bayedsolid Chapter 467: Officer Bai’s Thoughts
Chapter 467: Officer Bai’s Thoughts
The 170th and 135th Chinese Divisions, which rushed to the south of Nanning City to block the Japanese army, had not even had time to repair their defensive positions before the Japanese offensive forces had already attacked.
The first to engage in fire with the Japanese army was the 170th Division. According to Commander Bai's order, the 170th Division had to block the Japanese attacking forces in the area on the south bank of the Yongjiang River, buying time for the 135th Division defending on the north bank of the Yongjiang River to build positions and establish defense lines.
However, although the 170th Division tried its best to hurry on, it was unable to leave enough time to build complete defensive fortifications. Faced with the rapidly attacking Japanese attacking forces, it could only block them layer by layer and delay the Japanese advance as much as possible.
The officers and soldiers of the 170th Division suffered heavy casualties under the fierce attack of the Japanese army. After holding out for less than two days, the Japanese army broke through their defense line. The remaining officers and soldiers could only retreat eastward, while the Japanese army continued to advance northward and reached the south bank of the Yong River.
In the early morning of the second day after the Japanese army arrived at the south bank of the Yong River, the attack force of the Fifth Division began to force a crossing of the Yong River under the cover of powerful artillery and dozens of aircraft, and launched a fierce attack on the 135th Chinese Division defending the north bank of the Yong River.
The 135th Division of the Gui Army on the northern bank of the Yongjiang River outside the city of Nanning faced the overwhelming firepower advantage of the Japanese army and relied on their riverside positions to put up a tenacious resistance. However, their forces were too few and they were seriously lacking in heavy weapons.
Under the fierce artillery fire and aerial bombardment of the Japanese Army, the officers and soldiers of the 135th Division suffered extremely heavy casualties, and many units were almost wiped out.
The 135th Division held out hard on the north bank of the Yongjiang River for half a day before being attacked by the attacking forces of the Japanese 5th Division. After a fierce battle, the officers and soldiers of the 135th Division were still unable to recapture the positions on the north bank of the Yongjiang River occupied by the Japanese army.
As more and more Japanese troops crossed the river, the 135th Division had no choice but to withdraw from the battlefield to avoid being surrounded and annihilated by the Japanese. When the remaining troops of the 135th Division retreated, the gates of Nanning had already been opened by the Japanese army, and the city of Nanning was subsequently completely occupied by the Japanese offensive forces.
It took only one week from the time the Japanese army landed in Qinzhou Bay that they occupied the city of Nanning, completing the combat mission set by the headquarters before the war. This made the commander of the 21st Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Ando Toshiyoshi, very satisfied. As soon as the Japanese army captured the city of Nanning, Lieutenant General Ando Toshiyoshi reported this happy news to the headquarters by telegram.
At the same time, Commander Lieutenant General Ando Toshiyoshi also knew that after occupying Nanning, the Chinese government would definitely mobilize troops to retake the city of Nanning. The gain or loss of Nanning was related to the lifeblood of the Chinese government. Whether his troops could defend Nanning under the attack of the Chinese army was the key point of this battle.
When the news of the fall of Nanning City reached the ears of the top government leaders, they smashed two teacups in the office to express their anger and were very angry about the defeat of the Gui army.
You must know that the Japanese army has now occupied the coastal port cities and Nanning in Guangxi Province, which means that the only seaport of the Chinese government is currently controlled by the Japanese army, and the sea route for aid materials to enter the interior will also be completely blocked by the Japanese army.
This would be extremely detrimental to the entire government and the country's subsequent war of resistance. Moreover, if Nanning was lost, the Japanese army could use Guangxi Province as a springboard to launch an attack on Yunnan Province and cut off China's international land transportation lines. In that case, the Chinese government would have no choice but to surrender.
The top government leaders also ordered General Bai to take full responsibility for combat operations in southern Guangxi, and asked the Military Commission to work with General Bai to determine as soon as possible the troops that needed to be reinforced to the Fourth War Zone. After this battle, the top government leaders also realized that if they only relied on the 16th Army of the Guangxi clique in Guangxi Province, it would be difficult to resist the Japanese attack and recapture Nanning and the coastal cities of Guangxi Province.
It is necessary to transfer the government's elite troops to fight in southern Guangxi, so that it will be possible to recapture Nanning and drive the Japanese army out of Guangxi.
As soon as Commander Bai received the news of the fall of Nanning, he sent a telegram to the top government. He knew that the news of the fall of Nanning would make the top government very angry, but he had some other ideas in his mind.
Judging from the situation in the early stages of this battle, the 16th Army, which was the main force of the Guangxi Clique, had almost destroyed more than three divisions of troops. For the sake of the Guangxi Clique's own strength, the Guangxi Clique's troops could no longer be responsible for the main combat tasks in subsequent battles. If all the Guangxi Clique's troops were destroyed, then the Guangxi Clique would have no capital to compete with the highest level of the government.
Moreover, now that Nanning has fallen, the most anxious ones are the top leaders of the government. Based on Commander Bai's understanding of the top leaders of the government, the other side will definitely dispatch the government's elite troops to southern Guangxi to participate in the war.
When Commander Bai received the appointment telegram from the highest level of the government, he thought about it and felt that if he was given full responsibility for the Battle of Southern Guangxi, and if he did not send the Guangxi troops to some major battlefields, then it would be too obvious that he wanted to preserve his strength. The top level of the government played this move beautifully.
But Commander Bai was no ordinary man. He immediately sent a telegram to the highest levels of the government. In the telegram, Commander Bai recommended Zhang Fakui as the commander of the Fourth War Zone on the grounds that the troops to be dispatched were the government's elite and it would be inconvenient for him to command them. He would serve as the director of the Guilin camp to assist Zhang Fakui in commanding the troops in combat.
Commander Bai also wanted to find a senior general who had no real power in the government army to serve in front of him. In this way, he could just give advice and suggestions. Not only could he take on a smaller responsibility, but he could also preserve the strength of the Guangxi clique's troops in a more subtle way, which could be said to kill two birds with one stone.
However, how could the top government leaders not see what their good friends, who were their "close friends" during the Northern Expedition, were planning? So, they decisively did not adopt Commander Bai's suggestion and insisted that Commander Bai personally agree to command the operation.
When Commander Bai saw the reply from the top government leaders, he immediately realized that his little thoughts had been seen through by the top government leaders. However, Commander Bai changed his mind and did not care about the appointment. The top government leaders cared about the gains and losses of Nanning and Guangxi Province. As long as the international supply lines could be guaranteed to be unobstructed, it would matter if he blatantly preserved his strength. Besides, the Guangxi troops had suffered great losses before, and were no longer suitable to serve as the main force in subsequent operations. This was reasonable in the reality.