Chapter 17 Naval Landing

August 17, 1938, 4:13 PM.

The fleet dispatched by Commander Kiyoshi Hasegawa of the Third Fleet to Anqing finally arrived.

It was a fleet consisting of two battleships, six destroyers, and more than forty other warships.

Commander Kiyoshi Hasegawa spared no expense after clearly knowing that Anqing County would be completely handed over to the jurisdiction of the Third Fleet.

Five hundred elite Japanese Marine Corps soldiers, led by Battalion Commander Koichi Kobayashi, rode in small iron-hulled boats and landed at the Anqing wharf under the cover of twelve gunboats.

They rushed onto the wharf with live ammunition, only to find that the situation here was not quite what they had imagined.

The people here were too calm. Among them were fishermen who had just returned to the wharf, and laborers who had been carrying goods on the wharf. After asking, it was learned that these people had been working normally.

Wasn't Anqing City occupied by the National Army today?

Battalion Commander Koichi Kobayashi stood on the wharf, somewhat confused. Anqing City had changed hands, but these people didn't seem to care at all.

Someone told him that the troops entering the city were the National Army who had come once a few days ago. There was nothing to be afraid of. They also told him that the National Army had already left the city. Still, he cautiously led his troops into Anqing City.

Everything was as usual, peaceful and uneventful!

This was what was said to the ordinary people. As soon as the Marine Corps Battalion Commander Koichi Kobayashi and his men rushed into the city, several people immediately greeted them.

These people were all from Anqing City who wanted to gain some benefits from the Japanese. They told him in detail about the situation when the National Army rushed into the city that morning.

These few traitors didn't know why the Japanese soldiers in the city had run away. They only knew that Gui Wen and his men had rushed into the city without firing a single shot.

At that time, they were as quiet as cicadas in winter. Now that they saw the Japanese coming again, they rushed up like a watchdog seeing its master, wagging their tails and begging for rewards.

Battalion Commander Koichi Kobayashi was extremely kind to these traitors, praising and commending them with words that cost nothing. Seeing that everything in the city was quiet and peaceful, he felt relieved. He knew clearly that this city would be under the management of the Third Fleet from now on.

Of course, he hoped that the city would be safe and prosperous, as this would be very conducive to their management. Under the leadership of this group of traitors, Battalion Commander Koichi Kobayashi arrived at the headquarters of the Goro Utada Battalion and saw that the entire headquarters, except for the building itself, didn't even have a single bench inside.

"What's going on?" Battalion Commander Koichi Kobayashi's face turned slightly gloomy.

"This! These are the National Army soldiers who entered the city today. They took away all the Taikun's belongings."

"Even the benches?"

"Yes! Yes." One of the traitors said daringly.

"How can we live here like this?" Battalion Commander Koichi Kobayashi's face turned even uglier.

The traitors looked at each other, and finally, someone spoke up, "Taikun, please rest assured, I will immediately have some tables and chairs sent over."

Battalion Commander Koichi Kobayashi's face instantly turned from gloomy to sunny. "You! Good person, a very good person! No one is managing Anqing County anyway. I think you will definitely be able to manage it well."

The traitor was overjoyed and quickly said, "Taikun, you have come from afar to help us. We are extremely grateful. These are all things we should do."

Stimulated, the other traitors looked at Koichi Kobayashi eagerly. "Taikun! We are also willing to do our best for Taikun's cause. Please give us a chance."

Battalion Commander Koichi Kobayashi smiled. "To protect the people of Anqing, we will build a port here this time. The Third Fleet will be stationed here permanently. You will be responsible for organizing laborers, raising funds, and collecting grain. These things always need to be done, and someone needs to stand up and manage them."

The traitors were overjoyed. This was an opportunity for them. They all quickly expressed their loyalty. Although their loyalty sounded good, Koichi Kobayashi and the Japanese soldiers had already finished inspecting the warehouses where Goro Utada's battalion stored supplies.

