Chapter 21 Chapter 20 Use the greatest tenacity to fight the enemy
The Fifth Division of the Japanese Army stationed in Qiqihar, China, for less than two months, had just put on their thick winter uniforms before receiving an order to move south.
The Fifth Division of the Japanese Army was not only the main force in the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, but also one of the Japanese regiments that invaded Beijing during the Gengzi Incident in 1900.Since 1912, the division has been stationed in Northeast China and has been the main force of the Kwantung Army.After the outbreak of China's all-out war of resistance, the Fifth Division, under the command of Seishiro Itagaki, successively participated in the Battle of Nankou, the Battle of Taiyuan and the Battle of Xuzhou.In 1938, Seishiro Itagaki was transferred to the post of Minister of the Japanese Army. Under the command of Lieutenant General Toshiyoshi Ando, the division went south to Guangdong and landed from Daya Bay to occupy the Humen Fortress.After Ando Toshiyoshi was promoted to the commander of the 21st Army, Lieutenant General Jun Imamura, director of the Military Affairs Bureau of the Japanese Army Ministry, took over the post of division commander.On September 5, 1939, the Fifth Division was transferred to the Qiqihar region of China, and became the directly-administered force of the Japanese Army Base Camp.
The Fifth Division is established for the permanent division of the Japanese Army.The order of battle at this time is: division headquarters; the 9th Infantry Brigade, which governs the 11th and 41st Infantry Regiments, the brigade commander and Major General Chuanyuan No. 7; the 21st Infantry Brigade, which governs the 21. Forty-second Regiment, Major General Masao Nakamura, brigade commander; Fifth Cavalry Regiment; Fifth Field Artillery Regiment; The third and fourth field hospitals.When the division is fully loaded, the total strength is about 28,000.
In mid-September, the Fifth Division began to move towards Bohai Bay.By the beginning of November, all units of the division and regiment boarded ships at the ports of Dalian and Lushun at the same time.The fleet fully loaded with the Fifth Division was heading east—that was the direction of the mainland of Japan. The officers and soldiers were very excited, guessing that they might have to return to the country to rest. Some people stayed up all night on the deck:
The transport ship carrying the Fifth Division set sail continuously from Dalian and Lushun Ports from October 27 to November 3, sailed into the Seto Inland Sea, which officers and soldiers dream of, and dropped off at Ujina Port. anchor.However, it is strictly forbidden for officers and soldiers to go on deck, and they can only look at the neon lights of Hiroshima City from the small round window in the cabin.
After the ship was loaded with anti-aircraft guns and other heavy equipment at the Japanese mainland port, it set sail again, heading due south.The huge fleet quickly sailed into the dark waves, and the officers and soldiers of the fifth division who were at a loss did not know where they were going.
At this time, the whole of China is immersed in the joy of "Changsha Victory".
Chiang Kai-shek convened the second meeting of senior generals of the Chinese army in Nanyue. The important topic of the meeting was: the time for the Chinese army to counterattack has come.
First of all, Chiang Kai-shek believes that after the outbreak of World War II, the relationship between Japan and the United States has undergone subtle changes, and it is expected that in the next three months, the situation in the Far East will also undergo major changes.Two recent incidents are quite telling.First, on October 9, at the banquet of the Japan-American Association in Tokyo, the US ambassador to Japan Grew made an unprecedented rebuke to the Japanese warlords, saying that the American people generally felt strongly about the Japanese army’s brutal atrocities in China and the Japanese army’s rejection of American nationals. He was indignant, and said that the Americans were well aware of the "conspiracy" of the Japanese warlords' claim to "establish a new order in East Asia."Grew warned the Japanese ruling and opposition parties that if the policy of aggression is not changed, the relationship between the United States and Japan will "be out of control one day."The second is that not long ago the Japanese organized the pseudo police from Shanghai to cross the border and invade the concession area. US Secretary of State Hull immediately stated that the United States firmly opposed "Japan's attempt to change the status quo of the Shanghai concession" and declared that "the US troops stationed in Shanghai and the Far East will never retreat."Chiang Kai-shek believed: "This is really an improvement in the international diplomatic situation, and the most important thing related to the future of our war of resistance is that our country's two-year and three-month war of resistance, especially the retreat from Wuhan at this time last year, has gained us all the sacrifices and struggles of our soldiers and civilians. result."
... The United States and Russia, the two countries with the closest interests in the Far East and the greatest strength, have clearly expressed their policy trend towards the Sino-Japanese war. The other two countries, Britain and France, will also be able to strengthen their consistent positions in the future and conspire to suppress aggression Violence is also an inevitable trend.Therefore, the international diplomatic situation is obviously improving day by day, which is enough to help us win the war of resistance and promote the security and peace of East Asia... We demand national independence and national liberation, and all requirements are on our own.If we are sound and full, and all party affairs, political economy, etc. can be improved in time, so that the war of resistance ahead can be strengthened for a long time, leading to victory, then the diplomatic situation will improve, which is of course beneficial to me. .Conversely, if we are not healthy ourselves, and there is no progress in the war of resistance, no matter whether the country's diplomacy will improve or not, even if it improves, we will not be able to obtain much benefit...
Chiang Kai-shek believed that the just-concluded battle in northern Hunan had fully exposed the decline of the Japanese army, and the brave resistance of the Chinese army not only strengthened the confidence of the Chinese people, but also "renewed" the international perception.The morale of the enemy's army and the people's ebb and flow, and the international forces' clear opposition to Japan will prompt the Chinese army to enter the counter-offensive stage of the War of Resistance:
The rise and fall of the morale and psychology of the army and the people of the enemy and our own is the biggest key to our victory in the War of Resistance.The army and the people of our country are actually getting stronger as they fight, while the enemy gets weaker as they fight.All senior generals must always pay attention to the changes in the combat psychology and combat power of the enemy and our armies, and arouse the attention of their subordinates.It doesn’t matter if we are not aware of our growing strength, but we must study and understand the enemy’s war-weary psychology and the biggest weakness displayed by the enemy army, and use various methods to attack him in order to maintain our victory.Furthermore, it is not enough to passively maintain the results of the battle, we must actively advance and carry forward the results of the battle; otherwise, if we do not advance, the enemy will advance... Our strategy should be to see the enemy's flaws and see the enemy's strength. When we are weary of war and dare not advance, we immediately take the offensive and resolutely attack and advance.Therefore, we must completely change our strategy and the mentality of officers and soldiers in the future. We must start to turn defense into offense, turn static into action, and actively take the offensive.Although our current weapons and equipment are not yet capable of engaging in thorough and large-scale offensive warfare, we must continue to study methods of avoiding the real and attacking the weak, and taking advantage of the gaps, so that the enemies everywhere will be hit by us. Retreat after failure, such as the example of the victory in northern Hunan... You must know that the gist of my second battle is not to fight the enemy in terms of equipment and weapons, but to fight our enemy strategically and spiritually. !
