The four regiments of the 40th Division that participated in the attack did not last long before withdrawing back under the fierce fire of the defenders of the position and the counterattack of nearly 100 mortars. Not only did they lose several hundred officers and men in this attack, but they did not even touch the edge of the opponent's position. After hearing the casualties reported by his subordinates, Division Commander Fang Riying almost vomited blood.

Fang Riying asked his men to suspend the attack, and then immediately telegraphed the situation of the defenders on the opposite side to Shangguan Yunxiang, the commander-in-chief of the front. Shangguan Yunxiang originally thought that the main force of the 40th Division would attack first, and although it could not wipe out the rest of the New Fourth Army at once, it would still be no problem to hold back the main force of the New Fourth Army. In order to make an all-out effort to encircle the remnants of the New Fourth Army, which was about to cross the river, Shangguan Yunxiangzheng commanded the 52nd and 62nd Divisions to join the two divisions of the 50th Army from the left and right respectively, and then attacked the remnants of the New Fourth Army together with his own three divisions.

But Fang Riying's telegram surprised Shangguan Yunxiang, and his own deployment was also disrupted. If the encirclement of the 52nd and 62nd Divisions could not be completed in time, then the New Fourth Army, which had such a strong fighting capacity, would be able to break through the positions of the 40th Division and flow again from the south or north, and then its plan to encircle and annihilate the main force of the New Fourth Army on the south bank of the Yangtze River might fall through again.

Thinking of the promise he made in front of Commander Gu, Shangguan Yunxiang was also nervous in his heart. Shangguan Yunxiang was also a battle-hardened general, and immediately ordered the two divisions of the 50th Army to immediately approach Wusha Town, and ordered Fang Riying to continue the offensive at any cost, and it was necessary to hold back the main force of the New Fourth Army so that it could continue to escape.

After issuing several orders, Shangguan Yunxiang again ordered the 52nd and 62nd Divisions to advance rapidly overnight, and must rush to the outside of Wusha Town tomorrow morning to join the two divisions of the 50th Army. Now Shangguan Yunxiang is eager to rush to Wusha Town immediately and encircle the main force of the New Fourth Army on the Yangtze River side of Wusha Town, as long as the main force and military headquarters of the New Fourth Army are eliminated, it will be a great achievement. Therefore, Shangguan Yunxiang and the 108th Division and the 79th Division also rushed to Wusha Town at the speed of a rapid march overnight.

Fang Riying also frowned when he received Shangguan Yunxiang's order, and then handed the telegram to the two brigade commanders under him. After reading the telegram, the two brigade commanders glanced at each other, and one of the brigade commanders said: "Division, the order from Shangfeng is to let us drag the main force of the New Fourth Army, then we just use a feint to drag the New Fourth Army on the opposite side, there is no need to fight all the family resources, right?"

Fang Riying glanced at him, nodded and said: "Yes, we will definitely suffer if we fight hard, in this way, your brigade will launch a feint, and you must drag the New Fourth Army on the opposite side, and when the commander-in-chief arrives with the main force, it will be time to destroy these New Fourth Army." With Fang Riying's instructions, the brigade commander immediately responded: "Yes, Shiza!

Half an hour later, about two regiments of Nationalist soldiers, under the cover of more than a dozen heavy machine guns, launched an attack on the defenders' positions. Wang Haitao was still standing in the bunker, observing the attacking soldiers with the artillery viewing scope. These soldiers had long since lost the swagger of the first attack, and one by one they cautiously half-bent over, moving forward little by little.

The other side ran out of artillery, and Wang Haitao did not order the mortars to open fire, because there must still be a few days of battle to be fought, and the shells can be saved a little. When the enemy advanced about 200 meters in front of the position, Huang Guizhong gave the order to open fire, and suddenly the light and heavy weapons on the position were fully fired. As soon as the enemy opened fire on the position, they all lay on the ground and returned fire indiscriminately, and the bullets were not accurate at all, and most of them flew without knowing where to go.

After less than ten minutes of firing on the position, the attacking soldiers turned around and retreated, and when the enemy retreated, Huang Guizhong also ordered a ceasefire. After the enemy attacked twice in such a row, Wang Haitao understood that the enemy was using a feint to drag himself and wait for the main force behind to come up. Seeing that it was evening, Wang Haitao called Huang Guizhong and asked Huang Guizhong to command the first and second battalions to prepare a counter-charge to try to repel the enemy.

When the two regiments of the 40th Army launched a feint for the third time, Wang Haitao ordered the mortar positions to open fire again. After three rounds of artillery bombardment had been fought and the attacking Nationalist troops had been defeated, the shelling did not stop, but extended toward the position where the main force of the 40 th Army was located, and the officers and men of the 1st and 2nd Battalions, who had been prepared for a long time, quickly jumped out of the trenches and launched a counter-charge against the 40 th Division after the artillery fire was extended.

This countercharge caught the 40th Division by surprise, and the 40th Division, including the division commander Fang Riying, was dodging the sudden artillery bombardment, and only reacted when the officers and men of the 1st and 2nd Battalions were killed in front of them. The officers and men of the 40th Division who rushed to the battle, how could they stop the ferocious assault of the officers and men of the 1st Battalion and the 2nd Battalion, the officers and men of the 40th Division in front were first defeated, and then the rout spread to the whole division, and even Fang Yueying fled in embarrassment under the protection of the guard company.

