Devil's Army

The Japanese army has always coveted China's mineral resources, especially tin, antimony, tungsten and other minerals that are urgently needed by military factories.

Japanese agents throughout Yunnan soon reported back to the Japanese headquarters information about two groups transporting tin, antimony, tungsten and other materials to Kunming.

The Japanese Special High Technology Department immediately organized Japanese agents in Yunnan Province and concentrated them near Kunming, preparing to seize the two military vehicles transporting mineral supplies by force.

At the same time, the Vietnamese command launched the battle to occupy Kunming ahead of schedule.

The Japanese 18th Division stationed at the mouth of the Vietnamese river immediately split into two routes and launched an attack on Kunming by road and rail.

The 18th Brigade of the 55th Division of the Japanese Army and the 18th Mountain Artillery Regiment quickly crossed the Sino-Vietnamese border and arrived at Hekou Nanxi Town. However, the railway line had been destroyed by the Yunnan Army, and the Japanese Army's plan to attack by railway was blocked.

As soon as the Japanese army set out, the Second Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Detachment of Southern Yunnan of the Kunming Headquarters immediately discovered them and reported to the Kunming Headquarters.

The Kunming Headquarters immediately arranged for the 60nd Division of the 182th Army stationed there to reinforce the defenders of the Nanxi position.

In order to stop the Japanese army's rapid attack and buy time for the reinforcements to deploy, the Second Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Detachment of Southern Yunnan (the troops of the Kunming Camp of the Nanjing Government Army) immediately launched a harassment war against the Japanese army.

As the Japanese army crossed the Sino-Vietnamese border and was marching towards Nanxi, intensive gunfire suddenly came from the woods on both sides of the path.

The Japanese army immediately changed its marching formation, and the front troops blocked the attack of the second team in the woods on both sides of the path.

At the same time, two squadrons were arranged to infiltrate from both sides and surround the Second Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Detachment of Southern Yunnan in the woods.

After nearly half an hour of fierce fighting, the Second Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Detachment of Southern Yunnan was unable to resist the three-pronged attack of the Japanese Army and retreated to the rear of Nanxi Town.

The Japanese troops advanced in pursuit and reached the Nanxi Town position of the 60nd Division of the 182th Army of the Yunnan Army, where they were met with stubborn resistance from the 182nd Division.

The first hasty attack by the 18th Brigade of the 55th Division of the Japanese Army was repelled by the 182nd Division of the Yunnan Army. Then the 18th Mountain Artillery Regiment was arranged to carry out a covering bombing of the Yunnan Army's Nanxi position.

The Nanxi position was suddenly filled with thick smoke and continuous artillery fire, and many Yunnan Army soldiers were blown out of their fortifications.

After a round of intensive artillery attacks by the Japanese army, only more than 40 garrison troops were left in a company at the Nanxi position.

The Japanese army soon launched an attack on the Nanxi position from both wings.

The troops stationed at the Nanxi position and on both wings suffered heavy casualties, but were still holding on because the division headquarters had ordered another battalion to rush to reinforce.

Before the Japanese army broke into the Nanxi position, another reinforcement battalion arrived at the positions in front and on both wings of the Nanxi position.

The two battalions worked together to repel the Japanese attack.

The Japanese army immediately launched a fierce artillery bombardment on the front and wing positions of Nanxi, and dispatched bombers to carry out air strikes.

The Yunnan Army's Nanxi position, along with the battalion that had just come to reinforce, suffered heavy casualties in the Japanese air-to-ground bombing. But they all gritted their teeth and persisted, because they had only one belief, that they could not let the devils enter Yunnan and harm their loved ones.

The 60th Army of the Yunnan Army was not a unit stationed in the rear of Yunnan, but an old unit that had been through many battles. It had participated in the Battle of Xuzhou, the Battle of Wuhan, the Battle of Nanchang and other battles.

Especially in the Battle of Xuzhou, they held the frontline positions of Chen Wafang and Yuwangshan for 27 days, with more than casualties. They made important contributions to defending Xuzhou and covering the retreat of the large army.

Later, the Japanese army occupied Vietnam and advanced into Yunnan.

The Nanjing leaders transferred them back to Yunnan and stationed them in the Hekou area to prevent the Japanese army from crossing the Sino-Vietnamese border and invading the important rear town of Kunming, Yunnan.

In order to open up the road to Kunming, the Japanese launched several rounds of bombing on the Nanxi position, and planes also flew over to bomb from time to time.

The surface positions at Nanxi were all destroyed by Japanese bombers and artillery.

The soldiers of the 182nd Division squeezed into the collapsed fortifications and stubbornly resisted the Japanese attack, but suffered heavy casualties.

The commander of the 182nd Division at that time was General An, a Yi general. Because of his outstanding achievements in the Battle of Taierzhuang, he was promoted to deputy commander of the 60th Army.

While arranging for troops to continue reinforcements, he requested aircraft support from Chairman Long.

Chairman Long personally drove to the Yanglin Airport Command Center and asked Leng Feng for aircraft support.

Leng Feng agreed immediately without thinking.

At that time, the information reported by the soldiers of the 182nd Division was that the Japanese army dispatched 18 planes to bomb and strafe their Nanxi positions.

At present, all the outer positions of Nanxi have been lost and the troops have retreated to Nanxi Town.

Ask Captain Yang to arrange a Hua Xia 3 fighter squadron to cover six H-2 bombers to provide support.

When Captain Yang's plane arrived at Nanxi Town for reinforcement, part of the town's wall had already collapsed due to bombing by the Japanese army.

The soldiers of the Yunnan Army heard the roar of planes in the sky, but they did not raise their heads and continued to lie on the city wall and behind the collapsed tiles and stones of the city wall to block the attacking Japanese army.