Matsuura's division was in danger, and Okamura Ninji was also deeply worried in Nanjing.

Originally, because the main force of the llth army was making slow progress on the Nanxun Line and Ruiwu Road, the Japanese army base camp had already resigned to Okamura Ningji, which was also the reason why Okamura Ningji sent the Matsuura Division to intersperse Mahuiling, Okamura Ningji wanted to break the Jiujiang deadlock too much, and wanted to achieve a hearty victory.

Now, however, the expected victory did not come, and the Matsuura Division was in danger.

Okamura Ninji could fully imagine that once the Matsuura Division suffered heavy losses or was even completely annihilated by the national army, the base camp's disappointment with him would reach the extreme, and even if there would be no change of generals on the spot, the blow to his reputation would also be fatal, which was absolutely unacceptable to Okamura Ninji, who aspired to become a marshal.

In the early hours of this morning, Junrokuro Matsuura sent a telegram reporting that he was preparing to move closer to the Honma Division.

Okamura Ninji expressed his support for Matsuura's decision, as a front-line commander, since Matsuura made such a decision, he must have his judgment, and at least for now, this decision is the most correct, compared to the L0th Pei Regiment that was blocked by the national army in the east and west of the lonely ridge, the situation of the Honma Masaharu Division is much better.

Therefore, as soon as he received the telegram from the Matsuura Division, Okamura Ninji sent a telegram to Masaharu Honma, ordering the Honma Division to suspend the attack on the Nationalist Army in front of the Ruiwu Road, mobilize troops as much as possible, and launch an attack in the direction of Wanjialing, and to take the Matsuura Division out no matter what.

The order was given quickly, and the Honma division began to gather troops, but the anxiety in Okamura Ninji's heart did not dissipate.

Major General Yoshimoto Sadachi, chief of staff of the 1st Army, can fully understand the anxiety in Okamura Ninji's heart at this time, as a group army commander, and a well-known general, Okamura Ninji is under too much pressure, and his every move is staring at countless pairs of eyes, those bureaucrats in the base camp can't fight, but the ability to pick mistakes is first-class.

Since serving as the commander of the ll. Army, Okamura Ninji has hardly slept a day, his eyes are always bloodshot, and he has lost a lot of weight, and his already protruding cheekbones are even more prominent, and his body is so thin that it seems that he can fall down when the wind blows, and Yoshimoto Sadachi is a little inexplicably distressed.

Fighting a war is also a torment for commanders

"Your Excellency, Commander." Yoshimoto Sadachi couldn't help but persuade, "The Honma Division has mobilized four infantry brigades to launch an attack in the direction of Wanjialing from Jiankou, which is only more than 20 kilometers away from Wanjialing, and by noon today at the latest, the attacking troops of the Honma Division will be able to hit Wanjialing, and they will be able to form a two-sided flank attack with the Songpu Division against the Zhina Army blocking Wanjialing, and according to the report of the aviation scouts, the Zhina Army blocking Wanjialing is only one division, and it will definitely not be able to block the two-sided attack of the Imperial Army, so the Songpu Division will definitely not be in any danger." ”

Okamura Ninji didn't say anything, just stared at the big map with his hands behind his back and was silent.

As a senior commander who has experienced a hundred battles, Okamura Ninji knows that things are definitely not so simple, what Yoshimoto Sadachi said is just the most optimistic estimate, however, in addition to the most optimistic estimate in the world, there is also the most pessimistic estimate, this most pessimistic estimate is that the national army blocking Wanjialing withstood the two-sided attack of the Matsuura Division and the Honma Division, and before the Matsuura Division successfully broke through, the main forces of the national army in the rest of the directions had already swarmed to completely encircle the Matsuura Division

In terms of probability and statistics, the probability of the most optimistic scenario or the most pessimistic scenario is not large, and the most likely scenario is that the national army division blocking Wanjialing is completely defeated by the two sides of the Honma division and the Matsuura division, but the Matsuura division is also eaten by the national army that pounced on it from all other directions.

And such a result is also unacceptable to Okamura.

(Dividing Line)

Okamura Ninji was deeply worried about the danger that the Matsuura Division was currently facing, and Masaharu Honma, the commander of the 1st Division of Little Japan, was also quite shocked.

