After the Battle of Wuhan, most of the Japanese army withdrew, leaving only Okamura Ninji's 11th Army to garrison. Everyone knows that Okamura is a man who is very cunning, and is considered by Mr. Peng to be the most powerful opponent in the Japanese army. After he took over the power of the Wuhan region, he immediately sniffed out the crisis.

What crisis? At that time, Wuhan was under the enemy's back, with Li Zongren's Fifth Theater to the north and Chen Cheng's Ninth Theater to the south (the actual commander was Deputy Commander-in-Chief Xue Yue).

Among them, Li Zongren's Fifth Theater has a strong army, with 6 group armies, 13 armies, 34 infantry divisions, 1 cavalry division, and 1 cavalry brigade, but the area they control is also very extensive, including a large area of land such as western Anhui, southern Henan, southern Hunan, and northwestern Hubei.

Xue Yue's Ninth Theater also had a lot of troops, nominally including 8 group armies, 21 armies, and 52 infantry divisions, distributed in Hunan, Jiangxi, and the vast areas of southern Hubei.

Although the Japanese army had absolute superiority in military strength (not numbers, but combat effectiveness), firepower, and mobility, the control area was too wide and too long, resulting in being forced to be in a position of strategic defense. In other words, the Japanese army was equivalent to holding its head, leaving its stomach, shoulders, and limbs to the national army to fight, and it was not until the national army fought that they could wave their hands to block it. Although the offensive capability of the Israeli Nationalist Army may not be able to hurt the Japanese army, this is extremely disadvantageous in the end.

In Okamura Ningji's view, the Japanese army must not continue like this, and must follow the example of Zhuge Liang of Shu back then, take the initiative to attack, change from passive to active, and regain strategic dominance.

When the Battle of Wuhan was in full swing, Okamura wanted to take advantage of the situation to capture the northern part of Jiangxi Province, but he was careless and underestimated the enemy. was ambushed by Xue Yue. In parallel space, the 106th Division was disabled, and this time and space were even more miserable, so the whole army was wiped out, and a Taiwanese brigade was also taken. After suffering this heavy blow, the plan to occupy northern Jiangxi was naturally in vain.

After occupying Wuhan, Okamura sent troops to invade Yueyang in an attempt to occupy northern Hunan. At that time, it did bring great panic to the Ninth War Zone and Hunan, and also led to the tragedy of the "Wenxi Fire". However, due to the lack of materials and other reasons, this plan still died halfway.

After Japan recovered a little, Okamura re-aimed at northern Jiangxi. And the target is Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi Province. Back at the beginning of 39. Zheng Huzi hurriedly reminded the Nationalist Government that the target of the Japanese army would be Nanchang. Although Chang Kaishen was eager to get rid of Zheng Huzi at that time, he still attached great importance to the opinion of this victorious general, and immediately began to arrange. Later, he sent the No. 1 general under his command, "Tiger Boy" Xue Yue, to guard the town.

Wait until March. The signs of the Japanese attack on Nanchang became clearer. Zheng Weiguo also put forward his "prediction" to the Nationalist Government. It was believed that Okamura Ninji would gather heavy artillery and send armored troops to blitz Nanchang.

At that time, it coincided with the new defeat in Jizhong, which is strange to say. Instead, relations between the two sides eased. Chang Kaishen also sent a telegram to Zheng Huzi, telling him not to give up because of a temporary setback, and the central government still trusted him. Zheng Weiguo gave out his views (actually the true trajectory of history) and told the Ninth War Zone to be prepared. At the same time, he also put forward his own opinions and countermeasures, many of which were military means that appeared many years later, and were undoubtedly extremely valuable at that time.

Although Xue Yue was very unconvinced by Zheng Huzi's military exploits, he was still very convinced of Zheng Huzi's judgment, because Zheng Huzi's prediction was simply more intelligent than that of a half-immortal, so he did not miss it. After receiving the report, Chief Xue immediately began to make preparations and applied to the Military Commission for the transfer of a large number of anti-tank weapons, among which in addition to the various types of anti-aircraft guns that had been available before, the Military Commission urgently applied to the Soviet Union for 100 Deshka large-caliber machine guns.

Lao Maozi, who used to buckle the rope, was also very cheerful this time, and without saying a word, a batch of emergency air freight came, and the money was still counted in the second batch of Soviet aid loans. Although the Soviets had selfish motives (mainly to test the actual combat performance of the weapons), this operation did a great favor to China.

