Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Because the commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, successfully commanded the Jiangbei offensive in the first half of the year, the offensive forces of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army achieved a very good situation at a very small cost. Therefore, facing the upcoming Battle of Western Hubei, the commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, believed that he could completely accomplish the task by relying on the heavy troops concentrated in his hands.

However, although the commander of the 11th Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, concentrated heavy troops, driven by his cautious and cunning character, he still deceived the Chinese army in the specific deployment of the battle.

Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, planned to withdraw troops from his offensive forces on the east side of the front line and move south to pretend to attack Changde, Hunan Province. When the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government mobilized troops to rush to Changde's aid, he would suddenly command all the troops to advance westward.

In addition, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, required that all attacking forces should strive to be stable in their attacks on the heavy troops of the Chinese government and not to be reckless and allow the Chinese army to find loopholes. When facing the heavy troops of the Chinese government, all forces should adopt more encirclement tactics to completely eliminate the heavy troops of the Chinese government.

Afterwards, Major General Shimanuki Takeharu, Chief of Staff of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, also began to look at the military map on the wall of the conference room and began to give a detailed explanation and arrangement of the Hubei-West combat plan.

The Japanese 11th Army Chief of Staff, Major General Shimanuki Takeharu, came to the wall with a huge battle map and said loudly, "For this battle in western Hubei, the specific combat deployment of the 11th Army Headquarters will be carried out in three steps:

The first phase, starting in early May, planned to defeat the 29th Army of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government north of Dongting Lake within a week and capture Nanxian and Anxiang areas north of Dongting Lake.

In the second phase, starting from mid-May, the attacking force moved the battlefield westward, planning to defeat the Tenth Army of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government along the south bank of the Yangtze River and north of the Lishui River within a week, and capture Songzi and the mountainous areas of Jiehe City, Xizai, and Nuanshui Street to its south.

The third phase, starting from late May, will continue to attack westward along the mountainous area on the south bank of the Yangtze River, defeat the Jiang Defense Army of the Sixth War Zone of the Huaxia Government, capture Yidu, Yuyang Pass, Chuanxindian, Changyang, Duzhenwan, and reach Pingshanba and Shipai on the opposite bank of Nanjin Pass upstream of Yichang. The combat time of this phase is expected to be ten days. "

After listening to the introduction by Chief of Staff Major General Shimanuki Takeharu, the chief officers of various units of the Japanese 11th Army who attended the pre-war meeting had a deeper understanding of the Hubei-West combat plan formulated by the newly appointed commander, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama. Everyone secretly sighed in their hearts that the newly appointed commander, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, was really capable.

From this battle plan, it can be seen that Commander Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama is a cunning and cautious character. This early deceptive operation will definitely confuse the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government.

Faced with the concentration and mobilization of the Japanese 11th Army in the three towns, Commander Chen, the commander of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government, also realized that the Japanese 11th Army would definitely launch a new round of offensive in the near future.

At this time, the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government had strengthened its defense capabilities in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the areas on both sides of the river after the previous operations of the Japanese 11th Army in the Jiangbei area, and deployed a defense force of five army groups, fourteen armies, forty-one divisions and affiliated units.

The Sixth War Zone of the Chinese Government deployed its troops from Anxiang, Gong'an, Songzi to Yangxi and Zhicheng east of Yidu, that is, along the south bank of the Yangtze River, through the opposite side of Yichang to Pingshanba, Shipai, Huangling and reach Sanduping area, forming a defense line facing the Yangtze River and forming a V-shaped position.

The Sixth War Zone Command of the Chinese Government believed that if the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army dared to attack westward, the two wings of the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army would be subjected to continuous attacks by the elite forces of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese Government.

However, the Sixth War Zone Command of the Chinese government was still unsure whether the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army would attack westwards. It was not until early May, after all the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army had arrived at the attack position, that the deceptive troop movement before the war by the commander of the Japanese 11th Army, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, was finally successful.

Based on the troop movements and assembly direction of the Japanese 11th Army, the Sixth War Zone Command of the Chinese government judged that the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army were gradually increasing their strength on the Jiangnan beachhead and that the troop movements were very frequent.

Therefore, the Sixth War Zone Command of the Chinese government judged that the attacking force of the Japanese 11th Army would most likely cross the Yangtze River from Shashi or Songzi area and attack southward to support the main force of the Japanese 11th Army in the triangle area of ​​the Yangtze River and Dongting Lake to attack Lixian and Changde.

Based on this judgment, the Sixth War Zone Command of the Chinese government also promptly issued the latest orders on the combat missions of various major forces.

The Sixth War Zone Command of the Chinese government ordered that the 29th Army should order the front-line garrison troops to hold their current positions, while keeping control of the reserve forces in the rear. In addition to withdrawing a part of the troops to hold Jinshi and Duxian, the remaining troops should enter and exit the south bank of Chengshui in a timely manner, contact the troops of the Tenth Army, and destroy the Japanese offensive forces that attacked in that direction.

The order was that the Tenth Army should send combat-capable troops to the Japanese troops between Songzi and Yidu, and rely on the existing positions on the south bank of the Yangtze River to effectively block the Japanese attacking forces. At the same time, try to withdraw troops to the area north of Chengshui in a timely manner, contact the 29th Army, and attack the Japanese attacking forces.

In addition, the Chinese government ordered the Jiang Defense Army of the Sixth War Zone to dispatch troops to move in and out of Niejiahe, southwest of Yidu, at the appropriate time to carry out mobile operations.

Finally, facing the impending attack by the Japanese 11th Army, the Sixth War Zone Command of the Chinese government also made corresponding adjustments to the Chinese army's defense line and the specific deployment of each unit.

First, the 29th Army of the Chinese government is responsible for defending the area south of the line from Anxiang to Gong'an. Then, the 10th Army of the Chinese government is responsible for defending the area south of the line from Gong'an to Zhicheng. The Jiang Defense Army of the Chinese government is responsible for defending the area south of the line from Yidu via Yichang to Pingshanba and Shipai.

In addition, the Sixth War Zone Command of the Chinese government ordered the 75th, 77th and 59th Armies to hold Sanyoudong and Zhuandouwan and put up a strong resistance. They would launch a comprehensive counterattack after the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army reached the mountain fortress area of ​​Yuyangguan and Shipai.