From Yongxiu to Ruichang, it is only more than 80 kilometers to take the avenue, but the 11th Division now has to take all the equipment to take the trail, and the speed is naturally not fast, especially the baggage troops, the speed is even slower, and many combat units must let the soldiers help the baggage troops carry materials in many cases in order not to let the baggage troops pull too far.

The sudden rainstorm eased the tense battle situation a little, and in the Jiangnan area, the heavy rain caused far more trouble than the Devil officers had predicted, and they were unable to launch an effective attack in the face of the Chinese defenders, who had trenches and other fortifications.

The 11th Division's stay in Yongxiu far exceeded the expectations of the Pengshanhe Theater, and it was not until August 27 that the troops of the 11th Division set off from Yongxiu, during which the 11th Division received a batch of ammunition supplies urgently replenished by the theater and local recruits to help the 11th Division transport ammunition supplies.

The summer rain seemed to be endless, the heavy rain stopped, but the drizzling rain was always floating in the air, and the troops of the 11th Division trudged through the rain with difficulty, and every minute, soldiers and civilians fell into the mud, and then got up and continued to move forward in the company of the brothers around them.

"Damn the weather, at this speed, when will it reach the line of attack?"

Mei Chunhua looked worried, the troops were marching like snails, I am afraid that the distance that could be completed in one day in the past will not be completed in three days now.

"Brigadier Commander, there's no way! The road is now impossible to walk at all, the 74th Army has blown up all the bridges north of De'an, and even the road has big potholes they dug, not to mention the possibility of mines. ”

The chief of staff smiled bitterly, they are not far from the avenue now, let alone a soldier, even he himself wants to take the avenue, but the actual situation is not at all.

"Feng Yi."

Looking at the sky, it was not far from dark, this kind of weather, there was no need to march at night, it was necessary to find a place for the brothers to repair, at least to be able to shelter from the rain, otherwise it would rain all night, and the brothers would probably fall ill, and this kind of non-combat attrition made the commanders the most painful.

"Here!"

Feng Ye was also covered in mud, and approached Mei Chunhua in three steps and two slides.

"Find a place where at least shelter from the rain and allow the brothers to rest."

Mei Chunhua frowned, in this wilderness, I hope there is a village nearby.

"Yes, Brigadier."

After Feng Yi saluted, he turned to leave.

"In groups of five, pick up the speed, travel light, find shelter from the rain nearby, remember, report back as soon as you find a place, and don't go into the village."

Feng Yi briefly conveyed the brigade commander's order and told the brothers in the direct battalion to disperse to search.

"Remember, the brethren will go in this direction, and you will return before dark."

Feng Yi explained to everyone, and then ordered the brothers to disperse.

In the wilderness, if you want to find a place to take shelter from the rain, you can only find nearby villages, and a team of thousands of people can't handle a small village.

Feng Yi didn't plan to let all the troops be stationed in one village, he just wanted to find as many places as possible so that all the brothers could have a good rest.

Because of the advent of the war, this part of the village was already full of soldiers, Feng Yi did not let the brothers into the village, because he was afraid of disturbing these people, as for the arrival of a large army, it would make the people feel at ease; Because violations of military discipline by large forces will be curbed.

"Brigade commander, all the places within a kilometer radius have been searched, and there is no village where all the brethren can settle down; However, they could be placed separately so that the brothers could rest. ”

Feng Yi was covered in mud and found Mei Chunhua to report.

"Over there, about five hundred meters, there is a village with more than fifty families; Two hundred meters over there, there is a ruined temple that can accommodate a platoon ......"

According to Feng's report, the 31st Brigade had to be split into companies.

"Okay, the largest village, let the division headquarters and labor battalions carry supplies into the station; Chief of Staff, you divide the two regiments into places and tell them to pay attention to military discipline. ”

Mei Chunhua nodded and let the troops enter the village to rest, at this time, it was already dark.

"Wang, Wang, Wang......"

The quiet and peaceful village, with the barking of dogs became noisy, and the large army entered the village, making all the people nervous, in this era, there is no one who is not afraid of being a soldier.

"Catch the strong men, men run!"

With a loud sound, the chickens and dogs in the village jumped into a mess, and the young and middle-aged people ran towards the crops in embarrassment, trying to avoid being caught.

"Give me all his daughters back!"

Unfortunately, the villagers who fled in all directions were quickly blocked back by the soldiers, and all the panicked people gathered in the dam in front of the village.

"Fellow countrymen, don't be afraid, we are neither a rout nor bandits, we are troops of the 11th Division, we are here neither to recruit nor to Latin, we just want to borrow your house, let the brothers hide from the rain all night, and when the day dawns, we will naturally leave."

The battalion company commander stood in front of the villagers and carried out Mei Chunhua's order, so that the noisy village slowly became quiet.

A night's rest gave the weary soldiers and laborers a rest, and the village had dried their clothes by a fire lit on them, and there was something to cover them from the rain on their heads, which they had simply eaten before falling asleep.

It was the duty of the reconnaissance company to find the way, and Feng Ye had to take the brothers of the battalion directly under him every day to divide into two waves to find a safe path for the large army on the left and right.

With such a large troop operation, it is impossible for the reconnaissance company of the 31st Brigade to be fully contracted, and the large unit still has troops to open the way in front.

The 9th Division that captured Ruichang was supposed to attack to the southwest at this time and cut off the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway, which was also an order given to them by the military headquarters of the 11th Army, but the commander of the 6th Brigade, Maruyama Masan, was hot-headed, he saw that the 106th Division and the 101st Division were completely beaten by Xue Yue's First Corps, and now they were still wandering around De'an, so he decided to lead the 6th Brigade to the south and plunge headlong into the Minshan Mountains.

Xue Yue also thought that the Sichuan army lied about the military situation, so he ordered the 74th Army to send a regiment to drive away the enemy in Minshan and cover the safety of the defenders on the front of Nanxun Road. A brigade sent by the 74th Army was almost dumpled. Zhou Zhidao of the 151st Brigade immediately came back to his senses, and led the troops to fight and withdraw at the same time. After receiving the report, Wang Yaowu was also afraid that something would happen to the 151st Brigade, so he hurriedly led other troops of the 51st Division to support, but who knew that the 51st Division was not an opponent when it went together. The 51st Division was beaten back, and Yu Jishi finally figured out the enemy's strength and number at this time, and hurriedly led all the other troops of the 74th Army to rush to support, but still did not retreat.

"Where is the Eleventh Division? What about the Eighteenth Army? Why haven't you attacked yet? ”

At the headquarters of the First Corps, Xue Yue was on the phone and complained to the commander of the theater of operations, he had fought well, but the devils in the direction of Ruichang came over and almost made him run all the way, how could he not be in a hurry.