The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 405 Another Main Attack? (Bonus Chapter 4950 for the Emergence of the Erotic Master)

About an hour and a half later, Hu Biao and Annie straightened their military uniforms and entered a shrine that had survived the war.

This all-army operations conference was also included in the agenda.

After going inside, the two understood why the elder had used an ancestral hall as the meeting place.

There were at least fifty or sixty people sitting around a long table made up of several square tables connected together. The table was arranged in three rows, and the people were sitting upright in their seats.

Unfortunately, the lowest rank on these people's collars was major general, and there were quite a few lieutenant generals and generals as well. Compared to them, his and Anne's rank of lieutenant colonel was really shabby.

Damn it! Don't Commander Hu and Chief of Staff An of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment have any dignity?

Furthermore, as soon as the two entered, all the people's eyes immediately turned to them.

Their eyes could convey a wide range of emotions, including enthusiasm, friendliness, indifference, disdain, and jealousy, and even a hint of hostility.

Fortunately, Hu Biao and Annie were most concerned about making something big happen during their visit to the meeting.

While everything else was somewhat unpleasant, I didn't care too much about it.

Ignoring the complex looks in their eyes, the two men straightened their backs, tucked in their stomachs, and snapped a perfect military salute to the four bigwigs, including Bai Jiansheng, at the head of the table.

At the same time, he said, "Report! Hu Biao and Annie from the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment have been ordered to arrive."

After saying that, he prepared to find two empty seats in the outermost row to sit down.

They still have a sense of hierarchy. Chinese people pay attention to seating arrangements, especially in formal occasions like this; the higher the rank and position of a person, the more likely they are to sit in the first one or two rows.

For a lieutenant colonel like them, who were the lowest-ranking officers in the entire venue, it was already quite good that the regimental commander and the regimental chief of staff could have seats in the last row and not have to stand.

Unexpectedly, before the two of them could even find a seat, [the incident occurred].

Chen Xiuzhi, a bigwig in the civil engineering department and a first-class general in the Nationalist government, greeted them with a friendly smile and waved, saying:

"Chief of Staff Yitong and Chief of Staff An, we've been waiting for you two. Come and sit down next to me."

Good heavens! This not only allowed these two junior lieutenant colonels to sit in the first row, which is at least at the rank of lieutenant general, but also bypassed Du Yuming and others, allowing them to sit in relatively forward positions.

Upon hearing this, Hu Biao immediately sensed that Du Yuming and the others, who had initially looked at them with friendly eyes, now had jealousy in their eyes.

Not to mention those who were already somewhat hostile towards them.

Faced with this scene, Hu Biao and Annie exchanged a secret glance, and they could tell what Chen Xiuzhi was thinking:

Firstly, it was definitely because the attack on Nanning City was not going well, and they wanted to send the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment as the spearhead of the entire army to launch the main attack.

That's why we have this practice of treating people with respect and letting them sit in the front.

Secondly, this guy didn't have good intentions; he was forcibly creating conflict and discord between them and the military commanders of other friendly forces.

They were probably worried that once they cultivated relationships with more military commanders, they would become increasingly difficult to control.

Even though they saw through Chen Xiuzhi's plan, the two of them still took the two front seats in the first row without hesitation.

Because they were certain that Chen Xiuzhi's plans for today would definitely fail...

******
Because Hu Biao and Annie were the last attendees to arrive, Commander Bai immediately announced the start of the meeting after they were seated.

He personally got up, walked to a large hanging map, and began to explain the latest situation:
"Everyone is quite familiar with the situation of our army. The Central Army, the Guangxi Army, and some local troops currently have a total strength of about 150,000 on the Nanning battlefield."

All of them are army units, with some air force support, but don't even think about the navy, so I won't go into more detail here.

Here I will focus on introducing the situation of the Japanese troops and some of the difficulties they faced.

According to reliable intelligence, the Japanese troops currently entrenched in Nanning consist of remnants of the 5th Division and the Taiwanese Independent Mixed Brigade. The total number of combat troops should be between nine thousand and eleven thousand.

A significant portion of these personnel belonged to logistics units such as supply, transport, and military police, and their combat effectiveness was relatively weak.

However, prior to this, they had already mobilized a large number of people and built relatively complete defensive fortifications in conjunction with the old city wall of Nanning, and their weapons and ammunition were also relatively plentiful.

In the battle just now, everyone should have a clearer understanding of the fighting strength of the Japanese troops in Nanning.

The Japanese troops currently closest to Nanning City are located in Beihai and Fangcheng County. They are both units under the Imperial Guard Brigade, with only one battalion in each location.

With limited military strength, they dared not support Nanning City, so they posed no threat whatsoever.

The first real threat is the 19th Independent Mixed Brigade, originally stationed in Shantou, which has a total of 6,000 men and will be able to board a ship in Guangzhou this afternoon.

Preliminary estimates suggest that it will land in the Fangchenggang area on the morning of the day after tomorrow and begin to provide support to Nanning.

The second real threat is the Japanese 18th Division, which has a total of 15,000 men and is currently gathering in Guangzhou. They are expected to board the ship in three days.

At the latest, this Japanese reinforcement force will be able to land in Beihai and then come to support Nanning City.

Whether the Japanese will send more reinforcements remains to be seen; let's all share our opinions on this matter.

However, when Commander Bai asked everyone to express their opinions, everyone present fell silent.

Even Qiu Qingquan, this audacious madman, was the same, keeping his eyes down and seemingly oblivious to what Commander Bai had said.

He may be crazy, but he's not stupid at all; on the contrary, he's incredibly shrewd.

The war between China and the Japanese lasted for more than two years. Everyone present was well aware of the Japanese army's combat capabilities and the gap between them and the National Revolutionary Army.

That's why they knew that given enough time, they could gradually chip away at the remaining 10,000 soldiers in the city.

The premise is that this period of time will be at least half a month, or even longer.

The key issue is that they don't have enough time. Let alone half a month, even ten days would be quite a struggle.

Because in three or four days at most, the Japanese 19th Brigade, with its six thousand men, would reach the outskirts of Nanning.

Just to stop them would require at least three or four times the number of troops, at least three or more divisions of the Guangxi Army.

The most dangerous thing is the 18th Division, which will arrive in six or seven days.

Although the Japanese 18th Division was not the legendary Class A division, it was recognized as having combat power comparable to that of a Class A division because it was established early enough.

Those present were perfectly aware of just how powerful a complete Class A Japanese division was.

Even though the Chinese army outside Nanning has 150,000 troops, they are no match for the Japanese army, which totals only 30,000.

At the very least, Nanning is out of the question.

As for taking down the Japanese forces in Beihai and Fangcheng County ahead of time to prevent their reinforcements from landing?
Don't even think about it, there's still a Japanese fleet sailing in the waters off both places, including battleships. The power of their naval gun support is even more terrifying than during the Battle of Shanghai.

Attacking under such naval gunfire is simply suicide.

In the end, in this deathly silence, everyone, whether they liked it or not, couldn't help but look at the couple who were far too young compared to themselves.

It seems that having the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment lead the main attack and capture Nanning before the arrival of the Japanese 18th Division is the only way.

In this situation, after receiving a signal from Hu Biao, Annie stood up, walked to the map, and began a performance that belonged to her and to the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment.

The sight of Anne standing there so gracefully, speaking eloquently, is something that many people present, even years later, cannot help but recall…

(End of this chapter)