bayedsolid Chapter 492: Those who need to retreat should retreat immediately
Chapter 492: Those who need to retreat should retreat immediately
At noon that day, the body and belongings of Major General Masao Nakamura, commander of the 21st Brigade of the Japanese Army, were all sent to the headquarters of the Fifth Army. A group of officers and soldiers in the Fifth Army headquarters surrounded the body of Major General Masao Nakamura, commander of the brigade, and commented on it as if they were watching a monkey show.
In the command hall of the military headquarters, Commander Du was listening to a Japanese-speaking translation officer reading to him the contents of a diary among the relics of Major General Masao Nakamura, commander of the 21st Brigade of the Japanese Army.
"The reason why our 21st Brigade of the 5th Division was nicknamed the 'Steel Army' in the Russo-Japanese War was because our tenacity defeated the Russians' tenacity. However, here in Kunlun Pass, I should admit that we encountered an army that was more tenacious than the Russian army..." A lieutenant colonel staff officer looked at the diary of Major General Masao Nakamura, commander of the 21st Brigade of the Japanese Army, in his hand, and read out the contents of the diary from the previous few days.
Commander Du and several military leaders were very proud when they listened to the contents of the diary of Major General Masao Nakamura, commander of the 21st Brigade of the Japanese Army. You have to know how rampant the Japanese army was when the war just started. It is impossible for any ordinary Japanese soldier to look any officer in the Chinese army in the eye.
The fact that the senior officers of the opposing team have such recognition in their hearts is something that has been earned at the cost of blood and lives by countless soldiers. This also makes everyone present realize from the bottom of their hearts that all dignity and respect are earned at the cost of blood and lives, and this is also their mission and glory as soldiers.
That afternoon, Commander Du telegraphed the Fourth War Zone Command with the news of the great victory in which Kunlun Pass had been completely occupied and Major General Masao Nakamura, commander of the 21st Brigade, and Colonel Yoshinosuke Miki, commander of the 21st Regiment, had been killed.
This made all the bigwigs in the Fourth War Zone extremely excited. Among them, Commander Chen, who was in charge of supervising the battle, quickly forwarded the telegram of the victory to the highest level of the government. This was a great victory that was won by the government's direct troops.
While Commander Bai was happy, he also quickly sent a telegram to the 16th Army of the Guangxi Clique, stating that Kunlun Pass had been completely recaptured by the Fifth Army, and the 21st Brigade of the Japanese Army in Jiutang had also been defeated by the Fifth Army and the new 22nd Army.
At present, the only organized Japanese troops are the 2nd Regiment of the Taiwan Mixed Brigade of the Japanese Army in Luwu, and the 3rd Battalion of the 41st Regiment of the 9th Brigade of the Japanese Army, which is semi-surrounded by the 131st Division of the 31st Army of the Guangxi Clique of the West Route Army in Xichangwei. As for the Japanese troops with less than a battalion blocked by the 188th Division of the 31st Army of the Guangxi Clique near Suwei, they are not included.
Commander Bai knew very well that his own Guangxi clique troops would be unable to intervene in the Second Regiment of the Taiwan Mixed Brigade of the Japanese Army in Luwu. The division of the New 22nd Army there was not just for show. Moreover, his own Guangxi clique did not have many troops there. Unless the New 22nd Army took the initiative to request reinforcements, it would be difficult for him to send troops directly there to participate in the battle.
The only place where the Guangxi troops can perform well next is Xichangwei. As long as they can encircle and annihilate the 3rd Battalion of the 41st Regiment of the 9th Brigade of the Japanese Army that is half-surrounded in Xichangwei, their own Guangxi troops will still have a remarkable record in this Battle of Southern Guangxi.
Besides, Commander Bai believed that it would be no problem for his Gui troops to encircle and annihilate a battalion-level Japanese army, although the performance of the Gui troops in the previous battle was not satisfactory, that was because there was no consensus among the internal commanders.
After the highest level of the government and himself sent stern telegrams, the combat style of the Guangxi troops improved greatly. Although it was impossible for the Guangxi troops to encircle and annihilate as many Japanese troops at once as the government's direct troops, it was still no problem to encircle and annihilate a mere battalion-sized Japanese army.
Yesterday afternoon, the highest commander of the Japanese Yongqin Corps, the commander of the 5th Division, Lieutenant General Imamura Hitoshi, received the news that the commander of the 21st Brigade, Major General Nakamura Masao, had died in battle. This made the commander of the 5th Division, Lieutenant General Imamura Hitoshi, understand that with the death of Major General Nakamura Masao, the 21st Regiment at the Jieshou position on Kunlun Pass was also in danger.
After a brief thought, the commander of the 5th Division, Lieutenant General Imamura Hitoshi, quickly ordered Major Ito Chitsuyoshi, commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 41st Regiment of the 9th Brigade in Xichangwei, to lead his troops to retreat from the encirclement of the Chinese army towards Nanning. He also ordered Lieutenant Colonel Sakamoto Jun'ichi, chief of staff of the 2nd Regiment of the Taiwan Mixed Brigade in Luwu, to lead his troops to retreat westward and then retreat to Nanning in a roundabout way.
At the same time, Lieutenant General Imamura Hitoshi, commander of the Fifth Division, ordered the Ninth Brigade, which had previously attacked Longzhou and Zhennanguan from Nanning to the southwest, to quickly withdraw to Nanning and destroy the large quantities of strategic aid materials to China that had been seized in Longzhou and Zhennanguan.
The commander of the 5th Division, Lieutenant General Imamura Hitoshi, understood that it was impossible to recapture Kunlun Pass. Now was the time to make a choice. The 21st Regiment surrounded at Kunlun Pass was definitely doomed, and he did not have the troops to rescue the 21st Regiment from the clutches of the enemy. Moreover, from the telegram from the commander of the 21st Regiment, Colonel Miki Yoshinosuke, it was known that they could not hold out until reinforcements arrived.
Instead of doing this, it would be better to withdraw all the troops to Nanning City as soon as possible and do a good job of defending Nanning City before the Chinese army encircles other troops. As for the 21st Brigade, let them fight and retreat at the same time, and they can retreat to wherever they can. Of course, it would be ideal if they could retreat to Nanning City.
When Major Ito Chitsuyoshi, commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 41st Regiment of the 9th Brigade of the Japanese Army in Xichangwei received the retreat order from Lieutenant General Imamura Hitoshi, commander of the 5th Division, he was terrified. You know, the 21st Brigade was beaten into a mess, and even the brigade commander was killed. The strength of his battalion was not enough to fill the gap of the Chinese army.
The battalion commander, Major Ito Chitsuyoshi, immediately summoned all the officers in the army, explained the current critical battle situation, and arranged the direction of the breakout and the attacking forces. At the same time, the battalion commander, Major Ito Chitsuyoshi, also requested a large number of aircraft to assist in their breakout operation.
After receiving a telegram from Commander Bai requesting the 16th Guangxi Army to encircle and annihilate the 3rd Battalion of the 41st Regiment of the 9th Brigade of the Japanese Army in Xichangwei, another analysis emerged within the 16th Army. Some people believed that the Japanese army had been driven out of Kunlun Pass and there was no need to waste their own strength to encircle and annihilate the Japanese troops in Xichangwei.
This resulted in a considerable amount of time being wasted just on discussing whether to execute Commander Bai's order. By the time the 16th Army had unified its decision to execute Commander Bai's order, the 3rd Battalion of the 41st Regiment of the 9th Brigade of the Japanese Army in Xichangwei had already begun a breakout attack.