Devil's Army

The next day, the Japanese 101st Division, with the support of several tanks, launched another attack on Dehua County.

Japanese planes also carried out a covering bombing on the two 75mm mountain artillery positions of the special forces team in Dehua County.

The special forces team's two small mountain cannons were completely destroyed. Four of the ten special forces operating the small mountain cannons were injured and six died heroically.

Four Japanese tanks recklessly rushed into Dehua City from the collapsed Dehua County wall, but were fiercely attacked by the 40 rocket launchers brought by the special forces. All of them were blown up on the Dehua County wall.

Commander Wang Qiming of the 723rd Regiment took advantage of the situation and led the remaining soldiers to launch a fierce counterattack against the Japanese army, driving the Japanese soldiers who had broken into the city out of Dehua County.

After several days of fighting, the Japanese 101st Division suffered terribly, and the soldiers of the 723st and nd Battalions of the rd Regiment also suffered heavy casualties.

At this time, Regiment Commander Wang Qiming received an order from his superiors: the main force had completed the strategic transfer and their regiment could withdraw from Dehua County.

Regiment Commander Wang Qiming then withdrew the 400rd Regiment, which had less than 723 people, to the headquarters of the 141st Division, and then withdrew to Shilipu with the division headquarters to wait for orders.

On the side of the first regiment commander, after the Japanese 106th Division was defeated, the chief of staff took a short rest and on the next day, he led the remaining troops of the 106th Division and launched a fierce attack on Dehua County with the support of airplanes and tanks.

The 106th Division of the Japanese Army advanced to the vicinity of the city wall of Dehua County, and its tanks came under fierce attack from the th Rocket Troop Regiment and were all blown up outside the city of Dehua.

The infantry of the Japanese 106th Division was suddenly and fiercely bombarded by an artillery regiment hidden in the foothills of Daiyun Mountain, suffering heavy casualties.

The commander of a regiment took the opportunity to lead most of the soldiers of the regiment out of Dehua City and chased and attacked the Japanese 106th Division fiercely.

After this battle, the Japanese 106th Division was no longer able to organize an attack on Dehua County.

On the Ruichang and Wuning front, the fully equipped Second Regiment blocked and delayed the Japanese 27th Division for three days. On the fourth day, the Japanese 27th Division arrived outside Dehua County.

Then, Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma, commander of the 27th Division of the Japanese Army, ordered the infantry to attack Dehua County under the cover of tanks. However, several tanks covering the infantry's attack were blown up outside the city wall by the 40th Rocket Troop of the nd Regiment.

The Japanese 27th Division launched several waves of attacks on Dehua County, but they were all repelled by the soldiers of the nd Regiment.

The next day, the 27th Division of the Japanese Army continued to attack Dehua County under the cover of aircraft and artillery fire. However, until the 27nd Regiment withdrew from Dehua County, the th Division of the Japanese Army failed to enter Dehua County.

The Japanese 2nd and 11th Army began to encircle Wuhan from both sides.

日军第2集团军的司令官为东久迩宫稔彦王，下辖第3师团（师团长藤田进）、第10师团（师团长筱冢义男）、第13师团（师团长荻洲立兵）、第16师团（师团长藤江惠辅）。

His main force went from the northern foot of the Dabie Mountains, through Lu'an, Gushi, Huangchuan, and Luoshan to capture Xinyang, then went south along the Pinghan Railway and the areas to the west, encircling Wuhan from the north and northwest; another route went south from Shangcheng, crossed the Dabie Mountains to reach Macheng, and coordinated with the troops along the river to attack Wuhan from the northeast.

日军第11集团军的司令官为冈村宁次，下辖第9师团（师团长吉住良辅）、第27师团（师团长本间雅晴）、第101师团（师团长伊东政喜）、第106师团（师团长松浦淳六郎）、第6师团（师团长稻叶四郎）。

The Japanese 11th Army set out from Anhui and marched along the Yangtze River and its banks, attacking Wuhan from east to west. Specifically, it advanced along the Yangtze River waterway and marched on land on the south and north banks of the Yangtze River, forming a siege with the Second Army and jointly launching an attack on Wuhan.

The Wuhan Provisional Government had already completed its strategic shift before the Battle of Wuhan. In order to preserve military strength, the Wuhan defenders began to retreat in a planned manner.

Most of Xue Yue's Ninth War Zone troops retreated to the vicinity of Changsha and the northern and central Hunan regions. Relying on Hunan, they confronted the Japanese army. This also accumulated military strength for the subsequent Changsha Battle.

The troops of the Sixth War Zone withdrew to the western Hubei region centered on Enshi, using the favorable mountain terrain to resist the Japanese attacks layer by layer and defend the eastern gateway of Sichuan.

Some troops also withdrew to Jiangxi to join forces with the troops in Jiangxi to consolidate and strengthen Jiangxi's defense forces. They also participated in the subsequent Battle of Nanchang.

The 141st Regiment, 723nd Regiment, and th Squadron of the Special Operations Corps of the st Brigade of the st Anti-Japanese Army bid farewell to the rd Regiment of the st Army, who had fought together with them, and withdrew to the vicinity of Changsha. Dehua County was subsequently occupied by the Japanese army.

The troops of the First Army withdrew to the vicinity of Dayun Mountain in Changsha, and encountered the Advancing Army of the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Border Region.

Kong Hechong, commander of the First Column of the Advance Army, invited the First Army to organize troops to jointly fight against Japan.

The regiment commander readily agreed and asked the signalman to send a message to Commander Leng.

To the surprise of the regiment commander, Leng replied that he disagreed with them organizing troops with the First Advance Column of the Advance Army to fight against Japan together. He asked them to join forces with other troops of General Xue's Ninth Corps to fight against Japan together.