The northeast of Jiangxi is a hilly terrain with low and medium mountains, and the terrain is relatively complex - the Huaiyu Mountains originate at the junction of Yushan, Dexing and Kaihua in Jiangxi, showing a northeast-southwest trend, stretching for more than 100 kilometers in the Panyang Plain, forming a natural barrier, firmly supporting Shangrao and Yingtan in the middle.

Because of the existence of the Huaiyu Mountains, the Japanese army wanted to take Shangrao and Yingtan, and the best choice was originally to attack Shangrao directly from Yushan, and then go down to Yingtan after occupying Shangrao. It's just that the artillery of the student army is sharp, and the strength advantage of the Japanese army in the relatively gentle Yushan area not only does not become an advantage, but is suspected of sending itself to death in vain, plus the factors of the 11th Army, so Hata Shunroku and Furuzhuang Kanro chose Dexing and Lehei as the main breakthrough direction.

After a week of fierce fighting, Ye Zhao slowly withdrew his subordinates from Dexing and Leping City according to the development of the situation, and changed the town defense battle to a field position battle. In the direction of Dexing, according to the trend of the Huaiyu Mountains, the 204th Regiment of the 10th Brigade and the 11th Brigade held Jietian and Raoer, which were 12 kilometers and 15 kilometers away from Dexing respectively. The 5th Army was in charge of the Dexing direction with the 18th Division, which had a confrontation with the Cadet Army during the Battle of Nanjing, and suffered a heavy loss. It is precisely for this reason that the commander of the division, Sadao Nakajima, has not been promoted for two consecutive years in this position, so he is particularly hostile to the Cadet Army. The so-called enemies were very red when they saw each other, so Nakajima Sadao did not hesitate to sacrifice as soon as he came up, and organized several large-scale offensives, but they were all repelled by the commander of the 10th Brigade, Xiang Ke. Of course, it is inevitable that the casualties of the 10th Brigade will far exceed that of the 13th Brigade.

In the direction of Leping, the 13th Brigade built a defensive line between Zhutian Township and Huitian Township, five kilometers northeast of Wannian County, and carried the 101st Division under the jurisdiction of the 5th Army with one brigade and one artillery regiment.

As early as the morning of the same day, the 5th Army was located in the headquarters of Quzhou, and the commander of the 5th Army, Furuzhuang Michiro, chief of staff Qin Yashang, the commander of the 16th Division, Keisuke Fujie, and the commander of the 114th Division, Saburo Miura, were sitting together to discuss the so-called New Year's offensive.

"Just tonight, we are going to give His Majesty the Emperor his next New Year's gift!" Shunroku Hata's eyes burned first.

Guzhuang Ganlang: "The people of China sleep on the ice and don't know whether it is hot or cold?" It's all this time, and I'm still wrapping dumplings on the battlefield, gentlemen, don't you think this is a challenge to the dignity of my imperial army? ”

The reason why Furuso knew this originated from Nakajima Sadao's report - the Xuebing Army was indeed a little unscrupulous in the process of preparing dumplings, and the aroma of leeks and meat wafted everywhere, and it was not difficult for Nakajima's scouts to find this by only moving their noses twice and then using their brains. Nakajima's first reaction when he received the report was that this was an opportunity for a sneak attack, and he reported the situation to Furuso to justify launching a major offensive tonight.

Keisuke Fujie's eyes narrowed. As one of the 17 standing divisions of the Japanese army, the 16th Division has its own unique pride, and just as Furuzhuang Michiro said, this kind of behavior of the student army is indeed an extreme contempt for the Imperial Japanese Army, and he absolutely cannot tolerate it. He sneered: "The student army has brought about its own destruction, so what are we waiting for?" If you can take Shangrao and encircle and annihilate the fourth division? Your Majesty the Emperor will definitely like this gift! Gentlemen, let's have a big fight, shall we? ”

Saburo Miura followed up and said, "I think we can launch a round of New Year's offensive together with the South China Front. The New Year's customs of the Chinese people are much more solemn than ours, and we fulfill them by setting off a big firework for them. Hehe, Ouyang Yun dared to send a large army north to Jiangxi to encircle and annihilate the 11th Army, why can't we rush thousands of miles and break through in one fell swoop? The 16th Division and our 114th Division have been recuperating for so many days, and it is time for us to contribute. The people of China are tired soldiers—" As he spoke, he stood up and looked at Shunroku Hatata, bowed slightly, and said, "Your Excellency, please let us be the vanguard of this raid!" ”

In Toshiroku Hatata's plan, if he really wants to launch a surprise attack tonight, then the 16th Division and the 114th Division will definitely be the main force. Seeing that Keisuke Fujie and Saburo Miura were full of fighting spirit, and they looked full of confidence, he was very happy, waved his hand to let Saburo Miura sit down, and said, "I have seen the loyalty of the monarchs to His Majesty the Emperor. Very well, so let's take a closer look at how to make sure that this gift to His Majesty the Emperor is sufficient! ”

Just after noon, the scouts of the 4th and 5th Divisions who were living on the front line, as well as the fox pupils lurking in Quzhou, Yushan, Dexing, and Leping, suddenly discovered that the rear camps of the Japanese army and the front-line barracks suddenly became lively. The devil's logistics baggage soldiers carried bags of flour and slaughtered pigs and sheep from the warehouse and baggage trucks to various military camps and front lines.

This information was quickly summarized in front of Ye Zhao and other front-line commanders, and Ye Zhao and the others did not know that this was specially made for them by the order of Shunroku Hata, thinking that "the Japanese are also celebrating the Chinese New Year's Eve." Of course, because Ye Zhao and Ouyang Yun had long had the idea of launching a New Year's counteroffensive tonight, there was no question of letting down their vigilance. When Ye Zhao talked about this with Xiang Ke, commander of the 10th Brigade, Gao Yongxiang, commander of the 5th Division, and Chang Yongxin, commander of the 13th Brigade, he ridiculed: "We Chinese have always been merciful, so let the little devil be a full ghost!" ”

It was just getting dark, and an interesting scene appeared. As if they were vying to show the enemy that they were having a happy Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, the forward positions on both sides were brightly lit, and one bonfire after another was burning, and one flare after another rose into the sky. The aroma of dumplings, udon noodles, and soba noodles mingled between the opposing positions of the two armies illuminated by the flares, and it was not like a battle, but like a party.

When the soldiers were enjoying a "big meal" in the Chinese New Year's Eve, Ye Zhao and political director Lian Guangming each stood at their posts outside the headquarters with their personal guards, and they looked up from time to time to the east and north, where a flare would rise into the air at every turn, illuminating the night sky there. Lian Guangming: "Junzuo, the Japanese show is very high, will there be other plans?" ”

Ye Zhao thought for a while and said slowly: "This possibility is very high. I know a little about Japanese folk customs, and Chinese New Year's Eve is not a grand festival for them. Since the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese have looked westward and paid little attention to traditional Chinese festivals. However, if Shunroku Hata really wanted to do something about the New Year's offensive, he would definitely regret this decision. Isn't it just to induce them to launch a large-scale offensive when we launch a New Year's counteroffensive? It's just that I don't know where the troops of the Iron Fifth of the Road have gone! ”

"I'll let Xiao Li contact them later!"

"Don't, let them take the initiative to contact us, there is a possibility of leaking secrets with telegrams, or walkie-talkies are more stable!"

"Hmm."