Quartermasters can also fight the devils

After a hard battle, the two divisions and one regiment of the Japanese 11th Army finally occupied the flank position of the 58th Division's defense line on Longtan River.

Subsequently, the Japanese 3rd Division and the Japanese 13th Division jointly attacked and repelled the defensive positions of the 51st Division and the 58th Division of the 74th Army of the Chinese Army on the third line of defense at Qijiahe. Now, the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army were only 25 kilometers away from Changde, and only 20 kilometers away from Taoyuan. Now, the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army successfully opened the road to the important town of Taoyuan.

After the offensive forces of the 3rd and 13th Divisions of the 11th Japanese Army occupied Qijiahe, they continued to attack southward. In order to quickly occupy Taoyuan, the 11th Japanese Army even used a squadron of paratroopers on the Taoyuan battlefield.

The defense of the 29th Army of the Chinese government on the first line of defense was full of loopholes, not to mention the defense of Taoyuan, which was originally behind the front line. The 29th Army's defense force in Taoyuan was only composed of the remnants of an independent regiment of the 44th Army that had just been defeated, and the total strength of the remnants of this independent regiment was only more than 300 people.

These Sichuan Army soldiers of the 44th Army of the 29th Group Army had never seen paratroopers before. When the officers and soldiers of the remnants of the 44th Army's Independent Regiment suddenly discovered that someone was landing from the sky, they were all completely confused.

Afterwards, nearly a hundred Japanese paratroopers launched a fierce attack on the remnants of the independent regiment after a smooth landing. The more than 300 remnants of the independent regiment understood what was going on, so they immediately launched a counterattack. Fortunately, the Japanese paratrooper units were not very well developed, and these Japanese paratroopers were all half-baked, and their combat effectiveness was not that strong. The one hundred Japanese paratroopers fought fiercely with the more than 300 Sichuan Army officers and soldiers of the remnants of the 44th Army Independent Regiment for several hours without a clear winner.

However, the attacking forces of the Japanese 3rd Division and the 13th Division were also advancing very quickly. In order to speed up the advancement, the Japanese 3rd Division and the 13th Division both placed their cavalry units in the front, hoping to use the cavalry's advantage in speed to increase the speed of advance.

After the remnants of the 44th Army's Independent Regiment had fought fiercely with the Japanese paratroopers for several hours, a cavalry unit of several hundred people from the Japanese attacking force took the opportunity to attack Taoyuan from the flank. When the remnants of the 44th Army's Independent Regiment saw that the Japanese cavalry had arrived, they were forced to withdraw from Taoyuan quickly.

After occupying Qijiahe and Taoyuan, the 3rd and 13th Divisions of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army effectively cut off the connection between the main force of the 74th Army of the Chinese government and the 57th Division stationed in Changde, completing the encirclement of the west of Changde in the combat plan of Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army.

According to the combat plan of Commander Sun, acting commander of the Sixth War Zone of the Huaxia Government, and Chief of Staff Guo, the 100th Army of the Huaxia Government on the flank was supposed to reach Taoyuan in about ten days.

However, because the 73rd Army was quickly defeated by the attacking force of the Japanese 11th Army, the acting commander of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government, General Sun, and the chief of staff of the war zone, General Guo, could only order the entire 100th Army to march quickly and reach the battlefield within a week.

After receiving orders from Commander Sun, acting commander of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government, and Chief of Staff Guo of the War Zone, Commander Shi of the 100th Army also ordered all troops to immediately advance rapidly towards the Changde battlefield at a forced march speed. Among them, the 19th Division, which was at the forefront of the 100th Army, under the command of division commander Tang Boyin, forced marches of up to 70 kilometers a day.

You know, a large force at the division level is different from the marching of squad and platoon troops, because a division level force needs to carry a large amount of baggage and heavy equipment, otherwise it will not be able to fight.

Generally speaking, a division-level infantry unit's marching speed of 30 to 40 kilometers a day is already very good. If the entire division can march at a speed of 50 kilometers, it is considered a forced march, and if the entire division can reach a marching speed of 70 kilometers, that is simply incredible.

You know, even a cavalry unit that can ride at high speed can only march at a speed of about 80 kilometers a day. In other words, the officers and soldiers of the 19th Division of the 100th Army march almost as fast as horses.

All officers and soldiers of the 100th Army marched quickly with their greatest effort. The average weight carried by the officers and soldiers of the 100th Army exceeded 30 kilograms, and the weight carried by the soldiers of the machine gun squad and artillery squad reached more than 40 kilograms. Such a high-intensity forced march made all the officers and soldiers of the 100th Army extremely exhausted.

The officers and soldiers of the 100th Army, who were carrying such a heavy load, were marching in such a rapid pace that they were in ecstasy. In their hearts, they would rather go to the battlefield and fight the Japanese army early than continue marching in such a rapid pace.

However, even though the officers and soldiers of the 100th Army marched so desperately, they still could not reach Taoyuan in time, let alone reach Cili on the second line of defense. When the troops of the 100th Army marched to the southern area of ​​Taoyuan, they suddenly encountered the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army. Only then did Commander Shi of the 100th Army realize that Taoyuan had also been lost, and Changde had been surrounded by the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army.

Commander Shi of the 100th Army looked at the location of Taoyuan on the map breathlessly, sighing in his heart. Taoyuan was only 50 kilometers away from Cili. If the troops of the 73rd Army could hold on for even one or two more days, everything on the battlefield would be completely different. His 100th Army could reach Cili, the second line of defense, in just one day's forced march.

Just as Commander Shi of the 189th Army was sighing in his heart, the troops of the rd Division of the th Army, which had advanced from the flank, were still marching towards Taoyuan. The th Regiment, which was in the front, rushed all the way to the vicinity of Taoyuan and was suddenly ambushed by the offensive forces of the th Army of the Japanese Army, which was lying in ambush here.

After the 189th Regiment was ambushed by the attacking force of the Japanese 189th Army, it also launched a fierce counterattack against the Japanese attacking force. However, the attacking force of the Japanese 189th Army was well-rested, while the th Regiment was outnumbered and immediately suffered a great loss in the fierce battle. The commander of the th Regiment, Tao Shaotang, also died gloriously in the fierce battle.

At this point, the defense of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government on the western front of Changde was in a domino effect due to the rapid defeat of the 73rd Army of the 29th Group Army, and the consequences were extremely serious.