Chiang Kai-shek planned to take advantage of the high spirits of the Chinese military and civilians after the Changsha Battle to launch an active winter offensive in various theaters across the country.
Regardless of whether the international situation after the outbreak of World War II has had a positive impact on China's war of resistance, whether there has been a decisive change in the military strength of the enemy and us on the Chinese battlefield, and whether or not the morale of the Japanese invaders has reached what Chiang Kai-shek said was "weary of war and dare not At least since the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the Chinese army has never taken the initiative to attack on a large scale.Therefore, the twelve theaters of the Chinese army launched the winter offensive together, at least it seemed that they had the formation to completely defeat the Japanese invaders in one fell swoop.
On November 19, 1939, Chiang Kai-shek issued a command order instructing the missions of each theater:
1. In the first war zone, attack Kaifeng and Bo'ai to contain the enemy.
2. In the second war zone, the communication between the Zhengtai and Tongpu railways should be effectively cut off first, and the enemy in the southern Shanxi triangle should be eliminated.
3. The third war zone should use the main force of about eleven divisions to cut off the traffic on the Yangtze River and divide them into Hukou, Madang, Dongliu, Datong, Tongling, and Digang. Light and heavy artillery firepower and the laying of mines blocked the Yangtze River.
4. In the fourth war zone, a camera should be used to attack Hu and Shantou, and the main force should be to sweep away the enemies on Guangjiu Road and Nanning.
5. In the fifth war zone, mop up the enemies of Xinyang and Wuhan on the southern section of the Ping-Han Line, advance into Hankow, attack the enemies on the Han-Yi Highway, and cut off the traffic on the Xianghua-Han-Yi Highway.
6. In the eighth war zone, one unit should cooperate with the second war zone to fight, and the main force will attack the enemies near Guisui.
7. In the ninth war zone, attack the frontal enemy in the northern section of Guangdong-Han, focusing on Puqi and Xianning, and advance to Wuchang. At the same time, attack the Nanchang and Nanxun railways, and attack the enemies in Ruichang and Jiujiang.
Eighth, the tenth war zone, still in the original river defense, and according to the progress of the attack in the southern Shanxi triangle area, prepare to expand the results by crossing the river.
9. In the Sulu war zone, we should attack Tai'an, Lincheng, Tongshan, and Fengxian with a wide front from east to west, so as to respond to the battle along the river.
10. In the Jincha war zone, the main force should cut off the traffic between Baoding, Xingtai and the enemy near Shijiazhuang, and partly cut off the enemy's traffic near Cangxian and Dexian counties, so as to respond to the battle in Shanxi.
In addition, it stipulated the start date of the offensive in each theater. Except for the offensive dates of the fifth and ninth theaters, which were limited to before November 26, the rest of the assists were limited to the end of November, and the main offensive was limited to the first ten days of December. implemented separately.
If this warrant falls into the hands of the Japanese, I don't know how shocked they will be.Can the Chinese army really launch such a large-scale counterattack in such a vast area?If he did not have such military capabilities, where did Chiang Kai-shek's self-confidence come from? ——In any case, the Japanese will definitely be very frustrated, because if China launches a large-scale counterattack, not only will it be difficult to deal with the current defenses of the Japanese invaders, but after more than two years of arduous fighting, they will not be able to control China militarily. The Chinese army was defeated, and the Chinese army actually took the initiative to counterattack.
The Fifth Division of the Japanese Army had already sailed across the Taiwan Strait and continued to head south amid the turbulence of the wind and waves.
The officers and soldiers on the ship took off their cotton-padded clothes and put on single clothes, and their mood gradually became hotter as the temperature rose.
The winter offensive launched by the Chinese side began.
According to the order of the Military Commission, each theater began to carry out counter-offensive operations against the Japanese troops in front of them.However, except for the operations in the first and eighth theaters, which satisfied Chiang Kai-shek, the rest of the theaters were reprimanded by Chiang Kai-shek without exception.
Wei Lihuang's first battle zone launched an attack in the east and north of Henan.In eastern Henan, the Third Army cut off the highway and railway between Kaifeng and Lanfeng. He Cuizhi's 81st Division attacked Kaifeng and Lanfeng at the same time, and once broke into Kaifeng City, burning the 35th Division of the Japanese Army A headquarters and a military warehouse.The Second Cavalry Army attacked Shangqiu and ignited the gasoline depot in the Japanese airport. The Fourth Cavalry Brigade of the Japanese Army who came for reinforcements was ambushed by the Chinese army halfway.In northern Henan, the newly formed Fifth Army, Forty-seventh Army and Ninth Army and other troops destroyed the road connected to the Ping-Han Railway. Pei Changhui's Forty-seventh Division once attacked Biyang City and wiped out the Japanese 30th One of the five divisions.Chiang Kai-shek's evaluation of the operations of the first theater is: "The first theater was ordered to be cautious and forge ahead bravely. The soldiers were able to attack the provincial capital of Kaifeng, and they were able to continue to mop up the nearby enemies and burn most of the enemy's warehouses. Crossing the river and attacking Zhongmu and other cities many times, this kind of indomitable courage is very commendable."
The troops of the fifth war zone launched a wide-ranging attack on the Japanese army: the 68th Army of the Second Group Army and the 92nd Army of Li Xianzhou, with the cooperation of the Hubei-Henan Border Area Guerrilla Corps, attacked Xinyang on the southern section of Pinghan Road. Frequent attacks on the troops of the Third Division of the Japanese Army; the Thirteenth Army and the Eighty-fifth Army of the 31st Group Army launched attacks in the direction of Guangshui in northeast Hubei, threatening Wuhan; The 41st and 45th Army of the 22nd Group Army and the 39th Army of Liu Heding, with the cooperation of local guerrilla forces, launched an attack on the 13th Division of the Japanese Army in Suixian and Yingshan.The largest counterattack was in the direction of the 33rd Army and the 29th Army. Chinese troops with more than 15 divisions attacked the Japanese troops in Zhongxiang, Jingshan, and Zaoshi respectively. This area was scattered in a line, and was divided into isolated strongholds by the Chinese army. However, the Japanese army endured the suffering of food and ammunition shortages and stubbornly resisted for more than a month, so that the Chinese army finally failed to break through any of the Japanese strongholds.Chiang Kai-shek could not be sure of the report on the results of the fifth theater, and believed that the counterattack task had not been completed in the theater: "In the battle on the east bank of the Xianghe River in the fifth theater, the armies either advanced or retreated, and the number of victories and defeats was inconsistent. Each theater is superior, but it is also necessary to check the strength and situation of the enemy and the enemy at that time, as well as the exact number of our casualties and captures after the battle, and the advance and retreat, front and rear, bravery, strength, strength, merits and demerits of each army must be the same. A detailed report will determine the severity of rewards and punishments according to the size of the meritorious deeds. However, this time the war zone has mobilized all its strength and failed to recover any of the strongholds of Zhongxiang and Xinyang, and it has not fulfilled its mission."
