When Dai Anlan's telegram reached the headquarters, everyone in the headquarters, except Zhou Weiguo, was amazed.
No one could have imagined that Dai Anlan could give the Japanese army a certain counterattack under such a disadvantage.
Stilwell and Alexander's eyes were bright and they were full of praise. In their opinion, since the Chinese army can fight, then their Mandalay battle can definitely be carried out, and they will have the opportunity to give the Japanese army a powerful force.
war of annihilation.
If Zhou Weiguo knew what they were thinking, he would definitely say that the plan was good, but unfortunately, the person who executed it made a mistake. When the British army met the Japanese army, it collapsed at the first touch, causing the entire plan to collapse.
…
Chongqing
After receiving the telegram, Chairman Chiang was in a good mood, "Yes, it can give the Japanese a certain counterattack at a disadvantage! In comparison, the performance of the British is really..."
As he said that, the chairman shook his head.
Dai Li nodded in agreement. Compared with his own army, his own army is obviously the children of other people's families in the eyes of their parents.
"Get ready. I'm going to Kunming. I heard that the new commander of the British Army in Burma has also arrived?"
"Yes, Principal."
"Then let's go there!"
"yes!"
…
On the afternoon of March 13, Chiang arrived in Kunming.
When Chiang arrived in Kunming, Stilwell and others were already waiting at the airport.
As the supreme commander of the Chinese theater of war, Chairman Chiang's status cannot be ignored by anyone.
Although Stilwell and Chiang Kai-shek did not get along, they could not make it too obvious. The war of resistance that the Allies should carry out still had to continue.
Zhou Weiguo was naturally also at the airport.
At this time, Wujiaba Airport was extremely busy.
The aviation volunteer team led by Chennault, also known as the Flying Tigers, and an aviation group led by Zhu Ziming, plus several planes flying over from Chongqing, were so full that the airport was finally filled.
Chairman Chiang was obviously surprised that there were so many planes at the airport, but when he saw the models of the planes below, he roughly knew what Zhou Weiguo meant. This was the support of the Independent Division. Although the Independent Division was far away in Shandong and could not
Troops were sent here, but this aviation regiment was out of their minds.
Lao Jiang was still somewhat satisfied in his heart. When he saw Zhou Weiguo in the crowd again, he found that Zhou Weiguo had not changed much, and his mood was complicated.
"Mr. Commander." Stilwell stepped forward.
"Mr. Chief of Staff." Old Jiang obviously had to respond.
"This is Alexander, the new commander of the British Empire's troops stationed in Burma." Stilwell introduced the two of them.
"Hello."
"Hello."
"Let's go, let's go back to the headquarters first!"
"Yes." Lao Jiang nodded in agreement.
It was already dark when we returned to the headquarters. After eating, everyone began to sit in the conference room.
At this moment, Chiang Kai-shek saw Mandalay marked on the map, "Mr. Chief of Staff, are you planning a decisive battle in Mandalay?"
"Oh! That's right! Mr. Commander!" Seeing this, Stilwell nodded, "In my opinion, the Chinese soldiers have very good fighting qualities. They are hard-working and submissive. They can endure hunger, long hours of work, injuries and
Boring, as long as they have good generals, they can compete with any army in the world. Especially the performance of General Dai Anlan today! It was so unexpected! All of us thought that he would go to Tonggu to defend!"
Hearing Stilwell praise his own army, even though he had trouble with Stilwell, Lao Jiang had a smile on his face, "Indeed, I am also surprised."
"So, General Alexander and I have been thinking about whether we can find a place to fight the Japanese army decisively! In one battle, we will eat up the main force of the Japanese army in Burma and eliminate our worries!" Stilwell continued.
Lao Jiang nodded. He also tended to be able to solve his troubles in one battle. The Chinese theater was established, and he needed to show some results. Especially, the Japanese army was raging in other parts of Southeast Asia. If he fell down in Myanmar, it would be detrimental to his prestige.
The improvement of the country will be of great help to the improvement of China's status. "Then let's perfect this plan tonight."
"Okay." As the chief of staff, the commander-in-chief usually still has to agree with his orders.
So, the meeting was held all night, and the final result was that the Yangtze-Manchurian Railway as the boundary, from the east of the railway to the Thai border, was the defense area of the Chinese Expeditionary Force; a total of about 40,000 British troops defended the west of the railway. China and Britain
The army was divided into three lines to deploy defenses to meet the enemy. The final plan was to fight the Japanese army from Pyinwenna (Pingmanna) to Mandalay area to encircle and annihilate the enemy.
Zhou Weiguo sat in the middle, his face getting more and more ugly. Why is it so difficult to get rid of historical inertia?
Leave it to the British army to defend and guard it!
"I object." Zhou Weiguo stood up, "There are omissions in this plan."
Everyone was confused. Isn't this plan a good one? Where did the omission come from?
Du Yuming looked at Zhou Weiguo. To be honest, Du Yuming felt that since the Fifth Army could temporarily defend in Tonggu, it might as well fight a battle in Tonggu and then recapture Yangon!
"Staff Ou Zhou, why do you object?" Obviously, Stilwell was also surprised by Zhou Weiguo's opposition.
At this moment, both Chiang Kai-shek and Alexander looked at Zhou Weiguo.
Zhou Weiguo sighed slightly inwardly, "I feel that based on the performance of the British army in Yangon, it would not be appropriate for them to defend the west."
"Pfft!" After listening to Zhou Weiguo's words, some people couldn't help laughing. It didn't mean it was appropriate. It just meant that they didn't believe it. They didn't believe that the British could hold on. However, after listening to Zhou Weiguo's words, everyone felt that it was a bit...
reason.
The Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in Burma, General Alexander, looked unhappy after hearing Zhou Weiguo's words. He retorted, "Does it mean that if your Chinese army defends it, it will definitely be able to hold it?"
Zhou Weiguo smiled slightly, "I can't say 100%, but at least I won't collapse at the first touch and run as fast as I can, just like Dunkirk."
Alexander stood up with a bang and looked at Zhou Weiguo. The retreat from Dunkirk was determined by the general environment and was one of his few achievements! Now, he was actually being teased by Zhou Weiguo. He was really angry, "Mr. Commander,
Is this the quality of your Chinese soldiers? Criticizing the Allied generals in person? Do you not trust the Allies? How can we, the soldiers of the British Empire, be so miserable?"
At this time, Old Jiang had no choice but to glare at Zhou Weiguo, and then came out and said, "General Alexander, what Staff Zhou means is that we need to be more safe. For example, we can deploy another 10,000 to 20,000 troops to fight with your army in the west."
Coordinated defense."
"No! No need!" Alexander's reaction was fierce. In his opinion, this was looking down on the British soldiers and slandering the British Empire! "We warriors of the British Empire can defend the West with our own strength."