Due to the heavy losses in the Battle of Lanfeng, the Nationalist Army fought very hard in the early days of the Battle of Wuhan. The main reason is that the mobility of the national army is far inferior to that of the Japanese army, and although there are still troops in the rear, they cannot be transferred, so they can only rush to the front line in batches. Fortunately, the Zhang Gufeng incident slowed down the pace of the Japanese army, and the national army took the opportunity to adjust its deployment and strengthened its defense on the Dabie Mountain and Xiaobie Mountain in the north of the Yangtze River and the Mufu Mountain in the south of the Yangtze River.

Among them, the southern line is bordered by the Yangtze River in the north and Poyang Lake in the east, and the national army has set up three lines of defense from east to west. The east road is the Dexing line, that is, De'an County to Xingzi County; The middle road is the Nanxun line, that is, Nanchang to Jiujiang; The west road is the Ruiwu line, that is, Ruichang to Wuning. The west road is in fact the defense line of Mufu Mountain, and once it is breached, there is no danger to defend east of Wuchang.

(Note: Open Baidu Maps and search for De'an, it will be clear at a glance.) ）

Xue Yue, the commander of the First Corps, believed that the front of Mufu Mountain was difficult to defend (because it was too wide, and the frontal defense could only spread the troops into a line), so he gathered heavy troops in the southern section of the Nanxun line, that is, the area from De'an to Nanchang. It can not only protect Nanchang, but also attack from the enemy's flank when the Japanese army advances west into the Makufu Mountain defense line.

At that time, the Japanese army attacking from Jiangnan was the 11th Army, which consisted of the 9th Division, the 101st Division, the 106th Division, and the Hatada Detachment. Originally, there was the 27th Division in history, but now Honma Masaharu is still counting stars in Tianjin with his subordinates, so his strength has been weakened. The commander is still the famous Japanese general Okamura Ninji, of course, Okamura at this time is not a famous general.

In August 1938, the Japanese army relaunched its offensive in Jiangnan after compromising with the Soviet Union. And connect Kejiujiang and other important towns. Okamura Ninji was keenly aware of the importance of the De'an area, so he sent the 101st Division to attack along the East Road Dexing Line and the 106th Division to attack along the Nanxun Line, trying to conquer De'an and cut off the connection between the heavy army group on the Nanxun Line and the defenders of the West Road Ruiwu Line.

At the same time, the 9th Division advanced westward along the south bank of the Yangtze River and attacked Ruichang, an important town on the defense line of Mufu Mountain. Due to the large gap between Ruichang and De'an, the Botian detachment was sent to echo in the middle to cover the flanks of the 9th Division and the 106th Division.

The national army had no good way to attack at the beginning, so it could only rely on the terrain to block the attack. Due to the fact that the Japanese army had aircraft and heavy artillery to help, the casualties of the national army were very large. But at the same time, it also brought a lot of casualties to the Japanese army. Because the hilly terrain in this area is not suitable for attacking. Of course. Since the mountain is not large, it is difficult to defend it.

On September 4, the Japanese 106th Division occupied the town of Mahuiling, which was about 14 kilometers in a straight line northwest of De'an, but was forced to stop the attack due to heavy casualties. And rest in the Mahuiling area. Replenish the source of troops. In order to strengthen the combat effectiveness of the division. Okamura also assigned the 52nd Mountain Artillery Wing of the 22nd Division of the 11th Army, which was transferred from the Hangzhou area, to the 106th Division.

By late September, the Hatada detachment was attacking unfavorably. Okamura felt that the 106th Division had basically regained its combat effectiveness, so he asked Lieutenant General Junrokuro Matsuura to move forward. In order to respond to the offensive of the Hatada detachment on the Ruiwu line.