The Ninth Theater, which had just concluded the Battle of Changsha, launched an attack on Yueyang in northern Hunan with the five divisions of the Fifteenth Group Army; the attack direction of the six divisions of the Twenty-seventh Group Army was in Tongshan and Puqi in southern Hubei.The Chinese army surrounded several independent strongholds of the 6th Division of the Japanese Army, and fought a fierce battle with a part of the 40th Division of the Japanese Army who came for reinforcements.The four divisions of the 30th Army launched an attack on the 33rd Division of the Japanese Army in the direction of Wuning and Fengxin in northern Jiangxi; the five divisions of the 19th Army attacked the 34th Division of the Japanese Army near Nanchang. fight.Among them, Wang Lingji's 72nd Army killed Ken Sato, Major General of the 214th Regiment of the 33rd Division of the Japanese Army in the battle.The Ninth War Zone took a lot of action, but the results were not great. Especially when nine divisions were used to besiege the Dashaping stronghold at the junction of southern Hubei and northern Hunan, the troops suffered heavy casualties but were not defeated. Chiang Kai-shek was very annoyed: "The Ninth War Zone The Ninth Division besieged Dashaping for more than a month, and our army suffered heavy casualties. The enemy broadcast and called it an unprecedented continuous battle. But the division has been ineffective for a long time and has not received any results. Why? Therefore, the advancement and retreat, front and back, courage, strength and weakness among the nine divisions, as well as their merits and demerits, merits and demerits, should be more intentionally and clearly examined and thoroughly reviewed."
There were no major battles in Yan Xishan's Second Theater, Jiang Dingwen's Tenth Theater, Jicha Theater, and Lusu Theater.
Chiang Kai-shek believed that Gu Zhutong's Third War Zone performed the worst.China's third war zone is located in an area where the armies of the two warring parties are densely confronted. No matter which side makes a slight move, it will immediately turn into a melee.The scale of the counterattack planned by the third war zone at the beginning was considerable: the eighteenth, twenty-fifth, eighty-sixth, twenty-first, and fifty-eighth armies were assembled along the Yangtze River, with a total of five armies and fourteen divisions. The main force was organized into the Yangtze River Attack Army. The attack army was divided into three corps: left, center, and right. They would launch a full-line attack from Digang in southern Anhui to Guichi, which is about 100 kilometers wide.However, when the Thirteenth Army of the Japanese Army discovered the abnormal assembly of the Chinese army, it judged that the Chinese army was likely to launch an offensive against the 116th Division, which was tasked with guarding the Yangtze River waterway. The Datong area launched an offensive against the Chinese army, and also deployed troops to strengthen the strength of the 116th Division, and at the same time ordered the 15th Division to cooperate with the 116th Division.The adjustment of the Japanese army has not yet been completed, and the offensive in the third theater has begun.The Chinese army immediately broke through the Japanese 116th Division's line of defense between Datong and Digang, rushed to the Yangtze River, set mines on the river, and bombarded Japanese ships on the river.However, when the 101st and 106th Divisions of the Japanese Army arrived from Jiujiang along the Yangtze River waterway for emergency reinforcements, the offensive in the third war zone came to an abrupt halt, and all its main forces withdrew to Qinggang, west of Digang and Guichi. Yang area, leaving only a small force to partially harass the Japanese army.China's Tenth Army, located in the direction of Hangzhou, attacked Hangzhou, Fuyang and other places, but after encountering the counterattack of the Japanese 22nd Division, the troops quickly abandoned Xiaoshan and retreated in a hurry. ——The winter offensive of the powerful third war zone was anticlimactic and perfunctory, so that Chiang Kai-shek reprimanded Gu Zhutong for "discrediting the army, but shame is in place":
The winter offensive was originally aimed at cutting off the enemy's traffic along the Yangtze River. At that time, the third war zone used 14 divisions and a large number of artillery to attack the enemy troops defending the first division along the river. It was not affected by any battles in southern Guangxi and other theaters. The official fighting in the theater ended after only three days and nights, and the mission was not completed.The army's reputation is ruined, where is the shame?How will it revolutionize, and how will it win the final victory during the War of Resistance?Worry and pain are nothing more than this.However, our army's orders are not strict, and morale is low. From this, it can be seen that there is still a sense of military discipline and military reputation in it?And after the incident, only Guo Xunqi, the commander of the army, withdrew the matter alone. I don't know that its influence affects more than one army!Not long after, Xiaoshan fell, and the wind retreated, no responsibility was asked, no crime was punished, the military situation is like this, how can we not be worried and angry?How can it be embarrassing if you continue to follow this path and cause damage to the party and the country?The merits and demerits of this third war zone must be thoroughly investigated.
Among all the theaters, the eighth theater fought hard.
In China's Eighth War Zone, the Gobi is in the sky, the weather is harsh, the conditions are difficult, and the enemy situation is serious.The scope of the theater includes the Ulanqab League, Yikezhao League, and Bayannur League in southern Inner Mongolia.In January 1939, Fu Zuoyi led the 35th Army and transferred to the Hetao area of Suixi via Hequ, Shanxi, and became the deputy commander-in-chief of the Eighth War Zone and concurrently the chairman of the Suiyuan Provincial Government.At this time, the area east of Baotou was occupied by the Japanese army.After the winter offensive of the Chinese army began, Fu Zuoyi commanded the 35th Army, the 35th Division of the 81st Army, and the 7th Division of the Sixth Cavalry Army, and carried out three battles in Baotou, Suixi and Wuyuan.
The military commission gave Fu Zuoyi the task of attacking the Japanese army in the Ural Mountains, but Fu Zuoyi decided to attack Baotou.The reason is: Baotou is the terminal station of the Pingsui Railway, an important support point for the Japanese army to control Suixi, and it is also the advance base for the enemy and puppets to expand to Ningxia.Moreover, the Japanese army did not expect that the Chinese army would suddenly turn to attack, so they must have been negligent in guarding against it. As long as the Chinese army attacked decisively and resolutely, there was a considerable chance of winning.For this reason, Fu Zuoyi ordered the 101st Division to build fortifications on the confrontation line with the Japanese army with great fanfare, making the Japanese army mistakenly think that Fu Zuoyi wanted to strengthen the defense before the Yellow River was frozen.At the same time, he also invited the local troupe to condolences to the troops, with gongs and drums blaring, singing and dancing, to show that his troops were preparing for the New Year and had no intention of dispatching from Wuyuan at all.In fact, Fu Zuoyi proposed that Sun Lanfeng's newly formed 31st Division, a regiment attached to the garrison brigade and a mountain artillery battalion would attack Baotou from the west; The enemy was reinforced in the north and Guyang directions; Men Bingyue's seventh cavalry division moved along the south bank of the Yellow River, entered the area from Saraqi to Guisui on the Pingsui Railway, destroyed the railway and occupied Saraqi County; Dong Qiwu's first 〇The first division is the general reserve team, and cooperates with the newly organized 31st division to attack Baotou from the north.
