Shadow Spy

Chapter 411 Leaving Tonggu after the handover
On April 4th and 6th, the two divisions of the British and Burmese troops all passed through Thongku and Pyay and retreated north by car. However, two soldiers from the Gurkha battalion stayed and all drove to In Tonggu, the total number of people who reported to Li Junhao exceeded 7. After accepting the doubled salary (1700 US dollars per person) from Li Junhao, they immediately swore allegiance to Li Junhao, expressing their obedience to orders and swearing to protect the personal safety of their employer. .

This scene made many Chinese soldiers watching feel envious.

Li Junhao accepted the allegiance of the Gurkha soldiers and told them clearly that from now on, the two Gurkha battalions would be completely separated from the British army's combat order and reorganized into a special regiment of the Allied India-Burma Theater Command, directly responsible to him personally. .

He promised that loyal Gurkha soldiers would receive a wartime salary of US$30 per month (twice what they received in the British army), pensions if they were wounded or killed in action; and, when the war was over, , all soldiers of the special regiment will obtain the nationality of the United States and other allied forces, and those killed during this period can designate a relative to enjoy this treatment.

In response, all the Gurkhas cheered and shouted long live, and their morale was through the roof!
In this way, in addition to the New England Battalion, Li Junhao had a second real private army. The process seemed a bit bizarre. Even Xiaohu, Nick and others reminded him privately not to trust these Gurkha soldiers too much.

However, Li Junhao knew that the Gurkhas had a tradition of being mercenaries. As long as their employers did not violate their promises, they were absolutely loyal soldiers and guards.Of course, in terms of closeness, Xiaohu Equation and the soldiers of the New England Battalion are closer to him.
-
On April 4, Lieutenant General Du Yuming, deputy commander of the First Route Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and commander of the Fifth Army, accompanied General Stilwell to Tonggu.

After inspecting the large amount of equipment and supplies handed over by the British army, General Stilwell was very happy. He hugged Li Junhao's shoulders and shouted, "Well done!"In addition, he also praised the officers and soldiers of the 200th Division and the 96th Division, paying tribute to them for "resolutely executing the orders of the Allied Forces Command and completing the task of acquiring equipment."

Du Yuming also said privately to Dai Anlan, Yu Shao and others: Brothers, well done!
The frontline headquarters of Li Junhao Airport received everyone. After everyone took their seats, Stilwell praised Li Junhao again, saying that his achievements as deputy commander exceeded the entire Allied command system in the Far East!Because no matter what the Allied forces wanted to do before, the British would not obey orders and kept causing trouble for everyone. But this time General Panson gave everyone a bad breath!
Hearing this, the generals present laughed.

Li Junhao smiled and said: "Joseph, I have completed this preliminary task, it is time for you to recover, right?"

"Hahaha! You're right." Stilwell said with a smile, "Ogg, this mission has been completed well. Now it depends on our ally, the Chinese Expeditionary Force." Since accepting the mission to enter Myanmar, he has been thinking He wanted to command a real battle, strive to concentrate superior forces, and inflict heavy losses on the Japanese army invading Burma. Now he felt that the time had come.

After notifying all the Allied units, General Stilwell, who had "recovered from illness", took over the command of the India-Burma Allied Forces Command again. He ordered the India-Burma Theater Command to be transferred to Tongku Lai, launching his long-planned The Tonggu battle plan.

In private, during a separate conversation between Stilwell and Li Junhao, he talked enthusiastically about his battle plan, claiming: Even if all the British troops withdraw from Burma, as long as the Second Route Army followed by the Chinese Expeditionary Force can hold Wanbanggu and Gandulong, then the three divisions of the First Route Army can block the Japanese army advancing northward at the Tonggu line and force them to engage in a battle...

When it comes to campaign-level command, Li Junhao is really not as good as Stilwell now, and he can't make any better suggestions, so he said that he would leave temporarily and go to the west coast first to see if he could find a new suitable position. port to find a berth for U.S. military aid ships.Stilwell was stunned for a moment, then immediately agreed. In his heart, he probably hoped that Li Junhao would leave temporarily. After all, his status was too special. With such a deputy commander, he felt that he couldn't do his best. Bar!

Li Junhao understood this very well, which was one of the reasons why he took the initiative to leave.
-
On April 4, after bidding farewell to all the generals of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, Li Junhao left Tonggu with the New England Battalion and the Gurkha Special Regiment and headed towards Arammu in the northwest.

This time the five college students did not come with them. They were left by Li Junhao at the India-Burma Theater Command to work as assistants and translators for Stilwell. It was considered as an internship for them to learn the operation of the formal command organization.

Stilwell was very happy about this. He always liked to train young people and was very willing to be this teacher.

The reason why Li Junhao did this was because he found that the current command system and staff system of the Chinese army were very chaotic. It was not that there were no professional talents, but that the overall operation was not standardized. Now it is just taking advantage of the operation of the Allied Forces in the Myanmar battlefield to arrange capable personnel. Study.These five college students are interested in the military and have not been contaminated by the old domestic military habits, so they are suitable for this task.
-
Arammu is on the bank of the Irrawaddy River 125 kilometers northwest of Tonggu, but there is no direct road. You can only go to the riverside road first, and then go north along the river. The distance is extended to 180 kilometers, and the road conditions are extremely bad. Even if Li Junhao's team is all Armored vehicles and military trucks are also extremely difficult to drive at a speed of [-] to [-] kilometers per hour.

This is the hot season in Myanmar (March to May), with the average temperature at 3 degrees and reaching nearly 5 degrees at noon. Marching under such conditions is really very hard!
Fortunately, all of Li Junhao's subordinates are not ordinary people. The New England battalion is all warriors who have been trained for a long time, and the soldiers of the two Gurkha battalions are all mountain fighting people with hard-earned backgrounds. These difficulties are not a problem.

After walking on a 180-kilometer dirt road for more than eight hours, the convoy arrived at Arammu in the evening, where an infantry regiment of the British-Burmese Army is currently stationed.

Li Junhao did not meet the British army. He led his men to camp in the woods near the small town to rest.

After dinner, several people in the attaché who were responsible for recording the battlefield environment made detailed descriptions of the geographical terrain of the places they passed today to complete today's work.Others maintain vehicles, do sanitation, etc.

There is another interesting story here. Li Junhao worked hard and finally developed better hygiene habits for the Gurkha people. With the measures of discipline and bonuses, initial results have been achieved.

(End of this chapter)