Quartermasters can also fight the devils

When Commander Huang sent a telegram to the new 100th Division that the 101th Division was about to arrive at the Hongcheng battlefield, Zhang Wenwu was discussing with Ouyang Heng whether to launch another counterattack at night. They wanted to see if they could regain some territory when the st Division's commander was dead and the Japanese army's morale was at its lowest.

"Division Commander, Chief of Staff, the Army Commander sent an urgent telegram." The communications staff officer quickly walked into the operations hall of the division headquarters and handed the telegram sent by Army Commander Huang to Zhang Wenwu who was looking at the map.

Zhang Wenwu looked at the contents of the telegram and frowned. Ouyang Heng beside him also noticed that Zhang Wenwu's expression was not right, so he quickly asked: "Commander, what happened?"

"Brother Ouyang, it seems that our counterattack plan tonight has to be cancelled. We need to strengthen our defense immediately. The Japanese 9th Division has come to Hongcheng." Zhang Wenwu said helplessly after handing the telegram to Ouyang Heng.

After Ouyang Heng took the telegram and read it, he couldn't help but smile bitterly and said, "Division Commander, if the troops of the 101th Division come to Hongcheng, we don't have any good way to deal with it now. The tricks we prepared before have basically been used on the st Division."

Zhang Wenwu also understood that there was really no good solution now. In his opinion, he could only fight the 9th Division in the urban area.

"Brother Ouyang, we can only withstand the three-pronged attack of the 101th Division in the city first, and then see if there are any loopholes in the deployment of the 100th Division that can be exploited according to the situation. Tell the troops below about the reinforcement of the Japanese th Division, and let everyone be prepared. Commander Huang also said that the First Corps is still urgently modifying the previous combat plan. The troops they prepared before are not enough to surround the st Division and the th Division. I still say that it is better to rely on ourselves than on others. They fight theirs and we fight ours." Zhang Wenwu took out a cigarette and lit it. He felt that no matter which Japanese troops came to Hongcheng, it would be the same for him and the officers and soldiers of the new th Division.

There was basically no large-scale exchange of fire in the urban area of ​​Hongcheng that day. The officers and soldiers of the 101st Division of the Japanese Army were waiting to hand over their positions to the officers and soldiers of the th Division tomorrow morning, and then rush to the west bank to rest. They were all exhausted both physically and mentally.

The officers and soldiers of the new 100th Division were constantly reinforcing the fortifications and positions in various places. Zhang Wenwu and Ouyang Heng both knew that the Japanese th Division would launch a fierce attack after its arrival, and their troops must withstand the attack of the th Division in the first few days. As long as they could tire the th Division out, they would definitely be able to find the opponent's loopholes and deal a fatal blow to the th Division.

"Brother Ouyang, if the Japanese army occupies more than half of the city, we will need to leave some companies in the special forces battalion in the enemy-occupied areas to carry out harassment operations. If the most critical moment comes, we will have to use the last method." Zhang Wenwu looked at the officers and soldiers who were reinforcing the fortifications in the front, and whispered to Ouyang Heng beside him.

Ouyang Heng did not say anything, he just nodded silently. He knew that it would be extremely difficult for the remaining 100 officers and soldiers of the new th Division to withstand the attack of the th Division troops, and the worst-case scenario must be taken into consideration.

The most anxious person now is Commander Xue of the First Corps. He is watching a group of staff officers in the Corps Headquarters working on an expanded encirclement plan. However, no matter how hard the staff officers work out the plan, there is only one result: the number of troops on their side is not enough. The best outcome is to defeat the 101st Division, which has lost its fighting spirit, and force the Ninth Division to retreat.

This was far from his previous grand goal of encircling and annihilating a division, but he had no place to get reinforcements immediately, which made him very anxious. The new 22nd Army in Hongcheng had sent a telegram asking how long they would need to guard Hongcheng and when the main force of the corps could be assembled to launch an attack on the Japanese troops outside Hongcheng.

Inside the 101th Japanese Army Headquarters, all the Japanese officers now have stern faces. The reason is very simple. Just now, the Chinese government published a piece of news in the newspaper, which said that the commander of the 101st Division of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Masaki Ito, was killed by the New nd Army of the Chinese government. At the same time, the commander of the st Regiment, Colonel Kunigoro Iizuka, was also killed.

This news made all the officers in the 101th Army headquarters feel ashamed. Such a shameful thing happened to the st Division in the battle sequence of the th Army. Now Commander Okamura Yasuji has locked himself in his office to reflect.

