Moreover, the Gui army has always been famous among the Chinese for its ability to fight. It has been reorganized and replenished before, and its morale is high. The soldiers are also eager to go to the battlefield to fight against the Japanese army.
However, unlike other Chinese armies, because the Guangxi Clan is located in the southwest region and has not fought against the Japanese army, officers and soldiers at all levels still have a concept of the firepower of various opponents in the civil war.
Therefore, the overconfident Guangxi general Bai Bai, the battle plan formulated for the Gui army was the central breakthrough method they usually used, and they used their extraordinary courage to charge directly against the Japanese positions.
As a result, the heroic officers and soldiers of the Gui Army formed a dense charging formation, forming waves of human sea attacks, launching attacks in open areas without cover.
It is a pity that the bloody courage and the spirit of daring to die are ultimately no match for the torrent of modern steel.
Halfway through their charge, they were attacked by hundreds of Japanese aircraft and dozens of large-caliber naval guns. Often, when a heavy bomb or artillery shell fell, an entire row and company of soldiers were wiped out.
But amidst the solemn sound of the bugle, they still charged forward without hesitation and without flinching, building a wall of flesh and blood for the friendly forces behind them. There were bursts of shouts and roaring guns, and the Japanese army's terrifying firepower network was like the god of death, mercilessly harvesting the lives of the soldiers on the front.
In the end, within seven days, a total of 60,000 elite veterans who had fought for the rest of their lives in the civil war were almost wiped out, and a total of 9 of 10 brigade commanders were sacrificed.
A total of 60,000 elite troops!
So many fresh lives were turned into dust in the Japanese artillery fire.
Although none of them chose to surrender to the Japanese army, and none of them ran away, in this tragic battle, they left their own names with the fighting spirit of disregarding death, and also wrote a tragic scene in the history of the Anti-Japanese War, which made countless people Later generations admired him for this.
However, before they entered the battle, the Japanese army had already added a large number of troops to the battlefield, completely forming an integrated sea, land and air offensive posture and gaining the initiative on the battlefield.
In other words, whether they participate in the battle or not, the failure of the Songhu Battle is inevitable.
At that time, the best way for the national army was to try to alternately cover the retreat, rather than continue to invest a large number of troops to continue fighting with the Japanese army.
The more than 60,000 elite Guangxi troops in six divisions of the 21st Group Army can completely cover the retreat or not enter the battlefield to become a new force for future resistance. They can even play a greater role in the subsequent defense of Nanjing and cause more damage to the Japanese army. casualties.
Zhou Wen didn't know what the principal was thinking at the time. Could it be that he had lost his sights and had a gambler's mentality of going all-or-nothing, so he used these elite troops for unrealistic counter-offensive operations.
Moreover, in the later stages of the Songhu Battle, the principal had mobilized nearly 700,000 troops to fight the Japanese army in a narrow area with a depth and width of less than 100 kilometers.
These troops almost included the most powerful troops in China at the time, such as the most elite military police corps, tax police corps, and central military academy teaching corps of the Central Military Commission, all participating in the war.
However, the Wufu Line and Xicheng Line between Shanghai and Nanjing, which were established under the initiative of German consultants, were empty of troops and were not prepared for defense at all.
The most bizarre thing is that just when the Japanese army had gained a comprehensive advantage and forced the Chinese army to retreat south of the Suzhou River, and the situation was irreversible, both General Chen and General Bai, who served as frontline commanders, suggested to the principal that they withdraw from Shanghai. However, the principal still placed his hope on the League of Nations to intervene and persist on the Shanghai battlefield to let foreigners see China's determination to resist.
This has shown that the principal's mentality at that time was unbalanced and he had no rational judgment about the international situation and the ambitions of the Japanese.
A few days later, two Japanese divisions landed in the Jinshanwei area, forming a strategic encirclement of the Chinese army.
The situation was already very critical at this time, and the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers were at stake.
Many commanders on the front line once again proposed retreat to the principal.
However, the principal was still immersed in the illusion of waiting for the League of Nations to mediate, and he delayed issuing an order to retreat. Three precious days were wasted in vain.
By the time he suddenly came to his senses and gave the order to retreat, it was too late.
Because the retreat order was issued suddenly, there was no time to coordinate the retreat routes between the various units.
Vehicles and personnel were crowded on a road. The troops were in complete chaos. The officers could not find the soldiers, and the soldiers could not find the officers. There were bombing and strafing attacks by Japanese aircraft above them, and bombardment by Japanese tanks and artillery behind them. In the end, the retreat turned into a horrific massacre. Retreat.
During this period, only a few units organized a counterattack, but it was of no help when the entire army was scrambling to escape.
The Chinese army suffered very heavy casualties during the retreat. Many experts in later generations even believed that the troops lost in the rout exceeded the losses in the three-month bloody battle with the Japanese army.
In other words, China's most elite troops of hundreds of thousands, and hundreds of thousands of veterans who survived the bloodbath of the Songhu Battle, did not die in the bloody battle with the Japanese army, but were killed by the Japanese army in the great rout. Planes, artillery, and tanks pursued, intercepted, and killed each other one after another, and sacrificed their lives in vain on the way back.
What is even more tragic is that the Chinese army that has retreated all the way to the Wu-Fu line has been disorganized, has lost morale and morale, and cannot organize an effective defense at all.
The Japanese army followed them all the way and did not give the defeated Chinese army any time to breathe and adjust. They immediately launched an attack on the Wu-Fu line and broke through it in just 14 days. China spent a lot of money and took three years to build it. It is known as The two defense lines of the 'Oriental Maginot Line'.
The Chinese army only lasted 14 days on these two defense lines that were originally expected to hold for more than three months.
As a result, the troops who retreated to Nanjing had no time to replenish themselves, and they rushed into the battle to defend Nanjing.
In the end, Nanjing only lasted for 13 days. The Chinese army was defeated again, and the people in Nanjing had no time to retreat, which eventually led to the Nanjing Massacre.
It can be said that since the retreat from the Battle of Songhu, the command of the Chinese army has been chaotic, and it can even be said to be panic. Moreover, after the principal issued the order to evacuate from Shanghai, until the fall of Nanjing, almost none of the deployments and measures were correct. It can be said that there is no order and his mind is confused.
A series of defeats and retreats from the Battle of Songhu to the Battle of Nanjing resulted in the loss of most of China's most elite troops at that time. Nearly 400,000 veterans died or were captured and massacred by the Japanese army.
For example, the 21st Group Army, the most capable of the Guangxi Army, the 36th Division, the 51st Division, the 58th Division, the 87th Division, the 88th Division and the Teaching Corps, which are the most complete among the German Arms Division, as well as the Tax Police Corps and most of the Gendarmerie Corps.
