Quartermasters can also fight the devils

That afternoon, the whole Hongcheng became bustling. City government staff and officers and soldiers of the new 100th Division began to persuade people door to door. For those who were unwilling to leave, the persuaders told them that they only had four days to consider. If they did not evacuate by then, they would be forcibly conscripted into the army to participate in the battle with the Japanese army. This trick was very effective. Many people were afraid of being forcibly conscripted into the army, so they repeatedly expressed that they would move out of Hongcheng at the specified time.

In the afternoon, Zhang Wenwu called the police chief of Hongcheng to his office. He asked the police chief to cooperate with Li Zhengying and bring people to "invite" the leaders of all the gangs in Hongcheng. He needed to have a good talk with these people.

Zhang Wenwu was also worried that these local tyrants would harass and rob the people during their evacuation, so he suddenly came up with an idea for a good solution, which was to call all the gang leaders over. He planned to "reason and emotion" to persuade these gang leaders to send their men to his troops. As long as they cooperated with his actions, these gang leaders could still leave Hongcheng safely with their property.

Although these gang members are not very disciplined, they are all native Hongcheng people. They can play a significant role in fighting street battles with the Japanese army or entering the rear to cause sabotage. At the same time, he also asked the police chief to count the prisoners in the prison. He would also need to incorporate these prisoners into the army at that time so that they can also do their part to defend the country.

Hongcheng is the capital of Gan Province and a famous ancient city. There are still many gangs making a living in the city. The bosses of these gangs are usually arrogant and domineering. Now, they are listening to Zhang Wenwu's words in the headquarters of the New 100th Division like little chickens. They understand very clearly from the words of the young commander in front of them that if they hand over all their subordinates, they can go far away with the wealth they have gained over the years. If they don't cooperate with him, they will leave behind all their wealth and subordinates, and their lives as well.

Zhang Wenwu's "mobilization" this time was very effective. Under his "earnest" explanation, all the gang leaders realized the idea of ​​serving the country and voluntarily sent their brothers to the army to assist the new 100th Division in resisting the invasion of the Japanese army. They would fully cooperate with the government's actions and move out of Hongcheng with their families as soon as possible.

Zhang Wenwu was very satisfied with the performance of these gang leaders. He asked Ouyang Heng to supervise their actions. Only after these gang leaders called all their men over could they leave Hongcheng with their families.

In Hongcheng Prison, Zhang Wenwu came here at night with a company of officers and soldiers. From the information given to him by the police chief, he saw that there were still more than 700 prisoners of various kinds detained in Hongcheng Prison. This was a considerable force for Zhang Wenwu. You know, the people in the prison were all tough guys. If such people went to the battlefield, it would be a nightmare for the Japanese army.

All the prisoners were gathered on the prison playground. The officer in charge of recruiting first told all the prisoners the purpose of this gathering. Then, he also said that as long as they joined the army, all their sentences would be waived. If they performed well, they could be promoted to officers. This was an excellent opportunity for all the prisoners. Of course, prisoners with poor health were not allowed to sign up to join the army.

The relocation of the people in Hongcheng is in full swing. With the assistance of the government and the army, most of the people are moving to other cities one after another. Some go to the south to live with relatives, and some go west to find a new city life. Every day, the gates of Hongcheng are filled with large armies of people moving out of the city.

Zhang Wenwu assigned all the newly recruited gang members and prisoners to the division headquarters' special forces battalion. Now the size of the special forces battalion is quite large. Li Zhengying, the former captain of the suicide squad and now the battalion commander of the special forces battalion, also mixed these "problematic" recruits with the former special forces battalion officers and soldiers. At the same time, he also conducted a large selection, selecting those with special skills among these people to form a 300-man suicide squad. Now his battalion has the size of ten infantry companies plus a suicide squad.

After more than four days of intense evacuation, there is no civilian left in Hongcheng. Only then did Zhang Wenwu breathe a sigh of relief. Now he can let go and arrange this wartime "fortress" well.

First, Zhang Wenwu asked all troops to start building fortifications in their respective defense zones, ensuring that there were defensive fortifications on every street and that every house was connected and had shooting holes dug. At the same time, he personally instructed the officers and soldiers to dig deep pits on wider streets to guard against attacks by Japanese tanks. Then, he asked the headquarters of the New 22nd Army, which had been moved to the west bank of the Gan River, to send out the military engineering corps to build three to five sinkable and retractable iron chain bridges on the Gan River. He needed to be prepared for the situation where he might need to mobilize reinforcements from the west bank.

When the entire Hongcheng had become a large construction site, the Japanese army finally launched their three-town offensive operation.

The first to launch an attack was the Hata Detachment under the 27th Army of the Central China Expeditionary Force. This Japanese unit took advantage of the heavy rain at night to launch a surprise attack on Anqing on the Yangtze River. The 27th Army of the Sichuan Army was guarding Anqing. As a result, after a night of fighting, the troops of the th Army were driven out of the city by the Japanese army. Anqing fell overnight.

Then, after occupying Anqing, the Hata Detachment boarded naval ships and moved westward along the Yangtze River. When the Japanese ships arrived near the Madang Fortress on the Yangtze River, they were stopped by the artillery of the Madang Fortress, which was designed by German consultants and operated by the Chinese army for several months. The Japanese ships tried to open a channel from the Yangtze River, but the Chinese army had already laid mines and sunken ships in the water. When the Japanese ships were preparing to sweep the mines, the fortress's artillery also successfully stopped the Japanese minesweeping operations.