In these warehouses, even if a mouse ran in, it would be sad. They couldn't even find anything to grind their teeth on. Now he was no longer in the mood to deal with these traitors. He directly assigned them tasks: "You, first organize food for the Taikuns and reward the army. You have to prepare everything that these places need, and you must immediately prepare the supplies for the Taikuns to use tonight."

He assigned the tasks one by one, never mentioning the matter of money. The traitors looked bitter but had to agree one by one. Battalion Commander Koichi Kobayashi had another task: to go to Tianzhushan Airport to take a look. At that time, he sent a squad of thirteen Japanese soldiers, driving motorcycles to scout the airport.

The reconnaissance captain, Iwo Nakamura, and his men traveled unimpeded all the way. When they were about to reach the airport, they discovered the remains of a battlefield. White corpses were scattered along the road and into the fields. Although there were no markings on the corpses, Sergeant Iwo Nakamura felt that these corpses should be those of Goro Utada's battalion.

He didn't stay here for long, not even counting the number of corpses. He simply got off his motorcycle and carefully examined the cause of death of several corpses.

The causes of death of these corpses were very complex. It was easy to find wounds on the naked corpses. Some of the Japanese soldiers had more than a dozen wounds on their bodies, while others had only two or three. They all had one thing in common: there was a wound in the throat. This wound was made by a bayonet, Sergeant Nakamura was willing to vouch for this.

With such a wound, none of these Japanese soldiers could have survived. When Sergeant Iwo Nakamura's squad of more than a dozen Japanese soldiers saw the airport while driving four motorcycles, they couldn't believe that this was once an airport. The gate was a pile of ruins.

All the buildings had collapsed and shattered. The only thing that was still intact in the entire airport was the runway. Only the starting section of the entire runway had some huge craters, but the middle and rear sections of the runway were intact!

The entire airport was empty. There was no smoke, no fire, and no one! Kazuki Uchiyama and Yu Miyamoto, the two Japanese soldiers lurking in the distance, had long discovered this group coming from the direction of Anqing. Now that they were sure that these were Japanese soldiers, they immediately ran excitedly from their hiding place and quickly ran towards Iwo Nakamura's reconnaissance squad.

Iwo Nakamura looked at the open space outside the runway, where there were huge skid marks and holes formed by landmine explosions. They didn't dare to move rashly. Now his squad of Japanese soldiers had time. Compared to the corpses they saw before entering the airport, the corpses piled up here were not on the same scale at all.

Iwo Nakamura looked at the corpses piled up at the runway and the huge craters. He asked in confusion, "What's going on?"

No one answered. The Japanese soldiers who came with him couldn't answer. They had already seen that there were bunkers around the runway. The bunkers were all broken now, but they could still see traces of what they once were.

Kazuki Uchiyama and Yu Miyamoto finally ran into the airport. They were immediately brought over. After listening to the introduction of these two Japanese soldiers, Iwo Nakamura felt that he didn't need to stay here any longer.

He ordered, "Take them and return to the city!" This was not a place to stay for long. From the stories of Kazuki Uchiyama and Yu Miyamoto, and from the corpses on the ground, it could be seen that the troops attacking the airport were not easy to deal with. In case they suddenly launched a counterattack, they would be dead.

When Kazuki Uchiyama and Yu Miyamoto saw Battalion Commander Koichi Kobayashi, they told the story of what happened today again. Then Koichi Kobayashi took the two Japanese soldiers onto the flagship and told Commander Kiyoshi Hasegawa about the situation again.

Repeating it again and again, the story told by these two Japanese soldiers, Kazuki Uchiyama and Yu Miyamoto, became more and more exciting and fascinating. It was just like a storyteller telling a story.

Commander Kiyoshi Hasegawa looked at the only two survivors with some suspicion. Although the story they told was very exciting, it was not very credible. He didn't believe the words of these two cowards.

