Devil's Army

After the Second Front Army of the First Army recaptured Tangshan, it did not continue to attack the Japanese army. Instead, it guarded against the invasion of the Japanese army while developing its troops in a low-key manner.

After Leng Feng of the First Front Army of the First Army recaptured Shanhaiguan and Qinhuangdao, he did not continue to launch new campaigns against the Japanese army. Instead, he moved the airport to the Xiaolingshan Airport in Jinzhou. The simple airport in the tribe was transformed into an aircraft manufacturing plant.

Before Xu Zhiwei went to Xiaoguanzhuang Airport, he poached two lecturers and a group of technical workers from Hangzhou Lanqiao Aircraft Manufacturing Factory.

Lecturers taught pilots on behalf of him and Yi Fuqiang, and technical workers assisted the tribal aircraft manufacturing factory in producing aircraft.

At this time, the tribe's aircraft manufacturing plant could barely produce four aircraft per month.

Leng Feng transformed the tribal airport into an aircraft manufacturing plant and continued to recruit skilled workers and technicians, striving to produce ten aircraft per month.

The Japanese Kwantung Army suffered a disastrous defeat at Nomonhan, and the North China Front Army and the Central China Expeditionary Army were planning a major military operation against the Nanjing government army. For the time being, they could not take care of Leng Feng's First Anti-Japanese Army.

Since the July 7 Incident, China and Japan have fought many times, and each time ended with China losing cities and territories.

In the recent Battle of Wuhan, the Nanjing government forces gathered 110 million troops to defend, but still lost Wuhan and ended in failure.

Therefore, in response to the upcoming Changsha Battle launched by the Japanese army, there were many voices of retreat from the top leaders of the Nanjing government.

Bai Chongxi and many other generals advocated abandoning Changsha and retreating to Hengyang, using the many mountainous areas in Hengyang to block the Japanese army and eliminate its effective forces.

The leaders of Nanjing also advocated abandoning Changsha and using the mountains to block the Japanese army layer by layer and destroy them. However, General Xue Yue rejected all objections and advocated defending Changsha.

He believed that the Japanese army had suffered a defeat at Nomonhan, and after fighting with their troops for more than a year, their manpower was stretched to the limit and they were unable to organize a large-scale battle.

In addition, the outskirts of Changsha are not without strategic locations. There are five rivers from Yueyang to Changsha, forming a natural barrier for the Chinese defenders, so Xue Yue advocated defending Changsha to the death.

Unfortunately, the Nanjing leaders finally decided to abandon Changsha and issued an order to launch a scorched earth campaign against Japan to General Zhang Zhizhong, the highest official in Changsha at the time.

General Zhang Zhizhong believed that Changsha had always been prosperous, and it had neither heavy industry nor important arsenals, so it was not worth burning.

The Nanjing leaders cited the example of Russian Marshal Kutuzov burning Moscow in the 19th century, trapping Napoleon's 60 troops, and asked General Zhang Zhizhong to implement the plan to burn Changsha.

General Zhang had no choice but to prepare to implement a scorched earth plan when the Japanese army arrived at the outskirts of Changsha.

However, when the subordinate soldiers conveyed the order that "the Japanese army arrived at Xinqiang River", they mistakenly conveyed it as "the Japanese army arrived at Xinhe". Xinqiang River is 240 miles away from Changsha, while Xinhe is only 6 miles away from Changsha. The Changsha defenders hastily ordered to burn Changsha.

The fire in Changsha burned for two days and two nights, and it dampened the Changsha people's confidence in the Nanjing government forces.

At this time, the international community was skeptical about the Nanjing government's ability to withstand the Japanese attack and stopped supporting the Nanjing government's war against Japan.

The Nanjing government forces urgently needed a victory to prove to the world that the Chinese army could withstand the Japanese attack.

On September 9, the world situation changed dramatically. Germany launched a blitzkrieg against Poland. Britain and France declared war on Germany, and the European war broke out.

In order to calm the anger of the people of Changsha, the Nanjing leaders temporarily replaced the generals, letting General Xue Yue replace General Zhang Zhizhong to guard Changsha and command the Battle of Changsha.

Xue Yue, as the commander-in-chief of the Ninth War Zone, commanded 32 divisions and 25 men to defend Changsha. However, the government army was not unified at that time, and the senior officers of the army were more afraid of the enemy.

At this time, the guards caught a fleeing division commander and asked for advice on how to deal with him.

Xue Yue shot the fleeing division commander in public and announced publicly: No military dependents accompanying the army are allowed to leave Changsha and must live and die with Changsha.

To reach Changsha from Yueyang, the Japanese army had to pass through the Xinqiang River, Miluo River, Laodao River and Liuyang River.

Xue Yue decided to deploy defenses along the river bank. Each river bank defense line must be unbreakable and able to withstand the Japanese artillery bombardment, forming a stepped defense, gradually eliminating the Japanese army's manpower, and then fighting a decisive battle with the Japanese army under the city of Changsha.

In order to achieve success in this battle, Xue Yue personally went to the front line to inspect the defense line.

When Xue Yue saw the First and Second Regiments of the First Anti-Japanese Army wearing different uniforms near Yunshan, he asked the chief of staff beside him curiously:

"Where did this unit come from? What unit?"

The chief of staff knew nothing about this and had to ask Commander Tan of the 52th Division of the 195nd Army stationed at Xinqiang River.

Commander Qin hurried over to report to the chief of staff: This is the troops of the second regiment of the first brigade of the Northeast Anti-Japanese First Army.

When Xue Yue heard this, he immediately responded:

"Oh, the leader ordered the Northeast Anti-Japanese First Army to come to participate in the Battle of Wuhan. I heard that they participated in the Dehua County Defense Battle of the 32rd Regiment of the 141st Division of the 723nd Army. They fought well!"

This was the first time Xue Yue met the First Anti-Japanese Army, so he didn't know what their uniforms looked like.

Xue Yue immediately asked Commander Tan to take them to meet the First Anti-Japanese Army.