On December 15, various troops began to move secretly to the designated location.On the 19th, the 7th Cavalry Division fought against the Japanese and puppet troops near Sarazi. Fu Zuoyi ordered the newly formed 31st Division to attack the city immediately.Division commander Sun Lanfeng ordered Liu Jingxin's 91st Regiment and Yu Linrui's regiment of the garrison brigade to attack the city from the east and west sides of the Baotou city wall. enemy.When the 93rd Regiment, which was tasked with blocking aid, arrived at the northwest gate of Baotou, it found that the defending enemy was not aware of it, and the bunker was not defended. The head of the regiment, An Chunshan, decided to act immediately.In the middle of the winter night, with a crescent moon and cold stars, the north wind whistling, dripping water turned into ice, the temperature had dropped to more than minus 30 degrees Celsius, and the moat outside Baotou City was covered with hard ice.Halfway up the climb, someone on the city wall actually talked to them, asking if the people who were climbing the city were the anti-Japanese troops, if so, come up quickly!The questioners were puppet soldiers standing guard on the city wall.With the help of this group of puppet soldiers with surviving conscience, officers and soldiers of the 93rd Regiment climbed up the city wall, quickly killed the Japanese soldiers guarding the northwest gate, and then opened the city gate, and Yu Ruilin's regiment outside the city swarmed into the city.
In Baotou City, there are two regiments of the Japanese army, a division of the puppet Mongolian army, gendarmerie and Japanese garrison.Discovering that the Chinese army had rushed into the city, the Japanese and puppet troops immediately assembled troops and activated tanks in an attempt to block the Chinese army back.The officers and soldiers of the 93rd Regiment fought bravely with the Japanese and puppet troops. The people of Baotou came out to lead the way for the officers and soldiers of the 93rd Regiment. The Japanese and puppet troops retreated to the headquarters compound.
On the evening of the 21st, after learning that a large number of Japanese troops had urgently reinforced Baotou from Zhangjiakou, Datong, Guisui and other places, Fu Zuoyi believed that the purpose of surprise attacking Baotou City had been achieved, and ordered the troops to withdraw from Baotou and move to Wuyuan.
The Battle of Baotou was completely beyond the expectations of the Japanese army.The Japanese army killed and injured more than 20 officers, including the captains of the regiment Kazuo Kobayashi and Kazuaki Ohara, and more than 3,000 soldiers. A large number of weapons and military supplies in the city were looted by Fu Zuoyi's troops.
Naozaburo Tobu, the commander of the Japanese Army Garrison in Mongolia stationed in Zhangjiakou, felt great anger and shame at the attack on Baotou, and decided to encircle and suppress Fu Zuoyi's troops.He mobilized more than 30,000 Japanese puppet troops, more than 1,000 vehicles, dozens of tanks, and a large number of artillery, and ordered the commander of the 26th Division, Lieutenant General Shigetoku Kuroda, to command the troops to attack the Hetao area of Inner Mongolia in two routes, north and south. Jump over.
Fu Zuoyi analyzed the situation on the battlefield and decided that the main force would pre-set positions in favorable areas to lure the enemy deep, and then attack the intruding Japanese army on both sides.After the Japanese and puppet troops on the South Road dispatched from Baotou, they were successively blocked by the 7th Cavalry Division, and then ambushed by the newly formed 32nd Division.The Japanese and puppet troops on the North Road were divided into two groups and advanced along the north bank of the Wuga River. As a result, they were ambushed by the newly formed 31st Division on the grassy beach covered with Achnatherum splendens. The Japanese and puppet troops were caught off guard and suffered heavy losses.Another Japanese puppet army was blocked by the 101st Division in Wuzhen and Zhegui Township.As Fu Zuoyi's troops retreated while fighting, the Japanese and puppet troops successively occupied Wuyuan, Linhe and Shanba, but they never found the main force of Fu Zuoyi's troops.Commander Shigetoku Kuroda believed that the siege had been won, and Fu Zuoyi himself was probably fleeing to Chongqing.However, before the words were finished, Fu Zuoyi's troops fought back. The Chinese army recovered Linhe and Shanba one after another, and the two sides formed a confrontation outside Wuyuan City.
At the beginning of March, Fu Zuoyi decided to take back Wuyuan City:
One or two days before and after the vernal equinox, the Yellow River must open to thaw and flow. During the period of ice flood and flow, it takes about seven or eight days, and ships are impassable, and people and horses cannot move.We took advantage of this opportunity to dig ditches in the Wula trench in the northeast of Wuyuan to flood the two main roads north and south. When the mud turned over, the enemy troops, horses and vehicles would not be able to move forward, and they would lose their mechanization function, leaving them with nowhere to go and wiped out all of them. .We must try to take advantage of the moment when the spring breaks the river.This is the time.The use of the natural moat of the Uga River is a geographical advantage, and we are well aware of the geographical environment, terrain and features of the combat area, which is also a geographical advantage.
It was thought that Fu Zuoyi's troops had been wiped out. Therefore, when his leading troops suddenly appeared at the gate of Wuyuan City and stabbed the guard post to death, the Japanese and puppet troops in Wuyuan City were extremely panicked.The officers and soldiers of Fu Zuoyi's department broke through the city gate and fiercely penetrated into the city. After a night of fierce fighting, they occupied most of the main points in the city, and the Japanese and puppet defenders fled in all directions.On the outskirts of Wuyuan, the blocking forces braved the fierce Japanese artillery fire to resist. The Japanese attempted to build a pontoon bridge on the Wuga River, but they failed.When they learned that the main force of the 26th Division of the Japanese Army had come to reinforce Wuyuan, the Chinese army dug up the embankment of the Wuga River that surrounded Wuyuan City from north to east. The river flooded and the roads were flooded. , was forced to withdraw to Baotou.Fu Zuoyi's Ministry recovered the entire Suixi Hetao area.
