The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 505: The Japanese 21st Army Bares Its Fangs

Although the preliminary combat plan of the advance detachment into Guangxi was completed, the land of Guangxi was still shrouded in temporary peace. At least, the Japanese army showed no signs of taking any action for the time being. Although the Guilin Headquarters deployed the advance detachment into Guangxi as a fresh force in Nanning, its strategic prediction of the possible landing and attack operations of the Japanese army in the southern part of Guangxi was still inclined to believe that the Japanese army would land from Guangzhou Bay and then attack Liuzhou, while it still maintained a negative attitude towards the possibility of the Japanese army landing from Qinzhou.

As for the reason, it was that the Guilin Headquarters believed that the Japanese army was short of manpower and would not land directly from Qinzhou and advance deep into the hinterland of southern Guangxi.

Just when the National Army placed its strategic defense center in Guangzhou Bay, the Japanese army, which was sharpening its knives, also began to take action and put the strategy of launching an offensive landing operation against China's Guangxi on the agenda. Unfortunately, the strategic goal of the Japanese army's operation was exactly the opposite of the National Army's prediction. Guangzhou Bay, which the National Army attached great importance to, was completely ignored by the Japanese army. On the contrary, the Japanese army selected Qinzhou Bay and Nanning, which were placed in a secondary position by the National Army, as the targets of the offensive operation.

As early as September 9, Major General Kyoji Tominaga, the newly appointed Chief of Operations of the Japanese General Staff, proposed an operational plan based on the current situation in Europe and Asia and the conditions on the Chinese battlefield. The plan was to use the navy to cover the army's landing, attack Qinzhou Bay and Nanning, and block the passage and material imports between my country and French Vietnam.

According to this operational plan, by attacking Nanning, on the one hand, China's external transportation can be cut off, and on the other hand, an air base for attacking China's inland can be obtained in South China. In short, if Nanning can be captured, it will be of great benefit to the overall strategy of the Japanese army.

Subsequently, the Japanese military headquarters issued "Continental Order No. 375-", which gave the following instructions:
1. The headquarters attempted to intensify its efforts to cut off the enemy's southwestern supply route.

2. The Commander-in-Chief of the (China) Expeditionary Force should work together with the Navy to use part of its forces to quickly cut off the enemy's supply lines along the Yongning-Longzhou Road.

3. The combat area of ​​the combat troops mentioned in the preceding paragraph is generally defined as the area south of Yongning and Longzhou.

After determining the strategic goal of launching a landing operation in Qinzhou Bay, the Japanese military headquarters issued an order to the 21st Army, the "China Expeditionary Army", the highest military command body in China, to coordinate the army and navy to capture Qinzhou Bay, Nanning, Zhennan Pass, and Longzhou. It was also planned that the Japanese Army's 5th Division, which had just been transferred from Qingdao to the Northeast to prepare for the Nomonhan Operation, would serve as the main force of this operation.

In addition, the Japanese army also used the 1st Guards Brigade of the Japanese Army Guards Division stationed on the mainland as the core, strengthened it with special equipment, and incorporated the Guards Mixed Brigade into the battle sequence of this offensive operation.

The naval forces responsible for transporting army troops and covering the landing of Japanese army troops were the Japanese Navy's 2nd Expeditionary Fleet and the 3rd Combined Air Force.

The Japanese army's troop sequence for the attack on Nanning was completed at this point, but the wheel of history changed here because of the existence of He Wei, a little butterfly. In another time and space, the Japanese combat forces used to attack Nanning included the Japanese Army's 5th Division and the Japanese Army's Taiwan Island Mixed Brigade stationed on Taiwan Island. During the Battle of Wuhan, the brigade had another number - the Hata Detachment. However, due to the existence of He Wei, the Japanese Army's Taiwan Island Mixed Brigade, which was supposed to participate in the Battle of Southern Guangxi, was almost wiped out by He Wei in the battles near Banbi Mountain and Tianjia Town during the Battle of Wuhan.

Therefore, the Taiwan Mixed Brigade, which had been destroyed, could not participate in the Japanese attack on Nanning. Instead, it was replaced by the Japanese Guards Mixed Brigade, which was composed of the 1st Guards Brigade of the Japanese Army Guards Division.

