After receiving a telegram from Okamura Ninji, Junrokuro Matsuura, the commander of the 10th Pei Regiment of Little Japan, rushed back to the headquarters of the Nanjing Army from the Jiujiang front on a light cruiser of the Navy's Chinese fleet overnight.

When Junrokuro Matsuura walked into Okamura's office, Okamura was holding a magnifying glass and looking at the map.

"Your Excellency Commander" Junrokuro Matsuura stood upright, Okamura Ninji turned around when he heard the sound, quickly put the magnifying glass in his hand on the desk, and then stepped forward and hugged Junrokuro Matsuura affectionately, "Matsuura-san, hard work." ”

"It's not hard." Junrokuro Matsuura followed Okamura Ninji to the large map, and said generally, "It is a humble honor to contribute to the holy war of the Great Japanese Empire and to be loyal to Emperor Bixia. ”

"Yo Xi, Matsuura-san is really a model for the imperial soldiers." Okamura Ningji praised two sentences without nutrition, and then even cut to the point, "Matsuura-san, you also know the current Jiujiang battle situation, because the main force of our army has been unable to break through the Nanxun defense line of the Zhina Army, resulting in the follow-up capture of Nanchang and cutting off the Guanghan railway, the follow-up Jihua has been completely unable to implement, and it has seriously affected the process of the Wuhan battle, although the base camp did not say anything about it, but you and I, as imperial soldiers, should be ashamed of this, Matsuura-san, what do you think?" ”

"Hello." Junrokuro Matsuura bowed heavily and said ashamedly, "Our division has been unable to break through the Nanxun defense line of the China Army for a long time, which has affected the operational process of the entire Wuhan Battle, and I am deeply ashamed of my humble position. After a pause, Junrokuro Matsuura then said confidently, "However, Your Excellency Commander, after a month's rest, our division has fully recovered its combat effectiveness, and it will soon be able to launch an attack on the Shina Army in front of the Nanxun Line. ”

"Yo Sai, Matsuura-san has this determination, and I am deeply grateful." Okamura Ninji patted Matsuura on the shoulder affectionately, and then immediately changed the conversation and continued, "But Matsuura-san, this time your division does not have to attack the Shina Army from the front of the Nanxun Line, and this time I will give you a new combat mission for the 10th Pei Regiment." ”

"New combat mission?" Junrokuro Matsuura was stunned when he heard this.

"Matsuura-san, come and see." Okamura Ninji turned around and picked up the bamboo pole, pointed to the large map, and said, "During the day today, I flew to the skies over the Jiujiang and De'an battlefields on the air with the air regiment to conduct on-the-spot surveys, and found that there was already a gap of more than 10 kilometers wide between the two defense lines of the Ruiwu Road and the Nanxun Line of the China Army. ”

Junrokuro Matsuura's eyes lit up, and he lost his voice: "A gap with a width of more than ten kilometers? ”

Okamura Ninji nodded happily, and then said: "This gives the imperial army an opportunity to take advantage of, if your division can penetrate through this gap, capture Mahuiling in one fell swoop, or even directly capture De'an, you can completely cut off the logistics supply line of the China Army, then the China Army in front of the Ruiwu Road and Nanxun Line is bound to be shaken on the whole line." ”

Junrokuro Matsuura snapped his feet and stood upright, and said loudly: "Please rest assured, Your Excellency Commander, our division will definitely complete the task." ”

"Matsuura-san, please don't worry, listen to me first." Okamura Ninji smiled and said, "After observing from a low altitude, I found that the terrain in that area is very complicated, not to mention the high mountains and dense forests, and there are rivers and lakes to block it, so I am afraid that it will be very difficult for heavy equipment to pass, so your division must throw away all the baggage and travel lightly." ”

"There's no problem with that." Matsuura said in a deep voice, "Even if there is no artillery, our division can also fight." ”

"Yo Si." Okamura Ninji nodded, and said, "In addition to the impassability of heavy equipment, I am afraid that a large army will not be able to deploy in the complex mountainous area, so I suggest that you divide the troops of the 10th Pei Regiment into five columns, each infantry wing is a column, and the troops directly under the division are a separate column. ”

"Hello." Junrokuro Matsuura did not feel unhappy because Okamura Ninji asked about the specific operations of the 10th Pei Regiment, Okamura Ninji's reputation was not given in vain, including Matsuura Junrokuro, a considerable number of senior Japanese generals highly respected Okamura Ninji, and even took pride in being guided by Okamura Ninji.

