The Expeditionary Force Headquarters is slowly advancing towards the small town of Mengong on the railway line from Mandalay to Myitkyina with the 200th Division, Tank Regiment, Artillery Regiment, Automobile Regiment, Field Hospital and other units. There is no trace of this group of people hiding.
This was mainly done to attract the attention of the Japanese army in Myitkyina and to cover Sun Liren's New 38th Division from launching a surprise attack from behind.
Halfway through, General Luo Zhuoying, deputy commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, got a rare ride on Yue Weihan's jeep.
"Where is the chief seat? I have a few words about my humble position that I don't know whether I should tell you?" Luo Zhuoying is a well-rounded character. He did not despise Yue Weihan because he was young and had little qualifications, nor did he look down upon him like Dai Anlan, Sun Liren, or Hu Xianqun.
Waiting for the division commander, the regiment commander put on a arrogant attitude, seeming to ignore Yue Weihan.
"Brother You Qing (characterized by Luo Zhuoying), feel free to say so." Yue Weihan said calmly.
"Let's just say it's a humble job." Luo Zhuoying said in a low voice after kissing the soldier, "The commander-in-chief may not know that the situation of the expeditionary force is more complicated. The Fifth Army is the Central Army, but the Sixth Army
But it is the Gui Army. The Sixty-sixth Army is also the Hunan Army. Unlike the 39th Group Army of the General Command, they are all old subordinates and old troops brought out by the General Commandant from the mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Therefore, the Commander-in-Chief is commanding this army.
When you are in the army, you have to be patient, you have to be strategic, and you can’t do it forcefully..."
Yue Weihan smiled faintly, looking noncommittal and profound.
Luo Zhuoying's words were not malicious at all, but Yue Weihan did not intend to accept his advice.
Yue Weihan never cares about the origin of his troops, whether they are the Northeast Army, the Northwest Army, or even bandits or family armed forces. In the final analysis, they are all Chinese troops! As long as they have the common identity of Chinese, Yue Weihan
You will have enough confidence to deal with them and make them willingly accept your command!
Because what Yue Weihan said, thought, and thought was never for himself, let alone to support his troops and respect himself. As a warlord who separatist power, everything Yue Weihan did was for this country and this nation.
To safeguard the democracy of this country, to safeguard the democracy of this nation!
And, more importantly, Yue Weihan can win the battle!
For soldiers, winning battles is very important. Winning battles not only means more bonuses and faster promotions, but also means a greater chance of survival!
No matter how flawed a general's character is, as long as he can lead his troops to win battles, he will definitely be able to win the support of his officers and soldiers. On the contrary, if a general always loses battles, no matter how high his personal charm is, he will eventually be defeated.
Will be abandoned by the officers and soldiers.
Therefore, as long as Yue Weihan can lead the expeditionary army from one victory to another, then everything will not be a problem!
After two great victories, the grassroots officers and ordinary officers and soldiers of the expeditionary force will accept Yue Weihan from the bottom of their hearts. As for those army commanders or division commanders, I am afraid they will not accept Yue Weihan so easily. However, once they lose the grassroots officers and soldiers
With their support, how much trouble can they make? Yue Weihan can dismiss them from their posts in minutes.
Therefore, Yue Weihan never considered whether he could suppress the expeditionary force.
There was only one question in Yue Weihan's mind from beginning to end, and that was how to lead the expeditionary force to win the war. To paraphrase the words of Commander Yan of the World War II area, Yue Weihan could not do anything else except win the war!
Myitkyina, Japanese Army Headquarters.
The information provided by Nanzo Yunzi is absolutely reliable. The Japanese army stationed in Myitkyina indeed only has an under-organized infantry regiment plus a tank regiment, with a total of less than 4,000 people.
In addition, there are more than 5,000 militants from the Myanmar Kachin Party.
Among the more than 5,000 Burmese militants, less than 500 have been trained in Thailand. Most of the remaining militants were temporarily recruited after the Japanese army invaded Myanmar. However, the weapons used by these Burmese militants
But they are extremely sophisticated, and they are all American-style firearms "provided" by the Nationalist Government.
The Japanese infantry regiment stationed in Myitkyina was the 113th Infantry Regiment, the unit that historically guarded Songshan.
The tank wing is the 14th tank wing. It consists of 3 medium tank squadrons, 1 light tank squadron, 1 self-propelled artillery squadron and a maintenance squadron. The total strength is about 1,000 people. It has Type 97 medium tanks.
There are 60 tanks, 20 Type 95 light tanks, and 12 self-propelled artillery pieces (doors) modified from tanks.