As for the Fifth Division, it also has a deep connection with He Wei. In the Battle of Nanjing, part of the Fifth Division also participated in the attack on Nanjing City. The 41st Regiment of the Fifth Division was almost wiped out by He Wei in the Battle of Xiaguan. The entire regiment was almost wiped out and the regiment commander was also killed.

However, although this regiment was completely wiped out, they were lucky enough that some officers and soldiers escaped from Xiaguan and took the regiment flag with them. According to the Japanese army's standards, the 41st Regiment was not completely wiped out. Therefore, after the war, the Japanese army quickly reorganized a new 41st Regiment and still incorporated it into the combat sequence of the th Division, maintaining the combat structure of the th Division.

In comparison, the 16th Infantry Regiment of the Japanese Army that was beaten up by He Wei during the Battle of Xinkou in Shanxi also suffered heavy losses, and many officers and soldiers escaped. The commander of the regiment was not killed, but committed suicide after escaping the battlefield because the regiment flag was lost. However, it was because of the loss of the regiment flag that the Japanese army considered the 16th regiment to be completely destroyed, so they directly cancelled the regiment's number afterwards and did not rebuild it. This also shows that the Japanese army valued the regiment flag. If the flag was lost, the number would be directly cancelled. If the flag was not lost, the troops would have a chance to rebuild.

In short, it can be said that the Japanese army's army units used to launch the Qinzhou Bay landing operation all had some relationship with He Wei to some extent.

The 21st Army of the Japanese China Expeditionary Army, located in Guangzhou, began to make various preparations for combat and carried out various combat readiness work after receiving secret instructions from the Japanese Imperial Army General Staff in early October 1939. After receiving the instructions, the 10th Division began to move to Qingdao and Boshan to strengthen landing operations and mountain warfare training. The Guards Mixed Brigade also set out from the mainland and arrived in Foshan, Guangdong by ship to start landing operations and mountain warfare training on the spot.

At the same time, the combat readiness of the naval fleet and landing fleet responsible for covering the landing of the Japanese Army was also proceeding in an orderly manner. Just when the National Army still regarded the direction of Guangzhou Bay as the key strategic direction for possible landing attacks by the Japanese Army, the Japanese Army had slowly bared its fangs towards Qinzhou Bay and Nanning.

On November 11, off the coast of Guangzhou Bay, Lieutenant General Ando Toshiyoshi, commander of the 9st Army of the Japanese Army, sat in the officer's office of a transport ship, quietly looking at the battle map hanging high in front of him, his eyes repeatedly sweeping between Qinzhou Bay and Nanning.

At present, all the units participating in the war have made preparations for battle. Among them, the main force, the 5th Division, has arrived at Sanya Port in Hainan. The Guards Mixed Brigade, which completed landing combat training in Foshan, set off from Guangzhou on November 38 after handing over the local security task to the 11th Division that had newly arrived in Foshan. It will arrive at Sanya Port soon.

The naval fleet used to cover the landing troops and the fleet loaded with various ammunition and supplies are also rushing to Sanya. As the highest core command body of this operation, the 21st Army Command also set out on the 9th and began to sail towards Sanya Port.

After receiving the order to launch a landing operation in Qinzhou Bay, the 21st Army Command quickly and efficiently began to operate and completed the formulation of the combat plan with extremely high efficiency.

As long as the 21st Army Command led by Toshiyoshi Ando arrives at Sanya Port and reunites with the various troops, this combat plan will be officially issued and implemented.

Ando Rikichi was very confident about the Qinzhou Bay landing operation. Through comprehensive judgment and analysis of the enemy situation, he could determine that the current defense focus of the Chinese army in southern Guangxi was not on Qinzhou Bay, but on the Guangzhou Bay line. Therefore, its defense deployment in Qinzhou Bay and Nanning direction was very weak.

However, the combat troops under his command were composed of elite soldiers. The Fifth Division was known as the Steel Army and was the most powerful among the Japanese troops. Although it had suffered heavy losses, its combat effectiveness was still considerable.

The Imperial Guards Mixed Brigade comes from the Imperial Guards Division. Although it has not participated in large-scale combat so far, it is also the Emperor's guard and its combat effectiveness is not weak. Therefore, Ando Toshiyoshi is very confident about the landing operation in Qinzhou Bay.

However, he did not expect that the number of a Chinese army appeared in the enemy situation report, which cast a shadow on Ando Rikichi's "confidence".

The Chinese army's name is

Army Ranger Corps
(End of this chapter)