"Keep moving forward and maintain the skirmish formation. Myitkyina is ahead. Everyone be vigilant and look after each other. If anyone is distracted, prepare to see God!" Lanny, who was holding a carbine, shouted loudly and kept reminding him. He cheered up the guys beside him who looked a bit like a ragtag group. During the time they were abandoned in the deserted village, the commando team did not lose confidence from top to bottom, but they all grew lazy.
"Lanny, don't worry!" At this time, Hou San came over with a smile and said to Lanny, "You have to forgive the brothers. You can't expect them to be as energetic as the guys in the New First Army, but I guarantee that once they fight, Keep your spirits up, you will definitely be the nemesis of the Japanese soldiers. ※% Top ※% Point ※% Small ※% said, "
Lanny nodded to Hou San but said nothing. He was just angry because the performance of these guys was so poor. It was impossible to tell that they were elite soldiers who had traveled through the jungle several times. But he also knew that, Hou San would never promise himself randomly, and he also looked forward to seeing these guys adjust their condition and become elite soldiers who can control the battlefield. Hou San was very satisfied with Lanni's knowledge and reached out to pat Lanni's shoulder. "Lanny, I know you also have good intentions, just to remind the brothers not to make unnecessary sacrifices. We must save our own lives first, and then we can eliminate the Japanese. I very much agree with your opinion."
The general attack on Myitkyina was beyond the expectations of Tang Cheng and others, but at the same time it was what everyone wanted to see. It is not impossible for the expeditionary force and Myitkyina to fight a war of attrition with the Japanese army, but they see many things every day No one would feel better when the casualties of the expeditionary force were carried down from the front line. From May 25 to June 25, the Chinese and American troops surrounding Myitkyina launched large-scale attacks many times, but the results were not good. It was not ideal. During this period, American soldiers suffered heavy casualties and could only advance their positions by 50 to 200 meters every day.
The person who commanded the June offensive was Chief of Staff of the U.S. General Headquarters, Bertnow. This person was a person that Stilwell trusted greatly. Originally, Stilwell sent him to Myitkyina just to coordinate the command system. However, for unknown reasons, he eventually changed his position. On behalf of Stilwell, Bertnow set up a combat command post for the Chinese Army in India in Myitkyina and took over the command. McComb served as the field commander and commanded the various troops in Myitkyina; Hunter served as the 5307th Regiment. Commander. The Chinese ** teams in Myitkyina were commanded by Hu Su and Pan Yukun respectively. The temporary organization of the original Sino-US joint assault detachment was abolished.
Compared with his predecessor, Bertnow had less actual combat experience and the ability to command large corps than Merrill, and he did not dare to go to the front line. He only relied on the reports of liaison officers at all levels on the situation of the enemy and ourselves on the battlefield. Such reports are often untrue. Moreover, Bertnow has always been domineering and despises Chinese government officials. He often turns a deaf ear to their reports and reasonable suggestions, acting self-righteously and insisting on his own way. Because of this, and in addition It was Bertnot's eagerness for success that hindered the progress of the offensive throughout June and caused heavy casualties among soldiers.
Tangcheng and the others are just minions. It is naturally difficult to know the movements of the upper echelons of the expeditionary force. However, Mike and Lanny have their own insider connections and friendships in the headquarters. When they learned that Stilwell was undergoing a new round of adjustments, they were already on the spot. After disbanding the joint commando team, Mike found a way to contact the US military observation group. I don’t know what methods Mike used. Tangcheng, which had been forgotten in the deserted village, once again put on the banner of the US military and became the subordinates of the US military observation group. An independent action team was established.
Because Botno failed to accept the Chinese military officer's suggestion to cut off the passage between the Japanese army and Meng Gong and Bhamo, the Japanese army in Myitkyina was able to receive reinforcements from Bhamo and Meng Gong, which aroused Stilwell's dissatisfaction.
On June 25, Botno was dismissed from his post and replaced by Weisel in Myitkyina. However, the subsequent Myitkyina operations were actually commanded by Zheng Dongguo. Under the command of Zheng Dongguo, the troops of the expeditionary force began to switch to tunnel battles and fight steadily.
Quickly send reinforcements and replenish ammunition.
Zheng Dongguo was especially proud of the advancement of trench operations. At the same time, he paid attention to the coordination of infantry, artillery, and air. As a result, the casualties of the expeditionary force's frontline troops were greatly reduced. The expeditionary force's pressing and cannibalizing tactics made the situation increasingly unfavorable to the Japanese army.
The Japanese commander of the 56th Division, Genzo Minami, who commanded the Myitkyina operation, was forced to command his troops to fight day and night. He made several sneak attacks on the British and Indian troops, and used the captured ammunition and supplies to continue fighting.
The situation in Myitkyina was obviously unfavorable to the Japanese army. During the week from June 25th to July 2nd, the Japanese army launched a desperate counterattack, causing the Chinese and American troops to advance only a few hundred meters. On July 12th,
With the cooperation of air support, the Chinese and American troops once again launched a general attack on Myitkyina. A total of 127 flights of various types of aircraft dropped a total of 754 tons of bombs, which was 20% more than the number of shells fired by the artillery. The Japanese troops retreated during the bombing.
