After the first Great Wall War of Resistance, the 29th Army was in the limelight due to the performance of the Broadsword Team. It was such an honor to be a member of the Broadsword Team at that time. However, with the fall of North China and the disintegration of the 29th Army, the former glory was lost. It has become a passing thing, and even the heroes of the Broadsword Team have to be reduced to the situation of being guest soldiers in other armies.
When they were still under Song Zheyuan, members of the Broadsword Team enjoyed officer-level treatment. The treatment was as generous as that of company platoon leaders in the general national army. However, after joining the 74th Army, although they were not discriminated against, However, the members of the Broadsword Team can no longer wear their hats, because the Central Army won’t urinate in this pot at all.
The seriously injured had seen Ouyang Yun's demeanor before. Of course, at that time, Ouyang Yun was just a small major commander, which was different from what he is now. Ouyang Yun was a nostalgic person, and he couldn't help but sigh when he heard this. He first said well Yan comforted the seriously wounded and assured him that he would definitely call Commander Yu. From now on, you will be a member of the Xuebing Army. Then, he immediately called in military doctors to rescue the seriously injured.
After taking care of the seriously wounded, Ouyang Yun's mood became a little bad. He looked at everything in front of him carefully and said to his subordinates: "The little devil is attacking very fiercely. Do you want to avenge the 17th Division's annihilation?" Hatred, huh, it’s a pity that we have met now.”
The 11th Division has not stopped attacking Penglangji since it took over from the 112th Division. The 5th Heavy Artillery Brigade to which the division belongs has continued to bombard Penglangji in the past few days, making the entire position pockmarked. Yes, water accumulated in the potholes in many places near the river. The 74th Army retreated in a hurry. Of course, it may be because they were afraid of the Japanese bombardment. The bodies of some soldiers did not have time to collect and bury them. The bodies of these martyrs were soaked in Many things in the water have been deformed,
The weather was getting hotter at this time, and Ouyang Yun was worried that this would induce the plague, so he specially called He Zhengjiang, who was in charge of the local defense, and asked him to organize manpower to collect and dispose of the remains of the martyrs of these fraternal troops at night.
Among the shells fired by the Japanese artillery, there were also some that became duds for unknown reasons. These shells were stuck on the beach, which were time bombs. These also had to be dealt with, because until now, Ouyang Yun did not know that he was going to How long should we defend? If the time is long, there will definitely be a need to counterattack. By then, these shells will be dangerous.
The 74th Army had a tough fight. The army's artillery had been exhausted by the Japs when they encircled and annihilated the 17th Division. Without the artillery, they had no choice but to hide when the Japanese artillery came. , and once the Japanese adopted infantry and artillery coordination, they could not even hide. Therefore, although the 11th Division had only arrived a few days ago, it caused no less casualties to the 74th Army than the 17th Division.
This is what Ouyang Yun respects the most about the 74th Army. Chen Shichang didn't know what the 74th Army was like in the past, so when he found out that the arrogant commander-in-chief actually showed disrespect to this remnant army. He couldn't help but be very surprised when he saw the different enthusiasm. Of course, when he calculated the number of troops of the 74th Army that retreated unscathed, he couldn't help but look at the army with admiration.
Since the Anti-Japanese War has started, if there is one thing that impresses people the most about the Central Army, it is the wiseness of some troops to protect themselves. Whether it is the Battle of Songhu or the Battle of Nanjing, there are many traditional troops like the Central Army. No wonder it makes people I can't respect it, but the 74th Army is definitely a different kind. According to Chen Shichang's observation, the number of officers and soldiers of the 74th Army who escaped unharmed this time is less than 5,000. In other words, in the Pengze area, they have paid a total of More than 13,000 casualties, more than 13,000 people were left in Pengze. This is already nearly 70% of the 74th Army. This is the most admirable thing about the 74th Army. Because if it were any other national army, it would have been defeated when the casualties exceeded 30%. However, the 74th Army was still able to hold its position when the casualties reached 70%. This shows the tenacity and extraordinaryness of this army.
The Japanese army launched the Battle of Hankou, which seemed to be in a hurry. Originally, the Japanese wanted to stabilize Chiang Kai-shek and his Central Army first, and concentrated their efforts to first solve the nuisance of the Xuebing Army. However, as the peace talks failed, the Central Army Beginning to launch a full-scale "counterattack", the Japanese felt that it would be a good choice to capture Hubei and Jiangxi first, and then Guangxi. In addition, the Japanese also wanted to teach Chiang Kai-shek a profound lesson for breaking the contract, so they rashly decided to launch the Battle of Hankou ,
The Japanese rushed into battle in a hurry, and the formulation of their strategy seemed sloppy. Some troops also made the mistake of underestimating the enemy. This gave the Central Army an opportunity to take advantage of it.
