Age of Rebirth

On June 27th, Myitkyina, the Burmese Campaign Headquarters of the Independent Division, as soon as Alexander left with the defeated soldiers, Tang Qiuli immediately organized various troops to actively prepare to face the Japanese army that continued to invade the north.

According to Tang Qiuli's real vision, he is not very willing to fight this battle. The reason is that he, with the troops concentrated around Myitkyina with an independent division, is facing the main force of Ito Yanzaburo's Southeast Asian dispatch army head-on. It is in line with the concentration of superior forces that he has always followed. If there is no fight, it will be nothing.

It seems that Ito, relying on the prestige of victory, did not give Tang Qiuli the opportunity to calmly dispatch troops. Now, the troops he can use immediately are the eight brigades directly under the corps and the eleven brigades of Tang Qiusheng's corps. However, there can only be six brigades for the frontal battlefield of Myitkyina. Yu Guanghan, the chief of staff of the corps, led five brigades of troops to operate between Libao and Kunqiang. This is Tang Qiuli's ambush and cannot move.

The Ma Chaoyang Corps and Feng Jiwu Corps in the eastern part of the Indochina Peninsula were still on their way to northern Myanmar. Originally, Tang Qiuli had demonstrated the strength of more than 30 brigades and more than [-] troops throughout the Indochina Peninsula. The Japanese Southeast Asia dispatched troops consumed are equivalent in strength, so how can Ito weigh the weight of his opponent. [

But Ito is definitely not a simple-minded person. He can see Tang Qiuli's intentions. Most of the troops of the Independent Division are in the eastern part of the Indochina Peninsula far away from northern Myanmar. At that time, Fa rushed to the battlefield in northern Myanmar. In this way, the troops of the independent division that the dispatched army faced would not exceed 20 people.

His own army is more than double that of the opponent. Of course Ito has the courage. After killing the British, he raised his troops to go straight to northern Myanmar. Ito Yanzaburo, who has never fought against Tang Qiuli, will never underestimate the combat effectiveness of the independent division. But relying on the advantage of more than double the strength of the opponent, a battle like the annihilation of the British army is not extravagant. It should not be a problem to seize Myitkyina and control northern Myanmar.

Tang Qiuli was in the headquarters in Myitkyina, after reading the map, he turned to Chief of Staff Chang Feng and said, "Chang Feng, the battle with Ito's Myitkyina is inevitable. It is a head-to-head fight. We will not give up Myitkyina. Ito's attack target is also Myitkyina, where are the troops directly under the Corps and the Sulu Mobile Corps?"

Chang Feng replied succinctly: The division commander, directly under the [-]st to [-]th brigades of the Corps, has arrived at the designated area of ​​Gangao Mountains. The troops of Deputy Division Commander Tang, who is the right-wing group of the campaign, have moved to the front line of Xinbo and Jiesha. The marching speed of the corps is estimated to reach the scheduled ambush area in about eight hours. "

Tang Qiuli shook his head and said: "It's still not fast enough. It has been three days. After the Japanese army killed the British, they will soon have new moves. We don't know how Ito will make moves. Order Sulu The mobile corps participating in the battle should arrive at the designated location more than three hours in advance. If the heavily equipped troops cannot arrive, and the lightly armed infantry must have at least three brigades, they must arrive in advance and send an emergency order to Deputy Commander Tang. I always feel that There must be a reason for Chutian not sending any information up to now?"

Chang Feng recorded them one by one, paused, and said with a little hesitation: "Master, my attitude was a bit too much that day, and I hope you will forgive me, sir. I..." What else did he want to say, What happened that day has been lingering in Chang Feng's heart, lingering, it has become his burden, making Chang Feng, who has always been thinking about him, worry about gains and losses.

Tang Qiuli stopped him with a wave of his hand, and said, "Chang Feng, everyone has different views on the same thing. It's not surprising. It's just that your emotions surprised me a little. I want to have a good chat with you." Chatting, but we don’t have time when we’re busy. In this way, after the battle starts, we’ll have a heart-to-heart talk while listening to the rumble of cannons. Perhaps, we’ll feel better? Don’t be burdened, let’s do it freely.”

At about eleven o'clock that night, Tang Qiuli returned to his residence and lay down for a long time, but he could not fall asleep peacefully. The unknown condition of Ito was one of the reasons why he could not feel at ease. His wife Mei Xue, who was recuperating in Guangzhou, sent several telegrams saying, After recovering from illness, I miss you more and more. We have been separated for more than two months. Your voice and smile appear in your dreams from time to time. Since following you, you have gathered less and separated more. They all say that daughters in troubled times are more true, but who else I know, lovesickness is bitter in troubled times," the implication is that I want to come to the frontline headquarters in northern Myanmar to accompany me.

Tang Qiuli was already used to having a wife by his side, first Xiaoling, then Mei Ting, and then Mei Xue, and Mei Xue's telegram, in tone, was the same as when she was in the Northeast, after being separated from Xiao Ling for a few months, to herself. The feelings of longing expressed were almost the same, thinking of Xiaoling, Liu Xinlan's face appeared in front of her eyes again.