To the rear, Yijun stopped bombing and quickly returned to his position to resist the attack of the expeditionary force.
Although the Japanese army has launched a desperate counterattack and tried various means, the strength of the floating troops trapped in Myitkyina has been reduced to only about 1,500 people. What troubles the floating troops most is the shortage of ammunition. The Japanese artillery
The number of shots has been limited to less than 6 shots per day, and there are only enough grenades for each Japanese soldier to issue two, forcing the Japanese to use hand-to-hand combat many times during the battle.
In order to replenish troops as quickly as possible, Minami Genzo, who commanded the Japanese military operations, ordered his intelligence director, Lieutenant Masakichi Yae, to lead five people to sneak out of Myitkyina in the rain, find the 2nd Field Hospital Branch in Waza, and command about 400 sick and wounded people.
members, broke through the heavy blockade, and joined the main force of the Myitkyina garrison. But even so, the water force defending Myitkyina continued to suffer casualties. By late July, the water force was reduced to 1,200 people. A large number of position facilities were completely destroyed.
The officers and soldiers on the front line were left without cover and completely exposed. The trenches were filled with rainwater, and the Japanese officers and soldiers could only be immersed in waist-deep water.
How could the predicament of the Japanese army in Myitkyina escape the investigation of the frontline soldiers of the expeditionary force? Knowing that the Japanese army had difficulty in supplying troops and had scarce resources, Zheng Dongguo immediately changed his strategy against the enemy and began to organize multiple small forces to carry out armed attacks on the Japanese army in Myitkyina. Mike
Now it was flying the flag of the independent action team of the US military observation group, so it was easy to get the order from the headquarters to allow the attack. After selecting among their soldiers, Tang Cheng and Mike reorganized a team of 120 people.
The action team went to the front line to join the battle.
Interspersed harassment and rapid attacks are what Tangcheng is best at. While other harassing troops are still looking for opportunities, Tangcheng and the others have exchanged fire with the Japanese frontline troops several times and successfully broke through a section of the Japanese defense line.
The scout who had been sneaking at the front sent back a message via walkie-talkie, saying that he had discovered a place where Japanese troops were present. Tang Cheng led people to rush over and take a closer look, and found that there were indeed Japanese troops in these buildings.
Hiding.
"Third brother, Lanny, come here." Hou San and Lanny were observing the brothers in front of them with binoculars, but they heard someone calling him next to them. It was Tang Cheng's voice, and he was waving to them. Hou San
He hurried over with Lanni. He knew that Tangcheng was about to make tactical arrangements again. "Lanny, I ask you to lead the first team to quickly attack from the right and clear out the Japanese troops in each building along the way. It is best to divide into tactical groups.
Each group must be led by experienced veteran firepower." Tang Cheng whispered to Lanni beside him.
"Third brother, you lead the second team to attack from the left. Third brother, be careful and don't take risks. Just let the brothers remember the essentials in training. We don't need to act recklessly." Tang Cheng paused for a moment and looked deliberately.
He looked at Hou San. After getting Hou San's affirmative response, Tang Cheng looked around at the others, "The third team followed me, broke through from the middle, and attracted the attention of the Japanese army." After a simple arrangement, seeing that no one had any other opinions, Tang Cheng
Immediately, he ordered the operation to begin. Following Tang Cheng's instructions, Lanni divided the first team into several groups. Each group of five people covered each other and launched an attack on every building on the right.
"Boom!", the grenade exploded in the building, and then screams were heard in the house. A Japanese soldier stumbled out of the house. He raised his hands in the air, his face was covered with blood, and he shouted loudly.
What. "Pop!" There was a gunshot, and the Japanese soldier's head exploded and he fell to the ground. The soldier who shot the Japanese soldier immediately turned his gun and aimed at the next target. He followed Tangcheng for a long time.
These soldiers all knew that Tangcheng never left Japanese prisoners of war alive. Instead of allocating manpower to guard the prisoners later, it was better to shoot them now to save them from troublesome other brothers later.
Gunshots and explosions sounded one after another. It seemed that Tangcheng's plan of attacking from the middle to attract the attention of the Japanese army was no longer needed, because the second team led by Hou San had also entered. The two teams totaled 80 fully armed soldiers.
In this way, the Japanese soldiers hidden in the buildings were cleared one by one. The actual number of Japanese soldiers hidden here was not many. Faced with Hou San and Lanni's attack like mercury pouring down the ground, the Japanese army quickly became unable to hold on.
After that, the Japanese soldiers in the building behind ran out one after another and ran back as hard as they could.
"The little devil is going to run away!" Hou San yelled, and then shouted at the machine gunner not far away from him, "Machine gun, hurry up, find a commanding height and shoot, don't let them escape." Carrying the heavy
Machine gun, two machine gunners desperately climbed up the branches of a big tree. "Click, click, click" finally the machine gun sounded. Those Japanese soldiers who were trying to escape were not able to escape under the machine gun fire.