The blood of the Anti-Japanese War stained the mountains and rivers

Fortunately, Yang Ling and the others had experience in Zhijiang. In order to avoid misunderstanding, they sent someone to contact the defenders in Yichang early on to reveal their identities.

Therefore, they were not disarmed. They just waited for a while, and after the peripheral security forces confirmed their identities, they were allowed to enter the city.

Now only the 18th Army is guarding Yichang. The other troops in the Fifth War Zone are now blocked by the devils near the Han River.

Yang Ling and the others followed the liaison officer all the way into the city. The officers and soldiers of the 18th Army on both sides of the road were urgently building fortifications, and they were covered in mud and sweating profusely.

The 18th Army was urgently transferred from Sichuan to Yichang to serve as a garrison. It has only been two days since they arrived here. To build fortifications in such a short period of time to block the devils of the three divisions, they are facing unimaginable difficulties.

The city of Yichang was also in chaos. Apart from the officers and soldiers building fortifications and barricades, there were also many civilians who had not evacuated to help transport ammunition and boil water for cooking.

Although the 18th Army is the ace unit in the Chinese army and has the best weapons and equipment, the air defense weapons are still insufficient.

The weak air defense network of the defenders could not intercept the devil's planes, so the devil's vanguard was still on the periphery. The city had been ravaged by the devil's planes, and many places were turned into ruins.

Text 340 [-] Chapter Four

Yichang, Qianping of Nanjin Pass.

The headquarters of the 18th Army of China was crowded and chaotic, with the sound of ticking telegrams and telephone ringing one after another.

The combat staff of the military department are surrounding the map spread on the table, constantly revising the situation of the enemy and us with red and blue pens according to the latest battle situation.

On this one-fifty-thousandth military map, Yichang is just a small black dot, but at this moment three huge red arrows are approaching Yichang from three directions.

Army Commander Peng Shanmian had just arrived here from Chongqing, and he had no time to rest, so he had to immediately command the troops to fight against the devils who rushed over.

The 18th Army is the trump card unit of the Chinese army. Commander Peng Shan has three divisions, the 18th Division, the 11th Division and the 199th Division, with a total strength of more than 3 troops and better equipment than local troops. It can be said that It is a strong soldier and a strong horse.

But in fact, because the 18th Army is undergoing training, the three divisions under Commander Peng Shan are not in one place.

Among them, the 18th Division and the 199th Division are training in Chongqing, Sichuan, while the 11th Division with the strongest combat effectiveness is far away in Changsha, Hunan Province, and is coming here urgently.

Because of the urgent military situation, there was only one day to prepare from receiving the order to set off, and now only his troops directly under the military headquarters and the 18th Division arrived in Yichang from Sichuan along the Yangtze River.

Army commander Peng Shan led the troops directly under the military headquarters and the 18th Division to Yichang, and immediately ordered the troops directly under the military headquarters and a regiment of the 18th Division to build bunkers in the city.

The other two regiments of the 18th Division were deployed on the outskirts of Yichang, part of which defended Yidang Highway, and part of which was responsible for Jiang Defense.

But now the devils from the three field divisions are pounced on, and Yichang, who is in charge of guarding, actually has only a little more than one division. It is difficult to imagine how difficult it is to hold on.

"Where did the 199th Division go?"

Facing the fast-moving devil troops, Peng Shan, the commander of the 18th Army, really had no confidence and could only hope that the 199th Division could arrive in time.

"Army seat, the 199th Division is calling. A regiment assembled first will be able to land at Nanjinguan in the evening. On the way, they encountered bombing and strafing by Devil planes, and one ship was bombed and sunk." The communications staff hurriedly reported. .

"Okay, when their team arrives, it will be deployed outside the city immediately, as a mobile combat force, ready to support each position at any time."

"At the same time, urge the other units of the 199th Division to arrive in Yichang before dawn tomorrow. The military situation is urgent. Who dares to neglect, the military law will do it!" Commander Peng Shan's tone was tinged with murderous intent.

