Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Since the top level of the government finally made the decision on this matter, Chief He had nothing to say. He also knew that this was a political balance between the top level of the government and the Guangxi clique. Now was a turbulent time, and the government also had to consider the interests of local factions.

Moreover, there are several port cities along the coast of Guangxi Province, especially the railway between China and Vietnam. That is where the Guangxi clique will invest the greatest efforts in defense. After all, that is their territory.

On the afternoon of the same day after the top government made the decision, Commander He took more than a dozen senior staff members and risked his life to fly to Yangcheng on a transport plane. As the commander-in-chief of the war zone, he had to immediately convene a meeting of the main generals of the troops near Yangcheng to discuss the upcoming defensive operations.

After learning that Commander He of the theater was going to Yangcheng to hold a military meeting, all the officers at the division level and above of the New 22nd Army and the division-level officers of the 12th Army Group rushed to the theater headquarters (12th Army Group Headquarters) in Yangcheng to attend the meeting.

At the meeting, Commander He first announced the decision of the highest level of the government. After everyone learned that the purpose of Yangcheng was only to slow down the speed of the Japanese attack rather than asking their small force to defend Yangcheng to the death, everyone felt relieved. They were afraid that the highest level of the government would ask them to defend Yangcheng to the death, and then they would really have no choice but to "live and die with the city."

Commander Huang and Chief of Staff Zhao Dong of the New 22nd Army also breathed a sigh of relief. Now, as long as the transportation speed of materials in Yangcheng can be faster, their pressure will be greatly reduced.

After Commander He finished his words of encouragement to everyone to fight hard and serve the country, a major general who came with Commander He walked to the front of the conference room at Commander He's signal. He began to explain the plan of the Battle of Yangcheng and the defensive positions of various troops on the marked map of Yangcheng that the staff had just hung up.

All the commanders of the participating troops knew that this was the core point of the meeting, and they all listened carefully to the explanation of the senior advisor. This was related to the future combat missions and retreat directions of each of their troops, so they had to cheer up.

"According to the orders of the Military Commission and the theater, the main purpose of this Yangcheng Battle is to delay the Japanese army's capture of Yangcheng. Our army needs to break the strategic goal set by the Japanese army to quickly capture Yangcheng, so as to achieve the task of covering the transfer and relocation of Yangcheng Port and important materials and government departments in the city to designated areas. Based on this principle, our Fourth Theater has formulated a combat plan of blocking at each level and alternating retreats." The major general senior advisor walked to the map with a baton. He first explained the general direction and goals of this operation, and then began to explain the arrangements on the map with the baton.

"According to the current troop strength of our Fourth War Zone, the War Zone Command has made the following arrangements: The 151st Division is deployed on the Tamsui and Pingshan line to guard against possible landing attacks by the Japanese army in Daya Bay. In front of you is the Guangdong Provincial Security Corps, which is responsible for defending Pinghai and the coastal beaches. These troops are mainly responsible for alert. The 153rd Division is deployed on the Pinghu to Bao'an line. The 186th Division is responsible for the defense of Zengcheng. The 186th Independent Brigade is stationed in Zhengguo, responsible for protecting the flank safety of the 158th Division. The th Division is responsible for guarding Conghua and ensuring the withdrawal of the front troops... The new nd Army is responsible for the defense of the west bank of the Pearl River, including Zhongshan, Shunde and Nanhai, to protect the safety of Guangzhou Xize." The senior consultant also explained the combat area and tasks of the new nd Army at the end.

He did not assign the task to the division. After all, the New 22nd Army was a newly transferred unit, and he did not know much about the current specific situation of this unit. Under the instruction of Commander He, the specific garrison mission authority was handed over to the New 22nd Army to decide.

When Zhang Wenwu heard what the senior advisor said about the combat range of the New 22nd Army, he immediately felt that the New 22nd Army was being used as two armies. Such a long line of defense was guarded by only one army. The Fourth War Zone Command really thought highly of them.

"In this operation, all units must unite and strictly follow the combat plan formulated by the theater. As for the prescribed guard time of each unit, a special command document will be delivered to you after the meeting. Let me say it in advance: those who disobey orders or retreat in the face of battle will be shot regardless of the reason." Commander He also seriously emphasized the battlefield discipline at the end.

Commander Huang also took over the garrison order and time limit of the troops from Commander He after the meeting. When Chief of Staff Zhao Dong brought everyone back to the military headquarters, opened the sealed document and saw the garrison time, he was immediately stunned.

"Commander, the garrison time is actually fifteen days. We only have one army on the west bank of the Pearl River, and we have to guard such a wide area. It's too difficult." Chief of Staff Zhao Dong also complained rarely.

Commander Huang said helplessly, "The Fourth War Zone is also short of resources. Didn't you see that when we assigned tasks just now, we even arranged for the security team to join? We can't do anything about it. We have to hold on as long as we can."

Chief of Staff Zhao Dong looked at the officers sitting in the military headquarters smoking, and then he spread the map directly on the table and said to them, "Since you are all here, let's quickly discuss the specific deployment positions, so that I don't have to go to you one by one to ask for your opinions."

