The fighting on the Ruiwu Road and Nanxun lines was in full swing, but in the face of the tenacious blockade by Chinese officers and soldiers, the well-trained Japanese troops did not gain any advantage, and the casualties were increasing day by day.
The commander of the Japanese 11th Army, Okamura Ning, was also exhausted from the anxious war these days. The rugged mountains in northern Jiangxi severely limited the combat effectiveness of the troops.
In battles in the plains, their well-trained troops, with the cooperation of heavy artillery and aviation, could easily tear apart their defense lines and defeat several times the number of squadrons.
But in the rugged northern Jiangxi region, it was impossible. The severely damaged roads made it difficult for their heavy artillery tanks to move.
The Chinese officers and soldiers relied on the favorable terrain to defend and defend to the death, forcing the Japanese to conquer at least one hilltop every half kilometer they advanced.
The Chinese officers and soldiers hid in the hidden trench fortifications on these hills and fired at the attacking troops from a high position. As a result, even if a Japanese squadron captured a hill, they basically lost their combat effectiveness.
There are thousands of hills in northern Jiangxi, but the number of Japanese soldiers is limited and cannot be wasted in vain.
Their battle plan was to defeat the Chinese Army and then capture the Wuhan area, rather than fight a protracted and attrition war with the Chinese Army in these mountainous areas.
The commander of the 11th Army, Okamura Neiji, looked down at the map where blue arrows and red arrows were intertwined, and his mood was in a mess.
"Report!"
Just when Yukimura Neji was distracted by the anxious battle on the front line, a communications staff officer rushed to him.
"speak!"
Okamura Neiji expected that it was another unfavorable telegram sent back from the front line, so his expression did not change at all and he waved casually.
There was so much news about the war these days that his ears almost felt calloused, so he didn't pay attention.
The communications staff officer also knew that Commander Okamura Neiji was in a bad mood, but he believed that the news he brought would definitely make the Commander happy.
"General, the reconnaissance aircraft of the aviation unit discovered the gap in the defense of the China Army..." the communications staff read out the telegram sent by the aviation unit.
Quiet, quiet in the early days, Commander Okamura Neiji did not jump excitedly when he heard the news, but instead became suspicious of the intelligence itself.
In the past few months of the game with Xue Yue, the commander of the Chinese Army, he had never gotten any advantage. Faced with General Xue Yue's strict defense, his troops could not move forward.
"Are you sure the information is true?" Okamura Neji suppressed his inner excitement and asked with a frown.
The communications staff officer replied confidently: "Reconnaissance aircraft have repeatedly confirmed that there are no Chinese troops stationed in the mountainous area between the Nanxun Line and Ruiwu Road."
The surrounding staff officers also became excited after being stunned for a few seconds, and hurriedly searched for the gap found by the reconnaissance plane on the map.
Soon, a gap area about six or seven kilometers wide was marked on the map, and no Chinese troops were found in this area.
In fact, it was not that General Xue Yue was careless and left such a gap in the defense line, but that his troops were really stretched thin.
The Japanese 27th and 9th Division were on the offensive aggressively on Ruiwu Road. He had to mobilize troops from the Wushimen line to reinforce Ruiwu Road. The result was that a weak defensive zone appeared in the southwest of the Wushimen defense line.
Discovered by a Japanese reconnaissance plane.
Seeing the marked gap area, the 11th Army Commander Okamura Neiji's breathing became rapid. If a unit was sent through this place to penetrate directly into De'an behind the Chinese ** team.
Then the squadrons of more than 20 divisions in the Nanxun line and Wushimen area will be cut off, and it will be easy to eliminate them, and the entire anxious battle will begin.
"Order General Matsuura of the 106th Division to quickly dispatch reconnaissance troops to investigate this area!"
A bold outflanking plan quickly took shape in Okamura Neiji's mind. Once the plan was realized, the Chinese squadrons in this area could be eliminated, the entire war south of the Yangtze River could be quickly resolved, and Wuhan could be captured.
"Hi Yi!" The atmosphere in the headquarters suddenly became lively, and every staff officer's face was filled with excitement.
They are all professional staff officers, so they naturally know what the discovered gap in the Chinese army's defense means.
The 106th Division, which was resting in the Mahuiling area, quickly received the order from the headquarters.
Division commander Matsuura Junrokuro did not hesitate at all, and immediately sent the most elite reconnaissance troops to conduct a reconnaissance on the front line of Wutailing southwest of Wushimen, looking for this weak defense area.
"The devils are out!"
Yang Ling and the others had been sending scouts to pay close attention to the Japs' movements. When they saw the Japs sending out reconnaissance troops into the mountains in the southwest, they quickly reported the news to Yang Ling.
When Yang Ling learned that the Japanese had secretly sent a reconnaissance force to the Wutailing area, a smile appeared on his face.
He was also worried that the Japanese would not go this way because of the butterfly effect he had created. Now that they were conducting reconnaissance, it meant that they had discovered a weak defensive area.
In this case, the Japanese 106th Division is destined to be unable to escape. In history, Matsuura Junrokuro finally ran away, but this time, now that he is here, Yang Ling is not ready to let him go!
"Let the detective brothers follow the Japanese, pay close attention to their movements, and report at any time."
After Yang Ling gave the instructions, he hurried straight to the brigade headquarters. Now that he had the evidence, he could report it logically, so that the superiors could prepare in advance.
Brigadier Zhou Zhidao did not dare to neglect after learning about the situation and hurriedly reported to the division headquarters. An hour later, Commander Xue of the First Corps also received the news.
"What, are there any signs of the Japanese moving towards Wutailing?"
After receiving the report from Commander Yu of the 74th Army, Commander Xue of the First Corps hurried to the map and took a closer look.
You don't know this, and the sweat on your back is dripping down. On the six or seven kilometers width near Wutailing, they don't even have a platoon of troops.
As the commander of the First Corps, he has more than 20 divisions and more than 100,000 people under his command, defending the entire northern Jiangxi region. His eyes are always on the three battlefields of Ruiwu Road, Nanxun Line and Wushimen.
But a wise man will always make mistakes. On such a huge battlefield, this gap of six to seven kilometers is inconspicuous, so he didn't notice it, and the staff didn't see it either.
If it hadn't been for Yang Ling's report, I'm afraid they wouldn't have discovered it until all the Japs got in. Thinking of the consequences, he broke out in a cold sweat.
The more than 20 staff officers at the corps headquarters were also frightened at this moment. Facing General Xue Yue's murderous gaze, they all remained as quiet as they could and did not dare to look at him.
"Sir Xue, how should we respond? Should we quickly send troops to block this gap?" Yu Jishi, commander of the 74th Army, asked.
General Xue Yue also recovered from the shock. He looked at the map and pondered without saying anything, and asked: "If a division is transferred from Wushimen, can your Wushimen hold it?"