During the Battle of Wuyuan, Fu Zuoyi's troops killed the Japanese Lieutenant General Mizukawa Ifu.This is another Japanese lieutenant general who was killed four months after the Eighth Route Army killed Norihide Abe.It was the First Company of the Second Regiment of the First Detachment of the Suiyuan Guerrilla Army who killed Shuichuan Yifu.Company commander Zhang Hansan received reports from the people that a group of Japanese troops escaped from Wuyuan City and crossed the frozen Wujia River, but could not cross Wuliangsuhai.Zhang Hansan disguised himself as a fake police captain and went to reconnaissance. After talking with a short officer in the Japanese army for a while, Zhang Hansan offered to get them a boat, and then Company Commander Zhang led the troops to besiege:
The enemy's weapons are good, but ours are poor. To avoid their firepower, we decided to use a main canal in front of us to ambush the team under the weir. When the enemy approaches, we will attack with grenades together.But you must obey my orders. Without orders, you are absolutely not allowed to cast indiscriminately.Soon the enemy came over, but when he was 200 meters away from us, he stopped advancing and stopped; after a short stay, he retreated again.We jumped out of the main canal and pursued bravely. At the same time, I led more than ten people to go around behind the enemy.We surrounded the enemy and fought fiercely.Because I identified the enemy officer, and with a good marksman, the two of them took aim at the officer and shot together, one shot hit his left arm, and the other grazed his right cheek; he wobbled a bit Without falling, we shot him twice again, both in the chest, and he fell down immediately.As soon as the commander died, the enemy panicked and became chaotic. We narrowed the encirclement, approached the enemy, and killed the three enemies who were carrying the officer's body to escape, intercepted the body, and killed the machine gun shooter, so the enemy raised his hand surrender.In this battle, some of the enemies were killed, some were drowned in the sea of Wuliangsu, and only 20 people escaped.We captured a lot of people, but these guys were so stubborn that they refused to leave. We had to beat most of them to death, and only two people were captured alive.When cleaning the battlefield, he inspected the corpses of Japanese officers, found a personal seal, and obtained his pistol and sword.According to his epaulets and seal, he was recognized as Lieutenant General Mizukawa Ifu, the commander of the Japanese chieftain who invaded Wuyuan. Later, we sent the two prisoners to our guerrilla zone headquarters and handed over the sharp sword to the first officer. 〇 Dong Qiwu, commander of the First Division.
Zhang Hansan was directly promoted from company commander to colonel head.
That Japanese Lieutenant General Mizukawa Ifu was not originally a soldier.As a geologist, he worked for Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. After the war of aggression against China began, he was sent to China to collect and survey geological information. The headquarters temporarily awarded him the rank of lieutenant general and the captain of the Suixi garrison.
This battle was called the "Wuyuan Great Victory" by Chinese war history.
This is a rare victory in the winter offensive launched by the Chinese side.
The officers and soldiers of Fu Zuoyi's department paid a great price for this. Only nearly 700 officers and soldiers died in the last battle of Wuyuan, including 17 company commanders who died in successive battles.
Chiang Kai-shek's evaluation of Fu Zuoyi's Eighth War Zone was: "He was able to obey the order and go forward, conquer the important town of Baotou, and he was able to hold on for several days. Although the results of the battle were endless, his success was on the verge of failure, and his spirit was very commendable. All of this should be The names of the officers and soldiers who have made great contributions must be ascertained, and rewards should be given for the best, so as to reward meritorious service and make it known to all."
Fu Zuoyi, who was forty-four years old at the time, was in his prime.He was dressed in commoner clothes, thin and haggard, decisive in commanding operations, and full of enthusiasm.During the battle, he ran on various battlefields, running more than a hundred miles every day.Exhausted, he was always yelling at the orderly for a drink of water.The soles of his cloth shoes were always worn out, and the orderly sewed them for him every day. He complained that the orderly did not sew them well, and the orderly complained that he took too much time to wear them. Finally, they tied them with hemp rope when they couldn't sew them up.Like his soldiers, he was covered in lice and ate peas, and he could call out the names of all the officers above the platoon.In his headquarters, the walls were covered with white cloths with the names of the officers and soldiers who died in battle written on them. As the battle continued, the white cloths hung over three rooms.In the middle of the night, facing the names of the dead, he always burst into tears.During the Battle of Shawo, his headquarters was bombed by enemy planes, and he was buried by the raised sand.After the guards dug him out, he asked the guards to collect horse thorns and hay to light the fire, so that the fire would illuminate the Gobi desert. This day was New Year's Eve in 1940.
When Fu Zuoyi's troops fought against the Japanese army in the bitter cold wind of the Northwest Gobi, the officers and soldiers of the Fifth Division of the Japanese Army sailing at sea were already so hot that they were shirtless.
At last they saw land, on which tall coconut trees swayed in the sea breeze.
This Japanese army division, which set off from the snowstorm in Heilongjiang, actually drove all the way to Sanya, the southernmost tip of Hainan Island.
What were they going to do after such a long voyage?
British reconnaissance planes spotted the Japanese fleet in the waters of Hainan Island.
The British immediately reported the information to the Chinese Supreme Command.
There is no historical record of China responding.
The winter offensive launched by the Chinese army hit the Japanese army to a certain extent.According to Japanese statistics, the Chinese army lost about 50,000 troops during the winter offensive, but the Japanese army "had a total of about 8,000 casualties, and the sacrifices they paid were unprecedented in previous battles."More importantly, the winter offensive seriously damaged the morale of the Japanese army, the Japanese concluded; the Chinese army "can still maintain a roughly unified order" and the order is not only carried out in the regular army, "even to the lowest level of the guerrilla ".To make matters worse, "These circumstances show that Chiang Kai-shek still maintains the commanding power of the entire army", and the Chinese military with unified military and political power is still very strong. "For the Japanese army, which has already lacked the enthusiasm for offensive operations," this winter offensive "is also a lesson," giving it "an opportunity to re-evaluate" the combat power of the Chinese army.However, judging from the results of the battle, the Chinese army's massive winter offensive failed to regain any military point or any city.Chiang Kai-shek believes that the main reason is that the overall quality of the Chinese army is not high; Okamura Neiji believes that this is because of the incompetence of the Chinese Supreme Command, which is specifically manifested in "lack of strategic connections and fighting independently."
Suddenly, on the southern coast of China, the Fifth Division of the Japanese Army landed on a large scale.
After the Fifth Division arrived in Sanya, it set sail again, and the ship went north, appearing on the sea in the south of Guangxi, China.
The Chinese Supreme Command, which was directing the winter offensive, had no preparations for this.The Chinese side is not clear why the Japanese army landed in Guangxi.
But the Japanese base camp has been planning for a long time.
Since the beginning of 1939, Japan has intensified its persuasion activities against local Chinese military generals, in order to achieve the goal of forcing China to submit, which it failed to achieve militarily, and at the same time cooperate with the establishment and consolidation of Wang Jingwei's puppet regime.In a series of persuasion activities, Wang Jingwei even went out in person, focusing on the fourth war zone in China.
China's fourth war zone, commander Zhang Fakui.
