"Brother Fang, where do you think the future of our expeditionary force will be..."

On the stone road going down the mountain, the two of them walked almost side by side. The breeze blew gently, and the raindrops on the treetops fell down, splashing wildly on their trouser legs... The rainy weather shrouded the entire back mountain.

In a haze.

The way out? Fang Jingyao was confused by this sudden question.

They had discussed this topic a long time ago, when the 88th Army was established. In order to avoid being called back to the country, relying on old supplies from the United States, going south to fight in Myanmar became the only direction.

The early strategic intention was to control most of central and southern Myanmar as much as possible with the support of the Allied forces, then stabilize the development of the base area, and then take the opportunity to move closer to Malaysia. The best case is to penetrate into the Malay Peninsula.

Judging from the establishment of the base area and the situation in southern Myanmar, the strategic goal has been initially achieved, but there is no more specific plan for the next combat plan.

After looking at the dark clouds in the sky and thinking for a moment, Jingyao simply replied:

"Capture Rangoon and Bago, consolidate the Siam border, and formulate follow-up plans based on the post-war situation. It is best to... try to penetrate the Malay Peninsula. However, the Japanese navy is very troublesome, and we have nothing to contain it.

s method."

At present, the troops advancing south have encountered very strong resistance. Basically, it can be said that the closer to the coastline, the greater the pressure. The Japanese army is much more efficient in terms of personnel mobilization and supplies than in northern Myanmar, and its determination to fight is also stronger.

.

In fact, apart from these objective reasons, the root of the problem lies with Americans.

Especially after January, the Allied air force's attendance rate dropped by 80%, and logistics supplies dropped from 50,000 tons per month a year ago to 20,000 tons, and this number is still declining.

The reason why we had an overwhelming advantage in previous battles with the Japanese army was that in addition to equipment and firepower, absolute suppression from the air was the key to successive victories.

But Stilwell made it clear in the telegram that the U.S. Pacific Theater Command is currently preparing a new offensive plan to attack Japan's last outer island chain...Iwo Jima and the Ryukyu Islands starting in February.

The huge island landing plan involves a lot, especially the upcoming Battle of Okinawa, which can be called the largest amphibious landing operation in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The U.S. military has assembled half a million troops.

It is inevitable.

Therefore, Southeast Asia's military resources also began to tilt towards the Pacific battlefield. In addition to reducing material supplies, the most important ones were the more than one hundred various fighters and bombers in the two aviation groups of Myitkyina and India.

"Today's world is just like the weather in Southeast Asia. The clouds are unpredictable and unpredictable. Who can know the final direction..." Liao Mingyu looked at the gloomy dark clouds on the horizon, and his expression became more solemn at the same time.

Fang Jingyao nodded and said nothing, quietly waiting for what the other party would say next.

"The Americans asked us to postpone the offensive against Japan because they will attack Iwo Jima in February. Most of the military resources are now focused on the Pacific battlefield. I heard that most of the 16th Air Force has been transferred to the Philippines, and the 20th Air Force has been transferred to the Philippines.

The team is also heading that way."

"So, do the Allied forces not plan to continue to advance south and counterattack Singapore and other places?" Fang Jingyao's eyes narrowed and he asked hurriedly.

"Stilwell said that this was an order personally issued by their president, requiring Southeast Asia to fully support the Pacific Theater. To put it bluntly, the help we can provide us in the future will be less and less... Haha, the United States does not think that it can retake the Malay region.

Rather than taking over Japan, they still dream of landing on the land of little Japan..."

Liao Mingyu melancholy told the truth. In fact, it is not difficult to understand the reason for doing so from the perspective of the Americans. It is just that they overestimated the capabilities of their warships and aircraft, and underestimated how tenacious the frenzied Japanese would be.

"If we stop here, it will be difficult for us to capture Yangon before the rainy season arrives, and it will be even more difficult to enter Malay..." Fang Jingyao couldn't help but think of some pictures in his mind.

Now because the Japanese army has changed its combat thinking,

On the road, it is difficult for the troops to exert their maximum combat effectiveness in their offensive. As a frontline commander, Fang Jingyao is very clear about this. Once it enters May and June, the harsh weather in Southeast Asia is every soldier's nightmare, not to mention the heavy artillery and tanks.

Armored vehicles, at that point the troops will lose at least 60% of their combat effectiveness.

A few days ago, under the attack of the absolute air force superiority, most of the mountain fortifications that the Japanese are proud of have become living targets without legs and feet, napalm bombs, high-explosive submunitions, goblet earth-penetrating bombs... countless

They had tasted all the weapons used on the battlefield, and they were extremely miserable when they were bombed.

The little devils were beaten hard and gained some experience. They gave up the rigid and sluggish inherent defensive tactics of the past, and instead learned the routines of mobile warfare and guerrilla warfare. They hit quickly and walked quickly to avoid the real and attack the weak, leaving the enemy unaware.

To find out the details, especially in the vast forest, catching them would be even harder than climbing to the sky.

This is also the problem faced by Long Wenwen's left army. If it is in an open area like Mandalay, don't even think about it.

Then again, the only expeditionary force currently going abroad is the 88th Army. It is nominally under the command of the Southeast Asia Theater Command, but in fact they only have a cooperative relationship with Stilwell, and everyone handles things with a mutually beneficial and win-win attitude.

.

The latter wanted to win the commander-in-chief of the Chinese Theater but had not succeeded. Of course, Chiang Kai-shek had to face numerous obstacles in the process. If Liao Mingyu had not overcome obstacles all the way in Burma, allowing him to have a certain say in the president's side, this would have happened.

I guess I have already prepared to go home.

However, the Chongqing government has almost no control over the 88th Army. Chiang Kai-shek never dreamed that Longfeng, one of the people he was so optimistic about at the beginning, would be a "white-eyed wolf" who took the troops abroad and never came back. He was really a new type of warlord.

Doctrine...

Stilwell was also happy with this situation. On the surface, it looked more like he was dragging the troops away, leaving old Chiang Kai-shek to stare at him from afar without any solution.
Chapter completed!