In the headquarters, "General" Miya, commander-in-chief of Myanmar's "Kachin Party to Save the Communist Party", was reiterating to Colonel Matsui Hideharu, commander of the 113th Japanese Infantry Regiment, his urgent desire to allow the Myanmar Communist Party to establish a state, even if it could not be carried out in Yangon.
To establish an interim government in Myanmar, it is also acceptable to settle for the next best thing and establish a Kachin Party interim government in Myitkyina in northern Myanmar.
The Kachin Party members of Myanmar regarded the Japanese army as liberators and provided full cooperation when the Japanese army entered Myanmar.
After driving away the British troops, the Kachin Party members believed that Myanmar would be able to get rid of the British enslavement and gain independence and independence. However, the Japanese army or the Japanese government did not seem to be eager to allow Myanmar to surrender.
The proposal put forward by the Kachin Party members to establish an interim government in Myanmar has been repeatedly shelved on the grounds that "Myanmar still needs protection."
Naturally, the Kachin Party members would not give up. They approached Shojiro Iida, the commander of the 15th Japanese Army in Burma, many times and asked for help. Shojiro Iida was so annoyed that he simply asked Miya to take his "Kim".
The Qin Party Rescued the Communists" coordinated with the Japanese 56th Division in a long-distance attack on Lashio, and soon followed the 113th Infantry Regiment in a long-distance attack on Myitkyina.
After arriving in Myitkyina, Mia and other Kachin Party members entangled Matsui Hideharu again.
Matsui Hideharu was just a small Japanese colonel. Of course he couldn't take the lead, and he didn't dare to report to his superiors. He could only shirk the blame in every possible way. But he couldn't shirk the blame, so he just said that the Chinese Expeditionary Force was still stationed in the Hukang River Valley two hundred miles away.
For this reason, the Kachin party must not be allowed to establish a provisional government in Myitkyina, so as not to arouse oppositional sentiments among various forces in northern Myanmar.
When Matsui Hideharu and Miya were arguing, Colonel Yoshiro Ikeda, captain of the 14th Japanese Tank Regiment, strode in with a saber on his shoulder. He immediately stopped his feet and stood at attention and said: "Matsui-kun, the aviation reconnaissance team reported that the China Expeditionary Force's
The 200th Division of the Mechanized Force has moved out of the Hukang Valley and is heading toward the small town of Mengong!"
"Miya-san, did you hear that?" Matsui Hideharu said immediately, "The China Army has not given up its intention to enslave Burma. At such a moment, it is inappropriate to establish a provisional government of Burma. Please be patient and wait. Please!"
After that, Matsui Hideharu bowed to Miya, the leader of the Kachin Party of Myanmar.
Immediately, Matsui Hideharu said to Yoshiro Ikeda: "Ikeda-kun, what do you think?"
Yoshiro Ikeda said: "The small town of Mengong is closely connected to the Man (Dele) Mi (China) Railway and the Meng Gong River Valley. Its geographical location is extremely important. Once the railway line is cut off by the Chinese army, it will be difficult for us to obtain supplies from Yangon.
Therefore, we must seize the small town of Mengong before the 200th Division of the Chinese Army, and then hold on until the arrival of the 18th Division."
Matsui Hideharu said: "In this case, the task of rushing to the rescue of Mengong Town can only be entrusted to your tank regiment."
"Hai." Yoshiro Ikeda suddenly lowered his head and said, "Our tank regiment will never let the small town of Mengong fall into the hands of the Chinese army, but the defense of Myitkyina can only be entrusted to you, Matsui-kun."
"Please rest assured, Mr. Ikeda." Matsui Hideharu said solemnly, "Nothing will happen to Myitkyina!"
At that moment, Yoshiro Ikeda and Hideharu Matsui saluted each other with military salutes, then turned around and walked away with their sabers in hand.
From the beginning to the end, Matsui Hideharu never thought of reporting to the division headquarters and asking division commander Masao Watanabe to make a decision.
As the commander who carried out the Japanese combat mission, Matsui Hideharu had the power to make decisions on the fly, which was also the tradition of the Japanese army.
In less than half an hour, Yoshiro Ikeda led his 14th Tank Regiment, coordinated by two infantry squadrons sent by the 113th Infantry Regiment, to rush to the aid of the small town of Mengong.
When the 14th Japanese Tank Regiment drove out of Myitkyina in a mighty manner, Sun Liren's New 38th Division had already entered the dense forest near Myitkyina City without anyone noticing. Although the Japanese army had the support of the Burmese indigenous people, the new 38th Division
However, the whereabouts of the 38th Division were not exposed because of this. The reason was very simple. All the Burmese natives encountered on the road were "handled" by the Japanese.
