Quartermasters can also fight the devils

The top government leaders believed that in this way they could take advantage of the setback in the Japanese offensive forces' attack on Changsha City and at the same time order the outer line troops to concentrate all their efforts to encircle and annihilate the Japanese offensive forces, thus keeping the initiative on the battlefield in their own hands.

After receiving the telegram instructions from the highest level of the government, Commander Xue of the Ninth War Zone also issued an order to prepare for a decisive battle with the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army. Commander Xue made it clear that the operational objective of this Changsha Campaign was to encircle and annihilate the Japanese troops attacking Changsha.

The specific deployment was that the new 22nd Army was responsible for defending Changsha City, and the remaining troops would attack from the east, south and north, targeting the Japanese offensive forces near Changsha City, and attack in a coordinated manner to annihilate the Japanese army.

Then, Commander-in-Chief Xue of the Ninth War Zone sent a telegram to the highest level of the government and at the same time passed his decision down to all the participating troops of the Ninth War Zone, expressing his confidence in winning the decisive battle with the Japanese army.

In the telegram, Commander Xue of the Ninth War Zone clearly stated that the Third Battle of Changsha is related to the survival of the country. At a time when the international situation is changing rapidly, everyone from Commander Xue himself to every soldier in this Changsha consultation must have the determination to die and strengthen the belief that China will win.

In order to ensure the capture of the fighter plane, thus successfully annihilating the Japanese attacking forces and achieving the final victory in the Changsha Battle, Commander Xue of the Ninth War Zone stipulated three points for each unit:

First, the commanders-in-chief of each army group, army commanders, and division commanders must ensure that they have real control over their troops, and the commanders of each unit must personally command operations on the front lines. Only in this way can they seize opportunities in a timely manner and annihilate the Japanese army.

Second, if Commander Xue of the Ninth War Zone dies in battle, Deputy Commander Luo of the Ninth War Zone will take over his position and encircle and annihilate the Japanese troops attacking Changsha City according to the combat plan. This can be repeated in the same way. If the commander-in-chief of each army group, army, division, regiment, battalion, or company commander dies in battle, their positions will be taken over by deputy commanders or second-level senior commanders.

Third, if the commanders-in-chief of the army groups, army, division, regiment, battalion, or company commanders fail to fight effectively, miss opportunities for battle, fail to follow orders, or escape without authorization, they will be punished according to the revolutionary army's collective responsibility law and will not be tolerated.

As these serious orders were issued by Commander Xue of the Ninth War Zone, the morale of the participating troops in the Ninth War Zone was instantly boosted. The commanders at all levels also knew the importance of this operation, and each of them was fully prepared to carry out the subsequent combat tasks.

Lieutenant General Toyoshima Fusutaro, commander of the Japanese 1941rd Division, led his troops to abandon the mission of outflanking the 1942th Army of the Chinese government in accordance with the order of Lieutenant General Anami Korechika, commander of the Japanese 1th Army, and turned south to attack Changsha City. They crossed the Liuyang River late at night on the last day of 1 and arrived at the southeast outskirts of Changsha City on the morning of January , .

Since the Japanese attacking forces had a precedent of entering Changsha City in the Second Battle of Changsha not long ago, although they were driven out of Changsha City by the troops of the new 100th Division, the commander of the Japanese rd Division, Lieutenant General Toyoshima Fusutaro, still arrogantly stated that the Japanese rd Division would raise a toast to celebrate New Year's Day in Changsha City.

Lieutenant General Toyoshima Fusutaro, commander of the Japanese 3rd Division, was also eager to take credit for capturing the city of Changsha, and also wanted to prove the capabilities of the 3rd Division among the Japanese high-ranking officials.

In fact, the reason why Lieutenant General Toyoshima Fusutaro, commander of the Japanese 3rd Division, was so anxious was simple. That was because in the eyes of the Japanese high-ranking officials, the Japanese 5th Division and the Japanese 6th Division were generally respected. Even if the 3rd Division performed well in the battle, it could only rank third in the Japanese Army.

It was for this reason that, ever since the 3rd Division entered the Chinese battlefield, successive commanders of the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army have been very displeased with the 5th Division and the 6th Division, and were determined to compete with them for supremacy. Especially since the period when Lieutenant General Susumu Fujita, commander of the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army, all successive division commanders expressed serious dissatisfaction with the fact that the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army could only rank third.

The 3rd Division was also called the Nagoya Division because it was formed in Nagoya, Japan. All officers and soldiers were recruited from the Nagoya area. However, in the previous Battle of Shanggao, the 33rd Division of the Japanese Army, which was also from Nagoya, performed poorly and was not active in combat. It was even ridiculed and mocked by the 34th Division of the Japanese Army, which originated from Osaka.

The 34th Division spread a saying everywhere, which was "The people of Nagoya are still as bad as ever." Whenever he heard such words, Lieutenant General Toyoshima Fusutaro, the commander of the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army, would fly into a rage.

Lieutenant General Toyoshima Fusotaro, commander of the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army, thought that if the 5th and 6th Divisions laughed at him, that would be fine, but what kind of people are these divisions formed in Osaka? Don't you know what they are? How can you still have the confidence to laugh at other divisions? Who gave you Osaka people the confidence and courage?

In the opinion of Lieutenant General Toyoshima Fusutaro, commander of the Japanese 3rd Division, even the Japanese 5th Division and the Japanese 6th Division, which were highly praised by the Japanese military high-ranking officials, were actually nothing special.

In terms of weapons and equipment, the Fifth Division of the Japanese Army was the first mechanized unit of the Japanese Army. Weapons, equipment and resources were the top priority. But what good battles did the Fifth Division fight on the Chinese battlefield that were worth bragging about?

At the beginning, in the Nankou Battle in the North China battlefield, they were blocked by the 13th Army of the Chinese government, which is now the 31st Army Group of the Chinese government. In the Xinkou Battle in Shanxi Province, they were trapped by the "killer god" General Chen of the 72nd Army of the Chinese government. In the Linyi battlefield in Shandong Province, they were defeated twice by the Fifth Corps and the 29th Army of the Fifth War Zone of the Chinese government. In the Battle of Kunlun Pass, they were beaten badly by the Fifth Army, the direct troops of the Chinese government.

Lieutenant General Toyoshima Fusutaro, commander of the Japanese Army's 3rd Division, felt that the Japanese Army's 5th Division had such a poor record, so why could it rank ahead of his own 3rd Division?

As for the Japanese 6th Division, Lieutenant General Toyoshima Fusutaro, commander of the Japanese 3rd Division, felt that it was not very good. During the Battle of Three Towns, the Japanese 6th Division was actually blocked by the 11th Army of the Guangxi Clique of the Chinese government. As a result, after the 6th Division reached Huangmei, it was defeated by the Chinese army and lost its offensive capability.

Could it be that just because the Sixth Division was stationed north of the Xinqiang River after the Battle of Three Towns and confronted the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government, it could be ranked ahead of its own Third Division? Lieutenant General Toyoshima Fusutaro, commander of the Japanese Third Division, believed that this was not just a deliberate compliment given to the Sixth Division by Lieutenant General Okamura Yasuji, the former commander of the Japanese 11th Army, in order to appease the Kumamoto people.