When the expeditionary force retreated, it was faced with two decisions. One was to go north and withdraw to the country, and the other was to withdraw from India. At that time, Chiang Kai-shek's decision was to withdraw to the country. According to the intelligence at the time, the Japanese army that occupied Myitkyina was a small force, which meant
As Du Yuming retreated, he only needed to pass through Myitkyina before returning to the country. However, the intelligence at the time was wrong. The Japanese army occupying Myitkyina was the infamous Japanese 56th Division.
The order to evacuate India was given by Stilwell, the then Chief of Staff of the Allied China Theater. When Du Yuming discovered that the Japanese army occupying Myitkyina was not a small group of Japanese troops, he hesitated, fell into a dilemma, and forced his way through Myitkyina.
It is necessary to bear two risks, one is political risk, and the other is military risk. For political risk, Chiang's order was to avoid fighting and evacuate Burma. If he forcibly broke through Myitkyina, it would be equivalent to disobeying Chiang's order. Even if he returned to China, he would
He had to be sent to a military court. The military risk was that he did not know the strength of the Japanese army in Myitkyina and forced a breakthrough. It was okay if he broke through, but if he failed to break through, it would undoubtedly be devastating to the expeditionary force at that time.
It was in this entanglement that Du Yuming ordered the entire army to evacuate from the primitive jungle Savage Mountain on the Myitkyina side and return home.
The fact is that at that time, the expeditionary force under Du Yuming still had 15,000 troops directly under the Fifth Army, more than 6,000 troops in the newly-organized 22nd Division, more than 5,000 troops in the 96th Division, and the 60th Division.
The Sixth Army's new 38th Division has more than 7,000 people, and Dai Anlan's 200th Division, with 7,000 people, is also coming from Tangji. These troops all lack combat experience, and they are all aces among aces at the time, elites.
The elites in the army, and they are all complete divisions, not the remnants of a defeated division.
The weapons and equipment are equipped with weapons reinforced by the Allied forces, as well as heavy firepower equipment purchased from the Soviet Union. It has tanks, armored vehicles, cars, artillery of various calibers and other heavy firepower weapons and equipment.
These divisions were preparing for the Battle of Pingmanna. The main divisions preparing for the Battle of Mandalay numbered more than 50,000 people. The main mechanized divisions could be said to be the strongest main army divisions in China at that time. Since the Anti-Japanese War,
It was accumulated bit by bit, and the hard work of many people was concentrated.
At that time, the Japanese 56th Division stationed in Myitkyina only had 7,000 people and was unable to withstand Du Yuming's 50,000-strong army. But with this order from Du Yuming, the 50,000-strong army moved all the tanks and armored vehicles that could not be carried up the mountain.
All the artillery was blown up at the foot of Savage Mountain, and then they entered Savage Mountain lightly. Masao Watanabe, commander of the Japanese 56th Division in Myitkyina at the time, was in disbelief when he heard the news. He considered all the situations that the Japanese army could not cope with and carried out
All kinds of preparations were made, but they did not take into account that all the fifty thousand troops of the expeditionary force were evacuated from Yeren Mountain next to Myitkyina.
Savage Mountain is a lofty mountain with no trace of human beings. No living person has ever been able to come out of it.
The Hukham Valley is called the place where the devil lives in Burmese. It is located in the northernmost part of Myanmar. The trees on the mountains cover the sky, and the sky is not visible all year round. There are swarms of wild beasts, leeches everywhere, and even man-eating savages. Therefore, Hukham Valley
The mountains in the Cam Valley are called Savage Mountains.
While the divisions were climbing the mountain, Sun Liren's New 38th Division was gathering on the road. The cars, artillery carts, and tanks on the road were full of infantrymen of the New 38th Division, like a group of runaways galloping on the road.
He ran counter to the large army and did not obey Du Yuming's order. Du Yuming was very annoyed and ordered Sun Liren to obey the order. Sun insisted on his own opinion and still led his troops to retreat to India, and finally arrived at Xibang, a border town in India.
Among the several main divisions throughout the entire expeditionary force, the one with the least losses was the New 38th Division controlled by Sun Yat-sen, who had evacuated from India. The pre-war force of eight to nine thousand people even fought a Ren'an Qiang to relieve the siege. There were still seven soldiers left when they arrived in India.
Thousands of people, basically the whole army retreated. In the end, Liao Xiangyao's newly formed 22nd Division withdrew from India on the way to Savage Mountain. Only 3,000 of the 9,000-man army remained, and most of them were swallowed up by Savage Mountain.
