Quartermasters can also fight the devils

"Commander, we discovered from the intelligence we obtained from the air force reconnaissance this afternoon that there are large gaps between the Chinese army's defensive forces south of Wuning. If the 106th Division suddenly moves south from the front of Wuning and passes through the defensive gaps of the Chinese defenders, the Chinese army's defense line in Wuning will collapse. We suggest that a regiment of the 106th Brigade of the 106th Division in Ruichang be transferred to take over the th Division's frontal attack in the direction of Wuning, and the th Division will quickly attack Wuning from the south from the southwest of De'an through the defensive gaps of the Chinese army." A colonel in the headquarters was holding a baton and explaining the combat plan they had made to Lieutenant General Ningji Okamura on the sand table.

Lieutenant General Yasuji Okamura looked at the situation markings of both sides on the sand table, and kept weighing the feasibility of this plan in his mind. After thinking for a while, he also felt that the plan formulated by the staff was very good. If the 106th Division could successfully infiltrate according to the plan, then the Chinese army on the Wuning defense line would have to continue to retreat westward. In this way, the new nd Army in Hongcheng would be truly away from the sphere of influence of the Chinese army.

Lieutenant General Yasuji Okamura is now very concerned about the New 101nd Army. After learning that Lieutenant General Masayoshi Ito of the st Division was killed in Hongcheng, the expeditionary army and the home base both sent telegrams to inquire about the details and instructed him to eliminate the New nd Army of the Chinese government to save face for the Empire of Japan.

The headquarters even rarely added a combat goal to this battle, which was to completely destroy the New 22nd Army of the Chinese government in Hongcheng, to completely destroy this Chinese army that had embarrassed the Imperial Japanese Army, and to deal a severe blow to the Chinese government's propaganda arrogance.

Lieutenant General Yasuji Okamura personally planned this penetration operation of the 106th Division in the headquarters. He asked the commander of the 106th Division, Lieutenant General Junrokuro Matsuura, to divide the troops into five routes. This would make it easier to penetrate the defensive gaps of the Chinese army in the south, while the various troops could maintain mutual support and communication.

At the same time, he personally ordered the 106th Brigade of the th Division in Ruichang to draw out a complete infantry regiment, and reinforced it with an infantry battalion, artillery and cavalry, to form a frontal attack and diversion force to replace the th Division's frontal offensive against the Wuning Defense Line in order to confuse the Chinese defenders on the frontal defense line.

The Japanese army acted very quickly. That night, a frontal containment force composed of the 106th Brigade set out from Ruichang and rushed to the Wuning front line. At the same time, the th Division, under the order of the division commander, Lieutenant General Junrokuro Matsuura, slowly withdrew its troops on the front line to the designated location for assembly.

The fighting in Hongcheng city became more intense after the 101th Division replaced the 100st Division. Facing the attack of the Japanese army of the th Division, the officers and soldiers of the new th Division also used every available place to carry out tenacious resistance.

Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Yoshisuke frowned as he watched the front-line information constantly coming in at the division headquarters. His 9th Division troops had been attacking for almost a day before they pushed the front line forward less than a kilometer. This made him realize that the combat effectiveness of the new 22nd Army guarding Hongcheng was indeed not in vain.

Last night when the 101st Division was preparing to move to the west bank of the Ganjiang River, he met with the Chief of Staff of the 101st Division, Major General Nishiyama Fukutaro, alone. He asked in detail about everything that had happened since the 101st Division arrived in Hongcheng. This time, Major General Nishiyama Fukutaro did not hide anything from him, but told him all the experiences of the 101st Division.

Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke broke out in a cold sweat when listening to Major General Nishiyama Fukutaro's narration. The 101st Division had suffered so many dirty tricks from the Chinese guard forces in Hongcheng. No wonder the officers and soldiers of the 101st Division were so demoralized. If his 101th Division had attacked Hongcheng from the very beginning, his own troops would have suffered the same heavy casualties as the st Division.

He also knew from the information fed back by the front-line troops today that the Chinese army in the city did not use any unconventional means of defense, but was actually fighting with his own offensive forces. He estimated that this was because the Chinese army had already used up all its despicable tricks on the 101st Division, which was something that all the officers and soldiers of the th Division should be thankful for.

After the Japanese attack ended today, Zhang Wenwu and Ouyang Heng took their guards to visit various positions on the front line. One purpose was to cheer up the officers and soldiers on the front line and maintain their morale, and the other was to get a first-hand understanding of the troops' losses.

"Division Commander, Chief of Staff, the Army Commander sent a telegram." As soon as they returned to the operations hall of the division headquarters, the communications staff officer reported with the telegram he had just received.

After Ouyang Heng took the telegram and read it, he handed it to Zhang Wenwu with a wry smile and said, "Division Commander, the Army Commander said that Commander Xue of the First Corps requires us to hold on to Hongcheng for another seven days. He is already gathering troops for the counterattack. It is expected that we can launch an attack on the Japanese troops surrounding Hongcheng from the outside in three days. The plan is to defeat the Japanese troops surrounding Hongcheng within four to five days."

