Just when the south bank of the Yangtze River is in full swing, the north bank of the Yangtze River is now also entering a life-and-death juncture. &1t;/p>

From the geographical point of view of China, the area east of Wuhan is located at the throat of the Yangtze River from Anqing to Huangshi and the lofty mountains on both sides of it. &1t;/p>

In the south, there are the Mufu Mountains represented by Lushan, and the mountains of northern Jiangxi and northern Hunan lie on the south bank of the Yangtze River, where hundreds of thousands of troops are buried, making it difficult for the Japanese army's mechanized troops to move an inch. &1t;/p>

At present, the Chinese Army's Ninth Theater Defense Zone, and the 74th Army of the Three Dogs is subordinate to the First Corps of the Ninth Theater, and is engaged in a fierce battle with the Japanese 11th Army in the area from Jiujiang to De'an. &1t;/p>

To the north is the Dabie Mountain Range, from Anhui in the east, to Wuhan in the west, to Henan in the north, and the Yangtze River in the south. &1t;/p>

This is the defense area of the Fifth Theater of the Chinese Army, which was just a few months ago, and in the first half of this year, in the Xuzhou area, a great victory was won in Taierzhuang. &1t;/p>

Taierzhuang's victory can be described as a tragic victory, killing 10,000 enemies and losing tens of thousands. &1t;/p>

The Battle of Xuzhou exhausted hundreds of thousands of troops in the entire Fifth Theater, which had not been repaired for half a year, and it was necessary to block the westward advance of the powerful Second Army in the Dabie Mountain area. &1t;/p>

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The Second Army of the Japanese Army was formed after the Lugou Bridge Incident, and at first belonged to the North China Front, fighting in the Shandong direction, under the jurisdiction of the 4th, 16th, and 1O8th Divisions. &1t;/p>

The 1O8th Division was soon transferred to the 1st Army, and the 16th Division was later transferred to Central China to participate in the Shanghai operation. &1t;/p>

During the Battle of Wuhan, the commander of the Second Army was Lieutenant General Minoru Higashiku, who led the 1O, 1st and 16th Divisions south to participate in the operation. &1t;/p>

This Higashikure Minoru was also a member of the Japanese imperial family, a prince, the uncle of Emperor Showa (Hirohito), and later became the commander-in-chief of Japan's homeland defense forces. &1t;/p>

After the emperor announced the surrender edict on August 15, 1945, Minoru Higashikuri became Japan's first imperial minister because of his imperial status and his rank of general in the 6th Army, which allowed him to control the situation in Japan at that time. &1t;/p>

After the Yellow River burst at the mouth of the garden, the Second Army had difficulty in assembling, especially the 16th Division, which reached Kaifeng, Henan, and was washed away by the Yellow River, suffering heavy losses all the way to Anhui. &1t;/p>

The 1O Division is the unit that was broken in Taierzhuang, and now after replenishing its troops, it is looking for revenge from the troops of the Fifth Theater of the Chinese Army everywhere, so it has entered the combat sequence of the Second Army. &1t;/p>

Needless to say, the 1st Division has been the vanguard of the Japanese army since it landed 6 in Shanghai last year, burning and looting all the way from Songhu to Nanjing, and it was also the criminal unit of the Nanjing Massacre. &1t;/p>

The Second Army of the Japanese Army originally belonged to the supporting role or assistant of the attack on Wuhan, and its headquarters was stationed in Hefei, Anhui Province, mainly to contain the Fifth Theater of Operations and wait for an opportunity to attack the Chinese army in Dabie Mountain. &1t;/p>

But Minoru Higashikure was unwilling to become a green leaf, and when he saw that the Chinese army was constantly gathering the main force on both sides of the Yangtze River on the Jiujiang line in order to stop the Japanese Okamura Ninji's 11th Army, his opportunity came. &1t;/p>

Due to the fierce offensive of the Japanese 11th Army, the troops of Dabie Mountain were also attracted to the south near the north bank of the Yangtze River, and there was a vacancy in the area at the northern foot of Dabie Mountain. &1t;/p>

Although Dabie Mountain is mostly steep and steep, the highway from the northern foothills to Lu'an, Gushi, Huangchuan, Luoshan to Xinyang belongs to the hilly area. &1t;/p>

