Chapter 10: Anqing (60)

What happened next in Dahongshan was incomprehensible to everyone, and Lieutenant General Naojiro Amaya led a super-large armed organization composed of the 40th Division and four detachments, as well as heavy artillery brigades and other units, and began a full-scale attack on Dahongshan. In Dahongshan, only the 29th Group Army of the Sichuan Army Wang Zhanxu, with the offensive strength of the 40th Division, plus four brigade-level detachments, and the heavy artillery brigade and regiment, will attack with all their might, smashing mosquitoes with fists and flies with heavy artillery, and it will definitely present a one-sided situation, and Wang Zanxu will be full of teeth. However, this was not the case, the 40th Division fought hesitantly, took two steps back, and soaked mushrooms with Wang Zhanxu.

The staff headquarters of the Fifth Theater was brightly lit, and the personnel department of the staff department was arguing endlessly, and General Li Zongren was also discussing with the staff officers, what kind of medicine was sold in the gourd of this 40th division?

In the patrol group station in Lishan, Mo Di and Tang Ruru also racked their brains for this, Jin Tongxuan used some chess pieces to write the numbers of each unit, and placed them on the map, the red word is our army, and the black word is the Japanese army.

Mo Di said: "Everyone knows that there is a conspiracy here, but what kind of conspiracy is it? ”

Tang Ruru said: "I guess I want to use the 40th Division's attack on the 29th Group Army as a bait, lure other troops to reinforce it, and then the 13th and 39th Divisions will attack and clean it up in one fell swoop." ”

"No!" Mo Di said: "This routine has been used for the old, and grandma can have several birthdays a year." ”

There are also people in the Fifth Theater who have the same opinion as Tang Ruru, and through discussion, Chief of Staff Xu Zuyi believes that he must do it even if he knows that he cannot do it, and he must reinforce it. Everyone knows that the strength of the 29th Group Army is not strong, and it is impossible to be the opponent of the 40th Division, and if there is no reinforcement, it can only withdraw from Dahongshan, otherwise, it will definitely be killed by the 40th Division. Who to send reinforcements, Li Zongren has one head and two big. Finally, Wang Hongshao, deputy chief of staff, proposed that the Seventh Army of the 21st Group Army reinforce Dahongshan.

Less than 10 minutes after the order was issued to the 21st Group Army, two orders were issued from the 21st Group Army at the same time, and the first telegram order was that the Seventh Army immediately set out from Macheng to reinforce Dahongshan. The second telegram order was that the inspection group of the 21st Group Army was cancelled, and all personnel were to form the Military Intelligence Department of the 21st Group Army, enter the staff headquarters of the Seventh Army, and advance westward with the Seventh Army.

The invincibles had no choice but to pack their bags and wait for the arrival of the Seventh Army.

On 29 May, the Seventh Army arrived at Lishan, and Li Baicheng followed the artillery regiment in the queue, accompanied by the rest of Qin Guosheng's guard company left in Mabu. The M712 Mauser pistol hanging on his side, the blood-stained dagger hidden in the suede scabbard, the powerful crossbow and fine arrow on his back, made the people of the Seventh Army have a lot of goosebumps.

After meeting Wang Zanbin, deputy commander of the Seventh Army, under the guidance of Tang Ruru, Mo Di met Yang Zanmo, chief of staff of the Seventh Army. Chief of Staff Yang is not very old, thirty-six or seventeen years old, with a thin face, medium build, and not too much outstanding, if he hadn't talked about him before, thinking that he was the real helmsman of the Seventh Army, Mo Di would not have paid much attention to this person in front of him at all. When this person appeared in front of him, Mo Di couldn't help but take a serious look, and whether it was true or not, as rumored, he was the chief of staff of the Seventh Army of the Gui Army at this age, if he didn't have a huge background, he had excellent ability.

The next day, the troops arrived in Yingshan County, Yang Zanmo ordered the whole army to settle down in the county seat, he personally went to Yingshan County Government officials to coordinate the stationing matters, it seems that he is preparing to live here for a period of time, Mo Enemy is a little incomprehensible, saving soldiers is like fighting fire, Yang Zanmo does not go all out to the west to Dahong Mountain, why did he stay in Yingshan?

In the evening, the General Staff held a meeting to discuss the next step of the operation, and Zhang Gan, commander of the Seventh Army, was present, Wang Zanbin, deputy commander of the army, presided over the meeting, and Tang Ruru and Mo Di also attended the meeting. At the meeting, Yang Zanmo asked Tang Ruru to explain the current situation of friend and foe before putting forward his own opinions. Through Yang Zanmo's narration, Mo Enemy knew that from Yingshan to Dahongshan, it was necessary to bypass Suizhou, the former garrison of the 39th Division of the Japanese Army, although the Japanese army had moved to Zaoyang, but the situation in Suizhou was not clear, and the Seventh Army could not enter blindly. The reconnaissance unit has been dispatched and may return by tomorrow afternoon at the latest, and it will be known whether it will advance or retreat.