Regardless of whether he believed it or not, he sent the words of these two Japanese soldiers to Commander Rokuro Izumi of the Central China Expeditionary Army verbatim. His fleet had no obligation to guard the airport. Moreover, judging from the information collected, there was nothing worth guarding at the airport.

In the words of Kazuki Uchiyama and Yu Miyamoto, the troops had even taken away the steel bars inside the concrete. The Third Fleet was now only responsible for the protection of Anqing City. To this end, Kiyoshi Hasegawa also sent a telegram to the Navy Headquarters, requesting that he be given an additional three thousand Marines to protect Anqing County.

The Japanese Navy always had money and materials. Knowing that Kiyoshi Hasegawa had snatched a city from the Army in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, the Japanese soldiers at the Navy Headquarters were extremely excited and immediately agreed to the request: three thousand troops would depart from Qingdao immediately and arrive within three days!

Commander Rokuro Izumi looked at the story told by Kazuki Uchiyama and Yu Miyamoto and forwarded the story to Commander Neiji Okamura of the Eleventh Army.

It could be seen from the story that the North Wind Shinnosuke Air Squadron, which had departed from Nanjing, had chased after a National Army plane and had not been seen since. The Yuuta Murakawa Air Squadron, which had come from the direction of Jiujiang, had been attacked by an unidentified flying squadron over Tianzhushan Airport. The other side was also flying the same type of planes.

The two sides had engaged in a fierce battle over the airport, ending with one side being completely defeated and the other side completely victorious. Yuuta Murakawa's squadron had not appeared until now, and it was obvious who the loser was. Commander Neiji Okamura absolutely did not waste any extra emotion on the already dead Yuuta Murakawa Squadron.

Kindness does not make a good soldier! This sentence was not said in jest; it was the basic code of conduct for every commander. What he was thinking about now was which brigade to send to the airport. It could be seen from the telegram that apart from the runway, all the other infrastructure at the airport was gone.

Everything needed to be rebuilt! The most important thing was that this time he learned a lesson from the previous attacks on the airport and specially sent two infantry brigades and a tank squadron to defend Tianzhushan Airport. Still, they were unable to defend against the attacks of the National Army guerrillas.

How many Japanese soldiers should be sent to defend such an airport? He couldn't possibly send a division or a brigade to guard an airport! Although this airport was very important. Thinking of this, Commander Neiji Okamura had a headache.

Now, he felt that his forces were seriously insufficient. In order to implement his grand encirclement plan, the Japanese soldiers stationed on the south bank of the Yangtze River were attacking in the direction of Mount Lu. But they were encountering difficulties here. It could be said that the entire army was unable to move forward.

Not to mention the grand encirclement, even the small encirclement plan he had formulated could not be completed. Despite this, he had to send two Japanese infantry brigades and one puppet army brigade to Tianzhushan Airport. No matter what, they had to make use of this airport.

At this time, Chen Sichuan and his men were busy transporting the supplies they had moved from the airport towards Qianshan. Chen Sichuan's success this time taught Lin Fan a lot.

He thought of another more important airport that the Japanese soldiers had on the front lines of Wuhan: Jiujiang Airport. If they could attack the Japanese Jiujiang Airport, it would be a great support to the frontal war in Wuhan.

But Jiujiang Airport was on the south bank of the Yangtze River, and it would not be easy for the Special Forces Brigade to cross the river in the Jiujiang section. However, if it was just a sneak attack and sabotage, Lin Fan felt that it was still possible.

The distance from Jurong to Jiujiang was 330 kilometers. If they departed from Qianjiang, it would only be 140 kilometers. If they departed from Tongcheng, the distance would be 200 kilometers.

It would be very promising if the fighter planes departed from Qianjiang and the bombers departed from Tongcheng. The Qianjiang airport needed to continue to be expanded, and the construction of the Tongcheng airport also needed to be accelerated.

