Chapter 20 Chapter 19 Where can I fight?

At the end of August 1939, when Neiji Okamura's 11th Army and the Chinese Ninth Theater Army were about to start a fight in Hunan, neither side thought of an event that would have a major impact on the history of China and the world Suddenly broke out. After the Battle of Wuhan, Hunan became the frontier of the confrontation between China's Ninth Theater and the Japanese Eleventh Army.According to the jurisdiction delineated by the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government, the combat area of ​​the Ninth Theater is mainly in Hunan and western Jiangxi south of the Yangtze River. The mission is to defend Hunan and Jiangxi, with the focus on the defense of Changsha.To the north of the ninth war zone is the fifth war zone, bounded by the Yangtze River; to the east is the third war zone, bounded by the Ganjiang River and the west bank of Poyang Lake.In August 1939, the commander-in-chief of the Ninth War Zone was Chen Cheng, the acting commander-in-chief was Xue Yue, the commander-in-chief of the former enemy was Luo Zhuoying, and the chief of staff was Wu Yizhi.

The Ninth Theater was the theater where the Chinese army deployed the most powerful troops after the War of Resistance entered the stage of strategic stalemate. Although there was no air force and the navy only had a small number of mine-laying teams, there were more than 40 army divisions and guerrilla forces. The total force is more than 400,000. The main forces of the Ninth Theater are: The First Group Army was stationed in the southwest of Fengxin, Jiangxi, with Lu Han as the commander-in-chief and Gao Yinhuai as the acting commander-in-chief.Command Sun Du's 58th Army (Dian Army, governing Liu Zhengfu's new 10th Division and Lu Daoyuan's new 11th Division); An Enpu's 60th Army (Dian Army, governing Yang Hongguang the 183rd Division under Wan Baobang and the 184th Division under Wan Baobang; second division).

The Fifteenth Group Army, stationed in Changsha, Hunan, commander-in-chief Xue Yue, acting commander-in-chief Guan Linzheng.Commanded Chen Pei's 37th Army (Xiang Army, governing Liang Zhongjiang's 60th Division, Luo Qi's 95th Division and Li Tang's 140th Division); Zhang Yaoming's 52nd Army (Central Army , Jurisdiction over Zhao Gongwu's Second Division, Zhang Hanchu's Twenty-fifth Division and Qin Yizhi's 195th Division); Li Xianzhou's Ninety-Second Army (Central Army, under the jurisdiction of Hou Jingru's 21st Division, Luo Qijiang's Eighth Division) 12th Division and Liang Hanming's 92nd Division).

The Nineteenth Group Army was stationed in the east of Liuyang, Hunan, with the commander-in-chief Luo Zhuoying.Commanded Peng Shan's 18th Army (Central Army, governing Ye Peigao's 11th Division and Sheng Fengyao's new 23rd Division); Song Kentang's 32nd Army (Jin Army, governing Li Zhaoying's 1st Division) 139th Division, Tang Yongliang's 141st Division and Fu Liping's 142nd Division); Liu Duoquan's 49th Army (Northeast Army, Wang Tiehan's 105th Division and Zhang Yanchuan's Reserve 1st Division) Ninth Division); Li Jue's 70th Army (Hunan Army, governing Tang Boyin's 19th Division and Duan Heng's 107th Division); Wang Yaowu's 74th Army (Central Army, governing Li Tianxia's 50th Division) First Division, Shi Zhongcheng's 57th Division and Feng Shengfa's 58th Division); Xia Chuzhong's 79th Army (the Central Army, which governed Wang Lingyun's 76th Division, Wang Jiaben's 98th Division and Wang Yan The 118th Division).

The twenty-seventh group army, stationed in the southeast of Chongyang, Hubei, commander-in-chief Yang Sen.Command the 20th Army (Sichuan Army, Yang Hanyu's 133rd Division and Yang Qiancai's 134th Division) under Yang Sen's concurrent command. The 30th Group Army was stationed in the area north of Wuning, Jiangxi, and the commander-in-chief Wang Lingji.Commanded the 72nd Army (Sichuan Army, under the jurisdiction of Fan Nanxuan's new 14th Division and Deng Guozhang's new 15th Division) with Wang Lingji as the commander; Xia Shouxun's 78th Army (Sichuan Army, under Liu Ruobi's new Thirteenth Division and Wu Shouquan's new Sixteenth Division).

Fan Songfu, the commander-in-chief of the guerrilla forces in the Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi regions.Command Li Yutang's Eighth Army (Central Army, governing Zhao Xitian's Third Division and Ding Bingquan's 197th Division); Peng Weiren's Seventy-third Army (Hunan Army, governing Wang Zhibin's Fifteenth Division and Liu Jiming's Seventh Division) Seventeenth Division). Changsha Garrison Force, Commander-in-Chief Ou Zhen.Commanded the Fourth Army (a mixed formation of the Central Army, Guangdong Army and Guizhou Army with Ou Zhen concurrently as the commander, and governed Zhang Deneng's 59th Division, Chen Rongji's 90th Division and Liang Huasheng's 190th Division).

The 11th Army of the Japanese Army, which confronted the Ninth War Zone of China, used the Sixth Division of Shiro Inaba, the Thirty-third Division of Shigetaro Kanai, the 106th Division of Ryotaro Nakai, and the Saito Yaheita's 101st Division Infantry 102nd Brigade (Saeda Detachment), Fujita Susumu's 3rd Division Infantry 5th Brigade (Umura Detachment), and Tanaka Shizuichi's Tenth Division Infantry 1st Brigade Twenty-six Brigade (Nara Detachment).The attached aviation unit is the No. 1 Flying Regiment of Michida Sugawara.The Navy has the Thirteenth Gunboat Squadron, the Eleventh Marine Corps and other units.The total force is more than 100,000.

Since the end of August, China’s Ninth War Zone has noticed that the Japanese troops are acting abnormally in front of them: the railway transportation is frequent, the traffic near the station is cut off, and the Chinese are not allowed to approach; the number of battlefield communication units on the radio has increased sharply; ——According to past experience, these are the precursors of the Japanese attack. The Ninth War Zone judged correctly. Neiji Okamura is planning a new offensive. The Japanese headquarters always believed that in the Chinese army fighting with the Japanese army, the Central Army, mainly the troops of Chiang Kai-shek's direct line, was very important, especially those troops with the backbone of the Whampoa line as the generals, all of which were the backbone of the battle.Then, if these troops can be severely damaged or even wiped out one by one, the frontal battlefield of China's war of resistance will be completely disintegrated.For this reason, in the assault operations to the central part of Hubei, the Japanese army's primary attack target was Tang Enbo's 31st Army. Although the 31st Army had not been completely wiped out, the Japanese base camp believed that it was basically completed after a large amount of damage was done. scheduled task.Next, Okamura Ningji set his sights on Guan Linzheng's Fifteenth Army, which was confronting the Japanese across the Xinqiang River south of Yueyang.

