After the Battle of Zaoyi, Sonobe and Ichiro, commanders of the 11th Army, felt very good about themselves.That battle not only resulted in the death of the commander-in-chief of the opposing army, but also the Japanese army crossed the Xianghe River and occupied Yichang, which was undoubtedly a breakthrough for his predecessor. Today's Eleventh Army can be regarded as the pride of Japan's "China Dispatch Army", and Sonobe is almost the star of the "China Dispatch Army" commander Nishio Hiszo. But this star rises fast and falls fast, and it will soon become a shooting star.

lesson Sonobe was unlucky, but the cause was the "North China Front Army". At that time, the "North China Front Army" planned to attack Zhongtiao Mountain. Due to insufficient troops, it planned to second the 33rd Division of the 11th Army stationed west of Nanchang to North China. Leaving a division is equivalent to missing a corner. The Japanese army in Nanchang will undoubtedly be threatened. What should we do? According to the usual method, it is nothing more than tearing down the east wall to make up for the west wall, and the "Chinese dispatched army" will transfer troops from other places to fill the vacancy, but this time Nishio suddenly thought of a different way of life, and it was Sonobe himself who inspired him .

After the Battle of Zaoyi, Sonobe proposed a tactic called "short-cut assault".To put it simply, it is to attack the defense area of ​​the Chinese army without occupying it, and to control the attack distance and time within a certain range, and go home after the attack. Compared with organizing big battles that are labor-intensive and time-consuming, the short-cut assault seems to be more economical and affordable. Sometimes it only takes three or four days to go out for a long time, so the garden department is very proud of this, and often in their own Blow it in front of your boss.

Since the subordinate said it so vividly, Nishio really thought that this short-cut assault could do anything. Before the 33rd Division leaves, we might as well gather our troops and "cut" the Chinese army west of Nanchang, so that we can close the door and sleep for a while? At this time, Sonobe was at the time of the gods and gods, and thought this plan was very good. Prior to this, Sonobe had already "cut" a circle around, and the effect was really good.There are times when things go wrong, like dealing with Tang Enbo. During the short-cut assault in southern Henan, the latter "cut" him in turn. The Nagoya Third Division alone suffered 3,000 casualties. many people.

How many does Tang Enbo have?Isn't there only one?Sonobe has no worries about this, and besides, the opponent he is about to face is Luo Zhuoying, commander-in-chief of the 19th Army Group, who lost to Neiji Okamura during the Battle of Nanchang. My predecessor's defeated general, but I was serious about it, wouldn't it be ridiculous, so Sonobe only regarded this operation as a small project in his short-cut assault at first, and didn't take it seriously at all. Go to Nanchang to set up a command post in front of the enemy. He doesn't know that failure is not an exclusive item, and he won't follow anyone wholeheartedly, especially those with a clear mind.

Luo Zhuoying has never forgotten the humiliation brought to him by the Battle of Nanchang.This general who likes to write poetry has no pedantic spirit of a literati. Even if he loses a battle, he never complains for himself or finds various excuses other than the battlefield. His famous saying is: the career of a soldier is on the battlefield, and the meritorious deeds of a soldier are also on the battlefield. Get up from wherever you fall. Since you suffered a loss on the battlefield, you have to learn the lesson on the battlefield. The first lesson Luo Zhuoying summed up was that he was careless and did not observe the enemy's situation carefully. As a result, the difference was only nine days, and the initiative became passive.

Therefore, from Jiujiang to Nanchang, Luo Zhuoying sent many intelligence personnel. According to the information sent, the Japanese military trains on the railway came and went frequently.What Luo Zhuoying wanted to know was whether to withdraw troops or increase troops. Some people said it was a withdrawal of troops, based on the fact that there were people and guns exposed from the windows of some trains, and these trains were all heading north, but others said that it might be an increase in troops, because more troops were going south, but the above The windows are closed, so you can't see clearly.

To judge this, you have to use the method of railway guerrillas: lying on the side of the railway at night, with your ears on the rails. As soon as I heard it, the military column going north was very light, but the military column going south was heavy. Understood.The northbound train allows you to see people and guns, which is a deliberate illusion. In fact, there are not many people in it, and it is the southbound train that is loaded with troops and weapons, otherwise the carriage would not be so heavy. After getting the "test report", Luo Zhuoying was ready for a big fight.

opinionated On March 15, 1941, under the command of Sonobu, the Japanese army attacked the Shanggao area west of Nanchang in three routes. It was Li Jue's 70th Army that faced the Japanese army head-on. Although the Hunan Army was brave, it still felt powerless to fight against the regular Japanese divisions on flat ground or hills. In the first two days, Luo Zhuoying happened to be away from Shanggao, and was temporarily commanded by the chief of staff. The latter lacked actual combat experience. After hearing the news that the battle ahead was not going well, he seemed very nervous and his face became livid. He sat in the headquarters Call Xue Yue without hesitation and ask for instructions.

The commander-in-chief of the Ninth War Zone encouraged him, "Don't be afraid, this is an old tactic of the Japanese army. Just make a call and you will go back." Putting down the phone, Xue Yue immediately urged Luo Zhuoying to return to Shanggao for direct command. On March 17, Luo Zhuoying rushed back to Shanggao and convened his staff overnight to discuss. The Chinese commander observes the enemy's situation on the front line It started with high-level staff.Their views were similar to Xue Yue's, and they believed that the Japanese army was only out to mop up, and a decisive battle should be avoided, and they should withdraw from Shanggao first, and then pursue them when they retreated.

This is the tactic that Xue Yue used in the first battle of Changsha, and Li Zongren also used it later. It seems to be true and safe. If it was before the Nanchang battle, maybe Luo Zhuoying agreed with a nod, but since that battle, he has learned the second lesson: as a coach, you must have your own opinions while following advice. . Luo Zhuoying asked a very sharp question, "What if we withdraw from Shanggao and the Japanese army continues to attack?" He said: "The back side of Shanggao is connected to Changsha, and the road has not been damaged. The opponent can go straight to Changsha along the road." When everyone heard the words, they were immediately speechless. For the sake of prudence, Luo Zhuoying decided to expand the level of decision-making, allowing all staff members to participate in the meeting to express their opinions. Most of the staff at the bottom opposed the retreat and advocated a decisive battle with the Japanese army at Shanggao.Most of these young men are full of blood, and they want to do it even in their dreams. Besides, the position is low and the responsibility is light, so they are naturally much more active in fighting. Objectively speaking, the high-level staff's proposition is not without reason.Sonobe's "short-cut assault" dispatched a total of two divisions and one brigade.Among them, although the 33rd and 34th divisions are very well-prepared teacher groups, they are much stronger than the original two "weakest divisions", and they are at least above-average in the newly formed divisions.The independent mixed 20th Brigade is a new and old mixed force drawn from the Hiroshima Fifth Division to lay a foundation and then re-formed. Luo Zhuoying was able to concentrate the troops, in terms of establishment alone, there were three armies. However, due to the serious shortage of soldiers, one army was only barely equal to one division of the Japanese army in terms of numbers. Whether it is based on the previous Japanese conversion method or actual combat experience, even if the troops are full, the Chinese army needs at least two to three armies to deal with a division.The example of the first invasion of Changsha shows that once the Japanese army has fought well, none of the four armies may be able to stop a division, even the 106th Division, which is known as "the weakest division in Japan". Where to go, in the end it depends on how the military chief makes a decision.Luo Zhuoying pondered for a moment, and finally said, "Hit!"