Age of Rebirth

The British and Indian troops approached the rear of the Xinduo forward position, and the artillery was ready. A series of American-made 155mm caliber howitzers raised their thick muzzles and aimed at the small town of Xinduo in the twilight.

Major General Fisher stood at an excellent observation position, comfortably lighting a cigarette, surrounded by a large group of staff officers, and in front, rows of soldiers ready to go, had already entered the attacking position. Of course, the last part of the attacking formation In front, he was still an Indian soldier. He was very satisfied with the current fighting state of the soldiers under his command.

In 5 minutes, in the twilight ahead, the quiet town will turn into a sea of ​​flames. As for how many Chinese soldiers or ordinary civilians there are, it is not in Mr. Fisher's consideration.

At this time, the communications soldier ran over with a walkie-talkie on his back, "Report to Your Excellency, Commander Alexander is calling for you!"

Major General Fisher frowned. He didn't like this old guy who was unsatisfied before and suddenly rose to a high position. "Sex" put down the walkie-talkie ugly, and muttered in frustration, "What the hell!" [

Then, he said to the signal soldier: "Order the artillery regiment to stop shelling Xinduo, and all troops will camp on the spot!"

The chief of staff beside him asked in surprise: "Your Excellency, aren't we going to attack the target?"

Major General Fisher shrugged his shoulders, and said with a look of resignation: "I received an order from Commander Alexander. Since it was getting late, the forward troops stopped attacking Xinduo. I am going to the headquarters for a meeting. I will God, I really don’t know what the hell is going on! My artillery and soldiers are ready for everything, so is this damn meeting more important than my capture of the target?”

In Xinduo Town.Xiao Jinshan put down the binoculars. He couldn't figure out why the Anglo-Indian army, which was in an offensive posture, suddenly stopped moving.Instead, they began to bury pots, cook food and set up tents.

Xiao Jinshan picked up the walkie-talkie, "Old Fang, how is the situation there? The British guy opposite me didn't launch an attack for some reason. What, your place is the same. I said Old Fang, are we in Xinduo? Set up an ambush, let the Britons notice?"

Putting down the walkie-talkie, Xiao Jinshan looked around and leaned behind the stone wall, staring intently at the soldiers of the British and Indian troops on the opposite side, sighing in disappointment, the arrangement was very careful.But in the end, it was still an empty joy, and there was no battle to win, which is annoying!

The deployment of Xiao Jinshan and Fang Yuanshan is like this.Each of the two brigades will deploy a reinforced regiment in the west of Xinduo and guard it across the river. Anyway, the commander's order is to abandon Xinduo before [-] o'clock tomorrow morning. Then take advantage of this time to fight hard with the British. In one battle, relying on the favorable terrain of Xinduo, one battalion was placed at the front at a time.After fighting for a while, change to the next battalion, and have a wheel battle.

If the British and Indian troops attacked overnight, they would be able to fight for more than ten hours. Before eight o'clock tomorrow morning, the British and Indian soldiers will not leave thousands of lives, so don't even think about getting closer to Xin.The common people of Xinduo have already retreated towards Magao with the other three regiments of the brigade, and there is an empty town. It makes sense to fight no matter what, and the plan is very good, but they were not fooled!

Xiao Jinshan even had such a plan. In the middle of the night, the forward position deliberately opened an opening, and let in [-] British and Indian soldiers. The battalion commanders who had been evacuated all had battles, and they looked unhappy, but what was the use of planning, the British and Indian troops did not plan to attack, so they couldn't take the initiative to attack with thousands of people, could they?

When Xiao Jinshan was getting upset, the combat staff officer asked: "Brigade Commander, what should we do next?" He said angrily: "What should we do? Leave a company of troops to monitor the enemy, and the rest of the troops will feed, Rest and get a good night's sleep, or we're here watching these british guys eat and drink?"

Xiao Jinshan and Fang Yuanshan should be grateful to Alexander. If it weren't for the sudden military meeting and that order, thousands of artillery shells from the British and Indian Army would have landed on their heads.

The two of them didn't know that the more than 8000 soldiers of the two reinforced regiments including themselves escaped a catastrophe. Otherwise, the two main divisions of the British and Indian Army and the artillery of the four artillery regiments would destroy Xinduo "Sex" bombardment, none of them can escape the overwhelming artillery.

Xinduo was completely destroyed, and the two reinforced regiments became independent divisions. Since its establishment, in all previous battles, Xiao Jinshan and Fang Yuanshan were the only two teams that were wiped out in battle. Major General Brigadier.

Xiao Jinshan and Fang Yuanshan's battle deployment was correct, but they encountered two British generals who did not play their cards according to common sense. Without launching an infantry attack, they first destroyed the target with artillery fire. However, they would know that all of them were killed. Dangerous, the troops passed by, and what they thought in their hearts was still the disappointment of not being able to win this battle.