With regard to the reinforcement of the Seventh Army, Yang Zanmo completely denied the operational requirements of the Fifth Theater, did not agree to enter the Dahong Mountain and advance and retreat with the Sichuan Army, but wandered around the Dahong Mountain, echoing Wang Zan Xu in the Dahong Mountain, and containing the 40th Division in all aspects.

Mo Di nodded secretly, entering Dahong Mountain, it is indeed a combination of less advantages and more disadvantages, on the surface, it is a whole with the Sichuan army, the Sichuan army has more than 10,000 people, plus more than 10,000 people in the Seventh Army, there are also 30,000 numbers, and the 40th division seems to be about the same, but it has put itself in a position of being passively beaten. Choosing to fight on the periphery, the situation is very different, the first is to grasp the initiative, the second is that there will be no supply difficulties, the third is the vast space, and the fourth and fifth.

Mo Di looked at Yang Zanmo's eyes, and gradually made a difference.

On the night of May 31, all the abnormalities of the Japanese army were understood! The attack of the 40th Division at Dahongshan turned out to be a smokescreen bomb, the purpose of which was to cover up the new offensive of the 3rd and 39th Divisions, and the real purpose of the Japanese army this time was to force the Hanshui River to the west. That night, the Japanese army broke through the defense line of the 41st Army of Sun Zhen's Division of the 22nd Group Army of the Sichuan Army and entered Xiangyang early the next morning.

When everyone thought that the direction of the Japanese army's attack this time was from the mouth of the old river along the Han River to the direction of Hanzhong, the Japanese army once again made the staff at all levels fall sharply. After the two divisions of the Japanese army entered Xiangyang, they did not continue to advance westward, but made a 90-degree change and attacked and advanced to the south side by side. This move, the Fifth Theater was not in a hurry, there was a great chaos in the headquarters, the Japanese army was not to the west but to the south, and Sun Lianzhong's Second Army, which rushed to the west to prepare for the battle, pounced.

The Japanese army advanced very quickly, attacking all the way forward, west of the Han River, there were not many Chinese troops, and they successfully came to the back of the 33rd Group Army northeast of Jingmen. The 33rd Army rushed into battle and fell into chaos, and the Japanese took the opportunity to attack and break the 33rd Army individually.

Seeing that the battle situation was urgent, the Chongqing Military Commission urgently ordered Tang Enbo of the 31st Group Army to lead five corps to pursue in the south, hoping to contain the actions of the Japanese army. For the first time, the Japanese army lost interest in Tang Enbo, and had no urge to entangle with the 31st Group Army at all. The Fifth Theater could only allow the Second Army to follow southward and cooperate with the 31st Group in combat.

On the night of 4 June, the 13th Division of the Japanese Army launched an offensive from the south of Zhongxiang, forcibly crossed the Han River, and attacked the main position of the 26th Army of Xiao Zhichu of the Jiangfang Army.

The Japanese army approached Yichang from the north and east, and all the truth was revealed, and the target of the Japanese army was Yichang City.

In order to carry out the frontal battle of Zaoyang, the Fifth Theater had already invested the vast majority of troops, and not only used all the group commanders, but also transferred the 75th Army of Zhou Zhe of the Jiang Defense Army. After the main position of Xiao Zhichu's 26th Army was broken through, only Guo Chen's 94th Army and Zeng Chuanding, commander of the Jiangfang Fortress, were left to guard the Yichang line, and only four divisions were Li Jilan's 55th Division, Mou Tingfang's 121st Division, Fang Tian's 185th Division, and Wang Jinzai's 128th Division. The Military Commission urgently transferred Li Yannian's Second Army, Peng Shan's 18th Army, and Zheng Dongguo's New 11th Army to reinforce the front line.

In order to protect the gate of Sichuan, the high-level of the state government spared no expense.

Seeing this series of numbers appearing on the telegram, Mo Di breathed a sigh of relief, the Second Army and the New Eleventh Army were all divisions of a hundred battles that came back from Kunlun Pass, and the Eighteenth Army was Chen Cheng's starting force, one of the main forces of the Chinese military.

On the other hand, Dahongshan, under the dispatch of Yang Zanmo, has played a few small *, these ten days, perhaps the most depressed ten days of Lieutenant General Naojiro Tentani, every day is tired of running, small short legs run thin!

