On December 4, 1939, Japanese troops occupied kunlun pass fortress. Kunlun Pass is located in the northeast of Nanjing, belonging to the junction of Binyang County and Yongning County, more than 550 kilometers from Nanning, and is the gateway to the north of Nanning.
The mountain range on which Kunlun Pass depends is not high, only more than 300 meters, but the mountain is steep, densely forested, and the path is rugged. Kunlun Pass is in the middle of this mountain range, after descending the mountain is the road from Liuzhou to Nanning, Kunlun Pass is surrounded by a small mountain bag, and the mountain bag two kilometers away in the Middle And West is higher than kunlun pass.
To the west of Kunlun Pass is another fortress, Gaofeng Pass.
There is a road leading directly to the north under Kunlun Pass, and the peak pass is also like this, so these two places are places where soldiers must fight. In the Gaofeng Pass area, the Gui army had engaged in a fierce firefight with the Japanese army.
Kunlun Pass was occupied by a brigade of the 42nd Wing of Sakatahara's 42nd Regiment under the command of the Nakamura Brigade of the Japanese 5th Division, and the commander of the brigade was called Matsumoto Sonzaburo.
Chiang Kai-shek had been paying close attention to the war situation in Guangxi, and the Japanese flag closed by Kunlun made it difficult for him to sleep and eat. Did the Japanese continue to invest? This issue has always been a headache for Chinese army generals. Although the Japanese strategic offensive posture has ended, the possibility of the Japanese army attacking Changsha or even entering Sichuan cannot be completely ruled out.
War is like this, not afraid of ten thousand, afraid of just in case. If the Japanese army really had long-term plans, then the Japanese troops landing in Guangxi were only a small part, and under such speculation, Chiang Kai-shek directly rejected Bai Chongxi's plan to immediately throw himself into the local Gui army for a counteroffensive.
Later, many people said that it was precisely because of Chiang Kai-shek's decision that the Chinese army's counterattack time was delayed. However, if the Battle of Guinan is comprehensively discussed, everyone will find that there is no problem of delaying the fighter here. After the Japanese army occupied Nanjing, Bai Chongxi sent a telegram to the Central Military Commission and proposed a counter-offensive plan. For the most part, that was merely procedural language, and no detailed plan was formed at all.
As we said earlier, it is only the Gui army in Guangxi that its strength is extremely limited, and it would be very impractical to use only local troops to counterattack.
On December 8, Chiang Kai-shek issued an order for a counter-offensive, and by this time, in addition to Du Liming's 5th Army, Li Yannian's 2nd Army and Gan Lichu's 6th Army had entered Guangxi.
Bai Chongxi's final counter-offensive plan was:
Xu Tingyao's 38th Army and Du Yanming's 5th Army attacked Kunlun Mountain.
Xia Wei's 16th Army and Ye Zhao's 37th Army attacked Gaofeng Pass while intercepting Japanese reinforcements.
Cai Tingkai's 26th Army on the East Road raided the road from Qinzhou to Nanning, cutting off the Japanese supply line and guarding the Japanese army at sea.
Du Yuming's Fifth Army, as the main force, held an immediate military conference on December 10. He told everyone that it was very certain that the Japanese army opposite was the 5th Division, and the combat effectiveness was very strong, and stressed:
The Japanese troops who attacked Nanning and Kunlun Pass in the front were all the 5th Division Regiment, which was a subordinate of Itagaki Seishiro, who had defeated dozens of Chinese divisions in North China, had rich combat experience, and the 5th Division, like the 5th Army, had a mechanized unit, but it was said that the tip of the needle against Mai Mang was a life-and-death battle.
Du Yuming also said:
The purpose of the Japanese army's use of troops in Guangxi this time is very clear, that is, to cut off the roads and railways from Vietnam to Guangxi, threaten the rear of Yunnan-Guizhou, and force China to negotiate. At the same time, it also gives France and Britain, who have interests in Vietnam and Burma, a little color to see, so this war is crucial.
The Japanese forwards had occupied Kunlun Pass, the surrounding highlands had also been occupied, and point fortresses had been built, and fire support could be provided between the various positions. And the jungle in the Guinan Mountains is dense, and the Japanese fortifications completely make use of the environment and are embedded in the mountain, which is very strong and very hidden.
Finally, the staff officers of the Fifth Army, in accordance with the terrain of Kunlun Pass, drew up a combat plan of "interspersing in a roundabout way, encircling in sections, and encircling the enemy to fight for assistance." This way of fighting is very rare for the Chinese military.