The war happened suddenly as Tangcheng expected. After the Japanese army invaded Myanmar in a large scale, the Japanese 55th Division crushed the counterattack of the British 7th Armored Brigade near Bago on March 6th. Alexander, the commander-in-chief of the British-Burmese Army, met with
The defeat was irreversible. After ordering destruction, they withdrew from Yangon. More than 3,000 British and Indian troops evacuated to Toungoo. According to the early deployment of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, the 5th Army's advance 200th Division arrived in Toungoo to take over the British defense deployment.
After the British army retreated, the Japanese army, after another fierce battle, fully occupied Yangon on March 8th and cleared out the resistance forces around Yangon. By occupying Yangon, an excellent port, the Japanese warships could provide immediate support to the Japanese troops entering Myanmar.
supplies, and the British troops that had been repelled by the Japanese army had already lost the ability to fight and could only retreat step by step towards the India-Myanmar border.
March 6 was the day when Tang Cheng and others rushed to Wanding. When the Japanese army captured Yangon on March 8, Tang Cheng and others could only rush to Mandalay. In addition, Huang Hanju was not accepted by the Fifth Army Headquarters.
people took it seriously, so this was a big news until March 11, when U.S. Army Lieutenant General and Chief of Staff of the Chinese Theater Stilwell was ordered to go to Burma and rushed to Mandalay to command the Chinese Expeditionary Force to cooperate with the British army. He stayed in Mandalay.
Only in Tangcheng outside the city did they learn that Yangon had been captured by the Japanese army.
As the war progressed, more and more squadrons entered Burma. The 5th, 6th, and 66th Army, a total of more than 100,000 people, were transferred into Burma according to the original plan. The Japanese occupation
After Yangon, the troops immediately divided into three routes and marched north. Their operational plan was to pursue the retreating British troops all the way, invade Minerva, go straight to Kayuanli, occupy the Ren'anqiang oil field, and cut off the British troops' retreat. They captured Tonggu along the way and advanced.
Mandalay, encircling and annihilating the main force of the expeditionary force. All the way to Taungzhi from Tonggu to attack Lashio, and then to Bhamo and Myitkyina from the north, trying to cut off the return route of the Chinese army in one fell swoop.
Based on the above enemy situation, Alexander, the commander-in-chief of the British-Burmese Army, decided in consultation with China and the United States to make the following arrangements for the Chinese and British troops in Burma. The Yangon-Mandalay (also known as Wacheng) railway is the boundary, and the railway is bounded by the railway.
To the east of the Thai border is the defense area of the Chinese Expeditionary Force. To the west of the railway is the defense area of the British army. The Chinese and British teams are divided into three lines to deploy defenses to meet the enemy. They plan to go from Pyinwenna (also known as Pingmanna) to Man
In the Dele area, they fought with the Japanese army to achieve the purpose of encircling and annihilating the enemy's main force.
According to the combat plan formulated by the tripartite talks between China, Britain, and the United States, two armies of the British Army on the West Route, including the 1st, 17th, and 36th Divisions, the 63rd Brigade, and the 7th Armored Brigade, with more than 40,000 troops, defended Beiyi.
North, the Irrawaddy River area to prevent the enemy from advancing northward. The Chinese Expeditionary Force also made corresponding adjustments. The 5th Army was the Middle Route Army, and its leading force, the 200th Division, arrived at Tonggu to take over the defense of the British 1st Division and defend Tonggu.
The army is responsible for both sides and frontal defense of the railway line north of Tonggu, and the military headquarters is located in Piaobei.
The new 22nd Division and the 96th Division were assembled in the northeastern region of Mandalay as the mobile force of the expeditionary force to prepare for emergencies. The 6th Army of the Expeditionary Force was the Eastern Route Army, with its military headquarters in Leliem, and was temporarily designated as the 55th Division.
Stationed in the Leigu area. The 49th Division was stationed in the Mengpan area, and the 93rd Division was stationed in the Jingdong area to prevent the Japanese Thai troops from attacking from the east, and to cover the left back of the 5th Army. Liu Guanlong, who had already entered Jingdong
The detachment was stationed in Mengyong Manglin and other places. The 66th Army of the Expeditionary Force was deployed between Mandalay and Lashio to serve as a mobile force for the expeditionary force to protect its rear route.
The joint command of Stilwell and Alexander obviously conflicted with the previously planned military deployment of the expeditionary force. While the British troops retreated in large numbers in southern Burma, Stilwell and Alexander diverted the expeditionary force that had originally planned to assemble heavy troops to move south.
To some extent, the expeditionary force's advantage of pressing heavy troops into Mandalay and waiting for an opportunity to move south has been turned into a fueling tactic. The Japanese army, which marched from Yangon in three directions, only had to assemble heavy troops.
If they attack one point, the expeditionary force, which originally had the advantage in strength, will be passively tired of dealing with the Japanese attack, and will lose the opportunity to take the initiative.
There were many generals in the expeditionary force headquarters, and it was not that no one saw the worries. However, after Stilwell received the support of Chairman Chiang Kai-shek and took command of the expeditionary force, he completely threw all the plans he had made for the expeditionary force into his head.
Later, commanding the army to make great achievements was Stilwell's sincere goal. At that time, he did not have a comprehensive understanding of the quality, characteristics, and combat effectiveness of the Chinese and Japanese armies.
With his personality of being able to make the most blunt conclusions quickly and rashly, offensive warfare is obviously more in line with his choice.
