Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Ouyang Heng understood that Zhang Wenwu could roughly guess in his mind how the Japanese army was using its troops in Sanshui. He asked this question just to divert the somewhat heavy topic. Everyone knew that this mission was not easy to accomplish, but it was still a mission that had to be completed.

"Brother Ouyang, you are now responsible for the troops' combat sequence and defense line. Our goal is still the same as before: to delay time." Zhang Wenwu knew that this kind of life-and-death battle was a battle of attrition. The battle area was not large this time, and both sides had no tactics to use.

The Japanese army has suspended its attack for more than two days. On the west bank of the Pearl River, the 132st and 132nd Regiments of the th Division assigned to the nd Brigade have basically completed their landing. The commander of the nd Brigade, Major General Goto Juro, finally breathed a sigh of relief. Now that the troops assigned to the frontal combat are in place, all that remains is to steadily launch an attack towards Shunde City.

"Captain Ishida, at 161 o'clock tomorrow morning, you will lead the entire 104st Regiment to attack in the direction of Shunde City. The 132th Field Artillery Regiment will follow your pace and provide you with artillery support. Your units must maintain support distance to prevent sneak attacks by the Chinese army. The 161nd Regiment will ensure the safety of your retreat. The headquarters requires us to occupy Shunde City within three days. Do you think there is any problem?" said Major General Goto Juro, commander of the nd Brigade, to the respectful Colonel Ishida Yoshiaki, commander of the st Regiment in front of him.

"Please rest assured, Your Excellency the Brigade Commander. All officers and soldiers of the 161st Regiment will occupy Shunde City within the time specified by the headquarters and restore the reputation of our 104th Division." Colonel Yoshiaki Ishida, commander of the 161st Regiment, assured the brigade commander, Major General Juro Goto, with a serious face.

The brigade commander, Major General Goto Juro, nodded with satisfaction. He knew that now on the west bank of the Pearl River, only the 161st Regiment could save face for the previous defeat of the 132nd Brigade. The other troops were all from the 104th Division. If they won, it would further expose the incompetence of the th Division in previous combat.

But this was the combat instruction issued by the headquarters. There was no way around it. The brigade commander, Major General Goto Juro, actually wanted other troops of the 104th Division to come to the west bank of the Pearl River to fight. In that case, he would not be under such great pressure. Now the honor of the entire 104th Division fell on him.

"Yes, Ishida-kun, I believe that all the officers and soldiers of the 161st Regiment will bring glory to our 104th Division. Tell the officers and soldiers in the army that everyone in the 104th Division is watching our combat operations. All the troops of the 161st Army are also watching our attack. The attack must be fierce. Only by quickly destroying the confidence of the Chinese army can we achieve the victory we want." The brigade commander, Major General Goto Juro, also told the commander of the st Regiment, Colonel Yoshiaki Ishida, of the importance of this operation.

As the force defending Shunde City, the new 210th Division also built field fortifications outside the city in the past two days. Although in the combat plan formulated at the last military meeting, the new 210th Division was only required to put up some symbolic resistance in Shunde and then retreat.

However, Division Commander Cai instructed his troops not to retreat without orders. He felt that if his troops could hold out in Shunde City for two more days, the Japanese troops making a large detour would set out two days later, and Zhang Wenwu would have to hold out for two days less. He knew how fierce the Japanese attack would be against Zhang Wenwu's new 100th Division, so if he could help share some of the burden at this time, it would be a great help.

Anyway, they just have to hold out until the specified time. It's not like they have to defend Yangcheng to death. They can drag on for a few days anyway.

At eight o'clock the next morning, the Japanese troops who had been staying quiet in Zhongshan City for several days finally set out. As soon as the troops of the 161st Regiment of the Japanese Army left Zhongshan City, the soldiers in charge of reconnaissance in Zhongshan City passed the news to the garrison troops in the rear. The entire New nd Army knew that the Japanese attack was coming.

The 18th Division in the Daya Bay direction resumed its attack in the morning. This time the attack was even more fierce than the previous one. Lieutenant General Nagakuni Seiichi, commander of the 18th Division, ordered the troops to quickly occupy Boluo and then attack towards Zengcheng. At the same time, he also organized a regiment and a cavalry battalion as a force to attack Huaxian County in a roundabout way.

Lieutenant General Hisana Makoto of the 18th Division was very fond of the combat plan made by the 21st Army Command. If this plan was implemented, his troops would be able to play a greater role. At the same time, encircling and destroying the Fourth War Zone troops in Yangcheng would be much more successful than the previous combat goal of defeating these troops and occupying Yangcheng.

The 153rd Division of the 153th Army guarding Boluo was stunned by the attack of the 153th Division of the Japanese Army. They did not expect that the Japanese attack would be so fierce this time. The entire defense line of the rd Division was urgently requesting reinforcements. It can be said that the defense line of the rd Division could collapse at any time.