When several troop commanders saw that they were about to be assigned tasks, they immediately became serious. After several discussions, they finally decided that the new 210th Division would guard Zhongshan, the new 211th Division would guard Shunde, and the new 100th Division would guard the last line of defense, the South China Sea. Everyone shook their heads at the sight of this long snake formation, but they had no choice but to consume the troops one by one to resist the Japanese attack.

During the meeting, Commander Huang also told everyone that they should make rational use of the local security forces. After all, these people have received some military training and can be incorporated into their own troops. After being disbanded, having the veterans lead can also provide a fighting force. They are also familiar with the local environment. The overall meaning is also very clear, that is to do everything possible to enrich the troops.

Commander Huang was able to make such an order because Commander He summoned him alone after the meeting. Commander He also gave Commander Huang the right to act at his convenience in the area near Yangcheng, which was about to become the Japanese war zone. This could be regarded as a compensation for the allocation of the New 22nd Army to participate in the war, and it was also a gesture of goodwill to Commander Chen.

With this clear instruction from Commander He, General Huang will use his Star Absorbing Art without hesitation. When the three division commanders under him heard that they could go all out to replenish their strength, they naturally would not miss this good opportunity, so they set up many recruiting stations and the like.

In addition, the three divisions of the New 22nd Army also "persuaded" the wealthy businessmen and local tyrants in their defense areas who were unwilling to move to contribute a little to the War of Resistance. This also provided strong financial support for improving the lives of officers and soldiers and recruiting soldiers. Anyway, these people who were unwilling to leave would have their property taken away by the Japanese army actively or passively after the Japanese occupation, and turned into funds to support the Japanese army in launching the war, and basically they would become despicable traitors.

The main fleet of the Japanese 5st Army arrived at the waters near Daya Bay on the evening of October 104. The commander of the st Army, Lieutenant General Kanro Furujo, ordered the troops of the th Division to land on the left side of Daya Bay and the front area of ​​Xiayong with the cooperation of the Navy's th Fleet in the early morning of the next day in accordance with the previously formulated plan. Part of the th Division landed at the glass factory on the right side of Daya Bay.

After learning that it was the Chinese government's new 22nd Army that was guarding the west bank of the Pearl River, the new commander of the Japanese Army's 5th Division, Lieutenant General Anriyoshi, specifically requested the commander of the 21st Army, Lieutenant General Furusho Kan'ō, to arrange his 5th Division for landing operations on the west bank of the Pearl River. He wanted to take his elite 5th Division to have a good meeting with the Chinese government's new 22nd Army.

The Fifth Division had suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Fifth War Zone's troops in the Taierzhuang battlefield. Although the division commander, Seishirō Itagaki, was criticized to a certain extent, he was recalled to the country by the cabinet at the insistence of Fumimaro Konoe. This was because the Konoe Fumimaro cabinet saw that the war between Japan and China had been going on for more than a year, but they did not see that the Empire of Japan could end the war smoothly and quickly as expected before the war. So they dismissed Japan's Army Minister Sugiyama Motoko and Vice Minister Umezu Mijiro, who had once clamored that the war in China could be resolved in three months, and replaced them with Seishirō Itagaki as Army Minister, hoping to quickly resolve the war with China.

As soon as the Japanese landing operation began, the coastal defense forces informed the theater command of the fierce bombardment and landing by the Japanese navy. Only then did the top government officials and the Military Commission finally confirm that three Japanese divisions were used in the attack on Guangzhou.

Commander Xue of the First Corps breathed a sigh of relief after receiving the battle report from the Ninth War Zone. He had been so anxious and nervous that he hadn't gotten a good night's sleep during this period of time. Now, the three Japanese divisions were not attacking in their direction, so the pressure on his Nanxun Line would be much less. As for Yangcheng, that was not something he could worry about.

In Daya Bay, Yangcheng, guarding the front line along the coast are some local security regiments from Guangdong Province who were temporarily transferred in. Their mission is actually to serve as a warning and reporting force, and at the same time, they also hope to consume the morale of the Japanese army. As for relying on them to prevent the Japanese army from landing, that is wishful thinking. To put it bluntly, the war zone is just using these security regiments as cannon fodder.

Faced with the fierce naval artillery bombardment of the Japanese army, the security regiment positions near the coastline were bombed like hell on earth, which made all the officers and soldiers of the security regiment truly feel the cruelty of modern warfare. Under such fierce naval artillery attack of the Japanese army, the front-line security regiment troops collapsed after 151 minutes of Japanese naval artillery attack. The few surviving officers and soldiers fled frantically to the back, but they were eventually stopped by the defense line of the st Division deployed far away from the coastline.

The order issued by the 151st Division to these security regiments was: they must hold their positions until an order to retreat from the war zone is issued, otherwise they will be regarded as deserters and dealt with by military law.

However, most of the officers and soldiers of the local security corps were newly recruited and taken over not long ago. The previous security corps troops had been wiped out in the Battle of Shanghai last year. The current officers and soldiers of the security corps are local people who have not received much training. Military discipline is still a very unfamiliar term to them.