Lin Fan temporarily put this matter in his mind and would take action when the time was right. What he wanted to deal with now was the Sixth Division stationed in Susong and Huangmei.

During this time, Siro Inaba, the commander of the Sixth Division, had received supplies and personnel replenishment from Xiaochikou, and the entire division was resurrected with full health again. However, he no longer dared to be as arrogant as last time. This time he was much more low-key and strongly requested that the Central China Expeditionary Army order the Second Army, which should have set out long ago, to advance quickly. Now he no longer dared to go deep alone.

There were six Japanese divisions fighting in Jiangnan. Since the start of the offensive on Wuhan in June, the Sixth Division had been fighting alone in Jiangbei. A few days ago, Siro Inaba led the Sixth Division to fight very smoothly. He had already made a name for himself in the Japanese headquarters. The Sixth Division had now become the most combat-effective force in the entire Japanese army. He and the Japanese soldiers of his division were all enjoying this treatment very much.

During this period, the Sixth Division was severely beaten by the Special Forces Brigade one after another, and their morale was immediately lost. Commander Siro Inaba no longer dared to undertake the combat mission in Jiangbei alone.

The Japanese Second Army was originally a force of the North China Front Army. They were supposed to assist the Central China Expeditionary Army when the headquarters planned to attack Wuhan. But plans could not keep up with changes. When they were making the offensive plan, they did not expect that in July, the Soviets would build fortifications on Zhanggufeng. The Japanese, who had long regarded this place as their own, immediately sent troops to attack the Soviets and seize this land.

In the following days, the two sides conducted several small-scale battles in this area. This reduced the number of troops originally planned to attack Wuhan by one army. Rokuro Izumi and Neiji Okamura believed that even if they lost one army, it would not hinder their attack on Wuhan, and the battle to attack Wuhan had already begun, so they continued to insist on the offensive.

Although the Japanese had signed a ceasefire agreement with the Soviet Union on August 10, the Second Army still did not dare to move rashly, for fear of being caught off guard by the Soviets. If Commander Siro Inaba had not strongly requested it, the Second Army would not have set out yet.

Since he had requested it, and the situation in Jiangbei was not optimistic, Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni, the commander of the 2nd Army, finally led the four divisions under his command from Hefei.

These four divisions were:
* 3rd Division: Commander Susumu Fujita.
* 10th Division: Commander Yoshio Shinohata.
* 13th Division: Commander Tatehei Ogisu.
* 16th Division: Commander Keisuke Fujie.

On August 22, the Japanese Second Army departed from Hefei. On this day, Chen Sichuan, who had digested the supplies moved back from Tianzhushan Airport, was directing the 1st Regiment to attack Lujiang County.

The Japanese soldiers defending Lujiang County had only one company. Under the fierce offensive of the 1st Regiment, they were completely annihilated after only one hour. On August 27, the Japanese Second Army simultaneously attacked Liuan and Huoshan. On the same day, the 1st Regiment captured Shucheng.

The 1st Regiment's capture of two cities in a row made Commander Rokuro Izumi of the Central China Expeditionary Army very uncomfortable. He had no choice but to order the Second Army to send a force to recapture the counties of Shucheng, Tongcheng, Qianshan, and Taihu, and cooperate with the Sixth Division to annihilate the main force of the Special Forces Brigade concentrated in this area.

Chen Sichuan's command of the troops to seize Tianzhushan Airport this time made Commander Rokuro Izumi very sad. He believed that the Special Forces Brigade had logistical support in Jurong, and his troops had not fought well in the last annihilation battle. But this time in places like Qianshan and Taihu, the Special Forces Brigade was strictly speaking a guest army. Using two divisions to deal with them should be enough.

Because of the Zhanggufeng Incident, the Second Army had been staying in Hefei. In the past month, the education of the Japanese soldiers at the grassroots level was all about preparing to fight the Soviets. Because the two sides signed a ceasefire agreement, the Japanese soldiers who were eager to fight the Soviets turned around to fight the National Army.

