As the second largest city in Myanmar, its importance is undoubtedly beyond doubt.
This is not only an important stronghold of the Japanese army in Myanmar, but also the headquarters of the 33rd Army of the Japanese Burmese Front.
At the same time, the largest Japanese prisoner of war camp in Myanmar and even Southeast Asia was in Mandalay.
Originally, the largest prisoner of war camp in Myanmar in history was supposed to be located in Yangon, but the history of this time and space was deviated due to the existence of Gao Hongming.
However, although the place has changed, the people in this prisoner of war camp have not changed. In this place covering hundreds of acres, the Japanese detained tens of thousands of prisoners from the United States, Australia, Britain and the Chinese Expeditionary Force.
"Please... please! Let me go!"
In a prisoner-of-war camp surrounded by jungle two or three kilometers outside Mandalay, a British soldier was kneeling on the ground with blood at the corner of his mouth. His face was stained with dirt, and his messy blond hair was stained with weeds.
He looked at the ferocious-looking Japanese soldiers in khaki military uniforms and dust hats in front of him with a horrified expression, and begged in a pitiful voice that these barbarians actually shot prisoners of war.
"put!"
"Bang, bang, bang..."
Following the orders of the Japanese major commander holding a saber, a row of Japanese soldiers holding Type 38 rifles were executing dozens of prisoners who tried to escape.
After more than a dozen prisoners in the first row were executed, the Japanese major took the saber in his hand and carefully checked whether the prisoners lying in a pool of blood were dead. If they were not dead, he would give them another knife.
Hearing a gunshot a few meters away, the British soldier with a childish look on his face couldn't help but tremble all over. He really didn't want to die here, he wanted to go home.
"Wow!"
The Japanese superior soldier who had just executed a prisoner looked at the young British soldier in front of him with a ferocious smile and a bloodthirsty look in his eyes.
"ah!"
Unable to bear the pressure, the young prisoner suddenly let out a heart-breaking scream, and then felt a wetness between his legs. The grinning Japanese soldiers around him immediately burst into laughter when they saw the British soldier who peed his pants.
"You cowardly coward, I really don't understand how a country like yours dares to claim to be an empire on which the sun never sets?"
At this time, the major officer came over and looked at the nearly collapsed British prisoner in front of him and said expressionlessly, and then spat at him. The Japanese who were deeply poisoned by bushido looked down upon cowards the most.
Although the young British prisoner kept begging for mercy, he still followed in the footsteps of his previous companions. Even after he was shot to death, his eyes still revealed fear.
Not far away stood densely packed rows of prisoners, all of them silent as they watched their comrades being executed.
These prisoners come from the United States, Australia, Britain, China, and the Philippines, but no matter which country they are captives from, they all have one common characteristic.
They were in ragged clothes, with haggard faces, and withered bodies. They were staggering when they walked, and they looked like they had suffered from long-term malnutrition.
After confirming that all the prisoners of war were dead, the Japanese major waved his hand, and then a group of prisoners of war came over and carried the bodies not far away for burial.
I saw the Japanese major holding the saber in his hand, with a bloodthirsty look in his small eyes.
I saw him sternly saying: "You have all seen, this is the consequences of trying to escape.
I warn you again, as long as one of you escapes, regardless of success or failure, we will shoot ten of you as a warning.
I don’t want anyone to make such a stupid mistake again. If it happens next time, don’t blame me for being rude.”
After that, the Major ordered the disbandment and left. After the Major left, the prisoners gathered together in twos and threes.
And if anyone pays close attention, they will find that these prisoners of war are vaguely divided into two parts.
One part of these two groups was mainly prisoners of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, and the other part was mainly British and American prisoners.
And those prisoners of the expeditionary force were vaguely headed by a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing a woolen military uniform, slightly fat, and wearing a pair of glasses. This man was the highest ranking among the prisoners of the expeditionary force.
One, he is Major General Qi Xueqi, the new deputy commander of the 38th Division.
The British and American prisoners were led by Colonel Royce Hutton, the staff officer of the British 1st Division.
As for the deeds of General Qi Xueqi, the author will not go into details here. Interested readers can search for them by themselves.
The thin Colonel Royce pretended to be casual and walked up to General Qi Xueqi and whispered in English: "General Qi, the situation does not look good. The Japanese have become more and more anxious during this time."
"I also discovered it." Qi Xueqi, who graduated from Tsinghua University and later studied at the Norwich Military Academy in the United States, immediately said in American English.
"I also discovered it. It can be seen from this that the battle situation on the front line must have undergone major changes, otherwise the Japanese would not be so crazy and restless, shooting prisoners at every turn.
And I estimate that nine times out of ten, the battle situation will definitely develop in a direction that is beneficial to us."
"You think so too?" Royce's face showed joy, "So, we will be rescued soon?"
Qi Xueqi nodded: "It is possible."
"Great." Royce could no longer hide the joy on his face, "I don't want to stay in this damn prisoner of war camp for even one more minute."
"Colonel Royce, don't get too happy yet." Qi Xueqi was not as optimistic as Royce.
"Don't forget, it's the Japanese who control our life and death now. Once the Japanese find out that the war situation is unfavorable and want to execute us all, we still won't be able to wait until the day of victory."
"Are they crazy?"
Royce looked in disbelief, "It is against international conventions to shoot prisoners of war. What's more, we have more than 10,000 prisoners detained here. If the Japanese really dare to do this, the whole world will be shocked."
Looking at the British colonel who still harbored illusions, Qi Xueqi sighed softly and pointed to the grave that had just been buried not far away.
"Tell me, what is there?"
"But...but..."
Royce said calmly: "Those prisoners were executed because they escaped and angered the Japanese.
We...as long as we give up our escape plan, the Japanese won't do anything to us."
"you……"
Facing this "naive" British man who still had illusions about the Japanese, Qi Xueqi helplessly shook his head and stopped talking.
Just when the two were about to break up due to differences of opinion, a buzzing sound suddenly came from the sky.