The officers and men of the 1st and 2nd Battalions pursued only a few miles before they stopped their footsteps and returned to their positions while cleaning up the battlefield. The wounded officers and men of the 40th Division were treated by Wang Haitao's medical guards, and these wounded and captured Wang Haitao were escorted back to Wusha Town and handed over to the New Fourth Army for disposal. Fang Riying ran out for more than ten miles in a row, and didn't stop until he couldn't hear the shouting behind him.

At this time, Fang Riying's side was only a few hundred remnants of defeated soldiers, all of them listless. Fortunately, troops came closer one after another, and by the time the two brigade commanders also found Fang Riying, there were only 3 or 4,000 officers and men of the 40th Division gathered together. Looking at his embarrassed subordinates, Fang Riying was speechless for a while. It is really unexpected that a complete main division of oneself will fall to this point in one day.

Just when Fang Yueying was resting on the spot in embarrassment, Liu Ruzhai, the commander of the 148th Division of Guichi, also sent Brigade Commander Bai Liang to support the 40th Division with a batch of military supplies. Fang Riying was not angry when he saw Bai Liang, and he was about to send Bai Liang away after a few perfunctory words, but the few words Bai Liang said to him made his eyes widen in surprise.

It turned out that Bai Liang said: "Division Commander Fang doesn't have to be too discouraged, it is not only the New Fourth Army that is fighting with you, but some of the main forces of the Ninety Army, including Commander Wang Haitao of the Ninety Army. The defeat to the troops of the Ninety Army was not excessive. Fang Riying glared at Bai Liang and asked, "Is Brigade Commander Bai serious?" Have you ever seen Wang Haitao, the commander of the 90th Army?"

Bai Liang replied: "Commander Fang, what I said is true! Although I have not seen Commander Wang Haitao with my own eyes, the handwritten letter written by Commander Wang Haitao to our division seat is still with our division. Fang Riying sat down on the chair and said: "No wonder the enemy army has so many artillery pieces, as well as so many light and heavy machine guns, which is the weapon and equipment that the New Fourth Army can equip!

Then Fang Riying slapped the case again, and shouted loudly: "This Wang Haitao is so bold that he dares to openly support the communist army, Lao Tzu must report this matter to Shangfeng and investigate him for the crime of colluding with the communists!" Bai Liang sighed and said: "Senior Commander Fang, you first dissipate your anger, have you heard of the overwhelming power of this 90th army? Even Chairman Jiang is helpless to take him, what can you do if you report it? For now, let's think about how to deal with this situation!"

Fang Riying was on fire, how could he listen to Bai Liang's words, and after sending Bai Liang away in a few words, he was ready to send a telegram to Shangguan Yunbai. But after the telegram was sent, he did not get a reply from Shangguan Yunxiang until dawn, when the guard woke up the dazed Fang Riying who was asleep, and the guard reported to Fang Riying, and the commander-in-chief of Shangguan Yunxiang led two divisions to arrive, and the commander-in-chief asked the division seat to go over and held a pre-war meeting overnight.

When Fang Riying arrived at Shangguan Yun to get along, in a requisitioned room, Shangguan Yunxiang, the commander of the 108th Division, Rong Jiwu, the commander of the 79th Division, Duan Linmao, and several brigade commanders of the two divisions had all arrived, just waiting for Fang Riying's arrival. Fang Riying saluted Shangguan Yunxiang, and after saluting several division commanders, Shangguan Yunxiang asked everyone to sit down at a conference table.

At the beginning of the meeting, Shangguan Yunxiang went straight to the point, he took the telegram that Fang Riying took to him, and asked with a serious face: "Division Commander Fang, your telegram said that the New Fourth Army and the Ninetieth Army joined forces to fight with our army, and the commander of the Ninetieth Army, Wang Haitao, also appeared in the New Fourth Army, but the truth? You should understand the stakes here!"

Fang Riying stood up and replied with the same serious face: "Report to the commander-in-chief, these are all told by the 148th Division Brigade Commander Bai Liang to be humble. However, in the course of the attack on the New Fourth Army, he had already discovered that the opponent's firepower was extremely ferocious, and there were not only hundreds of artillery pieces, but also a very large number of light and heavy machine guns and automatic weapons, and it was absolutely impossible for the New Fourth Army to equip such weapons. ”

Hearing this, Duan Linmao, commander of the 79th Division, said: "Commander-in-chief, is it possible that the 90th Army secretly supported this batch of weapons and ammunition of the New Fourth Army?" Shangguan Yunxiang shook his head and replied: "If there were only a small number of artillery pieces and light and heavy machine guns in the enemy's army, it might be possible that the 90th Army secretly supported them, but with so many artillery, light and heavy machine guns, and automatic weapons, how did the 90th Army come all the way from Guangxi to the New Fourth Army?"

After listening to Shangguan Yunxiang's words, Rong Jiwu, commander of the 108th Division, asked: "Commander-in-chief, how could this Wang Haitao come all the way from Guangxi to this mountainous area in southern Anhui with his troops, and how could he help the New Fourth Army to start a war with us? The 90th Army's garrison is in Guangxi, even if this Wang Haitao is in the Communist Party, can he pinch it and calculate that the New Fourth Army will be encircled and suppressed and rushed over?"

At this time, Fang Riying interjected: "Report to the commander-in-chief, according to Brigadier Bai Liang, the number of the 90th Army led by Wang Haitao is not large, at most 3 or 4,000 people, but these people have extremely strong combat effectiveness, and they have captured the peripheral positions outside Baishapu Town in just over an hour, completely annihilating a whole regiment of troops of the 148th Division, and rushing through the interception of the 148th Division in Baishapu Town. ”