The opposite side of the 106th Division happened to be the position of the 4th Army of the National Revolutionary Army, and according to Xue Yue's order, the unit was stationed on the first line of Wanjialing, Yangjialing, Xiaojinshan, Dajinshan, Biandan Mountain, and Shishiyan, and was about 30 kilometers away from Mahuiling, where the enemy 106th Division was entrenched.

In order to prevent Japanese air raids and covert combat intentions, the 4th Army mostly marched at night, but it was still discovered by the Japanese army's plainclothes reconnaissance. The Wanjialing area is the hometown of Taoism, and at that time, the Japanese army wore hats and robes, half-covering their faces, and they only looked around but did not dare to speak (such a clumsy reconnaissance method, if you meet Brother Gazi, you have to use a slingshot to break your front teeth). Although the national army and villagers thought these wild people were strange, no one realized that these people were actually Japanese spies (such a poor sense of counter-espionage).

Junrokuro Matsuura was overjoyed upon learning of the information and decided to launch a surprise attack on the positions of the Fourth Army in an attempt to annihilate the main force of the Nationalist Army. Strictly speaking, the situation was favorable to the Japanese army until this time. However, as soon as the 106th Division moved, the 4th Army also found out. Army Commander Ou Zhen hurriedly reported to Xue Yue.

When Xue Yue saw it, he immediately found the fighter! What kind of fighters? The 106th Division thus cut off the connection between the armies of the Nanxun Line and the defenders of the Ruiwu Line, but at the same time, it was not caught between the two national armies! So Chief Xue hurriedly reported to the Military Commission, saying that the fighter plane had appeared, and asked to assemble a large army to kill the 106th Division. In addition to his trust in Xue Yue, the chairman of the committee immediately approved it, and transferred a total of nine divisions (two brigades owed) from the southern front to reinforce the De'an direction.

The reinforcements of these nine divisions were used by Xue Yue to block Japanese reinforcements, and the 106th Division was surrounded by the 4th Army, the 66th Army, and the 74th Army, the main force of the Nanxun Line. The 4th Army broke out of the name of "Iron Army" during the Northern Expedition and has always been the main force of the national army. The 66th Army was the main force of the Cantonese Army and was well-equipped. Not to mention the 74th Army, where a deputy brigade commander is said to have made a name for himself in the first battle.

The 106th Division didn't know that the pocket formation was ready, and it was still stupidly drilling into it (what did the plainclothes team of the wild Taoist do). By the beginning of October, more than 10,000 people of the 106th Division (owed an infantry wing and a field artillery wing, and the station was not there) was finally surrounded by more than 100,000 national regiments in Wanjialing. Unfortunately, Okamura Ninji seemed to have noticed that something was wrong, and when he flew to the direction of De'an to reconnoitre, he accidentally spied through Xue Yue's plan (more than 100,000 people are difficult to hide), so he hurriedly ordered the 106th Division to move closer to the Hatian detachment on the right flank of Lu, and at the same time let the Hatian detachment desperately attack in the direction of De'an, trying to pick up the 106th Division. The Great War has finally broken out.

In history, Xue Yue finally annihilated most of the 106th Division, and there were only more than 1,000 people left around the division commander Junrokuro Matsuura. However, due to the large use of mustard gas by the Japanese army, the encircled troops were unable to eat the remnants of the Japanese army for a long time. An assault team of the 4th Army once rushed to the headquarters of the 106th Division in Wanjialing 100 meters away, and Junrokuro Matsuura wrapped a white cloth around his waist and prepared to cut his abdomen, but unfortunately the national army did not move forward to search because of too many casualties, allowing the enemy chief to escape.

What is even more serious is that the three main forces responsible for the encirclement suffered more than half of the casualties and almost lost their combat effectiveness. The 9 divisions that blocked the reinforcements also suffered heavy losses. And the Japanese lost only one 106 division. Under these circumstances, the Nationalist army had to break the siege, and the Japanese army not only took De'an, but also took advantage of the situation to overcome the defense line of Mufu Mountain, the southern gate of the Wuhan area, and Wuhan fell with it.

