Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Seeing the urgency of the situation, Commander Xu of the 150th Division personally led a company of troops to the front-line defense positions for reinforcement. As the 150th Division had too few troops, just over an hour later, the attacking force of the 109th Regiment of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army arrived in front of Commander Xu of the 150th Division.

In the fierce battle between the 109th Regiment of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army and the 150th Division, Division Commander Xu was hit in the chest and abdomen by the shooting of the Japanese attacking forces and was seriously injured. The officers and soldiers of the remaining two battalions of the 150th Division suffered heavy casualties, and their organization was completely disrupted in the attack of the 109th Regiment of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army.

Several guards around Commander Xu of the 150th Division discovered that Commander Xu was seriously injured and had fallen into a deep coma. If they did not retreat quickly to rescue him, Commander Xu would definitely die. So, several soldiers put the unconscious Xu Guozhang on a small fishing boat and crossed the Yuan River.

After crossing the Yuan River, Commander Xu of the 150th Division woke up from his coma. When he found himself on the south bank of the Yuan River, he was extremely angry and ashamed. He said to the soldiers around him in a weak voice: "I am a soldier and should die on the battlefield. You transported me to the other side of the Yuan River. This is harming me."

As soon as Commander Xu finished speaking, gunshots were heard not far away. It turned out that this was the attack force of the Japanese 3rd Division that had already occupied Taoyuan. The mission of this Japanese army was to encircle Changde from the south.

Commander Xu of the 150th Division immediately commanded several soldiers around him to engage in a fierce battle with the attacking forces of the Japanese 3rd Division. However, Commander Xu only had so many soldiers around him, and under the attack of the attacking forces of the Japanese 3rd Division, the soldiers around Commander Xu were soon killed or wounded.

Commander Xu of the 150th Division was seriously injured and unable to move. Seeing that the attacking force of the Japanese 3rd Division was about to rush over, Commander Xu of the 150th Division used his last bit of strength to pull out his pistol, aimed a shot at his heart in the chest, and committed suicide for his country.

However, the heroic sacrifice of Commander Xu of the 150th Division could not save the 44th Army from defeat. In fact, the 116th Division of the Japanese Army hardly encountered any stubborn resistance from the 44th Army from the time it attacked the Lishui defense line to outside the city of Changde.

It took only one week from the time the 116th Division of the Japanese Army attacked the Lishui defense line of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese Government on November 14 to the time it marched hundreds of kilometers to reach the Huangtu Mountain position outside Changde on November 22.

If the 73rd Army was defeated due to its low combat effectiveness and poor high-level command and control of the troops, rather than deliberately avoiding battles, then the 44th Army passively avoided battles from the very beginning in order to preserve its strength, and was later chased by the 116th Division of the Japanese Army, making it impossible for it to organize its troops for battle.

What is even more sad is that the 73rd Army suffered heavy casualties under the attack of two Japanese divisions, while the 44th Army, which was bent on preserving its strength, suffered casualties that were no less than those of the 73rd Army. Moreover, the 44th Army suffered shocking losses in the pursuit of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army, which was even more severe than the casualties of the 44th Army simply defending its positions. It was really a case of losing the rice while not gaining the chicken.

The acting commander of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government, Commander Sun, and Chief of Staff Guo of the War Zone also reported to the top government leaders by telegram that Commander Wang of the 29th Army had arbitrarily ordered the 44th Army to abandon the Lishui defense line and retreat southward in order to preserve its strength in this battle. The top government leaders, who were in Cairo preparing to attend an international conference, also replied to the telegram, directly ordering the removal of Wang Zunxu's post as commander of the 29th Army and canceling the number of the 29th Army.

However, such punishment was too late. The 29th Army was defeated unexpectedly quickly, making the Changde Campaign of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese Government extremely dangerous. What was even more troublesome was that the 57th Division of the 74th Army of the Chinese Government was tightly surrounded by the attacking forces of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army in the encirclement of Changde City. The surrounding area of ​​Changde City defended by the 57th Division was surrounded by 80,000 combat troops from four divisions of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army.

Ever since the offensive force of the Japanese 11th Army suddenly turned south, the entire battle situation has become very clear. The main attack target of the Japanese 11th Army in this battle was Changde.

At this time, the only question in the Sixth War Zone Command of the Chinese government about the Changde Campaign launched by the 11th Army of the Japanese Army was whether the 11th Army of the Japanese Army intended to permanently occupy Changde or to encircle and annihilate the main force of the Chinese Army near Changde. In other words, it was not certain whether the 11th Army of the Japanese Army would retreat after the battle.

However, Commander Sun, Acting Commander of the Sixth War Zone of the Huaxia Government, and Chief of Staff Guo of the War Zone agreed that no matter what the purpose of the Japanese 11th Army's attack was, Changde City should not be easily abandoned. The main force of the Sixth War Zone of the Huaxia Government must be concentrated to fight a decisive battle with the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army with Changde as the center.

What was more unexpected was that the rapid collapse of the 73rd Army of the 29th Army Group and the unauthorized retreat of the 44th Army to the south completely disrupted the combat deployment of the Chinese government's Sixth War Zone Acting Commander Sun and the War Zone Chief of Staff Guo for the entire Changde Campaign, allowing the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army to seize the local initiative.

Now, the main forces of the Chinese government's Sixth War Zone, the Tenth Army and the Jiang Defense Army, are still fighting with the Japanese 39th Division's troops one hundred to two hundred kilometers to the north, and it is impossible for them to reach Changde in a short time.

The 26th Army on the northern front was even farther away from Changde. As for the 33rd Army, it was still north of the Yangtze River. At most, it could only attack the rear of the Japanese 11th Army and could not provide any direct support for the battle in Changde City.

In the opinion of Commander Sun, acting commander of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government, and Chief of Staff Guo of the War Zone, the most likely force to rescue Changde at present is Li Yutang's Corps that is coming to reinforce from the south. This is because if reinforcements come from the south, Li Yutang's Corps currently only has the 68th Division of the Japanese Army with a strength of more than 10,000 troops in front of it. Moreover, the combat effectiveness of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army is the worst among the five divisions of the Japanese 11th Army participating in this battle.

However, even though the acting commander of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government, Commander Sun, and Chief of Staff Guo of the War Zone had ordered the Li Yutang Corps of the Ninth War Zone stationed in Hengyang to rush to Changde for reinforcement, Hengyang is more than 300 kilometers away from Changde after all, and the roads along the way have been severely damaged due to multiple wars, so the marching speed along the way will not be very fast.