Guan Linzheng was born in Huxian County, Shaanxi Province in 1905. He was admitted to the Whampoa Military Academy in 1924 and was a student in the first phase of Whampoa.After the Anti-Japanese War broke out in an all-round way in 1937, he led his troops to Pinghan Road, Taierzhuang, Xuzhou, and Wuhan battlefields, and served as the commander of the 52nd Army, the commander of the 32nd Army Corps, and the commander-in-chief of the 15th Army Group.Its troops were once the main force in Tang Enbo's army.In the Chinese Army at that time, famous generals Du Yuming, Zheng Dongguo, Tan Yizhi, and Zhang Yaoming were all his subordinates.

At the end of 1938, the "Army Combat Guidance Outline" formulated by Japan stipulated: "Establish a powerful combat army in the Wuhan area to suppress the main force of the enemy forces on Dongting Lake and the Yangtze River, and counterattack the concentrated enemy in time to defeat them. The intention of the war of resistance, but we should strive to avoid expanding the situation of the war.” Therefore, Neiji Okamura’s “Eleventh Army is the only pure field army deployed around the main force of the Chongqing Army, and undertakes the combat task of destroying the main force of the Chinese army.”

Neiji Okamura was proud of being in such an important position on the battlefield. He believed: "The main force of the Central Direct Army in the Ninth War Zone alone has about 50 divisions. This part of the army has gradually become tenacious and active in conjunction with the so-called summer offensive. The Eleventh Army decided to take advantage of the momentum of speeding up the establishment of a central government in central China, and wiped out the enemy's Ninth Theater Army in the northern Jiangxi and Hunan border areas in late September, frustrating the enemy's attempt to resist the war." In addition, the reason why Okamura Ningji was in northern Hunan The offensive was launched because this is the granary rich in rice in China, which continuously provided food and soldiers for the national government.Occupying this area can not only destroy the wartime economy of the Nationalist government, but also alleviate the increasing difficulties of the Japanese army in supply. On August 15, 1939, the Eleventh Army of the Japanese Army issued an operational guidance outline: Combat purpose The purpose of the army's operations is to defeat the main force of the enemy's central direct army along the Guangdong-Han line in the ninth theater, take advantage of the decline of Jiang's army to further dampen its will to continue fighting, and at the same time strengthen and ensure the stability in the army's combat area. Guidelines 1. The main force of the army (approximately two divisions as the backbone) prepared in concealment, and began to move around late September to wipe out the enemy troops on the Cantonese-Han side by the Mishui River.During this period, about one division should be used to respond to the main force of the army. After the enemies near Gao'an were wiped out in advance, they turned to the upper reaches of the Xiushui River to capture the enemy forces in that area. 2. When implementing this operation, surprise attacks are the main purpose, try to end the battle in a short period of time, and then roughly restore the original situation. combat readiness essentials 1. All information needed by the army to formulate battle guidance strategies must be searched and sorted out one by one before the end of August and a half before the first ten days of September. 2. The battle guidance strategy should be drawn up before the end of August, and the agreement with the navy should be drawn up before the end of August. 3. Outline of Forces Used In terms of the main force of the army: the main force of the Sixth Division, the main force of the detachments of the 33rd Division, the 3rd and 13th Divisions, and the main forces of the army.For this reason, the 34th Division was transferred as soon as possible to serve as the Wuhan Guard, and the original Wuhan Guard was returned to the 33rd Division.In terms of Gao'an Xiushui: the main force of the 106th Division, a part of the 101st Division, and a part of the army's direct troops. 4. Time for the completion of concentration: before mid-September for the Fengxin side, and for the main force of the army before the end of mid-September. 5. Combat forces should be reorganized into pack horse troops and equipped with light weapons as much as possible. 6. In order to respond to the army's operations, the propaganda and strategic work should mainly be directed in the direction of Yichang and Fujian, and must be started immediately. In late August, the army made secret preparations in the confusion propaganda with the content of capturing Yichang.After mid-September, start a surprise attack with one unit (106th Division) from the Fengxin side and the main force from the Guangdong-Han line, quickly and maneuverably capture and wipe out the main force of the enemy's Ninth Theater in the northern part of the Jiangxi-Hunan border In the mountains. This operational guidance outline is accompanied by a note by Neiji Okamura. Note 1: Although the battles are repeated, it is also called adapting to the situation.Only with adequate research and preparation can we be sure.1. In view of the actual situation of our army, ending the war situation as soon as possible is the only and most important action; 2. The most important thing is to use it as a means to ensure the stability of the current preparation area; Theater (a total of 54 divisions, including 16 divisions in the middle, 15 divisions in the middle, and 23 other divisions). Note 2: Secret: 1. The enemy judged that the next target of our army's operations was Changsha and Yichang, so the precautions and spying on