Quartermasters can also fight the devils

"Your Excellency the Division Commander, this is a telegram from Commander Okamura Yasuji of the 106th Army Headquarters. The Commander said that there are no reinforcements and asked us to carry forward the spirit of Bushido and occupy Hongcheng as soon as possible to make a contribution to the breakout of the th Division." Major General Ishu Nobutoki handed the telegram to Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Yoshisuke who was looking at the map.

After hearing what Major General Iishima Nobutoki said, Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke took the telegram and threw it on the table without even reading it. He knew that Commander Okamura Yasuji could not send any reinforcements. What he had said in the telegram before was just a foreshadowing of holding the Imperial Headquarters and the Expeditionary Force accountable after the war.

He was very clear about the current situation of the two armies on the Nanxun Line. The key point was which side could capture the other side's chess piece first. He certainly hoped to quickly occupy Hongcheng and then for the Empire of Japan to achieve final victory. However, judging from the current defensive strength of the New 22nd Army in Hongcheng, it was impossible for his troops to occupy Hongcheng within the time required by the staff officers of the 11th Army Headquarters who were gesturing at the map in the office.

Who can tell the situation on the battlefield? What if the 106th Division can't withstand the attack of the Chinese army? Then he will definitely be pushed to the front by those fools in the 106th Army Headquarters, accusing him of ineffective attack on Hongcheng and failure to occupy Hongcheng within the stipulated time, which led to the defeat of the th Division. Yoshizumi Ryosuke will not bear this responsibility.

Once he had sent out the previous telegram, if he wanted to be held accountable in the future, he could openly say that it was due to insufficient manpower. Besides, it was the 106th Army Command that sent the th Division to infiltrate the area, not himself, so it was impossible for him to put the blame on himself.

"Jing Shujun, tell the attacking troops in the city to speed up their advance as much as possible. Who knows how long the 106th Division can hold out at Wanjialing? They were trying to penetrate the enemy's territory at that time. In order to facilitate a quick march, the 106th Division's troops must not have carried much food, weapons and ammunition. Now they are besieged on the edge of the mountain area by more than Chinese troops. Their situation is worrying." Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke said helplessly to Major General Jing Shuxuan.

He had just carefully studied the situation of the 106th Division in Wanjialing. Although he did not get the latest news from the 106th Division, he could still clearly analyze that the current situation of the 106th Division should be very bad, otherwise the th Army Command would not have sent a telegram to Cui asking him about the situation in Hongcheng.

Major General Jing Shuxuanshi nodded. Now they had no good way to quickly capture Hongcheng. They could only advance forward bit by bit. The Chinese army's defense was getting stronger and stronger. Every advance cost the lives of many officers and soldiers. Now the two commanders of the attacking regiments in front had called to ask if they could take a day off. The officers and soldiers in the army were really too tired.

"Sir, the officers and soldiers on the front line have suffered too many casualties. Do you think you should let them rest for a day? The harassment by the small Chinese forces has meant that all the officers and soldiers have not had a good rest for two days. An attack under such circumstances will not be effective." Major General Jing Shuxuanshi hesitated for a long time, but he still stated the demands of the front-line troops. As for whether the division commander agreed or not, that was not something he could control.

Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke also knew that the troops were already quite tired. Under normal circumstances, the attacking troops in the front should have been replaced and rested long ago. However, his own manpower was limited, and the 11th Army Headquarters' attack speed on Hongcheng was as fast as a life-threatening attack. He was also in a dilemma.

"Mr. Jingshu, we don't have the troops to replace the front-line troops now. We can only let the officers and soldiers on the front line hold on. In addition, you should ask the battalion of the 101st Division responsible for urban defense patrols to strengthen patrols and try to allow the officers and soldiers on the front line to have some rest." Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke could only cruelly reject the proposal of Major General Jingshu Nobutoki.

Seeing that the division commander still did not agree with the idea of ​​the front-line troops resting, Major General Jing Shuxuanshi said no more and turned to leave the headquarters tent. He had to think about how to appease the officers and soldiers on the front line. As for the battalion of the 101st Division, forget it. It was the best outcome that they could still insist on staying in the city for now.

The breakout battle of the 113th Regiment at Wanjialing was over. Colonel Seimichi Tanaka and his two battalions of officers and soldiers had fallen on the way to breakout. When facing the charge of the Chinese army, they launched a desperate charge under the leadership of Colonel Seimichi Tanaka, but their bravery did not change the situation of the battle at all.

Inside the First Corps Headquarters, Commander Xue became delighted after receiving the news that he had annihilated one Japanese army unit and killed a colonel regiment commander. He watched the jubilant staff officers modify the situation chart on the map and also shifted his attention to the other four breakout units of the Japanese army. He needed to continue to use this method to defeat the Japanese army.

