Quartermasters can also fight the devils

The defense of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese Government on the western front was so tragic, and the defense of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese Government in other directions was also very poor.

The 68th Division of the Japanese Army on the east route was ready to board ships from Anxiang, but the troops of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government destroyed most of the ships in Anxiang when they retreated. The 68th Division of the Japanese Army had to work very hard to collect only 40 civilian ships.

Such a small number of ships was certainly not enough for the 68th Division of the Japanese Army. Moreover, China's civilian ships were relatively small in size and could not transport the division's artillery, and even horses could not be transported.

The commander of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Sa Kuma Hitoshi, was very helpless in the face of such a situation. He even considered using the method of linked ships during the Three Kingdoms period to bundle three ships into one to transport troops.

However, unexpectedly, the commander of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Sakuma Hitoshi, had very bad luck. According to the combat plan formulated by Lieutenant General Yokoyama Isamu, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, the troops of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army should have started boarding ships on November 17.

However, unexpectedly, on the night of November 16, Dongting Lake was suddenly hit by a strong wind, which destroyed most of the boats that the 68th Division of the Japanese Army had spent half a day to obtain. After the strong wind passed, only eight small boats collected by the 68th Division of the Japanese Army were left to be used.

Lieutenant General Sa Kujian, commander of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army, looked at the devastated lake ferry in front of him and felt exhausted and desperate. It was impossible for his 68th Division to solve the problem on its own.

Therefore, the commander of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Sakuma Hitoshi, sent a telegram directly to the commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Yokoyama Isamu, directly explaining the current predicament of the 68th Division and requesting Lieutenant General Yokoyama Isamu, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, to provide operational support.

After reading the telegram sent by Lieutenant General Sa Kuma Hitoshi, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Yokoyama Isamu, the commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army had no choice but to lend the eight large motor ships of the 11th Army responsible for transporting supplies to the rear to the 68th Division of the Japanese Army to solve the urgent need of Lieutenant General Sa Kuma Hitoshi.

Afterwards, Lieutenant General Zuo Jiujian, commander of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army, immediately organized his troops to use these eight large ships for multiple transportations and began to land in the direction of Hanshou according to the combat plan. At this time, the Chinese army on the Changde front was extremely tight on the front and had no time to take care of Hanshou on the flank and rear.

This made the landing of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army in Hanshou relatively smooth, and it did not encounter any decent resistance from the Chinese army at all. After all the troops of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army successfully landed, they did not encounter a large-scale counterattack from the Chinese army.

On November 22, the 68th Division of the Japanese Army successfully captured Hanshou and formed a siege on Changde South Road.

However, the encirclement of Changde by the 68th Division of the Japanese Army from the south was actually nothing, because the troops of the 60th Division of the Japanese Army were alone and deep in the rear of the Chinese army. To the north of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army were the 74th Army and the 44th Army of the Chinese government, on the flank was the 100th Army of the Chinese government, to the south was the 10th Army of the Chinese government, and on the other side was Dongting Lake. In fact, the 68th Division was in a situation where it could not protect itself.

If the troops of the 116th Division of the Japanese 11th Army, which was responsible for attacking from the north, could not reach Changde in time, the 68th Division of the Japanese Army would probably have to withdraw immediately along the same route across Dongting Lake.

However, the 116th Division of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army encountered full resistance from the 44th Army of the 29th Army Group from the moment it crossed the Lishui River. The 44th Army had suffered relatively light casualties in the previous Battle of Western Hubei and still had a certain combat effectiveness at this moment.

However, Jinshi, where the 44th Army of the 29th Army was stationed, was lost as early as the 12th. The Lishui defense line had been broken by the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army. On November 15, the 116th Division of the Japanese Army began to attack Li County fiercely, preparing to seize this important ferry.

The 161st Division of the 44th Army was responsible for garrisoning in Li County. Normally, it could hold out for three days. However, what the Chinese government's Sixth War Zone Acting Commander Sun and War Zone Chief of Staff Guo never expected was that because of the complete collapse of the 73rd Army responsible for the western defense on the 13th and the loss of Jinshi, Commander Wang of the 29th Army Group was extremely frightened.

Commander Wang of the 29th Army believed that the Lishui defense line had actually been breached by the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army. It would be extremely dangerous for his 44th Army and 73rd Army to fight with their backs to the Lishui River. They would likely be surrounded and destroyed by the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army. Therefore, Commander Wang of the 29th Army believed that his 29th Army must retreat completely.

However, Commander Wang of the 29th Army Group did not care about the life and death of the 73rd Army Group, which was not his direct subordinate, so he ordered the 73rd Army Group to defend to the death. You know, the reason why Commander Wang of the 29th Army Group can have his current status is because he has the guns of the 44th Army Group.

Therefore, the 44th Army is the starting point of Commander Wang of the 29th Army Group and is also Commander Wang's backbone. Now the commander of the 44th Army, Wang Zejun, is Commander Wang's second son. No matter from what angle you consider it, Commander Wang of the 29th Army Group will fight to the death to protect his 44th Army.

Commander Wang of the 29th Army was afraid that his own 44th Army would be surrounded by the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army and destroyed by the Japanese in the area north of the Lishui River. In that case, he would be left alone. So, Commander Wang of the 29th Army issued an unbelievable order.

As early as November 13, Commander Wang of the 29th Army Group ordered the 161st Division of the 44th Army to abandon Li County north of the Lishui River and retreat to the south of the Lishui River.

Therefore, on November 14, when Commander Peng of the Provisional 5th Division led all the officers and men of the division to defend Shimen on the western front, the 44th Army on the eastern front had already retreated across the board. At this time, the 44th Army had not actually suffered a severe blow from the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army.

The reason why the 73rd Army was defeated on the Western Front was not only because there were too many new recruits in the army, but also that the 11th Army of the Japanese Army concentrated two Type A divisions, the 3rd Division and the 13th Division, to besiege the 73rd Army, which was also an important reason why the 73rd Army could not hold on.