Chapter 374: Jianghan Campaign! Blitzkrieg

The tank's roar ripped the morning mist over the Jianghan Plain.

Fifty M4 "Sherman" tanks formed a wedge‑shaped assault formation, advancing slowly.

The tracks rolled over the damp rice‑field dikes, kicking up mud waves and broken straw, while the engine growled low like a muffled thunder rolling across the earth.

It is a rare mechanized iron stream on the Chinese battlefield—five whole tank companies, each with ten tanks, personally led by tank battalion commander Zhang Bing.

He is also Jiang Anguo's first tank company commander, now promoted to battalion commander.

Zhang Bing stood on his No. 1 tank, his face showing resolve, his eyes burning with the pre‑battle sharpness unique to him.

He hurried to the temporary command post and saluted Jiang Anguo, who stood before the map: "Commander, please issue the attack order."

Jiang Anguo did not respond immediately.

He faced away from the rising sun, staring at the unprecedented steel force before him—armor, infantry, transport vehicles.

Everything was orderly, as if a truly modern army.

A faint smile lifted his mouth; his voice was low yet sharp as a drawn blade: "Attack Jingmen. Today, we must take it."

"Yes!" Zhang Bing turned, his voice booming like a bell, "All battalion, target Jingmen, advance!"

Take Jingmen!

Kill the Little Devil!

On the transport vehicles, the soldiers of the 150th Division's 449th Regiment roared in unison, their shouts soaring skyward and startling a flock of distant forest birds. Gunstocks slapped the carriage, steel helmets clanged, morale boiled.

Not far away, 11th Division commander Hu Lian stood on a mound, watching the rolling torrent of steel in the smoke and dust, silent for a long time, already at a loss for words.

He suddenly turned his head and said softly to the veteran Sichuan Army general Xu Guozhang beside him: "Old Xu, have you ever fought such a prosperous battle?"

Hu Lian had seen it in a unit before, the Fifth Army, which could be called the nation's first mechanized force.

But those tanks, compared with the big machines before us now, were far inferior.

Xu Guozhang grinned, his dark face brimming with incredulous excitement, "By the old man's oath! Colonel Hu, my Sichuan troops once marched out of Chengdu on foot, straw sandals wearing thin, the Type‑38 rifle treasured as a gem. Never saw so many iron lumps! This time… it's finally our turn to show some grit!" He paused, lowering his voice, "Just fear the Little Devil might panic and bite back."

Hu Lian nodded, his gaze returning to the distance: "Therefore, this battle cannot be delayed. A swift strike is the only way to cut off their supply route."

Compared with the start of the war, Hu Lian now had far too much confidence.

The Japanese Army at Jingmen fielded only a single regiment; the main force marching to the Zhang River, the corpses strewn across the ground and the charred smell made many soldiers feel like vomiting their breakfast.

Good fellow, so the air force guys were that fierce yesterday.

Xu Guozhang had also learned to loot spoils, first seeking written items; thus whatever the lower units obtained could be kept privately, except documents, which had to be turned in.

From scattered telegrams they learned that the Japanese unit bombed yesterday was the 39th Division's 231st Regiment stationed at Jingmen, and that the Japanese 231st Regiment commander, Kikuchi Shigeno, was found beneath a warhorse.

It is probably the first Japanese regiment commander to die beneath a warhorse on Chinese soil.

In fact, the offensive was not a hasty move; after learning of the Jianghan Plain, Jiang Anguo had long wanted to try a blitzkrieg.

When he was in Changde he had considered using blitzkrieg at Yichang, but after seeing Old Xu's map, he was harshly taught that a blitz at Yichang might become another Kunlun Pass blood battle.

Yichang's complex terrain—don't even think of tanks; getting through with a single transport vehicle is already the best.

Otherwise the Japanese 17th Brigade wouldn't be blocked on the Xiaoting ancient road, being pressed by the Mielong.

Late on June 2, Jiang Anguo urgently convened all platoon‑ and company‑level officers of the 11th and 150th Divisions at the temporary command post.

