Nanjing, the headquarters of the Central China Front of the Japanese Army.

Chief of Staff Shozo Kawabe came to Shunroku Hatahata in front of the map and whispered: "Commander, the commander of the 23rd Division, Michitaro Komatsubara, and the commander of the 33rd Division, Shigetaro Katsuga, are already waiting outside the door, do you think they have been summoned in?" ”

"Yo Xi!"

Shunroku Hata nodded, then returned to his desk and sat down.

As of 10 June, the Japanese divisions and regiments had entered the attack position, and the marines were also waiting for the day, and a large number of troops drawn from Taiwan, Korea, and Japan were constantly moving towards eastern Zhejiang. The main reason why Shunroku Hata did not launch an attack at the same time as the 11th Army attacked Nanchang was to wait for reinforcements.

After a while, under the leadership of Shozo Kawabe, Michitaro Komatsubara and Shigetaro Katsubara walked into the office, came to the desk and saluted Shunroku Hatata, and then waited for Shunroku Hata to speak.

Shunroku Hata glanced at the two of them, nodded and said: "The two of you are outstanding talents of the Imperial Japanese Army, and your troops have seized the task of attacking the defense line of the New Second Army, and it is the trust of the front army in you." I hope that you will give full play to the fearless spirit of the imperial army and defeat the new second army on the front line of Zhuji in one fell swoop. ”

"Hai, you'll get the job done!"

Michitaro Komatsubara and Jutaro Kasuma looked at each other, their eyes full of joy.

"Although the 23rd and 33rd Divisions are not permanent divisions of the Imperial Japanese Army, they are the ...... of the army under His Majesty the Emperor after all."

Shunroku Hata stared at the two of them and asked sternly: "You are a high-achieving student who graduated from the Imperial Army University, do you have any confidence in defeating the New Second Army and capturing Wu Ming alive?" ”

"Yes, we will definitely defeat the New Second Army and wash away the shame suffered by the Imperial Army!" The two replied loudly.

"Yo Xi!"

Shunroku Hata stood up happily, walked around the desk, came to Michitaro Komatsubara and Jutaro Kasuma, patted them on the shoulder, and said in the last words:

"Wu Ming and the New Second Army are the mortal enemies of the Imperial Army, you must break through the defense line of the New Second Army as soon as possible. For this reason, I give you special permission to use special ammunition.

"Hay!"

The two replied in unison.

After talking about the matter, Shunroku Hata put down the commander's shelf, pulled the two to sit down, and praised their fighting spirit a few words, which allowed them to return to the divisions to prepare for the attack.

Looking at Michitaro Komatsubara and Jutaro Gansu, who were happy to come out, Kawabe Shozo wanted to speak again and again, and said cautiously: "Commander, the 23rd Division was newly formed last year, and the 33rd Division was just formed in two months. Although the officers of these two divisions were from the standing divisions, most of the soldiers had never been on the battlefield, and it was ...... to entrust them with the task of attacking the New Second Army?"

Speaking of this, the river stopped at a moment's notice.

The 23rd and 33rd Divisions were newly organized by Japan to expand the war of aggression against China. Let them gnaw on the hard bones of Wu Ming and the New Second Army, and Hebian Zhengsan has no confidence.

"I know what you mean, but in fact, I don't expect them to defeat the New Second Army!"

Shunroku Hata smiled slightly and explained: "Michitaro Komatsubara is stationed in Manchuria, and Shigetaro has served as the principal of a military academy in China for a long time, and he has no combat experience in the battlefield of Central China, so he has no fear of Wu Ming and the New Second Army, and he is not at a disadvantage psychologically. ”

Moreover, most of the officers and men of the 23rd and 33rd Divisions were students, and they were enthusiastic and impulsive, and they had a strong enterprising spirit. Using this group of newborn calves to fight the New Second Army is to make the best use of everything, and I believe that after some tempering, the remaining officers and soldiers are all elite! ”

The meaning of Toshiroku Hata is very simple, let these two newly formed divisions and regiments be cannon fodder to hit the morale of the New Second Army, and then send elite divisions to give the New Second Army a fatal blow.

Shunroku Hatata's battle plan is understandable, good steel should be used on the blade, Kawabe Shozo felt a little pity, shook his head and said:

"Commander, the devil Wu Ming's use of troops is strange and changeable, the combat power of the New Second Army is amazing, and several of our main divisions have suffered their losses...... Is it too cruel for these recruits to face such a severe test as soon as they enter the battlefield? After all, they are the tomorrow and hope of the Great Japanese Empire! ”

"On that note, you can rest assured. With the cover of aviation and heavy artillery wings, although the strength of the two divisions and regiments is not enough to penetrate the defense line of the New Second Army, it will not allow the New Second Army to take advantage. Moreover, our troops launched an attack in three directions, and the navy landed from Wenzhou Bay, so the key to determining the victory or defeat of the battlefield was not in Zhuji in the middle. ”

Shunroku Hata said slowly, hearing the river nodding three times.

On June 15, the 28th year of the Republic of China, the 23rd and 33rd divisions of the Japanese army marched out of Xiaoshan to Linpu Town, and then in only one morning, they defeated the provisional 37th Division and the provisional 131st Brigade guarding the south bank of the Puyang River.

The Japanese army advanced extremely fast, and did not care about the pursuit and rout, and immediately divided the troops into three routes, all the way along the Hangjin Highway, westward to Zhandai Village, all the way along the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Railway, from the east and west banks of the Puyang River to advance head to head, south to seize Gaohongjian and Fengshan, all the way along the Tangmei Highway, to occupy Chengshan at the eastern foot of Fengshan and Cigu Mountain on the east side of the highway.

