Wang Haitao relied on another weapon of great destruction, that is, the two howitzer and artillery regiments of the heavy artillery brigade. Among them, the 152-caliber heavy grenade and artillery regiment was arranged by Wang Haitao on the Luxian Ridge, the highest terrain in the city, and the other 122 grenade and artillery regiment was arranged on the Stone Ridge. With a range of more than 17 kilometers from 152 caliber heavy howitzers and shells, it is condescending enough to hit the shells north of the Yongjiang River.

It was only after dawn the next day that the Japanese discovered that there were no Chinese troops on the opposite position, and Major General Notomi Shode sent a search force to storm Xinjiang Town. Soon after, the search force reported that the town was empty, and that only some military material had been discarded by the defenders, judging that the defenders had retreated in a hurry.

After being blocked here in Xinjiang Town for two days, and being reprimanded by the division commander, Major General Notomi Changde was angry, and when he heard the news that the defenders had retreated in a hurry, he immediately ordered the whole army to march, and the target was to go straight to Ningcheng. Not long after the 61st Brigade set off, the troops behind the 70th Division also continued to march towards Nanning City.

It was only a dozen kilometers from Xinjiang Town to the south bank of the Yongjiang River, and it took the Japanese army more than two hours to reach the south bank of the Yongjiang River. Seeing that the Chinese army had already set up a defensive position on the north bank of the Yongjiang River, Major General Notomi Shotoku ordered the troops to also set up offensive positions on the south bank of the Yongjiang River, and then reported the situation to the division commander, Lieutenant General Takayuki Uchida.

The last resistance of the Chinese army on the north bank of the Yong River was anticipated by Lieutenant General Takayuki Uchida, and he made a lot of preparations for it. The average width of the Yongjiang River is between 300 and 400 meters, although the current is not very fast, but the depth is still relatively deep, and there are no bridges built on this section of the river in the urban area of Nanning, only a few ferries.

After the 879th Regiment crossed the river overnight, not a single boat was left for the Japanese army on the south bank of the Yongjiang River, and the people in the north of the river were also mobilized to the south side of the Yangtze River, leaving only a clean section of the river bank for the Japanese army. After the arrival of the main force of the Japanese army, the two brigades under the command of Lieutenant General Takayuki Uchida also set up a position in the direction of the city of Nanning.

After the Japanese army set up a position, they began to spy on the Yongjiang River, the distance between the north and south banks was more than 300 meters, and the troops in the north of the river watched the Japanese army busy on the south bank, but they could not stop it, so they could only let them be busy. The Japanese detectives for a day, selected two main forced crossing points and two reserve forced crossing points, and then the Japanese army took out the tools they had prepared for crossing the river: rubber boats.

Obviously, before the Japanese attack, they had already considered some operations to force the river or river, so the baggage wing carried a large number of rubber boats. This kind of rubber boat can take 12 to 15 people after being inflated, sandbags can be stacked in front of the boat as a cover, and a light machine gun can be erected, there are six wooden oars on both sides, and it is rowed by manpower.

The Japanese began to gather their forces at the two main crossing points, and dozens of rubber boats were also put on the surface at one place, so that such an obvious intention had already attracted the attention of the defenders. One of these two forcible crossing points is directly facing the defense area of the 877th Regiment of the 462nd Brigade, and the other is facing the defense area of the 881st Regiment of the 463rd Brigade.

When the Japanese army was almost busy, it was getting dark, and it was obvious that the Japanese army did not intend to attack overnight, and the soldiers relaxed and rested on the position. The defenders here are nervously arranging alert troops to prevent the Japanese from sneaking up at night. Except for the troops facing the two obvious strong crossing points of the Japanese army, the other troops are not easy, and who knows if the Japanese army will play a trick of attacking the west, and the various garrison units along the river are on alert tonight.

The night passed peacefully, and as soon as the day dawned, the movement of the Japanese troops on the south bank attracted the attention of the defenders on the north bank. After a busy period of Japanese troops on the south bank, the troops began to board the boats. Just when the defenders thought that the Japanese army would begin to cross the river, the roar of aircraft engines could be heard in the southern sky. The Japanese army dispatched planes to help the battle so quickly, which the defenders did not expect.

Fortunately, the quality of the officers and men of the 90 th Army was not bad, and after hearing the sound of the planes, the air defense units immediately reacted by arranging the anti-aircraft gun positions behind the positions, and the muzzles of the anti-aircraft guns turned to the direction where the planes were flying. Yesterday, after judging the location of the Japanese army's forced crossing, Tang Longzai moved the two antiaircraft artillery regiments to the rear of the position directly opposite the forced crossing point, in order to prevent the Japanese army from sending planes to assist in the battle.

The Japanese planes, apparently guided by the ground forces, split into two and swooped down in groups of twelve as they approached the top of the position. As soon as the Japanese planes dived downward, they were greeted by the fire of dozens of anti-aircraft guns. The Japanese planes did not expect that there would be such a strong anti-aircraft fire network on the enemy's position, and five planes were shot in just one shot and fell to the ground and the river.

