Quartermasters can also fight the devils

The 107th Division of the 70th Army of the Chinese government was somewhat stunned by the sudden fierce artillery fire from the 33rd Division of the Japanese Army that attacked from behind. According to the past, if the Japanese Army launched such a fierce artillery attack, it would mean that the strength and scale of the next attack by the Japanese Army would be very comprehensive.

Song Yingzhong, the commander of the 107th Division, was also confused by the fierce artillery fire of the 33rd Division of the Japanese Army. Didn't the Japanese troops that rushed into the encirclement have been surrounded again? And the 33rd Division of the Japanese Army also had two other large-scale troops attacking the rear defense lines of the two divisions of the New 22nd Army?

If you calculate this way, the 33rd Division of the Japanese Army should not have any troops that can launch a large-scale attack. However, if the 33rd Division of the Japanese Army has no offensive troops available, then what is the reason for such fierce artillery attacks now? Is it because the Japanese Army has so many artillery shells that they have no place to use them?

At the same time, the 34th Division in the encirclement also launched a full-scale fierce attack on the defensive encirclement positions of the 107th Division. This showed that the Japanese army chose the 107th Division as the breakthrough point, which made the 107th Division commander Song Yingzhong feel threatened.

Now, for the commander of the 107th Division, Song Yingzhong, his troops can still withstand the full-scale attack of the 34th Division in the encirclement for a while. The real threat actually comes from the 33rd Division of the Japanese Army, which attacks the back of the 107th Division.

Judging from the scale of the Japanese artillery bombardment of the defensive positions behind them, could it be that the Japanese had new troops entering the battlefield? If the Japanese had new combat troops entering the battlefield, then the 107th Division would be in great danger. Under the two-sided attack of the Japanese, the 107th Division would likely be surrounded by the Japanese. At that time, under the powerful attack of the Japanese, the 107th Division would be in danger of being completely destroyed.

However, Song Yingzhong, commander of the 107th Division, did not immediately confirm his judgment, because he still needed to see whether the Japanese army attacking the defense line behind him would really launch an infantry attack. If the Japanese army launched an infantry attack, it would mean that his judgment was correct. If the Japanese army only launched a fierce artillery attack but did not launch a large-scale infantry attack, it would mean that the Japanese army was bluffing and he would have nothing to worry about.

Lieutenant General Shozo Sakurai, commander of the 33rd Division of the Japanese Army, held up a telescope and looked at the defensive positions behind the 107th Division of the Chinese government not far away. After more than 20 minutes of shelling, Lieutenant General Shozo Sakurai looked at the smoke and dust on the defensive positions that were repeatedly ravaged by artillery fire, felt that the time was ripe, and gave the order for the infantry to begin the attack.

The division commander, Lieutenant General Shozo Sakurai, knew very well that artillery bombardment alone would not make the commander of the 107th Division of the Chinese government feel a real threat. If he wanted to make the commander of the Chinese government army believe that he had the strength to surround and destroy them, he had to let the Chinese army see the infantry attack.

The attack force led by the division commander, Lieutenant General Shozo Sakurai, was put together by the division chief of staff, Major General Takashi Murata, after he plundered the 33rd Division headquarters. The main combat force was the guard squadron of the division headquarters, and the other personnel were more complicated, including the division headquarters' service soldiers, cooks, etc., and were temporarily commanded by the division headquarters' staff officers. It can be said that except for the communications soldiers who had to be retained, all other active personnel of the 33rd Division headquarters were concentrated in this attack force.

In order to make the commander of the 107th Division of the Chinese government believe that his rear defense line was being attacked by large-scale infantry, the division commander, Lieutenant General Shozo Sakurai, immediately threw all his forces into the charge, so that at least the scale of his attacking force would appear to be real.

The 33rd Division of the Japanese Army was a hastily assembled force with a total size of less than 800 people. In order to confuse the judgment of the Chinese army, the division commander Sakurai Shozo ordered these officers and soldiers to make the shouts and momentum as loud as possible when charging, giving the commander of the Chinese army the illusion that the attacking force was a large number.

Therefore, when the Japanese troops began to charge, the officers and soldiers kept the distance between the attacking columns relatively large. At the same time, the officers ordered the charging soldiers not to move too fast, but to fire a few shots in the direction of the Chinese army's positions after taking a few steps. This would create the illusion that the attacking force was large in number and the sound of gunfire was continuous.

Sure enough, the officers and soldiers of the 107th Division of the Chinese government on the rear defense line were deceived by the massive attack of the Japanese army. In addition to the fierceness of the Japanese artillery fire and the impact of smoke and dust on the battlefield on the vision, the commander in charge of the defense line hurriedly called the commander of the 107th Division, Song Yingzhong, to report that the rear defense line had been attacked by a large-scale infantry attack by the Japanese army, and requested the commander Song Yingzhong to send reinforcements as soon as possible.

The report from the rear defense line made the commander of the 107th Division, Song Yingzhong, immediately confirm his previous judgment. The Japanese army indeed had new combat troops joining the battlefield. The current situation became extremely dangerous for the 107th Division.

The 34th Division of the Japanese Army, which is now surrounded, is launching a full-scale and fierce attack on its front line of defense. The commanding officer on the front line also called me and asked me to send reinforcements to reinforce the frontal defense operations. Now the Japanese troops behind are also launching a large-scale attack on my rear line of defense. It seems that the Japanese army is preparing to counter-encircle my troops.

In addition, the commander of the 107th Division, Song Yingzhong, had just sent his reserve troops to reinforce the front line of defense to resist the fierce attack of the 34th Division of the Japanese Army in the encirclement. Now he couldn't even send reinforcements to the rear line of defense.

Once the 107th Division's rear defense line was breached by the Japanese army's large-scale offensive, the 107th Division would be in danger of being divided and surrounded by the Japanese army. At that time, let alone blocking the breakout of the Japanese 34th Division, the 107th Division might even be destroyed by the Japanese army first.

Moreover, the commander of the 107th Division, Song Yingzhong, believed that the rear defense line was now under large-scale attack by the Japanese army and was at risk of being broken through at any time. He had to make a decision quickly. If it was any later, it was very likely that his troops would not even be able to retreat.

Therefore, based on his judgment of the intention and scale of the Japanese attack, the commander of the 107th Division, Song Yingzhong, ordered the entire division to retreat westward immediately in order to avoid the danger of being surrounded and destroyed by the Japanese army.