Devil's Army

Commander Qin asked the regiment commander what he should pay attention to when fighting against the Japanese army.

"The Japanese army fights with just three axes: artillery bombing, airplane bombing, tank charge, and then the infantry begins to attack. As long as you avoid the bombing of the Japanese army's artillery and airplanes, you are halfway to victory." The commander of a regiment replied.

"The Japanese tanks are advancing very quickly. Our army lacks anti-tank weapons and it is difficult to resist the attack of the Japanese tanks." said Commander Guan.

"The Japanese tanks are not a problem. We have 40 rockets, and we can hit tanks with one shot. If the Japanese send tanks and armored vehicles as the vanguard, I will arrange rocket soldiers to kill them."

As time went by, it was mid-February 1939, and the Japanese army gradually concentrated in Dehua, Hukou and other places, preparing to attack Nanchang.

On March 3, in order to gain the initiative on the battlefield, the Military Commission of the National Government ordered the Ninth War Zone to launch a preemptive attack on the Japanese troops in northern Jiangxi on March 8.

The commander of the Ninth War Zone, Xue Yue, requested an extension due to difficulties in supplying his troops.

On March 3, General Okamura Yasuji gathered 17 Japanese troops and divided them into three groups.

The Japanese Army's 116th Division crossed Xiushui and launched a coordinated attack with the 101st and 106th Divisions.

On March 3, General Okamura Yasuji concentrated more than 20 heavy artillery pieces and 300 tanks to attack Luo Zhuoying's Xiushui defense line.

More than 300 heavy artillery pieces of the Japanese Army launched a fierce bombardment on the positions of the government’s 49th and 79th Armies for more than an hour.

In order to destroy the vitality of the Nanjing government forces, the Japanese army launched the largest gas war against the Nanjing government forces since entering China.

It was cloudy at dusk that day, and the wind was blowing towards the south bank of Xiushui at a speed of 3 meters per second, which was the best time to use poison gas bombs. The Japanese army immediately fired poison gas bombs at the positions of the 49th and 79th Armies on the south bank of Xiushui.

In just 10 minutes, the Japanese gas troops fired 12 gas bombs and dropped 49 gas cylinders at the 79th and th Armies along a -kilometer defense line.

The Nanjing government army's positions two kilometers deep on the south bank of Xiushui were all filled with red poisonous gas.

The commander of the 79th Division of the 76th Army, Wang Lingyun, the brigade commander Xiang Chuanwen, and the regiment commander Tang Jiyu. The commander of the 49th Division of the 105th Army, Yu Yuanyuan, and other senior generals were poisoned. The number of ordinary soldiers poisoned was countless, and there was widespread grief.

Then the Japanese artillery launched extended fire, and the infantry launched an attack on Xiushui. At this time, most of the Nanjing government troops on the south bank of Xiushui had been poisoned or lost their resistance. The Japanese army attacked all the way, as if entering an unmanned area.

The artillery of the Nanjing government army was poorly trained, and the few large-caliber howitzers and large-caliber cannons left in the rear positions fired incoherently, and were unable to suppress the Japanese army.

The Japanese army pushed their artillery to the river bank, but the heavy artillery of the Nanjing government army was still unable to destroy the artillery positions that were suppressing the Japanese army.

On the 21st, the Japanese army crossed the Xiushui River and broke through the defense line of the Nanjing government army in Xiushui, and then attacked the commanding heights of Fengqi Mountain. The Nanjing government army resisted with fortifications. However, under the fierce bombing of Japanese aircraft and the covering bombing of large-caliber artillery, the main position of Fengqi Mountain was lost.

After taking the main position of Fengqi Mountain, the Japanese army immediately attacked the second-line position of Weijiaying.

On March 3, the Nanjing leaders urgently telegraphed Xue Yue, acting commander-in-chief of the 24th War Zone, to order his troops to reinforce Nanchang. Bai Chongxi also urgently telegraphed the 9rd War Zone to transfer troops to Luo Zhuoying's command. Luo Zhuoying urgently deployed various troops for defense.

However, the Japanese intercepted and deciphered the deployment order that day. After learning about the defense situation of Nanchang, the Japanese accelerated the pace of the attack.

On March 3, the 25st Division of the Japanese invaders on the east route broke through Lehua County. The main force of the 101nd Army of the government army encountered the Japanese army on the way back to provide assistance, and fought fiercely with the enemy, suffering heavy casualties.

On the morning of the 26th, the tanks, infantry and cavalry of the 101st Division of the Japanese Army from the east approached Niuxing.

At noon, the Japanese 2nd Tank Group arrived at the Ganjiang River Bridge west of Nanchang City and engaged in a fierce battle with the 32nd Army. On the same day, the 106th Division of the Japanese Army in the West Route attacked Zengjia on the west bank of the Ganjiang River from Dacheng.

The 32nd Army, which lacked anti-tank weapons, suffered heavy casualties under the three-dimensional attack of Japanese tanks and aircraft, but still defended the Ganjiang Bridge.

At dawn on March 3, the Japanese 27th and 106st Divisions crossed the Ganjiang River from Zengjia and Shengmi Street respectively, and headed straight for Nanchang in two routes.

Part of the Japanese 106th Division cut off the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Railway and encircled the 102th Regiment of the 306nd Division of the government army.

The main force of the Japanese 101st Division attacked the important position in the southwest of Nanchang and occupied Niuxing in the north of Nanchang.

The 101st Brigade of the 101st Division of the Japanese invaders successfully crossed the Ganjiang River, occupied the south of the Ganjiang Bridge at 17:, and began to break through the city of Nanchang. In the morning, the two Japanese attacking forces met outside the city of Nanchang.

After the Japanese planes fiercely bombarded Nanchang City, they divided into groups to launch a ground attack on the city, and Nanchang eventually fell.

After the fall of Nanchang, Liu Duoquan led the 49th Army of the Northeast Army to retreat to the south of Ganjiang River and continued to block the Japanese army in the Fuhe River area. The 79th Army retreated to the southeast of Nanchang and built a new position to block the next attack of the Japanese army.