According to post-war statistics of the expeditionary force, when the Fifth Army entered Burma, it had 42,000 people and 21,100 people died. The Sixth Army had 30,000 people and 17,600 people died.
, the Sixty-sixth Army had 31,000 people, and 16,780 people died. The total number of expeditionary troops was 100,300, and the total death toll was 56,480 people, who died at the hands of the Japanese army
There were about 10,000 people, and the rest, except for those who fled and died on the way, basically died in the Savage Mountain. After the 200 female soldiers of the Fifth Army crossed the Savage Mountain, only five people survived.
A single order ruined an army of 50,000.
This was the tragic expeditionary force. Xia Yuan could not consider the situation from the perspective of his predecessors. He could only blame Shangfeng for being incompetent and ruining so many troops. Du Yuming himself had some feudal ideas and was too stubborn and would only resolutely execute orders.
Not knowing how to adapt, Shangfeng decided to act on his own. He never considered the combat effectiveness of the expeditionary force at that time, and never considered the terror of Savage Mountain. He naively believed that if he entered Savage Mountain without a trace of Japanese troops, he would be able to withdraw into the country. Little did he know that Savage Mountain was
A more terrifying place than the Japanese army.
In the end, the few ace divisions that crossed the Foreigner Mountain were no longer able to participate in the subsequent battles. They were basically disabled, with equipment lost and no people left.
And he can consider the entire Burma battlefield from the perspective of the future. The Japanese army is not invincible. If the decision-making at that time can be decisive, if Du Yuming does not hesitate, the 50,000-strong army will be a sharp sword and penetrate the Japanese 56th Army.
As the heart of the division, there is absolutely no problem in fighting a bloody path.
It was also the wrong decision that led to the collapse of the expeditionary force. Thousands of people fled into the country in panic. Even if troops were sent for rescue, it was of no avail. At that time, all the heavy firepower and equipment were on these divisions. In addition, after the victory of the Japanese army, the ambitions
It flourished and advanced wildly all the way to the shores of the Nu River where the expeditionary force had withdrawn.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Therefore, the expeditionary force was not unable to defeat the Japanese army, and the fundamental reason that ultimately led to the defeat of the expeditionary force was the incompetence of the British, who used the expeditionary force as a cover for their evacuation.
His incompetence and wrong decisions cost the lives of groups of ordinary soldiers.
In comparison, in the Korean War, every decision was made very accurately. The soldiers' strong execution ability and fearless spirit of sacrifice were also key factors in victory.
Xia Yuan looked at the dejected group of defeated soldiers in front of him. Fundamentally speaking, are these defeated soldiers really inferior to the Volunteer Army? Not necessarily. The Volunteer Army has also come step by step. The Volunteer Army has also been defeated, but the Volunteer Army cannot defeat them.
They can't be destroyed. The group of defeated soldiers in front of them just lost their confidence.
The first step he had to take was to restore the confidence of the defeated soldiers.
"So what if we withdraw from Zenda? You are still a group of defeated troops. Your final fate without any structure is to be sent to the battlefield to serve as cannon fodder for the so-called elite troops. Are you really willing to be cannon fodder? Are you willing to take bullets for others? Are you?
Don’t you want to be a fighting hero among the people?”
Xia Yuan shouted sternly: "No one is a waste from birth. If others look down on you, you let them look down on you. Since the September 18th Incident, how many people have shed blood and sacrificed for us Chinese to stand up. The Battle of Songhu,
Millions of warriors rushed to Shanghai, knowing full well that they would die. They rushed to the battlefield resolutely and suffered countless casualties. What did they do for this? They are the backbone of the Chinese people!"
"They used their lives to straighten the backbone of the Chinese people, but you people who are alive now have bent your back again. What will those warriors who shed blood and sacrifice for you and for China see you like this?
Thoughts.”
"Stand up your back, like a soldier!"
The enthusiasm of the defeated soldiers was aroused by Xia Yuan's words. Although they did not move, they silently straightened their waists. Even Milong straightened his waists unconsciously.
, for the person who no longer exists.
"Pick up all the weapons and put them on your back. Our retreat is not going back to Zenda. The Japanese army is approaching the border. You will be collected as cannon fodder when you return to Zenda. When the counterattack comes, you will be a group of cannon fodder. Since being cannon fodder is
If you die, you will die if you stay here, why should you let yourself die like a coward?"
"They looked down on us because we entered Burma with 100,000 people and were beaten like a bunch of chickens by the Japanese army. Of the 100,000 people, only 40,000 came back alive. The rest stayed in Burma and died anyway.
Just let yourself die great."