this were extremely strict; 2. The enemy has fled quickly recently, so it is extremely important to keep the tactics and preparations secret 3. The general enemy situation means that from a confrontation to an offensive, one must break through the enemy's front line in the shortest possible time and enter the predetermined target. At this point, the front line corps must pay special attention to organization, equipment, and tactics; 4. , In order to restore the original situation in the future, it is expected that there may be unfavorable situations. In order to eliminate this harm, it is necessary to formulate plans and measures in terms of propaganda and strategy, just like the battle in Xiangdong. It can be seen from the above military documents: 1. Whether it is the Japanese base camp or Okamura Ningji, the purpose of launching another offensive operation is not to expand the occupied area, and they do not even have the intention to capture Changsha; 2. Their basic tactics are to force Break into the defense line of the Chinese army, capture the Chinese army, especially the direct troops of the Central Army, quickly encircle and annihilate them, and then return to the original starting point; 3. The Chinese army is characterized by leaving the battlefield very quickly, so if it breaks in, it fails to capture the Chinese army. The main force of the army is equal to the failure of the battle; 4. Just like the battle of Suizao, when retreating, they will be surrounded and chased by the Chinese army. If a plan is not made in advance to return to the starting point, the troops will suffer certain losses. Dash in and fight, then quickly retreat back. After the Battle of Wuhan, the Japanese had to fight like this. This is the case during the Suizao battle. But this time in Hunan, facing Xue Yue's troops, Okamura Ningji knew that he had to be extra cautious. The area where the Japanese army is about to attack is located at the junction of Jiangxi, Hubei and Hunan provinces between Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake in the south of the Yangtze River. The battlefield is about 300 kilometers from east to west and about 250 kilometers from north to south. Changsha is less than 200 kilometers away in a straight line.Between Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake, from Tongshan in the north to Pingxiang in the south, is a north-south mountain, the highest peak of which is 1,700 meters high, and the terrain is steep, making it difficult for large troops to deploy.The lakeside areas of the two lakes and the lower reaches of the Xiangjiang River and the Ganjiang River are mostly flat alluvial plains, except for the hills in the transition zone to the mountains, where the Guangdong-Han Railway winds.From a military point of view, if the Japanese army attacked from north to south, due to the barriers of the mountains and the two lakes, they could only go south along the Guangdong-Han Railway and the lakeside areas of the two lakes, and the terrain was narrow.More importantly, after the Battle of Wuhan, in order to prevent the Japanese army from going south, the Chinese soldiers and civilians in this area destroyed all the roads from north to south, including small roads in the countryside; the rice fields without roads were filled with water, There are dense mines; strongholds have been set up at important passes, not to mention the mechanized troops of the Japanese army, even infantry going south on foot will find it quite difficult, not to mention that this area is where the main force of the Chinese army is intensively deployed. "From the perspective of the terrain and the construction of the enemy's positions, except for some areas on the banks of Dongting Lake in the west, our army has to attack the enemy's position based on the mountains." Neiji Okamura analyzed, "This is just like the Russo-Japanese War. The situation of the First Army crossing the Yalu River and attacking the mountains. The only clever strategy is to use a powerful force to use waterways (Yangtze River, Dongting Lake, and Xiangjiang River) to attack the enemy's positions along the Yuehan Road (the key point of enemy defense) and land behind them. The Uemura Detachment (drawn from the Third Division) undertook this major task.” Neiji Okamura’s specific idea was: First, the 106th Division launched an attack from the north of Jiangxi to contain Luo Zhuoying’s 19th Army Group And the camera was wiped out, and then the main force turned to the north of Hunan; the Sixth Division was responsible for breaking through the positions of the Chinese defenders on the Xinqiang River in the north of Hunan, and then moved south to the highlands south of the Miluo River; the Nara Detachment of the Thirteenth Division (infantry Major General Akira Nara, head of the 26th brigade, detoured from right to left in the direction of Pingjiang in northern Hunan. After the Uemura Detachment of the 3rd Division (the leader of the 5th Infantry Brigade Uemura Gannan) sneaked across Dongting Lake, they joined forces to insert Behind Guan Linzheng's Fifteenth Army, cut off its retreat route and completely annihilate it; at the same time, the 33rd Division launched an attack from southern Hubei to Tongcheng, cut off the connection between China's Ninth Theater and northern Jiangxi and southern Hubei, and then fully assisted northern Hunan battle. ——This is actually a common tactic of breaking through the center and detours on both sides. At that time, the position and deployment of the troops in China's Ninth Theater were: Luo Zhuoying's 19th Army and Gao Yinhuai's 1st Army were in the northwest of Jiangxi, responsible for defending the west of the Ganjiang River and along the Jinjiang Gao'an Line; Wang Yaowu's 70th Army The Fourth Army was in the north of Jiangxi, and