Zhang Wenwu took a look at the telegram and threw it on the table. He knew that Commander Xue had changed the grand plan of encircling and destroying a Japanese division into a plan of defeating the Japanese attacking force in Hongcheng. However, these seven days were not so easy to defend. Besides, could the Japanese army really be defeated and retreated by the First Corps in seven days? He remained skeptical.

"Brother Ouyang, we still have to rely on ourselves. Who knows how the war on the outside will develop? When the battle started in Hongcheng, we didn't expect the 9th Division to come and intervene. If the Japanese army transfers a division from Zhejiang Province, then we can't count on anyone. Let's break out and run away quickly." Zhang Wenwu complained unhappily.

When Ouyang Heng heard Zhang Wenwu say that the Japanese army might transfer another division to join the battle on the Nanxun line, he hurriedly asked: "Division Commander, are the Japanese army really going to transfer a division of troops here? When did it happen, and how did you know?"

He had to be anxious. If the Japanese army sent another division, it would be just as Zhang Wenwu said. The New 22nd Army would have no choice but to fight desperately to break out. Not only would the New 22nd Army have to escape, but the First Corps would have to retreat as a whole.

When Zhang Wenwu heard Ouyang Heng's anxious question, he realized that he had frightened Ouyang Heng with his nonsense, so he quickly said that he was just complaining and that the Japanese army had no new troops. This made Ouyang Heng roll his eyes at him.

"Brother Ouyang, I took a look at the front today, and I guess that last trick will still be used. Alas, it's all the fault of those damn Japanese. I will take responsibility when the time comes." Zhang Wenwu shifted the topic back to the current battle in Hongcheng.

After hearing what Zhang Wenwu said, Ouyang Heng silently took out a cigarette and started smoking. He knew what the last trick Zhang Wenwu was talking about. Originally, they thought that this trick would not be used, but with the arrival of the troops of the 9th Division, he also felt that this last trick might be used, but if that happened, the impact would be too great.

"Division Commander, we have no choice but to do this to resist the Japanese attack. We will all shoulder the responsibility when the time comes." After holding it in for a long time, Ouyang Heng smiled and said to Zhang Wenwu.

Zhang Wenwu looked at Ouyang Heng and smiled. He shook his head and said, "Brother Ouyang, let's make sure we can defend Hongcheng first. Let's talk about this responsibility after everyone survives. Don't worry, I am confident that I can handle this matter."

The commander of the 9th Division, Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke, also ordered the attacking troops in the front to speed up their advance in the second day's attack. He knew very well that if this kind of attack operation took too long, the morale of the troops would be slowly consumed. He knew very well that the Chinese commander defending the city wanted to slowly consume the offensive morale of his own troops to buy time.

The fighting in the city that day was extremely fierce. Soldiers from both sides fought desperately. In many positions in the city, soldiers from both sides fought back and forth repeatedly. The bodies of soldiers from both sides were piled up in the houses on both sides of the street.

When it was dark, the officers and soldiers of both sides finally stopped fighting. During that day, the Japanese army pushed the defense line forward more than 800 meters. This was already quite satisfactory for the Japanese officers and soldiers on the front line. However, for the division commander, Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke, he was a little angry.

"Damn it, the troops on the front line have been attacking for a whole day and have only advanced 800 meters. Where is their bravery? Where is their fighting spirit? This is simply the biggest shame of our 9th Division." Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke angrily roared at the brigade commander, Major General Iisho Nobutoki.

Major General Ishu Nobutoki is now the temporary chief of staff of the division commander, Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Yoshisuke. He has no choice as his command has been taken away by Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Yoshisuke, so he can only serve as the temporary chief of staff.

"Your Excellency the division commander, the officers and soldiers of the front-line troops have indeed tried their best. The combat effectiveness and fighting will of the Chinese troops defending Hongcheng are indeed very tenacious. In today's attack, we have lost almost three and a half squadrons of officers and soldiers." Major General Jing Shuxuanshi needed to remind his division commander that now only his 18th Brigade had arrived in Hongcheng, and their troops were not very abundant.

Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke was shocked to hear that so many officers and soldiers were lost in today's attack, so he began to think. After a while, he said to Major General Jing Shuxuan: "Jing Shujun, ask the commander of the front troops to concentrate the troops and attack some important streets. Try to divide and surround the Chinese defenders as soon as possible. Then we will have time to slowly eliminate them."

Major General Jing Shuxuan also understood what the division commander meant, but he had to remind him: "Your Excellency, if this is the case, then there will be a lot of gaps in the defense lines between each of our troops, and there will not be enough troops in the occupied areas to guard against harassment from small Chinese troops."

"Mr. Jing Shu, you just need to let the troops in the city organize two squadrons to patrol the occupied areas to prevent harassment from small Chinese troops. These small troops are just making small moves. We should not pay too much attention to these small Chinese troops. As long as we can basically occupy the city, these small troops will not play any role." Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke expressed his opinion. He had no choice. If he wanted to speed up the attack, he had to give up some things. He only had so many troops.

(Starting today, the first fifty chapters will be revised, but it will not affect the number of daily updates!)

(Thanks to Liu Jing and Tianle who love to eat plain winter melon pot, Muyue and Zhixiaxia who love to eat fried small crucian carp for their gift support! Thank you all for your support and encouragement!)