At the same time, the lights at the Eleventh Army headquarters outside the east gate of Jiujiang were brightly lit all night long.
Almost every staff officer in the headquarters would hug each other when they met each other, then wave their fists and roar loudly and without any image. At this time, more than ten hours had passed since the 13th Division captured Xinyang. However, the staff officers in the Eleventh Army Headquarters have not yet calmed down from their excitement.
Finally won, the battle of Wuhan was finally won! When Neji Okamura was assassinated, when Shunroku Hata vomited blood and died, when Xu Rui commanded the 799th Regiment of the Sichuan Army to unexpectedly capture Jiujiang, and when the Hunan-Jiangxi Highway was completely cut off by the Xue Yue Corps, even the boldest and most optimistic staff felt that The future is bleak.
At that time, almost all staff officers believed that the Japanese army would undoubtedly lose the Battle of Wuhan, and then the National Army would undoubtedly launch a strategic counterattack. By that time, the Japanese army would be able to hold the Nanjing and Xuzhou lines and ensure the Tianjin-Puzhou Railway. Being under one's own control is already the best result.
However, at this moment, the base camp unexpectedly appointed Itagaki Seishiro as commander.
And the new commander, who is known as the "Courage of the Army", did not live up to the expectations of the base camp and His Majesty the Emperor. As soon as he took office, he formulated an extremely bold and risky attack plan, and he actually had to race against time! Moreover, the chips he put on the gambling table were one permanent division plus one, a Type B ad hoc division!
This is a big gamble, either you lose everything or you win a lot!
After seven days of fierce fighting, this gamble, which may ultimately determine the fate of the empire and China, finally came to a winner. Seishiro Itagaki won the final victory!
Although the process was slightly different, and although it was not the 3rd Division and the 101st Division that Itagaki Seishiro had placed high hopes on, but the 13th Division commanded by Higashikaru Nikihiko, that dealt the fatal blow to the National Army, however, No one can deny that Seishiro Itagaki should take the credit for turning defeat into victory in the Battle of Wuhan!
After receiving the news, Itagaki Seishiro immediately fell down and fell asleep.
Itagaki Seishiro had not had a full night's sleep for seven days. He was really sleepy, so when he received the telegram from Higashikata Niguhiko, he fell asleep. This lasted ten hours of sleep. When Itagaki Seishiro When I woke up, it was already past ten o'clock in the night, but the headquarters was still brightly lit and crowded.
Seeing Itagaki Seishiro walking in, the staff officers at the headquarters paused and saluted.
Itagaki Seishiro was also in a good mood and took the trouble to return military salutes one by one until he entered the command room.
As soon as Itagaki Seishiro entered the command room, the Chief of Staff of the Eleventh Army, Ueno Kameo, happily came forward with two telegrams and said: "Your Excellency, Commander, the base camp and the royal family have just sent a commendation telegram to congratulate the The 11th Army achieved a staged victory on the battlefield in Central China and encourages us to keep up our efforts and win more glorious victories."
"Hey," Seishiro Itagaki nodded and said, "Although the National Army Headquarters has issued a general retreat order, from an overall perspective, there is no suspense that the Imperial Army will win the Wuhan Battle. However, in various local battlefields, the Imperial Army still faces The danger, especially to Gao'an's 27th Division, must not be taken lightly, Xue Yue is a fierce tiger."
"Hai!" Ueno Kamefu said with a heavy pause, "I have just sent a telegram to Mr. Honma to remind them to be on guard and beware of a counter-attack by Xue Yue's regiment."
"Yo Xi." Itagaki Seishiro nodded happily, but his eyes fell on the map on the table, and then said, "Even in Jiujiang, we must not have any accidents at the last moment. Xu Rui is the mortal enemy of the empire. , His Majesty the Emperor has registered with him, we must not let him escape this time."
"Hai!" Kame Ueno paused again and said, "Don't worry, Commander, I have already called the Botian detachment and ordered them to rush back to Jiujiang from Fuchikou. About noon tomorrow, the forward troops of the Botian detachment will be able to arrive. When we get to Jiujiang, when the Botian detachment arrives, it will be difficult for Xu Rui to fly even if he has wings."
"Yo Xi." Itagaki Seishiro once again cast admiring glances at Ueno Kame. At the beginning, Ueno Kame was a little clumsy and was not easy to use, but after seven days of running in, he finally got the hang of it. , now that he is very easy to use, it seems that there is no need to replace this chief of staff.
Ueno Kamefu said again: "Your Excellency, Commander, there is something very strange."
Itagaki Seishiro's eyes still stayed on the map and asked casually: "What's the matter?"
Kamio Ueno picked up a red pencil, drew a line on the map, and then continued: "At noon, I suddenly received a report from the aviation scouts, saying that about one regiment of the National Army turned around from Gao'an and headed north. Directly inserting himself into Fengxin County, I can't understand it because of my humble position, what is Xue Yue's intention?"
