Fifth Unit

Chapter 183 One Hundred Thousand Army Souls

Facing this rare victory, Dai Anlan couldn't find a trace of excitement of victory, not even a trace of a smile on Dai Anlan's face. He really couldn't smile.

"We fought fiercely with the enemy for a whole day and night. Regardless of the enemies who were killed on the spot, and those who were slightly injured and could follow the large troops out of Tangji City, under our continuous shelling, many of them should have suffered serious injuries. , the wounded who can’t move at all, we really can’t even find a single prisoner?”

Dai Anlan's words were not addressed to Gao Jiren's deputy division commander, nor to Zhou Zhizai's chief of staff. Although these two assistants are talents with excellent strategies and proficiency in the military, they are in special operations, searching for remnants of the enemy and arresting prisoners. On the other hand, the real expert is Lei Zhen!
Facing Dai Anlan's question, Lei Zhen shook his head silently. He personally brought an interpreter to ask the local people, but these native Burmese people all kept silent and refused to provide Lei Zhen with any information.It was on the tense faces of these Burmese natives that Lei Zhen could clearly feel the strong hostility emanating from them.If he guessed correctly, those Japanese soldiers who were seriously injured in the attack by the [-]th Division should have been taken in by some Burmese natives.

But what can Lei Zhen do?Like those Japanese soldiers who entered China, they were able to act unscrupulously, using bayonets still stained with blood to threaten them, and then using machine guns to bloody suppression after the passionate uprising?

In Tangji City, where there was silence everywhere and hostile eyes everywhere, Lei Zhen searched for a whole day, but only found a handful of documents that were too late to be destroyed when the Japanese army retreated. It was confirmed that the troops guarding Tangji were a month ago. , In just three days, they rushed more than [-] kilometers, quickly supported Hiroshi Takeuchi's troops, and completely shattered the troops under the Sixth Division's "Battle with the Ancients" plan formulated by Lieutenant General Stilwell!

According to the collective judgment of those high-minded senior officers in the Military Command Department of the Military Commission in Chongqing who are far away from each other and the information exchange is not smooth enough, no matter how you look at it, they are working behind closed doors. , broke Leke City, and then went all the way north without stopping, breaking through Tangji, a strategically important place for the expeditionary army, and forcing the Fifth Army to return to the division for rescue. The elite troops who have to rest for a month to avoid forced recovery are the enemies who will return to the battlefield. It is just that the 56th Division is specially dispatched to harass the expeditionary army and disrupt their strategic plans and deployments. A group of about 3000 to Just a fast assault force of [-] people.

Judging from the battle between the 24th Division and the enemy today, the group of enemies who captured Tangji City on the 25th and encountered a fierce counterattack from the expeditionary force on the [-]th did coincide with the judgments of the senior officers of the Chongqing Military Command.

But in Dai Anlan's heart, there is a problem that he can't let go of no matter how he enlightens himself... Masao Watanabe, who is good at fighting in jungles and mountains, and likes to win by surprise, really just sent a unit to harass them. The army went deep alone, and finally stood in Tangji City in a big way, allowing the Chinese Expeditionary Army to gather superior forces and launch a fierce counterattack against the third regiment trapped in Tangji City?
Also, with the combat power of the 56th Division, an iron-blooded force named "Dragon Battle Group", and the almost crazy absolute loyalty and worship of the emperor by the officers and soldiers of the whole division, without any special reason, they defended the Tang Dynasty together. Jicheng, no matter how fierce the [-]th Division's attack was, it wouldn't take more than a day for them to voluntarily withdraw from the defense zone, right?

If this can only be achieved, how can Masao Watanabe and the Sixth Division led by him win the "Dragon" who represents absolute dignity and strength in the Japanese Army, which is full of talents and full of militaristic fanaticism? title? !

Looking at the military combat map of the entire territory of Myanmar in front of him, Dai Anlan found that he really couldn't judge Masao Watanabe's plan, let alone speculate on the movements of the 56th Division that had completely disappeared from the Allied intelligence network after the battle with the ancient city.

We must know that those who are good at using strange weapons must have leaping thinking, like to play cards without common sense, and have the characteristics of a gambler.Dai Anlan is a graduate of the third phase of the Whampoa Military Academy. She climbed up the battlefield step by step from a lieutenant platoon leader. She has already possessed caution and stability in the barracks, the two qualities necessary for a commander.Suddenly meeting Masao Watanabe, a master strategist who uses strange weapons, wants to catch up with the opponent's thinking rhythm, so as to judge the opponent's movements, it is a bit too strenuous.

Taking another look at Lei Zhen who was specially summoned to the division headquarters by himself, feeling that Lei Zhen, a child who walked out of the mountains, would not have faded primitive aura even if he lived his whole life, Dai Anlan suddenly asked: "Lei Zhen, if you were Masao Watanabe, how would you lead the 56th Division to fight?"

