Shadow Spy

Chapter 395: Being an Allied Force requires you to be competent

Li Junhao felt that under such circumstances, if Britain and the United States could abide by their commitments, deliver the equipment and supplies they promised before, and strengthen the Chinese Expeditionary Force, then even without the contribution of the British army (just don't cause trouble), 10 divisions would exceed 10 The human expeditionary force can fully engage in a head-on battle with the Japanese invading Burma army of 4 divisions (the 18th, 33rd, 55th, and 56th divisions, plus attached troops, approximately 9 people). The outcome of the battle is really hard to say. (If the top management doesn’t give random orders)!

After the visit, the three chief officers had dinner at the division headquarters of the 200th Division. In addition to rice, the dishes served were canned beef stewed with potatoes, fried luncheon meat with tomatoes, and wild vegetable soup with dried shrimps. This made Slim very dissatisfied. , thinking that the officers and soldiers of the 200 Division were deliberately embarrassing him - how could this kind of food be used to entertain the Allies?

In this regard, Dai Anlan's explanation was that this was the best meal that the division headquarters' cooking platoon could make, and it was only provided to them. The other officers and soldiers only ate rice and dried shrimps and wild vegetable soup.

Slim didn't believe it, so he sent two staff officers out to have a look and reported back to him: It was indeed the case.

Slim, who was a little embarrassed, couldn't help but ask: "How can soldiers be satisfied with such a bad diet? How can soldiers fight well if they are not satisfied?"

Dai Anlan could only shake his head and said: "This is the best food that I, the division commander, can provide to the soldiers. I also feel sorry for them, but there is no way. Our 200 Division is the vanguard of the Chinese Expeditionary Force. When we arrived in Tonggu After that, supplies and materials were not replenished at all. Later, we fought several battles with the Japanese army, and the limited supplies were depleted a lot! If the supplies from the rear cannot be delivered in two days, we will not even be able to eat this!" There was a hint of worry in his words. Small grievances.

Hearing this, Lieutenant General Slim was a little strange. From General Dai's tone, it seemed that he had caused this situation. Was he going too far?

Li Junhao is not picky about food. After tasting the food, he felt that the craftsmanship of the division's cooks was quite good. It was not easy to make the rice so delicious in such a simple situation!Then he saw Slim's expression, understood what he was thinking, and explained for Dai Anlan: "General Slim, you were transferred to Burma from the Middle East battlefield at the beginning of this month, and some things are still unknown.

"Let's put it this way, when your Commander Hutton went to China to ask for help, he established a Sino-British military alliance on the basis of the "Mutual Defense Agreement on the Burma Road" and decided that China would organize an expeditionary force to enter Burma to support the British. The army will fight against Japan, and the British side will be responsible for the weapons, ammunition and material supplies of the Chinese Expeditionary Force..."

Dai Anlan added: "As of today, our expeditionary force has been in Myanmar for more than a month, and we have not seen a single bullet or any supplies supported by your army!"

"Huh?" Slim was dumbfounded. He really didn't expect this situation. Even if he organized the local servant army to fight in the Middle East before, he still had to provide enough weapons and supplies!It was unimaginable to him to ask others to help fight the war and still get nothing.

Thinking himself to be an orthodox British gentleman, he immediately said: "I'm sorry, General Dai, this is the first time I know about this situation. When I go back in a while, I will immediately send a message to Commander Hutton. I think he will definitely give your army a warning." Accounted for!"

Hearing this, Dai Anlan showed a smile and said, "Thank you so much, General Slim. Thank you."

"NO! NO!" At this time, Slim felt a little embarrassed, "This is what I should do. To be honest, I feel guilty now when facing your army!" "That's good. !" Li Junhao said, "General Slim, when you call Hutton later, add my suggestion and say that we in the United States do not want the British army to fail to fulfill its obligations and cause instability on the India-Burma battlefield!" This was even more serious. A heavy weight!

Slim did what he said. After returning to his headquarters after dinner, he immediately drafted a telegram in person and sent it to Lieutenant General Hutton of Ren'anqiang. Moreover, he did not forget to include the words of the American observer. Add it.
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That evening, Thomas Hutton, commander of the British and Burmese forces, who was enjoying after-dinner red wine with Lieutenant General Stilwell of the US Army who came to visit him, received a telegram from Slim from Tonggu. After reading it, he became somewhat silent. Then seeing that Stilwell was a little curious, he handed over the telegram.

Stilwell took the telegram and looked at it, his face was a little ugly, and said: "Sir Hutton, you are doing something wrong in this matter! Now we, the United States, Britain, and China are allies, and China has fulfilled its commitments , sent an expeditionary force to fight in Myanmar, and the UK is not even prepared to fulfill its most basic commitments?"

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Hutton himself felt a little embarrassed and explained: "Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, there is something hidden in this. I only found out about it after I was re-appointed as the commander of the British-Burmese Army.

“When General Alexander took over my post, General Wavell, the commander-in-chief of the British Army in Southeast Asia and the British-Indian Army, sent a special telegram asking the British-Burmese Army to beware that the Chinese army would not stay in Myanmar after occupying it. Therefore, it should not Any help you can give it, just use it.”

At this point, Hutton spread his hands and said, "I'm telling you this now because I don't agree with Commander-in-Chief Wavell's view, and I think it's wrong to treat the Allies like this. However, after all, I am under his command. We and the leaders must not fail to carry out this order.”

"Is there such a thing?" Stilwell was very surprised, "But this is a war! What was Sir Wavell thinking when he issued such an order at this time?"

For the Americans, the most important thing in the Southeast Asian battlefield is to consume a large amount of Japanese troops and reduce the pressure on the U.S. military in the Pacific Theater War. Under this premise, the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army is of course the stronger, the better, and the more Japanese troops it can kill, the better. , so Stilwell was very dissatisfied with this selfish delaying behavior of the British army.

Hutton scratched his head very much, picked up the telegram and read it again, and found a piece of information that he had just ignored: "American observer General Panson believes: We in the United States do not want to cause instability on the India-Burma battlefield because the British army does not fulfill its obligations!"

He read it twice and remembered that this American observer had appeared in the previous victory at Degon. Major General Youn, the commander of the 17th Division of the British and Indian Army, even said that it was based on his suggestions that their 17th Division could take the initiative. Attacked and wiped out the 33th Regiment of the Japanese 214rd Division!

Lieutenant General Hutton couldn't help but ask: "General Stilwell, can you tell me about this Mr. Observer from your country?"

(End of this chapter)