boyutpedia Chapter 503: The Japanese Army's Outflanking Tactics Succeed
Chapter 503: The Japanese Army's Outflanking Tactics Succeed
It was not until the 46th Army Commander He Xuan sent a telegram for help that the leaders of the Fourth War Zone believed that the Japanese army was really using the east as a battlefield for outflanking this time.
Therefore, the Fourth War Zone Command hurriedly ordered the 46th Army to block the Japanese army's flanking forces. At the same time, the Fourth War Zone also urgently dispatched troops to reinforce the 46th Army.
However, since the Fourth War Zone had previously focused its defense on the west side of the battlefield, the New 22nd Army, as the war zone reserve, was also closer to Luwu as a whole. Now all they could hope was that the 46th Army could hold on a little longer so that the New 22nd Army would have time to reach the battlefield.
However, before the Fourth War Zone sent a telegram to the New 22nd Army, the commander of the 46th Army, He Xuan, sent a telegram to tell the Fourth War Zone Command that he had ordered the abandonment of Yongchun and the concentration of the entire army in Gantang for defense, and asked the war zone to quickly send reinforcements to Gantang.
Therefore, the Fourth War Zone Command could only order the 210th Army to hold Gantang at all costs, and at the same time send an urgent telegram to the New 211nd Army, ordering the New 100th Division and the New th Division of the New nd Army to rush to Gantang to reinforce the th Army, and the New th Division to continue to defend in Luwu to prevent the Japanese army from playing tricks of feinting to the east and attacking in the west.
As soon as Commander Huang of the New 211nd Army received the order from the war zone, he quickly ordered the New 210th Division, which was serving as the rear guard, and the New th Division, which was already approaching Luwu, to turn around and rush to Gantang to reinforce the th Army's defensive operations.
However, the Japanese army's flanking forces had more than 15,000 people, and even if the 46th Army concentrated the 170th and 175th Divisions in Gantang, together with all the combat forces of the army's direct troops, there were only more than 8,000 people. Moreover, more than 3,000 of them were militia soldiers who had just been added to the army a few days ago.
This was because the Guangxi army was replenished relatively quickly on its own territory. Originally, the 46th Army had three divisions of troops before the war, namely the 170th Division, the 175th Division and the New 9th Division. As a result, when the Japanese army landed in Qinzhou, the New 9th Division responsible for the defense of Qinzhou was directly destroyed by the fierce artillery fire and attacks of the Japanese army. Even the division commander was killed. The 170th Division and the 175th Division also suffered heavy casualties in the subsequent battles. Therefore, the current 46th Army does not even have the strength of a full-strength division of the government.
In terms of weapons and equipment, there is no way to compare. After the previous Battle of Southern Guangxi, the 46th Army of the Guangxi Clique was in short supply of heavy weapons. There was only a mountain artillery battalion of the military headquarters with six French mountain artillery to provide artillery support, and the rest were a few mortars and heavy machine guns in the division.
It was simply impossible for the 46th Army to use such manpower and weapons and equipment to stop the aggressive Japanese army's flanking forces. However, the commander of the 46th Army, He Xuan, did not retreat in the face of the impending Japanese attack. He ordered the troops to hold on until the arrival of reinforcements, and to defend Gan Tang even if they had to fight to the last man.
After the attacking forces of the Japanese 18th Division and the Imperial Guards Mixed Brigade occupied Yongchun, they turned north from Yongchun without stopping and attacked towards Binyang. When they arrived at Gantang, they finally encountered the first decent battle since their flanking tactics.
Fortunately, the 46th Army had built some defensive fortifications in Gantang before. Although they were not yet perfect, they were much better than having no defensive fortifications at all.
From the very beginning, the Japanese army's flanking attack force concentrated heavy artillery fire on the 46th Army's defensive positions in Gantang and launched a frenzied bombardment, which caused heavy casualties to the 46th Army's defensive forces. Then the Japanese infantry's charge attack made many new recruits feel great pressure, which caused part of the defense line to waver.
The 46th Army suffered more than 2,000 casualties in just half a day of blocking the Japanese flanking troops at Gantang. The commander of the 46th Army, He Xuandu, personally led the military headquarters behind the defense line and was just about to go up and fight the Japanese with bayonets.
After half a day of fighting, He Xuan, commander of the 46th Army, also figured out the absolute scale of the Japanese army's flanking forces. From the identities of the dead Japanese officers and soldiers, it can be known that the 18th Division and the Imperial Guards Mixed Brigade of the Japanese army both participated in this flanking operation.
Judging from the numbers and size of the reinforcements that had landed previously by the Japanese army, this time the Japanese army's flanking operation involved all of its reinforcements, which amounted to more than 10,000 people.
According to this judgment, the commander of the 46th Army, He Xuan, felt that even if his 46th Army fought with all its might, it would not be able to hold out until the new 22nd Army troops sent from the war zone arrived. After only fighting for half a day, his 46th Army had suffered more than 2,000 casualties. If the battle continued for another half a day or so, his 46th Army would only have about 4,000 people left. At that time, how could Gan Tang's defense line be held?
The commander of the 46th Army, He Xuan, analyzed the Japanese army's route and felt that the ultimate target of the Japanese army must be Binyang in the rear. So, the commander of the 46th Army, He Xuan, sent a telegram to the war zone, reporting the intelligence he had obtained on the Japanese army, hoping that the war zone would urge the reinforcements of the new 22nd Army to arrive as soon as possible.
Of course, the commander of the 46th Army, He Xuan, knew that this was an impossible thing. It would take at least one and a half to two days for the new 22nd Army to rush to Gantang from its original base. However, his 46th Army could only hold out in Gantang for half a day to a day at most. This time was not enough for the new 22nd Army to arrive.
When the commander of the 46th Army, He Xuan, reported the scale of the Japanese army's flanking forces to the Fourth War Zone Command, all the bigwigs in the entire Fourth War Zone Command remained silent, because they all knew very well that with the current strength of the 46th Army, it would be impossible for it to hold out until the arrival of the new 22nd Army.
Finally, Commander Bai spoke first: "Everyone, the Japanese army has put all the reinforcements of the 18th Division and the Guards Brigade into the flanking operation. Judging from the current situation of the 46th Army and the strength of the Japanese attack, the New 22nd Army is unlikely to arrive in Gantang in time. We need to make a decision now. The Japanese target must be Binyang. If the Japanese occupy Binyang, then the rear of our troops attacking Nanning will be cut off by the Japanese, and all troops will have to retreat to the west. Instead of retreating in a hurry, it is better to stop the attack on Nanning now and let the front-line troops retreat westward in an orderly manner, so as to preserve the combat effectiveness of the troops."