When Jiujiang was regained again, Itagaki Seishiro had just landed from Hukou Pier and joined the 23rd Infantry Brigade of the 18th Division. Of course, Itagaki Seishiro would not just take Oluhara's special forces to Jiujiang. After all, Jiujiang is now
The number of troops was too small. Instead of considering his own safety, he had to consider the future of the six and a half divisions of the Eleventh Army.
If Lang Ya were to behead him again, the consequences would be disastrous for the Eleventh Army.
The brigade commander of the 23rd Infantry Brigade, Kamio Ueno, came to greet him with two regiment commanders, Iida Haruki and Takagi Ishisuke. This time, the 23rd Infantry Brigade was dispatched urgently, so only two came.
The infantry regiment, the cavalry regiment of the 18th Division, the engineer regiment, the artillery regiment and the baggage regiment were not dispatched.
Kame Ueno and his party received Seishiro Itagaki and his party at the Hukou Pier. Less than half an hour after returning to Kame Ueno's brigade headquarters, the communications staff of the 23rd Infantry Brigade came in and reported that Jiujiang had been lost again.
, and the chief of staff of the Eleventh Army, Yoshimoto Sadichi, was also shattered!
"Nani?" Itagaki Seishiro said in shock, "Jiujiang is lost again, and Yoshimoto-san is also broken?"
Behind Itagaki Seishiro, more than a dozen special forces including Ogawara Junsi, Yamatakeo and others also looked at each other in shock.
Isn't this change too fast? Jiujiang was just recovered in the afternoon, but in just half a day, Jiujiang was lost again? Hadn't Jiujiang been sent to strengthen the defense of Jiujiang? Why did it still fall? What's more?
His own life was involved, what on earth was this idiot doing?
"Hai." The communications staff officer paused heavily and handed over the folder again.
Itagaki Seishiro took the folder, opened it, and found that the telegram was from the Navy.
It turned out that the Sichuan Army did not continue to attack Beimen Pier after reoccupying Jiujiang, so Beimen Pier was still under the control of the Marine Corps. However, the Marine Corps launched a counterattack around two o'clock in the morning, and the result was a disastrous defeat.
A full squadron was lost, and the strength of the North Gate Pier is now less than two squadrons.
"Baga!" Seishiro Itagaki threw the folder heavily on the ground, his face turned livid with anger.
Because the telegram sent by the Navy not only stated the facts, but also ridiculed the Army. Kiyoshi Hasegawa, commander of the Japanese Navy's Third Fleet, almost pointed at Seishiro Itagaki's nose and scolded: Are all your Army's losers? A single brigade actually
You can't defend Jiujiang City, and you can't defeat an infantry regiment of the Sichuan Army!
What kind of army is the Sichuan Army? It's a beggar army, right?
Itagaki Seishiro was full of anger but had nowhere to vent, because what Hasegawa Kiyoshi said was true.
Kamio Ueno asked: "Your Excellency, Commander, do you want to assemble the troops now and cross the lake overnight?"
However, Itagaki Seishiro took a deep breath, tried his best to suppress the anger in his chest, and said: "Jiujiang has been lost. No matter how urgent it is, it will take half a night. Besides, the troops have just gone through a long and urgent march, and the warriors are already tired.
, let them have a good sleep, wait until dawn tomorrow, and then gather the troops to prepare to cross the lake."
"Hai." Ueno Kamefu nodded heavily, then turned and walked away.
Watching Kame Ueno leave, Ogawara Junsi said: "Your Excellency, Commander, Jiujiang was gained and lost again. The Sichuan Army occupied Jiujiang City again, but the Imperial Army lost an excellent opportunity. It's a pity."
What Xiaoluyuan said was that they had already drawn up a battle plan. When the rain stops in two days, the bomber team of the 3rd Flying Regiment will drop sulfur bombs and burn the forest outside Jiujiang Station. Without the cover of the jungle, Xu Rui
The deterrent effect of the Wolf Fang will be greatly reduced, and this battle will be much easier to fight.
But now, with Jiujiang lost again, it has returned to the previous street fighting.
It's true that the plan didn't change quickly. It's a pity that an excellent hunting plan was lost.
"Yes, it is indeed a pity that such a good combat plan was stillborn." Itagaki Seishiro nodded and said, "But it's nothing. What's great is that we can return to the original situation. As long as the 23rd Infantry Brigade crosses the border in time,
After crossing Poyang Lake, as long as Xu Rui is not given too much preparation time, the imperial army will still be sure to win this battle."
Ogawara Junsi said: "Your Excellency, Commander, will the bomber team still be dispatched?"
"Of course we have to dispatch." Itagaki Seishiro said solemnly, "The forest outside Jiujiang Station does not need to be burned, but the private houses in Jiujiang City must be burned. Even if it is not possible to burn a large number of Sichuan troops hiding in private houses, it can still be done to some extent.
If we burn a few people to death and burn down those houses, it will be easier to fight in the streets."
Oluhara Junsi's mouth murmured, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he said nothing.
Ogawara Junsi actually wanted to tell Itagaki Seishiro that throwing sulfur bombs into Jiujiang City was actually a double-edged sword. Although it would burn down the houses in the city and make street fighting easier, it would also completely anger the people of Jiujiang and force them to
They went to the battlefield with the Sichuan army, so it's hard to say whether it's a good thing or a bad thing.
