Devil's Army

Chapter 1936 Japanese Reinforcements Arrive in Wuhan

Commander Yokoyama Isamu was mobilizing his troops to prepare for the encirclement and annihilation of the Jidong Independent Brigade when the First Army's Second Brigade launched a simultaneous attack on the Japanese troops stationed in Shashi, Songzi, and Zhicheng.

One army and one brigade launched an attack on the Japanese forces in the Huarong and Shishou areas.

The First Army's Third Brigade launched an attack on Yidu Xiandi Temple, Chayuan Temple, Wangjiafan, and Moshi.

The four brigades of the First Army's Southern Expeditionary Force launched a rapid offensive, forcing the Japanese army to retreat steadily.

Commander Yokoyama Isamu had no choice but to quickly mobilize Japanese troops from Wuhan to provide support.

The First Army's southward advance and its concentrated forces launched a surprise attack on the Japanese garrison, catching the Japanese off guard and alarming the government forces in the Sixth War Zone, which were located near the Japanese positions.

They assumed the Japanese army was about to attack their defense zone again, so they went into emergency combat mode and sent scouts to investigate.

However, the reconnaissance results were a pleasant surprise: the main force of the First Anti-Japanese Army was attacking Japanese troops in Hubei.

As the battle lines advanced, the resistance the First Army encountered from the Japanese army grew stronger.

When the Jidong Independent Brigade advanced to the Longquanpu area, it was blocked by a large Japanese force.

Longquanpu was a key point in the Japanese army's attack on Yichang, surrounded by high ground and transportation routes.

Tumen Pass connects Longquanpu and Yichang, and the high ground on its northeast side overlooks the highway.

The Japanese army deployed troops here, using the high ground to fiercely resist the attack of the Jidong Independent Brigade.

The battle had now shifted from a surprise attack to a full-scale assault.

After a night's rest, the Jidong Independent Brigade, with air support, launched a fierce attack on Tumenya the next morning.

When did the Japanese army in Hubei encounter such a fierce attack from both open and ground forces? After holding out for two hours, they finally suffered a complete rout.

After capturing the Tumenya position, the Jidong Independent Brigade continued to advance deeper into the territory.

In order to block the advance of the Hebei-Central Independent Brigade, the Japanese army blew up the highway bridge and rebuilt fortifications on both sides of the narrow route from Songjiazui to Longquanpu.

This narrow mountain road is protected by mountains, and the strongholds around Longquanpu, such as Yaque Ridge and Shuanglian Temple, can serve as auxiliary blocking points. The Japanese army originally built artillery positions here to block the Nanjing government army.

This time, it was used to block the attack of the Jidong Independent Brigade.

The air force of the First Army bombed the Japanese artillery positions on the two hills, but the high mountains and dense forests made the bombing less than ideal.

According to intelligence transmitted by the Golden Eagle, the Japanese troops in Wuhan will reach Longquanpu in less than an hour.

Taking Longquanpu in an hour is no easy feat.

Brigade Commander Zhang decided to implement the plan devised by the brigade commander before the battle, hiding the main force around Xiangtangpu and leaving a small regiment to block the attack from the front.

Less than an hour later, Japanese reinforcements rushed to Wuhan.

Four Japanese tanks, acting as the vanguard, lined up in two columns and fiercely bombarded a regiment of soldiers.

The air force immediately swooped down and launched a fierce bombing raid on the Japanese tanks and soldiers in Wuhan.

While bombarding a regiment of soldiers, the Japanese tanks swayed left and right in an attempt to evade bombing by the First Army Air Force.

However, under intense bombing by the First Army's air force, four Japanese tanks were destroyed one after another.

To avoid air raids by the First Army Air Force, the Japanese reinforcements in Wuhan hid in the surrounding woodlands and continued their attack on the First Regiment of soldiers.

Under the continuous and fierce attacks of the Japanese reinforcements in Wuhan, the soldiers of the regiment could not withstand the onslaught and began to retreat while taking turns providing cover.