was placed as a mobile force in the Shanggao, Wanzai, and Fenyi areas south of the Jinjiang River; Wang Lingji's 30th Army was in the northwest of Jiangxi, and was responsible for defending the Wuning line north of Xiushui; Yang Sen's Second Army The Seventeenth Group Army was in southern Hubei, responsible for defending Zhajin, Xianning, Chongyang, and Puqi; Guan Linzheng's Fifteenth Army was in northern Hunan, responsible for defending Xinqianghe, Yingtian, Liuyang and other places; Ou Zhen's Fourth Army Li Jue's 70th Army was controlled in Changsha and Hengyang; Xue Yue's new Sixth Army and Gao Yinhuai's new Third Army were controlled in Zhuzhou, Liling and Xiangtan; Peng Shan's Tenth Army The first division is controlled in Yuelu Mountain, Hunan Province as a theater reserve team. The combat principles formulated by China's Ninth Theater are: resist steadily, lure the enemy deep, maintain the outer line, and retreat for a decisive battle.That is to use the existing positions, especially the three rivers of Xinqiang River, Miluo River and Laodao River that lie across the Japanese attack route from north to south, gradually resist, consume the enemy, keep the main force on the outer line, and wait for the Japanese army to advance After reaching the area controlled by our army, we will attack with all our strength, pinch left and right, surround and annihilate the Japanese army.The location of the final decisive battle will be determined according to the main attack direction of the Japanese army: if the Japanese army mainly attacks northern Hunan, the decisive battle area is scheduled to be in the lower reaches of the Laodao River north of Changsha; if the Japanese army mainly attacks northern Hunan and simultaneously attacks in northern Jiangxi, the decisive battle area is scheduled to be in Hunan Shanggao, Tonggu at the junction of Jiangxi, and near Changsha, Hunan; if the Japanese army attacks the direction of Changde west of Dongting Lake from southern Hubei, it will be a decisive battle with the Japanese army in Changde. What is to resist step by step, lure the enemy to go deep, keep the outside line, and retreat for a decisive battle? The generals and staff officers of China's Ninth Theater have their own set of theories.They are not unfamiliar with the tactics that Japanese commanders are good at. Before the ninth period, the Chinese Army University hired Japanese instructors.Although there are many tactical principles of the Japanese army, the general spirit is "Attack first, encirclement first", that is, while carrying out a strong frontal assault, the two wings implement a quick roundabout outflank in order to wipe out the opponent.The Japanese army often implemented this tactic fiercely and swiftly. In the Battle of Yingkou and the Battle of Liaoyang in the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese army put the Russian army in their pockets through rapid flank insertion.Therefore, the generals and staff officers of the Ninth War Zone believed that the main force should be kept on the outside of the Japanese encirclement forces, and the flanks of the Japanese encirclement circle should be continuously and violently attacked, so that the Japanese army's encirclement circle would be fragmented; , Take a step back for a while, and lure the Japanese army to the scheduled decisive battle. When they are exhausted and lack of food and grass, the main force on the outer line suddenly joins in a centripetal assault, cuts off the Japanese army's retreat, and annihilates them with anti-encirclement tactics. In this regard, Xue Yue, the acting commander-in-chief of the Ninth War Zone, is full of ambition: "To completely destroy the roads, railways, and post roads in the battlefield, so that the enemy's mechanized troops cannot be used; No food is useless. Thoughtful preparations in peacetime will naturally provide sufficient resources in wartime. And during the whole battle, do not stay on the ground, do not use the plan to the death, completely concentrate and use the troops, take absolute advantage, use the anti-encirclement to break the enemy's encirclement, and start tactically. A new era in the art of decoy and annihilation." Neiji Okamura expected his offensive to "destroy the main force of the Chinese army," while Xue Yue expected to "open a new era of tactics to lure and annihilate the enemy." The headquarters of both sides issued combat orders on the same day. Luo Zhuoying, the former enemy commander-in-chief of China's Ninth Theater, issued an order to deal with the possibility that the Japanese army might first launch an offensive from northern Jiangxi. 1. Policy In order to achieve the goal of a protracted war of attrition, we first rely on the south bank of the Jinhe River and the current line of positions west of Fengxin, and try our best to consume the enemy. In the area east of the Feng Line, the line resisted one after another, and the camera resolutely took offensive. 