nashuaworldcup Chapter 1931 Recapture of Wuxue County
Chapter 1931 Recapture of Wuxue County
The commander of the Japanese 9th Division began to plan the retreat. However, there were elite troops attacking all four city gates.
Finally, the division commander decided to break out through the Lingjiangting city gate. It faced the Yangtze River, and they had landing craft hidden there. Once they reached the other side of the Yangtze, they could enter Yangxin County.
Soon after, the main force of the Japanese army, having assembled, launched a fierce attack on the New Fourth Army troops at the Lingjiangting city gate.
Commander-in-Chief Li immediately judged that the Japanese army wanted to cross the Yangtze River and return to their stronghold in Yangxin County.
To prevent the Japanese army from becoming desperate and harming the local people in Wuxue County, Commander-in-Chief Li decided to create an opening to allow the Japanese army to escape from Wuxue County, and then deal with them on the river.
After receiving orders, the 40th Regiment of the New Fourth Army ordered its troops to naturally create an opening, allowing the Japanese troops to escape from Wuxue County.
The hot-tempered battalion commander naturally didn't want these Japanese soldiers to escape from Wuxue County.
He went to argue with the regimental commander, whose battalion had suffered over 200 casualties in the attack on Wuxue County. Now, before they could even avenge their defeat, they were being forced to let the Japanese escape; he couldn't understand it.
The regimental commander knew that if he explained the reason to the battalion commander, the battalion commander might act too deliberately, which would easily alert the Japanese. Therefore, he simply replied coldly:
"If you don't follow the order, go home and hold your baby."
The battalion commander was so angry he was speechless, but he had no choice but to carry out the order.
He played a trick while carrying out orders, launching a fierce counterattack against the Japanese troops who were breaking out.
In an attempt to escape, the Japanese launched an even fiercer attack on the counterattack of the New Fourth Army's First Battalion.
After the battalion commander successfully counterattacked, he quickly led his soldiers to retreat.
The Japanese troops quickly escaped from Wuxue County through the breach.
Soldiers from the 40th Regiment of the New Fourth Army were in hot pursuit.
The Japanese army left a detachment to block the New Fourth Army's pursuit, while the main force quickly boarded two landing craft hidden in the reeds and rushed to the other side of the river.
Having already received the news, the First Squadron of the First Army Navy quickly opened fire on the two landing craft that were crossing the river to the other side.
The two landing craft darted left and right, but they couldn't escape the intense bombardment from the naval detachment. They were both sunk in the Yangtze River.
The two landing craft could carry a very limited number of soldiers. The commander of the Japanese 9th Division was quite cunning. He knew that there were naval warships of the "Devil Force" on the Yangtze River. He ordered the vanguard to cross the river first to scout the way, while he led the main force to continue fleeing upstream along the riverbank to find another crossing point.
The division commander's caution saved his life; he witnessed two landing craft being sunk by the devilish naval forces.
The Japanese vanguard soldiers, who thought they were lucky enough to return to Yangxin County ahead of time, all sank into the Yangtze River to feed the fish.
After the commander of the Japanese 9th Division led his troops to flee Wuxue County, few Japanese troops remained in the county, and it was quickly captured.
After nearly a month of loss, Wuxue County returned to the hands of the First Army.
The day after recapturing Wuxue County, Commander-in-Chief Li launched another attack to the west and northwest, targeting Huangzhou County, Tuanfeng County, Macheng County, and Hong'an County.
There weren't many Japanese troops in Huangzhou County, and the 39th Regiment of the New Fourth Army stormed into the city in just three hours.
The First and Second Regiments of the First Brigade encountered strong resistance when they attacked Ma County.
At that time, Macheng's geographical location was extremely important, serving as a key barrier to defend Wuhan.
Located at the junction of Hubei, Henan and Anhui provinces, on the southern slope of the central section of the Dabie Mountains, it is the "gateway" to the northeast of Wuhan. By occupying this place, the Japanese army could safeguard the safety of Wuhan, where their headquarters were located.
Two regiments of the brigade split into two groups and attacked for two days. The air force also provided strong support, but they failed to break through the Japanese defense line in Macheng County.