Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Because, when the Provisional Fifth Division was formed, it also inherited the characteristics of a ragtag army that was short of money. There were only more than 3,000 people in the entire division, but it falsely reported that the city had a basically full strength of 7,000 people. Moreover, the Provisional Fifth Division was reorganized from bandits in western Hunan, and the army's military discipline was very poor. During previous combat periods, wherever the Provisional Fifth Division went, it would forcibly seize civilians, demand food and supplies from the people, and even steal supplies from the troops.

After Commander Guo went to the Provisional Fifth Division, with the solid support of Commander Chen, he began to gradually banish these bad habits in the entire division, shot officers and soldiers who dared to violate discipline, and greatly strengthened the basic military training of officers and soldiers in the army. After the army was basically completed its governmentization, the Military Commission added weapons and equipment to the Provisional Fifth Division.

Commander Guo of the Provisional Fifth Division felt that the combat effectiveness of the Provisional Fifth Division was weak, so he made up his mind to conduct very strict military training for all officers and soldiers of the division.

Since Commander Guo of the Provisional Fifth Division was once a top student who graduated from the Japanese Army Academy, and the military training of the troops was Commander Guo's specialty, Commander Guo personally trained and inspected every day. At the same time, Commander Guo gave generous rewards to officers and soldiers who trained diligently and met the standards.

In this way, under the personal training and supervision of Commander Guo, the officers and soldiers of the Provisional Fifth Division made great progress in various military skills. Later, in the shooting competition organized by the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government, the shooters sent by the Provisional Fifth Division won all the championships in the shooting events.

Later, under the strict training of Commander Guo, the Provisional Fifth Division finally demonstrated strong combat effectiveness in the Third Battle of Changsha. Now, although Commander Guo has long been transferred, the current division commander Peng Shiliang is also a graduate of the fourth term of Whampoa Military Academy and has certain strength in military literacy and command.

Shimen, which was defended by the Provisional Fifth Division, was an important ferry crossing on the Lishui River and the main attack direction designated by Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, commander of the Japanese 11th Army.

The Provisional Fifth Division suffered one-third of its casualties in the previous Battle of Western Hubei, but it was still small compared to the 77th Division and the 15th Division of the 73rd Army, so there were more veterans in the Provisional Fifth Division.

Moreover, as the Chinese government's direct officers have been continuously added to this army in recent years, there are many government direct officers in the Provisional Fifth Division. However, Xiangxi bandit officers still account for half of the total. This has resulted in stricter training for the Provisional Fifth Division and higher military literacy among the officers and soldiers. In addition, all the soldiers in the division are from Xiangxi, and many of them are Miao or from bandit origins. Overall, the officers and soldiers of the Provisional Fifth Division are relatively strong and good at fighting.

However, the strength of the Japanese 3rd Division attacking Shimen was more than three times that of the Provisional 5th Division. The Provisional 5th Division could not stop the attack of the Japanese 3rd Division in any way and could only delay the advance of the Japanese 3rd Division.

Fortunately, there are some strong defensive fortifications near Shimen, and the terrain of Shimen is relatively dangerous, with relatively steep mountains. In addition, due to the importance of Shimen, before the war, the officers and soldiers of the temporary Fifth Division carefully built some semi-permanent defensive fortifications relying on the mountains, which greatly enhanced the defensive combat capabilities of the troops.

On November 12, the attacking forces of the Japanese 3rd Division began to attack Qingshanwei, Dajianshan, Jinjiguan, Niujiaojian, Baishadu, Baibudun and other places outside Shimen. The 13th Regiment of the Provisional 5th Division stationed here, led by the regiment commander Zhu Jiekai, fought fiercely with the attacking forces of the Japanese 3rd Division at the Bijiashan position on the outskirts of Shimen.

In order to quickly occupy Shimen, the 11th Army of the Japanese Army also mobilized more than 40 aircraft to fiercely bomb the defensive positions of the 13th Regiment. The heavy artillery units of the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army opened fire at full force, blowing up the defensive positions of the 13th Regiment of the Provisional 5th Division, causing heavy casualties to the officers and soldiers of the 13th Regiment.

Fortunately, the officers and soldiers of the Provisional Fifth Division built the fortifications very solidly, which prevented the core positions from being destroyed by the Japanese artillery fire and bombing.

The Japanese 3rd Division launched a fierce attack on the defensive positions of the 13th Regiment of the Provisional 5th Division with the strength of a regiment. After two days of fierce fighting, many companies of the 13th Regiment of the Provisional 5th Division were reduced to only one platoon of officers and soldiers.

The tenacious resistance of the Provisional 5th Division also made Lieutenant General Yamamoto San'o, commander of the Japanese 3rd Division, feel ashamed, because at this time, Lieutenant General Akashi Osamu, commander of the Japanese 13th Division, was already leading the troops of the 13th Division to frantically pursue the other two divisions of the 73rd Army.

The 13th Division of the Japanese Army, which is also a unit of the 73rd Army of the Chinese government, is now pursuing two divisions of the 73rd Army, while its own 3rd Division was blocked at Shimen by a division of the 73rd Army of the Chinese government and could not move forward. Isn't this a slap in the face?

Therefore, on the third day of the attack on Shimen, Lieutenant General Yamamoto San'ao, commander of the Japanese 3rd Division, directly sent three companies to attack the Provisional 5th Division from both sides, determined to completely destroy the Provisional 5th Division. Only in this way could the Japanese 3rd Division prove that its combat effectiveness was not weaker than that of the 13th Division.

Commander Sun, acting commander of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government, and Chief of Staff Guo of the War Zone knew that although the Provisional Fifth Division was fighting desperately to resist the attack of the Japanese Third Division in Shimen, such a single division could not hold out alone in Shimen. Moreover, the other two divisions of the 73rd Army had been completely defeated. Under such circumstances, the Provisional Fifth Division would not be able to hold out for long facing the attack of the Japanese Third Division alone in Shimen.

Commander Sun, acting commander of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government, and Chief of Staff Guo of the War Zone knew that the area north of the Lishui River could no longer be defended, so they ordered the troops of the 73rd and 44th Armies of the Chinese government to retreat to the south of the Lishui River and continue to hold the second-line defense positions.

After this battle on the north bank of the Lishui River, Commander Sun, acting commander of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government, and Chief of Staff Guo of the War Zone had a deeper understanding of the low combat effectiveness of the 29th Army. Commander Sun, acting commander of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government, believed that with the current situation of the 29th Army, it might not be able to hold even the second-line defense positions for a few days.

Therefore, General Sun, acting commander of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government, urgently ordered the 74th Army and the 100th Army, which were heading north, to rush to reinforce immediately. He also ordered the Tenth Army in the north to launch a full-scale counterattack immediately to threaten the rear of the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army and force the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army to turn back for reinforcements.

Commander Sun, acting commander of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government, ordered the 74th Army of the Chinese government to be under the command of Commander Wang of the 29th Army Group, and ordered the 74th Army with the 57th Division to hold the city of Changde, and the other troops of the 74th Army to control the area between Cili, Baihe Mountain, Jigongyan and Yanziqiao, to flank the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army, and ordered the 10th Army Group to attack on all fronts to threaten the right flank of the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army, and the Jiang Defense Army to launch an attack on the Japanese troops on the west bank of Yichang.