When the emergency telegram from the 153rd Division was sent to the headquarters of the 153th Army Group, Commander Yu was also helpless. He had no troops to send for reinforcement. After thinking for a while, he told the commanders of the rd Division to withdraw to Zengcheng at an appropriate time.

Commander Yu also thought that the last line of defense on his side that the war zone had previously planned was in Zengcheng, so it would be better to withdraw all the troops to Zengcheng and concentrate their forces to deal with the Japanese attack. At the same time, he also telegraphed the war zone headquarters about the Japanese attack.

"Commander He, the 153th Division of the Japanese Army in Daya Bay has also moved. It seems that the Japanese army has completed its adjustments. Commander Yu has ordered the rd Division guarding Boluo to withdraw to Zengcheng. He plans to concentrate troops to guard Zengcheng. But if the troops of the th Division of the Japanese Army occupy Boluo, according to the previous judgment of the New nd Army, the Japanese army is very likely to send troops to attack from a flanking angle. Then our troops defending Zhengguo only have the Independent th Brigade there. It will be difficult for them to resist the Japanese army's flanking troops." Senior Counsellor Wang also expressed his concerns.

At the same time, Senior Canon Wang was depressed that the 12th Army gave up Boluo so quickly. As long as Boluo was still in his hands, the Japanese army could not send out flanking troops to attack Zhengguo and Huaxian. Now, Boluo could not even be held for a day. He could only hope that Zhengguo's Independent 20th Brigade could create a miracle.

Lieutenant General Hisana Makoto Nagana, commander of the 104th Division, was very happy when he learned that the Chinese troops guarding Boro had been defeated and retreated by his attack force. When he was preparing to get the flanking troops ready, his command center welcomed a guest: Lieutenant General Miyake Toshio, commander of the th Division.

"Mr. Miyake, why are you here? Is there something wrong with the rear guard unit?" Lieutenant General Seiichi Hisana, commander of the 104th Division, was very surprised by the visit of Lieutenant General Toshio Miyake, commander of the th Division, which was very rare in the Japanese army's combat situation.

"Mr. Nagakuni, I'm sorry to have come here this time because I want to ask you a favor." Lieutenant General Toshio Miyake politely bowed to Lieutenant General Seiichi Nagakuni, which scared the general.

You are all lieutenant generals, and you are all division commanders. You are so polite right from the start and you even take the initiative to bow to him. It seems that Lieutenant General Miyake Toshio is going to tell you something very important. He is even more unsure now.

"Mr. Miyake, there's no need to be polite between you and me. No matter what the matter is, I will do my best to help you. Please tell me." Lieutenant General Nagakuni Seiichi cautiously and politely asked Lieutenant General Miyake Toshio to tell him the purpose of his visit. If it was convenient for him, he would do Lieutenant General Miyake Toshio a favor.

"Mr. Changjiu, I came here this time just to ask you if you could let my 104th Division send a regiment to join the troops making the flanking attack. As you know, my 104th Division suffered heavy losses on the west bank of the Pearl River, and here in Daya Bay, my 104th Division is also doing some auxiliary work. If the 104th Division does not have any outstanding achievements in this Battle of Yangcheng, I will be in great trouble after the war." Lieutenant General Toshio Miyake also directly expressed his thoughts.

After hearing the request of Lieutenant General Miyake Toshio, Lieutenant General Hisana Makoto of the 104th Division fell into deep thought. It seemed that there was no problem with the offensive of his th Division in Daya Bay for the time being, and there would be no deviation in completing the headquarters' combat plan. It could be said that the credit was already in his pocket. If he allowed the troops of the th Division to join in the flanking operation, it would be equivalent to sharing some of the credit.

Lieutenant General Nagakuni Seiichi was in a bit of a dilemma. After thinking for a while, he asked curiously, "Miyake-kun, isn't the 132nd Brigade of your division still leading the attack on Shunde and Nanhai on the west bank of the Pearl River? I know that there are three regiments assigned to the 132nd Brigade. They should have no problem winning, right?"

Lieutenant General Miyake Toshio hesitated for a moment and said, "Nagakuni-kun, you know that the 132nd Brigade now has only one infantry regiment and one field artillery battalion belonging to the 104th Division. Facing the defense of the New 132nd Army of the Chinese government, I don't think they can complete the task alone even if they try their best. The two regiments assigned by the 132th Division must be the main force in the future. Therefore, it is the best result that the nd Brigade will not be held accountable after the war. The impact caused by the defeat of the nd Brigade this time is too great."

Lieutenant General Nagana Seiichi, commander of the 18th Division, understood that Lieutenant General Miyake Toshio was preparing to make up for the losses in the west by replacing them in the east.

"Okay, Mr. Miyake, I can agree that your 104th Division can send an infantry regiment to participate in this flanking operation, but your regiment must be under my command in wartime." Lieutenant General Hisanaichi, commander of the 104th Division, decided to do a favor to Lieutenant General Toshio Miyake, commander of the th Division. Compared with the military merits shared in the flanking operation, a favor from a division commander is still worth it.