Quartermasters can also fight the devils

The commander of the 199th Division, Song Ruike, finally looked forward to the arrival of night. According to Song Ruike's plan, only by delaying the time until night would his officers and soldiers of the 199th Division have time to dig trenches and build defensive positions.

Because the Japanese army would not launch an attack at night. Only when it gets dark can we build as many defensive positions as possible. Although it is impossible to build a complete defensive position in one night, we should build as many defensive positions as we can now. When the Japanese army's large forces and artillery arrive tomorrow, the officers and soldiers of the 199th Division will have some defensive positions to provide cover. In this way, we can hold out in Yichang for a longer time and try to delay the arrival of reinforcements from the new 22nd Army.

Lieutenant General Shizukazu Tanaka, commander of the 13th Division of the Japanese Army, arrived outside Yichang City in the evening with the main force of the division. After learning that Yichang City had been reoccupied by the Chinese army, he ordered the artillery units to arrive at the preset artillery positions before six o'clock in the morning of the next day to provide effective artillery support for tomorrow's attack.

At the same time, the division commander, Lieutenant General Shizukazu Tanaka, listened in detail to the report from the officers of the vanguard troops today. He felt relieved when he learned that the Chinese army occupying Yichang City had no time to build fortifications and positions under the attack of his vanguard troops. He had greater expectations for the full-scale offensive of his division the next day.

The division commander, Lieutenant General Shizukazu Tanaka, also hopes to reoccupy Yichang within one day through tomorrow's all-out offensive. You know, the mission to capture Yichang this time is a combat mission ordered by His Majesty the Emperor himself. If his 13th Division can occupy Yichang within one day, then his name and the 13th Division will be noticed by His Majesty the Emperor. What an honor it is.

The division commander, Lieutenant General Shizukazu Tanaka, also asked the troops to have a good rest at night. Even if the Chinese army on the opposite side was given one night, they would not be able to build any decent fortifications. At most, they could only dig some simple trenches.

It is pure wishful thinking to think of using these simple defensive trenches to stop the attack of one's own troops. If the artillery units bombard for a little longer, these simple trenches will basically be flattened. Besides, one's own troops have walked a lot back and forth today, and the officers and soldiers need to have a good rest. This way, they can exert their greatest combat effectiveness when attacking tomorrow.

The silence of the 13th Division of the Japanese Army did not make the commander of the 199th Division, Song Ruike, feel at ease. The Japanese army knew clearly that the 199th Division would build defensive positions at night, but they acted as if they could not see them. Not even sporadic harassing artillery fire occurred. This showed that the Japanese army was gathering strength and preparing for a full-scale offensive tomorrow.

At the same time, this also shows that the Japanese commander is full of confidence in tomorrow's attack. They don't care at all about the defensive positions built overnight by the officers and soldiers of the 199th Division. This also shows that the Japanese commander is confident in the offensive strength of his troops.

In the current situation, the commander of the 199th Division, Song Ruike, could only order the officers and soldiers to hurry up. Since the Japanese army would not carry out any harassment, they must seize this opportunity to dig the defensive positions and trenches as firmly as possible.

After a night of emergency digging, the officers and soldiers of the 199th Division finally dug out a simple defensive position, which was much better than the situation yesterday when they were completely exposed to the Japanese army. However, the officers and soldiers of the 199th Division were quite tired after a night of digging, which was a less than ideal situation for the upcoming defensive operations.

However, the officers and soldiers of the 199th Division had no solution to this problem. There were only so many people in the unit, and they only had one night. If not all of them joined in the work of digging a defensive position, they would not be able to build even a simple defensive position.

At eight o'clock in the morning, after breakfast, Lieutenant General Shizukazu Tanaka, commander of the 13th Division of the Japanese Army, appeared at the starting position of the attacking force in neat clothes. He needed to stay at the forefront of the 13th Division's attack today, so that in the battle report after the occupation of Yichang, it would appear that: Lieutenant General Shizukazu Tanaka, commander of the 13th Division, personally commanded the troops and completed the combat mission assigned by His Majesty the Emperor.

This also reflects the importance he attaches to this operation. Moreover, if he personally commands at the front line, it will also be a morale boost for the officers and soldiers of the attacking force. After all, for the division commander, Lieutenant General Tanaka Shizukazu, he wants to take back Yichang in one day, which requires the attacking force to use all its strength.

It was not until nine o'clock in the morning that the commander of the Japanese artillery unit reported to Lieutenant General Shizukazu Tanaka, commander of the 13th Division of the Japanese Army, that the artillery unit was fully prepared and could provide artillery support to the attacking forces at any time.

Lieutenant General Tanaka Shizukazu, commander of the 13th Division of the Japanese Army, took out the pocket watch hanging in his chest pocket and took a look at it. He said calmly to the staff officer beside him: "The attack time is set at 9:30. The artillery unit will first bombard the Chinese army's defensive positions for 25 minutes, and then the tank unit will cover the infantry to launch a full-scale attack on the Chinese army's defensive positions. No retreat is allowed without orders."

After issuing the combat order, Lieutenant General Tanaka Shizukazu, commander of the 13th Division of the Japanese Army, sat in the command post of the starting position with his command sword in his hand, closed his eyes and rested, as if the battle that was about to begin had nothing to do with him.

When the time came to 9:30, dozens of artillery shells streaked across the sky above the Japanese starting position command post, and then whizzed down onto the defensive position of the 199th Division of the Chinese government. Almost in an instant, the defensive position of the 199th Division was completely covered by the fierce artillery fire of the Japanese army, and the sound of the explosions of the shells resounded through the world.

The commander of the 199th Division, Song Ruike, held up a telescope and looked through the observation port of the division headquarters at the defensive positions that were repeatedly ravaged by Japanese artillery fire. Sweat broke out on his face with anxiety. According to the current intensity of the Japanese artillery fire, the defensive positions that the 199th Division had dug and built overnight would not last long before being flattened by Japanese artillery fire.

After more than 20 minutes of artillery bombardment, the Japanese attacking forces also rushed out from the starting position. It was not until this time that Lieutenant General Tanaka Shizukazu, commander of the 13th Division of the Japanese Army, opened his eyes and slowly walked to the artillery telescope that had been set up long ago to observe the offensive situation of the troops.