In April 1939, Japanese Navy wanted to "capture Nanning , cut off China's external route, and open a naval aviation base, pointing to China's inland"
In order to cut off the transportation line in southwest China, the Japanese army decided to launch the southern Guangxi operation, November 17 In Japan, the Japanese army landed in Fangcheng and Beihai , captured Qinzhou , and the war to attack South China started. The 12th Brigade of Nakamura Masao of the 5th Division of Sakagaki (Japanese "Steel Army") quickly occupied Nanning. One month later, it captured Kunlun Pass , an important place in southern Guizhou, with lightning speed. It cut off China's international aid channels and directly threatened the southwest rear.
The Japanese army was happy to see: cutting off the Sino-Vietnam traffic line will lead to China losing its ability to resist, and the war of aggression against China will soon end. The Army Operations Minister of the Japanese Base Camp, Tonaga Kyoji Toriga announced: "This is the last battle of the China Incident."
Principal Jiang ordered the Guilin camp to quickly recover Nanning. For this reason, he sent his favorite general Du Yuming to lead the mechanized Fifth Army to Nanning to join the Guilin camp to attack the Japanese army landing in Qinzhou and Fangcheng.
Guilin camp divided into three groups. Among them, the 38th Army commanded Du Yuming's 5th Army and the 99th Army were the Northern Army, mainly attacking the front and side rear of Kunlun Pass.
Kunlun Pass (50 kilometers northeast of Nanning) is surrounded by mountains and steep ridges, and the terrain is dangerously a natural barrier to Nanning. The mountains are not high, the rocks are broken, and the bamboo shoots and stones are everywhere, and there is a momentum of "one man should be the pass, and ten thousand men cannot open it."
On December 16, Du Yuming's 5th Army began to counterattack Kunlun Pass, which was also the first large-scale battle since the establishment of the 5th Army. Du Yuming ordered the division commanders: "Strive forward bravely, eliminate the enemy's 'steel army' in one fell swoop, and show the majesty of the 5th Army, so that the Japanese know the power of China's mechanized troops!"
At that time, the 5th Army was China's only mechanized army, well-equipped, with a total army of 50,000 people: three divisions under its jurisdiction, two infantry supplement regiments, two combat chariot regiments, armored vehicles search regiments, heavy artillery regiments, engineering regiments, automobile regiments, baggage regiments...
Du Yuming saw the Japanese army alone and decided to let the honorary first division of Zhengdong Kingdom attack the front
Dai Anlan's 200th division be the general reserve team, ready to support the battle at any time.
Qiu Qingquan 's new 22nd division deviate from the enemy's back, cut off the Japanese army in Kunlun Pass in the north and south of Nanning, and let Zheng and Dai give it a try.
At dawn on December 18, the Chinese army began to counterattack, and the most elite troops in China and Japan shot directly at each other.
Du Yuming ordered the honorary first division of Zhengdong Kingdom to attack Kunlun Pass under the cover of artillery and chariots, and quickly made a breakthrough, and forced the Japanese main position step by step, and launched a desperate battle at various strongholds, finally occupying most of the mountain.
Du Yuming ordered Qiu Qingquan's new 22nd Division to detour behind the Japanese army, cutting off the Japanese escape route in Kunlun Pass.
The next afternoon, the Japanese army mobilized a large number of aircraft to counterattack Kunlun Pass. At this time, the Chinese army completely lost the air supremacy of since the Battle of Songhu, and Kunlun Pass was occupied by the Japanese army again.
After that, the two sides repeatedly tug-of-war at Kunlun Pass, losing again and losing again, and suffering heavy casualties.
20 On the morning of the 21st Brigade of the 5th Division of the Japanese Army, Nakamura Masao , commanded two brigades from Nanning to emergency reinforcements of Kunlun Pass. They were blocked by the Chinese army layer by layer. Nakamura Masao was shot and died seriously injured.
Kunlun Pass is surrounded by iron tunnels on all sides. The Japanese army was exhausted from ammunition and food, and fell into a desperate situation. The spirit of the Japanese "Steel Army" Bushido reappeared and fought to the death. Under the heavy hammer of the Chinese army, this arrogant Japanese "steel army" finally collapsed. The Japanese army's diary seized by
reads: "For several days, the enemy has attacked me fiercely. The combat effectiveness has never been seen since fighting against China... The casualties are extremely serious, and it is really heartbreaking."
On December 28, Qiu Qingquan's troops broke through the Japanese position three times with a fierce offensive, knocked on the last fortress of the Japanese army, and occupied the pass.After 18 days of bloody battle, on December 31, the Chinese army finally captured Kunlun Pass and achieved a great victory. According to Japanese records, more than 85% of the officers above the squad leader of the 12th Brigade of the Japanese army died, more than 4,000 soldiers died in battle, and more than 20 fighter jets were shot down. The brigade commander Masao Nakamura was shot dead by Zhengdong National Division.
Masao Nakamura wrote before his death: "The 12th Brigade of the 5th Division of the Imperial Imperial Army was able to win the title of 'Steel Army' in the Russo-Japanese War because I stubbornly defeated Russians . But at Kunlun Pass, I encountered an army stronger than the Russians."
" Kunlun Pass Victory " was extremely tragic: When the honorary First Division 10,000 people retreated from the battlefield, there were only 700 combat soldiers left.
The 5th Army killed more than 5,600 people, more than 800 people were injured in unknown life and death, and 6,416 casualties and missing erotic soldiers, with a total of about 10,000 casualties.
Du Yuming said in the inscription of the Kunlun Pass war monument: "The hardships and sacrifices of the army are rare since the rise of the army, and the attack and victory are almost the first to set an anti-Japanese war."
The major victory of Kunlun Pass was the first victory of the Chinese army in the battle against the Japanese army, wiped out an elite brigade of the Japanese army and killed the commander. This was the only example in the War of Resistance.
The good news came out, and the whole country was jubilant. Du Yuming erected a monument on the towering Kunlun Pass: "Memorial to the Deadly Generals of the Fifth Army Anti-Japanese War", and wrote a 400-word inscription with tears in his own hands to mourn those soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country...
