Chapter 325: Little Devils in a Hurry

Jiang Anguo was very clear that the factor determining whether this battle could achieve final victory lay with him.

At present, the troop strength comparison between enemy and us gave Jiang Anguo a figure in his mind: the Japanese Army's main force in Yichang was the 13th Division, with at least fifteen thousand Little Devils.

On his side, besides Xu Guozhang's 8,000 men, his own Independent Regiment numbered 4,300, including the Guard Company he had temporarily drawn in.

The Independent Regiment's establishment was 3,653 men; it still lacked one battalion, which the whole unit would bring in to attack Xiaoting.

If the Little Devils held Yichang to the death, Jiang Anguo could only pile up lives, using his system to continuously send people to the Front.

Whether this fight could win depended on where his position was; his position had to be on the Front.

In other words, when soldiers fell, he had to replenish them immediately.

In the Battle of Yichang, he was careless due to insufficient intelligence and ignorance of the Japanese Army's troop situation.

Otherwise he would have waited and air‑lifted an Infantry Regiment from Lashu, and with the two regiments' strength could fully suppress the Japanese garrison inside Yichang.

Jiang Anguo stood on the high ground of Moji Shan.

At this moment the situation unfolded exactly as he had planned, using Xiaoting as a "nail" to launch a spectacular encirclement and relief strike. He was employing the 150th Division from the Xiaoting direction, wildly consuming Japanese reinforcements pouring in from Dangyang, Zhijiang and all four sides.

Of course, besides the recent reinforcement from the Zhijiang direction, the Japanese 232nd Regiment, the Japanese reinforcements from the Dangyang direction had already perished in the bombing.

This was not only a tactical game but also a strategic gamble. Jiang Anguo knew clearly that only by pulling out the Japanese Army's claws around Yichang one by one, exhausting their living strength, and then delivering the fatal strike on Yichang City would the success rate be highest and his comrades' sacrifices be minimal.

Yet he still feared the Japanese 39th Division stationed in Jingzhou.

Jiang Anguo did not dare to be careless toward that division.

It was a Type‑B Japanese Division, fully organized and with a tenacious combat style.

Jiang Anguo lowered his head to glance at the not‑very‑wide Defensive Line behind him, silently calculating the forces in his mind.

Now the troops he had deployed at Baiyang Town were truly unimpressive: three Infantry Companies, plus the 105 mm howitzer company that Shi Xiaomao had positioned on the south bank of the Yangtze River.

All told, it was only the strength of four companies, with a total number even under one thousand.

These thousand men had to face the surging torrent of a fully‑manned Japanese Division. In the past Jiang Anguo would have cracked a grin and said "the advantage is ours," but now, watching the waves crash the shore, he could no longer smile.

This was certainly not a game but a true blood battle, a life‑or‑death arena, a duel with no room for retreat.

Baiyang Town's position was crucial; it was like a screen wall firmly blocking in front of Xiaoting. Once Baiyang Town fell to the Japanese, not only would Xiaoting's rear be cut off, but the entire rear of the 150th Division would be laid bare before the Japanese, ready to be sliced up.

However, the good news was that the Japanese 232nd Regiment's assault last night had hit a disastrous wall and suffered a heavy loss. This, he estimated, would let the Baiyang Town Defensive Line hold steadily for another day or two. On a battlefield that changes in an instant, those one or two days marked the line between life and death.

After the encirclement‑relief strike, the remaining four characters meant: swift victory.

Jiang Anguo was fully aware that he had to end the Yichang fight at the fastest possible speed to cut off the Japanese Army's intention to send reinforcements. Of course, he also knew this was not a solo battle. Xue Yue's th War Zone was fiercely attacking Yueyang; this "encircle Wei to rescue Zhao" move was applied perfectly, forcibly drawing the main forces of the Japanese Central China expeditionary army over, forcing A Naganuma to immediately dispatch heavy troops toward Yueyang to plug the gap.

As long as Xue Yue could hold the Japanese's furious counter‑offensive at Yueyang, Jiang Anguo would have absolute confidence to gnaw away the hard bone of Yichang.

While Jiang Anguo concentrated on observing how many Japanese troops were dispatched this time and gauging the emptiness inside Yichang City, a steady voice sounded beside him.

"Commander, it looks like the Little Devils are truly in a hurry this time, having moved a lot of troops to Xiaoting."

Yao Quanyi, whose arrival beside Jiang Anguo was unknown, also held a telescope, watching the Little Devils' troop movements on the opposite bank.

Jiang Anguo gave a slight nod and said, "Yes, the emptier Yichang City is, the greater our odds. That way, the pressure we'll face when we cross the river to assault Yichang will be much smaller."

"The bombing just now was loud; it must have been William's air squadron that spotted the Japanese's assembly position," Yao Quanyi turned, pointing at the still‑rising column of smoke toward Xiaoting, the echo of the explosion still ringing in his ears.

"Indeed! Spectacular," Jiang Anguo put down the telescope, a cruelly amused grin curling his lips. "Too bad it's so far away; I can't see the details over there. I'd love to go over myself and hear those Little Devils' wails! That would be the most wonderful music in the world."

Moji Shan lay just over twenty kilometers from Xiaoting; at that range the details were blurry, but the sky‑filled smoke and soaring flames were clearly visible.

It should be noted that William's First Squadron had poured resources into this sortie, dispatching more than twenty P‑38 "Lightning" fighters simultaneously; that dense swarm, even the Little Devils didn't have such reach, delivered a devastating carpet‑bombing strike on any exposed ground target.

Every P‑38 was laden with Death's gifts, enough to send the ground‑level Little Devils back to meet their Emperor.

At the same time, Nick's Second Squadron was not idle. They were already roaring toward Dangyang, targeting the Japanese units still trying to reinforce Xiaoting. That would be the final devastating bombing of the Dangyang Japanese reinforcements, completely cutting off their desire to intervene in this battle and snuffing out the hope of Japanese reinforcement at its source.

Jiang Anguo held only his last two cards unplayed; the first was his elite three‑thousand‑strong force from the Moji Shan Independent Regiment.

Jiang Anguo slowly set down the telescope, turned, and cast his gaze across the Yangtze River toward the distant North.

That was the direction of his second hidden card.

A barely perceptible urgency flickered in his eyes. In that direction, a unit was marching hard.

"Hu Lian, you must hurry, even faster…" Jiang Anguo muttered silently in his mind. In this hair‑trigger moment, time was life; arriving an hour, even a minute earlier could overturn the battle.

He was waiting for Hu Lian's 11th Division.

As long as the 11th Division could reach the designated point, Dianjun Mountain, the battlefield's scale would tip dramatically. Dianjun Mountain, opposite Yichang across the river, was an excellent launch point and support base.

Then the disparity in forces would be completely erased, and Jiang Anguo's side would even hold a local numerical advantage.

Jiang Anguo's Independent Regiment would be the main attacking force, drawing all Japanese troops inside Yichang City, after which the 11th Division could thrust in like a Bayonet, delivering a fatal blow to the Japanese 13th Division inside Yichang.

Jiang Anguo inhaled deeply, turned his gaze again toward Yichang City across the river, his eyes ablaze with fierce battle spirit.

Elite versus elite—that was the most exhilarating aspect of this battle.

On the Japanese side, whether the 13th Division or the Japanese Type‑A elite division, they were well‑equipped, indoctrinated with Bushido Spirit, and ferociously powerful. Here, Jiang Anguo's Independent Regiment was the tiger‑wolf force he had honed in Myanmar, plus Hu Lian's 11th Division, a steel‑clad mighty army.

The fight was all about elite! To win, you must win in the clash of the strongest!