Quartermasters can also fight the devils

The 44th Army had a small number of new recruits, and its combat effectiveness was relatively strong compared to the 73rd Army. The only one attacking the 44th Army was the Japanese 116th Division, a Type B division of more than 10,000 people. The two sides had little difference in troop strength, and there was no extreme disadvantage like the one faced by the 73rd Army.

Therefore, the 44th Army of the 29th Army Group arbitrarily abandoned the entire defense line and retreated southward, and was held heavily responsible for the dangerous situation that occurred on the Changde battlefield.

It was not until November 15 that the Chinese government's Sixth War Zone Acting Commander Sun and War Zone Chief of Staff Guo were surprised to find that the 44th Army had not engaged in a fierce battle with the attacking forces of the Japanese 116th Division, but that the entire army had retreated to the south of the Lishui River.

Commander Sun, acting commander of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government, was very angry about the 44th Army's unauthorized retreat, so he sent a telegram ordering the 44th Army of the 29th Army Group to immediately return to the north of the Lishui River and defend the positions in Lixian and Jinshi.

However, at this time, Commander Wang of the 29th Army Group believed that the collapse of the 73rd Army under the attack of the superior forces of the Japanese 11th Army was inevitable, and the fall of Shimen was only a matter of time. Commander Wang of the 29th Army Group believed that the most important thing now was to preserve his own strength. Not only was it impossible for the 44th Army of the 29th Army Group to return to the north bank of the Lishui River for defense, Commander Wang of the 29th Army Group did not even want to defend the existing positions on the south bank of the Lishui River.

However, after all, the order of Commander Sun, acting commander of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government, could not be openly disobeyed. Therefore, Commander Wang of the 29th Army Group adopted the tactic of hiding the truth from the superiors but not from the subordinates in the Chinese officialdom, and actually ordered the 150th Division of the 44th Army to send two battalions of troops to defend the positions in Jinshi, Lixian and the south bank of the original Lishui River respectively, to symbolically resist the attack of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army. As for the other troops of the 44th Army, they all retreated to the second-line defense position of Linli in the rear. This was equivalent to the 44th Army of the 29th Army Group completely abandoning the defense positions on both sides of the Lishui River.

The commander of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Wang Iwanaga, discovered through the reconnaissance of Japanese aircraft that the 44th Army of the Chinese government, which was supposed to block his 116th Division, had already abandoned the defense of Li County.

This made the commander of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Wang Iwanaga, overjoyed. He believed that the retreat of the 44th Army of the Chinese government without a fight was an excellent opportunity for the 116th Division to pursue them. Therefore, the commander of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Wang Iwanaga, ordered his troops to bypass Li County without attacking, and immediately cross the Lishui River to pursue the retreating 44th Army with all their might.

The troops of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army crossed the Lishui River effortlessly, and then quickly launched a pursuit of the retreating troops of the 44th Army of the Chinese government. Moreover, the pursuit troops of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army soon engaged in a firefight with the rearguard troops of the 44th Army.

The 44th Army is a Sichuan Army unit, and its combat effectiveness is not very strong. If it relies on the solid defensive positions of the river defense, the 44th Army can still resist the frontal attack of the Japanese 116th Division and at least hold out for a few days.

However, the 44th Army was now retreating frantically, with no defensive positions to rely on to resist the attacks of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army. The positional defense battle was turned into an encounter battle in the wild. Now the 116th Division of the Japanese Army could fully demonstrate its advantages in firepower and mobility, and the 44th Army was no match for it.

Under the frantic pursuit of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army, the rear-end troops of the 44th Army were scattered one after another. Until this time, Commander Wang of the 29th Army Group also realized that he had made a big mistake, so he immediately ordered the troops of the 44th Army to stop retreating and the entire army to stop and resist on the spot. Unfortunately, everything was too late.

On November 16, the 116th Division of the Japanese Army launched a fierce attack on the 161st Division before the troops of the 161st Division of the 44th Army entered the second line of defense in Linli. The 161st Division was thrown into chaos under the fierce attack of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army. The commander of the 161st Division, Xiong Zhizhong, could only control three battalions of troops at one point and could hardly protect himself.

In this way, the 161st Division was forced to retreat westward under the attack of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army. At the same time, it also abandoned Linli on the second line of defense. As a result, the second line of defense was easily lost by the 44th Army.

Now, the 44th Army can retreat to the third defensive position of Taifu Mountain and Taiyang Mountain north of Changde for defense. This is also the last line of defense of Changde set up by the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government. If these two outer positions are also lost, the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army can attack the suburbs of Changde, and the Changde Defense War can only be started in advance.

Under the fierce pursuit of the Japanese 116th Division, the 44th Army of the Sichuan Army, like the 73rd Army, was unable to gain a foothold and carry out defensive operations. In addition, Commander Wang of the 29th Army Group intended to preserve the strength of his own troops and did not stop the 44th Army from retreating to the south.

As the 44th Army's troops retreated, chaos was inevitable. Part of the 44th Army's troops even ran faster than the 44th Army's headquarters, which put the 44th Army's commander Wang Zejun in danger.

The 44th Army Headquarters encountered the pursuing troops of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army many times during the retreat. In the end, even the 44th Army Headquarters' special service battalion was involved in the battle. Although the 44th Army Headquarters finally managed to break out of the encirclement of the pursuing troops of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army, only one platoon of troops was left in the headquarters' special service battalion.

In fact, the casualties of the 44th Army were not as heavy as those of the 73rd Army. Most of the troops of the 44th Army fled on their own because they lost their organization.

Commander Wang of the 29th Army also found that his original idea of ​​preserving strength turned out to be a loss. The 44th Army suffered more casualties during the retreat than during the battle.

(Thanks to the gift support from Duke Weiguo who loves beef jerky, and Dumplings without vinegar! Thank you all for your support and encouragement!)