Quartermasters can also fight the devils

"Your Excellency the Commander, I think the idea of ​​concentrating forces mentioned in the telegram by Lieutenant General Junrokuro Matsuura, the commander of the 106th Division, is correct. Now the Chinese army has dispatched more than 106 troops to surround the th Division. We must concentrate our forces and hit one point with all our strength to break through the encirclement of the Chinese army." Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Sadaichi Yoshimoto expressed his opinion while looking at the situation on the sand table.

Lieutenant General Okamura Yasuji also knew that concentrating forces was indeed a better approach, but in this case, it would take a lot of time for the 106th Division to be concentrated together. Moreover, he did not think that the Chinese army would allow the 106th Division's troops to be concentrated smoothly.

"Mr. Yoshimoto, if you were the commander of the Chinese troops, you would not let the 106th Division concentrate easily, unless the 106th Division retreated to the previous mountainous area and found a place to reunite. But in that case, the 106th Division would lose contact with us again, and it would be quite difficult for them to reunite smoothly in the mountainous area without guidance." Lieutenant General Yasuji Okamura frowned and told Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Sadaichi Yoshimoto this cruel reality.

"Is there any progress in the situation in Hongcheng? How far has the 9th Division advanced in the urban area today?" Lieutenant General Okamura Yasuji was also always thinking about the battle situation in Hongcheng.

Judging from the effectiveness of the 106th Division's attack today, it is difficult for the 106th Division's scattered troops to break out of the Chinese military's encirclement alone. Now the progress of the battle in Hongcheng is even more critical. As long as the 101th Division and the 106st Division can withdraw from the battlefield in the direction of Hongcheng, then the crisis of the th Division will naturally be resolved.

When Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadaichi heard Commander Okamura Yasuji asking about the battle situation in the Hongcheng direction, he was a little unsure of how to answer, because the commander of the 9th Division, Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke, had not sent the battle report today. After thinking for a while, he could only say, "Commander, there is no news from the 9th Division yet. I guess they are also collecting statistics. According to the previous daily advance speed, the 9th Division should have advanced 500 to 800 meters in the urban area."

After hearing that the 9th Division had not yet sent a telegram for today's battle report, Lieutenant General Okamura Yasuji became a little dissatisfied with Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Yoshisuke of the 9th Division. After he sent a telegram to Yoshizumi Yoshisuke last time, he realized later that he had fallen into Yoshizumi Yoshisuke's little trick.

But now he still needs the 9th Division to occupy Hongcheng as soon as possible, and then settle the score with him after the battle is over.

It was not that Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke, commander of the 9th Division, forgot to send a telegram to the 11th Army Headquarters. Rather, after receiving the report on the effectiveness of today's attack from Major General Ishu Nobutoki, he did not know how to send a telegram to Commander Okamura Yasuji of the 11th Army.

According to the report of Major General Jing Shuxuanshi, the soldiers of the two regiments of the 9th Division in the urban area attacked for a whole day today but did not advance even one meter. In other words, the fighting in the urban area was in full swing today, but the defense lines of both sides did not change at all.

Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke knew that if he sent such a battle report to the 11th Army Headquarters, the people in the headquarters would be devastated. Commander Okamura Neiji would probably even ask after his elders at home.

"Mr. Jingshu, what's going on? After a whole day of attack, how come the troops in the front haven't advanced even one meter?" Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke woke up from his shock. He didn't get angry. He knew there must be some reasons, and he needed to figure them out.

Major General Jing Shuxuan said to Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke with a sad face: "Your Excellency, the officers and soldiers in the front are too tired. They can't sleep well at night, they can be ambushed when going to the toilet, and they are terrified when eating. They are always in a state of high tension. They don't have the physical strength and mental energy to complete the tactical actions during the daytime attack. I strongly suggest that the front-line troops rest for a day."

Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke did not expect that the officers and soldiers on the front line were so tired. This could basically be regarded as passive sabotage, but he still asked: "Jing Shujun, didn't the battalion of the 101st Division attack the small harassment troops of the Chinese army in the city? How could the officers and soldiers on the front line be in a state of panic?"

Major General Jing Shuxuan curled his lips, and then explained angrily: "Your Excellency, the infantry battalion sent by the 101st Division was just patrolling in the city before, but after being attacked and ambushed by a small group of Chinese troops, they even reduced the scope of their patrols a lot. In some places, they even stopped patrolling. The small group of Chinese troops is basically in a state of no one's care in the city now."

It would have been fine if the battalion sent by the 101st Division was not mentioned, but when it was mentioned, Major General Ii Shuxuan was filled with rage. He even wanted to send all the officers and soldiers of this battalion to the front line to serve as the "vanguard team". They were really bringing shame to the Imperial Japanese Army.

Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke was also speechless. Although he did not have any hope for this battalion of the 101st Division, he thought it might be possible to scare off China's small forces. Unexpectedly, not only did they fail to scare off China's small sneak attack force, they also indirectly helped boost the morale of the small Chinese force. This was simply a disservice.

