Shadow Spy

Chapter 418 Next Strategic Approach

4月25日中午十二点整，第200师、新22师和第55师的两个主力团，加上从谬拉调上来的新38师，对包围圈中的日军发起了总攻……

After three hours of fierce fighting, more than 4 Chinese Expeditionary Forces basically wiped out the Japanese 55th and 56th Divisions - the only ones who escaped were the 56th Division's baggage troops of more than [-] people left in Meng Town. In accordance with Masao Watanabe's final order, they abandoned all their baggage and fled to Yangon!

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the headquarters received the battle report: A great victory in Tonggu!Annihilate the Japanese 55th and 56th Divisions!

On the one hand, Li Junhao sent a call to commend each unit, and on the other hand, he reported the war situation and results to the Far East Headquarters, the Chinese Theater and Washington...

It was the first time on the battlefield in the Far East to wipe out two Japanese divisions at once, and even the first time in the modern history of the Japanese army. It was enough to make the Allies proud!

This great victory was great good news for all parties. Telegrams of congratulations from all parties flew to the India-Burma Theater Command. News media from all the Allied countries began to report the "Tonggu Annihilation War" with great enthusiasm. The words break through the sky!
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On April 4, the theater headquarters held the second Allied military conference in Muela to summarize the results of the Tonggu battle and formulate the next operational strategy.

The meeting first announced the commendation messages from the Allied Far East General Headquarters and the China Theater Headquarters to the India-Burma Theater, commending all participating troops in the "Tonggu Battle";

The Allied Far East General Command applied, the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff agreed, and the President signed an order to promote Ognyan Lee Panson, commander of the Indo-Burmese Theater, to the rank of Army Lieutenant General;
The China Theater Command awarded a large number of medals at all levels to the participating troops and officers of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, and promoted them to the 200th Division Commander Dai Anlan, the new 22nd Division Commander Liao Yaoxiang, the 96th Division Commander Yu Shao, and the temporary 55th Division Commander Chen Mianwu Four of them hold the rank of Army Lieutenant General... The other officers and soldiers of the four divisions have all been promoted to one level - Chairman Chiang attaches great importance to the first victory of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Myanmar!

Subsequently, according to the order of the Allied Far East General Headquarters, slight adjustments were made to the personnel of the India-Burma Theater Command, Lin Wei and Alvin were removed from the position of deputy chief of staff (in fact, neither of them took office), and appointed Lieutenant General Hutton of the British Army and Lieutenant General Du Yuming of the Chinese Expeditionary Force were appointed deputy commanders of the theater, and Lieutenant General Sun Liren was appointed deputy chief of staff.

Next, Lieutenant General Luo Zhuoying, chief of staff of the theater, announced the next operational policy and arrangements for the theater;
In view of the current battlefield situation in Myanmar, it has been decided to temporarily shelve the counterattack plan in southern Myanmar, and the strategic policy is determined to be "securing northern Myanmar and defending central Myanmar"!
This policy aroused discussion among the participating generals, who all expressed different opinions. They believed that this strategic policy was too conservative. Under the current favorable situation, we should go all out to regain southern Burma... Even the British generals who participated in the meeting were also moved. Got it!
Luo Zhuoying looked helplessly at Pan Sen, who was sitting at the top. He knew that he did not have enough authority and hoped that he could come forward and explain.

Li Junhao was actually a little unhappy. Of course he wanted to recapture southern Myanmar and drive the little devils into the sea. However, due to the constraints of many factors, he could only settle for the second best and adopt the current strategy.

At this time, I saw that most of the generals had different ideas about this. As the commander, he could only explain it.So he knocked on the table twice, waited for the room to calm down, and said: "Generals, I share the same sentiment as everyone else. I really hope to directly recover southern Myanmar. However, based on the current situation, we can only adopt the current strategy. This way There are three reasons for doing this:

"First, although we have eliminated two of the four main divisions of the Japanese army that entered Myanmar, the remaining two divisions, the 18th and 33rd, were special divisions of the Japanese army and were adjusted before going south. and Jianqiang, with 2.2 and 1.8 people respectively; "The 18th Division was the main culprit of the 'Nanjing Incident' after the July [-]th Incident!

"Not long ago, the 18th Division was affiliated with Japan's No. 20 Fifth Army. In cooperation with the 5th Division and the Guards Division, it occupied the Malay Peninsula in just 55 days and forced nearly 10 Commonwealth troops to surrender. Its combat effectiveness was unacceptable. Look down on!
"According to known intelligence, due to previous defeats, the former commander of the Japanese No. 15 Army, Shojiro Iida, has been dismissed and replaced by the former commander of the 18th Division, Mutaguchi Renya, who played a major role in the Marco Polo Bridge Incident that year. The first shot ignited the flames of war with his own hands. He is a typical war madman and a war criminal who we are determined to eliminate!

"However, this Lieutenant General Mutaguchi is actually a man of great ambition and talent, and his real commanding ability is only at the third-rate level, so we don't need to pay too much attention to him.

"Currently, the Japanese 18th and 33rd divisions are huddled in defense in Yangon and its surrounding areas. In addition, the Japanese army can support them from Thailand and the sea in the east. If we attack by force, the losses will be extremely huge. We are not wise. do.

“Second, one of the main operational purposes of our India-Burma theater is to ensure the smooth flow of the Burma Highway. At this point, we can complete this task as long as we hold central and northern Burma.

"Third, according to the plan of the Allied General Headquarters, the next task of our theater is not only to defend the central Myanmar area, but also to build an express highway from Talay Port on the west coast to connect to the Magway branch line of the Yang-Man Railway. A new military aid channel, which is crucial to supporting the war of resistance in the Chinese theater!"

When the generals heard this, they hurriedly looked at the large map on the wall. Luo Zhuoying asked on behalf of the Chinese generals: "Commander Pan Sen, it is 130 kilometers from Terai to Magway, and currently it is only one rainy season away from Myanmar. After many months, is it too late to build the road?"

Li Junhao said: "This involves the next deployment and division of labor in the theater." As he said that, he stood up, walked to the big map on the wall, picked up the command pole, and began to issue orders:
"From now on, the troops under the jurisdiction of the theater will be divided into three groups: west, middle and east.

"The British-Burmese Army is the Western Route Army and deploys defenses at key points along the Irrawaddy River. The 17th Division of the British-Indian Army moves forward and is stationed in Pyay and Degon; the 1st Division of the British-Burmese Army is stationed in Alammyu as the center of the Western Route Army; the 36th Indian Army The infantry division is stationed in Magway, and its main job is to build express roads; other British and Burmese troops are still stationed in Ren'anqiang..."

"Yes, Your Excellency, Commander!" Lieutenant General Hutton started, Lieutenant General Slim, Major General Youn and Major General Kruger stood up and stood at attention.Several people thought that this was General Panson taking care of the British and Burmese troops. Their next main task was actually to repair that section of the road. The Japanese army, which had been beaten hard, should not attack from the west!

(End of this chapter)