Quartermasters can also fight the devils

However, the situation in Changde City is now extremely critical. The 57th Division in Changde City cannot wait that long. The street fighting in Changde City has been going on for two days, and the entire city has been set on fire by the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army.

The commander of the Tenth Army of the Chinese Government was extremely anxious when he saw that Changde City was in a very critical situation. In addition, the urging of the Military Commission of the Chinese Government, the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese Government, and the highest level of the government made Commander Fang decide to use special operations to launch a risky attack instead of advancing step by step steadily.

On the 12th, Commander Fang of the 10th Army ordered the 9th Regiment of the 3rd Division to garrison Deshan, while the 7th Regiment was to abandon all baggage and sneak into the enemy's rear through the gap in the defense line of the Japanese 11th Army with light equipment, and rush to the Changde city area. This combat plan of Commander Fang was an extremely dangerous move, because once the 7th Regiment sneaked into the back of the defense line of the Japanese 11th Army, it would fall into the attack of the Japanese 11th Army with ten times the strength, and would be wiped out if it was not careful.

The officers and soldiers of the 7th Regiment of the 3rd Division also defeated the blocking troops of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army along the way with great courage. At the cost of tragic casualties, on the night of December 1, the 7th Regiment of the 3rd Division attacked and advanced to the South Station of Changde, which was only separated from Changde City by a river.

Unfortunately, the attacking force of the Japanese 11th Army had previously taken control of all the ferries in order to cross the Yuan River, which made it impossible for the officers and soldiers of the 7th Regiment of the 3rd Division to cross the Yuan River.

Therefore, in order to inform the 57th Division defending Changde City that reinforcements were not far away, the officers and soldiers of the 7th Regiment of the 3rd Division fired flares from the bank of the Yuanjiang River to Changde City on the opposite bank, but received no response from the officers and soldiers of the 57th Division in Changde City.

Because, although the officers and soldiers of the 57th Division saw the flares fired by the 7th Regiment, they had no flares in their hands and could not send any response signals to the 7th Regiment on the other side of the Yuanjiang River.

Seeing that the officers and soldiers of the 57th Division in Changde City did not fire a response flare, the commander of the 7th Regiment ordered the buglers to blow the Chinese army's bugle. However, there was still no response in Changde City because the buglers of the 57th Division had already been killed in hand-to-hand combat with guns in hand.

As a result, the officers and soldiers of the Seventh Regiment did not know whether Changde City had been lost. Finally, the commander of the Seventh Regiment decided to select a few scouts who were good at swimming, and swam across the Yuanjiang River with the business card of the commander of the Third Division, and sneak into Changde City to see the situation. The rest of the officers and soldiers of the Seventh Regiment retreated to Changde South Station to hold their ground.

The in-depth raid by the 7th Regiment of the 3rd Division seriously disrupted the offensive operations of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army. As a result, the commander of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Zuo Jiujian, was forced to order the 68th Division of the Japanese Army to stop the offensive, and then mobilized heavy troops to begin besieging the 7th Regiment of the 3rd Division at Changde South Station.

The Seventh Regiment was surrounded by the reinforcement troops of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army at the South Station of Changde. After a hard battle, the officers and soldiers of the Seventh Regiment barely broke out of the encirclement of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army. However, only more than 100 officers and soldiers of the Seventh Regiment successfully broke out, and 90% of the officers and soldiers of the entire Seventh Regiment suffered casualties.

Although the attack operation of the 7th Regiment of the 3rd Division was not completely successful, it bought time for the 57th Division in Changde City and boosted the morale of the officers and soldiers of the 57th Division in Changde City. While the 10th Army was fighting desperately with three divisions and 20,000 officers and soldiers, the 99th Army on the flank had a slower marching speed, and even the division in the front needed about a day to reach the battlefield.

In order to recapture Tokuyama, Lieutenant General Sa Kuma Hitoshi, commander of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army, with the assistance of the troops of the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army, mobilized the forces of two regiments to launch a counterattack on Tokuyama. The 9th Regiment of the 3rd Division, which was responsible for defending Tokuyama, also fought desperately under the fierce attack of the two regiments of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army. After three days of hard fighting, although the 9th Regiment still controlled Tokuyama, the casualties of the entire regiment were very heavy.

The Chinese army had built many defensive fortifications on Deshan long before the Battle of Changde began. However, when the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army captured Deshan, most of the defensive fortifications built by the Chinese army on Deshan were destroyed due to the intensive coverage of Japanese heavy artillery.

When the 3rd Division counterattacked Deshan for the second time, it also destroyed some fortifications temporarily built by the defensive forces of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army. Just a few hours after the 3rd Division occupied Deshan, the 11th Army of the Japanese Army organized a large battalion to launch a counterattack on Deshan, which left the 3rd Division with no time to build fortifications.

During the fighting in the past few days, the officers and soldiers of the 9th Regiment of the 3rd Division, who were responsible for the defense of Deshan, used fallen trees and rubble, and even piled up the bodies of the Chinese and Japanese soldiers as fortifications to hold their ground.

After a brutal defensive battle, Colonel Zhang Huimin, commander of the 9th Regiment of the 3rd Division, died heroically. The 9th Regiment also suffered heavy casualties and was eventually occupied by the offensive forces of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army. The remaining officers and soldiers of the 9th Regiment had no choice but to retreat.

Due to the critical situation in Deshan, the 3rd Division was forced to stop its advance towards Changde City and instead compete with the 68th Division of the Japanese Army for control of Deshan.

The reason why Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, placed the 68th Division of the Japanese Army in the south of Changde City was not to attack Changde City, but to block the Chinese army coming to rescue from the south. Therefore, the troops of the 10th Army and the 68th Division of the Japanese Army fought hard for a week, and the casualties on both sides were very heavy. However, the 10th Army was unable to repel the defense lines of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army and the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army.

Fortunately, at this moment, the 18th Army of the Chinese government captured Shimen on the Lishui line in the north of Changde, posing a serious threat to the retreat routes of the four divisions of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army in Changde City. This left the commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, helpless, and he could only order the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army, which was responsible for blocking the reinforcements of the Chinese Army in the south of Changde City, to immediately reinforce to the north of Changde City to resist the attack of the 18th Army of the Chinese government. Only more than 10,000 people of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army were left in the south of Changde City.

The more than 10,000 troops of the Japanese 68th Division were no match for the Li Yutang Corps and Ou Zhen Corps that came to reinforce from the south.

As a result, the 68th Division of the Japanese Army on the south road of Changde City fell into a dangerous situation.