Quartermasters can also fight the devils

After the Japanese Imperial Headquarters approved the second operational plan against Changsha, Lieutenant General Anami Korechika, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, began to gather troops in northern Hunan. He secretly transferred the 3rd Division, the 4th Division, the 13th Division, the 14th Independent Mixed Brigade, the Eto Detachment, the 13th Tank Regiment, the 14th Independent Artillery Brigade, three independent engineering regiments and other troops, together with the 40th Division formerly stationed in southern Hubei and the 6th Division formerly stationed in northern Hunan, and successively assembled in Yueyang and Linxiang areas.

Lieutenant General Anami Korechika, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, took into account that the commander of the 9th War Zone of China was still organizing defenses in the three directions of northern Hunan, southern Hubei and northern Jiangxi according to the route of defending the three-pronged attack of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army during the First Battle of Changsha.

Therefore, Lieutenant General Anami Korechika, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, planned to conduct a sweep in Dayun Mountain east of the Xinqiang River to attract reinforcements from the Chinese government's Ninth War Zone troops on the eastern line of the Xinqiang River, and then quickly and secretly transfer the main force westward to the relatively undefended area of ​​the Chinese government's Ninth War Zone north of the Xinqiang River, and then rely on powerful firepower to launch a river crossing surprise attack, and finally break through Changsha in one fell swoop with lightning speed.

After the Japanese army won a great victory in the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain, the Japanese military headquarters also hoped that the 11th Army would make a major breakthrough on the battlefield in southern China. This would completely destroy the remaining morale of the Chinese government and force the Chinese government to surrender to the Japanese government. At that time, the Japanese government would be able to use all its strength in the southward advance plan.

Commander Xue of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government also discovered that the 11th Army of the Japanese Army was concentrating its forces. In addition, the commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army had just been replaced, so Commander Xue probably knew that the 11th Army of the Japanese Army was preparing to attack Changsha again.

However, Commander-in-Chief Xue of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government had almost no understanding of the newly appointed commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Anami Korechika. In addition, the victory of the First Battle of Changsha made Commander Xue somewhat look down on the Japanese Army.

Commander of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government, General Xue, did not see through the combat intentions of Lieutenant General Anami Korechika, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army. Therefore, the troops of the Ninth War Zone still defended according to the previously formulated combat plan. The main combat strategy formulated by General Xue was to divide the troops to guard, lure the enemy deep into the territory, defend in echelons, and defeat them one by one. General Xue expected that Lieutenant General Anami Korechika, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, would still launch an attack according to the combat route previously formulated by General Okamura Yasuji.

After the First Battle of Changsha ended with the victory of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese Government, the troops of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese Government and the Eleventh Army of the Japanese Army were separated by the Xinqiang River. For two years, the two sides fought back and forth, attacked and defended each other. There were no major battles, but small battles continued, and the overall situation of being evenly matched was maintained.

Lieutenant General Anami Korechika, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, acted quickly. Before the main force completed its deployment, Lieutenant General Anami Korechika, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, ordered the 6th Division and the 40th Division to carry out a feint attack plan to attract and contain the defenders of the 9th War Zone of the Chinese government on the Xinqiang River line.

At the same time, Lieutenant General Anami Korechika, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, also ordered the navy to attack Changde in order to divert the attention of General Xue, commander of the 9th War Zone of the Chinese government.

On September 7, the 6th Division of the Japanese Army began to move toward the Dayun Mountain area east of the Xinqiang River. At the same time, the 40th Division of the Japanese Army, which was originally deployed in the Dayun Mountain area to fight against the Fourth Army of the Chinese government, also began to move toward the Xiangbei direction according to the combat plan.

Commander Yang of the 27th Army Group stationed at the Xinqiang River defense line of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government also discovered the Japanese army's movements. However, Commander Yang of the 27th Army Group judged that the Japanese Army's 6th Division and 40th Division were conducting a routine rotation of guards.

However, Commander Yang of the 27th Army Group knew that the 6th Division of the Japanese Army was the main force of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, and its combat effectiveness far exceeded that of the 40th Division of the Japanese Army. Judging from the current movements of these two Japanese divisions, the 4th Army of the Chinese government stationed in Dayun Mountain would be in danger of being surrounded and annihilated by these two Japanese troops.

Moreover, once Dayun Mountain was lost, the right wing of the 27th Army would be in great danger. Therefore, Commander Yang of the 27th Army withdrew the 58th Army and the 20th Army from the Xinqiang River defense line to support the 4th Army in Dayun Mountain, and prepared to repel the possible advance of the Japanese 6th Division in the Dayun Mountain area.

However, neither Commander Xue of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government nor Commander Yang of the 27th Army Group expected that this was a trick by Lieutenant General Anami Korechika, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, to lure the tiger away from the mountain.

When Lieutenant General Anami Korechika, commander of the 11th Japanese Army, saw that the two main forces of the Chinese government's 27th Army had left the Xinqiang defense line and moved eastward, he immediately sent a telegram ordering the 6th Division to leave only one regiment in Dayun Mountain to engage in a fight with the Chinese army.

The rest of the Sixth Division's troops all moved secretly to the north of the Xinqiang River and quickly joined up with the already densely packed attacking forces. In this way, the three main forces of the Chinese government's Ninth War Zone were led by an infantry regiment of the Japanese Sixth Division to play hide-and-seek in the Dayunshan area.

For a time, the troops of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government in the Dayunshan area could not figure out how many Japanese troops were there, and they chased the Japanese regiment and attacked them randomly. At this time, the Japanese army had quietly completed its assembly north of the Xinqiang River.

It was not until the Chinese army in Dayun Mountain had been chasing the Japanese Sixth Division for a week that the reconnaissance troops of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government discovered that a large number of Japanese troops had suddenly appeared north of the Xinqiang River. Initial reconnaissance revealed the numbers of the four main divisions of the Japanese Eleventh Army. The total strength was estimated to be over 100,000, and these Japanese troops were equipped with a large number of heavy weapons.

It was not until this time that Commander Xue of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government was surprised to find that in the face of such a large-scale Japanese army, the Ninth War Zone's defense line on the south bank of the Xinqiang River was very empty. So he urgently sent a telegram to Commander Yang of the 27th Army Group, asking Commander Yang of the 27th Army Group to urgently transfer the troops in the Dayun Mountain area back to the defense line on the south bank of the Xinqiang River to complete the empty defense line, but it was too late by then.

On the second day after the reconnaissance troops of the Ninth War Zone of China discovered the situation, Lieutenant General Anami Korechika, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, ordered the four main divisions of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, which had assembled, to begin action. All the offensive forces of the troops were moved forward to the attack position, preparing to launch a forced crossing attack on the front only 20 kilometers wide on the north bank of the Xinqiang River.