The Japanese army then changed its attack to a roundabout attack from land. At that time, the garrison near the Madang Fortress was the 16th Army, but the commander of the 16th Army, Li Yunheng, had somehow gone crazy two weeks ago and actually organized a two-week "Anti-Japanese Military and Political University" when the Japanese army was about to attack. The Japanese army learned in advance through local intelligence personnel that the university would hold a graduation ceremony in a few days. Commander Li Yunheng also invited officers at all levels of the 16th Army and local gentry to participate. As a result, in the early morning of the day of the graduation ceremony of the "Anti-Japanese Military and Political University", the Japanese army successfully landed in the defense area of ​​the 16th Army, and then very smoothly captured Xiangshan and Xiangkou and other places where they were unprepared and had no chief of the army in command.

Fortunately, the 2nd Battalion of the Chinese Marine Corps, which was defending the core position of Changshan in the Madang Fortress, did not send anyone to attend the graduation ceremony. Under the command of Captain Bao Changyi, they put up a tenacious resistance to the attacking Japanese army and sent a telegram for help to the war zone as soon as possible.

The war zone was also shocked after receiving the telegram for help from the Ma'an Fortress, because the war zone had not received any combat telegrams from the 16th Army. At this time, the commander of the 16th Army, Li Yunheng, was holding a grand and warm graduation ceremony. After Li Yunheng finished speaking, everyone started eating and drinking. As a result, everyone was drunk. It was not until the urgent inquiry telegram from the war zone came that the remaining staff of the 16th Army headquarters hurried to the banquet to find Commander Li Yunheng to report the situation.

The theater also waited for a while and found that the 167th Army had not sent a reply, so it quickly sent a telegram to the th Division of the th Army stationed in Pengze, asking the division commander Xue Weiying to immediately lead his troops to reinforce the Changshan position of the Madang Fortress.

At the Changshan position, Bao Changyi's 2nd Battalion had already suffered more than half of its casualties, and even the artillery shells on the fort had been used up. In order to avoid annihilation, the 2nd Battalion had to evacuate the position. The Japanese army then occupied the Changshan position and took advantage of the situation to occupy the Madang Fort.

When the top government officials learned that the Madang Fortress was lost so quickly, they were immediately furious. They estimated that the Madang Fortress could be defended for a month. Therefore, the commander-in-chief of the Ninth War Zone, Commander Chen, was immediately called over and scolded.

After being scolded thoroughly, Commander Chen was very angry and immediately ordered the 167th Army and the th Army to counterattack the Madang Fortress. However, the Japanese army relied on the solid first-level national defense fortifications of the Madang Fortress for defense, which caused the Chinese army's offensive to be repeatedly frustrated and suffered heavy casualties. Seeing that it was impossible to do anything, Commander Chen ordered to stop the offensive and the troops retreated to the Pengze area. The top government officials were very dissatisfied with this result, so they ordered the commander of the th Army, Li Yunheng, to be dismissed and transferred to the military court for investigation, and the commander of the th Division, Xue Weiying, was shot.

After this, the Japanese 101st Division and 106th Division also launched an attack on the Chinese army on the Nanxun Line along the Yangtze River. Commander Xue of the First Corps also commanded the Chinese troops on the Nanxun Line to resist the Japanese attack one by one according to the plan, buying some time for the new nd Army in Hongcheng to deploy its defenses.

After gradually resisting the Japanese army for ten days, Commander Xue of the First Corps commanded his troops to quickly break away from contact with the Japanese army and led his troops to fight on the outer line. The Japanese 101st Division then rushed straight towards Hongcheng along the Nanxun Line.

After the troops of the First Corps began to break contact with the Japanese army, Commander Xue immediately sent a telegram to inform Commander Huang in Hongcheng. On the same day, Commander Huang called all divisional commanders to the military headquarters and told them that the Japanese 101st Division would soon arrive in Hongcheng. He asked all troops to be ready and fight according to the previous plan. At the end of the meeting, Commander Huang also seriously stated that without orders, no one could abandon the position without authorization, and they must be prepared to fight to the last soldier.

Zhang Wenwu knew that it was now the turn of the New 22nd Army to perform. He had turned the urban area of ​​Hongcheng into a temporary fortress. He believed that this time he would be able to give the Japanese army an unforgettable memory.

The 101st Division of the Japanese Army was Japan's first batch of special divisions. This Japanese division was formed in September 1937 for the Battle of Shanghai. The division commander was Lieutenant General Masayoshi Ito. It was under the command of the 9st Brigade and the 101nd Brigade, including four infantry regiments, a cavalry battalion, a field artillery regiment, an engineering regiment, a logistics regiment, and other direct units. Among them, Colonel Kunigoro Iizuka, the commander of the 102st Regiment of the 101st Brigade, was called the "God of War" by Japanese propaganda agencies.

"Your Excellency the division commander, the intelligence department has sent us the numbers and information of the Chinese troops defending Hongcheng. This unit is the New 22nd Army of China, which caused the 10th Division to suffer huge losses in Taierzhuang some time ago. They are praised by the Chinese government as the best defensive unit." Chief of Staff Major General Fukutaro Nishiyama said as he walked into a tent that was temporarily used as the division headquarters with a telegram.

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