On the south bank of the Yongjiang River, Lieutenant General Takayuki Uchida, who was waiting to see the Jiangbei position in flames, was also frightened by the dense anti-aircraft fire that suddenly appeared on the opposite bank, and when he saw that several planes in a row had been hit and fell, he gritted his teeth and scolded: "Baga! How can the people of the detachment have such strong anti-aircraft firepower?" The chief of staff next to him, Shoo Osa, Shioshima, was obviously also frightened, and he couldn't react to what the division commander was asking for a long time.

After a while, Shioshima Shofu Dazuo reacted and replied cautiously: "Your Excellency Division Commander, as far as my subordinates know, the only unit in the Chinese army that is equipped with so much anti-aircraft firepower is the Ninetieth Army, which is known as the First Army of China, and this time we may have encountered the troops of the Ninetieth Army." When Uchida Takayuki heard this, he frowned and asked, "What about the 90th Army of China? Aren't they still resting in Longzhou? How did they get to Nanning?"

Shoo Shioshima was asked, and he couldn't say anything for a long time. Lieutenant General Takayuki Uchida didn't get an explanation from Shoo Shioshima, so he simply didn't ask, but said: "The strategic purpose of the empire to capture Guangxi and open up the north-south line must be accomplished, even if our opponent is the ace 90th army of China, I will lead the warriors of the empire to defeat them! I order to start forcibly crossing the river!"

Shioshima Shoo didn't have the confidence of Lieutenant General Takayuki Uchida, but looking at the confident appearance of the division commander, Shiota Shoo could only ask Aunt Amaterasu for care. With the order of Lieutenant General Takayuki Uchida to force the crossing, the Japanese artillery and heavy machine guns on the south bank position opened fire, and the shells fell on the north bank position and exploded into clouds of gunsmoke.

From time to time, some planes found an opportunity to drop bombs and bombs, and some planes were hit in the fire network of antiaircraft guns, and they fell to the ground with flames and black smoke. Twenty minutes passed, and except for those that were shot down, the rest of the Japanese planes also returned home after dropping bombs and bombs. Without the threat from the air, the pressure on the officers and men on the positions was relaxed.

The Japanese rubber boat was almost rowed to the center of the river, and the order to counterattack was delivered. The first to engage in a counterattack was the artillery unit. The first target of the counterattack was the Japanese artillery position, and the rubber boats that had already sailed to the center of the river were bombarded by hundreds of mortars on the south bank position.

Without the threat of Japanese artillery fire, the mortar gunners could finally let go of the target, hundreds of mortars, coupled with the rate of fire of the mortars, mortars and shells fell like raindrops on the river, forming a death blockade on the river. Those rubber boats that rowed to the center of the river, if they were lucky, they were still running through the water column, and if they were unlucky, they were directly replaced with mortars and shells, and the result of the boat being destroyed and killed on the spot.

Amid the explosion of artillery shells, the artillery on the Japanese artillery positions became less and less, and they basically did not pose a threat to the positions on the north bank. However, in the heavy machine gun bunkers on the north shore position, the heavy machine guns spat out tongues of fire.

The heavy machine gun bullets crossed to seal the way of the rubber boat, and the Japanese soldiers on the rubber boat kept screaming and fell into the water, and after a stream of blood red appeared in the water, it was swallowed by the river. The closer the dinghy was to the north shore, the more ferocious the blow became, and although the machine guns mounted on the bow of the boat were constantly returning fire, the effect was too poor to be very powerful.

In an hour before and after, all the soldiers on the last rubber boat of the Japanese army were killed, indicating that the Japanese troops who forcibly crossed the Yongjiang River were all wiped out, and the corpses of countless dead soldiers were floating on the river, and the river was dyed blood. The defenders of the north bank stopped firing, and the battlefield gradually fell silent. The scene in front of them stunned the Japanese troops on the south bank, and the timid ones kept trembling.

Lieutenant General Takayuki Uchida was also shocked, and all the more than 1,000 officers and men of the two forced crossing points were shattered, which was difficult for him, the division commander, to accept. Originally, Lieutenant General Takayuki Uchida was going to bomb the positions on the north bank by planes, and then continue the bombardment with artillery fire, and after suppressing and destroying part of the defenders on the north bank, he would force the river by rubber boat.

However, the bombing of the planes not only did not work, but lost a lot of planes at once, and then suffered heavy losses of his own artillery in the artillery battle, and the soldiers who forced the crossing were all wiped out before they could even get close to the shore, and this successive blows finally made Lieutenant General Takayuki Uchida sober up a little. The defenders, among other things, far outnumbered their own troops in the number of artillery pieces alone.

Lieutenant General Takayuki Uchida took his gaze back from the river with difficulty, looked at the chief of staff Shioshima Shofu Osa, who was also stunned beside him, and then asked: "Shioshima-kun, the Shina troops we are facing are worthy of being the 90th Army, which is known as the first army of China! Do you have any ideas now?" Shioshima Shofu Dazuo thought for a while before replying: "Your Excellency the division commander, I am afraid that it will be difficult to cross the river by forcefully crossing the front, and it seems that we have to use other methods." ”