2. Guidelines A. The first line is the city branch (not included) - Songhu Street - Wantou Street - Chachelong - Zhupo Datan (or Mifeng) - Duomen Mountain - Guxian Street - Chuanxia Chau Ting outline line. B. The second line is the camphor tree (not included) Jinglouwei-Taiyangwei-Shitou Street-Guanqiao Street-Tangpu rough line. C. The third line is Xingan (not included) - Dongxiang Mountain - Luofang Street - Jigongling - Yingzuinao - Shuikouwei - Shihong Bridge - Guanqiao Street - Tangpu General Line. 3. The main points of combat guidance on each front are as left A. The first line is the line of the currently occupied position. I should try my best to consume the enemy on this line.But before the training is over, if the enemy attacks us, the principle is to use the existing front-line troops to attack the enemy; when the training is nearing the end, the enemy starts to attack, and when our training troops can participate in the front-line operations, we should follow the principle The headquarters planned the combat plan near Gao'an in late May to guide the operations. B. The second line is the middle line, and the principle is still that the first-line troops should move into this line and take charge of operations. C. The third line is the line of the final position. On this line, taking advantage of the increase in training troops, a resolute offensive should be launched, and this line should be secured for a long time.To take the offensive on this line, the focus is scheduled to be maintained in the Xinyu and Shanggao areas, and the enemy will be crushed in the triangle between the Ganjiang River and the Jinjiang River.During this period, it is hoped that the number of training units to be used should be more than three divisions.In addition, Xinqia (not included) should be selected behind this line - Guanyin Mountain - Baizhang Peak - Yulin Mountain - Taihewei - Gonghewei - Yingzuinao - Dongkounao - Tongdengnao ——Nanmen Mountain—the preparatory position of Luopingtou, and try to build it. 4. Under the current situation, if there is an opportunity to take advantage of it (if it is found that the enemy has transferred the main force to turn in his direction, or if we are in a favorable situation on other battlefields, and it is confirmed that the transferred offensive can be successful, etc.), we should leave the position and resolutely switch to the offensive. During this period The combat guidance should focus on cutting off the enemy's highway and railway traffic south of the Xiuhe River with the main force, blocking the enemy's retreat route, and hoping to gather and annihilate the enemy. On the same day, the Eleventh Army of the Japanese Army issued "Lu Ji Zuo Ming Jia No. 434": In order to break the enemy's will to continue the war of resistance, the corps decided to start a surprise attack after mid-September, in order to capture the main force of the enemy's ninth theater in the shortest possible time and annihilate them in the areas around Pingjiang and Xiushui in northern Hunan and Jiangxi. Then, the Japanese Eleventh Army issued a combat preparation order: 1. The Shangcun Detachment went back to the river by boat from Hankou, and assembled near Linxiang and Chenglingji on September 6, with the purpose of cutting off the enemy's back, and prepared and trained for landing near Yingtian.In addition, on September 12 and 17, in coordination with the navy, the first unit carried out a feint attack on Jianli (45 kilometers west of the true north of Yuezhou) in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. 2. Before September 18th, the Sixth Division gathered most of its forces near Xinkaitang, preparing for a surprise attack on the enemy's position on the south bank of the Xinqiang River. 3. The Nara detachment gathered in the area south of Taolin on September 17, preparing for a surprise attack on the enemy's position south of the Shagang River. 4. The 33rd Division assembled near Tongcheng on September 19, preparing for a surprise attack on the enemy positions southeast of Tongcheng. 5. On September 13th (from June 6th, Lieutenant General Ryotaro Nakai served as division commander) the 106th Division assembled its troops near Fengxin and Qianzhou, and prepared to surprise attack the enemy's positions in front of them. When China and Japan issued combat orders, no one thought that major events that would affect China and Japan had already occurred in this world. On September 1, 1939, German troops invaded Poland. The day before — on the night of August 31st, a group of German SS members disguised as Polish officers and soldiers stormed into the radio building in the small German town of Gleiwitz near the Polish border, and fired several shots in front of the radio. Then the Germans announced in Polish: "The time has come for Poland and Germany to go to war." Then, Hitler made a radio speech to the world, saying that Germany had been invaded by Poland, and Germany decided to "respond bombs with bombs."At 4:40 am on September 1st, the German army dispatched 1.5 million troops, 2,500 tanks, and 2,000 combat aircraft to attack Poland from two directions: from Silesia in Germany to Poland. The South Army Group attacking in the direction of Warsaw was commanded by Admiral Rundstedt. The troops included the Fourteenth, Tenth, and Eighth Army Groups, a total of 33 divisions, including four tank divisions, four light armor divisions and Two motorized divisions, the task is to defeat the Polish army on the German-Polish border, enter the Vistula River, and destroy the main force in western Poland; the Northern Army Group attacking from Pomerania and East Prussia towards Warsaw, composed of Commanded by Admiral Blog, the troops include the third and fourth armies, a total of 21 divisions, including two tank divisions and two motorized divisions. The task is to cooperate with the southern army group to eliminate the wave army.The task of the Luftwaffe was to attack Poland's symbolic centers and railway junctions, to prevent the Polish army from mobilizing for war and to suppress the Polish army's military resistance.At the same time, the German Navy blocked the Polish naval base to ensure the safety of sea traffic and prevent possible intervention by other countries. The German army adopted the famous "blitzkrieg" tactic, that is, placing the absolutely superior tank troops and motorized troops on the front line of the assault, and assaulted in depth with lightning speed and overwhelming strength of all face-to-face obstacles - in the vast Poland On the plain, the Polish cavalry charged the German tank group, but the battle soon turned into