The Guangdong and Guangxi areas under the jurisdiction of the Fourth Theater are areas where Japan's military strength is relatively weak.Especially in Guangxi, since the war broke out, except for the towns that were bombed by Japanese planes, there was not a single soldier who invaded the territory of the Japanese army.After the fall of Guangzhou, the American journalist Graham Baker traveled in Guangxi, and he saw that the towns here were dilapidated, “The only living creatures on the streets were wild dogs, wild cats and mice, and there were only ragged peddlers on the side of the road. , what they sell is filthy stuff."Peasants wearing "coir raincoats roughly woven from tropical forest wood fibers squatted in every corner of the market, bargaining noisily for prices."In contrast, Graham Baker was particularly impressed by the extravagant life of military and political officials in Guangxi:
On the night of our arrival, we foreign travelers were invited by the generals of the Kuomintang garrison to visit this roof garden.It was a luxurious banquet, with shark lips, prawns, chicken, pork, high-grade condiments and so on.After a week of eating dried fish and melon slices, such a meal is indeed delicious.The roof garden decorated with jade flowers and birds is cool and pleasant, and the fat officials and businessmen are drinking and drinking amidst laughter and laughter.They joked like children, comparing their newly smuggled treasures: fountain pens, thermometers, watches, itineraries, belt loops marked with English words such as "Modern Times" and "Welcome" .Among these guests, there are all kinds of KMT face shapes, including the cunning triangular shape, the rude square shape, and the big fat round shape that often laughs loudly without any sense of joy.All of these, later I am very familiar with unforgettable.
It is precisely because this place is far away from war and there are these extravagant and lustful military and political officials that the Japanese mainly focus their persuasion activities on China's Fourth Theater.In May 1939, the Japanese contacted Yu Hanmou, a warlord of Guangdong Province through spies; Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi and Long Yun, a general of the Dian faction, discussed with them.Wang Jingwei tried to incite these local warlords in China to join him in "purge the Communist Party and oppose Chiang Kai-shek".The commander of the 21st Army of the Japanese Army Toshiyoshi Ando took the opportunity to say: If the troops in Guangdong and Guangxi "peacefully oppose the Communist Party", the Japanese army will not only immediately stop attacking them, but will go further and "return the rights and interests" of the occupied areas.However, contrary to the expectations of the Japanese, all activities to persuade them to surrender were rejected and did not achieve any results.日本人认为，这还是因为重庆的国民政府尚能支撑下去的缘故。而令国民政府每每恢复战斗力的主要原因，就是美国和英国通过中越口岸卖给中国大量的军火和军用物资。有了这些外援，国民政府很难屈服，地方军阀也下不了向日本妥协的决心。
中国事变进入长期持久阶段后，切断中国和各国联系的补给联络线，成为我国对华战略上的首要问题。特别是经法属印度支那方面的通道，自昭和十三年（一九三八年）八月加强对粤汉铁路的轰炸以后，运输量增加了三倍，它对中国来说更加重要了。