The 18th Army is Chen Cheng's trump card army, and Peng Shan has only been in charge of the army for less than a year, and his control over the army is still a little insufficient. At this juncture, he has no choice but to resort to military law.

"Yes!"

"Where is the position of the 11th Division?"

After inquiring about the situation of the 199th Division, Peng Shan became concerned about another unit under his command that set out from Changsha, Hunan.

"The 11th Division called just now. They have already passed Changde and are marching towards the Daxiakou, Fenghe=He area."

"Give them an order to set up defenses on the spot when they arrive at their destination, and contain the devils on the periphery."

"Yes!" Immediately, a staff officer responded, turned around and went to the confidential room to send a telegram. "

"What about our friendly forces?"

The intelligence staff pointed to the map and said: "After the death of Commander-in-Chief Zhang Zizhong, the No. 30 Third Army is now in chaos. It has been defeated by the devils and is retreating to the nearby mountains. The 75th and 94th armies are quickly returning to Jiangfang. The military system, it is estimated that the time will be too late..."

Hearing that the various units of the friendly army were either defeated by the devils one by one, or were still on the way to reinforcements and could not quench their thirst, Army Commander Peng Shan felt deeply worried.

"We are now defending Yichang alone, and we can only fight with our backs!" Commander Peng Shan ordered: "Tell every brother that Chongqing is behind us. If we didn't defend Nanjing, we still had Wuhan. If we didn't defend Wuhan, we still had Chongqing." During the war, if the devils break through Yichang and attack Chongqing, if the devils break through Yichang and attack Chongqing, if Chongqing is lost, then they will really become slaves to the country.

"Blood battle to the end!"

The officers all looked foreign and serious, and their murderous roars shook people's ears.

"Dinglingling..." The phone rang urgently.

A communications soldier guarding the phone quickly grabbed the phone: "This is the headquarters of the 18th Army..."

"Report to the military seat, a regiment of devils has broken through Yaqueling. The 18th Division and 54th Division have suffered heavy losses. Now they have retreated to the front line of Longwang Cave, asking for support."

"Let the artillery battalion directly under the army provide artillery support." Army Commander Peng Shan ordered after thinking for a while.

"Report to the military seat, the 53rd Battalion of the [-]rd Regiment encountered the devils near Huangjiachang, and the two sides are fighting fiercely!" Before the voice on this side fell, the phone on the other side rang again.

"Let the 53rd Regiment stop it on the spot and find out the strength and number of the devils!"

"Yes!"

"Boom! Boom!"

At this time, there was a deafening sound of cannonballs near the command post, and a shell fell into the yard outside the command post. The violent explosion and vibration made the command post shake violently, making people unable to stand still and filled with gunpowder smoke.

"Protect the military seat!"

The sudden shelling caused chaos in the headquarters, and the army commander Peng Shan was also thrown down, making his face ashamed.

"Cover the transfer of the military seat!"

A crater emitting green smoke was blown out in the yard. Before the smoke cleared, the chief of staff shouted.

Commander Peng Shan got up from the ground, patted the smoke and dust on his body, and said coldly: "What are you panicking about? Send someone to see what's going on?!"

There was rumble of gunfire outside, a building was hit and collapsed, and a staff officer rushed out to inquire about the situation.

Soon, the staff officer galloped back again, stood up in front of the army commander Peng Shan and gave a military salute.

"Report to the military seat that three Japanese gunboats broke through the defense line of our river defense force and fled to the nearby river. They were the ones who did the shelling just now, and they have been repelled now."

"Damn it, what are the river defense troops doing—" The devil's gunboat almost took over the headquarters of their 18th Army, which made the chief of staff furious.

Commander Peng Shan waved his hands and said, "It's understandable that they are short of troops. Let the 52nd Regiment draw a battalion to assist them. Be sure not to let the devil's gunboats do the trick again."

"Yes!"

"Military seat, it's too dangerous here, do you want to move the headquarters to a safe place?"