In the headquarters of the New 101nd Army, when Commander Huang and Chief of Staff Zhao Dong received the battle results telegram sent by Commander Xue, they felt a little relieved. As long as the encirclement and annihilation speed of the First Corps was fast enough, the hope of survival of their New nd Army would be greater. Now the st Division on the west bank of the Gan River was just making a show of attacking every day, and would withdraw on their own initiative if they encountered stubborn resistance from the defenders. The battle in the urban area was the most critical.

The officers and soldiers of the new 100th Division are also very tired now. Although the new 100th Division has been constantly replacing the guard troops on the defense line, they have been fighting for more than ten days in a row. Even if there are rotation troops taking turns to withdraw for rest, the officers and soldiers are now tired and are just holding on with one breath.

"This Li Zhengying, when we asked him to send some people to investigate outside the city, he just took all the officers and soldiers of the suicide squad out of the city to investigate. It's obvious that he wants to kill two birds with one stone." Ouyang Heng walked into the command post of the new 100th Division and complained to Zhang Wenwu.

Zhang Wenwu also took out a cigarette and handed it to Ouyang Heng, then said with a smile: "Li Zhengying is probably thinking about whether he can take advantage of the situation. It would be better if he brought more people with him, so that there would be enough manpower to deal with any situation. Anyway, the attacking forces of the 9th Division in the city are beginning to show signs of fatigue, and the intensity of the attack is obviously not as fierce as before."

Ouyang Heng took the cigarette from Zhang Wenwu and was about to light it when he saw the telecommunications officer walk into the headquarters with a happy face and report: "Division Commander, Chief of Staff, Commander Huang forwarded the telegram from Commander Xue of the First Corps. The First Corps has wiped out one of the Japanese troops in the encirclement at Wanjialing."

Zhang Wenwu took the telegram and read it before handing it to Ouyang Heng and said, "It seems that Commander Xue is still very quick. Now we are more confident that we can compete with the 106th Division in terms of time, haha."

After reading the telegram, Ouyang Heng also smiled and said, "Great! This time we have wiped out more than 106 people from the th Division and killed a regiment commander. The morale of the First Corps is high now, and it is estimated that they will soon launch an attack on the next Japanese army."

Just as Ouyang Heng expected, the troops of the First Corps were ready to attack another Japanese force of the 106th Division in accordance with Commander Xue's orders.

Colonel Kasao Kido, commander of the 106rd Regiment of the 123th Division, is now lying on the ground with a telescope in his hand, observing his troops' breakout attack. The troops he leads have launched six attacks on the Chinese troops in the opposite encirclement, but each time his troops were beaten back by the Chinese army.

He had also received a death telegram from Colonel Seimichi Tanaka, the commander of the 113th Regiment, in the morning. This made him feel sad for the other, and he was eager to lead his troops to make a breakthrough as soon as possible and get out of the encirclement of the Chinese army. Who knew if the Chinese army would target him next?

Colonel Kimura's wish was finally realized. After destroying the 113th Regiment, Commander Xue of the 123st Corps set his sights on the rd Regiment, which was also far away from the other three Japanese armies.

Commander Xue was also quite anxious. He knew very well that the faster he could destroy the 106th Division, the sooner the new nd Army in Hongcheng would be rescued. He wanted to fight this battle more perfectly. Now he had a good chance to be promoted to commander-in-chief of the th War Zone, and he must seize this opportunity.

With the assistance of aircraft, several Japanese troops of the 106th Division attacked desperately for a day, but no unit achieved a breakthrough. This made the commander of the 106th Division, Lieutenant General Junrokuro Matsuura, feel uneasy. The Chinese army was determined to keep its 106th Division here.

After a day of attacks, Lieutenant General Junrokuro Matsuura discovered that the 106th Division could not break through the encirclement of the Chinese army in its current scattered state. He had to concentrate the troops and focus all his strength on one point for a fierce attack, only in this way could he break out.

So, he telegraphed his idea to the 11th Army Command, because, if all the troops were to be concentrated, the 11th Army Command must notify the Air Force to send planes to provide guidance in the air. Moreover, the previous order of the 11th Army Command was for each unit to break out on their own. Now his idea was equivalent to changing the previous order of the 11th Army Command, and it had to be reported for approval.

The Japanese 11th Army Headquarters was still brightly lit at night. At such a critical moment, no officer dared to slack off. Commander Okamura Yasuji and Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadaichi stood solemnly in front of the sand table, watching the group of staff officers conducting deductions and analysis.