The meeting had a single agenda: Infantry‑Tank Coordinated Operation.

Under the dim yellow light, staff officer Yan Xing sketched routes on a large terrain map with red‑blue pencils, while the sand table was studded with tiny flags representing friendly and enemy forces.

Jiang Anguo explained personally: "Tomorrow's battle, tanks will lead as vanguard, soldiers on transport vehicles will follow closely; there's no need to deploy wings because Jingmen lacks that many troops, and there will be no ambush in the open. Even if there is, my tank battalion will crush it."

The Little Devil's current forces are also stretched thin.

It depends on that Japanese commander in Wuhan, A Naganuma, whether he dares to release the Third and Sixth Divisions.

If they are released, Jiang Anguo will not hold back.

"When the tanks depart, the Ghost Battalion's aircraft in the sky will also launch an attack on Jingmen."

For a full hour, every link—from timing of fire support to dismount assault distance, from communication codes to emergency plans for encountering anti‑tank ditches—was rehearsed repeatedly.

The officers listened attentively; the first part was addressed to all officers, the latter commands were for those above battalion level.

Especially some of the 150th Division's officers, who heard it in a haze.

Fortunately everyone understood that with tanks at the forefront and our air force cooperating overhead, once the planes drop bombs and the tanks open fire, the infantry will assault Jingmen.

This Jingmen battle can also be called Jiang Anguo's test of blitzkrieg, though the forces he could muster were limited.

Hu Lian had also abandoned Yichang, leaving it to Jiang Anguo's Independent Regiment; in fact, Hu Lian's 31st and 32nd Regiments had already reached Yichang.

Before that, Hu Lian had ordered the 34th Regiment to move toward Jingmen.

Tomorrow's battle will affect the entire western Hubei front.

At this moment, dawn pierced the clouds; Jiang Anguo raised his wrist, glanced at his watch—09:08.

Ahead, fifty Sherman tanks had crossed the First Defensive Line, their turrets turning slowly, the 76 mm main guns pointing toward Jingmen.

All members of the 150th Division's 449th Regiment rode American‑made GMC trucks right behind, infantry crouched at the vehicle edges, rifles loaded, eyes like eagles.

Further back, Hu Lian's 11th Division surged forward in a forced march, bayonets glinting coldly in the sun.

That is Xu Guozhang's nature; his original intent was to make Hu Lian's 11th Division the main force, so it seems the fight for Jingzhou should still be handed to the 11th Division.

However, Jiang Anguo's gaze did not linger on the main force.

He turned to Guard Company Commander Jiang Xingxue and ordered: "Notify the Guard Company to proceed east as originally planned, target Wuli Pu."

Wuli Pu, an unassuming small town, is the choke‑point route from Jingmen to Jingzhou.

Intelligence shows the Japanese 39th Division stationed at Jingzhou has received a request for aid telegram and may dispatch a mobile unit to relieve the 231st Regiment trapped inside Jingmen city.

If they link up, not only will Jingmen be hard to take, the entire front will fall into a passive stance.

Regardless of whether Sasaki arrives at Jingmen, the position at Wuli Pu must be held.

"We must weld this gate shut before they react," Jiang Anguo said calmly, each word as hard as iron.

The Guard Company did not head north; instead it quietly turned east, the convoy moving straight eastward, charging directly at Wuli Pu.

Their mission is not a strong attack but to intercept and delay the Japanese Army reinforcements heading toward Jingmen; whether First Lieutenant Sasaki arrives or not, Jiang Anguo must arrange a unit for defense.

In the sky, several P-38 fighter planes skimmed the clouds, emitting sharp howls.

Above the cloud layer, more than twenty P-38 Lightning fighters were heading toward the Jingmen direction.

On the ground, Tank tracks crushed the silence, and infantry footsteps thudded on the earth.

A battle that would decide the fate of western Hubei began its opening.

Inside Jingmen City, the Japanese Army's 231st Regiment radio was frantically calling: "Enemy forces have a large number of tanks! Repeat, a large number of tanks! Requesting support! Requesting support!"

But their reinforcements may never arrive.