"Master, the little devil's chariot troops!" Commander Liu Fangwu asked in a low voice, "Where are they going?"
"Do you still need to ask?" Sun Liren said, "It must be the 200th Division's feint towards Mengong Town that worked."
"Damn it, once this little devil's chariot troops leave, it will be much easier to capture the Myitkyina Airport!" Liu Fangwu couldn't help but perked up after hearing this, and said with murderous intent, "Master, if the intelligence provided by Yue Weihan is
Really, now that Myitkyina is dead, there are only more than 2,000 Japanese soldiers, how many troops can be allocated to garrison the airport?"
"Look at your prospects?" Sun Liren said coldly, "Of course we have to capture the airport, but not a single one of the Japs from Myitkyina and the Burmese puppet army will be spared!" Sun Liren held back a breath of resentment in his heart and was determined to capture the airport in Myitkyina.
China will win a beautiful victory, but then he will want to see if Yue Weihan can fulfill his "promise"?
However, Sun Liren also has this confidence. The new 38th Division is not only well-trained, but also well-equipped. After entering Myanmar, it also received a lot of good equipment assisted by the British army. Although it fought a battle with the Japanese 33rd Division in Yan'anqiang
, but the battle damage was only about 200 people, and more than 7,000 elites were basically unscathed!
In Ren'anqiang, the New 113th Regiment defeated a Japanese regiment with equal strength!
So in Myitkyina, wouldn't it be a piece of cake for a fully-staffed New 38th Division to deal with just over 2,000 Japanese soldiers?
As for the Burmese puppet troops, Sun Liren and the officers and soldiers of the New 38th Division really didn't take them seriously. Even if they were equipped with all beautiful weapons, they were just a group of vulnerable farmers!
In the evening, the scouts who had sneaked into Myitkyina to find out the details of the Japanese and Burmese troops finally returned.
These two scouts were originally Burmese overseas Chinese who had returned to the country to fight the war. They both spoke Burmese. When Qiao Zhuang sneaked into Myitkyina, she did not attract the attention of the Japanese sentry at all.
Based on appearance alone, it is difficult to distinguish the indigenous people of Myanmar from the overseas Chinese living in Myanmar.
"Master, the security at the airport is very tight. I can only hide in a big tree in the distance to get a general view of the situation." The superior soldier responsible for exploring the Myitkyina Airport first reported to General Sun Liren, "The Japanese troops stationed at the airport should be in a
To the left and right of the squadron, there was about another battalion of Burmese puppet troops. No gun towers or bunkers were seen, but a trench about four meters deep and wide was dug around it and surrounded by barbed wire. There was only one exit, and there were two circular barricades on both sides of the suspension bridge.
.”
Sun Liren nodded and immediately turned his gaze to the superior soldier responsible for exploring the city.
Another superior soldier said: "There is no city wall in Myitkyina. The defense of the outer city is mainly handled by the Burmese puppet army. Only the defense of the central city is taken by the Japanese soldiers. The defense of the Burmese puppet army is very lax, but the Japanese soldiers are heavily guarded.
It can be said that the central city has one sentry every three steps, one post every five steps, and many barricades have been built!"
Sun Liren raised his right hand and said expressionlessly: "Look at the watch now, the time is 6:05 pm!"
The three regiment commanders of the new 38th Division, as well as the guard battalion and artillery battalion commanders raised their right hands and began to check the time.
After the regimental commander and battalion commanders had agreed on the time, Sun Liren said again: "The specific combat plan has just been made clear to you by the chief of staff. At two o'clock tomorrow morning, the artillery battalion will begin shelling the Japanese headquarters, and at the same time, the 112th regiment will begin a storm.
At the airport, the guard battalion ambushed and launched reinforcements. Twenty minutes after the shelling, the 113th Regiment and the 114th Regiment launched a surprise attack on Myitkyina from the north and south at the same time."
After saying that, Sun Liren gave special instructions: "Listen to me, the battle must be resolved before dawn!"
"Yes!" The three regiment commanders and two battalion commanders immediately agreed and immediately took the order.
2:00.
When Colonel Hideharu Matsui, commander of the 113th Infantry Regiment of the Japanese Army, was about to leave the war room, the shrill scream of artillery shells suddenly sounded outside the headquarters!
Immediately, a combat staff officer shouted: "British 25-pound field artillery group!"
The British 25-pounder field gun has a caliber of 88mm, which is larger than the Japanese 75mm field gun.
However, due to the gun mount, the range of the British 25-pounder field gun was not as good as that of the Japanese 75mm field gun.
