Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Chapter 763 The Japanese Army Doesn’t Want to Fight Anymore

At this time, the 115th Battalion of the Japanese Army had already suffered a crushing defeat. As soon as the troops of the 194th Army of the Chinese government launched the attack, no one in the remnants of the 115th Battalion of the Japanese Army was willing to continue fighting.

Faced with the flank attack from the 94th Army of the Chinese government, no matter how Major Ogasawara, commander of the 115th Battalion of the Japanese Army, issued combat orders, he was unable to prevent the remaining officers and soldiers of the 115th Battalion of the Japanese Army from abandoning all their baggage and heavy weapons and fleeing in all directions.

In this way, among the remaining remnants of the 115th Battalion of the Japanese Army, half of the officers and soldiers were killed on the spot or stabbed to death with bayonets by the attacking forces of the 94th Army of the Chinese government, and almost all the officers of the 115th Battalion of the Japanese Army were also killed or wounded.

When the 58th Brigade of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army was surrounded by the Chinese government's troops, Lieutenant General Kazuyoshi Sakanishi, commander of the 20th Army of the Japanese Army, also ordered the 34th Division of the Japanese Army stationed in Xinning to immediately rescue the remnants of the surrounded 58th Brigade of the Japanese Army.

However, since the start of the Xiangxi Campaign, Lieutenant General Ban Jian'ao, the commander of the 34th Division of the Japanese Army, which was still relatively intact, actually rejected the reinforcement order from Lieutenant General Sakanishi Ichiyoshi, commander of the 20th Army of the Japanese Army, on the grounds that the 34th Division of the Japanese Army had been attacked by the Chinese government's army and could not be withdrawn.

After completing the combat mission of annihilating the 58th Brigade of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army, the 94th Army of the Chinese Government immediately launched an attack on the 34th Division of the Japanese Army stationed in Xinning. Facing the fierce attack of the 94th Army of the Chinese Government, the 34th Division of the Japanese Army was unable to hold its position. Therefore, the commander of the 34th Division of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Ban Jianxiong, could only order the troops to retreat quickly, allowing the 94th Army of the Chinese Government to successfully recapture Xinning.

The Japanese 116th Division, which was originally responsible for the central attack, also began its breakout operation on May 1. The commander of the 116th Division, Lieutenant General Motoshiro Hishida, ordered the 120th and 133rd Regiments to launch consecutive fierce attacks on Qingyan and Tieshan occupied by the Chinese government forces.

Because, the commander of the Japanese 20th Army, Lieutenant General Kazuyoshi Sakanishi, ordered the commander of the Japanese 116th Division, Lieutenant General Motoshiro Hishida, to rescue the Japanese 109th Regiment which was surrounded by the Chinese government's army.

The 170th Regiment of the 57th Division of the Chinese government withstood 15 charges by the offensive forces of the 116th Division and killed more than 1,600 Japanese soldiers of the 116th Division in the battle of Qingyan battlefield.

Even some soldiers in the 133rd Regiment of the Japanese Army openly opposed to continuing the fighting, and some Japanese officers and soldiers felt that victory was hopeless and chose to commit suicide. The heavy casualties caused by the unfavorable attack and the low morale of the officers and soldiers in the army made the situation of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army even more critical.

On May 4, 1945, Lieutenant General Sakanishi Ichiyoshi, commander of the Japanese 20th Army, finally realized that the 109th Regiment of the Japanese Army could no longer be rescued. If he insisted on not withdrawing his troops, the entire 116th Division of the Japanese Army would most likely be wiped out by the Chinese government's army in western Hunan.

Therefore, after communicating with Lieutenant General Kobayashi Asazaburo, Chief of Staff of the China Expeditionary Army, who came to the headquarters to understand the actual situation on the battlefield, Lieutenant General Sakanishi Ichiyoshi, Commander of the Japanese 20th Army, sent a telegram to General Okamura Yasuji, Commander of the China Expeditionary Army, requesting General Okamura Yasuji to allow the Japanese 20th Army to terminate the Battle of Xiangxi and withdraw its troops.

At the same time, General Okamura Yasuji, commander of the Japanese China Expeditionary Army, also sent a telegram to Lieutenant General Motoshiro Hishida, commander of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army, ordering the remaining troops of the 116th Division to prepare to withdraw from the Xiangxi area.

On May 6, 1945, the highest level of the Chinese government ordered General He, Chief of Staff of the Chinese Government Military Commission, to launch a general counterattack against the offensive forces of the Japanese 20th Army in the Xiangxi area.

This counterattack telegram from the Chinese government was intercepted by the Japanese military's interrogation radio station. Then, this telegram from the highest level of the Chinese government regarding the general counterattack in the Xiangxi region was sent by the Japanese military intelligence forces to the office of General Okamura Yasuji, commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Army.

After reading the telegram in which the Chinese government army was about to launch a general counterattack against the offensive forces of the Japanese 20th Army in western Hunan, the commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Army, General Okamura Yasuji, was also frightened. In the past few days, the commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Army, General Okamura Yasuji had been thinking about whether to stop the Battle of Western Hunan and withdraw the Japanese 20th Army. Until he saw the deciphered telegram from the Chinese government, the commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Army, General Okamura Yasuji no longer hesitated and directly sent a telegram to the commander of the Japanese 20th Army, Lieutenant General Sakanishi Ichiyoshi, ordering the termination of the Battle of Western Hunan and the withdrawal of all offensive forces of the Japanese 20th Army.

On May 10, 1945, after receiving the retreat telegram from General Okamura Yasuji, commander of the China Expeditionary Army, Lieutenant General Sakanishi Kazuyoshi, commander of the 20th Army of the Japanese Army, immediately ordered Lieutenant General Motoshiro Hishida, commander of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army, to retreat with the entire 116th Division.

After receiving the telegram, Lieutenant General Motoshiro Hishida, commander of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army, immediately led the remaining troops of the 116th Division to retreat from Yuexi to the vicinity of Dongkou Town.

At this time, Colonel Yasusaburo Takidera of the 109th Regiment of the Japanese Army, which was surrounded by the Chinese government's army, once again sent a distress telegram to Lieutenant General Motoshiro Hishida, commander of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army.

The commander of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Motoshiro Hishida, did not want to see the complete demise of the 109th Regiment surrounded by the Chinese army. Therefore, after the troops retreated to Dongkou Town, the commander of the 116th Division of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Motoshiro Hishida, ordered the troops of the 116th Division to turn back and advance towards Yuexi, preparing to support the breakout operation of the 109th Regiment of the Japanese Army again.

Commander Wang of the Fourth Front Army of the Chinese Government also discovered the movement of the Japanese 116th Division's troops that had turned back, so he ordered the Chinese Government's 18th Army to rush to Dongkou Town, and the Chinese Government's 74th Army to assist the 18th Army's troops to stop the advance of the Japanese 116th Division.

At the same time, Commander Wang of the Fourth Front Army of the Chinese Government ordered the 100th Army of the Chinese Government to be the main attacking force, and first eliminate the 109th Regiment of the Japanese Army, which was isolated and deep in the encirclement.