binnovel Chapter 504 Retreat
Chapter 504 Retreat
Commander Bai's words were like a bolt from the blue, bringing all the bigwigs in the headquarters back to reality from their shock. Indeed, they should now quickly think about how to successfully withdraw the troops from the impending pincer attack by the Japanese army.
However, the bosses also understood that once the Japanese army occupied Binyang, they would have to give up Kunlun Pass, which they had previously recaptured with great difficulty. In this case, all the results of the previous battle would be wasted.
Commander Bai knew what everyone was thinking, so he went on to say, "Everyone, Kunlun Pass must be abandoned this time. After the Japanese occupied Binyang, Kunlun Pass was under attack from the Japanese. Even if we sent troops to guard it, we couldn't hold it. However, if we take the initiative to withdraw, we can not only retain the combat effectiveness of the troops, but also give play to our advantages on the outside and continue to harass the Japanese. With the current strength of the Japanese, they will definitely not be able to defend all places. By that time, the Japanese will not have enough troops to continue attacking northward, nor will they have enough troops to defend the occupied southern Guangxi area. The Japanese will inevitably take the initiative to abandon the southern Guangxi area. Don't forget that the Japanese combat troops that are now outflanking are drawn from Yangcheng. After this battle, these troops will still have to return to Yangcheng. After all, the defense over there also requires troops."
Through Commander Bai's explanation, everyone understood what he meant, which was to delay. After the Japanese army occupied Binyang, all combat operations in this battle would surely end, because the Japanese army did not have so many troops to continue the attack. Once the Japanese reinforcements withdrew, their own troops would continue to harass the remaining Japanese troops. After dragging down the Japanese army, the Japanese army would naturally have to continue to shrink their defense line. At that time, their own troops would reoccupy the lost places.
As a result, the bigwigs in the headquarters began to discuss fiercely. After the discussion, Commander Bai finally sent a telegram to the commander of the 46th Army, He Xuan, ordering the 46th Army to abandon Gan Tang according to the situation and gradually resist and delay the advance of the Japanese flanking troops.
The troops of the New 22nd Army, which were originally intended to reinforce Gantang, were ordered to rush directly to Binyang, and try to arrive in Binyang before the Japanese army to set up a defense line and delay the time for the Japanese army to occupy Binyang. After the troops attacking Nanning had retreated, the New 22nd Army could retreat northward on its own.
Ordered all troops attacking Nanning to quickly turn around and retreat westward through Luwu where the new 100th Division was stationed.
The new 100th Division was ordered to defend Luwu and block the Japanese troops that might pursue from the direction of Nanning. Without the order of the theater headquarters, the Japanese troops could not be allowed to pass Luwu.
After issuing this series of orders, Commander Bai walked back to his office alone. He needed to draft a telegram himself to report to the top government leaders on the current battlefield situation and the reasons for the subsequent retreat. Commander Bai knew how angry the top government leaders would be after his telegram was sent.
After receiving the telegram from Commander Bai in the war zone, He Xuan, commander of the 46th Army, also ordered the troops to retreat in an orderly manner from the Gantang defense line. On the road to Binyang, they continuously organized troops to resist and harass at various levels, in order to delay the advance of the Japanese army as much as possible.
After receiving the telegram from the war zone about the change in combat mission, Commander Huang of the New 22nd Army had no choice but to order his troops to advance towards Binyang and try to reach Binyang as soon as possible to make defensive preparations.
In the new 100th Division headquarters in Luwu, Zhang Wenwu looked at the telegram sent from the war zone in his hand and kept sighing in his heart. The counterattack on Nanning has now turned into a full retreat. The Japanese army's tactic of doing the opposite is indeed a smart one.
Now, his troops have been tasked with covering the retreat and securing the retreat route. However, Zhang Wenwu personally is not too worried, because he judges that the Japanese troops in Nanning will not send a large force to pursue. After all, the Japanese troops in Nanning have suffered heavy casualties, and the troops are already very tired. They do not have the ability to send troops to pursue.
After receiving the order to retreat, the troops of the Fourth War Zone that attacked Nanning quickly began to withdraw towards Luwu in accordance with the retreat order set by the war zone.
The retreat of the troops attacking Nanning from the Fourth War Zone of China quickly made the Japanese troops defending Nanning aware of something unusual. Therefore, Lieutenant General Imamura Hitoshi, commander of the Fifth Division, called on the Air Force and sent aerial reconnaissance planes to see whether the Chinese troops attacking Nanning had really retreated.
When the commander of the Fifth Division, Lieutenant Colonel Imamura Hitoshi, confirmed from the report of the aerial reconnaissance aircraft that the Chinese troops attacking Nanning were retreating, the heavy weight on his heart finally fell to the ground. As for pursuing the retreating Chinese troops, please, there were no extra troops in Nanning to pursue the Chinese troops.
Besides, the commander of the 5th Division, Lieutenant General Imamura Hitoshi, felt that if this was just a fake retreat by the Chinese army, and he sent the troops in Nanning to pursue them, and they set an ambush along the way, then Nanning would be lost. Now the flanking troops were making very smooth progress, and there was no need for him to take the risk.
After more than a day of travel, the troops of the New 22nd Army finally arrived in Binyang before the Japanese army. At this time, the 46th Army had been reduced to only more than 3,000 people, and the 46th Army had retreated to a place only ten kilometers away from Binyang. It can be said that if the New 22nd Army had arrived half a day later, the 46th Army would have been wiped out.
After learning that the troops of the New 22nd Army had arrived in Binyang, the commander of the 46th Army, He Xuan, led his troops to retreat eastward. They were really exhausted from fighting, and the rest was left to the troops of the New 22nd Army.
After the Japanese 18th Division and the Guards Brigade attacked Binyang, their advance was finally stopped. The troops of the New 22nd Army blocked the Japanese flanking attack forces outside the city of Binyang and inflicted heavy casualties on the Japanese flanking forces. The commander of the Japanese flanking forces also realized that the Chinese army defending in front of him had been replaced.
The four army units of the Fourth War Zone of China that attacked Nanning took advantage of the time when the Japanese flanking troops were blocked in Binyang by the New 22nd Army, and successfully withdrew westward from the direction of Luwu. The Japanese troops in Nanning were even more excessive than Zhang Wenwu had judged. They did not even send any troops to pursue the retreating Chinese troops.
After the troops attacking Nanning retreated, the Fourth War Zone also ordered the new 22nd Army in Binyang to retreat northward and break away from contact with the Japanese army.