Xia Yuan looked at Long Wenwen and said: "The deputy regiment did not do anything and was demoted to the camp. The dragon disturbed the morale of the army and should be shot. For the sake of killing the enemy and meritorious service, he will bypass this time and make up for his merits in the future. Now he will be punished."
You have ten minutes to sort out your equipment and straighten your backs. Although these colleagues are lying on the ground, they are all looking at us. We ourselves despise ourselves, so why not dig a hole and bury ourselves to save you the trouble?
Going out will disgrace the Chinese people and disgrace our ancestors."
The defeated soldiers moved and rearranged their weapons and equipment. Meng Fanglia silently picked up his gun and carried it behind his back. Milong also took off the watch on his wrist and took back his own from Doubian and Yangdanzi.
machine gun, none of them spoke, as if out of respect for the deceased, or perhaps because this was not a place for talking.
Long Wenwen looked up at the sky and murmured: "Come back, come back. Only when you come back can you be determined to continue fighting the Japanese devils."
Although the souls of the defeated soldiers did not come back, their blood was mobilized by these words. Just as Xia Yuan said, if they themselves look down on themselves, even if they return to Zenda, they will still play the role of cannon fodder.
"Tuanzu, where are we going next?" Meng Fanglia asked Xia Yuan.
"When entering the mountains, the Japanese army is chasing our large troops. They follow the road, but we can enter the mountains and establish our own base in the mountains. In addition, the Japanese army has sufficient supplies and their front line is very long.
We can completely block the Japanese army's logistics, collect the captured materials, and use them on our own people."
Xia Yuan found Meng Fan and told him, "If you encounter defeated soldiers on the road in the future, use your mouth to pull them in. The defeated soldiers will also serve as cannon fodder after they return. Instead of letting them follow the elites as cannon fodder, it is better to let them
They follow us to fight the Japanese, and would rather be heroes than cannon fodder that no one will remember."
Meng Fan nodded. He knew the fate of cannon fodder. He used his life to block bullets for the elite troops. After receiving the victory, the merits of the war were not named cannon fodder. They were all snatched away by the so-called elites. They bled and died.
Man, I haven't reaped the benefits in the end. Meng Fanlao figured it out. Xia Yuan was right. After he returned, he would be cannon fodder and die in a daze. It was better to follow Xia Yuan and someone would remember him even after he died.
Xia Yuan called everyone together and asked Ah Yi to stand up. He gave Ah Yi the pen that Mi Long had thrown away and said, "From today on, you will record everyone's name and home address and write them down.
A piece of cloth is distributed to everyone, and you sew the cloth strip on your shoulders. If you sacrifice in the future, your names will stay. This strip is called the strip of glory. Ayi, you will be responsible for future battles.
Record the performance of every soldier on the battlefield. Their combat deeds should not be buried. Their combat deeds should be recorded and passed down to the future, passed down to our descendants, so that they can understand that we have done everything for them.
I fought my life and shed my blood. This book is called a book of heroic deeds."
Ayi was stunned for a moment.
The defeated soldiers were also stunned. They had never thought that Xia Yuanhui would attach so much importance to this matter. In previous battles, no one would care about what they did on the battlefield.
After Ayi took over the pen, Milong found some notebooks from some corpses and gave them to Ayi, followed by the defeated soldiers who swarmed forward.
"Li Sifu, his home is Sichuan. Sir Ayi, you know, please write it down for me first."
"Kang Huo Lian, Datong, Shanxi."
"Gumai, Baoding, Hebei."
"Ma Dazhi, a native of Dongguang"
"Li Liansheng, from Northeast China"
"Deng Bao, from Hunan."
"I'm sorry, I'm from Jiangsu and Zhejiang."
"Sun Mazi, from Henan."
The defeated soldiers swarmed up and surrounded Ah Yi. They called out their names and hometowns with accents from different places across the country. They desperately hoped that Ah Yi could remember their names. There were too many
Too many people have died without even knowing their names. To them, their names represent themselves.
Ayi shouted: "Come one by one."
"Be quiet, there is one more thing to announce!"
Xia Yuan shouted to calm down the noisy defeated soldiers and looked at their group seats quietly. He only heard him say: "Those who died in the battle should not be forgotten. After everyone is registered,
Also record the names of the comrades you know and how they died. After they die, we should remember them even more."
Bright stars flashed in the eyes of the defeated soldiers. They looked at Xia Yuan, raised their arms and shouted.
Glory bar, heroic deeds book.
Xia Yuan's decision gathered the hearts of all the defeated soldiers. They were not afraid of death. What they were afraid of was that if they died, no one would remember them. What they were afraid of was that they were a group of people who did not exist.