Stilwell paid little attention to the issues raised by the Chinese side about Sino-British coordination, Myanmar's terrain, rear contact, fifth column and other difficulties in fighting in Myanmar. He insisted that the main force of the Chinese Army should be assembled on the Tonggu front line and quickly
Go south and take the initiative to attack Yangon, waiting for an opportunity to capture Yangon, and achieve a quick and complete victory in the defense of Myanmar. When making a series of decisions, Stilwell even completely ignored the fact that the Japanese army was sending ground troops to land in Myanmar through Yangon Port.
, and were not alert enough to the large-scale roundabout operations that the Japanese army might launch.
On March 17, the Japanese troops marching north launched another offensive. The Japanese troops marching north along the Irrawaddy River inflicted heavy losses on the British troops. The British troops on the west route collapsed at the first touch. Because the British troops on the right route continued to retreat, since the Japanese troops moved north, there were only two other troops on the entire Myanmar battlefield.
The Chinese Expeditionary Force was still resisting tenaciously on the road, and at the same time it had to divide its troops to rescue the besieged British army. Stilwell's carefully formulated tactics finally caused the Chinese expeditionary force to be divided and used, and it had been exhausted to plug loopholes for the British army. In addition, due to the
The procrastination of the British army made the Chinese Army weak on the southern front, and finally the entire front began to show signs of imminent collapse.
Tangcheng knew this news because Huang Hanju was ordered to attend a logistics meeting in Mandalay. Due to the unsatisfactory battle ahead, the hospital in Mandalay was already overcrowded, and the camp where Huang Hanju was currently stationed was about to be opened as a new hospital.
"This is a good thing, we can just hide some medicines." Huang Hanju was very dismissive of Tang Cheng's behavior of poaching national treasures, but Tang Cheng said that this was a precautionary measure. Although Huang Hanju didn't know why
He wanted to do this, but he knew that Tang Cheng would not harm him.
When a company of soldiers in the camp was no longer under his command, Tang Cheng felt uncertain. The sand table originally planned to be built in the camp was also cancelled. Tang Cheng could only hang a large map of Myanmar on the wall of his room, but then
Various arrows and circles have already been drawn on it by Tang Cheng. "These old men who are directing the war don't know what's going on. I, a little captain, can see the problem, can't they not see it?"
Upon learning that the headquarters intended to organize troops to fight the main force of the Japanese army in the Pingmanna area, Tang Cheng immediately scolded the generals in the headquarters.
The Japanese army successively broke through the British Army on the West Route, which may cause the British Army on the West Route to retreat in large numbers and completely expose the right wing of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in the Pingmanna area on the Middle Route to the Japanese army. Coupled with the Japanese army's rapid offensive and continuous troop reinforcements, the expeditionary force wants to
There is not much advantage at all in organizing troops to fight the main force of the Japanese army in the Pingmanna area. If the headquarters really wants to implement this battle plan, it will only make the expeditionary force, which is already stretched thin, even more exhausted.
Tangcheng's worries were not unfounded. As the war progressed in the next few days, the British troops on the west route retreated in great strides. The retreat of the British troops finally caused the right wing of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in the Pingmanna area on the middle route to completely collapse.
Exposed to the Japanese army. "I have already said that these British big noses cannot be trusted. As soon as they withdrew like this, they completely threw the right wing of our expeditionary force to the Japanese army." Tang Cheng was not the only one scolding the headquarters this time.
The generals there were giving random orders, and even Hou San, who had followed Tangcheng for a few days and read the map, began to curse.
Even Hou San, an illiterate old man, could understand such an obvious thing. Tangcheng didn't believe that those guys in the headquarters who spent all day playing with maps didn't know. What Tangcheng hates most is falling into aimless factions.
During the fight, that's why since coming to Mandalay, he has strictly ordered Hou San and others not to go out to cause trouble at will. He just wants to be a pure soldier and can protect Huang Hanju from returning home to Kunming safely.
"I just got the news that Tonggu has been lost, and the 200th Division has been ordered to break out." Huang Hanju's face was obviously not very good when he returned from Mandalay City. Tangcheng was also shocked by the news that Huang Hanju brought back. Although after learning
When the headquarters was preparing to organize troops for a decisive battle with the main force of the Japanese army in the Pingmanna area, Tang Cheng knew that it was only a matter of time before the 200 Division retreated from Tonggu. But when he actually learned that the 200 Division was ordered to break out from Tonggu, he was still
This news shocked me.
On March 16, the Japanese troops marching north began to bomb Tonggu. On March 19, the 200th Division made contact with the Japanese ground troops for the first time. Due to the continuous indiscriminate bombing of the Burmese transportation lines by the Japanese troops, coupled with the negative delays of the British, the follow-up
The troops never arrived at Dong Cu to support the 200th Division as planned. After holding on to Dong Cu for 10 consecutive days, the 200th Division, which was actually an isolated force, lacked food and ammunition, had no external reinforcements, and had to face an enemy force four times its own size.
Du Yuming, who commanded the Fifth Army, assessed the situation and ordered the 200 Division to encircle Tonggu on the evening of March 29. On March 30, the Japanese army entered the city and discovered that Tonggu was an empty city. During the defense battle of Tonggu,
The 200th Division wiped out more than 5,000 enemies and severely damaged the Japanese 55th Division, but it also suffered more than 2,000 casualties.
Tang Cheng hid alone in the room and smoked a few cigarettes. Only then did he recover from the news brought back by Huang Hanju, "After lunch, I summoned the brothers to the conference room. There are some things that should have been prepared in advance."
It's time, and I just have something to say to everyone." Tang Cheng, who walked out of the room, called Hou San and gave a few instructions in a low voice, then went directly to find Huang Hanju. There were some things he wanted to explain to Huang Hanju first.