But now the two of them have no good way to deal with this force. If they send this large group to attack, they can easily predict what the result will be. It will only increase their own anger. But if they ask them to play hide-and-seek with the small Chinese force, they will simply not disturb each other and will just avoid places where the small Chinese force is.

The troops of the 101st Division have mastered the essence of the game of hide-and-seek. I have been looking for the enemy, but I have never found anyone. These days are clearly a mess.

Under the repeated and strong suggestions of Major General Iishima Nobutoki, Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke finally agreed to allow the officers and soldiers on the front line to rest for half a day.

The officers and soldiers of the new 100th Division's suicide squad, who had stayed outside Hongcheng for a day, finally took action again at night. During the day, they hid in the nearby woods to rest, and let the local officers and soldiers dress in plain clothes to scout around. At night, they took action based on the information they had gathered during the day.

Now all the suicide squad officers and soldiers were following a soldier who was in charge of reconnaissance during the day and advancing quickly and covertly. Li Zhengying was jogging along with the team with an excited look on his face. He was extremely excited now. He did not expect that the reconnaissance team he sent out had found the headquarters of the 9th Division again. He had been searching for it all night last night and could not find it.

"Captain Li, is this appropriate? Should we report this to the division commander and the chief of staff?" Staff Officer Hao said uncertainly in a low voice to Li Zhengying who was jogging beside him.

Li Zhengying glanced at Staff Officer Hao beside him and said with a smile: "Staff Officer Hao, it's okay. This reconnaissance is to find the weaknesses of the Japanese defense. We will run away after the fight is over. We have finally come out, so we must get some benefits before going back. The division commander and the chief of staff will not say anything, don't worry."

Staff Officer Hao was just giving a kind reminder. After all, Li Zhengying was the supreme commander of this unit and he was just here to help. Moreover, he was very interested in attacking the headquarters of the Japanese 9th Division. So Staff Officer Hao stopped talking and continued to sneak forward with the team.

Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke was studying the battle of Hongcheng in the tent of the headquarters. No matter how he calculated, he finally concluded that his troops were not enough to complete the task of quickly occupying Hongcheng and destroying the New 22nd Army.

In fact, the best result he deduced was to drive the New 22nd Army out of Hongcheng. As for destroying the New 22nd Army, he estimated that it would be necessary to dispatch all other troops of the 9th Division. After all, the combat power of the New 22nd Army was there.

Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Yoshisuke was worried. He was in a situation where he had to do nothing. He wanted to occupy Hongcheng quickly, but he didn't have enough troops. Isn't this bullying himself? As for the troops of the 101st Division, Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Yoshisuke really didn't dare to use them anymore. The addition of one battalion was enough to torture the officers and soldiers of the 101th Division. If a few more battalions came, the troops of the th Division would probably be so angry that they would withdraw from the battle.

He had no troops to transfer now. The guard squadron of the division headquarters had already been reinforced to the front line to fight. Now the division headquarters had only a squadron from the 101st Division Cavalry Battalion responsible for guarding it. This cavalry battalion had been reorganized into an infantry unit by him.

How about organizing the lightly wounded soldiers? But the addition of these wounded soldiers would not be enough to change the situation in the city.

Li Zhengying was lying on the outskirts of the 101th Division headquarters camp. He didn't expect that Yoshizumi Ryosuke of the th Division of the Japanese Army was so bold that he actually set up the division headquarters here where the st Division headquarters was. No wonder you couldn't find it after searching outside for a whole night. Yoshizumi Ryosuke's move was indeed unexpected and unthinkable.

But what Li Zhengying didn't understand was that the 9th Division had moved the previous position at the intersection to a place closer to Hongcheng, leaving a large area in the middle for infiltration. This made Li Zhengying wonder if the Japanese were all stupid, and it also made him a little uncertain about the Japanese army's deployment.

This time Li Zhengying really wronged the officers and soldiers of the 9th Division. They had moved the positions at the intersection forward before in order to lure out possible Chinese sneak attack forces. At that time, there was a guard squadron and a cavalry battalion near the 9th Division headquarters, waiting for the Chinese army's sneak attack forces to appear.

However, in order to increase the intensity of the attack in the urban area, these original defense forces have been withdrawn, which gave Li Zhengying an illusion.

(Thanks to Zhi Xia Xia, Su Qing who likes Yang Jin, Long Po who likes Xiang Shou Bao, Chen Jixian who likes Hui Ru Tang, and Braised Cat???, Jing Yan who is worldly-wise, Yan Yixun who likes Rough Celery, ~~De Lu Meng Yu~~, Past. Unbearable to look back, Indestructible Weird, User, Who do you ask the heaven to spare, Ah Huohua, for their gifts and support! Thank you all for your support and encouragement!)