a crazy killing of the Polish cavalry by the German army. Its daybreak. At eleven o'clock, England declared war on Germany. At seventeen, France declared war on Germany. Then, India, Australia and New Zealand also declared a state of war with Germany. On September 1, 1939, World War II broke out in Europe. "Hitler wanted everyone to understand that sooner or later a conflict with the West would occur if Germany wanted to seize the necessary living space. According to him, any other path would mean the destruction of the country. If it renounced the use of force against the outside world, it would have to be Restricting the birth rate. This is the greatest cowardice. He did not build the armed forces for the sake of keeping soldiers unused." Hitler's theory of "living space" is strikingly similar to the expansion theory of Japanese militarists. Germany was a defeated country in World War I.On June 28, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles, which marked the end of World War I, was signed in Paris. severely punish and weaken Germany.It carves up Germany's overseas colonies and part of its territory; requires Germany to pay huge war reparations and pays in gold; strictly restricts Germany's armaments so that it no longer has the ability to implement large-scale military operations, such as prohibiting Germany from implementing compulsory military service, prohibiting Germany has offensive weapons such as tanks and artillery, prohibits Germany from manufacturing heavy machine guns, organizes the air force, and so on.Finally, it called for the public execution of Kaiser Wilhelm II. ——Just as the victorious countries restricted Japan at the end of World War II, European politicians hope that the "Versailles Peace Treaty" will prevent Germany from making a comeback. After the "Versailles Peace Treaty" was signed, because of its extremely severe punishment to Germany, it was ridiculed by American politicians: This is not the end of the war, it is simply the beginning of another war. And Hitler not only wanted Germany to make a comeback, but also let Germany dominate Europe and the world. In the year when the "Treaty of Versailles" was signed, Hitler, as a senior soldier, was first wounded by a shell in the tragic World War I and then temporarily blinded by mustard gas attacks. Under the most humiliating treaty.At this time, a Munich locomotive named Anton Drexler and a journalist named Karl Haller established the "German Workers Party" - the predecessor of the German Nazi Party, and the unknown Hitler joined the party. And soon became the main leader of the party because of his special agitation and incitement.The party program he formulated openly declared that the Germanic blood was supreme and all other nationalities were inferior races.Just as the Japanese militarists declared that the world should be a "big Japanese empire", Hitler declared that only the Germanic race should be the master of the world, and had the right to use any means to seize the "living space" of the Germans.Hitler used the racist theory of "German supremacy" to confuse the German people, paying special attention to winning over the middle class, the monopoly capitalist class and the financial oligarchy.At that time, almost all famous monopoly capitalists in the world, including Ford, Morgan, and Rockefeller in the United States, Deterding, the Anglo-Dutch oil magnate, and Crezzo, a large French arms dealer, were Hitler's patrons.Hitler quickly ascended to the throne of Chancellor of Germany, and later became the Supreme Head of State with absolute power in Germany. Like the Japanese militarists who inherited Japan's "Shinto" and "samurai" traditions, Hitler also believed that the "virtue" of the early German samurai laid the foundation of his thinking.He believed that God had chosen the Germans, "the darlings of nature, the bravest and most industrious" to be the only masters on earth.Therefore, the Germanic race must be given a large enough space to ensure its survival and development.In order to achieve this goal, Germany has no other way out but to establish a strong military force, and then go to conquer the world, let the pure Germans become noble lords all over the world, and all other races will either become slaves of the Germans, or Just disappear completely from the earth.However, Hitler's dream of "German supremacy" was hindered by the "Versailles Peace Treaty".In order to abolish the restrictions stipulated in the "Versailles Peace Treaty", Germany withdrew from the Geneva Disarmament Conference and the League of Nations successively. Hitler began to expand his army, air force and navy under the guise of "Germany is under military threat".In 1934, when European countries discovered that Germany's military expenditure had far exceeded the limits set by the Treaty of Versailles, Hitler's answer was almost rascal: the Treaty of Versailles limited Germany's armaments, but did not limit Germany's military spending.In 1935, Hitler completely tore up the terms of the "Versailles Peace Treaty" that limited the German army to no more than 100,000 people, and established an army of 500,000 people; The tonnage of German submarines reached 420,000 tons. It should be said that the Western powers adopted an extremely selfish policy of appeasement towards the ambitious Germany, just as they did to the equally ambitious Japan.All the big powers only weighed their own pros and cons, and even tried to reach some kind of agreement with Hitler in private in exchange for political or economic security. What they did was almost conniving at the spread of German fascism.No matter in Europe or Asia, only when their own interests and even their own survival are threatened fatally, do the great powers realize that appeasement is nourishing the legacy, but