Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Although the loss of Changde City and the annihilation of the 57th Division made General Wang of the 74th Army extremely sad, from a military perspective, the fall of Changde City actually reduced the combat burden of the 74th Army and the 100th Army, allowing General Wang of the 74th Army to calmly adjust his deployment and advance steadily without risking the use of troops.

After learning that Changde had fallen, Commander Wang of the 74th Army immediately withdrew the troops of the 74th Army and the 100th Army, and ordered the isolated troops that had penetrated deep into the 19th Division of the 100th Army to retreat immediately to prevent the old devil, Lieutenant General Akashi Osamu, commander of the 13th Division of the Japanese Army, from taking the opportunity to send troops to encircle them.

Sure enough, when the 19th Division's troops had just retreated, two regiments of the Japanese 13th Division outflanked them from the flank and almost cut off the 19th Division's retreat.

On December 4, the 74th Army completely occupied Qijiahe, and the 63rd Division of the 100th Army on the flank successfully occupied Taoyuan County.

On December 5, the 19th Division and the 63rd Division of the 100th Army coordinated to attack Zoushi Town. After so many days of fierce fighting, the various units of the 13th Division of the Japanese Army suffered heavy casualties. In addition, the troops were now dispersed, and they were quickly defeated by the Chinese army. On the same day, the 19th Division took advantage of the situation to occupy Hebo Mountain and marched to the suburbs of Changde City, only ten kilometers away from Changde City.

Starting from December 6, the Chinese troops to the south and west of Changde were already close to Changde City, and the attack of the 18th Army of the Chinese government to the north was about to cut off the retreat route of the attacking forces of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army. At this moment, the various units of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army had no desire to fight and retreated northward after abandoning Changde City.

The rescue work on the western front of Changde City did not go smoothly, mainly because the strength of the Japanese and Chinese armies was very close. The 13th Division of the Japanese Army together with its attached troops had a strength of 20,000 people, while the two divisions of the 74th Army and the two divisions of the 100th Army had a strength of only 25,000 people. It was naturally impossible for the Chinese army to achieve a decisive breakthrough on the western front in a short period of time.

The 44th Army, which was originally assigned to the 29th Army of the Chinese government on the western front, had suffered more than half of its casualties. In addition, the Sichuan Army's combat effectiveness was poor, so it could not play any role. It could only consume the scattered forces of the 13th Division of the Japanese Army. As for the 73rd Army of the 29th Army, it was almost defeated by the attacking force of the 11th Division of the Japanese Army in the previous battle. There were only 12 companies of troops left in the entire army, which could not play any role at all.

In short, although the Chinese army tried its best to attack and relieve Changde City on the western front, the result was not satisfactory.

Compared with the offensive on the western front, the Chinese army's relief efforts on the other two fronts were more effective, but also more brutal.

As early as the beginning of the second phase of the Lishui Campaign of the Changde Campaign, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, commander of the Japanese 11th Army, left the 39th Division of the Japanese Army to garrison 200 kilometers away from Changde in western Hubei in accordance with the pre-war combat plan, responsible for guarding the rear of the four divisions of the Japanese 11th Army on the Changde front line.

The 10th Army of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government also quickly launched an attack on the defense line of the 39th Division of the Japanese Army. Subsequently, the 26th Army also quickly joined the attack on the defense line of the 39th Division of the Japanese Army.

However, the terrain in western Hubei was easy to defend but difficult to attack. More than 10,000 Japanese officers and soldiers of the 39th Division relied on the favorable terrain to defend, making it difficult for the troops of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government to make a decisive breakthrough in a short period of time.

While the 10th and 26th Army Groups were engaged in a melee with the 39th Division of the Japanese Army in western Hubei, General Sun, acting commander of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government, urgently mobilized the 18th Army, the most combat-effective of the Jiang Defense Forces on the Shipai front, to the south.

The task assigned to the 18th Army by General Sun, acting commander of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese government, was not to engage in a fight with the 39th Division of the Japanese Army in western Hubei, but to focus on occupying Liujiachang, tear open a gap in the central defense line of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, and then immediately launch a fierce attack eastward along the Lishui River, in an effort to cut off the supply lines and retreat routes of the four divisions of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army on the Changde front line.

After receiving the order, the 18th Army of the Huaxia government immediately set out from the Shipai line and marched and fought continuously for 200 kilometers. After nearly ten days of hard fighting, it attacked the Liujiachang line on November 26th.

However, this period of fighting was extremely difficult. The 18th Army of the Huaxia government had suffered heavy casualties in the Battle of Shipai in the previous Battle of Western Hubei. Although a large number of new recruits were added at this time, these new recruits were weak, and heavy snow was falling in Western Hubei at this time.

This resulted in the 18th Army suffering a high casualty rate among its recruits after ten days of continuous fighting and marching. Even worse was the fact that, due to the forced march in the cold winter, the number of recruits who died of illness was no less than that who died in battle.

However, the combat effectiveness of the 18th Army of the Chinese government was still very strong, and the total strength of the army was as high as 25,000 people. With the cooperation of the 79th Army of the 10th Army Group, it was even more powerful. The 11th Army of the Japanese Army stationed in Liujiachang had only an understaffed infantry battalion, which was no match for the 18th Army at all. Under the fierce attack of the 18th Army, this understaffed infantry battalion of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army was completely defeated within a day.

Liujiachang was 50 kilometers away from the Lishui River, and there were no large-scale troops of the Japanese 11th Army in between. Therefore, starting from November 26, the troops of the 18th Army were divided into two routes. The 55th Division was responsible for attacking the public security front north of the Lishui River and cutting off the retreat route of the Japanese 39th Division.

The 18th Division launched an attack to the south and approached the Lishui line. Because the 11th Division had suffered heavy casualties in the previous Battle of Shipai and had many new recruits in the army, it was arranged in the center as the reserve of the 18th Army.

On November 28, the two routes of the 18th Army advanced very smoothly. With the cooperation of the 185th Division of the 79th Army of the 10th Army Group, the 18th Army defeated the defensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army on the 29th and occupied Shimen, an important town west of the Lishui River.

The news that Shimen was occupied by the Chinese army shocked the commander of the 11th Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama. He knew that once the Lishui River was controlled by the 18th Army of the Chinese government, the retreat of the Japanese 11th Army's offensive forces in Changde would be cut off, and the supply routes would also be cut off at the same time.

In this case, the nearly 70,000 troops of the 11th Japanese Army near Changde would have to attack and fight in the direction of the Lishui River with their supplies cut off and no way to retreat, and fight their way out before retreating. The commander of the 11th Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, did not have to think twice, as the casualties of the attacking forces of the 11th Japanese Army would definitely not be small under such circumstances.