After finishing these few words, Dai Anlan couldn't help but secretly shook her head and smiled wryly.

Although Lei Zhen is an apprentice carefully trained by Xie Jinyuan, and he has also shown good leadership and command skills in small units and local operations, he is only a child in his twenties after all.Without receiving formal and systematic militarized education at the Whampoa Military Academy, and without the experience accumulated step by step on the battlefield and in the barracks, how could he expect such a big boy who grew up in the mountains to be able to see through Masao Watanabe? A well-designed strategic plan by a battlefield veteran?

But Lei Zhen answered, and answered quickly, "We are playing with fire!"

Facing Dai Anlan's slightly puzzled eyes, Lei Zhen said: "Our army's high command is too underestimating the enemy. Those senior officers generally believe that our army's three divisions can be as good as the enemy's elite division. But according to the Kunlun Mountains campaign and the From the experience of our [-]th Division in the Battle of Tonggucheng, it is not difficult for us to draw a conclusion. Unless all of them are ace troops like our [-]th Division, otherwise, six or seven divisions may not be able to match the combat effectiveness of a single enemy division. It is because of the wrong information given by the high command that Stilwell, a three-star lieutenant general from the United States, made a plan to fight against the ancients. In the case of a collision, we are also required to take the initiative to attack."

If we were to listen to Lei Zhen's analysis, he would respond politely to a close friend's disciple at the beginning, but later on, Dai Anlan's face showed a look of listening carefully.

"The intelligence we have received from the British 'ally' shows that only two divisions of the enemy have landed in Burma. In this case, if our "heroic" British allies are willing to step up their gentlemanly steps and join the war, it seems It is also possible to recover Yangon and ensure the smooth flow of the Burma Road. But..."

Speaking of this, Lei Zhen emphasized his tone, "The enemy actually invested in Burma, but it was No. 18, No. 30 three, five, six, four divisions, plus a fifth flying division! Whether it is a grand strategic deployment , or the actual tactics on the battlefield, our army has lost more than one chip! Look at our British allies, who were obviously defending their colonies, but were beaten by the enemy, or I can simply say, they We didn't intend to seriously resist at all. So, in fact, our expeditionary force is fighting against the enemies of four divisions alone with the strength of several divisions. At this time, the most frightening thing is that those senior staff members of our command They are still dreaming of destroying the enemy and recovering Yangon's sweet dream!"

Having said that, Lei Zhen quickly walked to the military combat map of the whole territory of Myanmar. He grabbed his command whip and said, "Masao Watanabe, the supreme commander of the 56th Division, has far surpassed the enemy in this kind of strength and has absolute air supremacy." Under such circumstances, of course I will try my best to achieve the greatest victory!"

"Snapped!"

The command whip in Lei Zhen's hand landed hard on a point on the military map, facing Commander Dai Anlan, Deputy Commander Gao Jiren, and Chief of Staff Zhou Zhizai couldn't believe it, but couldn't restrain their shocking gazes. Lei Zhen looked around the audience, his faint and cold voice, with a sharp breath like wolf teeth, was more like an awl, piercing everyone's ears: "What is the biggest victory? It is not the annihilation of one of our divisions. , let alone eat our regiment! If I were Masao Watanabe who can command the 56th Division, the position I want to attack is the city of Shila, the only way we must go back home! As long as I occupy this place, I can cut off everything from the expeditionary army. With logistical supplies, I can join forces with the other three divisions to suppress the whole frontier, encircle and strangle the [-] expeditionary troops little by little on the battlefield of Myanmar!"

There was silence in the division headquarters. In fact, everyone was shocked by Lei Zhen's radical and bold strategic plan, but once it was implemented smoothly, it would really wipe out the entire Chinese Expeditionary Army.After a while, Chief of Staff Zhou Zhizai seemed to be arguing again, more like comforting himself: "But there are thousands of kilometers from the front line to Xula City. It is impossible for a troop of more than 2 people to be silent. The most important thing is that a troop of more than 2 people conducts a long-distance raid of thousands of kilometers without logistical supplies. Once our army finds their whereabouts, they will The strategic plan will turn into a pile of bubbles, and their 56th division will be surrounded by our army, and they will be severely injured or even wiped out by our army because of the lack of supplies!"

"Master Chief of Staff, you will not forget that Masao Watanabe is a master who is good at fighting in jungles and mountains, right?" The command whip in Lei Zhen's hand moved slowly along a line representing mountains on the military map, "Thailand has already As an ally of Japan, Masao Watanabe can use the guides of Burmese natives to advance along the mountains and forests on the Myanmar-Thailand border. Although the marching route will be [-] kilometers longer, our army has completely lost its air supremacy. Under such circumstances, with only a small number of ground reconnaissance teams, it is impossible to find their whereabouts! As for the logistics supplies, as long as they can successfully capture our army's logistics base Shiola, how much do they need?"

