bayedsolid Chapter 468 Counterattack Meeting
Chapter 468 Counterattack Meeting
In order to recapture Nanning and drive the Japanese army out of southern Guangxi, the top government spent a huge amount of money this time. Under the direct decision of the top government, all the elite troops of the Chinese government around Guangxi Province were transferred to southern Guangxi to participate in the war, which also demonstrated the determination of the top government to win this battle.
Under the personal command of the highest level of government, the Fifth Army, the Second Army, the Sixth Army, the Thirty-Sixth Army, and the New Twenty-Second Army, all strategic forces directly under the Military Commission of the Huaxia Government, were transferred to southern Guangxi. Then, the Sixty-Sixth Army and the Sixty-Fourth Army were dispatched from western and northern Guangdong to join the combat sequence of the Fourth War Zone.
Moreover, in addition to dispatching these infantry units, in order to strengthen the offensive capability, the top government also unprecedentedly dispatched two artillery battalions equipped with German 150mm caliber artillery, an anti-aircraft artillery battalion, and an anti-tank artillery battalion to the Fourth War Zone. The top government even rarely dispatched more than combat aircraft of the newly replenished Second Army of the Chinese Air Force to Guangxi Province to support the operations.
Judging from the strength on paper alone, the Chinese army participating in the Battle of Southern Guangxi has surpassed the Japanese troops in southern Guangxi in both numbers and firepower.
After occupying Nanning, the Japanese army did not stop its advance. Lieutenant General Ando Toshiyoshi, commander of the 21st Army of the Japanese Army, understood before the war that occupying Nanning was only the first step. How to defend Nanning was a difficult problem. If they wanted to defend Nanning, the Kunlun Pass northeast of Nanning would become extremely important.
On the second day after the occupation of Nanning, the 21st and 42nd Regiments of the 5th Division of the Japanese Army attacked towards Kunlun Pass. After two days and two nights of fierce fighting with the Japanese attacking forces, the Chinese defenders were forced to retreat. The Japanese army also took advantage of the situation to occupy Kunlun Pass, adding an important weight to the Japanese army's defense of Nanning.
After the Japanese army successfully occupied Kunlun Pass, Lieutenant General Ando Rikichi, commander of the 21st Army of the Japanese Army, felt relieved. Lieutenant General Ando Rikichi believed that as long as his troops occupied Kunlun Pass, the overall situation of the Southern Guangxi Campaign planned by the headquarters would be basically determined.
Lieutenant General Ando Rikichi, commander of the 21st Army of the Japanese Army, felt that the overall situation had been decided and that he had completed the combat mission assigned by the headquarters. He could also leave Qinzhou and return to Yangcheng to take charge of the overall situation.
Therefore, Lieutenant General Ando Toshiyoshi, commander of the 21st Army of the Japanese Army, announced that all Japanese troops in southern Guangxi would form the Yongqin Corps, which would be commanded by Lieutenant General Imamura Hitoshi, commander of the 5th Division. Then Commander Lieutenant General Ando Toshiyoshi flew back to Guangzhou by plane.
Before leaving, Commander Lieutenant General Ando Toshiyoshi announced that the first phase of the combat mission had been successfully completed, and all troops suspended their offensive. He also asked Lieutenant General Imamura Hitoshi, commander of the 5th Division, to adjust the deployment of the troops and prepare to defend against the subsequent counterattack by the Chinese army.
At this point, the Chinese army and the Japanese army temporarily formed a standoff with the Kunlun Pass mountain line as the boundary. The Chinese government was actively concentrating its troops to launch a counterattack to retake Nanning City and drive the Japanese army out of southern Guangxi, while the Japanese army was actively building fortifications to consolidate the occupied areas.
Lieutenant General Ando Rikichi, commander of the 21st Japanese Army, who returned to Guangzhou, was doing something big. According to the headquarters' previous combat plan, one of the stated goals was to attack southern Guangxi by force, occupy Nanning and cut off the Chinese government's national supply line.
The headquarters launched the Battle of Southern Guangxi with a hidden "advanced strategy", which was to use force to lure and coerce the Guangxi clique to rebel against the Chinese government, in an attempt to instigate the Guangxi clique to become independent or join the new pseudo-Chinese government established by the second in command of the original Chinese government. A divided China would be a country that was in line with the interests of the Empire of Japan.
The so-called "advanced strategy" formulated by the headquarters was actually because the war officially broke out in Europe on September 1st. Germany officially began to attack Poland on September 1st, and the Soviet Union also launched an attack on Poland from the east.
Subsequently, Britain and France also declared war on Germany at the same time. A world-class war had already begun, which made the Japanese government and the headquarters even more anxious.
The Japanese government asked the military headquarters to resolve the war in China as soon as possible so as to free up troops and, when the right time was right, implement the national policy of "advance southward", using force to seize the colonies of Britain, France and the United States in Asia and the Pacific, and expand Japan's territory and colonial scope.
At the same time, this is also to cooperate with the combat operations of its two allies, Germany and Italy. The Japanese government believes that the war in China has been delayed for so long because of the support of the Soviet Union, Britain, France and the United States to the Chinese government. These countries want to use this method to drag down the Japanese Empire and weaken the Japanese Empire's strength in Asia.
Therefore, Japanese Prime Minister Army General Abe Nobuyuki also asked the military headquarters and the China Expeditionary Force to resolve the Chinese war as soon as possible and use all means to force the Chinese government to surrender.
After the fall of Nanning, the Chinese government once again convened a military meeting to discuss the recovery of Nanning.
Before the meeting, Commander Bai also met with the top government leaders in person again and told them about his previous idea of taking the position. Commander Bai reiterated that the troops participating in the battle were basically the government's own troops, and that it was difficult for him to control the troops' actions in time at times. So he pleaded with the top government leaders to consider his previous suggestion of having a full-time director of the Guilin Camp to assist.
The top government leaders also knew that this was Commander Bai's little trick, but it was indeed as Commander Bai said, this battle was of great importance, and there must not be any problems in the command and dispatch of the government's direct troops. Therefore, the top government leaders agreed to Commander Bai's request and stated that a new appointment would be announced at the subsequent meeting.
Four days after the Japanese occupied Kunlun Pass, the Chinese government's highest military meeting began. At the meeting, the highest level of the government first announced the Chinese side's combat objectives for this battle, which was to "capture Kunlun Pass and then recapture Nanning, and drive the Japanese out of Guangxi Province."
Then, in order to facilitate command, the top government appointed Zhang Xianghua as the commander of the Fourth War Zone, General Bai as the director of the Guilin Camp, and Generals Chen and Li Renchao as battlefield inspectors to supervise the operation. However, everyone knew that these people were sent by the top government to supervise General Bai's operations.
At the same time, at this meeting, the highest level of the government also announced all the troops dispatched to the Fourth War Zone to participate in the war and reiterated battlefield discipline.