As the commander of the 33rd Army and the actual person in charge of the war in Myanmar, the good mood of many political generals a few days ago has now undergone a 180-degree reversal.
Judging from the telegrams sent from everywhere yesterday, the Chinese Expeditionary Force has launched a massive counterattack against them.
It stands to reason that for the Japanese army, the counterattack of the national army was exactly what they wanted. The original political figures in Domoto were worried about how to find the main force of the national army and annihilate them all.
The reason why Duoben Zhengcai has this confidence comes from the confidence in his opponent's strength.
At that time, he not only had two infantry divisions, the 55th and 56th, in Myanmar, but also a flying fleet consisting of more than 60 Zero fighters and more than 40 bombers.
The Japanese army with such strong strength has naturally regarded the sky of Myanmar as its own.
In the first two months of the Burma Campaign, the Japanese army relied on air power and two infantry divisions to launch an offensive against the expeditionary force entering Burma, and defeated the expeditionary force steadily.
According to the estimates of many political sources, in one to two months at most, he will be able to drive the invading Chinese army out of Myanmar or even completely defeat it.
But I don’t know when a large number of Chinese aircraft began to appear in the sky over Myanmar.
Not only were these aircraft large in number, but their performance was extremely good. The Japanese Zero was almost helpless in the face of such aircraft.
After more than half a month of fierce fighting, the Japanese army lost about 70% of its air power in Burma. The captain of the flying team, Sasa Ichihei, was so frightened that he quickly ordered all the remaining aircraft to be concealed. Without his order, nothing could be done.
Go to war.
After losing their air power, the situation of the Chinese and Japanese armies immediately reversed.
Those national troops who were well-fed and well-fed, and who had received sufficient ordnance and supplies, seemed like a different person. The fierceness of the offensive made the Japanese commanders on the front line complain endlessly.
In the national army's counterattack, the newly formed 38th Division and the newly formed 22nd Division were undoubtedly the most ferocious.
Just now, he received a report from Lieutenant General Ishimoto Tosan, commander of the 55th Division, that a vanguard unit belonging to the 55th Cavalry Regiment was ambushed by the Chinese army as soon as it arrived in Toungoo.
The entire cavalry squadron was shattered.
Unable to seize Toungoo, the 55th Division had no choice but to change its sneak attack into a forceful attack, but encountered strong resistance from China's newly formed 22nd Division.
The battle was extremely fierce, especially when the Chinese troops brought in aircraft to bomb and straf the 55th Division. The 112th Regiment responsible for the main attack suffered heavy losses, and he was not allowed to order the 112th Regiment to temporarily retreat.
Ishimoto Torazo also requested in the telegram to send aircraft reinforcements to help him relieve the pressure from the air.
On the other front, China's newly formed 38th Division also advanced towards Tonggu under the leadership of its division commander Sun Liren. It was now less than fifty kilometers away from Tonggu.
Once the new 38th Division and Tonggu's new 200th Division join forces, all the advantages previously gained by the Japanese army will be lost.
Facing the funeral-like telegrams sent from the two divisions below, Duo Benzheng was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot.
As a military-level unit newly established this year, the 33rd Army is under the command and jurisdiction of the Japanese Burmese Front Army. It has three divisions: the 55th, the 56th and the 18th.
Such strength is pretty good among the Burmese Army, especially the 18th Division, which is the only Japanese division-level unit that is good at tropical jungle warfare.
But the problem is that this most powerful force is not in Myanmar now. Instead, it has just followed the 15th Army to conquer Malaysia and Singapore, and is now resting in Singapore.
This time, Duoben's political talent was a little confused. In the original plan, both he and the military staff believed that two divisions were enough to deal with the 100,000-strong Chinese Expeditionary Army. They never thought that they would look down upon them.
The national army actually became as hardened as if they had been beaten to death.
Seeing Tamoto's gloomy look, Chief of Staff Major General Rikichiro Sawamoto comforted him:
"Your Excellency, Commander, the Chinese are attacking fiercely this time. It will be extremely difficult for the 55th and 56th Divisions alone. How about we ask Commander Kimura for tactical guidance?"
The Kimura mentioned by Rikichiro Sawamoto was General Hyōtaro Kimura, the commander of the Burmese Front, Tamoto Masaichi's immediate boss.
The Myanmar Front Army has two armies, the 22nd and 38th, with a total of 7 divisions and 3 independent mixed brigades.
Specially responsible for the task of holding Burma and defending against Allied counterattacks, the 22nd Army is still active in Southeast Asia.
Duobon Zhengcai thought for a while, then shook his head: "Forget it, Commander Kimura doesn't have any mobile troops now. Sending him a telegram is just to make things difficult for him."
Rikichiro Sawamoto thought about it and thought it was right, but then he said: "Although Commander Kimura doesn't have many troops at the moment, he can always add dozens of fighter planes to us, right?
Now the sky in Myanmar has long been owned by the Chinese. Our troops are harassed by Chinese planes every day, and all departments are miserable.
Colonel Sasa Ichibei has sent us several telegrams long ago, requesting for additional aircraft and pilots. If we don't take any action, I'm afraid the 56th Division's defense line will be broken through by the Chinese.
Duoben Zhengcai sighed softly and waved his hand: "Okay, you go and draft the telegram. When you're done, just bring it over and sign it for me."
"Hai!"
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As a veteran, Aono Kodai participated in almost all major wars since the Sino-Japanese War in 1937.
He seemed to be Amaterasu's favorite, at least that's what he thought. During the long war, he had hardly been injured, even though the comrades around him changed one after another.
In order to compete for Taungoo, a small place that can hardly be named on the map, he, like all the soldiers of the 143rd Regiment, fought with the Chinese army here for three days and three nights.
At least three days ago, he firmly believed that the Chinese army on the opposite side could not withstand the front of the Japanese Imperial Army, but now this originally firm belief was shaken.
In the past few days, he had witnessed scenes that were unbearable for him to look back on. He had experienced dozens of sudden artillery fire attacks, explosions of artillery shells and aerial bombs. The tragic scene was something he had never experienced in his five years in the army.
At this moment, he was lying in a crack on the ground for unknown reasons.
Although it is already late autumn, the weather here is still hot and humid, and in the morning, heavy fog from the forest will spread everywhere.
On the left is a forest and a small river extending to Dongguo. The sky is filled with thick fog rolling like blood-red foam. It is no longer possible to see anything clearly, but under the cover of fog and foam, from thousands of mouths