This was completely overkill, and all the Japanese soldiers' will to fight was extremely strong. Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni was quite satisfied with his troops.

After receiving the order from Commander Rokuro Izumi, Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni, the commander of the 2nd Army, immediately ordered the 16th Division to be specifically responsible for clearing the guerrillas in this area. He directed the remaining three divisions to continue to advance according to the original plan.

The 16th Division participated in the massacre in Nanjing and later served as the garrison of Nanjing. When Rokuro Izumi had just become the commander of the Central China Expeditionary Army, he had fought against the Special Forces Brigade and was completely defeated!

After his division was severely damaged in Wuhu, it was transported by sea to Dalian for rest and reorganization, and then incorporated into the Second Army of the North China Front Army. This time, in the attack on Wuhan, it joined the ranks of the Central China Expeditionary Army again along with the entire Second Army.

Kaneshiro Nakajima, the former commander of the 16th Division, had been promoted to commander of the 4th Army because of his outstanding performance in the Nanjing Campaign. That was how Commander Keisuke Fujie was able to take up this position.

The current 16th Division had a complete organization. Although most of the Japanese soldiers were reservists who had just been added, the number was at least full.

His division had two infantry brigades under its command:
* 19th Infantry Brigade: This brigade had the 9th Infantry Regiment and the 20th Infantry Regiment.
* 30th Infantry Brigade: This brigade had the 336th Infantry Regiment and the 38th Infantry Regiment.

The division directly administered the 20th Cavalry Regiment, the 22nd Field Artillery Regiment, the 16th Engineer Regiment, the 16th Transport Regiment, and the 1st to 4th Field Hospitals. The total number was more than 23,000 Japanese soldiers.

This time, Commander Rokuro Izumi of the Central China Expeditionary Army was really going to take ruthless action against the Special Forces Brigade in Jiangbei. Commander Keisuke Fujie ordered the 19th Infantry Brigade to attack Shucheng, and the 30th Infantry Brigade to attack Tongcheng. He led the remaining regiments of the 16th Division to provide support in Huoshan.

The distance from Huoshan to Shucheng was 50 kilometers, but the actual road was more than 70 kilometers. The distance from Huoshan to Tongcheng was 100 kilometers, but the actual road was 130 kilometers. Since the Japanese soldiers departed from Hefei on the 22nd, Chen Sichuan had strengthened reconnaissance in the directions of Liuan, Huoshan, and Hefei, sending out several reconnaissance squads on the ground, and also having Xiao Jianying's Flying Brigade patrol every day in the air.

On August 28, the reconnaissance plane sent out by Xiao Jianying discovered the Japanese soldiers' movements. The Japanese soldiers divided into four routes in Huoshan, with two divisions marching towards Jinzhai. Their purpose was very clear: they definitely wanted to fight all the way and encircle Wuhan from Jiangbei.

Another route departed towards Yuexi County. This force had a Japanese division, and the purpose was the same as the previous force. There was also a brigade advancing towards Shucheng, and another brigade advancing towards Tongcheng.

The Japanese soldiers in the directions of Shucheng and Tongcheng were heading for the 1st and 6th Regiments. A Japanese brigade had two regiments, and each regiment had four battalions. It seemed that the 1st and 6th Regiments in Shucheng and Tongcheng each had to face eight Japanese battalions.

The disparity in strength was too great. The intelligence was simultaneously transmitted to Lin Fan, Chen Sichuan, and Ye Dadan. Lin Fan reported the intelligence that three Japanese divisions had departed from Liuan and Huoshan to attack in the direction of Dabie Mountain to the Fifth Theater Command.

At the same time, he also reported that the Japanese soldiers were using a division to stabilize the rear, and this division was now advancing towards Shucheng and Tongcheng. The Fifth Theater Command quickly issued an order to the Special Forces Brigade: "Hold back the Japanese division that is clearing the rear, and do not let it continue to participate in the frontal battle. The direction of Susong can be slightly relaxed, just maintain the status quo!"

