Chapter 361: The Battle of Jingxiang

Yichang, Jingzhou, Jingmen, form a triangle that blocks the road out of Sichuan.

Although Yichang has now returned to Huaxia forces, it is still somewhat difficult to let Hu Lian's 11th Division face the Japanese Army's attacks from two directions alone.

Jiang Anguo lowered his head in thought, and glanced at Xu Guozhang beside him.

Heh, bro, just say it! Where shall we hit next? Old Xu, my 150th Division is still waiting to kill the devils!

Alright, Old Xu, that's exactly the courage I need; this time, we'll attack Jingzhou, Jiang Anguo said softly.

"Really attack?" Xu Guozhang lowered his head, leaned toward Jiang Anguo and asked seriously.

Hu Lian, at this moment, was doubtful: "Anguo, will the Military Commission approve this operation?"

Jiang Anguo looked up at his brother‑in‑law, wondering if he was too steady, not at all like Hu Lian, and said, "I tell you, Old Hu, why is your courage so small? We're expanding our gains; I just ask if you dare to take Jingzhou."

Hu Lian immediately replied resolutely, "Attack, just tell me how to attack."

Jiang Anguo was very satisfied with that; that's the right attitude.

"Alright, let's rest first. Give me an hour to think about how to attack. By the way, Old Xu, how many troops did you bring?" Jiang Anguo asked.

Hu Lian only knew that a division has four regiments, indicating this is the actual Reinforced Division and the Central Division.

However, Hu Lian's worries caused him to bring only two regiments, namely the 33rd and 34th Regiments.

Old brother, this time I only brought two regiments; I brought the 449th and 450th Regiments. Isn't the manpower a bit short? Xu Guozhang said loudly.

Got it! That's enough—it's just Jingzhou, that's enough, enough!

Jiang Anguo, because of the attack on Yichang, ended up with a formation of four thousand troops, meaning they now have the following forces: Guard Company of 340 men, Xu Guozhang's Infantry Regiment of three thousand men, and the Reinforced Camp brought by Hu Lian of just over a thousand men.

All counted, that's a division, enough.

"Old Xu, can the 449th Regiment still fight?" Jiang Anguo asked.

Jiang Anguo worried that the 449th Regiment suffered heavy losses when seizing Xiaoting, but in fact Xu Guozhang had always been attacking Xiaoting with the 448th Regiment.

Little brother, don't worry, my 449th and 450th Regiments are fine; as long as you give a word, we can attack Jingzhou right now, Xu Guozhang said confidently.

Jiang Anguo nodded, "Alright, get that side ready first, give me some time, we'll calculate how to take Jingzhou."

Jiang Anguo understood that merely capturing Yichang, though it blocked the entrance into Sichuan, would still make it difficult to safely transport supplies from Sichuan to Changsha, which is under Xue Yue of the Nonary War Zone.

Without removing the two nails in front of us, it is clearly very difficult.

Meanwhile, Dangyang consists of the remnants of the Japanese Army's 116th Regiment, only a few hundred men, plus the Independent Mixed 17th Brigade, which has the strength of two battalions.

The entire Dangyang garrison does not exceed three thousand men; a single push could take Dangyang.

Of course, Jiang Anguo still intends to capture both Jingzhou and Jingmen; he currently does not know the situation at Jingmen, but he knows clearly that Jingzhou is defended by the Japanese Army's 39th Division.

Jiang Anguo's current forces are in the Jingmen Mountains, heading from Yichang toward Dangyang.

At the same time, his other unit, the Ghost Battalion commanded by Yan Xing and William, is in Changsha.

According to the telegram from Yan Xing, William's battalion can still carry out two bombing missions.

The fuel is sufficient, but the key issue is artillery shells; Jiang Anguo has not set aside enough.

This is why William did not directly bomb the Japanese forces toward Jingzhou today, and also because the Japanese 39th Division moved so quickly that it slipped into Jingzhou city, causing Nick's Ghost Second Battalion to abandon its attack mission.

Now sending Jiang Anguo back to Changsha is clearly impossible; he wouldn't say he'd trek three or four days back to Changsha to equip William's air squadron with the necessary fuel and ammunition, because that would cause him to miss an excellent opportunity.