Thinking of my wife Mei Ting who lived far away in Dingbian, although she was accompanied by both parents, but when she was giving birth, she was tens of thousands of miles away in northern Myanmar. It would be unrealistic to say that she had no guilt The faces of three women, to be precise, four, alternately appeared in his mind, disturbing his mind, and it took a long time before he fell asleep.

"Bang bang bang", a rapid knock on the door woke him up from his hazy sleep. Looking at the luminous watch, it was already past three o'clock in the morning. When he opened the door, Chief of Staff Chang Feng and Director of the Communication Department Chen Feng, the two stood at the door with a serious face, and Chang Feng said: "Master, I have received urgent information from the leader of the special warfare detachment Chutian, and the deployment of the Japanese army has become clear, and the situation has changed."

Tang Qiuli took the telegram, read it carefully, pondered for a while, and said to Chen Feng: "Director Chen, immediately call Tong to contact the radio stations of Deputy Division Commander Tang and the brigade commanders directly under the regiment, and order them to be ready to accept the telegram at any time. The division refers to the new order, Chang Feng, to convene all staff from the staff department and the combat department, and go to the headquarters for a meeting."

To put it bluntly, Chutian's information is not up to the level of strategic intelligence. It is just to find out the Japanese army's marching sequence and the numbers of each unit. However, in Chutian's information, there is a very important The situation surprised Tang Qiuli very much.

"Master pointed out that after three days of continuous collection by various units of our detachment, the basic situation of the Japanese army in the north has been figured out. After collecting the information first, report it to the teacher. Attached to the 17st Chariot Brigade and the 20st Cavalry Wing, as the vanguard, annihilated the British army the next morning, crossed the Yindun River, and have now entered Degang."

"The No.11, No.15, and No.19 divisions of the Japanese army, attached to the second and third tank brigades, and the first heavy artillery brigade, as the second echelon, set off two hours late. At present, they have arrived in Mengmi , the main force of the Japanese army has also gone north after resting in the Yindun River for a whole day, and is currently marching at a normal speed on the Mogu line."

"The Japanese troops in the first and second echelons were marching very cautiously at intervals of no more than one day. All the Japanese troops dispatched a large number of search troops to search carefully within a radius of [-] kilometers along the way northward to Myitkyina. After determining the danger, Passed quickly, and stationed troops at all important commanding heights along the line. Our detachment did not have a clear order from the division, so it did not alert the Japanese army and took close surveillance."

Chutian's intelligence provided at least a few pieces of information. First, Ito Yanzaburo divided the troops into three parts, and the various parts were closely connected to form a long snake array connected end to end. Second, Ito ambushed in the Ribao Grand Canyon. The British, he was naturally afraid that he would be ambushed, so he sent troops to garrison each dangerous area, which naturally avoided the danger of being cut off and ambushed. [-]. Ito's vanguard should be a bait to attract the troops of the independent division to attack. His main force followed.

Ito’s guiding ideology for the campaign was to have a major decisive battle with the troops of the Independent Division in the direction of Myitkyina in a certain area in northern Myanmar. The troops of the other corps of the independent division who rushed over, this is another way of breaking through tactics.

When Tang Qiuli arrived at the headquarters, under the order of Yang Ketian, dozens of staff officers were already on the map, busy marking the situation map of the enemy and us. From the map, the Japanese forward arrived in Degang, and the main force was more than 180 kilometers away. Outside Mengmi, the length is more than 300 li from the beginning to the end, and the Japanese army in the second echelon can support the vanguard in advance and close to the main force in retreat. [

Ito's battle layout of the Long Snake Formation completely disrupted Tang Qiuli's deployment for the northern Burma campaign. His original battle plan was to use the six brigades of Tang Qiusheng's corps as the right wing and the five brigades directly under the corps as the left wing. The three brigades blocked the frontal attack, and Yu Guanghan's five brigades blocked the rear, preparing a big pocket for Ito in the Gangao Mountains. After the first battle, the Japanese army could not be completely wiped out, but at least one-third of Ito's troops could be killed.

But Ito's formation posed a big problem for Tang Qiuli. The Japanese army was more than 360 miles long from the beginning to the end. Tang Qiuli didn't have the size of a pocket to cover so many Japanese troops. Tang Qiuli didn't have any. If you hit the vanguard of the Japanese army, Ito's main force will immediately roll over and fight a passive decisive battle against Tang Qiuli's reluctance.

Yu Guanghan, who copied the tail, with five brigades of less than 8 troops, could not hold back the main force of the Japanese army of more than [-]. If he hit the middle, the Japanese army's tails would follow one after another, and the attacking troops would be surrounded by the Japanese army. , Then, the only way is to give up this battle and look for another fighter in northern Myanmar.

In this way, the Japanese army will drive straight in, and the existing troops of the Independent Division will definitely be in a situation where they will fight head-on with the superior Japanese army. If in order to avoid losses, Myitkyina must give up. The influence of the peninsula will inevitably have a great negative impact. The unwilling British may use the power of the Americans to find an excuse to return to the Indochina Peninsula.

Whether to fight or not to fight in this battle is a matter of choice. Ito has forced Tang Qiuli to the point where he has to choose a way to fight.

(To be continued)

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