Age of Conquest Reborn

Chapter 949: Battle of Nanning (1)

When the war in the south started, Yu Hanmou, the warlord of Guangdong, was the first to be unable to withstand it. In order to save his life and property and avoid being beaten too badly by the Japanese, he had to ask Tang Qiuli for help. This was due to his petty and narrow-mindedness.

It is planned that the ** division troops will advance

Entering Guangdong, it will definitely be a tough battle with the Japanese. With the little wealth you have, you must not help it. If you don't ask for help at this time, you would be a fool. What's more, there is a joint military defense agreement between the five provinces.

Wei Qian, why don't you look for Tang Qiuli?

With Tang Qiuli's troops blocking the front, the Guangdong army can escape smoothly. As long as they keep their men and guns, there is a good chance of a comeback. Yu Hanmou has even thought about it. Once the Japanese stop their offensive in Guangdong, he will send his confidants to contact the Japanese.

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At the very least, it is not impossible to live in peace and be a local emperor living in a corner. Even further cooperation with the Japanese is not impossible. But Tang Qiuli's first telegram was a bucket of cold water poured down on him.

Yu Hanmou was heartbroken.

In the office of the Guangzhou Provincial Government, Yu Hanmou cursed Tang Qiuli in the most vicious terms, saying that he refused to save anyone, doing one thing in front of him and doing the other behind his back, etc. He also smashed his beloved tea set to pieces. He didn't know

Whether his troops in southwestern Guangdong can successfully withdraw to Guangzhou depends on one-third of his family wealth. Such suffering tortured him until the evening.

Just when Yu Hanmou was cursing Tang Qiuli, Tang Qiuli's second telegram came again. This telegram made Yu Hanmou extremely excited. Tang Qiuli changed from a devil who did all evil to a man who saved all sentient beings.

The angels were all cute. Tang Qiuli not only wanted to send troops, but also provided some equipment for his troops. This was a piece of cake in the sky.

Tang Qiuli asked the troops in southwest Guangdong to retreat to the vicinity of Guangzhou, which was exactly what Yu Hanmou wanted. He secretly laughed at Tang Qiuli for being pedantic. He had already ordered the troops to run away. This time, Commander-in-Chief Tang had a legitimate reason.

Order to withdraw

Retreat, the troops ran even more gracefully. As for what Tang Qiuli said, the troops could not retreat until the common people had finished running first. Yu Hanmou sneered at this and looked down upon it. But this was just a slander in his heart. Did he ask anyone for help?

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Do you think you, Tang Qiuli, are the savior? Let your soldiers cover the retreat of the people. You can imagine that if the Japanese division troops were not used to block the Japanese in front and act as scapegoats, Guangdong would not have you Tang Qiuli.

In Yu Hanmou's heart, he did not think that the ** division troops could stop the Japanese attack.

In the telegram sent to him by the frontline officer, the fear of the Japanese had already affected Yu Hanmou, that is, he was even more frightened. In fact, he did not even intend to defend Guangzhou, and tried his best to ask Tang Qiuli for help. To put it bluntly, he just wanted to

Let the ** division troops act as scapegoats to block the Japanese attack for him and the Cantonese army. In a state of desperation, Yu Hanmou put his idea on Tang Qiuli's head, and the results can be imagined.

Tang Qiuli decided to have a head-on fight with the Japanese Fifteenth Army in the Guangzhou area. The fundamental reason was that no matter how much pressure he had to reduce the pressure on Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi in Nanning, he did not expect Yu Hanmou's Guangdong army to be able to win in this battle.

What role did it play? The performance of the Guangdong army completely disappointed Tang Qiuli.

The battle reports coming from the direction of Beibu Gulf are all bad news. Within five days from the date of the Japanese attack, strategic points along the coast of Beibu Gulf, such as Fangchenggang, Qinzhou, Beihai and other places have fallen. The Japanese army's third and third

The main force of the Fourth Army has cleared away the resistance of the Gui Army in the coastal areas of the Beibu Gulf.

The Guangxi Army's garrison troops in various places withstood the attack of more than 200,000 Japanese troops for five days without the support of the main force. Their combat effectiveness is evident. Compared with the Guangdong Army that collapsed at the first touch, the heroic behavior of the Guangxi Army's local garrison troops can be seen.

It was remarkable, and it caused great casualties to the Japanese troops attacking in this direction, and also bought valuable time for the Gui army's deployment in Nanning.

Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma, the commander of the Third Army of Japan's Southern China Expeditionary Force, is not as heroic as the commander of the Fifteenth Army, Tomofumi Yamashita. However, he is more cunning and insidious than Yamashita. This is due to his close relationship with the North China Army.

The experience gained by the Army Division in many battles is that don't look down on the Chinese Army and the Chinese soldiers, especially Tang Qiuli's troops, as they will suffer big losses.

Furthermore, the opponents they encountered were also different. These indigenous Chinese caused trouble for the imperial army at every turn. After occupying Fangchenggang, Qinzhou, and Beihai, Masaharu Honma ordered the 11th Division of the vanguard to slow down the pace of the attack.

Consolidate the occupied area and wait for the arrival of the follow-up force, the 9th Division, before attacking in the direction of Nanning.

Just when Masaharu Honma was carefully deploying, he received Yamashita Fengbun's 15th Army, which was attacking from the direction of Leizhou Peninsula. They advanced all the way and captured Xuwen, Leizhou, Zhanjiang and other important towns. They had completely controlled the Leizhou Peninsula area, and Yamashita

Fengwen didn't wait for the Eleventh Army to follow up, and moved his troops alone to attack Guangzhou.