it is often too late. ——In 1936, Germany completely got rid of the restrictions of the "Versailles Peace Treaty". Its army reached 800,000 troops in fourteen group armies, 1,500 tanks, 4,500 military aircraft, and owned a A navy with an astonishing tonnage of ships.Hitler decided to invade Austria and Czechoslovakia with arms.On March 12, 1938, as German armored units rumbled across the German-Austrian border, the Austrian government capitulated without resistance.At this time, the British Prime Minister was entertaining the German ambassador to Britain Ribbentrop at his official residence at No. 10 Downing Street in London.And the French acted as if this hadn't happened in the world.Then, Britain, France, Germany, and Italy signed the "Munich Agreement." In order to avoid enmity with Germany, Britain and France jointly betrayed Czechoslovakia, causing Hitler to occupy the entire territory of Czechoslovakia without bloodshed. ——The whole world is silent, just like when the Japanese army invaded China. Hitler became more reckless. He began to publicly attack the "evil" of the "Versailles Peace Treaty", saying that it had brought boundless suffering to Germany, and at the same time declared that the "Poly-German Nonaggression Pact" had expired. ——Germany is going to attack Poland. The excuse is that Poland must hand over the Danzig area to Germany, allowing Germany to pass through the Polish corridor and build roads and railways to East Prussia.Poland was in danger, which made the Soviets bordering Poland very anxious.Stalin advocated the convening of an international conference to establish a united anti-fascist front to check Germany's appalling military expansion.The Soviet Union held negotiations with Britain, France and other countries for more than four months without any results.Therefore, the Soviet Union made an astonishing move: it signed the "Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact" with Germany alone.The consideration of the Soviets is that they must buy time to prepare for a possible military attack by Hitler.Hitler's consideration was to avoid a premature conflict with the Soviet Union and plunge the German army into a two-front battle. After the signing of the "Soviet-German Nonaggression Pact", the German army marched into Poland without any scruples, and its armored troops reached the city of Warsaw.At this time, the Soviet Union made another move that stunned the whole world: since Germany occupied Poland and Poland no longer existed as a country, the "Soviet-Polish Nonaggression Pact" signed by the Soviet Union and Poland also lost its meaning.On September 17, the Belarusian Front led by Kovalev and the Ukrainian Front led by Timoshenko, a total of 40 divisions from seven armies, rushed into Poland with the support of eight aviation groups. —The German and Soviet armies met on Polish soil.The two armies agreed that in order to prevent conflict, the two sides would stop military operations at the same time with a distance of 25 kilometers.Then, Germany and the Soviet Union divided up Poland like robbers. The dividing line of interests between the two countries on Polish territory was named after the foreign ministers of the two countries, namely the Ribbentrop-Molotov line. At this time, the Soviet Union was the only big country supporting China's war of resistance. It had just provided a loan of up to 150 million U.S. dollars to the Nationalist government.This is the third time that the Soviet Union has provided military loans to China for the Chinese army to purchase much-needed weapons, ammunition and other military equipment produced by the Soviet Union.However, the division of spoils between the Soviet Union and Germany in Poland exposed the chauvinistic tendencies of the Soviet Union from another aspect. In this world, there is no "rule of international law" in the absolute sense. Like China, Poland was heavily violated. The internal cause of being violated is its own decline and backwardness. As an ally of Germany, the Japanese were very surprised by Germany's sudden move.On April 1, 1939, at the annual meeting of the chiefs of staff of the various armies, Nakajima Tezozo, the deputy chief of the Japanese Army’s General Staff Headquarters, said when talking about the guidance of future wars and operations: “Although the situation in Europe is changing rapidly recently, it is important to understand from a comprehensive perspective.看，德国真正具备对外进攻实力的时间，估计当在昭和十六年、十七年（一九四一年、一九四二年）前后。另外，英、美完成其国力和军备建设的目标，大概也在昭和十六年前后，其他列强也多追随其后。因此，预料昭和十七年前后将是世界性的大转折时期。”这也就是说，日军大本营预计世界性战争爆发的时间是在一九四一年或一九四二年。但是，德国的行动超出了日本人的预料：“突然爆发的欧洲战争，不久就发展成左右世界形势的决定性因素。我国也好，中国事变也好，都不能不卷入这一漩涡中去。”日本方面对国际形势的转变，特别是在此情况下如何处理对中国的战争，尚没有准备，这令日本方面颇感被动，甚至有些惶惑不安。 更令日本惶惑不安的是，苏联在西线缓解了与德国的危机后，转身在东线开始收拾日本关东军了。 一九三九年五月，在中国东北与外蒙古边界一个名叫诺门坎的地方，日军与苏军发生了一场军事冲突，史称“诺门坎战役”。 一九三一年关东军发动“九一八”事变侵占中国东北地区后，在日本人看来，实力雄厚的苏联远东军始终是其头号假想敌。随着关东军部队兵力逐渐充实到近百万，日本人对苏联的态度开始强硬起来。驻扎海拉尔的关东军不断在中蒙边界上向苏军挑衅，借以试探苏军和外蒙古的军事实力，双方的摩擦最终演变成“诺门坎事件”。 事件起因还是划界问题。苏方和外蒙古认为，中蒙边界处的哈拉哈河是外蒙古领土之内的河流，因此边界应该划在河的东侧和北侧；而日方则认为哈拉哈河是界河，边界应该划在哈拉哈河的中间——边界划分的分歧所涉及的是一个长约一百二十公里、宽约四十公里的狭长地带。一九三九年五月十一日，冲突遽然爆发：日方说外蒙古边防军在海拉尔正南偏西二百公里处的诺门坎地区越界了，“驻在海拉尔附近第二十三师团派出一部兵力将外蒙军击退”。日军将“满洲国军”留下警备，第二十三师团部队于十七日返回原驻地。——日本人“估计事件不会扩大”。然而，二十三日，外蒙古骑兵第六师开到了边界，苏军坦克第十一旅、摩托化步兵第三十六师等部队也随之开来，两军再次越过哈拉哈河。二十八日，日军第二十三师团派出以第六十四联队为基干的山县支队，在联队长山县武光大佐的指挥下，向外蒙古骑兵第六师发动进攻，外蒙古军队根本无法抵挡，骑兵第六师师长被当场打死。苏军立即组织反击，一千二百名步兵在十二辆坦克的引导下分路包抄日军，外蒙古骑兵也配合苏军发起冲锋，山县武光的部队因伤亡惨重转为守势。 关东军不服。他们认为苏联的注意力在欧洲方向，且斯大林正在国内进行政治大清洗，苏军中许多优秀的将领都被他枪毙了。更何况关东军掌控的铁路线到诺门坎才二百公里，苏军却要横跨八百公里的地域才能到达诺门坎，因此判断苏联不会付出巨大代价来与日本对抗。关东军开始向诺门坎增兵。第二十三师团由师团长小松原道太郎亲率全部兵力出动，关东军战略预备队第七师团也随即出动。该师团是中日甲午战争和日俄战争的双料王牌，被公认为日本陆军中最强悍的部队，其坦克第一师团是日军中唯一一支全员坦克部队，尚未舍得使用过。——关东军决心给苏军点颜色看看，以彻底平定边界危机。 但是，日本人严重低估了苏联人的决心。 朱可夫来了。 白俄罗斯军区司令员朱可夫受苏联国防人民委员会指派，飞到诺门坎前线掌握了苏军的指挥权。除朱可夫之外，苏联统帅部还把空军代理司令鲍尔吉金少将、炮兵司令沃罗诺夫大将、装甲兵司令巴甫洛夫大将也都派到诺门坎前线，其阵势远远超出了应付一场边界冲突的需要。