Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Colonel Ishii Nobuyuki, commander of the 18th Regiment of the Japanese Army, was so angry that the attack company he organized had not even touched the edge of the Chinese army's defensive position before it was blown up by the Chinese army's hidden heavy artillery. In fact, the Chinese army on the opposite defensive position did not even fire a single shot from beginning to end.

This is equivalent to organizing more than a large team of officers and soldiers to perform a farce for the Chinese army in the defensive position, while the Chinese army in the defensive position quietly appreciates the tragedy of their own troops. This is simply treating his own 18th Regiment as a clown.

At the same time, the loss of his own attacking force also made the commander of the 18th Regiment, Colonel Ishii Nobuyuki, feel heartbroken. In just a short period of time, his 18th Regiment lost one-third of its entire strength. How should he fight the rest of the battle? How should he break through the defensive positions of the Chinese army and rush into Changsha city?

Another person who was in an equally bad situation was Colonel Kensaburo Nono, commander of the 68th Regiment of the Japanese Army. Although his 68th Regiment only had two squadrons of troops in this attack, the losses were already very heavy. Only 300 officers and soldiers were able to retreat. Now, the 68th Regiment, which was already understaffed, was even worse off.

After being bombarded by heavy artillery fire from the Chinese army guarding Changsha City, the commander of the 68th Regiment of the Japanese Army, Colonel Kensaburo Nono, and the commander of the 18th Regiment, Colonel Ishii Nobuyuki, quickly sent a telegram requesting reinforcements to Lieutenant General Toyoshima Fusutaro, commander of the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army.

This time, Colonel Kensaburo Nono, commander of the 68th Regiment, and Colonel Nobuyuki Ishii, commander of the 18th Regiment, no longer used euphemisms to embellish the contents of their telegrams. Instead, they directly stated that their troops had suffered heavy casualties and needed the division commander to send reinforcements quickly. Otherwise, their regiments would not be able to achieve their goal of breaking through the Chinese army's defensive positions and capturing the city of Changsha.

When Lieutenant General Fusataro Toyoshima, commander of the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army, saw the telegrams for help sent almost simultaneously by his two regiment commanders, he was amazed. The Chinese government actually deployed its pitifully small number of heavy artillery units in Changsha City. This was really beyond the expectations of himself and the commander, Lieutenant General Korechika Anami.

Lieutenant General Toyoshima Fusataro, commander of the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army, looked at the two telegrams for help in his hands, and then assessed the current strength of his two regiments in his mind. After the assessment, Lieutenant General Toyoshima Fusataro had to admit that relying solely on his two half-crippled regiments would not be able to break through the defensive positions of the elite forces of the Chinese Army. Moreover, when the Chinese Army possessed heavy artillery, his two regiments had no hope at all.

Therefore, Lieutenant General Toyoshima Fusataro, commander of the Japanese 3rd Division, sent a telegram to Lieutenant General Anami Korechika, commander of the Japanese 11th Army. In the telegram, Lieutenant General Toyoshima Fusataro expressed his hope to lead all the troops of the 3rd Division to participate in the attack on Changsha City.

In the opinion of Lieutenant General Toyoshima Fusutaro, commander of the Japanese 3rd Division, as long as all the remaining troops of his 3rd Division were put into the operation to attack Changsha City, they would be able to break through the defensive positions of the Chinese army and successfully capture Changsha City. Even if the Chinese army had heavy artillery units to assist in the defense, they would not be able to stop the attack of his brave officers and soldiers of the 3rd Division.

Lieutenant General Anami Korechika, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, looked at the telegram requesting battle sent by Lieutenant General Toyoshima Fusataro, commander of the 3rd Division, and the previous battle report, and also felt that the combat forces attacking Changsha City should be strengthened. However, after looking at the sand table in front of him and pondering for a while, Lieutenant General Anami Korechika rejected the request of Lieutenant General Toyoshima Fusataro, commander of the 3rd Division, in his heart.

Lieutenant General Anami Korechika, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, was very clear about the little thoughts in the mind of Lieutenant General Toyoshima Fusataro, commander of the 3rd Division, and he was more supportive of Lieutenant General Anami Korechika's ambition.

Therefore, in order to boost the fighting spirit of the Japanese Third Division, Lieutenant General Anami Korechika, commander of the Japanese 11th Army, ordered Lieutenant General Kanda Masatane, commander of the Japanese Sixth Division, which was attacking Zhuzhou, to lead the main force of the Sixth Division to launch an attack to the east and north of Changsha City, and together with the troops of the Third Division outside Changsha City, occupy Changsha City.

After receiving a telegram from the commander, Lieutenant General Anami Korechika, the commander of the 6th Division of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Kanda Masatane, also ordered the 13th and 14th Regiments, which were advancing towards Zhuzhou, to attack the east and north of Changsha City.

Lieutenant General Masatane Kanda, commander of the 6th Division of the Japanese Army, sent a special telegram to Colonel Tomonari Toshi, commander of the 13th Regiment, and Colonel Kamura Ryuji, commander of the 14th Regiment, ordering them to lead their troops and capture Changsha City before the troops of the 3rd Division, so that the credit for this battle would go to the 6th Division.

Lieutenant General Masatane Kanda, commander of the Sixth Division of the Japanese Army, was also prepared to use this good opportunity to teach a lesson to the skinny and short but arrogant commander of the Third Division, Lieutenant General Fusitarou Toyoshima, and tell him that there was a reason why the Japanese high-ranking officials ranked the Sixth Division ahead of the Third Division.

Don't shout every day that the 3rd Division's ranking is unfair. I will use the actual results of this battle to tell him that the 3rd Division should stay in the third position honestly and not think too much about it.

The 13th and 14th Regiments of the 6th Division of the Japanese Army arrived outside Changsha City on the morning of the next day. Without taking too much rest, the two regiments began to attack the east and north of Changsha City.

At the same time, the 68th and 18th Regiments of the Japanese 3rd Division also launched attacks on the defensive positions of the New 22nd Army in front of them in their respective directions. However, this time due to insufficient manpower, the two regiments of the 3rd Division fought timidly in the attack and did not exert half of their usual combat power.

Compared with the timidity of the two regiments of the 3rd Division in the attack, the 13th and 14th Regiments of the 6th Division, which had just arrived at the battlefield, indeed immediately deployed a battalion of troops each to launch an attack. For a time, the momentum of the gunfire in the direction of these two regiments clearly overshadowed the other two battlefields.

In order to achieve the strategic concept of attracting Japanese troops near Changsha City, the defense forces of the New 22nd Army began to actively abandon the outer defense positions at 10 o'clock in the morning. The troops withdrew into Changsha City one after another, preparing to attract the Japanese troops into Changsha City for street fighting.