中国广西省府南宁，位于邕江之畔，是中国国际交通线上的战略要点。北向，桂越公路由越南境内经广西龙州抵达南宁；南向，桂越铁路从南宁通往越南的谅山、同登抵达河内。一九三九年九月，中国开始通过越南至龙州间的左江水路、越南至南宁间的公路以及铁路，大规模向内地输送战略物资。同时，滇越铁路也由越南海防直通中国昆明，国民政府购买的军用物资沿着滇缅公路进口，仅一九三九年上半年，中国从缅甸方向就输入了近三万吨的战略物资。
为切断中国的外援通道，日本方面多次通过外交途径，向以越南为殖民地的法国提出交涉，要求法国封锁海防港以及中越陆路交通。法国迫于日本的压力釆取了一些措施，但并没有按照日本人的意愿将通道完全切断。外交努力失败后，东京大本营认为：唯一办法就是攻占广西南宁。
一旦进入南宁，以该地为基地，则交通四通八达，远可通往广东、湖南、贵州、云南。所以南宁—谅山的道路，形成了蒋政权联络西南的大动脉。为了直接切断它，首先必须夺取南宁。南宁一旦占领，无须置重兵于东京湾（北部湾）附近即可以完成作战目的。另一方面，占领该地后即可将飞机场向前推进，缩短由海南岛起飞的距离。它可更为有效地轰炸蒋政权在西南的两大补给路线——滇越铁路和滇缅公路，达到切断的目的，并可直接威胁法属印度支那。
日军大本营认为，二战爆发后，由于英、法对德宣战，两国已无力顾及远东，这正是日本下手的好机会。从世界大战的前景推断，日本势必要大举南下，如果占领整个广西，并陈兵于中越边境，一旦时机成熟，日军还可便捷快速地直接冲入法属印度支那。——一九三九年的侵华日军远不似蒋介石判断的那样已进入衰退期，军国主义者的扩张野心依旧远大。
十月十四日，日军大本营下达“大陆命第三七五号”：
一、大本营企图彻底切断敌之西南补给路线。
二、中国派遣军总司令负责与海军协同行动，以一部迅速切断敌人沿南宁一龙州公路的补给路线。
三、上项作战部队的作战区域，大概为南宁、龙州以南。
当天，日军大本营又发出“大陆指第五八二号”：
一、作战目的：此次作战的目的，在于直接切断敌人沿南宁一龙州公路的联络补给线路。
二、作战时间：预定为十一月中旬。
三、报道：在登陆第二日正午前，由大本菅负责发表，禁止现的报道。
四、保守机密：要特别注意。此次作战陆军代号为“和”号作战，海军代号为“N”号作战。
十九日，日军中国派遣军总司令西尾寿造向第二十一军司令官安藤利吉下达了作战命令。
但是，第二十一军兵力严重不足，编制内仅有第十八师团、第一〇四师团以及台湾混成旅团。该军负责广州周边及珠江三角洲的守备，还有进攻中国第四战区司令部所在地韶关的作战任务，没有机动兵力可供调用。于是，日军大本营决定，将第五师团从齐齐哈尔调出，编入第二十一军序列；同时命令新编成的第三十八师团立即从日本本土启程，抵达广州后编入第二十一军序列，接替台湾混成旅团在佛山地区的防务。第二十一军最后决定投入南宁作战的部队是：陆军第五师团、台湾混成旅团、海军第五舰队以及第三联合航空队。
关于进攻路线，日军多方面考量，如果从陆路进攻，广州到南宁约一千公里的路途上，横亘着粤桂两省交界处的连绵大山，道路崎岖难行，不但不利于大兵团作战，还易受到中国军队的伏击，因此只有选择从广西沿海登陆。如果选择得当，登陆点距南宁仅二百多公里，不但可以快速推进，也有利于后勤补给。为隐蔽作战意图，日军选择了诲南岛的三亚作为集结地。十一月七日，第五师团抵达三亚；九日，台湾混成旅团被运抵三亚；十日夜，第二十一军司令部抵达三亚。至此，日军完成了攻占南宁的一切准备。
受军事委员会委员长桂林行营指挥的中国第四战区部队较少，只有八个军、十八个师，且大部分集结在广东，位于广西南部的只有夏威的第十六集团军。为执行军事委员会的冬季攻势计划，战区司令长官张发奎又把该集团军的第六十四军调走了，令该集团军只剩下第四十六军和第三十一军共六个师，加上四个独立步兵团和少量的地方民团，却要防御由广西南宁至广东新会间约八百多公里的海岸线和二百多公里的纵深区域。由于兵力实在单薄，这些部队只能守几个要点。
一九三九年十一月，第十六集团军两个军的位置是：第四十六军（欠第一七〇师），附属独立步兵一团、二团，龙州、玉林各区民团，广东第八区地方团队，组成右地区部队，司令部设在南宁，主力位于南宁东南方向的小董、灵山、玉林等地，重点防守防城、合浦、廉江沿海。第三十一军（欠第一三一师），附属独立步兵三团、四团，梧州区民团、广东第五游击区部队、广东第七区地方民团，组成左地区部队，司令部设在桂东南的桂平，主力位于粤南的鹤山与高明之间，重点防守新会、江门和三水。另外派出小部队配合地方民团，防守粤西南电白至阳江沿海线。第四十六军的第一七〇师和第三十一军的第一三一师，分别位于桂平西南的兴业和桂平东南的容县，为集团军总预备队。
尽管防线单薄如纸，为应对日军可能实施的登陆，第十六集团军还是拟订了三个预案，其中对日军登陆地点的预测是：广东电白附近、广西北海附近和钦县附近。第十六集团军认为：日军从电白或北海登陆的可能性最大，因为从钦县到南宁沿途都是大山，崎岖的山路早已被彻底破坏，所以日军从钦州湾登陆的可能性很小。
于是，广西钦州湾沿海防御几近空白。
而日军选择的登陆地点正是钦州湾。
早在一个月前，日军侦察部队就已到达钦州湾，勘察登陆点的地形地貌，测量沿海水位，绘制战场地图，中国守军对此毫无察觉。为保证作战顺利，东京大本营还把中井增太郎派入第五师团司令部任参谋兼特务机关长——中日全面战争爆发前，中井大佐曾担任过白崇禧的军事顾问，对广西的情况可谓了如指掌。在作战准备方面，日本方面的谨慎细微与中国方面的粗枝大叶，形成了鲜明的反差。
十一月十三日，日本海军以“加贺”号航空母舰为主力，在包括“妙高”号、“长良”号、“名取”号等巡洋舰在内的五十多艘舰艇的掩护下，七十多艘运兵船自三亚榆林港起航。庞大的舰队在海面上行驶两天后，于暴风骤雨中驶进广西钦州湾并抵近海岸。接着，日本海军开始猛烈的海岸炮击，陆军同时开始了登陆行动。
此时，在钦州湾防御的中国军队，只有何宣的第四十六军新编第十九师。第四十六军是一九三八年新组建的部队，辖第一七〇、第一七五师和新编第十九师。而新编第十九师是一九三八年秋在钦县组建的，由第一七五师调拨的两个团为基本部队，再加上两个地方民团的兵力，番号是五十五、五十六和五十七步兵团以及一个野战补充团，师长黄固。新编第十九师所防御的海岸线长达两百公里：五十五团团部在钦县，负责防御犀牛脚、犁头嘴、金鸡塘一线海岸；五十六团团部在防城，负责防御龙门、企沙和白龙尾一线海岸；五十七团尚在小董整训；野战补充团团部在那丽圩，负责防御乌家附近海岸。师部位于小董。
发觉日军登陆后，师长黄固立即命令部队把登陆之敌消灭在海滩上，数量稀少的中国守军顶着倾盆大雨进入了简陋的阵地。
十五日早晨八时十分，由及川源七率领的第五师团第九旅团组成的及川支队，在企沙附近首先强行登陆。接着，海军佐世保陆战队在龙门附近实施了登陆。新编第十九师五十六团一营负责防御企沙海岸，一营官兵冒着日军强大的舰炮轰击拼命抵抗，全营伤亡严重，残部不得不放弃滩头阵地，退守防城附近的后备工事。在龙门防御的是新编第十九师五十六团二营四连，一个连队根本无法抵挡日军的攻击，日军很快在龙门登陆成功。十六日凌晨，中村正雄率领的第五师团第二十一旅团组成的中村支队，乘海水涨潮之际，乘坐汽艇沿着渔洪江上溯直趋黄屋屯；盐田定七率领的台湾混成旅团在也在犁头嘴登陆。随着日军炮兵的推进，新编第十九师在防城的阵地全部被毁，五十六团在无险可守的情况下放弃防城。日军乘胜向北推进占领了黄屋屯。