June 18, 8 a.m.

The sky was cloudless and the weather was unusually hot.

Sixteen kilometers north of Zhuji, Wu Ming, who walked out of the war room at an altitude of more than 200 meters above sea level in the middle of the Zhajia Mountain, looked tired, and he had not slept well since the Japanese army launched an offensive on the south bank of the Qiantang River three days ago.

In the past few days, taking advantage of the fact that the Japanese army has rushed to build fortifications on the front line of Wangjiajian, Gaohongjian, and Fengshan, the New Second Army has launched several strong attacks in succession, and although it has caused certain casualties to the Japanese army, the results achieved are not obvious.

The Japanese army dealt with the situation in a very orderly manner, digging a large number of barrier trenches at the foot of the mountain, then setting up barbed wire, horse blocking, deer barricades, fences and other obstacles, laying mines at some key points, and at the same time deploying a large number of light and heavy machine guns on the positions, and moving infantry guns to the top of Gaohongjian Mountain, which is more than 200 meters above sea level, to form a powerful supporting firepower.

Seeing that the attack did not achieve any results, and his own losses were not small, Wu Ming ordered to stop this meaningless attack and focus on strengthening his own defense.

Coming to the entrance of the cave and rubbing his sour eyes, Wu Ming half-squinted at the Puyang River in front of him.

"Commander, you can't just hang out during the day. The Japanese fighters were rampant, and they would drop a few bombs in the air in the cold, and they should never be taken lightly! ”

Zhang Dongning followed and stopped Wu Ming.

"Dongning, you're just like an old woman, you really know how to nag!"

Wu Ming joked with a smile, but he didn't slow down his steps: "We have a wide field of vision here, the weather is so good today, there are no clouds to cover the vision, there will be no problem!" ”

"Whew-"

The terrible air raid siren sounded, and there was chaos around the headquarters, and Zhang Dongning immediately reached out to pull Wu Ming into the air-raid shelter. Wu Ming's stubborn temper came up, pointed to the Japanese aircraft group flying from the northern sky, and said loudly: "It's just a few planes, what are you afraid of?" I want to see Gui Tao shoot down the Japanese planes with my own eyes! ”

Zhang Dong would rather ignore Wu Ming's protests, beckoned to five guards, and forcibly carried Wu Ming towards the headquarters in the cave.

Like agile ospreys, nine Japanese fighters flew over the Puyang River, swept over the forward positions deployed by the New Second Army at the northern foot of Meichi Ridge, Kengwu Mountain, and Daolin Mountain from a low altitude of more than 600 meters, and flew toward the defensive depth of the New Second Army.

A Japanese fighter plane found a tent in a dense forest on Hutong Mountain on the east bank of the Puyang River, and could clearly see the red flag waving in the wind, and many soldiers were hiding. Overjoyed, the Japanese pilots swooped down and dropped a bomb on the dense forest at a low altitude of more than 200 meters.

There was no expected violent explosion, and with a muffled sound, a flock of sparrows flapped their wings and flew out of the woods. After a while, a faint yellowish smoke rose from the forest, but when it encountered a strong southeast wind, it was immediately blown away by the wind and did not pose any threat.

Two kilometers away from the dense forest, halfway up the eastern foot of Baimaling, Gui Tao stomped his feet hatefully, pointed at the Japanese fighters in the distance and scolded:

"The little devil of the dog day, as soon as he comes, throws poison gas bombs, is there any humanity? Fortunately, it was windy today, otherwise it might not have really allowed you to succeed! ”

At this time, there was a roar of aircraft engines in the southern sky, and four silver planes faced the rising sun and rushed towards the Japanese planes.

Gui Tao turned his head and looked at it, and suddenly became excited-these four are **** fighters from Quzhou Airport.

The advanced Bf109 fighter flashed dazzling light under the early morning sun, and the distance of more than ten kilometers was instantaneous, and the fighters of the two sides met in the sky over Jiatang Village.

Fighters from both sides fired at each other, and due to the condescending dive attack of the Chinese Air Force, dense 7. The 9mm aviation machine gun weaved a dense network of firepower, and a Japanese fighter could not evade it, and the two Japanese pilots sitting in the cockpit were immediately sent to meet their Amaterasu.

The Japanese fighters quickly increased their altitude and began to use their technical advantages to maneuver with the **** fighters. A few minutes after the fierce battle, the **** plane shot down a Japanese plane again, but two of its own planes left dense bullet marks on the fuselage.

At this time, the **** fighter had not much ammunition, so it preemptively lowered its altitude and swooped towards Baimaling in the northwest.

Seeing the **** plane escape, after the Japanese fighter maneuvered, it followed the tail of the **** plane in pursuit, wanting to take revenge. At this time, Gui Tao was overjoyed, and immediately picked up the phone and shouted into the microphone: "Everyone is in place, ready to fire...... Ha Luha, it's finally our turn to wield. ”

In order to deal with the threat of the Japanese Air Force, Wu Ming brought an anti-aircraft artillery battalion this time.

Gui Tao, commander of the antiaircraft artillery regiment, scattered 36 Bofors 40-mm anti-aircraft guns and 24 Erkong 20-mm anti-aircraft guns on the line from Kengwu Mountain to Baimaling.

"Bang bang—"