Quartermasters can also fight the devils

However, the battle between the 29th Army and the southern attack force of the Japanese 11th Army was not fierce, and the casualties of the troops were not heavy. Only in Jinshi was it occupied by the Japanese army after several days of fierce fighting, but this did not shake the overall defensive posture of the 29th Army.

Moreover, in the first phase of the offensive operations of the Japanese 11th Army, the Tenth Army Group, which was responsible for the defense of the center, almost fought alone against the siege of the four divisions of the Japanese 11th Army. However, the Tenth Army Group was still able to rely on the terrain advantage and solid fortifications to hold on for ten days.

Although the combat effectiveness of the 29th Army is not as good as that of the 10th Army, the 29th Army has been stationed on this front for many years and is like a local tyrant. Moreover, in the Battle of Western Hubei half a year ago, the 29th Army held on to this front for more than a week in the face of the attack of the Japanese 11th Army. Although the troops suffered heavy casualties, they still completed their combat and guarding tasks.

Therefore, Sun Chang, acting commander of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government, and Guo, chief of staff of the war zone, judged under normal circumstances and based on the experience of the Battle of Western Hubei, they believed that the 29th Army was well-rested and should have no problem defending the Lishui River for a week.

According to the combat plan of General Sun, acting commander of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government, and Chief of Staff Guo of the War Zone, as long as the 29th Army Group could hold out in the Lishui River for a week, the attacking force of the Japanese 11th Army would definitely be finished.

At that time, the main force of the Jiang Defense Army in the north and the 26th Army in the north of the river can coordinate with the 10th Army to attack southward. The Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government will be able to attack the northern defense line of the Japanese Army with the strength of five to six armies, cutting off the retreat of the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army.

The 33rd Army Group north of the Yangtze River could also launch a large-scale offensive against Jingzhou, the rear of the Japanese 11th Army, forcing the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army to stop the attack as soon as possible.

Part of the 74th Army near Changde in the south and the 100th Army farther away can advance to the second-line defense positions of Cili, Qijiahe and Shibantan outside Changde. At least four or five armies of reinforcements from the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government can also arrive at the Changde battlefield more calmly and prepare for a decisive battle against the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army.

In this way, the acting commander of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government, Commander Sun, and Chief of Staff Guo of the War Zone can concentrate more than 14 Chinese armies in the Changde area, with a total force of 200,000 people, which is enough to deal with the offensive force of more than 80,000 people of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army.

This plan of General Sun, acting commander of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government, and Chief of Staff Guo of the War Zone was a replica of the Tianlu tactics used by General Xue, commander of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government. However, to complete this deployment of General Sun, acting commander of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government, and Chief of Staff Guo of the War Zone, the 29th Army Group needed to successfully block the attack of the Japanese 11th Army's offensive forces near the Lishui River for a week. This was a prerequisite for the success of this operational plan.

When the Chinese government's Sixth War Zone Acting Commander Sun and Chief of Staff Guo formulated this combat plan, there was one oversight. There was a link in this combat plan that the Chinese government's Sixth War Zone Acting Commander Sun and Chief of Staff Guo did not consider based on the actual situation. That is, the Chinese government's Sixth War Zone Acting Commander Sun and Chief of Staff Guo wrongly estimated the 29th Army's current actual combat effectiveness and the fighting will of the officers and soldiers.

It was precisely because the 29th Army Group collapsed quickly under the fierce attack of the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army, which was beyond the expectations of the acting commander of the Chinese government's Sixth War Zone, Commander Sun, and the chief of staff of the war zone, Guo, that a chain domino effect occurred, causing the Chinese government's Sixth War Zone's defense line in Changde to almost collapse directly.

On November 13, with the order issued by Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, commander of the Japanese 11th Army, to start the second phase of the Changde Campaign, the Japanese 13th Division was the first to take action. Lieutenant General Akashi Osamu, commander of the 13th Division, led his troops to launch a fierce attack on the Lishui position defended by the 15th Division on the left wing of the 73rd Army of the 29th Army.

The 73rd Army is a third-rate unit in the Chinese government's army. It was originally a ragtag army belonging to Commander Tang. After being incorporated by the top government, the senior officers of the army became united, making it difficult to reorganize the army. The top government had no way to deal with this. According to the thinking of the top government, the troops that can be reorganized should be reorganized, and the ragtag troops that cannot be reorganized should be maintained as much as possible. They should not force the leaders of these ragtag troops into a corner, otherwise it would be too unprofitable for them to run to the Japanese side and become puppet troops.

Since the chief officer and grassroots officers of the 73rd Army are still those from the miscellaneous troops, the Chinese government and the Military Commission naturally would not take it seriously.

The combat effectiveness of the 73rd Army was not strong to begin with. What was even worse was that in the Battle of Western Hubei half a year ago, the 73rd Army suffered very heavy losses, with an average of 50% casualties in each division. As a result, the 73rd Army, which nominally should have had more than 20,000 people, had only about half of its officers and soldiers left after the Battle of Western Hubei, including the wounded.

In fact, due to the long-standing problems of empty salaries and inadequate replenishment in the 73rd Army, the 73rd Army has never had the more than 20,000 troops that should have existed in its establishment. The real situation is that the three divisions of the 73rd Army actually had only about 15,000 troops in total.

After the Battle of Western Hubei, the 73rd Army had an average of only more than 3,000 troops in each division, less than half of its full strength. Although after the Battle of Western Hubei, the Sixth War Zone Command of the Chinese government supplemented the 73rd Army with several batches of able-bodied men, helping the 73rd Army to recover its strength to more than 10,000 troops.

However, most of the soldiers that the Chinese government can recruit now are young farmers with weak bodies. They not only have no combat experience, but also do not have even basic combat training.

During the Battle of Western Hubei, the 73rd Army suffered heavy casualties among its grassroots officers and almost all its veterans were killed or wounded. This resulted in the 73rd Army's new recruits being unable to quickly improve their combat capabilities, and the entire army's combat effectiveness was much lower than before.

The defense line that the 13th Division of the Japanese Army is currently attacking is the defensive position of the 15th Division of the 73rd Army. The 15th Division was originally the main force of the 73rd Army and the starting point of Commander Wang of the 73rd Army. However, the 15th Division is now the worst division in the 73rd Army.