Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Since the Japanese 68th Division had no reinforcements, the 99th Army of Li Yutang's Corps of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese Government finally arrived at the battlefield and coordinated with the 10th Army to launch an attack on the defense line of the Japanese 68th Division.

The subsequent reinforcements from the 58th Army, 72nd Army and Provisional 2nd Army of the Ou Zhen Corps of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese Government also arrived at the battlefield south of Changde City on December 5th.

The combat effectiveness of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army was not strong to begin with. Under the fierce siege of the five armies of the Chinese government, all the defense lines were in danger. The troops of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army on the front line were defeated by the Chinese army. The commander of the 68th Division, Lieutenant General Zuo Jiujian, could only retreat northward with his troops in a hurry.

After seeing that the 68th Division of the Japanese Army alone was unable to resist the fierce attack of the Chinese army reinforcements coming from the south, the commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, ordered the offensive forces of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army to begin withdrawing from Changde City on December 4, the day after the offensive forces of the 11th Army occupied Changde, and prepare to withdraw to the original control area in the north.

On the day when the commander of the 11th Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, issued the retreat order, all the attacking forces of the 11th Japanese Army in Changde City left Changde City and retreated to the suburbs of Changde City for rest and then prepared to retreat back to the original Japanese-occupied area.

On December 6, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, commander of the 11th Japanese Army, ordered all troops except a small unit to garrison Changde to retreat northward at high speed. However, the small number of troops left by the 11th Japanese Army were quickly defeated by the counterattack launched by various units of the Chinese army.

On December 7, the vanguard troops of the Ou Zhen Corps of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government joined forces with a small force of nearly 100 people led by Commander Yu of the 57th Division who broke out from Changde City.

On December 9, the Ou Zhen Corps of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government launched a full-scale offensive, defeated a battalion of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army defending Deshan, and recaptured Deshan. Then, at two o'clock in the afternoon of the same day, the New 11th Division of the 58th Army of the Ou Zhen Corps of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government entered Changde City from the east gate of Changde City, wiped out several squadrons of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army left in Changde City, and successfully recaptured Changde City. At this point, it took only six days from the fall of Changde City to its recovery.

The Military Commission of the Chinese Government saw that the attacking forces of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army had begun to retreat across the board, and Changde was only 100 kilometers away from the rear of the occupied area of ​​the 11th Army of the Japanese Army. The Military Commission of the Chinese Government and the Acting Commander of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese Government, Commander Sun, and Chief of Staff Guo of the War Zone estimated that the attacking forces of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army could basically complete their retreat by December 12 at the latest.

Therefore, the Military Commission of the Chinese Government, the Acting Commander of the Sixth War Zone of the Chinese Government, Commander Sun, and Chief of Staff Guo of the War Zone immediately issued an order to the Chinese troops that were counterattacking in various directions to fully pursue the retreating troops of the Japanese 11th Army.

On December 9, the Military Commission of the Chinese Government ordered the Sixth War Zone and the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese Government to intercept and fiercely pursue the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army that attacked Changde, and annihilated the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army in Changde.

Afterwards, after adjustments, the various Chinese armies began to launch a fierce attack on the retreating troops of the Japanese 11th Army. What worried the Japanese 11th Army Commander Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama the most was the joint attack on the Lishui line by the Chinese government's 18th Army and the 10th Army's 79th Army on the north road of Changde City. The Chinese army wanted to cut off the retreat route of the Japanese 11th Army to the north.

The fierce fighting lasted until December 13. Although the main offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army had retreated to the Lishui line, the 18th Army and the 79th Army of the Chinese government had successively occupied Shimen, Xin'an, and Lixian of the Lishui River. Even Linli, an important town on the south bank of the Lishui River, was captured by the Chinese army.

Moreover, the defensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army in these places were completely wiped out. At present, the Japanese 11th Army can only barely control Jinshi, the easternmost part of the Lishui River, which is also the only ferry crossing for the Japanese 11th Army to retreat.

In the current critical situation, the attacking force of the Japanese 11th Army should naturally cross the Lishui River from the only ferry in Jinshi and flee northward, and escape back to the control area of ​​the Japanese 11th Army before the war as soon as possible.

However, what is interesting is that the attacking forces of the Japanese 11th Army had been lingering in the area south of the Lishui River for some non-military reasons, and did not cross the Lishui River and retreat northward as quickly as common sense would have allowed. This also caused the Japanese 10th Army to suffer an additional heavy blow.

Before the Battle of Changde, the order given by Lieutenant General Shunroku Hata, commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Army, and the Japanese Imperial Headquarters to Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, commander of the Japanese 11th Army, was to annihilate the Chinese troops near Changde, and there was no requirement for the Japanese 11th Army to occupy Changde for a long time.

After the attacking force of the Japanese 11th Army occupied Changde City, the China Expeditionary Force Command sent a telegram to the commander of the Japanese 11th Army, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, on December 6, telling him that he could abandon Changde City in a timely manner according to the combat plan formulated before the war, and that the various troops of the Japanese 11th Army should withdraw to their original bases, and that the commander of the Japanese 11th Army, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, should begin the retreat of the entire army on December 11.

Originally, all this was going smoothly according to the plan made by the Japanese China Expeditionary Army before the war. However, unexpectedly, the nonsense of Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, commander of the Japanese 11th Army, almost led to the annihilation of these troops of the Japanese 11th Army.

As for the specific cause, after the attacking force of the 11th Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, commander of the 11th Japanese Army, occupied Changde City, he immediately sent a telegram of great victory to Lieutenant General Hata Shunroku, commander of the China Expeditionary Army, and the Japanese Army Headquarters.

It would have been fine if the commander of the 11th Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, reported the victory to the commander of the China Expeditionary Army, Lieutenant General Hata Shunroku, and the Japanese Army Headquarters. The key point was that the commander of the 11th Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, boasted in the telegram. In the telegram, the commander of the 11th Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama said that in the Battle of Changde, the 11th Japanese Army successfully annihilated the main force of the Chinese army, and the attacking forces of the 11th Japanese Army suffered very few casualties. At the same time, they also occupied the city of Changde, which can be said to be a very glorious victory.