The two sides engaged in a thrilling air battle, and neither of them bargained.

Four or five Japanese fighters were shot down, and several fighters of the Nationalist troops were also lost.

Lieutenant General Shiro Inaba, commander of the 6th Division of the Japanese Army, personally commanded the troops to fight, but the Japanese troops were stubbornly resisted by the troops of the 15th Army.

Soldiers on both sides fought fiercely on land and air, and the battle lasted from early morning to dusk, and the Japanese offensive did not make any progress.

After this day's fighting, the Japanese army dispatched dozens of fighters, more than 100 artillery pieces of various kinds, and put in thousands of combat personnel.

In the end, the main force of the Japanese 6th Division, as well as the Nara detachment, were still blocked by the Nationalist army from the defense line of the Miluo River......

……

That night, the headquarters of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army.

The intelligence officer of the Japanese army reported to Okamura Ninji: "Report to Your Excellency Commander, the 6th Division and the Nara Detachment advanced to the outer positions of the Miluo River, but our front-line troops fought fiercely with the 15th Army of the Chinese Army for a day and night, and never broke through the Chinese army's riverbank defense line......"

"Yaga!"

When Okamura Ninji heard the news, he stood up from the conference table in annoyance.

"A few days ago, the Nara detachment easily broke through the defense line of the Xinqiang River, and even the 52nd Army of the Chinese army was vulnerable." Okamura Ningji walked around the sand table map, stared at the Miluo River defense line on the map, and said: "The 15th Group Army of the Chinese army is only 70,000 or 80,000 people, and we have concentrated elite troops and aircraft and artillery support, but there is no progress at all!" ”

The results of today's battle of the front-line troops did not make Commander Okamura Ninji very satisfied, and of course, he did not linger on it.

The old devil Okamura is a China expert who is familiar with the real combat effectiveness of various units of the Chinese army.

The 15th Army can also be regarded as an elite unit in the 9th theater of operations, otherwise, he would not have mobilized elite troops to attack it.

It's just that what he didn't expect was that he still underestimated the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army.

At this time, the chief of staff of the devil walked up to Okamura Ninji and said, "Commander, although most of the defensive positions of the Xinqiang River are controlled by our army, there are still small groups of Shina troops in the area of the Xinqiang River. ”

"These small units of the Chinese Army have attacked our attacking troops from the flanks, which is really hateful!"

After the chief of staff of the devil finished speaking, he glanced at Okamura Ningji's face, and he continued: "Commander, the Miluo River defense line is the last line of defense and barrier of the Chinese army, as long as the Miluo River is broken, the Chinese army will have no danger to defend, so if the front-line troops attack, they will inevitably be stubbornly blocked by the Chinese army." ”

Okamura, an old devil, listened to the words of the chief of staff, and he immediately understood that it was impossible to break through the Miluo River defense line from the front in a short time.

Okamura thought about it for a while, and he decided to change the offensive plan and reformulate the offensive deployment.

The chief of staff of the devil picked up the baton and pointed to the place name "Xintian" marked on the sand table map.

"Commander, look at this place."

Okamura Ninji shifted his gaze to Nitta on the map.

Nitta was not a strategic location, nor was it the main line of defense for the Japanese attack.

However, the Xintian area's proximity to the Miluo River was a defensive weakness for the Chinese defenders.

Okamura Ningji stared at Nitta for a while, and then, he deduced again and again, and soon realized that the breakthrough point of the Miluo River defense line was on Nitta.

The chief of staff of the devil pointed at Xintian with his baton and analyzed thoughtfully: "General, please take a look." At present, the 6th Division and the Nara Detachment are confronting the defenders of the Shina on the Miluo River, and the Shina Army is already overwhelmed to deal with the attack of our two armies, if we send another force to attack Xintian at this time, one will catch the Shina Army by surprise! ”

"Once we take Xintian, we can form a three-sided encirclement of the Miluo River, and the defense line laid out by the Chinese army will collapse, and the 15th Army will even be completely annihilated......"

"Yoxi, Yoxi!"

"Good tactics, what a perfect surprise tactic, the commanders of the 9th Theater of Operations in China probably never dreamed that we would come to this trick!!"

Okamura Ninji nodded with satisfaction, he very much agreed with the Devil's Chief of Staff Surprise Attack Battle Plan.

Immediately, Okamura Ninji called the signal soldier.

"Immediately send a telegram to the captain of the Uemura detachment, and order the Uemura detachment to assemble in Xintian Town overnight, and be sure to plant the flag on the Xintian position before the sun rises tomorrow!"

"Hayi!"

The devil communication corps hurried to send a telegram according to Okamura Ninji's order.

After deploying everything, the old devil Okamura Ninji was a little worried, he couldn't sleep soundly at all.

"Your Excellency Commander, you haven't slept for two days, please protect your body, can you go down and rest?"

Okamura Ninji shook his head at his subordinates, and said worriedly: "Today, the Uemura detachment was sent to attack Nitta, such an important battle, how can I sleep?" ”

Okamura Ninji ignored the dissuasion of his staff and sat thoughtfully at the headquarters waiting for news.

Sending the Kamimura detachment to attack Nitta and cut into the flank of the 15th Army is indeed a good move, but it is also a dangerous move.

Because the Uemura detachment did not have sufficient time to prepare for the attack, it was not familiar with the terrain, and it had to ensure that it would not be discovered by other Chinese troops.

The shadow of the destruction of the 106th Division of Wanjialing has not yet dissipated in Okamura Ningji's mind, and Okamura, an old devil, must be cautious in his use of troops.

Once the Japanese Uemura detachment makes a little mistake, then it may fall into the encirclement of the national army, and it will be the second Nitta victory.

The Japanese Uemura detachment attacked Nitta, and the commanders of the national army did not expect such a move at all.

The focus of the 15th Group Army of the Nationalist Army was in the area of the frontal position of the Miluo River, so the strength of the guards in the Xintian area was only one reinforced battalion, which allowed the Japanese army to take advantage of it......

At dawn the next day, the Uemura detachment in the distance sent a telegram to the command of the Japanese 11th Army.

A devil Shaozo walked up to Okamura Ninji with a telegram and reported: "Report to Your Excellency Commander, the Uemura detachment is in an emergency." ”

Okamura Ninji waited for a night, and suddenly heard the news that it was the Uemura detachment, and excitedly immediately grabbed the telegram in the hands of his subordinates.

"Report to me quickly, I'll see the situation of the Uemura detachment!"

Okamura Ninji quickly read the telegram in his hand, and at the same time, his tense nerves suddenly became relaxed.

His surprise attack plan was successful, and the Japanese Uemura detachment had successfully reached the Nitta defensive line.

Immediately after sending a telegram to Okamura Ninji, the commander of the Japanese army's Kamimura detachment launched a fierce assault on the positions of the Nitta defenders.

The defenders of Xintian were only about 500 people, and they lacked heavy firepower weapons, so where could the defenders stop an elite detachment of the Japanese army.

(End of chapter)