Age of Rebirth

On the night of May 21st, in Luhading, a small town in the northwest of East India, Zhao Yuhe, Chief of Staff of the Independent Division's East India Campaign Headquarters, rushed in excitedly with a stack of telegrams in his hand.

The teacher Tang Qiuli turned his head and said with a smile: "Yuhe, your cultivation skills are not yet mastered. As a soldier, you can't show your emotions and anger. You can tell by the joy on your face that there is good news to report. Tell me about it." How about the situation on each battlefield?"

Zhao Yuhe smiled, knowing that the commander was joking, and that there was no market for the Central Army's internal tactics in the independent division, and then said: "Master, there are frequent victories in various battlefields. Except for Imphal, every strategic point The gathering places of the British and Indian troops were captured, and today, dozens of battles took place, annihilating more than [-] British and Indian troops. I really did not expect that the division commander's chaotic fighting skills would achieve such an impressive record!"

Tang Qiuli also said with emotion: "Yes, within a day, tens of thousands of square kilometers of land in East India fell into our hands, and the price of casualties was so slight that even we I didn't even think of it, so it can be seen that correct tactics are often more important than military strength and equipment, Yuhe, I'm not boasting, I was forced out by that Chelsea!"

Zhao Yuhe couldn't help laughing, took out two telegrams from a pile of telegrams, and said: "Master, there are two different telegrams. Other troops report the results of the battle. These two telegrams, in addition to reporting In addition to the results of the battle, you have to ask for punishment yourself!" [

Tang Qiuli raised his eyebrows, and said curiously: "Show me quickly, it's so novel, our generals are all so bullish, and they look like I'm the best in the world, when did they learn to criticize themselves? "

Zhao Yuhe handed over the telegram, and Tang Qiuli saw that it was sent jointly by Wang Zhanqun, commander of the seventh brigade, and Qiao Manshan, commander of the eighth brigade, "Master, because our two brigades' outflanking speed was slow, the people on the Naga Hills line More than [-] British and Indian troops were able to withdraw to Imphal without any damage, and did not complete the task of division command deployment. It caused great difficulties for the future battle. This is our dereliction of duty. Strict military discipline!"

"In addition, I would like to ask the division commander to approve our request. When we attack Imphal, our seventh brigade and eighth brigade will serve as the main attacking troops. We will make meritorious deeds and get rid of the shame. If we fail to complete the task, we will commit two crimes." And punish!"

Signed by Wang Zhanqun and Qiao Manshan, Tang Qiuli laughed, directly under the twelve brigade commanders of the corps.Usually, one is not satisfied with the other. Probably, the two saw other brigades.The troops, including the Sulu Mobile Corps, did a clean job during the East India Campaign. Only the seventh and eighth brigades ran for more than 200 kilometers and did not win a single battle. More than 5 British and Indian soldiers, Right under the nose, slipping into Imphal.

While the boss felt uncomfortable, he thought that his attitude towards fighting was not positive.The action of outflanking was not fast enough, so there was this telegram asking for punishment. When I thought about it, when I gave the order to outflank Imphal, I didn't emphasize it, let the troops arrive within the specified time.Speaking of which, the root cause is still in oneself.

I have to admit that the minds of the brigade commanders directly under the corps are extremely flexible and easy to use, and they have a lot of ghost ideas. Wang Zhanqun and Qiao Manshan, on the surface, are asking for punishment themselves, but in fact, they are deliberately showing weakness to win For my own sympathy, take down the main attack mission in advance, so that when the time comes, I can't compete with others, but it is the important position of the military strategist who is deeply involved in repairing plank roads and secretly guarding Chencang!

However, after Tang Qiuli revised the battle plan, Imphal was placed in the last position to capture. The reason is very simple. Imphal is the main gathering place of the Eastward Army, and it is also an important town on the front line of the India-Myanmar border, with a large number of troops , The defense facilities are complete, and it belongs to the type that is easy to defend but difficult to attack. It is an established plan to clean the periphery first and then attack Imphal.

Now, the plan has been successfully implemented. Imphal has become an isolated city, and the troops can attack at any time. The rhythm of the battlefield is in their own hands. The British and Indian troops in Imphal's Chelsea can be besieged or stormed. Whether the seventh and eighth brigades completed the encirclement of Imphal ahead of schedule has no direct relationship. The two guys are a little nervous!

Tang Qiuli smiled and said to Zhao Yuhe: "Yuhe, call back Wang Zhanqun and Qiao Manshan. Imphal's campaign layout has achieved the desired effect. If the actions of your two troops are inappropriate, you will not be punished." It is necessary, without punishment, there is no such thing as a crime and meritorious deed, Yuhe, after sending this telegram, the most depressing people should be Wang Zhanqun and Qiao Manshan!"

After finishing speaking, Tang Qiuli laughed like a joke, and Zhao Yuhe couldn't help laughing. Chen Feng, the director of the communications department, just stepped in. Hearing the laughter, he asked strangely: "Mr. Chang, what is there to be happy about, laughing like this?"