The Japanese army's attack on Hankou this time was personally commanded by the commander-in-chief of the Chinese Expeditionary Forces, Shunroku Hata. A total of 120 brigades of the 2nd Army and the 11th Army were assembled, totaling 250,000 troops. Among them, the 106th Division and the 17th Division, 112 The division, the 11th Division and the Namada Detachment (Taiwan Mixed Brigade) were responsible for the southern front under the leadership of the 11th Army Commander Okamura Neiji, while the 17th Division was the vanguard, and the southern line formulated by Okamura Neiji The original plan of the battle plan was to attack Pengze, Jiujiang, and Macheng at the same time in order to achieve a quick victory. However, due to the strong strength of the Madang Fortress, the Japanese Yangtze River Fleet lost its role, so the 17th Division decided to transfer overland first. Advance, attack Penglangji, and after taking Penglangji, attack Madang from the flank. The Japanese do not take the Central Army seriously, and this time, the 74th Army, the 49th Army and some fish However, the Japanese troops taught them an unforgettable lesson. The 17th Division advanced alone. As a result, after the forward entered Penglangji, it was divided and surrounded on both sides of the Yangtze River. At this time, other Japanese troops were still fighting in Anhui and could not provide timely supplies. As a result, the Chinese defenders took the opportunity to fight a beautiful encirclement and annihilation battle. Not only did they completely annihilate the 17th Division in one fell swoop, but they also immediately caused problems with the Japanese army's troop ratio on the Anhui-Jiangxi line, thus causing the Japanese army to They had to postpone the offensive in Henan and make every effort to maintain the operations in Madang and Jiujiang. They wanted to capture these two Yangtze River fortresses first, and after obtaining water transportation channels, they could then besiege Wuhan from both directions, both land and water.
Ouyang Yun stood on a higher ground in the position, picked up his binoculars and looked towards the other side. He saw that the Japanese on the opposite side were digging and repairing fortifications. He said to He Zhengjiang on the side: "It seems that the Japanese know that we have changed our defenses." We have received the news, this is because we are afraid of our counterattack."
Chen Shichang was not as optimistic as Ouyang Yun. He took out a telegram and handed it to Ouyang Yun and said: "Commander-in-Chief, the sequence of our defending troops that you asked Hutong Foreign Affairs Department to collect has been obtained. It is the 16th Army that is defending Jiujiang now."
Ouyang Yun paid so much attention to the Chinese defenders because he had some understanding of the Battle of Hankou in that time and space. Among them, the 16th Army and its 167th Division were the ones he was most concerned about. The commander of the 16th Army was Li Yunheng. The commander of the 167th Division was Xue Weiying. These two men single-handedly directed the farce of losing Madang in that time and space, which made a solid fortification eventually used by the enemy and became an obstacle to the advancement of the Chinese army.
Fortunately, perhaps because of the Chongqing Incident, history turned a turning point here. The 16th Army was not stationed in Madang, which led to the great victory of Pengze and the good situation that emerged in the early stages of the Battle of Hankou.
Just two days ago, Jiujiang was still defended by the 49th Army. However, the army suffered huge casualties in the early operations to encircle and annihilate the 17th Division, so it will definitely be replaced. Jiujiang also has Huangshan, which is related to the flank of the Xuebing Army. and a safe retreat, these two places, Ouyang Yun wished he could hold them in his hands to feel relieved. Now, when he heard that the 16th Army was stationed in Jiujiang, he was worried that history would repeat itself. He frowned and suddenly became worried. He was originally The plan was to let the Eighth and Twelfth Divisions go to Madang. However, considering the possible situation in Jiujiang, and in order to ensure the safety of the retreat, we changed our minds and asked the Eighth Division and the Tenth Division to go to Madang. The Second Division was stationed at Hukou to guard against possible changes in Jiujiang.
The Third Xuexi Division was stationed in Pengze, and the Ninth Xuexue Brigade of the division was responsible for the first round of defensive tasks. After the 301st Regiment of the brigade entered the position, all the cadets immediately took action and began to repair the fortifications. When the cadets began to repair the fortifications, A Japanese plane came from the northeast and began to circle Penglangji from a distance.
This Japanese plane was personally dispatched by Neji Okamura. The Japanese army had many spies in the south of the Yangtze River disguised as local people. Such a large-scale mobilization of the Xuebing Army was seen by these spies, and they were quickly sent to China. At the General Headquarters of the Front Army, Shunroku Hata had always been wary of the Xuebing Army and did not dare to take the information lightly. He immediately forwarded it to Okamura Neiji, telling him to be careful of the China people's plot.
Okamura Neiji has not yet fought against the Xuebing Army, and he used to be extremely disdainful of the Xuebing Army. However, as the Xuebing Army captured Shangrao and Yingtan in the Fujian-Zhejiang-Jiangxi War, it established a guerrilla establishment in southwest Zhejiang. The Taiwan Army Corps was established in the base area of the brigade in Taiwan. The old Japanese took it seriously. After receiving Shunroku Hata's kind reminder, he not only immediately ordered the 11th Division to prepare for war, but also dispatched two reconnaissance planes to capture the horses. When the specific number of enemy troops in Penglangji is known,
The Xuebing Army has defeated too many Japanese armies before, so in the minds of senior Japanese generals, defeating the Xuebing Army and even capturing Ouyang Yun alive has become their greatest ideal. Okamura Neiji is an ambitious guy, and he has always thought that , with his own talents, serving as the commander of the 2nd Army is really an incompetence. It is only appropriate for him to take the position of Shunroku Hata. Of course, if he wants to take the position now, he must show certain results. Originally, He was still worried that he would not find an opportunity to engage with Xuebingjun, but now, this opportunity finally came.
Okamura Neji wholeheartedly wanted to defeat Ouyang Yun and the Xuebing Army. Ningbo's Matsui Iwane and Kawabe Shozo also had the same idea. Of course, old devils such as Matsui Iwane and Kawabe Shozo were all because of and The Xuebing Army was disgraced in the battle, so although they also had this ambition, if they really wanted to implement it, they definitely did not have the courage. Therefore, Matsui Iwane, under the urging of the base camp, used various excuses to delay Time delayed the encirclement and suppression of southwest Zhejiang. Of course, with Ouyang Yun leading five divisions on an expedition to Wuhan, Matsui Iwane felt that the time was finally ripe.