In other words, although Xue Yue achieved a little success in tactics, he lost strategically. Sadly, Xue Yue's tactical command was not too problematic, and the failure was entirely due to all-round backwardness. The lesson left behind is that in the face of a weak national strength, we should try to avoid large-scale decisive battles. Accumulating small victories for big victories, exchanging space for time is the correct strategic policy.

And in this time and space, history has turned a corner. After receiving the 48 Bofors mountain guns, the Nationalist Army immediately rebuilt the 2nd Artillery Brigade (there are still quite a few personnel). It's just that the artillery losses are serious). Then quickly reinforcements were sent to the front. Along with the 2nd Artillery Brigade rushed to the front were heavy artillery and anti-aircraft artillery units. A total of more than a hundred cannons (only more than 75 mm caliber), which can be described as a great increase in strength. And the Japanese did not know, or did not care.

General Wu Qiwei, commander of the 9th Group Army, who was in charge of the front command, immediately ordered a counterattack on the entire front after receiving information that the 106th Division was trying to break through. The 2nd Artillery Brigade quickly concentrated the 24 guns of the 1st Artillery Regiment and simultaneously bombarded the enemy positions. The Japanese army probably has not enjoyed this kind of treatment since the invasion of China. It was bombed on the spot and couldn't find the north.

The 106 Division also had artillery. And it's powerful. There was the 106th Wing of Field Artillery and the temporarily reinforced 52nd Wing of Mountain Artillery. Due to the complicated terrain in the De'an Mountains, the field artillery wing did not bring it with it in Mahuiling, and as soon as the mountain artillery wing returned fire, it was fiercely returned fire by the 5th Artillery Regiment, which was waiting for it. The Bofors mountain gun had a much longer firing range than the Type 41 mountain gun equipped by the Japanese army (the Type 94 mountain gun was mainly equipped in the permanent division). Performance is a big step ahead. An artillery battle came down to the 52nd Wing of the Mountain Artillery and suffered a major defeat.

After the Japanese artillery was dumbfounded, the 5th Artillery Regiment turned around and joined the 1st Artillery Regiment to bombard the Japanese army. Under the continuous bombardment of 48 artillery pieces, the Japanese army finally could not bear it and had to abandon its position and move forward.

But when Junrokuro Matsuura finally gathered his troops, he was lost. The military map doesn't matter, this 50,000 map was stolen by Okamura Ninji in 1926 when he was a consultant to the direct warlord Sun Chuanfang, and there are many errors and omissions in it.

Well, fortunately, there is also a military compass, but I didn't expect the compass to work, and the compass turned around. It turned out that there was a large magnetite mine in the local area, which disturbed the local magnetic field. (Note: The above are historical facts, not made up by mountain people)

There was no way, Junrokuro Matsuura had to take his troops to look at the sun during the day and the stars at night, scurrying around like headless flies in the Tokuan Mountains, while desperately asking Okamura Ninji for "tactical guidance".

Okamura also panicked, his road to becoming a famous general had just begun, and if he lost a division, it would be a shame that could not be washed away. Therefore, the Botian detachment and the 101st Division were urgently sent to reinforce from the east and west respectively, and the 9th Division, which had already conquered Ruichang County, was transferred back, forming two detachments to desperately launch a fierce attack in the direction of De'an. Xue Yue had been prepared for this for a long time, and the blocking troops of 9 divisions stuck all the Japanese reinforcements from the four routes.

When the Japanese air force arrived over De'an to bomb, it was also ambushed by the antiaircraft artillery unit of the Nationalist army, which had just arrived, and several planes fell down in black smoke. At the beginning, it was the field air defense units equipped with 40-mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns that arrived, and the Japanese planes could also use high-altitude bombardment to avoid the blockade of antiaircraft artillery. But with the arrival of the anti-aircraft units in key areas armed with 75-mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns, the high-altitude bombardment was no longer safe.