The news reached the headquarters of the Third Army, and the deeply stimulated senior officers of the Japanese Third Army became excited and asked Honma Masaharu to fight, asking to lead their headquarters to pursue the retreating Chinese army and drive out all these Chinese people. Honma Masaharu

Didn't agree to these

The request of the military officers and the troops staying in Hunan, Jiangxi, and Fujian were always a lingering shadow in his mind. Past experience told him that once Tang Qiuli's troops appeared on the battlefield, what would happen to the emperor?

For the military, it would be a nightmare.

Honma Masaharu did not dare to agree with Yamashita Tomofumi's enthusiasm. In his opinion, this was a sign that he had never suffered a loss. Therefore, as the commander of the Third Army, Honma Masaharu adhered to the prudent strategy of moving forward steadily and advancing across the board.

At this time, he received information that the Guangxi Army troops were gathering in large numbers in the direction of Nanning, seemingly with the intention of holding on to Nanning.

The old and cunning Honma Masaharu immediately realized that this was the best opportunity to annihilate the Chinese Gui forces. At the critical moment, the Chinese made a huge mistake and gathered the troops together to fight a decisive battle with the imperial army.

For the main attacking Japanese army, this was the best opportunity to annihilate their opponents. If the Guangxi army retreated northward in an orderly manner, a protracted pursuit would give Masaharu Honma a headache.

In the next few days, Masaharu Honma stepped up his efforts to collect intelligence on the Nanning Chinese Army. As a large amount of valuable intelligence was continuously sent to him, all the intelligence showed that the Gui Army continued to

Assembling in the direction of Nanning, Masaharu Honma became more and more sure of his own judgment. The Chinese had made a fatal mistake and should not overestimate their own strength.

Honma Masaharu reported his campaign plan to the commander-in-chief of the Southern Expeditionary Forces, General Terauchi Toshiichi, and clearly stated his campaign purpose and execution methods. Terauchi greatly appreciated Honma Masaharu's campaign plan and immediately appointed him.

Masaharu Honma is the commander-in-chief of the Nanning campaign

Officer, unified command of the Third, Fourth and Seventh Army of the Expeditionary Army Reserve to attack Guangxi, with a total of more than 200,000 troops. The order from the General Headquarters of the Expeditionary Army to Honma Masaharu was to ensure that on the Nanning front line,

Annihilate all the Chinese Guangxi troops and establish a solid rear for the attack on Chongqing.

Masaharu Honma immediately held a meeting with Lieutenant General Kenji Iijima, commander of the Fourth Army, to discuss the specific details and combat plan of the Nanning Campaign. Speaking of which, the two were old friends in the Southern Expeditionary Army and had a very personal relationship.

Yes, they all belong to the conservative group. The good ones are experienced, and the bad ones have been beaten and beaten. They have suffered losses under Tang Qiuli's hands. They have long lost the arrogance of Yamashita Fengwen.

Arrogant heart.

In order to achieve greater results, Honma Masaharu and Iijima Kenji jointly agreed that the Third Army and the Fourth Army would slow down the attack pace, deliberately leaving only enough time for the Gui Army to mobilize troops to Nanning. According to Honma Masaharu's plan

Imagine that the more Gui troops gathered in the direction of Nanning, the better, and they can achieve the greatest results in annihilating the enemy. With this battle, Honma Masaharu wants to climb a step higher.

After the battle plan was finalized, Masaharu Honma and Kenji Iijima jointly sent a telegram to the Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Forces, General Terauchi Toshiichi. The core content was that the mission of encircling and annihilating the Guangxi Army of China was to be carried out by the Nanning Campaign Headquarters*

*Completed, we don’t want the troops attacking Guangdong to get involved, and we also kindly request the Commander-in-Chief to keep the secret from other troops.

Masaharu Honma has his own little tricks. He is guarding against the madman Yamashita Fengfumi. When the battle reaches the final moment of victory, he suddenly attacks Nanning from the direction of Guangdong to grab the credit. Based on his understanding of Yamashita Fengfumi, this madman can definitely do it.

Such a thing is not just a cross-cutting attack. It also disrupts his overall plan. He can't quarrel and quarrel. Losing his temper is not the opponent of Yamashita Fengfumi, nicknamed "Infantry Cannon". Therefore, seal this door first and prevent it from happening.

Yamashita Fengwen has a chance.

Terauchi Touichi agreed. In fact, he was not too proud of the extremely arrogant Yamashita Fengfumi. However, this guy was very good at fighting. He had many connections in the base camp and had a strong backing. Many times, he made his own decisions and often disobeyed orders.

For example, this time, without waiting for the follow-up Eleventh Army

Following up, the 15th Army advanced alone into the interior of Guangdong, leaving the 11th Army far behind. Not to mention the danger, the key point was that there was no order from the dispatched army headquarters, which left the commander-in-chief

Terauchi Juichi was very uncomfortable, so he readily agreed to Honma Masaharu's request.

The Japanese Third Army, the Third Army, stopped continuing its attack in the direction of Nanning, Guangxi. The ports occupied by the Japanese army along the Beibu Gulf were extremely busy, with a large number of transport ships constantly coming and going between the Japanese mainland and Hainan Island, transporting large quantities of goods.

Material supplies, and a large number of armored troops and heavy artillery troops have landed. It is obvious that Masaharu Honma is hoarding supplies and making sufficient preparations for the upcoming battle of Nanning.

While Masaharu Honma was making preparations, Guangxi Military Affairs Supervisor Bai Chongxi in Nanning City was also making careful preparations. In this battle, the two big bosses of the Guangxi faction, Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi, also hoped to show the prestige and confidence of the Guangxi army.

(To be continued)