Section 56 The Great Victory of Northern Xiangbei

The situation of the front-line troops undoubtedly gave Okamura Ninji a big headache, and listening to the news from the various front-line troops, he suddenly thought of the battle in De'an last year, the same opponent, different places, and almost the same situation. He immediately understood the idea of the commander on the other side, taking advantage of the obstruction of the river, lengthening the gap between the troops, taking advantage of the mountains and forests to hide his troops and waiting for the opportunity to attack, and then when the time was ripe, he mobilized a large army to encircle and annihilate the isolated army in one fell swoop. This method of combat is actually not too clever, but it is extremely suitable for the current situation, so that even if he clearly knows the other party's thoughts, he is helpless!

In fact, the main purpose of this offensive launched by Okamura Ningji after conquering Nanchang was to annihilate the main force of the Ninth War Zone. A few months ago, when they just took Nanchang, the Ninth Theater and the Third Theater launched a counterattack on Nanchang, in that battle, the troops invested by the Ninth Theater were actually very limited, but only one army on the front line of Gao'an tore apart the joint defense line laid by the 101st Division and the 106th Division, and its vanguard troops even killed in the area of Xishan Wanshou Palace, which was only a few dozen miles away from Nanchang. Compared to the fragility of the enemy forces when the war was first launched two years ago, the strength of the enemy army has been greatly improved. In that battle, if it weren't for the fact that they lured the enemy deep into the eastern front and routed the troops of the Third Theater, I am afraid that even if they took Nanchang, they would have to pay a great price in order to hold this barrier southeast of Wuhan.

With such a formidable enemy by his side, how could he be at ease? In today's country, except for a limited number of important cities, land is no longer so important to them. After all, in the past two years, a large area of land in Northeast China, East China, and Central China has been the size of several local Japan, and how much role can it play in occupying a few more cities? It's nothing more than getting a little deeper into the quagmire of war. At this time, only the army is the most important thing, and if we can annihilate these elite soldiers in the Ninth Theater of the Chinese Army in one fell swoop, perhaps we will destroy the Chinese army's will to fight in one fell swoop and accelerate the process of invading and occupying China. In Okamura's position, people like them are undoubtedly thinking more than the war itself, and the so-called war is nothing but the continuation of politics, so what is the essence of this war?

However, the development of the battle situation was obviously not expected by Okamura Ningji, as the battle deepened, as the national army troops took advantage of the geographical advantage to constantly harass and encroach on the 6th Division, the 33rd Division and other troops, he gradually found that the initiative in the battle was no longer in their control, although the forward troops had advanced to a place not far from Changsha, it would not be long before they could launch an attack on Changsha, an important town in northern Hunan Province. However, taking the risk of attacking Changsha can really achieve the strategic purpose of this battle?

The answer is no, the 11th Army occupied Nanchang for a short time, from the west bank of Poyang Lake to the Jinjiang line, the Chinese army troops may attack Nanchang at any time, in this case, even if Changsha is really taken, in the face of the Chinese troops gathered around Changsha, I am afraid it will be a difficult situation.

On October 1, the Japanese troops who had occupied Yongan City began to retreat north of the Laodao River, and then the Japanese troops in Qiaotouyi and Uesugi City retreated one after another. Compared to filling in the road all the way when they came, this retreat was finally able to exert their mobility and stride backwards.

At this time, the forward position of the Japanese army was less than 40 miles away from Changsha, and the scouts of the two armies had already joined each other in close combat, sniping and ambushing each other. With such a large-scale action of the Japanese army, it was naturally impossible to escape the observation of the scouts of the national army, and for a while, they reported the astonishing actions of the Japanese army to the top one after another. The commander of the 15th Army, Guan Linzheng, who was stationed at the forefront of the defense, did not hesitate to order the pursuit, and he sent a large number of troops to pursue the Japanese troops in the area of Uesugi City, attacking all the way, forcing the Japanese to stop and send troops to stop and stop to intercept them.

However, when the news reached General Xue, the acting commander of the Ninth Theater, he couldn't help but hesitate. There was no warning of the Japanese army's retreat, and there was no alarming change in the battle situation in the more important place, and he couldn't tell for a moment whether it was the Japanese army's retreat or they were luring the enemy! If this was the initiative of the Japanese army to retreat to lure the enemy, then the pursuing Nationalist troops would very likely abandon their previous arrangements and arrangements and turn to the outer line to fight fiercely with the Japanese troops, so that all the efforts in the early stage would be in vain, and he categorically ordered all units to be on guard and send only a small number of troops to pursue later.

On October 2, the 1st Division of the 15th Army recaptured Uesugi City. On the 3rd, the Japanese army continued to retreat north of the Miluo River, and the Jinjing, Linfu, and Gaojiafang lines north of Changsha were reoccupied by the 15th Group Army. On October 4, as the Japanese army retreated in great strides, the pursuit of the Nationalist troops could not help but speed up, and on this day, they regained the Miluo River, Xinshi, and Changle line, and rebuilt the second line of defense in northern Hunan before.