Okamura Ningji is ruthless, and when he failed to rescue him repeatedly, he immediately resorted to a desperate plan - mustard gas. But this time he miscalculated again, because he did not know that the Nationalist army had just been equipped with Czech Skoda 105mm field cannons, and destroyed the Japanese army's poison gas loading position in one fell swoop more than ten kilometers away.

Poison gas is not good, and the emergency reinforcement of the army's light tank units (equipped with light tanks and cavalry armored vehicles, suitable for use in complex terrain) is not used. These thin-skinned chariots were like papier-mâché in front of the Austrian 47-mm Bailu anti-aircraft guns, and they were bombarded into slag by the anti-aircraft artillery regiment that had just arrived on the battlefield!

Okamura, who had heard the bad news, was desperate, and if it weren't for the begging of the attendants, he would have committed suicide by cutting his stomach to thank the emperor. (Note: In fact, he was reluctant to die, otherwise the attendant should help him mend the knife, where would he persuade him?) ）

Okamura didn't die in the end, but Junrokuro Matsuura didn't. Originally, Chief Xue Yue gave an order to arrest him alive! However, when the commando team of the 4th Army appeared a hundred meters away from the Japanese headquarters with a Bailu battle defense gun, they couldn't help but fire two shots at the stone house that looked solid.

Junrokuro Matsuura was hiding in the house and preparing to cut his stomach, but he held the katana behind him and shook Sosobi for a long time and didn't dare to stab it. At this moment, the commandos solved it for him, and half of the house collapsed with one shot, and the other half collapsed with another shot. Luckily for Junrokuro Matsuura, the fallen beam blocked him with a lot of rocks, saving his life while breaking both of his legs by the way.

By the way, this headquarters was surveyed in advance by those Japanese plainclothes at the beginning, because the house is all made of stone, and the surrounding view is very open (interested students can look for this photo on the Internet). If you change places, you may not be able to use a direct-aiming weapon like a battle defense gun.

When the assault team eliminated the remnants of the Japanese army, they also captured a few prisoners, and only after interrogation did they realize that there was a big fish buried in the house. So he hurriedly picked up the bricks and stones, and sent the dying Matsuura Junrokuro to the rescue. Someone may ask, what did the old devil do to save him? It turned out that Chief Xue Yue wanted it and planned to send it to Wuhan for exhibition. It's a pity that the medical staff were busy all night, but they didn't save them in the end, so angry that Chief Xue lost his temper for a while, until another enemy chief, Major General Hatian Shigeichi, the captain of the Hatian detachment, was captured alive.

What's going on with the Hatada detachment? It turned out that Xue Yue's strategy at that time was to wrap one and clamp one. On the left flank of the Botian detachment was the 106th Division, and on the right flank, most of the 9th Division was withdrawn, and only one wing was left to hold on to death in Ruichang. When the 106th Division was destroyed, the first section of the National Army quickly surrounded the Botian detachment.

A division and regiment were eaten, not to mention the Hatian detachment of half a division? After a fierce battle, this two-devil army was also destroyed. Unlike the original time and space, the Japanese army did not put these Takasago people into the Yasukuni Shrine after the war, not because Zheng Huzi did anything, but because the Takasago people died too much in battle, and if they were put in, the Japanese would have no place. How can you, a second devil, compete with Taijun for the position, so they were all driven out.

After destroying these two Japanese troops, Xue Yue wanted to eat one more prominent detachment of the 9th Division, regardless of the fatigue of the troops. However, the national army was too tired, and the Japanese army's retreat skills were first-class, so they failed to catch up in the end, and only the wing of the 9th Division in Ruichang was half-crippled. After the war, the Nationalist army suffered heavy casualties and was exhausted, but the Japanese 11th Army also lost its offensive capability. The War Department's vision of ending the Battle of Wuhan by October was dashed. (To be continued......)