The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 431 Great Victory (Bonus Chapter for the Broken-Winged Eagle)

Time: Evening of the 11th, at the Nationalist Army headquarters outside Nanning.

In contrast to the morning, when the command post was filled with the cacophony of ringing phones, telegrams, and shouting orders, it was an incredibly noisy scene.

At this moment, the huge command post was eerily quiet.

No phone calls or telegrams rang, and no one spoke. Even the staff officers walked on tiptoe as much as possible to avoid making a sound.

So as not to disturb the four big shots, Bai, Chen, Li, Zhang, and others, who have been sitting at the same table for a long time.

This displeased the four big shots, who now looked anxious, and they reprimanded him.

More precisely, immediately after the battle at Dadongxiang began at 3 p.m., Commander Bai ordered all attacking troops outside Nanning to cease their offensive.

The order was given to them to reinforce their defenses on the spot in preparation for any potential breakout by the Japanese troops in the city.

As soon as the order was given, the intense gunfire and shouts of battle that had been echoing outside Nanning for days suddenly ceased.

Both sides, already exhausted from the continuous battles, now have no intention of continuing the fight.

Furthermore, they knew that the final decision on the ownership of Nanning City no longer rested with them, but rather with the battlefield in Dadong Township; everything depended on the outcome of the battle.

If the Nationalist army wins, they will return with the momentum of a great victory.

Like a whirlwind, they could annihilate the remaining Japanese troops in the city and recapture this largest and most crucial city in southern Guangxi.

If the Japanese win, then the National Revolutionary Army will need to consider how to retreat in an orderly manner.

Don't even dream about things like Nanning or opening up overseas supply lines.
Despite the large number of military units outside the city, they had lost the morale and strength to continue fighting after a series of fierce attacks.

For the reasons mentioned above, after the ceasefire order was issued, the four bigwigs sat there waiting for the final outcome.

During the process, they raised their wrists countless times to check the time.

Then he opened his mouth as if to ask someone to send a telegram to inquire about the situation in Dadong Township; but in the end, he chose to keep his mouth shut and said nothing.

This situation continued until 6:21 a.m., when a series of 'drip-drip' sounds suddenly came from the telegram receiving center.

The telegram from Dadong Township has finally arrived.

This telegram from Dadong Township was translated by a senior telegraph operator at top speed.

When he looked up, he realized that everyone in the entire frontline command post, including the four big shots Bai, Chen, Li, and Zhang, were looking at him with complicated expressions of expectation and tension.

Thinking of the contents of the telegram he had just translated, the telegraph operator suddenly shouted:
"We won! We won! Our army has once again achieved a great victory in the encirclement and suppression of reinforcements in Dadong Township. After the battle, less than a thousand men from the elite 18th Division of the Japanese army escaped."

"Damn it, the Japanese devils in the city aren't getting any reinforcements."

After shouting the above sentence with all his might, he found that everyone present was completely silent, and everyone's expression was extremely blank, as if they had not heard it at all.

Just as he was about to repeat it again, a huge cheer finally broke out.

After such cheers were heard from the front-line command post, many of the Nationalist soldiers who had been silently waiting for the result realized that the battle in Dadong Township must have been won.

Then even louder cheers erupted and spread, turning the entire area outside Nanning into a sea of ​​joy...

In contrast, the joyous atmosphere outside the city was as jubilant as the Japanese soldiers inside Nanning, with everyone wearing expressions of despair.

Even new recruits who have been in the army for less than a year know that their demise is already on the countdown.

Especially Ando Rikichi, the commander of the Japanese 21st Army, who was also the highest-ranking person in Nanning.

Even after securing the base, it would take at least five days to mobilize reinforcements to board the ships, and a week would pass before they could reland at the North Sea port.

And these people certainly won't last until then.

Suddenly, Ando Rikichi clutched his chest, his face contorted in pain, and staggered to the ground. Fortunately, his adjutant reacted quickly and caught him.

He also took out some aspirin, nitroglycerin tablets, and other medications that are effective against sudden acute heart attacks from his pocket and put them into Ando Rikichi's mouth.

Thanks to this, Ando Rikichi, who was later helped to bed, showed significant relief from the pain that had contorted his face while he was unconscious.

He didn't die from this sudden heart attack.

However, during this process, whether it was the adjutant who had been guarding the side or Imamura Hitoshi, who rushed over upon hearing the news and was the second highest-ranking Japanese soldier in the city, it was all due to the fact that...

The Japanese soldiers surrounding the bed all had extremely grim expressions on their faces.

Because if we include Ando Rikichi, this is the seventh general or officer in the city to suddenly suffer a heart attack in the last three days.

Apart from one lucky individual who survived thanks to timely medication, the other five are long dead.

Ironically, none of these people had been found to have heart disease during their previous physical examinations.

Therefore, in addition to facing the danger of being attacked and annihilated by the Nationalist army, they also seem to be haunted by a vengeful spirit that could take their lives at any moment.

This only exacerbated the already low morale of the Japanese soldiers...

******
An hour later, it was completely dark.

Hu Biao, Annie, Hei Xing, AT and other senior officers of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment, along with a group of Nationalist generals, gathered at the township office, which had miraculously survived two consecutive battles.

Their expressions were a mix of excitement and pain, an extremely complex mix.

The reason for this is that the casualties and battle results of this battle against the Japanese 18th Division have just been roughly tallied.

The details regarding the results were quite concise:
In this battle, a total of 14126 Japanese soldiers were killed, including a large number of generals and officers, including Seiichi Hisano. Because the Japanese resistance was extremely fierce, including the wounded who preferred death to surrender, no prisoners were captured.

A small number of cannons, trucks, shells, and supplies were seized, but a large number of light machine guns and Type 38 rifles were captured, totaling at least tens of thousands.

However, the details of our own casualties were not only more complex, but also quite shocking:

A total of 9103 soldiers were killed and 10799 were wounded. Thousands of the seriously wounded were in critical condition and it was uncertain whether they would survive the night.

The total number of casualties on our side was several thousand more than that of the Japanese, including more than two thousand cavalrymen who were almost completely wiped out.

21 T-26 tanks and 11 Porcupine armored vehicles were destroyed, leaving only one remaining.

In any case, the newly formed 22nd Division, the only mechanized unit in the National Revolutionary Army, was almost wiped out by half in one battle.

In addition, 32 modified trucks were destroyed, half of which were destroyed while stationary and acting as fixed firing positions.

In short, Hu Biao and his men tried every possible method to win this battle, and even poured the last bit of their air force's resources into it.

They managed to lure the Japanese 18th Division into the ambush zone, thus gaining all the advantages of timing, location, and popular support.

As a result, their casualties were still much greater than those of the Japanese, which made them realize once again the formidable fighting power of the Japanese, especially the elite Japanese soldiers.

Such a huge loss and realization has deeply saddened everyone.

Regardless, they still won this battle, and Nanning City will be as easy to pluck as a ripe fruit.

It's still something to be happy about and to excite them.

After some discussion, Hu Biao, holding the rank of lieutenant colonel, decisively issued an order to the assembled generals:
"Each unit will leave behind some logistics troops to continue to thoroughly clean up the battlefield tonight and tomorrow."

After dinner, the other units immediately took the time to rest. We will set off early tomorrow morning to return to Nanning, so that it may once again be embraced by China.

Then, a group of generals from the Central Army and the Guangxi Army stood up, chests out and bellies in, and gladly accepted the order...

(End of this chapter)