binnovel Chapter 501: Counterattack on Nanning
Chapter 501: Counterattack on Nanning
The counterattack plan for Nanning formulated by the Fourth War Zone of China was approved by the highest level of the government. The government's direct troops participating in the war also began to gather in the designated combat area. The New 100th Division, which had previously pursued the Second Regiment of the Japanese Taiwan Mixed Brigade, also withdrew to Luwu under the command of Zhang Wenwu.
After issuing the order to stop the pursuit, Zhang Wenwu led his troops back to Luwu. Now, for Zhang Wenwu and the new 100th Division, the current combat mission is to guard Luwu and protect the safety of the attacking force's flank.
Zhang Wenwu also knew the importance of the matter this time. Moreover, Commander Huang of the new 22nd Army also sent him a telegram specifically, asking him to obey orders. Now the direct troops of the Fourth War Zone government have gathered, and now the combat plan is directly formulated by the highest level of the government. At this critical moment, we must fight according to orders.
Moreover, Commander Huang also revealed that Commander Chen, as the supervisor of the Fourth War Zone and the troops within Commander Chen's own Civil Engineering Department, must be more cautious and not bring trouble to Commander Chen. After the Battle of Southern Guangxi, the top government will definitely liquidate the Guangxi troops that are performing poorly, and at this time, they must not walk into the gunpoint.
Zhang Wenwu certainly understood the current situation of the war in southern Guangxi. What could have happened to him that he might cause trouble for the highest levels of the government and Commander Chen at such a sensitive and critical moment, and give the bigwigs of the Guangxi clique an advantage? Even though he is now a division commander, that would be purely courting death.
After the troops of the new 100th Division returned to Luwu one after another, Zhang Wenwu ordered the officers and soldiers of the new 100th Division to continue to strengthen the defensive positions on the Luwu side to guard against possible roundabout flank attacks by the Japanese reinforcements after landing.
On the second day after the troops of the new 100th Division returned to Luwu, the offensive forces of the Fourth War Zone of China also completed their pre-war assembly and attacked towards Nanning City that same day.
The Chinese offensive forces made good progress in the early stages of the attack. Lieutenant General Imamura Hitoshi, commander of the Japanese 5th Division, concentrated all his troops outside the city of Nanning and built relatively complete defensive fortifications in a very short period of time, preparing to defend the defense line outside the city of Nanning.
The commander of the 5th Division, Lieutenant General Imamura Hitoshi, knew very well that with their current strength, it was impossible to place the defense line far away from the city of Nanning. If that happened, their strength would not be enough to fill such a long defense line, and the loopholes in the entire defense line would be very large. The offensive forces of the Chinese army would easily enter the rear through the huge gaps in these defense lines to outflank the defensive forces on the defense line, and could also directly attack the city of Nanning.
Therefore, the commander of the 5th Division, Lieutenant General Imamura Hitoshi, could only set up the defense line near the city of Nanning. Only after the arrival of reinforcements dispatched by Lieutenant General Ando Toshiyoshi, commander of the 21st Army, would he be able to counterattack the attacking Chinese army.
Moreover, the counterattacking troops could only count on the reinforcements dispatched by Lieutenant General Ando Toshiyoshi, commander of the 21st Army. Most of the troops they had now were destroyed and incomplete by the Chinese army, and the troops suffered heavy losses in manpower and their morale was somewhat low.
There is no problem in letting these troops fight a defensive battle, but if they are asked to fight a counterattack, it might be a bit difficult.
When the troops of the four government-affiliated armies concentrated in the Fourth War Zone of China advanced to the vicinity of Nanning City, they were blocked outside the city by the defense line arranged by Lieutenant General Imamura Hitoshi, commander of the Fifth Division. After several attacks, the attacking forces of the Fourth War Zone of China still failed to break through the Japanese defense line outside the city of Nanning.
While the offensive forces of the Fourth War Zone of China launched repeated attacks on the Japanese defense lines outside the city of Nanning, the reinforcements organized by Lieutenant General Ando Toshiyoshi, commander of the 21st Army, finally landed in Qinzhou in southern Guangxi.
The news of the Japanese reinforcements landing in Qinzhou was immediately reported to the Fourth War Zone Command by the lurking Chinese intelligence personnel. This made the bigwigs in the Fourth War Zone extremely nervous. All eyes were on the Japanese reinforcements, and they were trying to determine the next direction of action for the reinforcements.
The bigwigs of the Fourth War Zone Command all believed that after the Japanese reinforcements landed in Qinzhou, they would definitely first reinforce Nanning City to consolidate the city’s defenses. Then, the most likely thing would be to outflank and attack Luwu on the Yongqin Highway to the west, break through from the flank, and threaten the rear safety of those troops in the Fourth War Zone that were attacking Nanning City.
As for whether the Japanese army would make a roundabout attack to the east, the leaders of the Fourth War Zone Command unanimously believed that the Japanese army would not make a roundabout attack to the east. First of all, the attack distance of a roundabout attack to the east is very far. Moreover, if the Japanese army made a roundabout attack to the east, there would be a lot of places that they would need to attack and occupy, and they might even have to attack Binyang north of Kunlun Pass to pose a threat to the offensive forces of the Fourth War Zone. This is very unreasonable from a normal reasoning perspective.
Moreover, the Eastern Route Army of the Fourth War Zone is deploying its troops in the east, so the Japanese army will not resort to the long-distance strategy of launching a roundabout operation from the east.
Therefore, the Fourth War Zone Command also issued a strict order to the New 100th Division of the New 100nd Army guarding Luwu, ordering the New th Division to hold Luwu and not to retreat a single step without the order of the War Zone Command, otherwise they would be subject to military law.
At the same time, in order to strengthen Luwu’s defense, the Fourth War Zone Command ordered the new 22nd Army to send a division toward Luwu, ready to reinforce the battle in the Luwu direction at any time.
The bigwigs in the Fourth War Zone Command were very satisfied with their own judgment and arrangements. They believed that the Japanese reinforcements this time could not change the current situation on the battlefield. Moreover, the combat capability of the new 100th Division was also quite outstanding. In addition, other units of the new nd Army could provide reinforcements at any time. It was unlikely that the Japanese army would be able to quickly break through Luwu's defense line.
After receiving the news that the Japanese reinforcements had landed and the combat order issued by the Fourth War Zone, Zhang Wenwu also ordered all officers and soldiers of the new 100th Division to enter a state of combat readiness, and sent all the suicide squads and reconnaissance officers and soldiers to far away places for reconnaissance and early warning to prevent the Japanese army from suddenly and quickly attacking Luwu.
However, when the commander of the 21st Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Ando Toshiyoshi, recaptured Kunlun Pass in the Fourth War Zone, he began to study how to deal with the subsequent attack on Nanning by the Chinese army.
Lieutenant General Ando Rikichi, commander of the 21st Army, believed that judging from the map, if they wanted to stop the Chinese army's attack on the city of Nanning, it would be most reasonable to start from Nanning and conduct a flanking operation to the west.