"squeak"

Lieutenant General Okamura Yasuji opened the door of his office, then he walked to the sand table in the middle of the hall and said to all the officers: "Gentlemen, Lieutenant General Ito Masaki, the commander of the 101st Division, bravely served the Emperor. We must avenge Lieutenant General Ito Masaki and must eliminate the New 106nd Army of the Chinese Government in Hongcheng. Now some officers and soldiers of the 106th Division have joined the battlefield in Hongcheng, but there are still many Chinese troops on the outer line of Hongcheng. Gentlemen, you must find a way for the th Division to quickly defeat the Chinese army in the Wuning direction, so that after defeating the Chinese army in front of it, the th Division can also withdraw some troops to assist the th Division in occupying Hongcheng as soon as possible. Please help me."

After hearing the latest order from Commander Okamura Yasuji, all the staff officers in the headquarters actively checked and discussed it. At the same time, they also notified the Air Force to send aircraft to investigate the places they needed to know.

On the morning of the next day, the 19th and 36th Regiments of the 101th Division of the Japanese Army entered the city of Hongcheng from the directions of Hue Gate and Yonghe Gate respectively, and then took over the defense forces of the st Division that were originally in the city.

For the whole morning, the officers and soldiers of the 101th Division were defending various positions in the city in an orderly manner. The commander of the 101th Division, Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke, transferred the cavalry battalion of the 101st Division to the vicinity of the original camp of the st Division for garrison. He even placed the headquarters of the th Division on the original camp of the st Division.

"Sir, isn't it unsafe to place the division headquarters in the camp that was originally the headquarters of the 101st Division? You know, there is still a Chinese force active outside Hongcheng. Last time, they launched a sneak attack on the headquarters of the 101st Division, but they were not wiped out." Major General Jing Shuxuan reminded the division commander, Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Yoshisuke, with some concern.

The division commander, Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke, smiled and said to Major General Jing Shuxuan: "Jing Shujun, you don't have to worry. The same move will not have any effect when it is used again. The commander of the Chinese army in Hongcheng is very clear about this. I placed the cavalry brigade of the 101st Division nearby, waiting for the sneak attack of the Chinese army to fall into the trap."

That afternoon, the troops of the 100th Division began some tentative attacks in the urban area of ​​Hongcheng. Although they were only small-scale tentative attacks, the combat skills of the officers and soldiers of the th Division also made the defensive forces of the new th Division feel the outstanding combat effectiveness of the Japanese Type A Division.

Zhang Wenwu and Ouyang Heng also approached the front line in the afternoon to observe the attack of the 101th Division. When they saw the skilled tactical coordination of the attacking Japanese army through the telescope, Ouyang Heng said with some concern: "Division Commander, the th Division of the Japanese Army is worthy of being a Type A division. The attack formation of this squad and the coordination between the soldiers are really extraordinary. It is much stronger than the previous st Division."

Zhang Wenwu also held up the telescope and watched for a long time. Only after the attack of this Japanese squad was repelled by the defenders in the front position did he put down the telescope, exhaled and said, "The 101st Division was formed relatively late, and their morale was a bit low when they arrived in Hongcheng due to our explosion at the city gate. The th Division has been winning battles along the way, and the morale of the troops is also high. We can only slowly endure with the th Division and keep their morale up."

Ouyang Heng understood what Zhang Wenwu meant. When two armies were fighting street battles in a city, the competition was about who could hold out to the end. The most crucial thing here was the morale of the troops. As long as the morale was there, they could fight to the last man. If the morale was gone, no matter how many people there were, the situation would basically be on the verge of collapse.

"Tell Li Zhengying to prepare three companies of troops according to our plan. After the Japanese army occupies half of the city, these troops will be deployed to the Japanese-occupied areas to carry out dispersed harassment, so that the Japanese army cannot concentrate its forces on frontal attacks. We must find a way to slow down the speed of the Japanese army's attack." Zhang Wenwu thought for a while and ordered Ouyang Heng.

Ouyang Heng nodded. He also believed that based on the offensive performance of the 100th Division today, the new 100th Division would face a tough battle. It was only a matter of time before more than half of the city was occupied by the Japanese army. He now hoped that the First Corps would quickly give a time to launch a counterattack, so that the officers and soldiers of the new th Division would at least have hope.

Commander Xue of the First Corps is extremely anxious now. He has not eaten a single bite of food all day and has been looking for reinforcements from the war zone. He is not picky now. As long as there is a troop, the more people the better.

However, the entire Three Towns Battle was now in full swing. The troops on the north bank of the Yangtze River could not be moved, and the troops from the Fifth War Zone could not be withdrawn. At night, Commander Xue made a decision to concentrate the troops first. If it didn't work, he would attack Hongcheng as planned. If he couldn't encircle it, he would change his goal to repel the Japanese troops in Hongcheng. There was no other way, the New 22nd Army had to be preserved.

Inside the Japanese 11th Army Headquarters, Lieutenant General Okamura Yasuji was happily listening to a group of staff officers introducing to him on the sand table the method they had found today to quickly defeat the Chinese army's defense line in the Wuning direction. It must be said that the Japanese army's staff officers' execution ability was indeed good. However, their method indirectly helped Commander Xue of the 1st Corps.