Devil's Army

Under the powerful deterrence of the First Army's air force, the Japanese troops in Zhejiang did not launch a counterattack against Jiangxi, but instead focused on consolidating their existing positions to prevent the "devil troops" from entering Zhejiang.

After the First Army recaptured Nanchang, it repaired the Nanchang Sanjiadian Airport and Nanchang Yangzhouhu Airport, which had been destroyed by the Japanese army.

After the two airports in Nanchang were repaired, the 4th Air Group of the 1st Army left a fighter squadron and a bomber squadron at Nanxiong Airport in Shaoguan as reserves.

In addition, ten fighter squadrons and bomber squadrons were transferred from various airports in Guangdong to Nanchang and Nanchang airports to maintain overwhelming superiority over the Japanese air force.

With the start of the Anhui campaign, the Southern Independent Division of the First Army left only one regiment to garrison Yushan County and Guangfeng County in the Zhejiang direction, while the main force quietly turned to the Hubei direction to assemble.

To prevent the Japanese army in Zhejiang from attacking Jiangxi from the east during the upcoming campaign to recapture Hubei, the Nanchang Air Force continued to launch intermittent air raids on the Japanese forces in Zhejiang, keeping them on the defensive and preventing them from focusing on attacking Jiangxi.

This way, the Southern Independent Division of the First Army will not be caught in a two-front war.

However, the Empty City Stratagem was not a long-term solution. To contain the Japanese army in Zhejiang, the most important thing was to develop our own strength.

During this period, the 18th Regiment of the 5th Division of the New Fourth Army was tasked with maintaining public order in counties and towns from Jiujiang, Jiangxi to Hubei.

During this period, the Nanjing government forces in Jiangxi coveted important cities such as Nanchang and Jiujiang, and sent troops to infiltrate De'an County, which was on the outskirts of Jiujiang County, where the New Fourth Army was active.

During the Anti-Japanese War, De'an was located in the middle section of the Nanxun Railway and the Nanjiu Highway, bordering Jiujiang and Xingzi counties and connected to Poyang Lake, making it a transportation hub in northern Jiangxi. Its geographical location was extremely important.

A regiment of the 58th Division of the Nanjing government army entered the De'an Station of the Nanxun Railway under the pretext of needing to pass through to transport supplies to Hubei.

At that time, the De'an Station of the Nanxun Railway in De'an County was maintained by the 206th Battalion of the 18th Advance Regiment of the 5th Division of the New Fourth Army.

Due to the needs of joint operations, the battalion commander did not prevent the Nanjing government army regiment from using the De'an Station.

Things began to unfold in ways that surprised the 206th Battalion Commander.

After the government army regiment was stationed at De'an Station, they did not see their military trains pass through there.

They were not maintaining order, but rather infiltrating the area around De'an Station to intensify the construction of defensive fortifications.

The battalion commander stepped forward and asked when the military train would pass.

They stammered and couldn't give a specific time.

Ask them why they built defensive fortifications here.

They said it was to prevent a Japanese counterattack.

The battalion commander realized the seriousness of the situation and immediately reported to the regimental commander. Then, he began to expel the government army regiment and move it into De'an Station.

However, it's easy to invite a god but hard to send him away. This regiment of government troops has adopted a rogue stance of "if you dare to make a move, I'll open fire."

When Commander Zhang of the Southern Independent Division heard about this incident from the New Fourth Army, he was furious.

I made things convenient for you, but you took over my place!

The battle to recapture Hubei has not yet begun, and he has plenty of troops.

He immediately ordered the 1st Regiment of the 1st Brigade to disarm the government army regiment, and at the same time arranged for the 2nd and 3rd Regiments of the 1st Brigade to deploy along the direction of entering De'an County to prevent the government army's 58th Division from reinforcing.

Soon, the First Brigade and the First Regiment arrived from Jiujiang County and surrounded the De'an County Station.

For deterrence purposes, the brigade commander also assigned all the Golden Eagle drones in the brigade to the regiment.

For a time, the air at De'an County Station was thick with the smell of gunpowder, and a battle could break out at any moment.