binnovel Chapter 520 The Japanese Army is Back Again
Chapter 520 The Japanese Army is Back Again
Lieutenant General Kazuichiro Sonobe, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, was staring at the telegram in his hand in a daze. He really did not expect that the headquarters and the expeditionary force would actually send him a letter: an order to temporarily secure Yichang and occupy it for at least one month.
Moreover, the telegram directly stated the order of His Majesty the Emperor at that time, which made it impossible for the commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, Sonobe and Lieutenant General Ichiro, to find an excuse to refuse to execute this unreasonable order. This was an order issued by His Majesty the Emperor himself, and Commander Sonobe and Lieutenant General Ichiro would not dare to raise any objections no matter how much courage they had.
However, this telegram, apart from explaining the combat mission and objectives, did not mention a single word about sending reinforcements, supplies and ammunition. This made Lieutenant General Kazuichiro Sonobe, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, extremely depressed. Isn't this a typical case of wanting the horse to run without giving it grass to eat?
Besides, the three divisions of the 11th Army in Yichang have all evacuated. Even the 13th Division, which was the last to evacuate, is now more than 50 kilometers away from Yichang. Now the troops have to turn around and attack in the direction of Yichang.
Why attack and advance? Nonsense, the Chinese government's troops saw that their troops in Yichang had retreated, so how could they not reoccupy Yichang? However, the only good thing was that after occupying Yichang, the 11th Army's troops dismantled the fortifications inside and outside the city, which made the task of retaking Yichang much easier.
Lieutenant General Kazuichiro Sonobe, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, calculated in his mind that if he could allow his 11th Army to recapture Yichang and then occupy and hold it for a month, as long as he spent money frugally, the supplies for his 11th Army should be enough. However, he still had to make a request to the headquarters and the expeditionary army. It would be good to have some supplementary supplies.
Therefore, Lieutenant General Kazuichiro Sonobe, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, sent a request to the headquarters and the expeditionary army to accept the order, and at the same time began to cry poor to the headquarters and the expeditionary army, asking them to send a call for material replenishment or something. After all, this was also to fulfill the order of His Majesty the Emperor. The headquarters and the expeditionary army should express their gratitude. Otherwise, if Yichang could not be defended because the troops had no replenishment of supplies and ammunition, the headquarters and the expeditionary army would have a hard time explaining to His Majesty the Emperor.
While Lieutenant General Kazuichiro Sonobe, commander of the 11th Japanese Army, was asking the headquarters and the expeditionary force for supplies, he also quickly ordered the retreating troops to stop retreating. The entire army immediately turned around and attacked Yichang again.
Lieutenant General Kazuichiro Sonobe, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, ordered the 13th Division, which was originally responsible for the retreat rear guard mission, to be changed from a rear guard unit to the vanguard unit of the entire army. The entire army turned around and advanced towards Yichang again. While the Chinese army did not have enough time to build complete defensive fortifications in Yichang, they broke through the Chinese army's blockade in one fell swoop and recaptured the city of Yichang.
In addition, in order to strengthen the attack of the 13th Division, Commander Lieutenant General Kazuichiro Sonobe ordered the 3rd Division to transfer part of its troops to the 13th Division to cooperate with the 13th Division to recapture Yichang.
The sudden U-turn of the Japanese army was immediately discovered by the reconnaissance officers and soldiers of the Chinese troops who had been scouting around the Japanese army's retreat route. The reconnaissance officers and soldiers were shocked by the Japanese army's sudden U-turn and headed straight for Yichang. They thought that the Japanese army's previous retreat was a trap or conspiracy. Therefore, the news that the Japanese army suddenly turned around and returned to Yichang flew into the Sixth War Zone Command like snowflakes.
Commander Chen of the Sixth War Zone was also frightened by the sudden U-turn of the Japanese army. His first reaction was that the retreat of the three divisions of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army from Yichang was deliberately done for the Chinese government to see. In fact, the Japanese army had already set up a huge trap, and the troops of his Sixth War Zone were the ultimate target of the trap set by the Japanese army.
Commander Chen also hurriedly looked at the map carefully several times, but he did not find anything unusual. The marching formation of the Japanese troops did not seem to be a siege operation. Moreover, the previous retreat of the Japanese army was indeed true. The 3rd Division and the 39th Division were almost retreating to the Han River.
Although, after careful analysis, Commander Chen was able to determine with certainty that the Japanese army's U-turn was not a preset trap, and he could not figure out what the Japanese army was doing, but there was one thing Commander Chen was certain of, that is, the Japanese army wanted to retake Yichang.
Therefore, Commander Chen also ordered the 18th Army to hold Yichang and stop the counterattacking Japanese troops outside the city of Yichang.
At this time, the officers and soldiers of the 199th Division had not even completely entered the city of Yichang. After receiving the telegram from the commander of the 18th Army, Song Ruike, the commander of the 199th Division, was stunned. His troops had not even had time to build any defensive fortifications, so how could the Japanese army fight back again?
The Japanese army was retreating, so why did they suddenly turn around and attack Yichang? This is really hard to understand.
However, the commander of the 199th Division, Song Ruike, understood that the theater command would not joke with him about such a thing, so he quickly ordered the troops that had not yet entered the city to do so, and the troops already in Yichang to build fortifications as soon as possible to prepare for defense against the upcoming attack by the Japanese army.
The various troops of the Sixth War Zone around Yichang had previously prepared to pursue the retreating Japanese troops in accordance with orders. Now, after suddenly receiving the news that the Japanese army had turned around and counterattacked, they hurriedly ordered the troops to change their combat formations and prepare to defend against the upcoming counterattack by the Japanese army.
However, the Japanese 13th Division advanced very quickly. Just two hours later, an attack battalion of the 13th Division responsible for the vanguard mission appeared outside the city of Yichang.
The city of Yichang was once again filled with deafening gunfire and explosions, and a new round of battle for Yichang officially began.
The officers and soldiers of the 199th Division were unable to build any decent defensive fortifications in just over an hour until the Japanese attacking forces began their attack. Faced with the Japanese attack, the officers and soldiers could only engage in fierce battles with the attacking Japanese troops without any defensive fortifications.
(Thanks to Qiu Yun who likes Stork, Wuwangcyy, the crisscrossing Peng family, and eating dumplings without vinegar for their gifts! Thank you all for your support and encouragement!)