Quartermasters can also fight the devils

However, although Nanxian and Anxiang are not areas that the Chinese army must defend, the fighting between the Chinese army and the 68th Division of the Japanese Army here is still quite fierce.

When commanding his troops to attack, Major General Shoichi Shimizu, commander of the 57th Brigade of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army, rode his own warhorse to the front line to command in order to show his bravery and better motivate the morale of his officers and soldiers. As a result, he was knocked down by a mortar shell from the Chinese army, and the commander of the 57th Brigade, Major General Shoichi Shimizu himself, fell off his horse into a puddle and was slightly injured.

Another commander of the 58th Brigade, Major General Sadamasa Tadashi, was not so lucky either. In order to boost the morale of the troops, the commander of the 58th Brigade, Major General Sadamasa Tadashi, personally went to the front line of the attack to command the troops in battle.

However, in order to avoid the strafing of light machine guns in the Chinese army's bunkers, the commander of the 58th Brigade, Major General Sadamasa Tadashi, lay in the mud for a long time. It was already cold in Xiangbei in November, and lying in the mud for such a long time made the commander of the 58th Brigade, Major General Sadamasa Tadashi, catch a very serious cold and had a high fever. As a result, the commander of the 58th Brigade, Major General Sadamasa Tadashi, could only barely insist on commanding his troops to fight despite his illness.

The Chinese army also fought and retreated at the same time, resolutely refusing to defend one place and not being entangled by the Japanese attacking forces. They ensured that each unit retreated in an orderly manner and covered each other alternately. After fierce fighting along the way, the 68th Division of the Japanese Army finally occupied Nan County.

After the 68th Division of the Japanese Army occupied Nan County, the commander of the 68th Division, Lieutenant General Zuo Jiujian Ren, ordered the 58th Brigade to attack Anxiang from the north, west and south via Huangshizui in accordance with the battle plan of the Changde Campaign formulated by Lieutenant General Yokoyama Isamu, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, and ordered the 57th Brigade to attack Anxiang from the east via Meitang Lake and Sancha Town.

In order to defend against the attack of the Japanese 11th Army's offensive force on Tsu City, the main force of the 44th Army of the 29th Army of the Chinese government stationed in Anxiang had already withdrawn, leaving only some small forces to carry out harassment operations against the offensive force of the Japanese 68th Division.

The 68th Division of the Japanese Army occupied Anxiang City with almost no resistance, but the troops of the 44th Army of the Chinese government had already retreated, and the attacking force of the 68th Division gained nothing. The only result was that the attacking force of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army sank three civilian ships used by the 44th Army of the Chinese Army for retreat with heavy machine guns and grenade launchers.

The attacking force on the southern route led by Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, commander of the Japanese 234th Army, included not only the th Division and the th Division, but also the th Infantry Regiment drawn from the th Division. In this way, the total strength of the Japanese th Army on the southern route was more than .

At this point, on November 10, the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army successively occupied Wangjiachang, the target of the central attack, and Anxiang, the target of the southern attack, completing the first phase of the combat mission in the Changde Campaign formulated by Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, commander of the Japanese 11th Army.

However, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, commander of the 11th Japanese Army, was not happy when he saw that the attacking forces had finally completed the first phase of the combat mission. Although the attacking forces of the 11th Japanese Army completed the first phase of the combat objectives, the time was much slower than the original combat plan.

Moreover, the troops of the 10th Army and the 29th Army of the Chinese government's Sixth War Zone were not defeated by their own three-pronged attack forces. Instead, they caused considerable casualties to their own 11th Army's attack forces. It can be said that the commander of the Japanese 11th Army, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, believed that the performance of the Japanese 11th Army's attack forces in the first phase of the attack was really lackluster and had no highlights.

After the first phase of attacks by the various offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army, the 116th Division of the Japanese Southern Route had occupied the area north of the Lishui River and was only 20 kilometers away from the Lishui River. It could launch an attack across the Lishui River at any time.

After occupying Anxiang, the 68th Division of the Japanese Army could board ships here at any time and carry out landing operations on the flank and rear of Changde City.

As for the Japanese 3rd Division, the Japanese 13th Division and the attached combat troops in the middle, they are currently located on the Wangjiachang line, only 20 kilometers away from the Lishui River, and are also in a position where they can attack at any time.

The troops of the 39th Division of the Japanese Army, which was responsible for blocking the reinforcements of the Chinese Army on the spot, had already set up a defense line on Taiping Street, which was only 50 kilometers away from the Lishui River.

Although the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army performed mediocrely in the first phase, they managed to complete the combat plan formulated before the war. Now all the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army have arrived at the attacking positions. The commander of the Japanese 11th Army, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, also ordered the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army to rest for two days, and then start the second phase of the Changde Battle plan on the 13th.

Although the various offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army made very smooth progress in the first phase, the troops of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government did not fail in the first phase of the attack by the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army.

First, the troops of the Tenth Army and the Twenty-ninth Army on the first line of defense of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government carried out defensive operations according to the combat plan formulated before the war. After causing certain casualties to the offensive forces of the Eleventh Army of the Japanese Army, they retreated to the third line of defense. Moreover, the Tenth Army and the Twenty-ninth Army, with their absolutely inferior forces, blocked the attack of the offensive forces of the Eleventh Army of the Japanese Army for more than ten days. It can even be said that the troops of the Tenth Army fought quite well, especially the Provisional Sixth Division.

Secondly, through the offensive of the various attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army in the first phase, the Sixth War Zone Command of the Chinese government has determined the true combat direction of the Japanese 11th Army and made corresponding military deployments.

Finally, although the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army occupied the Chinese army's position in the middle, opening the way for the next stage of the Japanese 11th Army's offensive forces to attack southward, this did not affect the overall situation of the Changde Campaign, because the Chinese government's Sixth War Zone Command had made timely response deployments against the Japanese attack.