Quartermasters can also fight the devils

With the end of the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign, the New 22nd Army, as the direct force of the Chinese government, could not always be kept at the forefront of the confrontation with the Japanese army. That would be too dangerous. Therefore, at the suggestion of Commander Xue, commander of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government, the New 22nd Army was once again transferred back to the combat sequence of the Ninth War Zone by the Military Commission, and the entire army withdrew to Changsha for post-war rest.

Originally, Zhang Wenwu thought that after the entire army moved to Changsha City, the Military Commission would re-equip the new 22nd Army. After all, Allied aircraft were now continuously transporting all kinds of materials urgently needed by the Chinese government via the "Hump Route", and the most transported items were weapons and ammunition.

However, to Zhang Wenwu's disappointment, although the Allies had invested the greatest transport capacity on the "Hump Route", the weapons and ammunition transported were still a drop in the bucket for the Chinese government's troops that needed a comprehensive replacement of equipment in a short period of time.

Moreover, according to the requirements of the military delegation sent by the Allies, these transported weapons must first be equipped to the Chinese government's troops in western Yunnan, because they are the main force preparing to counterattack Myanmar in the future, and they are related to the actual interests of the Allies in Southeast Asia.

Of course, as a direct meritorious force of the Chinese government, the New 22nd Army still received personal commendations from the highest level of the government, and the Military Commission was personally ordered to supplement the New 22nd Army with 24 105mm caliber howitzers that were transported from the Hump Route by the United States with great difficulty. This allowed the artillery regiment of the New 22nd Army to finally replace all of the previous Japanese-made artillery. As a result, the firepower of the New 22nd Army was greatly enhanced.

The Japanese-made artillery replaced by the artillery regiment of the new 22nd Army was not handed over to the Military Commission, but was all distributed to the three combat divisions below. Now, the number of artillery and heavy firepower support capabilities of the new 22nd Army can be said to be among the top three in the Chinese army.

Now all the officers and soldiers of the New 22nd Army feel that even if they encounter the Japanese Army’s A-class division next time, the New 22nd Army will dare to fight the enemy head-on.

Just as the New 22nd Army was resting and replenishing in Changsha City, time quietly came to February 1943. The Japanese 11th Army in the three towns had also undergone many adjustments and changes since the third Changsha Battle in the winter of 1941.

First of all, the 4th Division, which originally belonged to the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, was transferred to the Philippines by the Japanese Army Headquarters on February 10, 1942, to strengthen the combat strength of the 14th Army of the Japanese Army commanded by Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma and continue to attack the United States army on the Bataan Peninsula.

The Sixth Division, which had been stationed in Yueyang as the main force of the Japanese 11th Army, was transferred by sea from Shanghai to the Eighth Army of the Japanese Army commanded by Lieutenant General Imamura Hitoshi in Rabaul, New Britain on December 21, 1942.

In order to take over the defense left behind by the Japanese 6th Division, the Japanese Imperial Headquarters transferred the Japanese Independent Mixed 17th Brigade, which originally belonged to the Japanese 13th Army and was stationed in Shanghai, to Yueyang for defense in early December.

Since the Japanese 11th Army occupied Yichang in May 1940, the 128th Division of the Fifth War Zone of the Chinese Government and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Advance Columns of the Sixth War Zone, as well as the miscellaneous troops composed of the former local troops of Jiangxi Province, which were stationed in the triangle area between the Yangtze River and the Han River in Heyang, Qianjiang, Jianli and Xinti, and the miscellaneous troops composed of the former local troops of Jiangxi Province, have continuously attacked the Japanese 11th Army's water transportation from the three towns via the Yangtze River to Yueyang, and from the three towns via the Han River to Yuekou, Shayang Town and other places, and attacked the Japanese strongholds near the three towns, disrupted the transportation near the three towns and cracked down on the puppet activities in the Japanese-occupied areas.

This series of harassment operations by the Chinese army prevented the smooth navigation of the Yangtze River waterway between Sanzhen and Yichang. The transportation of supplies by the Japanese 11th Army was seriously obstructed, and the various supplies looted by the Japanese troops stationed in Yichang near Yichang could not be transported to Sanzhen for use by the Japanese 11th Army.

In addition, since the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Japanese army has suffered serious losses in its shipping force, and there is a serious shortage of ships to transport troops, military supplies, and raw materials.

On the Chinese battlefield, the Japanese army had fewer and fewer ships available for inland shipping, and the Yangtze River waters from Yichang to Yueyang were still under the control of the Chinese army. The large number of ships looted by the Japanese army after capturing Yichang could not be used, forcing the Japanese 11th Army to decide that this thorny problem must be solved.

After the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign ended, Lieutenant General Tsukada Osamu, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, ordered all units of the 11th Army to step up their combat preparations. After the 11th Army Headquarters of the Japanese Army formulated a detailed combat plan, the various units began to assemble and launch an attack on the Chinese government's army.

However, just as the various units of the Japanese 11th Army began to prepare for war intensively according to the orders of Commander Lieutenant General Tsukada Osamu, the plane carrying Commander Lieutenant General Tsukada Osamu was shot down by the anti-aircraft artillery unit of the 48th Army of the Chinese government over Taihu Lake in Anhui Province, China on December 18. Commander Lieutenant General Tsukada Osamu was smashed to pieces on the spot along with his plane and died instantly.

After the death of Lieutenant General Tsukada Osamu, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, the Japanese Army Headquarters posthumously awarded Tsukada Osamu the rank of Army General. In order to complete the attack on the mountain city of the Chinese government as soon as possible, the Japanese Army Headquarters appointed Lieutenant General Yokoyama Isamu, the former commander of the 4th Army of the Japanese Army in Heilongjiang Province, to replace the deceased General Tsukada Osamu as the commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army.

The newly appointed commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, is the fifth commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army after Lieutenant General Yasuji Okamura, Lieutenant General Kazuichiro Sonobe, Lieutenant General Korechika Anami, and General Tsukada Isao.

On the way to Sanzhen, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, had carefully studied the current situation of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army. Then Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, decided to concentrate his forces to attack the Honghu area and carry out the "Jiangbei annihilation operation."

Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, planned this operation to occupy the triangular area near the three towns and the Huarong and Shishou areas on the south bank of the Yangtze River and eliminate all the troops of the Chinese government in these areas. This would greatly enhance the current strategic situation of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army.

After Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, arrived in the three towns, he organized the troops of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army and successfully carried out the "Jiangbei Annihilation Campaign" in the triangle area on the north bank of the Yangtze River connecting Hankou, Yuezhou and Shashi. The 128th Division of the Chinese government was completely defeated by the troops of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army.