Quartermasters can also fight the devils

On the night when the attacking forces of the 13th Japanese Army surrounded the Third War Zone troops of the Chinese government in Jinhua and Lanxi on three sides, they discovered a big fire in Jinhua City. Lieutenant General Shigeru Sawada, commander of the 13th Japanese Army, judged that the Chinese troops near Jinhua had begun to retreat based on the aerial reconnaissance during the day and the reports of the attacking forces.

In order to force the Chinese government's Third War Zone to fight a decisive battle, Lieutenant General Shigeru Sawada, commander of the Japanese 13th Army, shifted the focus of the 13th Army's attack to the right wing, using part of the force to attack Jinhua and Lanxi, while the main force of the 13th Army attacked towards Quzhou, also pursuing the retreating main force of the Chinese government's Third War Zone.

The next day, Lieutenant General Shigeru Sawada, commander of the 13th Army of the Japanese Army, ordered the 15th Division, the 22nd Division, the 70th Division and the Kono Brigade to launch an attack on the defenders of the Third War Zone of the Chinese Government in Jinhua and Lanxi.

On the same day that Lieutenant General Shigeru Sawada, commander of the 13th Japanese Army, ordered an attack on Jinhua and Lanxi areas, Commander Wang of the 10th Army of the Third War Zone of the Chinese government also judged that the attacking forces of the 13th Japanese Army would attack Jinhua and Lanxi areas from Lingxiazhu, Xiaoshun, Caozhai and Pujiang and Lanxi Avenue.

At the same time, Commander Wang of the Tenth Army also expected that the Japanese Thirteenth Army would send troops from Wuyi, Tangxi Avenue and the area west of Lanjiang to directly attack Tangxi and Longyou. In this way, the offensive forces of the Japanese Thirteenth Army would cut off the rear communication lines of the Chinese army in Jinhua and Lanxi areas.

Therefore, Commander Wang of the Tenth Army Group immediately ordered the Provisional Ninth Army to flank and contain the Japanese army on both sides of the Dongyang, Yongkang and Jinhua highways, and ordered the commander of the 40th Division, Fang Riying, to lead his troops to deploy in the area between Kailongyou and Huzhen, and unified the command of the Provisional 13th Division to occupy positions in Tangxi and Longyou areas, and to be on guard against possible attacks launched by the offensive forces of the Japanese 13th Army to the east.

At the same time, he ordered the 88th Army Commander Zhou to immediately send troops to occupy the north bank of the Jinhua River to protect the rear security of Jinhua and Lanxi areas, and ordered the 79th Division and the 63rd Division to be under the unified command of the 88th Army Commander Zhou. He also ordered the new 30th Division to be directly under the command of the Tenth Army Group Headquarters as a battle reserve. Commander Wang of the Tenth Army Group brought the army group headquarters to Sandieyan in Longyou to command nearby.

The offensive tactics of the Japanese 13th Army were judged very correctly by Commander Wang of the 10th Army. The Japanese 22nd Division attacked and advanced to Gufang, then approached Tangxi, and engaged in a fierce battle with the 40th Division of the 10th Army of the Third War Zone of the Chinese Government and the Provisional 13th Division.

After capturing Shouchang, the 116th Division of the Japanese Army continued to advance southwards in parallel with the nd Division of the Japanese Army. The vanguard of the Japanese Army along this route had reached Hangbu on the north bank of Qujiang River. Therefore, Commander Wang of the th Army ordered the th Division and the Provisional th Division to turn towards Longyou.

After the troops of the Third War Zone of the Chinese government retreated, Longyou was captured by the offensive forces of the 13th Army of the Japanese Army. The rear of the Chinese army in Jinhua and Lanxi areas was also seriously threatened.

Commander Wang of the Tenth Army Group ordered the 40th Division to retreat to Dazhou Town for defense, and the temporary 13th Division to retreat to Lingshan Town for defense to cover the safety of the Tenth Army Group's right wing.

In Jinhua, the Japanese 70th Division and the 22nd Division, plus the Kono Brigade, under the cover of more than 20 aircraft, launched a frontal attack on the outer defense positions of the 79th Division of the Third War Zone of the Chinese government at dawn on the 25th.

At the same time, the Japanese army also sent part of its forces to make a roundabout encirclement in the direction of Zhumaguan and attack the right side of the defense line of the 79th Division of the Third War Zone of the Chinese government.

The attacking forces of two Japanese divisions and one brigade, with the support of dozens of Japanese aircraft, carried out successive bombings on the defensive positions of the 79th Division. In order to speed up the attack, the attacking forces of the Japanese army also dropped several sneeze gas bombs near the East Gate of Jinhua to cover the attack of the infantry units.

After two days of fierce fighting, at dusk on the second day, the outer defense positions of the 235th Division of the Third War Zone of the Chinese government were occupied by the attack forces of the 1th Army of the Japanese Army. The th Regiment and the st Advance Column of the th Division in the outer defense positions were forced to move to the northwest position of Jinhua.

From the 27th to the 28th, the fighting in Jinhua City became increasingly fierce. Japanese planes and artillery units launched repeated bombings on the city walls of Jinhua. The core positions and fortifications of the 79th Division in Jinhua City were basically destroyed by the repeated bombings and attacks by the Japanese army.

In order to reverse the current unfavorable situation, the 79th Division organized troops to launch a counterattack against the Japanese army from the right side, but this counterattack did not achieve the expected effect.

The attacking force of the Japanese 13th Army also successfully broke into Jinhua City on the 28th and engaged in brutal street fighting with the officers and soldiers of the 79th Division.

Faced with the attack of the Japanese army's superior forces, as more and more Japanese troops rushed into the city, the officers and soldiers of the 79th Division of the Third War Zone of the Chinese government fought fiercely with the Japanese troops that rushed into Jinhua City for several hours. In the end, because most of their positions fell into the hands of the Japanese attacking forces and the 79th Division suffered heavy casualties, they had to break out to Beishan and Dapanshan at dusk. Subsequently, Jinhua City was completely occupied by the Japanese attacking forces.

In Lanxi, the 60th Regiment of the 15th Division of the Japanese Army, under the cover of more than 30 aircraft, launched an attack on the outer defense positions of the 63rd Division of the Third War Zone of the Chinese government in the direction of Baikanjian, Gaoshengjian and Shikuoshan at dawn on the 25th.

Facing the attacks of the Japanese offensive forces, the officers and soldiers of the 15rd Division of the Third War Zone of the Chinese government also stubbornly relied on their positions to resist. With the arrival of the th Division of the Japanese Army moving south along the east bank of the Lanjiang River, the Japanese army began a fierce siege of Lanxi City.

On the third day, the outer defense positions of the 63rd Division of the Third War Zone of the Chinese government were all captured by the offensive forces of the 15th Division of the Japanese Army. Then, the offensive forces of the Japanese Army entered Lanxi City, and the entire Lanxi City fell into chaos.

Under heavy casualties, the 63rd Division was forced to break out to the Baishitang area in the east of the city, and Lanxi City was also occupied by the offensive forces of the 15th Division of the Japanese Army.

However, on the morning of the day when the Japanese army attacked Lanxi City, the commander of the 15th Division of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Naoji Sakai, brought a large number of accompanying personnel from the division headquarters to the front line of Lanxi City to supervise the battle. However, this supervision of the battle directly cost the life of Lieutenant General Naoji Sakai, commander of the 15th Division of the Japanese Army.