However, considering that this was the first time I worked with Itagaki Seishiro, I was not sure whether the newly arrived commander was a soft-hearted person like Commander Okamura or a hard-blooded person like Juichi Terauchi, so I swallowed the words that came out of my mouth.
At the back of his mind, he didn't want to offend his immediate superiors during their first meeting. In this case, it would be difficult for his special operations theory to be used.
(Dividing line)
It cannot be said that Oluhara Junsi's worries are unreasonable.
However, Oluhara Junsi thought too much this time, because the situation he was worried about was simply impossible to occur, because the Sichuan army had already organized the people of Jiujiang to evacuate overnight with the assistance of the puppet army garrison brigade. This was an invasion.
The difference between invaders and our own people is that the invaders will not care about the life and death of the people, but it is impossible for our own people to ignore it.
The soldiers of the 799th Regiment of the Sichuan Army actually knew that letting the people stay in the city could help them a lot. Among other things, they could help build fortifications and carry the wounded. Those young and middle-aged people could train a little and pick up guns to join the battle.
, it is not impossible, that is thousands of reserve troops!
But in the end, Zhao Baishi listened to Xu Rui's suggestion and decided to evacuate the people.
As Xu Rui said, guarding the country and protecting the people is their mission, so how can they sacrifice the people?
What's more, it is impossible for the more than a thousand officers and soldiers of the puppet garrison brigade to agree to their relatives staying. If the 799th Regiment of the Sichuan Army insists on leaving the people, the puppet garrison brigade will probably not be able to do anything about it. However, alienation is inevitable.
If this is the case, the next battle will be very uncomfortable, and the puppet army may cause some trouble.
Before the Japanese army arrived and the encirclement of Jiujiang was completed, the 799th Regiment of the Sichuan Army and the Puppet Army Guard Brigade organized the people in the city to evacuate to the countryside outside the city overnight. Although evacuating to the countryside outside the city may not necessarily be safe.
But it is even more dangerous to stay in the city, because in the next few days, Jiujiang will stage brutal street fighting, and the entire Jiujiang City will be reduced to scorched earth. The people who stay in the city will definitely die.
By noon the next day, the people in Jiujiang City had been evacuated.
To the relief of the soldiers of the 799th Regiment of the Sichuan Army, many young and middle-aged men voluntarily stayed to help defend the city.
Zhao Baishi distributed weapons to the more than 500 young and middle-aged people who volunteered to stay, and temporarily formed a militia brigade.
Then, more than two thousand soldiers from the Sichuan Army, the puppet garrison brigade and the militia brigade began to carry military supplies from the station outside the city to the inside of the city.
Ammunition, food, clothing, medicine, etc. all had to be moved back to the city.
Although there are a few motorcycles, they mainly rely on manpower to carry people on their shoulders.
When transporting military supplies, the soldiers of the puppet garrison could not help but complain, because this was the third time they moved supplies, first from the station outside the city to the city, then from the city to the outside, and now again
It would be a hassle to move people from outside the city into the city! Fortunately, there were officers and soldiers from the 799th Regiment of the Sichuan Army moving with them this time.
There is strength in numbers, and God cooperates. The 23rd Japanese Infantry Brigade originally decided to cross Poyang Lake today, but heavy fog arose at dawn. As a result, one of the three gunboats used to transport troops ran aground on the rocks.
Two gunboats accidentally collided in the lake, and their engines were damaged. Itagaki Seishiro had to postpone his crossing of the lake by one day.
By evening, most of the military supplies had been moved into the city and scattered and stored. Xu Rui asked Zhao Baishi to give the order to withdraw the 1st Battalion of the 799th Regiment, which had been holding its position southwest of Jiujiang Station.
The 799th Regiment withdrew one battalion at a time, and the Japs on the opposite side immediately took advantage of the situation and pressed forward. However, when they caught up to two kilometers outside the west gate of Jiujiang, the Japs stopped advancing, and instead stationed themselves on the spot and began to build fortifications. Look at that scene.
The posture is as if the Japanese are on the defensive and the 799th Regiment of the Sichuan Army is on the attack, which is quite acceptable.
But to be honest, the Japanese were really worried about a sneak attack by the 799th Regiment of the Sichuan Army at night.
Nowadays, Xu Rui is already well-known, and the Japanese can't help but be careless.
Facts proved that the little devil's caution was justified. On that night, the 799th Regiment of the Sichuan Army sent five small troops composed of elite veterans, led by Leng Tiefeng and other five wolves, in an attempt to sneak into the city.
However, due to the strict defenses built by the Japanese, they did not achieve much success.
At daybreak, small Sichuan troops withdrew one after another.
After counting the Japs outside the city, there were still casualties of one and a half squads. Most of these fifty or sixty Japs soldiers were killed by Leng Tiefeng and the five Lang Ya.
At ten o'clock in the morning on the third day, the leading troops of the 23rd Infantry Brigade finally crossed Poyang Lake and arrived outside the east gate of Jiujiang after a two-hour rush march. At noon, the main force of the 23rd Infantry Brigade
They also all crossed Poyang Lake, formally arrived at the foot of Jiujiang City, and surrounded the other three gates of Jiujiang City except the North Gate Pier.
