In the whole of World War II, the most brutal landing battle was the Battle of Omaha Beach in the Normandy landings, using favorable terrain and powerful firepower, the German army killed 2500 American troops in one hour. But in China's Qinzhou Bay, it's a different story.
Although China did not have a strong naval force and did not have firepower to suppress, the arrogance and looseness of the newly organized 19th Army still humiliated the Gui Army, and after only more than an hour of fighting, it directly collapsed. After taking Qinzhou Bay, the Japanese army pounced on Nanning in three ways.
This kind of ending made Zhang Fakui and Bai Chongxi, commanders of the Fourth Theater, a little stunned.
At that time in Europe, the German army blitzed Poland, the outbreak of World War 2, Japan will certainly make moves according to the international situation, on this basis, the Japanese army must have new moves, and it is not difficult to judge the conclusion that the Japanese army invaded Guangxi. So why doesn't China have the necessary preparations?
In fact, Bai Chongxi's side was invaded by the Japanese army in Guangxi, there was a prejudgment, but it was never taken seriously, and it was relatively vague. Bai Chongxi has never linked the war situation in China to the war in Europe. So much so that in the autumn of 1939, according to the orders of the Central Military Commission, they were still preparing to launch an offensive against the Japanese army in Xianggan and Gansu at the end of the year.
Zhang Fakui also did not feel that he had followed the order and gathered the main forces of the Fourth Theater of Operations on the first line of Shaoguan in northern Guangdong, resulting in a very empty number of troops in Guangzhou, and only six divisions when fully fought.
The Guilin camp also had a judgment: if the Japanese army invaded Guangxi, after all, it would use Hainan as a base, land from Guangzhou Bay, and take Liuzhou as the combat target. After this judgment report was handed over to Chongqing, it was also approved by the military command. For Nanning, both the Guilin side and the Chongqing side believe that once the war starts, Nanning is only a place where the Japanese army is divided, and it will not be so important.
Even Xia Wei's report to Bai Chongxi did not mention the Landing of the Japanese army in Nanning, and Bai Chongxi only asked him to destroy the road in Guinan.
Based on this idea, 4 of the 6 divisions in Guangxi were placed on the main road to Liuzhou, that is, the road from Qinzhou to Nanning, as well as the road around Nanjing, was completely garrisoned blank area. Therefore, after the Japanese landed in Qinzhou Bay and went straight to Nanning at this time, whether it was Zhang Fakui or Bai Chongxi, they were a bit blind.
After Chiang Kai-shek received the news, he immediately summoned Bai Chongxi, He Yingqin, Xu Yongchang, Chen Cheng, Liu Fei and others. On the spot, Xu Yongchang was reprimanded for his misjudgment of the enemy's situation, but in fact, this sentence was said to Bai Chongxi, after all, the military command approved of the Japanese army's attack on Liuzhou.
In the autumn of 1939, before the Japanese army landed, there was another judgment: due to the limited strength of the Japanese army, the Japanese army could not attack Guangxi, and also wrote a special report on the enemy's situation, saying that it was a relationship between self-sufficiency and that Japan was definitely unwilling to gnaw on this bone.
At the meeting, Chiang Kai-shek set the tone: To transfer the most elite troops to Guangxi.
In addition to the six divisions of the Guangxi 11th Group Army, the 38th Group Army, the 37th Group Army, the 35th Group Army, and the 26th Group Army in Hunan and Guangdong were all put into the Guangxi battlefield, and the Air Force must also do its best to dispatch at least 100 destroyers and bombers to cooperate in the operation.
Another matter was that Liu Fei, director of the War Department, transferred du Yanming's honorary 1st Division of the 5th Army to the battlefield in Hunan, and Was absolutely interrupted by Chiang Kai-shek, who bluntly said that every division of the 5th Army must stay in Guangxi to fight, and that it cannot go!
What was the reason why the Japanese army attacked Nanning and Chiang Kai-shek was so furious? Nanjing lost, Xuzhou lost, Wuhan lost, he was not so anxious!