Bai Chongxi, the acting commander of the Fifth Theater Command, analyzed: "The Japanese Sixth Division's supplies are now all obtained from Xiaochikou on the north bank of the Yangtze River, so they will no longer be interested in Taihu County and Qianshan County. Therefore, he ordered Li Pinxian to send a force to enter Taihu County from Dabie Mountain to take over the defense. At the same time, they should take over the defense of Qianshan, so that the Special Forces Brigade could free up their hands to go to Tongcheng and Shucheng to hold back a Japanese division."

Lin Fan only made one request for the order from the Fifth Theater Command: "Qianshan must be defended by the Special Forces Brigade themselves!" This request was responded to in less than five minutes: "Agreed!"

After receiving the order, Lin Fan immediately ordered the 3rd and 4th Regiments stationed in Taihu to advance to Tongcheng immediately. They must arrive before the Japanese soldiers. The 2nd, 14th, and 8th Regiments were waiting to hand over the defense to Li Pinxian's troops. At the same time, he ordered Tang Youwei's transport team to transfer the supplies stored by the Special Forces Brigade in Taihu to Qianshan.

Regarding the defense of Shucheng, Lin Fan instructed Chen Sichuan: "It is not advisable to defend to the death! Fight a guerrilla war with the Japanese soldiers." Chen Sichuan had already understood that defending to the death was impossible when he received the news that the Japanese soldiers were sending a brigade each to attack.

It was difficult for hundreds of thousands of National Army troops to defend in frontal battles. Now that he heard that Lin Fan had sent the 3rd and 4th Regiments, two main regiments, to station in Tongcheng day and night, Lin Fan's intention was clear: Tongcheng had to be defended, and Shucheng had to be abandoned.

Abandon Shucheng? Chen Sichuan was a little reluctant. He looked at Liuan, the city that the Japanese soldiers had just captured. Shucheng was only 47 kilometers away from Liuan in a straight line, and it was also 47 kilometers away from Hefei. Seeing this, his eyes lit up and he immediately reported his plan to Lin Fan.

Lin Fan looked at the report submitted by Chen Sichuan and thought hard for a while before replying: "Agreed!" This time, Lin Fan also went to Tongcheng with the 3rd and 4th Regiments.

After receiving Lin Fan's reply, Chen Sichuan immediately ordered: "Evacuate the people of Shucheng and transport the captured supplies to Tongcheng. Send the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Companies to advance towards Huoshan. The task of the three companies is to create obstacles on the road of the Japanese soldiers' advance and delay their advance as much as possible." At the same time, he also ordered Ye Dadan in Tongcheng: "Send out small groups to create difficulties for the Japanese soldiers and delay their march."

Ye Dadan understood! He sent out the 1st and 2nd Companies for rapid assault, trying to fire cold shots and cold cannons at the Japanese soldiers 20 kilometers away, but do not use directional mines. All the remaining troops of the 6th Regiment, except for one company left in Tongcheng to maintain law and order, were out of the city. He was going to fight the Japanese soldiers outside the city.

In the 20-kilometer range around Tongcheng, the 6th Regiment had practiced several times in these days. While the 1st Regiment went to Tianzhushan Airport to seize planes a few days ago, the 6th Regiment was still practicing. Now, the officers and soldiers of the 6th Regiment were more familiar with the geographical environment around Tongcheng than many ordinary people who were born and raised in Tongcheng.

Now that the Japanese soldiers were coming from the direction of Huoshan, Ye Dadan immediately thought of Lao Guanling, Dawei Jian, and Yao Ling, 20 kilometers away from the city. He had observed the terrain here during the previous exercises and had also let the various companies conduct an exercise here once. Now it was time to fight a real battle with the exercise process.