usatvline Chapter 470 The counterattack begins
Chapter 470 The counterattack begins
The news that the Japanese army would send troops to the south was also obtained by Chinese intelligence personnel lurking in Nanning at great risk. This made Commander Bai very happy when he received the news, and he even cried out for help from God!
The troops led by Major General Ito Kawahara, commander of the 9th Brigade of the Japanese Army, set out on the 17th, and the general attack of the Chinese army was scheduled for the 18th. This has to be said to be a very surprising thing.
At this time, the Japanese guard force inside Kunlun Pass was an infantry battalion of the 21st Brigade of the 5th Division. The 42nd and 21st Regiments of the 21st Brigade served as rear guards on the Jiutang to Nanning line.
Since the New 22nd Army suffered some losses in the previous Battle of Changsha and has not yet been fully replenished, the Fifth Army will be the main force in this Kunlun Pass attack, and the New 22nd Army will serve as a reserve force, ready to reinforce the Fifth Army at any time when the attack is unfavorable.
Commander Huang of the New 22nd Army was of course very happy with such an arrangement. Although Commander Huang was still very confident in the combat effectiveness of his troops, firstly, the troops suffered heavy losses in the previous Battle of Changsha and have not yet been fully replenished; secondly, the New 22nd Army is already very famous, and Commander Huang is well aware of the truth that "the tallest tree in the forest will be destroyed by the wind."
The Fifth Army is the strongest force carefully built by the government. Advanced weapons and equipment and high-quality soldiers are all given priority to the Fifth Army. The government's intentional battle in southern Guangxi this time is to let the Fifth Army show its face, and at the same time to shut up those people in the government and the army who have complaints about the government's favoritism towards the Fifth Army.
After receiving the order, Commander Du of the Fifth Army also attached great importance to this operation. Commander Du immediately summoned all the officers above the regimental level in the Fifth Army to hold a pre-war military meeting.
At the meeting, Commander Du also announced that the Fourth War Zone had designated the Fifth Army as the main attacking force for Kunlun Pass. In response to the current deployment of the Japanese army at Kunlun Pass, Commander Du also formulated a "closing the door to fight the dog" encirclement and annihilation tactic.
Commander Du ordered the 200th Division and the 1st Honor Division to attack Kunlun Pass head-on. The newly formed 22nd Division was the right-wing flanking force, bypassing Kunlun Pass by a small road, capturing Wutang and Liutang, and attacking the Japanese reinforcements sent by Nanning at that time. Deputy Commander Peng of the 200th Division led two supplementary regiments to serve as the left-wing flanking detachment, bypassing Gantang and Chang'an to attack Qitang and Batang, and attack Kunlun Pass from the side, blocking the retreat of the enemy defending Kunlun Pass and preventing the Japanese reinforcements from heading north.
Then Commander Du ordered the Fifth Army's mechanized heavy artillery regiment to secretly advance into the dense forests in the hilly area near Kunlun Pass before the formal attack. At that time, they would quickly build positions only three or four miles away from the Japanese front line, and give the Japanese a big surprise when the attack began.
After receiving the order, Crazy Qiu, who was known as the "German General", led the troops of the 22nd Division from Silong north of Kunlun Pass, across the mountains, through Taiping Village, and infiltrated into the Wutang area south of Kunlun Pass.
On December 18, the first to sound the counterattack clarion call were the 170th Division of the 31st Army of the 16th Army of the Guangxi Clique of the Western Route Army, which launched an attack on Gaofengai on the west side of Kunlun Pass. The 175th Division of the 46th Army of the Guangxi Clique of the Eastern Route Army entered the Kunlun Pass and launched a raid on the Yongqin Highway.
In the early morning of the 18th, the Fifth Army of the Northern Route Army of the Fourth War Zone of China also launched an attack on the Japanese troops occupying Kunlun Pass.
Kunlun Pass, the main battlefield, was first attacked by artillery fire from both sides. The heavy artillery regiment of the Fifth Army of the Fourth War Zone of China and the artillery battalions of each division, under the command of Commander Du, immediately launched a fierce bombardment on the Japanese positions in Kunlun Pass. The Japanese army, which was basically unprepared, was stunned. However, the Japanese army had built relatively complete defensive fortifications in Kunlun Pass before, which reduced the casualties of the Japanese army to a relatively low level under the artillery fire of the Fifth Army.
Soon, the Japanese artillery units at Kunlun Pass reacted and began to counterattack the Fifth Army's artillery units relying on fortifications. At the same time, the Japanese army immediately called for air force support.
After the artillery battle between the Fifth Army and the Japanese Army started, under the suppression of the Fifth Army's heavy artillery regiment and the artillery battalions of various divisions, the Japanese Army's counterattack artillery, although not superior in numbers, relied on fortifications and bunkers and fought very hard. However, as the battle went on, the Fifth Army's artillery fire began to extend to the rear of the Japanese Army.
Because the first wave of attack troops of the 200th Division and the 1st Honor Division had already begun to attack Kunlun Pass, the soldiers of the first wave of attack troops of the Fifth Army, with bayonets in hand, under the guidance and cover of tanks, had already rushed to the Japanese positions while the Japanese artillery was entangled with the artillery units of the Fifth Army.
When the Japanese artillery units reacted and realized that they had been deceived by the Chinese artillery units, they immediately prepared to concentrate their artillery fire to intercept the Fifth Army's attacking forces. However, by then, the Fifth Army's attacking forces had already rushed into the Japanese positions. The two sides were already fighting each other, fighting for every position inch by inch.
When Kunlun Pass came under fierce attack from the Fifth Army, the supreme commander of the Japanese Yongqin Corps in Nanning, Lieutenant General Imamura Hitoshi, commander of the Fifth Division, suddenly realized what was happening. It was not until this time that Lieutenant General Imamura Hitoshi, commander of the Fifth Division, confirmed that the Fourth War Zone of the Chinese Government had indeed concentrated more than 100,000 troops before, and the so-called negotiations of the Guangxi clique were just a smoke screen.
By the evening of that day, the attacking forces of the 653st Honor Division had captured Fairy Mountain, Laomaoling, Wanfu Village, and Luotang near Kunlun Pass. The attacking forces of the 600th Division also captured the two heights of and . It can be said that the Fifth Army completed its original combat plan in the first day of the offensive.
In addition, the 170th Division of the Western Route Army of the Fourth War Zone occupied the hill near Gaofengai after a day of fighting, thus having the ability to block the Japanese reinforcements.
The results achieved in this day's attack also gave great confidence to the combat units of the Fourth Theater of War of China. That night, Commander Du of the Fifth Army decided to increase the intensity of the attack at night and use the advantages of the Chinese troops in night combat to quickly expand the results of the battle.
Commander Du first ordered the First Honor Division to launch an attack on the main position of Kunlun Pass from the flank overnight to attract the attention of the Japanese troops in the direction of Kunlun Pass. He then ordered the main force of the 200th Division to approach the Japanese positions stealthily, and launch a surprise attack on the Japanese positions while the First Honor Division's attack on the Japanese attracted the attention of the Japanese troops.