Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Lieutenant General Shigeru Sawada, commander of the 13th Army of the Japanese Army, held the same view as Lieutenant General Shunroku Hata, commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Army. They both believed that even if the 13th Army of the Japanese Army revised its combat plan this time and completely destroyed the field airfields built by the Chinese government's Air Force in Zhejiang Province, after the 13th Army's troops withdrew, these destroyed field airfields would soon be repaired and continued to be used by the Chinese troops.

If we want to make these field airports of the Chinese Air Force in Zhejiang Province useless in the future, there is only one way, that is to send troops to occupy the above-mentioned areas. However, where can we find so many troops to occupy these places now?

The commander of the China Expeditionary Army, Lieutenant General Hata Shunroku, was a senior general in the Japanese army. Moreover, he served as Japan's Army Minister earlier than the current Prime Minister Tojo Hideki. Therefore, when his successor Tojo Hideki interfered in combat matters in front of him, Lieutenant General Hata Shunroku was very unhappy.

Therefore, the commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Army, Lieutenant General Hata Shunroku, did not follow the content of Tojo Hideki's order to mobilize more than 40 Japanese army battalions to attack and destroy the Chinese government Air Force's field airport in Zhejiang Province. Instead, he directly mobilized 82 Japanese army battalions to engage in a battle.

Since the war between China and Japan broke out, except for the Battle of Shanghai and the Battle of Three Towns in 1938, when the Japanese army dispatched 140 battalions of troops, 82 battalions of troops were deployed in one battle, which is rare among the Japanese army.

The purpose of Lieutenant General Hata Shunroku, commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Army, was very clear. That was, this operation was not limited to the "Zhejiang Province Operation" plan previously formulated by the Japanese 13th Army. Instead, it was to occupy these areas after the offensive forces of the Japanese 13th Army completed the task of destroying all field airports of the Chinese government Air Force in Zhejiang Province, to ensure that no more planes would take off from these areas to bomb the Japanese mainland in the future. At the same time, the troops should be extended to Jiangxi Province to open up the Zhejiang-Jiangxi line.

As a result, the original "Zhejiang Province Operation" plan planned by Lieutenant General Shigeru Sawada, commander of the Japanese 13th Army, was changed to the "Zhejiang-Jiangxi Operation" plan.

In fact, it was very unwise for the Japanese army to choose to fight before the rainy season in southern China. Southern China is densely covered with rivers, which is not suitable for the deployment of Japanese mechanized troops and the passage of heavy equipment. In addition, after the rainy season in southern China arrives, heavy rains may suddenly come at any time. Once the heavy rain comes, the muddy roads and the floods caused by the heavy rains will make the Japanese army's heavy equipment, which is already difficult to move, stuck in the mud and unable to move.

However, both Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo and Commander of the China Expeditionary Force Lieutenant General Hata Shunroku were furious about the bombing of the Japanese mainland by Lieutenant Colonel Doolittle of the United States. In order to prevent similar incidents from happening again, blinded by anger in their hearts, they violated obvious military common sense and risked launching this campaign.

After Lieutenant General Hata Shunroku, commander of the China Expeditionary Army, and Lieutenant General Sawada Shigeru, commander of the 13th Army of the Japanese Army, determined the battle plan, Lieutenant General Sawada Shigeru, commander of the 13th Army of the Japanese Army, began to mobilize troops for this battle.

Lieutenant General Shigeru Sawada, commander of the 13th Japanese Army, mobilized the 15th, 22nd, 32nd, 70th and 116th Divisions, preparing to attack westward between Hangzhou and Ningbo in Zhejiang Province.

When Lieutenant General Shigeru Sawada, commander of the 13th Japanese Army, began to mobilize troops, senior Chinese intelligence personnel lurking in Shanghai and Nanjing transmitted information that the 13th Japanese Army was secretly gathering troops to prepare for an attack to the Chinese government's intelligence department.

The head of the Chinese government's intelligence department immediately reported the news to the highest levels of the government and Commander-in-Chief Gu of the Third War Zone.

Based on the fact that the United States' air force had previously bombed the Japanese mainland and landed at Chinese airports, the highest level of the government concluded with great certainty that the large-scale assembly and mobilization of the Japanese 13th Army had a very clear combat goal, which was to destroy the Chinese government's air force's field airports in Zhejiang Province. Judging from this, the location of the future decisive battle between the Chinese army and the Japanese 13th Army is likely to be in Jinhua, Lanxi and Quzhou in Zhejiang Province.

These field airports built by the Chinese government's Air Force are extremely critical to the Allied Forces, and are also related to whether the Chinese government can obtain more economic and military assistance. Therefore, the top government level transferred the Chinese government's elite troops, the 74th Army and the New 22nd Army, from the Ninth War Zone to the Third War Zone. At the same time, the 26th Army and the Fifth Reserve Division were also transferred to the Third War Zone to enhance the combat strength of the Third War Zone.

After being reinforced by two main armies, another reorganized army and a division, General Gu, commander of the Third War Zone of the Chinese government, also had great confidence in the subsequent decisive battle with the 13th Army of the Japanese Army.

Commander General Gu of the Third War Zone of the Chinese Government also told the highest level of the government that all the troops of the Third War Zone of the Chinese Government were ready, and reported his own battle plan to prepare for a decisive battle with the offensive forces of the Japanese 13th Army in Jinhua to the highest level of the government.

However, the combat plan of Commander Gu of the Third War Zone was rejected by the top government because the top government believed that the purpose of the Japanese 13th Army's attack was to destroy all the field airports of the Chinese government Air Force in Quzhou. The Third War Zone should use Quzhou as "bait" to attract the Japanese 13th Army to attack.

Therefore, the top government leaders believed that the government's 74th Army and the New 22nd Army, the 26th Army and the 49th Army, the main force of the Third War Zone, which were temporarily assigned to the Third War Zone, should not be deployed in Jinhua and Lanxi areas to fight a war of attrition with the Japanese 13th Army, but should be assigned near Quzhou.

After continuous fighting, when the attacking forces of the Japanese 13th Army reach Quzhou, they will be exhausted and their combat effectiveness will be greatly damaged. At this time, the four main forces will jointly attack the attacking forces of the Japanese 13th Army. In this way, they can not only ensure that the field airports in Quzhou are not destroyed, but also annihilate a large number of Japanese troops. It can be said to be the best of both worlds.

In fact, this strategy of the highest level of the government was largely drawn from the successful examples of the Ninth War Zone in fighting the Japanese army in several Changsha battles, that is, fighting and retreating step by step, while sending a large number of guerrillas deep behind enemy lines to destroy the Japanese army's logistical supply lines. When the Japanese army was out of strength, the elite troops of the four armies would give the final blow to the Japanese offensive forces, which would definitely achieve huge results.