"Xiao Si, send a telegram to Lin Yi at Lashu, telling him to coordinate with Song Yunfei to transport all the aerial bombs of the Northern Burma Air Squadron to Changsha," Jiang Anguo ordered.

"Yes."

Xiao Si immediately took the order, went to the back, and used the radio to send a telegram to Lin Yi, who is far away in Lashu.

Jiang Anguo must ensure that William's Ghost Battalion in Changsha can launch three full‑scale bombing runs to support the ground forces.

Jiang Anguo, Hu Lian, and Xu Guozhang sat in a circle, with a pile of mud in the middle; upon close inspection, it was a simple map of western Hubei.

The lines were crooked, the city markings scribbled, and the characters for "Yichang" were even written backwards.

"Anguo, your map work is really ugly!" Hu Lian couldn't help laughing, poked the "Jingzhou" spot with a branch, "Does this look like a crab or a city?"

Jiang Anguo's face turned red, and he turned to Xu Guozhang, "Old Xu, is it really that ugly?"

Xu Guozhang suppressed a laugh and nodded honestly, "... a bit."

"Hehe!" Jiang Anguo forced a dry laugh, quickly changed the subject, "Alright, alright, who knows the geography of the Jianghan Plain? We must seize back the lost ground while the devils are still disoriented!"

As he spoke, a commotion erupted behind him.

Deputy Division Commander of the 11th Division and commander of the 33rd Regiment, Luo Xianda, arrived, followed by the main force of the 11th Division's 33rd Regiment in full formation.

"Colonel Jiang!" Luo Xianda saluted, "I'm late. As it happens, I'm from Changsha and know western Hubei and the Jianghan area very well."

He crouched, grabbed a few stones at random, and spread them on the map:

"Look, this is Wuhan, where the Japanese Central Command is located, heavily guarded, not moving for now."

He placed a large stone, "This is Jingzhou, a port on the north bank of the Yangtze River; a portion of the Japanese 39th Division is stationed here, and they are probably rushing toward Yichang at this moment."

Another stone, "This is Jingmen, a transportation hub, also within the Japanese 39th Division's defensive zone."

Another, "Tianmen, Qianjiang, Mianyang... all are small outposts, defended mainly by Pseudo Army troops, collapsing at the first touch."

He traced a line with the stones: "From Yichang eastward, advance along the Han‑Yi Highway; Jingmen can be retaken within three days; Shayang County can be captured within five days, cutting the Japanese north‑south communications. The Jianghan Plain has a dense water network, but the June flood season hasn't arrived, so the roads are still passable."

Hu Lian nodded, "Feasible. My 11th Division will spearhead the attack on Jingmen, Commander Xu's 150th Division will clear Tianmen and Qianjiang, and Anguo will take your Independent Regiment straight into Shayang County, where there is a dock that must be seized before the devils can bomb it out."

Jiang Anguo looked at Hu Lian and laughed, "What, Colonel Hu, have you become so confident, thinking you can crush a Japanese division head‑on on the Jianghan Plain?"

Hu Lian immediately realized that their victory at Yichang depended on Jiang Anguo's Independent Regiment's strong air support and the artillery's fire coverage.

"Little brother, you should explain how to fight this battle." Compared with Xu Guozhang, who was much calmer, Hu Lian might not be able to command my 150th Division, but if it's Jiang, then Xu Guozhang would be willing to stake his life.

Jiang Anguo pointed at Jingzhou, "Let me tell you something: this morning's reinforcements for Jingzhou, which were likely the main force of the Japanese 39th Division, have been scared off by my air squadron and dare not leave Jingzhou."

"So, Dangyang and Jingmen are currently isolated strongholds; therefore I decide to move north from the Jingmen Mountains, concentrate all our forces, capture Dangyang, and then advance north to seize Jingmen."

Jiang Anguo lifted a branch, looked around at the officers, "Finally, we will strike Jingzhou directly."

Xu Guozhang slapped his thigh, "Jiang Anguo, you're reliable! My Sichuan kid has been itching to fight for a long time!"

Xu Guozhang also didn't see any difference in Jiang Anguo's tactical layout compared with Hu Lian's, but he just felt that this older brother was far more reliable than Hu Lian.

Perhaps, this is trust!