Quartermasters can also fight the devils

After listening to today's battle report, Commander He asked a colonel in the hall, "How much supplies are left in Yangcheng that have not been transported, and how long will it take?"

"Report to the commander, at the current transportation speed, the materials in Yangcheng will be transported in two days. However, Mayor Wu has left Yangcheng today, so the transportation of materials may be slower in the future." The colonel staff officer also reported the current situation.

When Commander He heard that Mayor Wu of Yangcheng had fled ahead of schedule, he was furious. He said with a very bad face, "These high-ranking government officials are so greedy for life and afraid of death. We are not even dead yet, but they are competing to see who can run faster. It's really a disgrace to their ancestors. Ignore them. Starting tomorrow, the transportation of materials will be the responsibility of the theater command. Let the guard regiment take out two companies of troops to supervise the transportation. Speed ​​up the transportation of all the materials."

The colonel staff officer immediately stood at attention to show that he understood. He had long been dissatisfied with the efficiency of those government officials, who were always procrastinating in doing things. If it weren't for the pressure from the theater command, it was estimated that only one-third of the materials could be transferred by now. Now, as long as the theater command took over the transportation of materials, he would be able to control the rest of the time very well. Whoever refused to cooperate would be arrested by troops. He would not give those officials a good face.

After Chief He arranged the transportation of supplies, he turned to Senior Counselor Wang and said, "How long do you think the 12th Army can hold out in Hua County? The transportation of supplies will take at least two days. Hua County must not collapse."

After hearing Chief He's question, Senior Counselor Wang said with a bitter face, "Chief He, under normal circumstances, the 158th Army has a fully equipped 158th Division defending in Huaxian County. According to the information from the th Independent Brigade, the th Division of the Japanese Army has a flanking attack force of about two regiments. If the position and terrain are used well, the th Division can complete the defense time."

Commander He understood what Senior Counsellor Wang meant. This was a judgment made under normal and ideal circumstances, but the 12th Army probably could not be judged under normal circumstances now. So Commander He did not ask any more questions. He knew what the worst outcome would be. Now the 12th Army was in a situation where "the generals had no determination to die, and the soldiers had no intention of dying." How could the morale of such an army be judged by common sense?

"Tell Commander Yu of the 12th Army that his troops must hold Zengcheng and Huaxian for at least three days and are not allowed to retreat without the order of the theater headquarters. After the garrison time is up, they can retreat according to the pre-war plan." Commander He also said everything that needed to be said. As for whether Commander Yu could execute it, that would depend on Commander Yu himself. However, if Commander Yu dared to retreat without authorization, don't blame him for being cruel after the war.

Colonel Hidenosuke Yamada, commander of the 42nd Regiment of the 5th Division of the Japanese Army, and Lieutenant Colonel Kinsaburo Yasumi, chief of staff, led their troops to Shunde City, which had been occupied by the 41st Regiment. They met Colonel Kan'ichi Okabe, commander of the 41st Regiment, at the 41st Regiment's headquarters in the city.

"Mr. Okabe, what are the losses of your regiment? How is the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army on the opposite side?" Colonel Hidenosuke Yamada, commander of the 42nd Regiment, asked Colonel Kanichi Okabe anxiously as soon as he arrived at the headquarters of the 41st Regiment. He was particularly surprised that the 41st Regiment needed his regiment to replace the attack so soon.

After hearing the question from Colonel Yamada Hidenosuke, Colonel Okabe Kanichi smiled bitterly and said, "Mr. Yamada, my 41st Regiment now only has one battalion left. What do you think of the combat effectiveness of the Chinese government's new 22nd Army?"

After hearing what Colonel Okabe Kan'ichi said, Colonel Hidenosuke Yamada, commander of the 42nd Regiment, and Lieutenant Colonel Kinsaburo Yasumi, chief of staff, looked at each other in surprise. They were very clear about the combat effectiveness of the 41st Regiment. If their 42nd Regiment performed well, it would at most be on par with the combat effectiveness of the 41st Regiment.

It seems that the new 22nd Army of the Chinese government is really strong. The 41st Regiment lost two-thirds of its troops after only two days of fighting. Can our 42nd Regiment successfully occupy the South China Sea on time as required by the headquarters?

"Mr. Yamada, it seems that the division commander has reinforced two infantry battalions of the 21st Regiment for you. My personal suggestion is that you wait until the officers and soldiers of these two reinforced infantry battalions arrive in Shunde before attacking in the direction of the South China Sea. In addition, you must organize your troops well and advance carefully during the attack." Colonel Kan'ichi Okabe was kind enough to briefly explain his experiences and lessons to Colonel Hidenosuke Yamada.

As for saying more specific words, Colonel Okabe Kan'ichi felt that it was unnecessary, as many things could only be understood after personal experience. This was because Colonel Yamada Hidenosuke and he were old acquaintances, and the two of them had the best relationship in the 5th Division, so he said so many words to remind him. If it were someone else, he would not say so many embarrassing words.

