Devil's Army

Chapter 1864 Encirclement and Suppression of Japanese Troops in Xinjian District

At that time, military affairs in Jiujiang were managed by the Tengtang Command, which commanded the army, navy, and air force.

The army had a main force of over 10,000 men from the 68th Division stationed permanently in Jiujiang. An additional 10,000 men were stationed in the surrounding counties, towns, and key transportation points, coordinating with the Japanese forces in Nanchang.

At the start of the Jiujiang Campaign, a large number of elite troops appeared on the outskirts of Nanchang, preventing the Japanese forces in Nanchang from transferring troops north to support Jiujiang.

The commander of the Japanese 68th Division dispatched troops from Xingzi, De'an, Yongxiu, Xinjian, Anyi and other counties around Jiujiang to provide reinforcements.

This resulted in the First and Second Regiments of the First Brigade being unable to attack Jiujiang County as soon as the Jiujiang Campaign began, with most of their forces being deployed to fight fiercely against the returning Japanese reinforcements.

As the main force of the Japanese army retreated to Jiujiang County, the Japanese troops originally stationed in Minshan, fearing that they would be surrounded by the devilish troops from both sides, also withdrew to Jiujiang County.

The 2nd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment took the opportunity to take over the defense of Minshan.

After the Battle of Jiujiang began, when the Japanese troops from Xingzi and Yongxiu came to reinforce Jiujiang, they were met with fierce resistance from the Second Battalion in the Minshan Mountains.

When the Japanese troops from De'an were reinforcing Jiujiang, they were once again ambushed by a main force of a regiment at Wanjialing.

Fearing a repeat of the 106th Division's fate, the Japanese troops in De'an quickly withdrew from Wanjialing.

When the Japanese troops from Xinjian District reinforced Jiujiang County, they were blocked by the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment at Jinguan Bridge in Jiujiang.

The Japanese and puppet troops in the newly built area numbered more than 2,000 and also included an artillery company.

The Third Battalion's resistance was tenacious, but also extremely fierce.

The brigade commander soon realized that the two regiments of the First Route Army, with more than 5,000 men, had no way of taking Jiujiang County and the surrounding area, which was more than 30,000 Japanese and puppet troops.

At this time, the Japanese troops in Jiujiang County knew that the devil troops outside the city were busy dealing with the Japanese troops coming from all over the country to reinforce them, and they would launch attacks from inside the city from time to time to attack the devil troops outside the city.

This made the already stretched First Route Army's situation even more dangerous.

Fortunately, the Fifth Division of the New Fourth Army came to the rescue, blocking and containing the various Japanese reinforcements layer by layer. This delayed the Japanese troops in various counties from encircling the First Army of the Independent Division.

Faced with the severe disparity in troop strength between the enemy and ourselves in Jiujiang County, the brigade commander promptly adjusted the deployment of troops.

He ordered the First and Second Regiments of the First Route Army to abandon their attack on Jiujiang County and break out of the encirclement of the Japanese army in and around Jiujiang County.

At the same time, the Second Route Army, which had already recaptured Zhangshu, was ordered to cease its attack on Fengcheng near Nanchang and to turn its entire force towards Jiujiang County to cooperate with the First Route Army in dividing and eliminating the Japanese reinforcements from various places.

The first to be annihilated were the Japanese reinforcements in the newly established area, located between the Second Route Army and the First Route Army of the Independent Division.

At that time, the Japanese troops in Xinjian District were blocked on the other side of Jinguan Bridge by a mere battalion of devilish soldiers.

Enraged, the Japanese commander ordered his puppet troops to charge ahead and block bullets.

Two infantry companies, under the cover of artillery, launched the largest attack on Jin Guanqiao since the start of the battle.

Some Japanese soldiers had already crossed the middle of the bridge and were pressing closer to the devilish troops' position.

Suddenly, the sound of heavy artillery fire erupted from the Japanese rearguard.

The sound of artillery explosions had just stopped, and the smoke had not yet dissipated when fierce gunfire erupted again.

Soldiers of the 3rd Regiment of the 2nd Route Army cut off the retreat route of the Japanese troops in the newly built area and launched a fierce attack on them from the rear.

Soldiers of the 4th Regiment of the 2nd Route Army deployed along the direction of Xinjian District to prevent Japanese reinforcements from reaching Xinjian District.

Seeing the commotion on the Japanese positions across the bridge, the soldiers of the Third Battalion knew their reinforcements were approaching. They immediately ordered all wounded soldiers who could still pick up a gun to go to the front lines to stop the Japanese's desperate attack.