Once this area is occupied by the Japanese army, the Japanese army can abandon the difficult advance of the Yangtze River line, and quickly advance to Xinyang in Henan Province on this line, or go to the Macheng area of Hubei Province, and attack the Wuhan area from the north and northeast of Wuhan. &1t;/p>

In particular, Xinyang is located on the Pinghan line, and after the Japanese army takes Xinyang, it will be able to reach Wuhan within half a day by train, and Wuhan will not have any dangerous place to defend. &1t;/p>

Such huge interests tempted the commander of the Japanese Second Army, Lieutenant General Higashikure, and although the road in the Lu'an area was destroyed by the Chinese army, it could not stop his ambitions. &1t;/p>

Dong Jiuer is also worried, because the Chinese army is now continuing to destroy the road from Lu'an to Gushi to Huangchuan, and he also hopes to kill it before it is destroyed. &1t;/p>

At the same time, because after the Yellow River burst, a major flood broke out in the Huai River area, and the Huai River iron bridge in Bengbu was washed away, and the Japanese Second Army originally belonged to the North China Front Army, and it was difficult to assemble in the area of Hefei, Anhui Province. &1t;/p>

However, Dong Jiuer extremely despised the combat capability of the Chinese army, and was not prepared to wait until all the troops were assembled before attacking, but while assembling, he sent troops to attack the northern foothills of the Dabie Mountains, hoping to open up the line to Xinyang or Macheng. &1t;/p>

Therefore, the Japanese Second Army, which was still assembling, sent the 1O Division to attack Lu'an, the 1st Division to break through Huoshan, and the 16th Division to Gushi. &1t;/p>

The troops in the Fifth Theater seem to have a large number of people, numbering hundreds of thousands, but most of them are tired troops who have just participated in the Battle of Xuzhou, and there are many new recruits who are still being repaired. &1t;/p>

In addition, the main force was constantly transferred to the southern foot of the Dabie Mountain, and the troops at the northern foot appeared in a relatively empty state, but some troops who were good at defense were arranged, and they deployed troops in this way with the operational idea of attacking the south and defending the north. &1t;/p>

In this area, the Fifth Theater arranged three lines of defense, mainly the Northwest Army and the Northeast Army, and the first line was the Feng Zhi'an Department of the 19th Army Corps that was firmly guarding Huoshan, which belonged to the Northwest Army, and the 19th Army Corps with the 77th Army as the main body after the 77th Army after the 77th Incident. &1t;/p>

The troops of Lu'an, which was firmly defended on the front line, were the 51st Army, which belonged to the old Northeast Army, and Yu Xuezhong, the representative of the Northeast Army, was the commander. &1t;/p>

The second line is the Mall and Gushi areas, and the defenders are the 71st Army of General Song Xilian, and the 71st Army at this time gathered the three Nanjing Guard Divisions, the 6th, 87th, and 88th Divisions, and temporarily increased a 61st Division, which is considered a good strength. &1t;/p>

However, it was only in the process of reconstruction and repair, and the 88th Division lost face in the Battle of Lanfeng and was revoked. &1t;/p>

Behind General Song, in the Xinyang area west of the second line, was General Zhang Zizhong's 7th Army, after the 77 Incident, General Zhang led the 59th Army of the 9th Army of the old Northwest Army, and defeated the 5th Division of the Japanese Army, the most elite of the Japanese Army, in the Battle of Linyi. &1t;/p>

So, with the 59th Army as the main body, the 7th Army Corps was formed, with General Zhang as the commander of the corps, guarding Xinyang on the Pinghan Road and guarding the north gate of Wuhan. &1t;/p>

The last line is the first group army in the Macheng area, which is the main force that created the great victory in Taierzhuang, the old Northwest Army of General Sun Lianzhong. &1t;/p>

These third-line troops are all under the command and dispatch of the Corps Commander General Sun Lianzhong. &1t;/p>

In the face of the fierce offensive of the Japanese Second Army, the 114th Division of the 51st Army in Lu'an held only one day, and could not resist the Japanese army, and withdrew on August 9. On the same day, Huoshan could not resist the Japanese army and was lost. (To be continued)&1t;/p>

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