The first time was to be beaten with a stick, Naojiro Amaya with an army of 30,000 to attack Dahongshan, like a cat playing with mice, the first two days had a lot of fun, the third day, that is, the day the 3rd and 39th Divisions launched the attack, the 40th Division suddenly found that the heavy artillery brigade that was operating with him was missing. Early the next morning, the remnants of the heavy artillery brigade were found back, one by one devastated, not far from death, a question to understand, I don't know where a unit came from late last night, unknowingly approached the heavy artillery brigade, shot the sentry with a poisonous crossbow arrow, and then rushed in a large number of murderous unblinking demon kings, stabbing the sleeping artillerymen one by one, seeing the opportunity to hide early and secretly survived a life, not enough to wake up on the spot on the spot. After that, an artillery unit rushed in, and the heavy artillery was too big to be taken away, and all of it was destroyed, and the small-caliber guns and shells were not even moved. Naojiro Amaya was furious and ordered Major General Sadamao Ishimoto of the 234th Wing to send someone to see it, and the scouts came back and said that the artillery brigade camp was still there, and the people were there, all of them were dead, and the blood on the ground was black and smelly, and they did not dare to approach. There was not a single complete cannon, only a few empty tents, resembling a haunted house.

Shameless assassination on the rivers and lakes! Naojiro Amaya quickly reported the report, however, no one admitted to using this method, and even the Chinese military and civilian media did not talk about the great victory of annihilating a heavy artillery brigade, and even the intelligence department did not know anything. Only Wang Zanbin and Mo Di know where Li Baicheng moved these heavy artillery shells.

Losing the heavy artillery, trapped in the Dahong Mountain, Wang Zhanxu knew that his lone army had the possibility of survival, and took the initiative to contact the Seventh Army and formulated a set of combat plans that should be combined with the outside and the outside, and in the next attack of the 40th Division, Wang Zhanxu asked Wang Zejun of the 149th Division to entangle the advancing 233rd Wing, and the 171st Division of the Seventh Army attacked in a roundabout way, killing and wounding more than 1,000 Japanese soldiers.

After that, the 40th Division did not dare to advance lightly against the enemy, and adopted group operations, never easily separating.

At the beginning of June, Mo Shujie led the remnants of the 84th Army into Zaoyang, where a large number of supplies from Anhui were obtained, and although the 84th Army with bullets * was small, it was full of revenge, and the three divisions selected the personnel who could still fight, and formed three complete infantry regiments, led by Zhang Guangwei, deputy commander and commander of the 174th Division, and joined the operation in Dahongshan.

After the 84th Army joined the battle circle, Naojiro Tiangu never had a good life again, Zhang Guangwei sent a guerrilla regiment, with Ling Yun as the commander, Yang Zanmo sent the 172nd Division 516 Regiment, with Yan Seng Wu as the commander, and Wang Zanbin actually sent a special service regiment directly under the Seventh Army, with Mo Enemy as the commander, and three guerrilla regiments, which stirred up Dahongshan to the ground. After being harassed countless times, the Japanese army became angry and sent troops to pursue, not wanting to step into the ambush circle of the Chinese army in a completely impossible place every time, just as Zhang Gan calculated with a compass. The four major detachments of the Ikeda detachment, the Ogawa detachment, the Yoshida detachment, and the Matsui detachment were constantly being teased by the invincibles, and they were beaten without attacking, and they were also beaten when they attacked, and they were in a dilemma.

On 9 June, the two Japanese armies launched a general offensive together, with the North Route Army making a detour to the west of Yichang in an attempt to cut off the Chinese army's retreat, while the 13th Division took Yichang from the east. Li Yannian's Second Army and Zheng Dongguo's New 11th Army have not yet been adjusted in place, and they can't find the feeling of Kunlun Pass at all, only Peng Shan's 18th Army can still block a few moves, but unfortunately it is difficult to defeat the enemy with four hands, and the Japanese army captured Yichang on June 12.

According to the pre-war plan of the 11th Army, the purpose of attacking Yichang was only to hit the Fifth Theater of Operations, and now that the purpose has been fully realized, it is reasonable to give up retreating, and besides, a big battle, killing 10,000 people and losing 3,000 themselves, the number of troops is no longer sufficient, and the reluctant occupation of Yichang can only bring passivity. So, Sonobe and Ichiro asked the base camp to withdraw from Yichang.

However, an incident that happened in a distant place directly affected the battle situation in Yichang.

On June 14, 1940, the German army entered Paris and the French government collapsed, and France was divided into two factions, the pacifist government of Marshal Philippe Pétain, which remained in France proper, and the government of Charles de Gaulle, who was in exile in Britain and had little support from other countries in the world except Britain. The glorious victories of Nazi Germany in Europe stimulated a renewed sense of the Japanese military leadership to resolve the war in China, the Japanese Army believed that the occupation of Yichang would help to exert pressure on the national government and thus promote the emergence of peace talks, and the Japanese Navy believed that it needed an advance base for inland bombing. The unanimous opinion impressed the emperor, who decreed that Yichang must be occupied for a long time.

Under the emperor's decree, the Japanese army base camp decided to increase troops to Central China, with the 13th Division holding Yichang, and at the same time ordering the 40th Division of Dahongshan to retreat to Wuhan.

It was not easy for the 40th Division, which had been mired in the mud, to get out, and it was entangled by several Chinese troops in Dahongshan for several days, and it was not until 20 June that it was able to break through the invisible defense line formed by the Seventh Army and the 84th Army.