Okamura Ninji didn't know that the strength of Lu Dao's opponent had quietly changed, and he still attacked Nanchang according to the original plan. For example, the 101st and 106th Divisions, which were the main attackers, conducted intensive training for more than four months to enhance the combat capability of the troops and the adaptability of the northern Jiangxi region, and to strengthen the proficiency of officers and men in the use of weapons.

In terms of equipment, Okamura also spent a lot of effort and transferred two field heavy artillery brigades. Major General Eitaro Uchiyama, commander of the 5th Brigade of the Field Heavy Artillery: Wing Commander of the 11th Wing of the Field Heavy Artillery and the 12th Wing of the Field Heavy Artillery. Major General Homichi Ishida, Commander of the 6th Brigade of the Field Heavy Artillery: Wing Commander of the 13th Wing of the Field Heavy Artillery, Shingoro Hashimoto. The 14th Field Heavy Artillery Wing to which the 6th Brigade belongs was deployed in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, but the 15th Independent Field Heavy Artillery Wing was transferred, and its strength increased instead of decreasing.

In addition to artillery, Okamura also gathered all the armored units in his hands, including 38 "Type 89" medium tanks and 22 "Type 94" light tanks of the 5th Tank Wing, 38 medium tanks and 20 "Type 94" light tanks of the 7th Tank Wing; The 9th Independent Light Tank Squadron has 17 "94-type" light tanks, a total of 135 tanks, which are combined into a tank group and are under the unified command of Hiroyoshi Ishiyoshi, the former 5th Tank Wing.

As soon as the battle began, Okamura assembled heavy artillery to bombard the Shushui River position, the first line of defense of the national army. In the parallel space, the various units of the national army still built field fortifications as usual. However, this kind of fortification was not enough to cope with the Japanese 75-caliber artillery, and it was far from enough to face the bombardment of 150-mm howitzers and 105-mm cannons.

After receiving Zheng Huzi's suggestion, Xue Yue deployed suspicious troops on the first line of defense, leaving only a small number of elites hidden in the strong fortifications on the front slope, and most of the troops hiding in the reverse slope. Although the anticline position may seem simple, it is extremely significant. In the Korean War in history, the powerful artillery fire of the US army could not help the anti-slope position. Not to mention the artillery fire of the Japanese army.

Although Okamura Ninji killed more than 80,000 heavy artillery shells and more than 15,000 poison gas cylinders in one go, most of the national troops were hidden in the anti-slope fortifications, and the casualties were not large. When the Japanese army confidently attacked the positive slope. The Nationalist army climbed out of the fortifications and quickly seized the commanding heights, inflicting great casualties on the Japanese 106th Division.

Annoyed and angry, Okamura Ninji immediately ordered another heavy artillery bombardment, and a total of 160,000 heavy artillery shells were knocked out before and after, in addition to a large number of 75 mm caliber shells, but they were withstood by the two armies on the front line for a full week (less than three days in history). This bought Xue Yue extremely valuable time.

The subsequent sortie of armored clusters did not please either, and this unit was suddenly attacked by a joint air-ground attack by the national army while crossing the Xiushui River. In the sky is the Soviet Volunteer Air Force for China's aid and the few remaining Chinese Air Force, and on the ground is the most elite part of the 74th Army of the National Army, led by the commander Yu Chengwan, who is the best at defense. They concentrated more than half of the anti-aircraft guns and 100 large-caliber machine guns in the Ninth Theater.

The Japanese tanks had almost no air defense, and under the bombardment of aerial artillery, they were blown up one after another. The battle defense artillery group on the other side of the river was also a fierce fight. After Okamura Ninji heard the news. A large number of aircraft reinforcements were hurriedly transferred. But let's not forget that large-caliber machine guns can hit not only tanks, but also airplanes. After a bloody battle, the Japanese army did not retreat and did not retreat in embarrassment. Later, although reinforced by the 106th Division, this line of defense was captured. But the losses were enormous. There were less than a hundred of the 135 tanks left before departure. And almost all of the remaining tanks were wounded.

At this point, although the Japanese army captured two lines of defense in a row, the intended goal could not be achieved. Instead, he lost the first move. The battle then entered the mode designed by Xue Yue, that is, to use the front-line troops to resist steadily, consume the strength of the Japanese army, and wait for the Japanese army to travel a long distance to the front line of Nanchang before launching a counterattack.

Historically, Xue Yue planned to do so, but unfortunately he was defeated by Okamura's heavy artillery and tank mode. In this time and space, with Zheng Huzi's "foresight", Chief Xue finally got his wish.

