The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 502 Departure

Dai Anlan, whose original name was Dai Bingyang, whose pen name was Yangong and who called himself Haiou, was born in the 30th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu in Wuhu, Anhui Province. In 1923, Dai Anlan was admitted to the high school department of Anhui Public School founded by Mr. Tao Xingzhi, and in 1925 he was admitted to the third term of the Whampoa Military Academy. Since graduation, he has served as platoon leader, company commander and battalion commander, and participated in the Northern Expedition.

In 1933, he participated in the Great Wall War of Resistance against Japan and was awarded the Fifth Class Yunhui Medal for his military exploits. He was later promoted to the commander of the 25rd Brigade of the 73th Army Division. He made military exploits in the Battle of Taierzhuang and the subsequent Battle of Xuzhou. Later, due to his outstanding military exploits, he was promoted to the deputy commander of the 31th Division, a direct unit of Tang Enbo, and concurrently served as the principal of the cadre training class of the st Army Group of the Army. He also made military exploits in the subsequent Battle of Wuhan.

After the Battle of Wuhan, Dai Anlan was transferred to the newly formed elite 5th Army of the Army, where he served as the commander of the 200th Division.

It can be said that the general in front of He Wei can be said to have outstanding military achievements.

Of course, He Wei's impression of him came more from the fact that he died heroically during the Chinese Expeditionary Force's expedition to Burma.

He Wei also felt that Commander Dai was a really good person. He was simple and upright. While he was strict in military discipline, he also had a gentlemanly demeanor. After the formation of the advance detachment into Guangxi, although Dai Anlan served as the commander, Du Yuming also told him frankly that he must try his best to refer to He Wei's advice when commanding operations, listen more to the opinions of He Wei, the deputy commander, and discuss things with He Wei more often.

He also informed Dai Anlan that He Wei came with a warrant from Chairman Chang. Therefore, Dai Anlan respected He Wei's past military exploits, and he also knew that He Wei's coming with a warrant from President Chang should not be taken lightly. In addition, the assault corps was strong in men and horses, so Dai Anlan, the commander-in-chief, did not regard He Wei as his deputy at all. The roles and status of the two were equal. He Wei had a lot of say in this advance detachment, which was a great benefit to He Wei. After all, the more say he had in the advance detachment into Guangxi, the more things he could do.

In short, He Wei and Dai Anlan got along very well during this period, which laid a good foundation for future joint operations and combat.

While He Wei respects Dai Anlan, the heroic general and his current superior, he also wants to change his tragic ending of heroic sacrifice. Many things in this time and space have changed because of the existence of He Wei, a little butterfly. In this case, it would be a pity to let this heroic general sacrifice himself in the cold and severe jungle of northern Myanmar.

Of course, these are all things for the future and have nothing to do with the current departure and battle.

"I'm not exaggerating. Your infantry-combat coordination training method is really novel and very methodical. Not only is it not covered in the foreign tank application textbooks we translated, but even the Soviet advisers in our army have never taught it. My 200th Division has also cooperated with the tank troops to conduct infantry-combat coordination exercises, but it is much worse than what you have come up with. What a pity, what a pity, we don't have enough time now. Otherwise, I must promote your tactical training method to my 200th Division, and preferably to the entire 5th Army."

Dai Anlan walked up to He Wei, looked at the scene on the training ground with lingering interest, and said with a sigh.

He Wei shook his head and said modestly: "I hope you can understand this point, Commander Dai. Your division is an infantry division within the 5th Army. There are many opportunities to cooperate with the tank troops of the 5th Army in training and strengthen infantry and combat coordination. My assault corps is small, and now we finally have the opportunity to cooperate with the tank troops in training. Naturally, we must seize the time to strengthen it." Dai Anlan smiled and shook his head, thinking that if your assault corps is a small one, then his 200th Division may not even be as good as this "small one".

In fact, this is indeed the case. Although Dai Anlan's 200th Division is an infantry division under the 5th Army with a strength of more than 5 troops, it is actually far inferior to the Assault Corps in terms of equipment and firepower. Although the th Army is strong, its strength lies in its huge army-affiliated tank units and a large number of motor vehicle units, as well as its powerful armored assault force and motorized mobile force. Although its subordinate infantry divisions have sufficient personnel and excellent quality of weapons and equipment, the overall firepower intensity is indeed average.

Take the artillery equipment of Dai Anlan's 200th Division for example. This infantry division does not have a single proper barreled artillery piece in the entire division. The artillery units of the division and regiment are all equipped with mm mortars, and there is not a single tank defense gun. In comparison, the equipment of the assault corps' artillery units is very powerful.

Soon, Dai Anlan changed the subject, his expression instantly became solemn, and said: "Brother He, what do you think about the specific measures and the current situation after entering the hinterland of Guangxi and arriving in Nanning? This time we entered the hinterland of Guangxi, on the one hand to consolidate the defense force of the hinterland of Guangxi, on the other hand to carry out the tasks assigned by the central government, and to mix sand in the territory of the Guangxi clique. Our burden is not light."

Obviously, Dai Anlan was very distressed about the mission he had to carry out in Guangxi this time. After all, he had to deal with external affairs on the one hand and internal affairs on the other, which was really troublesome.

He Wei had a good idea about this. After all, he knew very well that the Japanese army would most likely launch a landing operation in Guangxi in the near future. Once the Japanese attacked, he would have no time to study any internal problems and could only focus on dealing with the Japanese. Of course, he certainly couldn't say this to Dai Anlan, so he put it in a more euphemistic way.

"Commander Dai, in my opinion, we don't need to worry too much. It is the duty of a soldier to defend the country. When we enter Guangxi this time, we should focus our main energy on defending against the Japanese army. In my opinion, the Guilin camp arranged us on the line from Nanning to Qinzhou Bay, which is a very correct deployment. At present, our army's defense force on the Qinzhou Bay line is weak, and the defense force in the Nanning direction is even more empty. We can strengthen the defense force there. Similarly, I have an ominous premonition that the Japanese army is very likely to launch a landing attack on the coast of Qinzhou. When we enter Guangxi this time, we are likely to run into the Japanese army head-on and have a head-on confrontation. Perhaps, by then, we will have no extra energy to think about internal problems."

Dai Anlan pondered for a moment, shook his head and said, "Well, if you want me to carry out combat missions, then there is no doubt that being loyal to the principal and the country is our duty, but politics is not our forte. To be honest, I hope your premonition is true. It would be best if the Japanese could attack us. In this way, we can unite to fight against the Japanese and fight to the death."

After saying that, Dai Anlan shook his head again. He obviously felt that this mission into Guangxi, which had both external military and internal political attributes, was very difficult. He Wei didn't say anything, but just raised the telescope and observed the scene on the training ground.

On the training ground, the infantry-combat coordinated attack formation consisting of dozens of tanks and hundreds of infantrymen has been fully deployed. The tanks are charging in the front, accelerating forward, and the infantry are following behind, shouting and charging bravely. The rolling dust raised by the tanks is mixed with the shouts of the infantrymen charging and the roar of the engines, which spreads and flies straight into the sky.

Another two days passed, and as the time came to October 5th, the Central Army's advance detachment into Guangxi, composed of the th Army and the Assault Corps, finally set out on the latest departure day ordered. The army drove straight into the hinterland of southern Guangxi and headed straight for Nanning.

(End of this chapter)