August 23rd was destined to be a tranquil day. Two Japanese divisions gathered in the Ma'an Islands, and the 11th Division advanced troops entered the area north of Chuansha Town at 0:00 at 0:00. The 56th Division of the Yangtze River defended a company at Chuanshakou, unable to stop the Japanese landing. In the afternoon of the same day, the Japanese occupied Chuansha Town, and at the same time a force occupied Luodian. The two troops fought for Luodian that night. The advance troops of the 3rd Division, 3rd Brigade, forcibly landed at about 7:00 at the railway ferry terminal and Zhang Huabang, about 15 kilometers south of Wusong Town and at about 7:00. The security regiment responsible for the garrison, fought bravely, and still could not stop the Japanese army's iron hooves. In the afternoon of the same day, the Japanese successfully landed and occupied and established a beachhead position between the river bank and the railway.

On this day, the reinforcements of the National Army arrived in Shanghai one after another. Three divisions of the 18th Army, including the 11th Division, the 14th Division, and the 67th Division, have arrived in Beijing and Shanghai areas one after another: one part of the 11th Division is in Dachang Town and the other part is entering Luodian; the 14th Division is near Changshu, serving as the guards along the river between Meili Town and Fushan, and is ordered to strengthen the national defense fortifications of the Wufu Line; the 67th Division and the military headquarters are in Suzhou and Wuxi. The 2nd Regiment of the Teaching Corps has arrived in Shanghai, and the 51st Division and the 6th Division are transporting to Shanghai. These troops will all join the battle sequence of the Shanghai Anti-Japanese War, and are currently temporarily commanded by Zhang Zhizhong, commander of the Ninth Army.

The command post of the Ninth Army in Guyi Garden in Nanxiang received a report from the 33rd Brigade of the 11th Division. He learned that the main attack direction of the Japanese army was Luodian, Jiading and Liuhe. After Zhang Zhizhong learned about the landing of the Japanese army, he contacted Chen Cheng and decided to temporarily take the defensive against the Japanese Marine Corps and immediately commanded the troops to counterattack and land on the Japanese army. At the same time, the military deployment of the Ninth Army was sorted into a telegram and sent a secret telegram to the Military Command of the National Government:

Mi. Ben (Yang) received a call from Chief Liu Jun: Before dawn, the enemy landed in Lion Forest and Chuanshakou, and agreed to the deployment with Chen Cichangcheng to advance north to Luodian to support the 56th Division, and the troops were drawn from the front as the reserve team. When the wire in front was broken by the enemy plane, the telephone could not instruct the various units, so he personally went to the 87th Division of Jiangwan to handle everything at 8:30. At that time, it was reported that the enemy landed on Zhang Huabang and Yunzaogang were landing at the same time, and our defenders were hitting... For the sake of concerns about the enemy landing on the left, they would fight against Hongkou and Yangshupu, the 36th Division, the 87th Division, the 88th Division, the 20th Independent Brigade, the Security Corps, and the Second Regiment of the Second Regiment of the Teaching Corps, and sent them as the commander of the front enemy in Songhu.

The second regiment of the teaching corps was denied the enemy of Zhang Huabang; the 87th Division transferred the 1st Brigade to support Wusong; and the 98th Division ordered the 1st regiment to advance to Baoshan, Yang Xing, Liu Xing and Luodian, and the commander of the division Xia Chuzhong, commanded the division and the 11th Division to reject the enemy on the land... At 5 pm, the 11th Division had ignored the bombing of the enemy planes and advanced to six kilometers south of Luodian. Because Luodian was occupied by a few enemies, the division had deployed the avant-garde and drove it out. The Second regiment of the teaching corps, because Zhang Huabang had nearly 2,000 enemies on the land, was still confronting the enemy nearby, and a regiment was drawn from the 88th Division to advance to the south bank of Yunzao Bang for defense. Because the base was bombed by enemy planes during the day, it was moving to the camp this evening, and the phone had not yet been reached, and it was extremely anxious. It was planned to go to Taicang or Jiading to meet Luo Army Commander.

On this day, Luo Zhuoying, the commander of the 18th Army, arrived in Taicang. Zhang Zhizhong learned the news. Considering that many of the troops fighting in Shanghai were affiliated with the 18th Army, in order to facilitate command and reach the combat plan of the commander, he was preparing to meet with Luo.

