In Ando's original plan, the attack on northern Guangdong contained another layer of intention. Believing that Wang Jingwei had a certain political influence in the southwest, the Japanese military department had the idea of establishing a puppet regime centered on Guangzhou, and Wang Jingwei himself personally flew to Guangzhou to try to pull the Yue army into the water while contacting Zhang Fakui and Deng Longguang's troops. However, this activity did not go well, and the Army Province, out of various considerations, ordered the cessation of the establishment of a puppet regime in Southern China. As for pulling people into the water, after tossing and turning for half a day, only one Officer of the Cantonese Army who had served as Zhang Fakui's deputy chief of staff defected to the enemy.
According to the officer who defected to the enemy, although many of the generals he knew "wanted to join the Japanese," "because of Chiang Kai-shek's control, it was impossible to unite the lower-ranking personnel." Ando launched the Northern Guangdong Campaign in order to change the quality of the Guangdong Army in order to change the quality of the Guangdong Army, and at the same time to break the relationship between the Guangdong Army and the Chongqing National Government.
On November 15, 1939, the Twenty-first Army's plan for operations in northern Guangdong was approved by the Japanese command: "It can operate beyond the established area." At the same time, a large amount of ammunition was drawn in, and the Guards that had just been sent from Japan were mixed into their combat sequences.
On December 24, 1939, the Japanese army officially launched a large-scale offensive into northern Guangdong, using troops in addition to the Guards Mixed Brigade, including the 18th Division, the 104th Division and the 38th Division that originally guarded the outskirts of Guangzhou, with a total strength of about 70,000 people in eleven companies, which can be called a vast and imposing force.
Ando adopted the drilling gap roundabout tactics and successively entered the army in three ways. The left road was not the main direction of attack, but because it was the area through which the railway line passed, in order to attract the strength of the Chinese defenders to the railway line to facilitate the attack of his main attack along the way, he first launched an offensive on this side. The 158th Division, which was blocking the enemy on the left side, was also not easy to provoke, and they suddenly crossed the Beijiang River in a roundabout way, and then concentrated all the division's firepower to launch a fierce attack on the Yinzhan Pass behind the enemy's flank, and successively recaptured the Yinzhan Pass station and the Area of Sandusong south of the Yinzhan Pass.
The 158th Division's deep penetration behind enemy lines cut off the retreat of more than 4,000 men of the 104th Division on the left side, leaving it in the predicament of fighting on the backwaters. Unfortunately, because the frontal friendly forces did not dare to advance boldly, they failed to continue to expand the results of the battle. The 158th Division fought alone for three days and three nights, and after delaying the Japanese army's northward advance, it had to retreat to the west bank of the North River.
Before the Battle of Northern Guangdong, when the Battle of Guinan broke out, Zhang Fakui and some of the Cantonese army had already gone to Guangxi, so the Northern Guangdong Campaign was actually fully responsible for Yu Hanmou. Seeing that the situation on the left side was tight and no fighting had taken place in other areas, Yu Hanmou successively mobilized the main forces into the railway line and repeatedly fought with the enemy. The 940th Regiment of the 157th Division was one of the reinforcements and was tasked with retaking The Bollong Pass.
Although the military situation was urgent, although the enemy's situation, terrain, and friendly forces were not very clear, Li Youzhuang, still the commander of the 940 Regiment and regimental commander, solemnly told the officers and men when mobilizing: "The superiors must make sure that we take bolong pass, and our opportunity for meritorious service has arrived." There must be no retreat, there must be a task! ”
After dusk, the 940 regiment launched an attack on the enemy position, and by this time, Li Youzhuang found that he had been fooled, and the front-line troops had entered the preset fire network of the Japanese army.
In the Battle of Northern Guangdong (2), to be continued...