And Alexander, who was holding a military meeting, didn't realize that his order, unintentionally, saved the lives of thousands of soldiers from the Independent Division. If he knew the result, Alexander would have to let the two divisions summon him even if Prime Minister Churchill summoned them. The artillery blasted Xinduo into ruins, and buried thousands of soldiers from the independent division and two major generals along the way.

Although Alexander really wanted to get out of the Hukang Valley as soon as possible, and approached Magao City, the troops in the direction of Keledo, Sujiya, Gamai, and Xintaiji had to slow down because of the latest battle report. Moreover, night has fallen, and if it is a night battle to attack Xinduo, it will be a nightmare experience for the soldiers of the British Empire.

His idea was not accepted by most of the British commanders. Major General Fisher complained to the Commander very unhappy, because the battle was going smoothly, and Alexander was in a very good mood. After listening to Major General Fisher's distasteful complaints with a smile, instead of being angry, he said gently: "Dear Fisher, I know that your subordinates are very brave in combat, I believe even more, Tonight, your soldiers can camp in the small town ahead."

"However, dear Fisher, our soldiers have been chasing and beating the Chinese soldiers' buttocks for two consecutive days. They are very tired and need to rest. Xinduo is the last one out of the Hukang River Valley. A barrier, I believe that the commander of the local troops of the Independent Division will not give up this point, and will definitely increase his troops overnight. Dear Fisher, don't you want your artillery to be fired at [-]:[-] tomorrow morning? When the time comes, kill more Chinese soldiers?"

After some words, Major General Fisher nodded again and again, yes, why didn't he think of this?After all, the commander has rich experience. If the Chinese increase their troops overnight, their bombardment tomorrow will achieve greater results. [

Fisher stood up and said respectfully: "Yes, I will follow the command of Your Excellency Commander. Tomorrow at [-]:[-] a.m., our department will launch shelling on Xinduo on time. I guarantee that within an hour, Your Excellency Commander will If you wear military boots, you will set foot on Xinduo land!"

Alexander's words are half true and half false, and he is not sure that the local troops of the Independent Division in northern Myanmar will definitely increase their troops overnight. The main factor that prompted him to make the decision not to attack Xinduo overnight is the There is a problem with the four-way troops on the two wings.

Starting this afternoon, the local units of the Independent Division in the direction of Ledo, Sujia, Gamai, and Xintaiji have become very tenacious in blocking, using every available terrain to carry out uninterrupted blocking and "sao" The disturbance caused the speed of the attacking troops to drop immediately. On the map, Alexander found a very unsatisfactory phenomenon based on the positions reported by the four divisions.

According to the campaign plan for attacking northern Myanmar, the troops attacking in the directions of Ledo, Sugiya, Gamai, and Xintaiji belonged to the nature of a feint attack, in order to attract the troops of the Independent Division in northern Myanmar to their side The direction of attack is to create favorable conditions for the main force of the Central Route Army to capture Magao and Myitkyina.

Ma Gao is the main point guarding the exit of the Hukang River Valley. Myitkyina is the largest base of the Independent Division's aviation force in the Indochina Peninsula, and it is also the logistics supply base of the Independent Division. It is responsible for the link between the Chinese mainland and the Indochina Peninsula. When his main force fails to reach northern Myanmar, his local troops will definitely try their best to keep these two points.

Under normal circumstances, if Alexander himself was in Tang Qiuli's position, he would do the same at any cost. He couldn't afford to lose it. Alexander didn't want to have any delays with the local troops of the Independent Division when capturing these two key points. The entanglement of time, or in other words, I don't want to waste time in fighting the local troops of the Independent Division, which will affect my plan to attack Mandalay south.

Therefore, the attacking troops in the direction of Ledo, Sugia, Gamai, and Xintaiji should be in front of the Central Route Army for at least one day. However, the current situation is that the local troops of the Independent Division Fighting desperately, their speed slowed down and became more than a day behind the central army.

On the military map, the thick arrows marked by the staff clearly and erroneously explained this point, forming a prominent situation of the Central Route Army alone. As far as Alexander's current thinking is concerned, he is not worried that his position is too prominent. Two 10,000 + Well-equipped troops, Tang Qiuli's miscellaneous troops, have not yet blocked their own abilities.

However, his own campaign layout was completely contrary to the plan. Alexander had to make some adjustments and slow down the attack speed of the central army. When the troops of the four divisions caught up, at least he had to keep pace with the central army. , in order to achieve the desired combat effect.

Therefore, Alexander believes that it is absolutely necessary to suspend the attack on Xinduo, not to mention that the troops really need to rest overnight.

(to be continued) (to be continued...)