Okamura Ninji was unwilling to fail, and then continued to invade the south, although all the way to the city of Nanchang, but the troops were extremely tired, and the logistics supply line was also greatly damaged by the attack of the national guerrillas, and a large number of materials were burned. At that time, the national army had guerrillas in Minshan and Lushan, and they fought with the Japanese army vigorously. One might wonder, will the national army fight guerrilla warfare? Really, but interestingly, many of the leaders of these guerrillas are ex-G defectors. It seems that what I learned before has not been left behind, hehe.

Seeing that the time had come, Xue Yue immediately commanded the troops to launch a full-front counterattack with Nanchang as the center. Okamura Ninji took so much effort to hit the feet of Nanchang, and of course he refused to give up. So the two sides fought fiercely for nearly a month, and after the last battle, Okamura was exhausted, so he had to order: "The Chinese army is tenacious, and it is still lurking in the areas on both sides of the De'an and Xiushui rivers. In order to avoid an unfavorable situation, this army should quickly move to its original position in order to restore its combat effectiveness, and should be closely guarded against the pursuit of the Chinese army. ”

After the battle, propaganda reports from the Nationalist government about the "victory in northern Jiangxi" quickly spread throughout the country. Subsequently, the main positions of the major newspapers and periodicals in the country were almost entirely occupied by the news of the victory in the battle. Of course, the Japanese side did not think so.

In his memoirs, Okamura even named the battle "Battle of Nanchang" as inaccurate. He said that the 11th Army's original plan did not necessarily occupy Nanchang, but to attack the Chinese army between northern Jiangxi and Nanchang, and if it went well, it would capture Nanchang according to the situation. With him, this battle was called the "Battle of Northern Gansu" and considered him the victor.

At that time, Zhao Zili, who was the chief of the operations section of the General Staff Office of the Commander of the 9th Theater Command, said: "This battle, according to the truth, can only be regarded as a draw. However, this battle made the upper echelons of the Japanese army realize that the national army could not be insulted, and "the combat effectiveness of the army directly under the central government, especially the strong anti-Japanese consciousness and fighting spirit of the backbone officers, should never be underestimated, and it can be seen that the authority of the central government is quite thorough." But in the Japanese army's war dictionary, a draw with the national army is tantamount to defeat. When Chongqing's propaganda machine was at full speed, celebrating the "great victory in Nanchang" wave after wave, and Xue Yue and others frequently appeared at the celebrations of the victory from all walks of life, the Japanese side's reaction was cold.

Although the Battle of Nanchang was actually only a draw, the benefits to the national army were self-evident. Before the Battle of Nanchang, the Japanese army could fight wherever they wanted, including the most difficult defense of Baotou and failed, which brought a great blow to the confidence of the army in the War of Resistance. However, the Battle of Nanchang broke this myth, not only did Nanchang not lose, but also inflicted great casualties on the Japanese army.

Moreover, because the Battle of Nanchang greatly restrained the logistics of the Japanese army, the North China departments also got a chance to breathe. Although Tada Jun is unwilling. Several times he tried to enter Jizhong with heavy troops, or go west to Wuyuan, and completely eliminate Fu Zuoyi's department, but they all failed because of insufficient material preparations.

In North China, Zheng Huzi made new progress in cutting off the supply of the Japanese army. In the past, the destruction of railways was mainly the destruction of railway tracks, but this method required a lot of manpower, material resources and time. Moreover, in some places, such as the Pingsui Railway, there are heavy Japanese troops along the way, and the Japanese mobile troops and cavalry on the grassland come quickly, and it is difficult to have a chance to completely destroy the railway. The Eighth Route Army did it several times, but it didn't succeed much. The casualties were not small.

Until Feng Kun discovered that the Japanese army was extremely short of locomotives (that is, locomotives. The Japanese army was less than 4,000 in China) before Zheng Weiguo changed his strategy and had the arsenal specialize in the production of heavy armor-piercing grenades against locomotives.

No, it's just right to use it in dealing with the Pingsui line. The user only needs to lie in ambush 500 meters away from the railroad tracks. Just pull the trigger when you see a train coming. And if you hit it, you can transfer it immediately. When the Japanese found out that something was wrong and came to catch up. The man has long since run away.

In just one month, the troops stationed in Mongolia lost more than 30 locomotives, an average of one per day. And this locomotive is broken. The entire railway was blocked, and it took a lot of time for the Japanese to tow away the damaged locomotive and bring in a new locomotive. As a result, the supply of the Japanese army in Baotou was getting less and less day by day, not to mention attacking Wuyuan to the west, and eating and drinking every day became a big problem.

In other directions, especially the Tongpu Railway, narrow gauge is used. This locomotive is also one size smaller and less numerous. After the Eighth Route Army, the Shanxi New Army, and the Zhongtiao Mountain National Army "hit hard", there was not even a single working locomotive on the Tongpu line, and it was completely paralyzed.