Honma Masaharu was not conspicuous in the Japanese military circles at that time, and his resume was not rich, and the most effective one was probably that he had studied at Oxford University, and his English was extremely good, and he was awarded the Cross by the British.

The 1st Division was the first three-unit division in the Japanese army's battle sequence.

The so-called three-unit division refers to the fact that in addition to the auxiliary units such as baggage troops, artillery, engineers, and cavalry, the combat unit has only one infantry regiment under its jurisdiction, and the infantry regiment has three infantry wings under its jurisdiction.

After the outbreak of the Battle of Wuhan, the 1st Division completed its assembly very late, and after arriving at the Jiujiang Battlefield, it took over the Maruyama Brigade to take over the offensive operation in the direction of the Ruiwu Highway, and its performance was mediocre, neither as impressive as the Inabashiro 1st Pei Regiment on the north bank of the Yangtze River, nor as unsuccessful as the 10th Pei Regiment of Ito Masaki.

Masaharu Honma is telling the commander of the 1st Infantry Regiment Toshitoku Nagami.

"Yongjian-san, the danger faced by the 10th Pei Regiment this time is not trivial, according to the report of the aviation scouts, Xue Yue, the commander of the Zhina, has mobilized at least eleven divisions of troops to encircle and suppress the 10th Pei Regiment with all his might, you must advance at full speed, defeat the Zhina Army near Wanjialing as soon as possible, and take the 10th Pei Regiment out."

"Division commander, you can rest assured." Nagami Junde was a little unimpressed, with just a national army division, could it be possible to block the two-sided attack of the Matsuura division and the Honma division? If the national army really wants to have this combat effectiveness, it will not be the national army, and if the two main divisions of the imperial army cannot even pack up a national army division, it will not be the imperial army.

Nagami Juntoku even despised Junrokuro Matsuura fiercely in his heart, and if he was the division commander of the 10th Pei Regiment, he would never turn around and retreat in a hurry, seeking to join forces with the 1st Division, he would defend the spot and firmly attract the main force of the 1st Corps of the National Army to the Wanjialing area, and give the main force of the 1st Army time to win the encirclement.

The Nationalist Army can encircle the Songpu Division, but can't the Japanese army encircle the Nationalist Army in turn?

Nagami Toshitoku didn't even understand that Commander Okamura Weishenme would agree to Matsuura Junrokuro's request to transfer, in his opinion, this was completely a cowardly act, but now it's all like this, and it's in vain for Nagami Toshitoku to think about it anymore, so he casually perfunctory Honma Masaharu said a few words, and Nagami Toshitoku took four infantry brigades to pull out.

(Dividing Line)

At the tip of the high mountain, the 343rd Regiment once again repelled the attack of Little Japan.

Yang Shaoren came to Feng Shengfa with a face full of gunpowder smoke and sweat, and said in a low voice: "Master, the 343rd Regiment has already suffered more than half of the casualties, should the 344th Regiment replace the 343rd Regiment?" ”

After noon, the offensive of Little Japan suddenly became fierce, the pressure of the 343rd Regiment increased sharply, and even the regimental guard company had been transferred to the front line by Qi Yongnian, and the commander of the guard company was also killed in a white-knuckle battle.

"No, the 344th regiment can't move yet." Feng Shengfa flatly refused.

Until now, the biggest loss is only the 343 Regiment, the 347 Regiment has not suffered much losses, and the 344 Regiment and the 19th Brigade are still held in the hands of Feng Shengfa, Feng Shengfa's principle of using troops is similar to Xu 19, and he will never distribute the troops evenly on the battlefield, good steel must be used on the blade, and he will definitely not put into the reserve until Zuihou moments

"Master's seat." Yang Shaoren said urgently, "Even if you keep the reserves, you don't need to keep two regiments and an independent brigade, right?" ”

"This time it's different." Feng Shengfa said in a deep voice, "This time, in addition to blocking the 10th Pei Regiment of Little Japan, our 58th Division also has to guard against the flanking attack of the 1st Division behind us, Chen Shizheng's 344th Regiment is prepared for the 1st Division, and the 347th Regiment is the reserve, as for the 19th Brigade, I am not going to let them participate in the battle this time." ”