"But..." the deputy commander of the Gaoji people also spoke, "Didn't the British Allied Forces send us information about the appearance of the 56th Division on the Western Front a few days ago? How could the 56th Division be divided into multiple places at the same time?" Combat? If this is the case, they will not have enough strength to complete such a long distance!"

"Yes, the British Allied Forces have been providing us with information. They are the ones who told us that they are also having difficulty in resupply. They are short of gasoline, food, and medicine; they are the ones who told us that the enemy who landed in Burma has only two divisions. It was they who told us that they would stick to our right flank and fight side by side with our army; or they said that they would actively cooperate with the Tonggu defense war and take the initiative to launch a support attack on the enemy. The result? Our British allies Army, our British gentlemen, how much have they accomplished, and how much of the information they provided to our army is correct?"

Lei Zhen looked directly at the deputy division commander Gao Jiren. At this time, he really said like a knife, "With the intelligence'support' provided by the British Allied Forces, our army took the initiative to attack again and again, and missed the air again and again. Every time, the enemy moved so fast that we couldn't catch the opportunity to fight them. Could it be that every time, the enemy avoided the initiative of our weak force because they were not well prepared? challenge?!"

"Lei Zhen, your analysis is very reasonable and sophisticated. In some places, it hit the nail on the head so even I was shocked, but you overlooked an essential problem."

After being silent for a long time, Master Dai Anlan, who had been thinking carefully for a long time, finally spoke, "Our expedition to foreign lands is of course to defend the Yunnan-Burma Highway, which is the main artery of life for Western countries to aid China. The British are fighting here to keep them. colonies, and the dignity of their old empire on the international stage. Although everyone has different starting points, they have the same goal. In this case, the British will not and cannot deliberately convey wrong information to us, let alone It is impossible to intentionally wipe out our expeditionary force in Burma!"

Lei Zhen was listening carefully. What Master Dai Anlan said made sense. We all have the same enemy. No matter how self-righteous the British military is, it should never spread false information to the Chinese military.

"Based on such a major premise, I personally judge that the British army has repeatedly conveyed to us that the information that the main force of the 56th Division appeared on the western front is correct. Since it appeared near Tangji on our eastern front, it is not the main force of the 56th Division. It should be just a fast assault force with units in wings, as our Chongqing Military Command predicted!"

Deputy Commander Gao Jiren and Chief of Staff Zhou Zhizai nodded vigorously together. What Dai Anlan said seemed to be an impeccable judgment. Even Lei Zhen, like Masao Watanabe, possessed leaping thinking and gambler traits. People who like to win by surprise on the battlefield cannot refute it.

This discussion seems to be able to make a final conclusion so far, but for some reason, in the division headquarters, whether it is Dai Anlan, Gao Jiren, or Zhou Zhizai, their eyes are drawn from the huge picture of Burma on the wall. When passing by the frontier army's combat map, their gazes would involuntarily fall on the mountain range at the border between Thailand and Myanmar that Lei Zhen had drawn across with his command whip.

Until Lei Zhen saluted them and returned to the station of the [-]th Regiment, until it was dark, Dai Anlan, Gao Jiren and Zhou Zhizai still stood there quietly, watching the huge battle scene quietly. map.

I don't know how long I have been standing quietly like this, and I don't know how many thoughts I have turned in my mind, how many possibilities that may happen on the battlefield, the Chief of Staff Zhou Zhizai finally broke the silence between the three of them, Now, we can’t even convince ourselves, so how can we convince the High Command to readjust its strategic deployment because of such a bold prediction by Lei Zhen? In a decisive battle with the main force of the enemy, after defeating the enemy in one fell swoop, the Deputy Commander Stilwell who counterattacked Yangon will definitely scold us bloody, right?"

"Yeah, just based on the latest movement of the 56th Division provided by the British Allied Forces, we can completely overthrow this speculation." Gao Jiren's deputy division commander said: "But I don't know why, looking at the map and recalling what Lei Zhen said today, I I couldn’t help but feel my heart skip a beat.”

"That's what he said. It hits the nail on the head. He said a lot of things that we already knew in our hearts, but no one wanted to say them!"

Zhou Zhi sighed softly again: "Our [-]th Division has not yet entered Burma, and we are restrained everywhere by the British 'Allied Forces'. I really can't feel their sincerity as a friendly army, but their British arrogance and disdain , but I have learned a lot.”

After saying these words, these experienced generals once again fell into a long silence.

(End of this chapter)