The remaining troops of the 102nd Division were also wiped out. Only a handful of them fled into the Savage Mountains and continued to harm the local indigenous people. There was no way around this. We couldn't send troops deep into the Savage Mountains for these remaining forces. It would be too much of a loss. .
After more than three months of fighting, the soldiers of the expeditionary force were very tired. Except for a small number of troops who were left on guard, all other troops went to rest.
The Japanese Southern Front Army had just lost more than 200,000 men and was no longer able to fight anymore. They took the initiative to shrink their defense lines and lick their wounds. The two sides entered a period of calm;
It's just that this calmness is relative. Just like the seemingly calm sea surface, there is hidden endless turbulence. As long as the strong wind comes, it will roll up huge waves.
On the frontal battlefield in China, the Japanese began to mobilize their troops and generals, preparing to launch a new wave of offensive, targeting the fifth theater.
The Fifth Theater has never regained its strength since the autumn offensive two years ago. Due to the micro-manager's outrageous operation, almost all the bones and blood of the main force of the entire Fifth Theater were wiped out.
After losing 100,000 veterans, the combat effectiveness never recovered. Although the number of troops did not drop much, the combat effectiveness was no longer the same;
Coupled with the common problems of the Kuomintang army eating empty pay, drinking soldiers' blood, and the Central Army's suppression of miscellaneous brands, the current Fifth Theater is actually an empty shell.
On the surface, there are still nearly 300,000 troops, but the combat effectiveness is less than half of what it was before. These practical problems are simply not visible in Shuzhong, and they can't wait to wipe out all these miscellaneous troops, just in time to withdraw the establishment.
The combat effectiveness of the 11th Japanese Army also declined to a certain extent, especially after the third Star City Battle, when they were decimated by Tiger Boy's Heavenly Furnace tactics, and their strength had only just recovered.
The Japanese are not like the Chinese. They have a complete reserve system. When the troops are exhausted, they can directly recruit reservists at the place where they are organized;
Not only is the efficiency high, but the impact on combat effectiveness will not be too great.
This is not the case in China. There is no national defense mobilization system at all. The recruitment of troops is almost entirely based on capturing strong men. A soldier can be bundled with a rope. The combat effectiveness of the soldiers captured by force can be imagined.
Naturally, the Japs' changes could not be hidden from the Fifth War Zone. After all, they were fighting on China's territory, and they still had an advantage over the Japs in terms of intelligence.
The commander of the theater, Li Delin, convened a meeting with the group army bosses to deal with the Japanese attack.
It is a common problem of the Kuomintang army that everyone is full of confidence during the meeting. The huge victory achieved by the expeditionary force in Siam made them full of confidence;
Everyone is saying that the Japs have gone downhill. The 300,000 troops in the fifth theater can handle the attack of 60,000 to 70,000 Japs without any problem. With a strength ratio of 5 to 1, the advantage lies with me.
When Li Delin saw that his morale was available, he began to arrange his troops. Basically, it was a strategy of setting up defenses everywhere and evenly distributing troops;
Zhang Xingzhen's 33rd Group Army of the Northwest Army is the main defensive force. Tang Keqin's department with the best equipment has been assigned to the first theater. The only ones that can fight are the 22nd Group Army, the 11th Group Army of the Guangxi Army, and the 2nd Hunan Army. Group Army etc.
General Zhang Xingzhen did not die in the previous battle of Zaoyi because of Chu Xiong's butterfly wings. However, his 33rd Group Army, after several fierce battles and was not supplemented by Shuzhong, was not as strong as before and was even more lacking in ammunition and supplies. .
This time, it was his 33rd Army Group that took the lead and fought against the Japanese. Chief Li asked him if he had any difficulties. He shook his head and said:
"There are definitely difficulties. There is a shortage of ammunition and supplies, the defensive front is too long, and the troops are slightly insufficient, but these cannot be solved. Now the entire theater is short of food and ammunition;
When the Japanese attack, if there are difficulties, they must fight. If there are no difficulties, they must fight hard. Fight to the death!
Our Thirty-Third Army Group vows to fight the Japanese to the bitter end, and our troops will always be there! "
Li Delin shouted "Hello" and then said:
"A filial son comes from a poor family. Loyalty and treachery are revealed in national calamity. You are the official of the government. With you in charge of the Dabie Mountains, it won't be a problem for the Japanese to bring tens of thousands more;
As for ammunition, I will squeeze another 1 million rounds of ammunition and 100,000 grenades from each army group for you. You must withstand the Japanese for half a month!
Once the Japs show lack of stamina, the main force of our fifth theater will use all their best to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop. "
Commander Zhang heard that Chief Li gave him another batch of ammunition. Although it was not much, mosquitoes are still meat no matter how small they are. These 1 million rounds of ammunition were averaged to the 33rd Army, which was more than a dozen rounds for each person. It was a great sign of sincerity. .
He immediately stated:
"Thank you, Commander, for your support. With this batch of ammunition, I will be more confident in holding the position. I will not let the little devils fall behind!"
The meeting here has just ended, and the troops have not yet been deployed, the attack of the Japanese 11th Army has begun;
Since this offensive operation attracted the attention of the base camp and Yuren, the Eleventh Army attached great importance to it and concentrated more than 60 aircraft to carry out indiscriminate bombing of the positions of the 33rd Group Army and the 2nd Group Army.
The defenders suffered heavy losses and their morale was shaken.
Immediately afterwards, the Japanese sent a large number of tanks to focus on attacking the 33rd Army's defense line. After being pushed back by the 33rd Army desperately;
The Japanese changed their tactics again, leaving one unit to continue to attack the 33rd Group Army head-on. The main force detoured from the flanks and defeated the Second Group Army that rushed to fight with lightning speed. The main force appeared behind the 33rd Group Army.
General Zhang led an army to the flank to plug the leak. Unfortunately, there were too many Japs and the offensive was too fierce. The recruits of the 59th Army could not fight such a hard battle. The Japs soon broke through the defense line, exposing the flanks of the main force of the 33rd Army. .
In order to avoid being taken back by the enemy, General Zhang had no choice but to retreat across the board and continue to block the Japanese on the second line of defense;
The idea was good, but in practice there were flaws.
The recruits of the 33rd Army were fine fighting with the wind, but once they retreated, they became frightened. Coupled with the fact that the Japanese agents deliberately spread rumors, most of the recruits began to collapse.
Just in response to those words, the army was defeated like a mountain. The new soldiers were scrambling to escape, unable to control themselves at all, and finally the veterans were involved.
The Second Army and the Thirty-third Army were defeated by two Japanese divisions and suffered heavy losses.
Li Delin could only avoid the annihilation of the two armies by pressing all the main forces;
Immediately afterwards, the Japanese Eleventh Army launched a more violent attack. The 300,000-strong army in the Fifth Theater was defeated by the Japanese. In less than half a month, Shangcheng, Guangshan, Huangchuan, Macheng, and Luotian were lost successively. , Yingshan, Guangji, Huangmei, Tongcheng, Qianshan, Taihu, Susong and other vast areas of Hubei, Henan and Anhui were defeated across the board, with nearly tens of thousands of troops lost.
In the First World War, the Japanese were knocked out of their original shape and lost troops and ground. If the Japanese had not been supplied with supplies, the entire fifth theater might have been penetrated;
The defeat in the fifth war zone disgraced Shuzhong, and someone got angry and cursed:
"Mother Xipi, I was wronged by Lin!
Since these motley crews have no combat effectiveness, it is better to hand over all the Eagle reinforcements to the Central Army that can fight. The units that were wiped out in this battle will be cancelled, as a warning to others! "