At that time, the only north-south connection between the Jinpu line was the same, and as soon as the Japanese train left Tianjin, they had to prepare to be beaten, all the way to the north bank of the Yangtze River, and they had to guard against the attack of the New Fourth Army. Over the course of a month, more than 100 locomotives were damaged. What made the Japanese army even more depressed was that after the training of various units of the national army, they specialized in boilers, and they exploded as soon as they were sold, and most of the damaged locomotives had no repair value.

After more than two months of piecemeal fighting, the Japanese army quickly degraded from rail transportation to road transportation. The Japanese army was already short of fuel, but now that the crude oil reserves are simply not enough, the navy often fights with the army for food. The base camp had no choice but to order fuel control, and most cars in Japan were not allowed to use it.

However, the Japanese army lacked not only fuel, but also not enough cars, as of 39, the total number of automobiles produced and imported by the Japanese army was less than 200,000, which was about the same as the annual output of the Soviet Union, and even less comparable to Britain and Germany. Not to mention the United States, which produced more than 4.4 million units in just 40 years, more than 10 times Japan's total production in 16 years.

Therefore, the Japanese army did not have many idle cars that could be transferred to North China, and the guerrillas could hit the train, so couldn't they hit the car? The same reloaded armor-piercing grenade can send the Japanese army's garbage truck into the sky with one piece. Tada Jun tried his best to do everything in the end, but he suffered from the supply, and he had to leave his job in the end.

Japan is also very funny, in order to cover up the failure of Tada Jun in North China, he was also awarded the second grade of merit, awarded the Golden Medal, and promoted to the rank of army general (note: the mountain people were wrong before, and most of the original commanders of the front army were also lieutenant generals). However, as soon as the limelight passed, Tada Jun was soon transferred to an idle position (military counselor), a position that was the same as that of the military council of China at that time.

However, the military department was still not satisfied, and Seishiro Itagaki and Hidecai Tojo were extremely hostile to Tada, fearing that he would one day make a comeback, and forced him to transfer to the reserve. Those who are familiar with the Japanese army know that for active duty officers, it is a great shame to be transferred to the reserve, and they basically bid farewell to the army.

Tada Jun was a blessing in disguise, and when he was assessed as a war criminal after the war, he was acquitted because he had left the military early and did not have too obvious evil deeds. Zheng Weiguo, who was the supreme commander of the Chinese army in Japan at that time, was extremely dissatisfied with this, and after repeated protests were ineffective, he sent someone to strangle Tada Jun to death in prison, reported him as ill, and ended his criminal life.

After Tada's departure, he was succeeded by the commander of the 11th Army, Okamura Ninji. Although Okamura first defeated De'an and then Nanchang in Central China, he was hard in the background, and he was even able to be promoted to one level.

As soon as Okamura Ninji came to power, he thought about a bad stomach. However, before he could use it, another major event happened in the Northeast - the Japanese Kwantung Army and Lao Maozi fought at Nomenkan.

Because of the Russo-Japanese War and the subsequent intervention of the Japanese army in the Russian Revolution, the Japanese Kwantung Army has always looked down on the Soviet army. In addition, last year's (1938) Zhang Gufeng Incident ended with Japan's concessions, which made the Kwantung Army extremely dissatisfied.

On the Soviet side, Stalin also wanted to find out the details of the Japanese army, and wanted to know whether they had any intention of going north, so he also tried several times in succession.

One side has the intention to retaliate, and the other side has the intention to tempt, so it's strange if you don't fight! Soon, on May 11, 1939, a group of puppet Mongolian cavalry was grazing in the area east of the Haraha River and near Nomenhan (in the southwest of present-day Hulunbuir League in Inner Mongolia, China, west of Arshan). The puppet Manchukuo cavalry quickly drove them away. Two days later, however, the Mongol cavalry returned, and brought reinforcements. The puppet Manchukuo soldiers fought with them and failed to drive them away.

This finally provoked the Japanese Kwantung Army, and immediately sent troops to participate in the war. Not to be outdone, the Soviet side then attacked in a big way. The scale of the battle grew larger and larger, and it lasted until August 39, when a major battle finally broke out between the two sides. By August 20, the Soviets had deployed 51,950 troops, 498 tanks, and 809 aircraft on the front; The Japanese army was just over 50,000, with 135 tanks and 450 aircraft. The Soviet-Japanese war is finally about to be staged. (To be continued......)

PS: I'm sorry, in order to end as soon as possible, many historical events can only be passed by in one go, sorry!