the holster, his hands swayed from his chest to the left and right, and made a scattered gesture, and when he landed, one commando team went around to the back door, and several others climbed over the wall.

"Oops," a soldier exclaimed lightly, and when his foot jumped off the wall, he accidentally broke his foot, and the first casualty of the squadron's counterattack on Jiujiang was produced!

"Don't move, surrender and die!" The soldiers kicked open the gate and the back door almost simultaneously, but it was not the Japanese army who trembled under the gun, but a Chinese, an old man, a child, and a young mother.

"Don't be afraid, we are **, uncle, can you tell me, where are the Japanese devils?"

"No... I don't know, I... I really don't know, they seem to have come a few days ago and killed a lot of people, and we have been hiding in the basement and don't know what is going on outside. Although the old man gradually eliminated his fear of the squadron, his words were still not very sharp, in any case, a group of soldiers from the front gate and the back door at the same time at the night, it was still a terrifying thing.

The same situation was repeated over and over again, but without any difference, no news was received from the Japanese army.

"Oops," the second attrition was made, and a soldier was bitten by a large snake as he passed through a patch of grass.

…

"What! A battalion took Jiujiang! Miaozhi Town was also taken, and only 5 people were injured! Xu Ming heard the news from the 643rd regiment, and there was a black line.

What's going on, the devil is singing about the empty city? Or is it the blessing of the Bodhisattva and the immortals, blowing all the devils into the river to feed the fish? Xu Ming handed the telegram to the people next to him, and a group of subordinates were all in a daze, falling into a petrified state.

Outside the door, the sound of cannons kept coming, dense bullets like fried beans, dark red fires kept rising, and then there were loud bangs one after another. The Japanese offensive against Yaque Mountain and Majiatan was in full swing, and the fighting was extremely fierce.

"Send a telegram to Regiment Commander Yang, and ask him to strengthen the search in Jiujiang after dawn, especially in the former Japanese concession and the periphery of the city, and in addition, inform Division Commander Xie Jinyuan of the news." Xu Ming ordered loudly.

"Commander-in-chief, do you want to report the good news to the Military Commission?" A liaison officer reminded Xu Ming that Jiujiang was taken, but it was a great joy, regardless of whether he had casualties among the Japanese army, no one would go to verify it, anyway, he occupied the big city, which was a real credit.

Xu Ming thought for a moment and said, "Okay, power the war zone and transfer it to the Military Commission, our army occupies Jiujiang, there is no resistance from the Japanese army, and our army has no casualties." ”

The liaison officer was taken aback, this liaison officer was not from the 26th Army system, he had just been sent from the war zone, and he was not familiar with Xu Ming's style, and he was very surprised by Xu Ming's words.

However, he also admired Xu Ming very much, and dared to report the battle situation completely realistically, and it seems that the commander-in-chief disdains to use this method.

But what he admired even more was still to come, and after a while, the Military Commission called, "... Xu Ming, the acting commander-in-chief of the 26th Army Headquarters and the First Corps, commanded properly, used his life to break up the stubborn enemy's resistance, recovered Jiujiang, killed more than 5,000 enemies, and captured no ,..."

Looking at the eyes of the liaison officer whose prestige had almost reached the level of admiration, Xu Ming could only smile bitterly.

(1) The 106th Division has the "reputation" of the merchant division, and this division is the same as the source of the 6th Division, which comes from the southern Kyushu of Japan, where the people are fierce, but because it is not a permanent division, the soldiers are all retired soldiers, many of whom have become traders in the society, and have suffered repeated defeats in China, so they have this title