日军海军陆战队在北海附近的登陆属于佯攻。在这里防御的中国军队第四十六军第一七五师官兵，发现海面上突然出现大批日军舰艇后，大为吃惊。日军舰队在距离海岸四千多米处停泊，然后放下二十多艘汽艇开始登陆，同时二十多架飞机也前来助战，中国海岸守军的炮台被全部炸毁。此时，守军接到了彻底破坏北海城的命令，但守军军官鉴于长沙大火的教训迟迟不肯执行。傍晚，守军军官突然发现了日军的破绽：日军的舰炮轰击不但逐渐减弱，且舰队始终距离海岸很远，乘坐汽艇的日军也数量有限。如果日军真要在北海登陆，早就该投入大兵力冲击滩头了。军官们把这一疑惑报告给上级，上级鉴于日本广播已播出在北海成功登陆的消息，判断出日军在北海完全是虚张声势，目的是转移中国守军的注意力。军长何宣命令北海守军指挥官第一七五师五二四团团长巢威向全国发布通电，宣布北海依旧在中国守军之手。——得出日军在北海佯攻的判断后，巢威团长松了一口气——他没有执行彻底破坏北海的命令是对的。不然，北海没有被日军攻占，反而毁在了自己手里。
在掣头嘴、金鸡塘一线海岸防御的，是新编第十九师五十五团九连。日军第五师团及川支队一部，仅用一个小时就占领了滩头，九连残兵纷纷向钦县撤逃。五十五团团长听到海岸方向的枪声后，不断给第九连打电话，但一直联系不上，直到日军冲到钦县城下时，才命令守城部队仓促进入阵地。钦县位于钦州湾北岸，邕钦公路经小董直达南宁，自古便是南宁的门户。日军很快突入钦县城内，与中国守军展开巷战，五十五团完全陷入自卫战状态，各级之间都失去了联系，混乱的巷战持续两个小时后，黄团长带领小部分官兵撤出城，钦县落入日军之手。
日军成功登陆后，分三路向南宁猛扑：一路从防城出发向北直趋南宁；一路从钦县西北的黄屋屯出发，直逼大塘；一路从钦县出发，沿邕钦公路向小董进攻。新编第十九师五十六团向小董以西的上思方向撤退，五十五团干脆撤到了南宁以北的武鸣方向，位于小董的师部与这两个团均失去了联系，因此对前方战况不甚明了，只能命令正在小董整训的五十七团进入阵地准备御敌。五十七团刚进入阵地，日军便冲到了眼前，且阵地两侧也同时出现了日军，小董实际上已处于被日军包围的态势中。于是，五十七团也赶快撤退。——至此，中国守军新编第十九师对钦州湾海岸的防御完全垮了。战后，师长黄固因指挥无方被免职，五十五团团长黄廷才因作战不利被撤职查办。
登陆的日军长驱直入，至十九日，对南宁城形成三面包围。
广西沿海中国一线部队自日军登陆时起，“参战官兵约一万零六百七十八人，伤亡和生死不明约一千一百五十人”。
日军从钦州湾突然登陆直逼南宁城下，这令正在指挥冬季攻势的中国最高统帅部大惊失色。南宁是中国西南重镇，如果南宁乃至整个广西失守，不但中国的对外补给线会被彻底切断，还将直接威胁抗战大后方云南和四川的安全。
国民政府军事委员会电令桂林行营主任白崇禧，责成第十六集团军的两个师死守南宁，没有命令不得撤退。同时开始紧急调动部队驰援南宁：傅仲芳的第九十九军奉命从湖南湘潭和贵州方向开来，姚纯的第三十六军奉命从重庆和湖北当阳方向开来，中国军队中唯一的机械化军——杜聿明的第五军——奉命从湖南衡阳向南宁急进。
在增援部队抵达前，第十六集团军迅速调整部署，夏威命令第三十军（欠第一三五师）向玉林、城隍、兴业、灵山急行军，命令该军扩大番号团改师、师改军以虚张声势欺骗日军，部队抵达后协同第四十六军侧攻登陆的日军；命令第一七〇师经贵县、横县、蒲庙向南宁以南的吴圩方向急行军，阻敌北上；命令广西绥署的所有地方部队火速集结，准备参战。——夏威的计划是集结主力，在南宁以东地区夹击登陆的日军，以期将敌压缩回海岸线予以歼灭。但是，登陆日军的推进速度极快，还没等夏威调整完毕，日军便已越过小董、大塘到达百济附近。二十日，日军继续向吴村墟和那马一线攻击，二十一日其前锋抵达那连，刚刚到达蒲庙和良庆的中国军队第一七〇师，虽是仓促投入战斗，但官兵阻击顽强，致使战斗进行得十分惨烈，防守蒲庙的五〇九团二营全部阵亡。
突破中国军队第一七〇师的阻击后，日军准备北渡邕江。
一旦日军渡过邕江，南宁等于唾手可得。
中国统帅部调集的增援部队尚在数百里之外，加上都是徒步行军，山高路险，行进缓慢。至二十二日晚九时，陆续赶到南宁外围的部队除第十六集团军第一七〇师的四个团和第一三五师的两个团之外，增援部队仅有杜聿明的第五军第二〇〇师一部，这部分官兵乘坐火车在桂林车站下车，然后换乘汽车正向南宁方向赶来。——此时，真正防守南宁城的部队，只有第一三五师四〇五团。
没等第一三五师师长苏祖馨部署完毕，日军第五师团的中村支队和及川支队已抵达邕江岸边。日军选出敢死队，在西乡塘、恩沿塘等地泅水渡过邕江后，疯狂抢夺民船，然后开始运送大部队强渡。二十三日，南宁外围开始陷入激战。二十四日，渡过邕江的日军已达数千人，在大量飞机的助战下，日军中村支队从东南面、及川支队从西面猛攻南宁城。南宁城危在旦夕的时刻，城内守军四〇五团团长伍宗骏真是不知如何是好：守城，一个团的兵力根本守不住；不守，必定要军法从事。他请示上级，可师部和军部都联系不上了。下午二时，焦头烂额的伍团长决定放弃南宁。正在集合部队准备撤离时，他接到了一个电话，是第五军第二〇〇师六〇〇团团长邵一之打来的，说他们团的先头部队已抵达南宁北面的二塘，主力尚在运输中，邵团长询问南宁目前的情况。伍团长立刻感到有了希望，要求六〇〇团直接开进南宁接替城防。邵团长说，上级给他的任务是在二塘附近掩护师主力开进，他没有义务防守南宁城。接着，两个团长在电话里吵起来，吵的结果是南宁丢失了。
伍、邵两团长在电话中，互相推脱责任，得不到解决，结果伍团长提出两团共同负责守备南宁，邵团长则以未奉上级之命不肯答应。于是伍团长决心放弃南宁，在下午七时通知各机关后，即率部向四塘方面转进。四〇五团撤走后，南宁市已无防守。下午八时，南宁民团指挥部、警察局、邕宁县府与市民纷纷经心圩、香炉岭向隆安方面撤退。敌人于九时由津头村渡江，未遇抵抗而占领南宁。敌一部窜至邕宾路之茅桥、二塘附近，与我第二〇〇师六〇〇团发生小接触。六〇〇团即向五塘方面撤退。南宁遂于二十四日晚完全陷于敌手。
第二〇〇师六〇〇团在二塘附近的战斗，并不是什么“小接触”，而是阻击日军北进的拼死作战。整整两天的激战过后，六〇〇团官兵伤亡三分之一，那位曾与伍团长在电话里吵成一团的邵一之团长，连同他的团附吴其生均在战斗中阵亡。
第一三五师四〇五团团长伍宗骏，以擅自放弃南宁之罪被桂林行营军事法庭判处五年有期徒刑。
中国军队丢失南宁之责，岂是一位团长所能承担的？
日军第五师团攻占南宁后，立即以中村支队和骑兵联队沿南宁至宾阳的公路向北追击，同时派出一千多兵力沿公路的侧翼直接迂回四塘，企图把退却中的中国军队包围歼灭。鉴于迂回四塘的日军已经抵达中国军队的侧后，当面第二〇〇师、第一七〇师、第五师等部队乘夜色向高峰隘方向迅速撤退。——因夜暗撤退，道路不熟，且曾被日军截击，官兵大多失散，到达高峰隘附近部队，不过四千至五千人。日军于三十日凌晨攻击八塘，中国军队被迫退守九塘。十二月一日，日军攻占高峰隘，中国军队一部退向北部的武鸣，第二〇〇师则朝南宁东北方向的昆仑关转移。
日军占领南宁后，中村支队防卫南宁以东地区，及川支队防卫南宁以西地区，森本（森本宅二中佐）大队防卫八塘北面地区，松本（松本总郎少佐）大队防卫四塘地区，友野（友野几久治少佐）大队防卫高峰隘正面。二日，刚刚抵达战场的中国军队第一八八师五六四团在战车的配合下袭击了驻守八塘的日军，日军第五师团随即派中村支队从南宁出发，向中国军队第一八八师和第二〇〇师六〇〇团展开攻击。第二天，日军从八塘向北推进约十公里，占领昆仑关。
日军留下松本大队驻守昆仑关，中村支队返回了南宁城。
至此，双方在南宁以北的昆仑关、高峰隘附近形成对峙。