为增加前线兵力，除第五十七军之外，朱可夫又调来三个步兵师、一个坦克旅和大量的炮兵。苏联国防人民委员会给朱可夫派来的飞机，是最新式的伊尔-16型和“鸥”型战机，飞行员中荣获“苏联英雄”称号的竟有二十一名之多。——斯大林决心不打则已，打就把日本人彻底教训了。 六月二十二日，日苏开战。连续几天的空战后，苏军的战机越打越多，日军逐渐丧失制空权。在朱可夫的指挥下，苏军的坦克群冲向日军的坦克师阵地，大规模的坦克战在平坦的草原上上演，在苏军一百多架轰炸机、几百门重炮和庞大的坦克集群的猛烈打击下，装甲单薄的日军坦克无力招架，宝贵的坦克第一师团很快就瘫痪了。七月二十三日，日军也调来了大口径重炮，但因步炮协同出现问题，步兵冲锋时被自己的炮火杀伤不少，而苏军的装甲集群火力猛烈异常，使日军的冲锋如同迎着火力在自杀。八月二十日，朱可夫发动总攻，日军在苏军诸兵种的联合作战中被包围，关东军的失败已成定局。三十日，关东军司令部接到东京大本营“停止攻势”的命令。 败局已定之时，绝望中的日本人又得到一个坏消息：苏联与日本的盟友德国签订了《苏德互不侵犯条约》。——本以为苏联无法于亚洲和欧洲两面作战，现在德国把日本出卖了。之前为了与德国建立军事同盟，日本不惜与德国商谈七十多次，德国却始终不给日本人以明确答复。因此，《苏德互不侵犯条约》的突然签订，令日本政府颜面尽失，平沼骐一郎首相被迫辞职。 九月十五日，日苏双方在莫斯科签订停战协定。 停战的第二天，苏联“开始向波兰越境前进”，诺门坎战场上的坦克和装甲车被陆续西运。 诺门坎一战，目空一切的日本关东军参战约八万人，死伤将近五万人——“如此集中的伤亡是日俄战争后从未有过的。”关东军司令官植田谦吉辞职，前线总指挥小松原道太郎剖腹自杀。从此，日本军方再也不提“北进”战略，而将其战争触角转向了太平洋和东南亚。这一转变，导致日后苏联能够倾举国之力打击法西斯德国，导致日后日本突袭珍珠港而使世界上最大的工业强国美国加入二战盟军阵营。 日本新任首相陆军大将阿部信行于九月四日发表声明：“当此欧洲战争爆发之际，帝国决定不予介入，一心向解决中国事变的方向迈进。”日本人认为，对华战争之所以如此拖延，蒋介石政权之所以还不屈服，就是苏联和美、英、法各国暗中支持的结果。现在欧洲战争爆发了，各列强将无力顾及中国，这或许正是结束战争的时机。因此决定先不介入世界大战，待对华战争解决后，再参与世界范围内的军事竞争。特别是，对中国的全面占领将会使日本更具实力。 同一天，日军大本营决定对侵华日军迸行调整：设立中国派遣军总司令部，撤销华中派遣军司令部，由总司令部统帅在华全部日军——华北方面军、第十一军、第十三军、第二十一军。总司令官由西尾寿造大将担任，总参谋长由板垣征四郎中将担任。侵华日军调整序列的目的只有一个：加强对华日军的统一指挥，使其作战能力得到进一步提高。 无论是暂时置二战于不顾的策略，还是调整在华指挥机构的措施，日本亟待解决的核心问题依旧是：要使中国国民政府投降，必须加大军事打击力度。——只要正面战场上的两百多万中国军队还在与日军对抗，只要敌后战场上共产党领导的近百万抗日游击武装还在顽强作战，期望中国屈服只能是日本人的一厢情愿。 于是，对于日本方面来说，冈村宁次所策动的新攻势，因世界形势的急剧变化，不但显得异常必要和重要，也使东京方面陡然增加了对其战果的期望。 一九三九年九月中日在湖南开始的作战，中国方面称为“第一次长沙会战”，日本方面称为“湘赣作战”。 九月十三日，冈村宁次把军指挥部移到湖北咸宁，准备在那里指挥主力进攻湘北。当日，他飞到江西安义，视察了集结在那里的第一〇六师团。按照战役设想，湘赣作战将从赣北打响。第一〇六师团新任师团长中井良太郎信心十足，他认为自己的部队虽在万家岭作战中尽失元气，但在之后的南昌作战中已基本恢复了士气，更何况在这个方向又加强了从第一〇一师团抽调来的第一〇二旅团（佐枝支队）。同时他也知道，第一〇六师团的作战任务仅仅是助攻，率先发起攻击的目的在于将中国军队第十九集团军牵制在赣北，使之不能西进加入湘北主攻方向上的作战。而且，冈村宁次明确表示，达到牵制目的后，悄悄脱离战场，转向湖北南部。——既然如此，就可以不求歼灭中国军队的主力，只需把中国军队吸引住就算完成了任务。 冈村宁次视察的第二天，中井良太郎行动了。他的计划是：第一〇一师团佐枝支队从奉新东南面的大城镇出动，向西南方向的莲花山和高安发起进攻；第一〇六师团主力则从奉新以西南下，向高安方向发起突击。 高安四周是低矮的丘陵和稻田。中国守军在这里构筑的阻击阵地都是半永久性野战工事，这些工事由一个又一个的据点先连接成线，再连接成面。据点地域内挖有各种武器的掩体，预设的火力网很严密；掩体前设有铁丝网和鹿砦；阵地后方还有大量的掩蔽部可供屯兵和休息。高安中国守军是罗卓英的第十九集团军和高荫槐的第一集团军，共五个军，即第七十四、第三十二、第四十九、第五十八军以及第六十军。具体配置是：由锦江口至高邮（位于锦江北岸，乃高安重要渡口之一）一线是第四十九军；从高安向北至祥符观一线是第五十八军，该军的新编第十师守备第一线，新编第十一师位于高安附近；由祥符观至故县一线是第六十军，该军的第一八四师为右翼，第一八三师为左翼。罗卓英的总预备队，是王耀武的第七十四军，控制高安西南方向的上高附近。 十五日拂晓，第一〇六师团和佐枝支队同时开始行动。罗卓英因南昌作战不利，很想挽回声誉，因此命令部队利用坚固工事顽强阻击。在佐枝支队的攻击方向上，宋肯堂的第三十二军和刘多荃的第四十九军死死地堵在了日军进击高安的路上。在第一〇六师团的攻击方向上，安恩溥的第六十军和孙渡的第五十八军没能顶住日军的突入。第一八四师的阵地被突破后，部队边打边向潦河岸边撤退。第六十军将第一八三师调上来遏制日军的推进，但由于相邻的第五十八军阵地已被日军突破，奉命增援的第一八三师在日军的紧逼下被迫后撤。日军攻占了高邮以及祥符观西北面的杨庄。尽管新编第十师师长刘正富把丢失高邮阵地的营长枪毙了，但依旧无法挽回战局的不利。十六日，在潦河岸边，湘鄂赣游击部队第七十三军第十五师拼命阻击着日军。第一集团军命令第六十军和第五十八军新编第十师向西转移。这时，日军开始迅速南下，大有把第六十军的第一八三、第一八四师吃掉的企图。十八日，第六十军抵达集结地吃午饭的时候，又遭到日军飞机的轰炸，一直等到晚上才从日军的包围圈中冲出来。 然而，罗卓英命令第六十军必须杀回去： 此次作战罗卓英比之南昌战役时神气十足，大打官腔，一定要收复高邮和杨庄失去的阵地，逼得口吃的高荫槐结结巴巴地向他的两个军长孙渡、安恩溥说：“我……们要收复失去的阵地，不……然罗……总司令要惩办我们啦！”于是孙渡督着新十一师师长鲁道源收复高邮。鲁道源亲率所部，猛攻高邮数次，都为日军步炮空联合战斗所拒止。鲁道源在战场上立时杀了一个营长，撤了一个团长（名叫王筱丰），再度猛攻，伤亡很大，终于把高邮收复了。安恩溥使用第一八三师，也把杨庄收复了；第一八四师又派部队增援新编第十师，才稳定了祥符观的阵地。第一八三师的正面战斗甚为激烈，日军猛攻骑马山（在故县东南）达一个多星期才停止。我军付出严重的代价，虽然保住了原阵地，但未能以第七十四军或更多的兵力使用于最必要的方面，以打击日军。这与整个作战计划的精神是不协调的。 中井良太郎的作战目标并非安恩溥的滇军部队，而是高安城。防守高安方向的，是罗卓英的第十九集团军第三十二军等部队。日军第一〇六师团接近高安的时候，薛岳似乎看出了冈村宁次声东击西的伎俩。但高安毕竟是扼制赣北日军横向进入湘北主战场的咽喉，因此薛岳严令罗卓英务必指挥第一、第十九集团军把日军第一〇六师团西进湘北的孔道堵死。第三十二军军长宋肯堂率部与日军在锦河北岸激战数天，王耀武的第七十四军也向高安增援而来。十八日，日军第一〇六师团主力和佐枝支队从东、北两面夹击高安城，佐枝支队突破了第四十九军的阻击，威胁着宋肯堂部的侧背，宋肯堂部于十九日退出高安城，在锦河岸边的高地上炮击进入高安的日军。 至此，日军第一〇六师团于赣北发动的进攻，已经吸引了中国军队多达八个师于高安城下。中井良太郎认为已经达到作战目的，于是留下佐枝支队继续牵制中国军队，自己则率师团主力转向西北，与原驻守赣西北的日军一起，向武宁、修水和三都附近的中国军队第三十集团军扑过去，目的是继续吸引中国军队东援，配合冈村宁次在湘北发动的攻势。 中国军队第七十四军和第三十二军趁日军第一〇六师团转调之机，于十九日收复村前街，二十二日收复高安。 但是，防御修水、武宁地区的第三十集团军王陵基部只有两个军四个师，而且都是新编师，装备很差，战斗力弱。在日军的攻击下，第三十集团军部队一路南撤，一直撤到赣西与湘东交界的铜鼓附近。中井良太郎的这一阵势，令薛岳很是焦虑，他急令罗卓英抽调部队前往增援。罗卓英命令高荫槐派部前往铜鼓，高荫槐的第六十军和第五十八军在高安地区打得很苦，这一次坚决不听罗卓英的指挥，罗卓英只有再派王耀武的第七十四军前去增援。——第七十四军，中央军嫡系部队，不但是中国陆军的王牌部队，更是第九战区的中坚力量，薛岳本想把这支部队放在湘北正面，但罗卓英就是不肯。果然，现在第七十四军派上了用场。 中井良太郎在中国军队的联合攻击下有些力不能支，又留下少量部队与中国军队纠缠，主力则悄悄地退出战场，试图北进与位于湖北南部的第三十三师团会合。 罗卓英指挥中国军队在赣北的作战，尽管没有损失太多兵力，最终也没有丢失军事要点，但还是中了冈村宁次的圈套：多达两个集团军的中国军队，包括实力较强的第七十四军，在这个方向被日军的一个师团加一个旅团牢牢的牵制着。——“高安方向的战斗，在日军方面来讲是一个拉后腿的战斗，拉住罗卓英的后腿，不让他指挥的几个军参加长沙方面的决战。在我军来说，是个目的性不明的拼老命的战斗，牺牲不小，价值不大。” 就在中井良太郎与罗卓英在赣北杀来杀去的时候，在湖南的北部，也就是冈村宁次策划的主攻方向，长沙会战已经打响。 十七日，冈村宁次来到湘北与鄂南交界处的城陵矶，视察了上村支队，然后乘船进入洞庭湖，到达岳阳视察了第六师团。第六师团已经准备完毕，将与第十三师团的第二十六旅团（奈良支队）、第三师团的第五旅团（上村支队）一起，向湘北中国守军的正面实施大规模突击。 在湖南北部，中日两军对峙的正面，隔着一条新墙河。 薛岳命令关麟征率第十五集团军并指挥夏楚中的第七十九军，沿新墙河东起湖北南部的麦市、西至湖南北部洞庭湖东岸的鹿角，在八十公里宽的正面构筑起第一道防线：夏楚中的第七十九军在右翼，该军的三个师和炮兵一团五连以及第十挺进支队守麦市、九登、黄岸一线；张耀明的第五十二军在左翼，该军的三个师加上陈沛第三十七军第六十师、炮兵一团八连和二营以及第十一、第十二挺进支队守杨林街与新墙河一线。 冈村宁次的主攻方向在新墙河中国防线的左翼。 张耀明的第五十二军首当其冲。 十八日，在炮兵和航空兵的支援下，日军开始向新墙河北岸中国守军的前哨阵地发起攻击。张耀明的第五十二军设置了两个前哨阵地，即据守草鞋岭的第二师胡春华营和据守比家山的第一九五师史思华营。两个营孤悬于新墙河北岸，被直接暴露在日军进攻的刀锋下，数百名官兵心知肚明，只要战斗一打响，他们不但是日军的首攻目标，而且所有的人必会九死一生。既然抱定一死的决心，官兵们开始了不顾一切的阻击。日军火炮和战机空前猛烈的轰击和轰炸，将两个营的前哨阵得几乎炸平，所有的野战工事全部坍塌。日军本来以为，中国守军在新墙河北岸设置的两个据点，除了因为兵力单薄很快就会崩溃外，还因为这两个据点仅具象征意义，所以只要炮声一响中国守军定会仓皇逃到新墙河南岸去。 但是，十九日，激战进行了整整一天，两个前哨据点的中国守军还在战斗。 这一天，冈村宁次回到湖北咸宁的指挥部，作为司令官，他觉得应该做的都做了，剩下的只是静等战报了。 这一天，薛岳判明日军的主攻方向是从湘北直冲长沙，于是把位于浏阳的第七十军和位于修水的第七十三军调拨给第一线的第十五集团军，关麟征随即把这两个军指派为他的总预备队。 静候战报的冈村宁次没有想到，从十八日进攻开始直到二十二日，湘北正面的日军不要说渡河，连新墙河边都没能靠近，而阻击他们的只有中国军队的两个营。二十二日这天，苦战后的日军登上草鞋岭，发现据守该阵地的中国守军胡春华营官兵已全部阵亡，日军官兵站在遍布尸体的阵地上一片茫然。而令他们更加茫然的是，此时比家山阵地的中国守军依旧在抵抗。——直到这一天的黄昏，中国营长史思华阵亡后，日军才冲上比家山阵地。 就在湘北的日军为扫清渡河障碍苦战的时候，在湖北南部，日军第三十三师团也开始了进攻。这是湘北正面战场的另一个侧翼，第三十三师团的作战目的与位于赣北的第一〇六师团一样，都是牵制中国军队，配合湘北的正面攻击。在这个方向防御的，是中国军队第二十七集团军第二十军和第十五集团军第七十九军以及湘鄂赣游击部队的第八军。 日军第三十三师团是一个新编师团，一九三九年二月七日才在日本仙台编成，师团长是从日本陆军户山学校调来的校长甘粨重太郎。该师团辖有第三十三步兵旅团（拥有三个步兵联队）以及搜索联队、山炮联队、工兵联队、辎重兵联队各一个，还有一些后勤部队。师团编成后被派往中国战场，编入冈村宁次的第十一军，遇到的第一场战役便是在湖北南部向中国军队发起进攻。 显然，日军新编师团的战斗力不强。二十一日，第三十三师团在湘北与鄂南交界处的通城以南向中国守军发起攻击，受到夏楚中的第七十九军的猛烈抵抗。苦战两天后日军才知道，他们一直在与中国军队的一个团纠缠不休。第三十三师团集中兵力，转向通城东南方向的麦市。麦市是第七十九军的防御主阵地，其第一四〇师在麦市外围与日军展开了艰苦的拉锯战，双方都伤亡惨重。中国军队杨汉域的第二十军加入战斗后，日军受到两面夹击，处境变得艰难起来。为了突破中国军队的阻击，日军使用了毒气弹。但是，每当毒气落在长满茅草的中国守军阵地上时，山上都会燃起熊熊大火，中国官兵利用点燃的山火使空气升腾翻卷将日军施放的毒气冲上高空，而匍匐在地面上的中国官兵中毒者甚少。日军第三十三师团打了数天，仍旧不能突破中国军队的防线，被滞留在麦市附近进退两难。