"The strength of a regiment?" Itagaki Seishiro's thick eyebrows also frowned.
"Hai, a regiment." Ueno Guifudun said, "The humble official also doubted at first whether Xue Yue was going to send troops out of Jiujiang to rescue the trapped Sichuan Army? But after thinking about it carefully, I felt that it was unlikely. You are arrogant, and you will never be so arrogant as to think that you can take over the 799th Regiment with just one regiment, right?"
Itagaki Seishiro also had no clue. He frowned and asked, "Have you asked the Special Higher Education Department about it?"
"I've already asked you about it," Ueno Kamebu replied. "Due to the sudden incident, the Special High School Department has not yet been able to obtain accurate information through internal channels, but they are already investigating the matter."
After a while, Itagaki Seishiro said: "Since we still don't know what the intention of this national army is, we might as well find a way to fight it out! Ueno-san, are there any troops nearby that can be mobilized? It would be best. Send an infantry brigade to the front of this national army to block it."
Ueno Kamehao shook his head and said, "Your Excellency, Commander, there are no troops nearby that can be mobilized."
"Really?" Itagaki Seishiro frowned immediately after hearing this, "Can't even mobilize an infantry brigade?"
"Not to mention a brigade, I'm afraid not even an infantry squadron can be mobilized." Ueno Kameguo said with a wry smile, "The garrison troops in nearby Yongxiu, Anyi and Jing'an counties have been reduced to an infantry squad, and there are really no soldiers. Adjustable, even the garrison in Nanchang only has one squadron left, and I thought that no more troops could be mobilized."
"Sodesnai." Itagaki Seishiro sighed, "It seems that China is too big for the imperial army."
"Hai." Kame Ueno paused again and said, "For the imperial army, it is already very difficult to control the counties in the vast occupied area, and it is even more difficult to control the vast towns. The good news is that the Battle of Wuhan It's over, and the empire can finally mobilize enough troops to return to the vast occupied areas and carry out law and order operations."
Itagaki Seishiro finally said: "Then order the troops stationed along the way to monitor closely."
"Hai!" Kame Ueno paused again, then turned around and walked away.
(Dividing line)
At the same time, the 799th Regiment of the Sichuan Army began the final mobilization before breaking out.
Sixty strong Sichuan Army veterans were picked out and lined up in three rows, with twenty people in each row. Among them, the twenty Sichuan Army veterans in the front row all had leggings hung around their necks. A light machine gun with a crooked handle. The two rows behind them did not have a light machine gun with a crooked handle hanging on their necks. Instead, they had a large shoulder bag strapped to their waists on both sides, full of bullets.
Xu Rui walked past the queue and said with a cold expression: "The blast will blast a gap of more than fifty meters at the junction of the east and south of the city. As long as it is within the explosion range, no matter whether it is a residential building or a building, The enemy's defenses will all be destroyed, but the little devil will never watch us break through! You can even think with your toes that the little devil will definitely try his best to prevent us from breaking through!"
After a pause, Xu Rui continued: "So, your mission is to use rapid machine gun firepower to clear all obstacles for the follow-up troops to break out. If the machine gunner in the front row is killed, the ammunition hand in the rear row will immediately take over. During the breakout process, the machine gun fire must be uninterrupted, and the Japanese must not be given any chance to breathe!"
"Yes!" Twenty machine gunners and forty ammunition handlers responded with a solemn expression.
Xu Rui grinned again and said: "But you don't have to worry too much. I have already calculated that the straight-line distance from the attack position to the turret at the southeast corner of the city wall is only about one thousand meters, and there are private buildings and little devils in the middle. The defenses will also be completely destroyed, and you can advance forward in large strides, which means that in about a quarter of an hour at most, you can break out from the southeast corner."
The sixty commandos suddenly became energetic after hearing this.
If they can really break out within a quarter of an hour, then the chance of survival is really high, because a quarter of an hour is too short, and no matter how well-trained the Japanese are, they will never be destroyed in the fortifications. It is absolutely impossible to rebuild a complete fortification under the premise.
As long as the Japs are unable to re-build defenses, a breakout will be a matter of course. The hundreds of Japs skirmishers who survived the big explosion will never be able to withstand the desperate charge of a commando with twenty machine guns. , not to mention it was still at night. As a passive party, the little devil's reaction speed would be even slower.
Xu Rui put away his smile again and said sternly: "Check the equipment one last time. Is the oil can full? Is the gun jammed? Is the ammunition supply normal? Don't be idle, the ammunition hand, and count the bullets again. Once again, I’ll give you five minutes. After five minutes, go to the attack position and report to me!” (To be continued.)