Tang Qiuli gasped and said, "The chief of staff sent me good news, but you, Director Chen, mostly sent bad news. Tell me, what happened again?" something wrong?"

Chen Feng rubbed his nose, feeling a little bit wronged, but, thinking about it, what the teacher said made some sense. He was the first to see the battle reports and situations in various places, and then the teacher and chief of staff. Isn't it just people who report sorrows but not good news?

Taking out a telegram, Chen Feng said: "The leader of the Chutian detachment called, and found a new situation in the Datihar area of ​​Central India!"

Tang Qiuli received the telegram with an expression that he knew it was a long time ago, "Master, my Special Forces Eighth Squad went deep into the Datihar area of ​​​​Central India and discovered that the British Indian Army with a new designation is heading to Dhaka. , Khulna, Pokaro, Saifpur, and Zhenhati, and initially learned that they are the second-line troops of the Eastward Army Regiment stationed in the Indian Army. The specific tasks are continuing to be reconnaissance and reported at any time!"

Tang Qiuli laughed again. The British are really persistent and persevering. The current Imphal is very similar to the original Sidor. Alexander caught Chelsea's eastward army, and now Chelsea has caught the British. The second-line troops came just in time, so let's see how much capital the British still have in the South Asian subcontinent, which can be invested in this gamble with no chance of winning.

He said to Chen Feng: "Director Chen, record the order. [-]. All the [-]st, [-]nd, [-]rd, and [-]th brigades directly under the corps will continue to surround Imphal. Without the order of the division headquarters, no attack of any kind is allowed. , focusing on siege."

"[-]. The [-]th, [-]th, [-]th, and [-]th brigades of the directly subordinate corps, and the [-]th, [-]th, and [-]th brigades of the Sulu Mobile Corps, except for some troops left to consolidate the currently occupied areas, the rest of the troops should immediately go to Dhaka, Khulna, Pokaro, Saifpur, and Zhenhati line."

"Three, the above-mentioned troops, after arriving at the designated location, actively search for fighter planes, and can determine their own attack targets, mainly to wipe out a large number of second-line troops of the British and Indian Army's eastward marching regiment."

Then, he asked Zhao Yuhe, "Yuhe, where is Deputy Master Tang now?"

Zhao Yuhe replied: "Commander, Deputy Commander Tang arranged for Geng Zhijie, the No. 12 Brigade of the Sulu Mobile Corps, to escort Xiduo's prisoner of war Hui Ma Gao. The No.11 Brigade of the Lu Mobile Corps, a total of five brigades, left Sido last night and is expected to arrive in the Imphal area tomorrow evening."

Tang Qiuli nodded and said, "Yuhe, send a telegram to Deputy Commander Tang. Brother Qiusheng, you lead the No. 11 Brigade of the Sulu Mobile Corps to the outskirts of Imphal. The unified command includes the four brigades directly under the Corps." The five brigades of the army surrounded Imphal and were directly under the [-]th, [-]th, [-]th, and [-]th brigades of the Corps. They continued to march westward to the front lines of Dhaka, Khulna, Pokaro, Saifpur, and Zhenhati. "

Tang Qiuli looked around, and the Luharding headquarters, who had been staying for a few days, said to Zhao Yuhe: "Yuhe, we should go again, and Imphal will leave it to Deputy Commander Tang. Let's go to the front line of China and India, and we will meet." According to your judgment, the second-line troops of the Eastward Army, how many days will it take for this battle to end?"

Zhao Yuhe smiled and replied: "Master, we have deployed [-] main field brigades with more than [-] troops on the front lines of Dhaka, Khulna, Pokaro, Saifpur, and Zhenhati. In terms of the combat effectiveness and equipment level of the existing troops of the Indian Army, the so-called second-tier troops may not even be considered as third-rate troops. This should be the last military force of the British. If they intend to open the passage to the Indian interior for Chelsea , if we take the initiative to attack, the battle will end in less than five days!"

Tang Qiuli smiled and said: "In five days, Yuhe, you overestimated the so-called second-line troops of the Eastward Army. Alexander invaded northern Burma and sent out all the best. What was left for Chelsea was just some miscellaneous troops. All the miscellaneous troops gathered together, pieced together the Eastward Army, and what was left was nothing more than a mob, not even an organized army, it should be an armed militia."

"Facing us, it will collapse at the touch of a button. One day, as long as one day, this so-called second-line army will fall apart! The second stage of the East India Campaign will focus on destroying the second-line troops of the Eastward Army. Let’s see what Churchill can bargain with me! Command the division headquarters, go west immediately!”

On the night of May 21, the Sulu Mobile Corps of the Independent Division and the brigades of the directly affiliated regiments that received the order rushed to Dhaka, Khulna, Pokaro, and Saifpur in Central India before shaking off the gunpowder smoke. , Zhenhati line, the night of the land of East India is once again boiling.

On every simple road and country road, wherever vehicles can pass, there are military vehicles and tanks from the independent division driving to the front line. At about [-] o'clock that night, Tang Qiuli led the members of the headquarters and left Luharding. Go to the Central Indian Front.

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