Although Okamura Ninji's performance on the battlefields of Jiujiang and De'an was not outstanding, at least much inferior to his appearance in Manchuria, Matsuura Junrokuro thought that this had nothing to do with Okamura's ability, but because the bureaucrats in the base camp had launched the wrong war at the wrong time and in the wrong place.

It was precisely because of the decision of those bureaucrats in the base camp that the more than 100,000 Japanese troops in the Jiujiang and De'an battlefields had to face not only the national army that was waiting for them, but also the sultry and humid environment, and even more so the endless bites of mosquitoes and flies.

But now, the weather has turned colder, the mosquitoes and flies that have made the Japanese army suffer have also been greatly reduced, a large number of sick officers and men are recovering one after another, and the combat effectiveness of the troops has basically recovered.

Okamura Ninji gave a few more words of advice, and then sent Matsuura away.

(Dividing Line)

Recently, the battlefields of Jiujiang and De'an have been relatively quiet, and the senior staff members of the L Corps Headquarters have rarely taken a moment's time.

At this time, more than a dozen senior staff members of the corps headquarters were gathering in front of the big map to discuss the battle situation at the northern foot of Dabie Mountain.

It is said that the Dabie Mountains do not have the road conditions for heavy deployment, so the Japanese army should not invest heavy troops at the northern foot of the Dabie Mountains, and Bai Chongxi, acting commander-in-chief of the Fifth Theater, also judged this, so the main forces of the Fifth Theater were transferred to the north bank of the Yangtze River to strictly prevent the main force of the Japanese army from attacking Wuhan along the north bank of the Yangtze River.

But in the end, the commander of the Little Japanese First Army, Higashikurenomiya Twistahiko, gave Bai Chongxi a "surprise", this old devil unexpectedly chose the mountainous area at the northern foot of Dabie Mountain as the main direction of attack, which directly hit the soft underbelly of the national army, because at that time there was only Sun Lianzhong's 3rd Corps at the northern foot of Dabie Mountain.

In the Battle of Wuhan, the national army was organized into four corps, namely Xue Yue's L Corps and Zhang Fakui's Corps, which were on the south bank of the Yangtze River and belonged to Chen Cheng's Ninth War Zone, Sun Lianzhong's 3rd Corps and Li Pinxian's 4th Corps were on the north bank of the Yangtze River, which belonged to Bai Chongxi's Fifth War Zone.

The four corps, of which Xue Yue's L Corps is the largest, has jurisdiction over ten corps, and there are also strong armies such as the Fourth Army, the Eighteenth Army, the Twenty-ninth Army and the Seventy-fourth Army.

Sun Lianzhong's 3rd Corps only had five corps, and Cao Fulin's 55th Army was also transferred to the 4th Corps by Bai Chongxi, so Sun Lianzhong actually only had four corps in his hands, and Tian Zhennan's 30th Army and Feng Anbang's 42nd Army were disabled in the Battle of Taierzhuang, and the great victory of Taierzhuang was exchanged for the lives of the officers and soldiers of these two armies.

It can be imagined how anxious Bai Chongxi should have been when the main force of the Little Japanese Army suddenly appeared at the northern foot of Dabie Mountain.

Fortunately, in addition to Sun Lianzhong's "anti-Japanese steel head" at the northern foot of Dabie Mountain, there is also the iron army of Song Xilian's 71st Army.

Seven days later, the 71st Army successfully completed the task of blocking the enemy and withdrew from Fujin Mountain, and after returning to the rear, Chen Ruihe, the commander of the 36th Division, was named, and only Liao Liao's 400 men should fall.

Even the senior staff of the L Corps couldn't help but be in awe when they talked about the 71st Army at this time.

These senior staff officers did not know that the Jiujiang and De'an battlefields would soon appear a strong army that would be more exciting than Song Xilian's 71st Army and more fearful of Little Japan, and in the next seven years of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, this army would become the first of the five trump cards of the national army, and he was the 74th Army