Chen Cheng, the executive deputy chief of the Ministry of Military Affairs and the commander-in-chief of the Third War Zone, generally agreed with the deployment of Zhang Zhizhong, the commander-in-chief of the Third War Zone. However, his true views on the response to the landing of Japanese reinforcements were still different from Zhang Zhizhong.

Chen Cheng believes that the main threat at present is the newly landed reinforcements of the Japanese army. However, Zhang Zhizhong is obviously too small in the deployment of troops to fight against landings, and does not concentrate superior forces on attacking landing enemies, forming a focus on the strike. According to his own analysis, Chen Cheng sent a secret telegram to Chairman Jiang, the Supreme Military Command, proposing his own military deployment plan:

Then arrive in Nanjing. Chairman Jiang: Mi. In order to destroy the Lion Forest, Chuansha landed and continued to siege the enemy in Songhu, a new deployment was planned, such as left (the telegram was copied from right to left): (1) The Songhu besiege was commanded by Commander-in-Chief Zhang, and continued to attack, and at the same time made preparations for defending the original attack position. (2) The 11th, 14th and 56th Divisions of the 18th Army were commanded by officials, and were appointed to annihilate the enemy landed along the river. (3) The 11th Division, 67th Division, 98th Division, artillery

The 16th Regiment is the right-wing army, under the command of Luo army Zhuo Ying, and conducts an annihilation battle against the enemy landing in Lion Forest and Sichuan Sha. (IV) The 56th Division and the 14th Division are the left-wing army, under the command of Liu Juncheng and Ding, coordinate with the right-wing army to attack, and serve as the key points along the river west of Liuhekou to block the enemy's landing. (V) The 6th Division, the 51st Division is located in both sides of the railway between Nanjing and Suzhou, and is the general reserve team. (V) The 56th Division is now in Suzhou. Please verify it. Please call Zun. Chen Cheng, Gengwei, Wu Shen and Yin.

After receiving a secret telegram from Chen Cheng, Chiang Kai-shek, Chairman of the Military Commission of the National Government, agreed to his deployment. At the same time, considering the actual situation that the scope of the battlefield in Shanghai has been expanded, in order to facilitate command and ensure the implementation of the military deployment of the Supreme Military Command, the troops guarding Jiangnanban were organized into the 15th Army, and Chen Cheng was appointed as the commander-in-chief, and each commanded with the 9th Army Division of Zhang Zhizhong. It was clarified that the dividing line of the combat area of ​​the two armies was the line at the southern end of Nanxiang-Yunzaobang-Wusong Town, and the dividing line was the responsibility of the 15th Army.

Chiang Kai-shek's deployment was undoubtedly correct. However, due to communication and notification, these deployments only informed the troops of the 15th Army, but did not inform the Ninth Army, which caused conflicts in military jurisdiction in the short term.

On August 23, Zhang Zhizhong, commander of the Ninth Army, was ordered to adjust the combat sequence: the 16th Artillery Regiment and the 67th Division were transported to Jiading near, and together with the 1st Division, the 98th Division was assigned to the command of Luo Zhuoying, the commander of the 18th Army. At the same time, part of the 33rd Brigade of the 11th Division, which was in the battle with the Japanese army in Zhang Huabang, was replaced from the front and returned to the 11th Division.

Late at night that day, the command post of the Ninth Army of the Army was secretly transferred to Xugongqiao. After the command post was settled, Zhang Zhizhong barely ate a bowl of porridge and leaned on a high-backed chair to rest. In the distance, the dull sound of artillery shooting was faintly heard. Although Zhang Zhizhong closed his eyes, he still couldn't sleep. Thinking of the large Japanese troops' sea reinforcements and landings, he felt deeply anxious. He felt that he should meet with Jiangfang Commander Liu Heding and the commander of the 18th Army Luo Zhuoying to discuss the specific combat plan to fight against the Japanese landings. If necessary, he would give face-to-face advice and improve their military deployment. Thinking of this, Zhang Zhizhong could no longer sit still. He set off with important staff and arrived in Taicang in the early morning of the 24th to guide Liu Heding's troops to deal with the current landing of the Japanese army.
Chapter completed!