Quartermasters can also fight the devils

On that day, the Japanese army concentrated more than 300 large and small caliber artillery pieces on the north bank of the Xinqiang River, and lined up more than 100 tanks along the river bank, aiming at the defense positions of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government on the south bank of the Xinqiang River. At this time, the vanguard of the 27th Army withdrawn from the Dayunshan defense line, a total of four divisions of officers and soldiers, had just begun to enter the positions to deploy after a night of forced march.

At dawn, more than 100 Japanese bombers flew over the Xinqiang River and dropped thousands of bombs on the defense positions on the south bank of the Xinqiang River where the 27th Army of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government was stationed. Subsequently, Japanese artillery and tanks on the north bank of the Xinqiang River began to fiercely bombard the south bank.

The Japanese artillery attack lasted for several hours. After such a large-scale uninterrupted artillery bombardment, the defensive fortifications of the 27th Army of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government on the south bank of the Xinqiang River were basically destroyed.

After a long period of artillery bombardment by the Japanese army, the Japanese infantry attack force launched an attack to cross the Xinqiang River under the cover of tanks and artillery.

On the position on the south bank of the Xinqiang River in the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese Government, the soldiers of the Sichuan Army of the Fourth Army, who had just been bombarded by the Japanese army, led by Army Commander Ou Zhen, fought desperately to stop the Japanese troops who were trying to cross the Xinqiang River. However, in the face of the fierce attack and fire suppression of the Japanese army, at noon, the Japanese offensive forces still successfully crossed the Xinqiang River and broke through the first line of defense of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese Government on the Xinqiang River. The troops of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese Government were forced to withdraw to the second line of defense to continue to block the Japanese attack.

After the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army crossed the Xinqiang River, the commander of the Japanese 11th Army, Lieutenant General Anami Korechika, ordered the three divisions that had completely crossed the Xinqiang River to concentrate their forces to attack the defense line of the 4th Army of the 27th Army of the Chinese government from both sides, striving to break through the defense line of the 9th War Zone of the Chinese government on the south bank of the Xinqiang River as quickly as possible.

The battle lasted until four o'clock in the afternoon, when the defense line of the 4th Army of the 27th Group Army on the south bank of the Xinqiang River was breached by the pincer attack of the Japanese army. The commander of the 4th Army, Ou Zhen, could only lead the remnants to retreat to the Miluo River defense line.

After breaking through the Xinqiang River defense line, the attacking force of the 11th Japanese Army also sent out several infiltration troops to encircle and attack the remnants of the 4th Army on the way of retreat. During the retreat, the commander of the 4th Army, Ou Zhen, led the headquarters of the 4th Army, and was targeted by a Japanese squad that inadvertently infiltrated.

This Japanese infiltration team also discovered that there should be senior officers in the Chinese army in front of them, so this small Japanese force held on to the headquarters of the Fourth Army tightly, forcing the Fourth Army commander Ou Zhen to retreat quickly to the Miluo River defense line in the south under the protection of the guard company. The headquarters was almost destroyed by this Japanese infiltration force.

After successfully crossing the Xinqiang River, the attacking force of the 11th Japanese Army immediately advanced rapidly toward the defense line of the 9th War Zone of the Chinese Government on the Miluo River in accordance with the combat plan formulated before the war.

Commander General Xue of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government would never have imagined that the Xinqiang River defense line that had blocked the attack of the Japanese 11th Army for five days would be breached in less than a day by the troops commanded by Lieutenant General Anami Korechika, commander of the Japanese 11th Army.

The most terrifying thing is that the Ninth War Zone is still maintaining a situation of divided troops guarding. It takes time for each unit to return to support. The Miluo River defense line is in crisis. Once the Miluo River defense line is quickly broken through by the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army, Changsha will be in great danger.

At this time, Commander Xue of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government had already felt the murderous intent in the bones of Lieutenant General Anami Korechika, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army. Judging from the speed of the Japanese attack, Changsha City might not be able to be defended. His own defense plan had been completely disrupted by the troops commanded by Lieutenant General Anami Korechika, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, and he had to make adjustments immediately.

After the attacking force of the Japanese 11th Army crossed the Xinqiang River, by the evening of the next day, the 3rd, 4th and 6th Divisions of the Japanese 11th Army had all arrived at the north bank of the Miluo River. Some Japanese troops even impatiently tried to force their way across the Miluo River and engaged in a fierce battle with the troops of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government on the defensive positions on the south bank of the Miluo River.

Now, Commander Xue, the commander of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government, is facing a very critical battlefield situation. The intensity and speed of the Japanese attack forces commanded by Lieutenant General Anami Korechika, commander of the Japanese 11th Army, are far beyond the expectations of the Chinese army.

At present, Commander Xue of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government can only rely on the defense lines of Miluo River and Laodao River to slow down the advance of the Japanese army. At the same time, he can use Changsha City as the last position to delay the offensive forces of the Japanese army. Then, Commander Xue of the Ninth War Zone can only mobilize reinforcements from the outside to attack the Japanese army and try to repel the Japanese attack.

Commander of the Ninth War Zone, General Xue, knew very well that although the defense line on the Miluo River side had one more day of preparation time than the Xinqiang River defense line, the Japanese army was advancing very quickly. When the Japanese vanguard reached the Miluo River defense line, the Ninth War Zone only had the 37th Army and the 99th Army on the Miluo River defense line, with a total of only five divisions. It would be difficult to withstand the attack of the Japanese heavy firepower forces relying solely on this amount of troops.

As the situation on the Xiangbei battlefield took a sharp turn for the worse, not only did Commander Xue of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government become extremely anxious, but the highest level of the government stationed in the mountain city was also extremely worried. On the day when the 11th Army of the Japanese Army launched an attack on the Xinqiang River defense line, the Military Commission of the Chinese government felt that the situation was critical.

The Military Commission of the Chinese Government believed that the strength of the Ninth War Zone might not be able to withstand the fierce attack of the Japanese Eleventh Army alone, so it urgently transferred the Tenth Army and the Twenty-Sixth Army to the command of Commander Xue of the Ninth War Zone, and rushed to the Miluo River defense line. Subsequently, the Military Commission of the Chinese Government transferred the Seventy-Ninth Army and the Second Army from the Sixth War Zone and the Seventh War Zone to rush to Changsha.

At the same time, in order to ease the pressure on Changsha, the top government leaders ordered Commander-in-Chief Chen of the Sixth War Zone to immediately gather heavy troops to launch an offensive against Yichang, Jingzhou and other areas where the Japanese army was undermanned, and to try to recapture Yichang.

Subsequently, the top government level ordered the neighboring Third War Zone and Fifth War Zone to launch attacks on the Japanese troops in front of them, threatening the rear of the Japanese 11th Army in order to contain the main offensive of the Japanese Army.

In order to strengthen the Changsha defense line, Commander Xue of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government also urgently rushed the 74th Army and the New 22nd Army of the Chinese government in Gan Province from Gan Province to Changsha.