Colonel Hidenosuke Yamada nodded thoughtfully. He had originally planned to wait for the two reinforcement infantry battalions to arrive before attacking forward. Now the words of Colonel Kanichi Okabe made him more determined in this idea.

After walking out of the 41st Regiment Headquarters, Lieutenant Colonel Yasumi Kinsaburo, the 42nd Regiment's Chief of Staff, approached Colonel Yamada Hidenosuke, the Regiment Commander, and said, "Commander, I think Commander Okabe Kanichi didn't finish what he said. He didn't fully explain the tactics of the New 22nd Army of the Chinese Government."

Colonel Yamada Hidenosuke looked at the Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Yasumi Kinsaburo with satisfaction and said, "Yashimi-kun, Okabe Kan'ichi has said enough. He has said so much to us, but in fact, he has been slapping himself in the face. We should be content. The tactics of the New 22nd Army of the Chinese Government can only be known by our own experience. Even if Okabe Kan'ichi tells us the tactics of the Chinese Army in detail, there is no guarantee that the troops of the New 22nd Army of the Chinese Government will still use the same tactics in the future. The situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly. Everything depends on ourselves."

That night, the commander of the Fifth Division, Lieutenant General Anriyoshi, personally led the other troops of the Fifth Division to Shunde City one after another. They needed to start dividing their forces here. The commander of the division, Lieutenant General Anriyoshi, would personally lead the flanking troops to attack Sanshui, while the 42nd Regiment would be responsible for the frontal battlefield attack on the South China Sea.

The division commander, Lieutenant General Anriyoshi, also took this opportunity to appease the commander of the 41st Regiment, Colonel Kan'ichi Okabe. Lieutenant General Anriyoshi also thanked Colonel Kan'ichi Okabe for bringing the first victory to the 5th Division and affirmed Colonel Kan'ichi's contribution. At the same time, he also said that Colonel Kan'ichi Okabe just needed to take the 41st Regiment to guard Shunde. As for post-war matters, he would help Colonel Kan'ichi Okabe settle them.

Lieutenant General Anriji did this to reassure the other wing commanders and to tell them that he was a responsible officer. It can be said that Lieutenant General Anriji's actions really won over the hearts of the people and increased everyone's recognition of him.

The next morning, Lieutenant General Anriyoshi led the flanking attack force westward and began the flanking attack on Sanshui, while Colonel Hidenosuke Yamada, commander of the 42nd Regiment, led five battalions of officers and soldiers to attack Nankai Castle in the north.

The news that the Japanese army was moving northward from Shunde City was soon discovered by the reconnaissance officers and soldiers in the front and the news was passed to the rear. In the headquarters of the new 22nd Army, Commander Huang and Chief of Staff Zhao Dong were also very calm about the news that the Japanese army had finally moved out. If the Japanese army did not take action today, they would all think that something had gone wrong with the Japanese army.

The officers and soldiers of the new 211th Division were still very calm about the upcoming Japanese attacking forces. After the previous battles, the officers and soldiers quickly adapted to the battlefield environment. At the same time, the new 211th Division also selected a large number of officers to observe the new 210th Division's blocking battle in Shunde. Everyone felt that the new 210th Division's tactics were very good, so they also organized a group of sharpshooters like the new 210th Division. As for the sinister tricks such as explosives, that is definitely an indispensable part.

Why did they use the same trick of using explosives? It was because the new 211th Division discovered that the Japanese army always fell for this trick. The Japanese army simply could not find the explosives on the position in a short period of time, but the Japanese army had to occupy the position anyway. As long as the Japanese army dared to climb up the position, they would definitely fall for it.

The new 211th Division's purpose was to delay time, creating an illusion for the Japanese army every time they attacked, that is, even if they occupied the position, they would not be able to enter the position, as entering the position would mean being taken away by explosives. In this way, the effectiveness of the Japanese army's attack would be greatly reduced. For the defending New 211th Division, this would allow them to achieve the goal of wasting time at the lowest cost.

The flanking attack force led by Lieutenant General Anriyoshi, commander of the 100th Division, was discovered by the reconnaissance officers and soldiers stationed here by the new 100th Division after they had marched quickly for half a day. Information such as the size and marching sequence of the Japanese army was transmitted in detail to the headquarters of the new th Division.

"Division Commander, the Japanese army has finally arrived. Our judgment was correct. The Japanese army is indeed here with the purpose of encircling us. But is the Japanese Fifth Division so confident? According to the news from the front, their flanking force only has one infantry regiment and a field artillery regiment. These troops cannot defeat our positions outside Sanshui." Chief of Staff Ouyang Heng felt a little bit unbelievable about the arrogance of the Japanese army.

"Brother Ouyang, I feel that you have wronged the Japanese commander this time. I think the lack of Japanese troops has led to this situation. But this does give us an opportunity." Zhang Wenwu said while looking at the map in front of him. Now he was also weighing in his mind whether he could make things bigger. It was worthy of making his troops wait in Sanshui for so long.

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