It was not until this time that Xue Yue finally judged that this time the Japanese army had really retreated. If it is to lure the enemy, there is no doubt that this area south of the Miluo River and north of Changsha is the most suitable, and in this open area, the mechanized units of the Japanese army can exert their most powerful force, which is enough to complete all kinds of interspersed division and encirclement operations. Then, after withdrawing across the Miluo River, surrender the defense line of the Miluo River to the national army troops to turn around and attack again? This is simply impossible, if this is the case, it can only be said that the head of the Japanese commander is broken! After confirming that the Japanese army really retreated, Xue Yue immediately ordered all units to speed up the pursuit and expand the results.

However, leaving the "vegetable fields" south of the Miluo River, the smooth road was enough for the Japanese army to move back and forth, and the national army troops were too careful in the early pursuit, and the main force was still very far away from the Japanese army, so they could only watch the Japanese army march away without any way. This pursuit lasted until 14 October, when the disposition of the forces of the enemy and our armies had basically returned to the situation before the battle, and a general battle with a great possibility of causing casualties to more than 100,000 troops ended in this way. Except for the fierce battles on the front line of the Xinqiang River and the entanglement on the battlefield in southern Hubei on the eastern front, the subsequent battles were only entangled and arranged in the general direction, and did not produce large-scale casualties.

Seeing that the battlefield was gradually calming down, Chief Xue also reported to the Military Commission. Although the Japanese army took the initiative to retreat, and the losses on the way back were not large, but in any case, the Japanese army went south to attack Changsha this time, and lost more than 10,000 troops but withdrew in vain, this situation has been extremely rare since the beginning of the war, and the spirit of the Ninth Theater of Theater determined to defend Changsha and the subtle and accurate response at all stages of the campaign are important reasons why Changsha can be defended. And the more positive side of this victory was that the Nationalist troops saw that the gap between themselves and the Japanese troops was not insurmountable. As long as the tactics are appropriate and the fighting spirit is strong, the various units of the national army also have enough strength to resist the Japanese attack. Moreover, as the war continued, the Japanese army occupied more and more land, and the shortcomings of their weak forces were also more and more magnified.

When the news reached Chongqing, the whole country was naturally jubilant, and all sides even held a large-scale "congratulatory meeting" to build momentum for this "Hunan victory".

The stone and others in Yifeng are also very happy at this moment. Although they did not participate in this battle from beginning to end, the sense of oppression still kept them busy for a long time. Especially the cavalry battalion, since the "heaven does not matter" problem in Guanshan has been solved, they have been reorganizing their armaments all day long, as the most veteran troops, there is no doubt that once the war starts, they will be the troops who entered the battlefield before, and the heavy responsibility of guarding the entire Yifeng is undoubtedly also pressed on them.

Fortunately, northern Jiangxi is only pinning down the battlefield, since the 57th Division took back Gao'an, the battle situation in this area has basically been firmly controlled by them, and Yifeng has also avoided this storm without danger, making the whole county jubilant. Although the devil never stepped into Yifeng from beginning to end, looking at the soldiers around him who looked serious but high-spirited, the hearts of the people were also stable. In the past, when they heard the news that the devil was about to call, their first thought might be to leave here, they were used to hearing the devil's "three-light policy", who would be willing to hand over their heads and lives to others to control?

However, this time, the calm and busy figures of the soldiers of the national army beside them gave them confidence, since these young officers and soldiers are not afraid of death and have the courage to fight a decisive battle with the devil, how can they not have the courage to fight the devil? And those bandits who were newly incorporated into the supplementary camp, feeling the difference in identity, and looking at the trusting eyes of the common people, they couldn't help but sigh in their hearts, this is the life that a person should have, and this is what a man should be. Coupled with Liu Taiping's propaganda to them, as long as they make war exploits, they can divide the land as personal property, and as long as they are soldiers and fight, they can eat enough and get military salaries, which makes them scramble one by one, eager to go to the battlefield to fight devils now. Especially the gang of people who "don't care about the sky", they fought with the devil once not long ago, and many brothers died at the hands of the devil, which made their hated teeth itch, and they were more ruthless than one in training.

When the news came, the devil finally retreated, and everyone couldn't help but let out bursts of happy cheers, the devil retreated, there was no need to fight, and they could live with peace of mind again. These soldiers of the national army are really more powerful than they have seen before, and they can actually defeat the little devils. This made them feel infinite trust in their hearts, and following such an army, life was steady.

Especially those displaced people, who have just rented fields, rented grain seeds and farm tools, and their days have just become hopeful, and when they heard the news that the devil is coming, they almost despaired! Now that I heard that the devil was actually repelled by the national army, the gratitude and excitement I couldn't express it. After the excitement, they were also happy to get busy, because the time for farming had just arrived.