"25-pound field artillery group!?" Matsui Hideharu's face changed drastically. "Baga Yalu, is it the damn British who have returned to Burma again? No, it's impossible. The British have already been killed by the big gun."
The troops were so intimidated that they dared not come back to Myanmar even if they were too brave to do so. The China Army, this must be the China Army from the Hukang Valley!"
Just as he finished speaking, Takeuchi Renzan, the deputy commander of the 113th Infantry Regiment, strode in with a saber in his hand. He immediately put his feet back and stood at attention and said: "Your Excellency, Colonel, the airport was attacked by the Chinese Army. The firepower of the Chinese Army was very fast and fierce. The strength of the troops
At least two regiments, Captain Tachihara requests the regiment headquarters to send reinforcements as soon as possible!"
"Sure enough, it is the China Army!" Matsui Hideharu immediately ordered, "Order the artillery squadron and the search squadron to immediately counterattack and destroy the 25-pound field artillery group of the China Army. The 1st Infantry Brigade and 2nd Infantry Brigade immediately entered the defenses to prepare for China.
Army's attack, the 3rd Infantry Brigade immediately left the city and quickly reinforced the airport!"
"Hai." The ordering soldier lowered his head suddenly and immediately took the order and left.
The Japanese artillery in Myitkyina quickly began to counterattack, and soon the three infantry brigades also completed their assembly. Two of the brigades quickly entered the fortifications built along the street, and the other brigades quickly rushed to the airport to assist. However, as soon as they left the city, the infantry brigade
Was ambushed by the guard battalion of the New 38th Division.
There is a river to the east of Myitkyina City, and there is a wooden bridge on the river.
If the Japanese army leaves the city to support the airport, this bridge is the only way to go. Wang Fusheng, commander of the new 38th Division Guard Battalion, is from the same hometown as Sun Liren. They graduated from the ninth phase of Huangpu. After inspecting the terrain at the bridgehead, they immediately deployed six columns to support the British army.
The Lun-type Mark 1 heavy machine guns were deployed at three commanding heights on the east side of the bridge, and the entire position was in the shape of an inverted triangle.
Myanmar has a tropical rainforest terrain with dense jungles and many broad-leaved plants.
In such terrain, as long as there is no direct encounter, it is difficult to detect the existence of the other party, even if they are only three to five meters apart.
Because time was too tight, the two three-wheeled motorcycles serving as the Japanese search team only conducted a symbolic fire reconnaissance of the banana trees on both sides of the road. The officers and soldiers of the new 38th Division's guard battalion were not moved at all. When the main force of the Japanese 3rd Battalion
More than 500 people entered the ambush circle, and six Bren Mark 1 heavy machine guns suddenly opened fire violently!
At the same time, more than twenty Brown light machine guns and nearly a hundred Sten submachine guns also opened fire violently at the same time!
The light firepower intensity of the guard battalion of the New 38th Division is far greater than that of the Japanese army. This has to start with the Battle of Ren'anqiang, because the New 38th Division rescued more than 7,000 besieged British troops in Ren'anqiang, which greatly won the British
Therefore, before the British troops withdrew to India, they gave a small number of 25-pound field guns and a large number of machine guns and submachine guns to the new 38th Division.
Six heavy machine guns, more than 20 light machine guns, and nearly a hundred submachine guns intertwined into a dense crossfire. More than 500 Japanese soldiers who stepped into the death trap could not find a hiding place. In less than five minutes,
Within that time, the Japanese troops leaving the city to reinforce the airport left behind more than 300 corpses, and less than 200 people returned to the city.
Seeing the Japanese troops fleeing hastily back to the city, the guard battalion commander Wang Fusheng stood up from the banana forest. He first blew the smoke from the muzzle of the Browning pistol in his hand, then turned back to the adjutant and said: "Immediately
Send a report to the division headquarters that our battalion won the first battle and severely damaged the Japanese invaders who came out of the city for reinforcements, killing more than 300 of the enemy!"
Myitkyina city effect, new 38th Division headquarters.
Chief of Staff Xing hurriedly walked into the temporary headquarters and said to Sun Liren: "Master, the guard battalion won the first battle. They severely damaged the Japanese invaders who came out of the city for reinforcements and killed more than 300 enemies!"
"Okay, well done!" Sun Liren couldn't help but waved his fist fiercely.
Just as he finished speaking, another communications staff officer walked in and reported excitedly: "Master, the 112th Regiment has successfully captured the Myitkyina Airport, killing more than 200 Japanese and Burmese puppet troops, and capturing more than 500 people. In addition, the airport
Most of the facilities are in good condition and can be put into use with just a little repair!”