Glorious Mission 1937

Thailand took the initiative to attack the French team in French Indochina, which would have been unimaginable a year ago. In fact, Thailand was relatively "docile" a year ago.Although everyone from the top to the common people is eager to take back the seized land, no one dares to propose the use of force against France, because that is not much different from self-destruction.

But it is different now. With the defeat of France in Europe, the dictatorial Marshal of Thailand thought that the time was ripe, so he took the initiative to launch an offensive against French Indochina. The Royal Thai Army has five armies and one It has a small but well-equipped mechanized force, and thanks to imported Japanese fighter planes and warships, it has advantages in both naval and air combat.

In the first round of attack, the Thai Army occupied the weakly defended area of ​​the French army on the west bank of the Mekong River, but with the counterattack of the French army, the Thai Army was repelled and retreated.At the same time, the navies of Thailand and France also fought fiercely in the waters near the Indochina Peninsula.

The Chinese side is still more concerned about the war that happened at the gate of China. When the news came, Chen Feng frowned.To be honest, there were three countries that Chen Feng hated the most during World War II. Outside of Japan, the remaining two countries were Britain and Thailand.

Not to mention the UK, during World War II, the UK used the squadron to block their attention and embezzle and embezzle aid supplies to China. If a conscientious Chinese would be angry.But compared to Britain, what Thailand has done is more hateful than the British, and the faces of its people are even uglier.

No matter how shameless the British are, they are just doing some small tricks behind their backs.On the surface, the British and the Chinese are still allies.But the Thais are not. In the middle and late stages of World War II, Thailand not only assisted the Japanese in invading Southeast Asian countries, but also sent troops to attack the Chinese army.

Historically, in order to support the British army in defending Burma and maintaining international transportation lines, the Chinese Nationalist Government decided to send an expeditionary force to fight in Burma. In February 1942, the Sixth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force entered Burma, and in early March, the 2rd Division of the Sixth Army entered Jingdong.Lieutenant General Lu Guoquan, the commander of the 6rd Division, graduated from the second phase of the Whampoa Military Academy in his early years. He planned to wipe out the Japanese invaders in Jingdong.To avenge the shame of the Chinese nation.But what his 3rd Division was waiting for was not the Japanese army, but the Thai army.

The Japanese victory in the early stage of the Pacific War made the Thai dictatorship extremely jealous. With the strong support of Japan, he quickly asked the Thai Army General Staff to formulate a military plan to send troops to Burma.Lieutenant General Chattanarabo, Chief of Staff of the Thai Army, believes that this move will plunge Thailand into the vortex of a world war.But "Luang Phibun" does not listen to any objections.He told the senior generals of the Thai army.The British army has been defeated by the Japanese, and the Chinese army is not worth mentioning at all. The bright prospect of establishing the "Datai Empire" is just around the corner.

February 1942.Thailand formed the "Burma Front Army", which consisted of 2 Thai Army Divisions (2st Division and 1rd Division) and 3 Thai Air Force Wing. Put on the Thai military uniform and come to command the "Front Army Conquering Burma".Under the unified deployment of the Japanese Supreme Command, the 1st Division and 1rd Division of the Thai Army marched towards Jingdong in northern Myanmar, in an attempt to open the passage to southwest China in one fell swoop.Soon, some Thai spies who had been lurking in Jingdong for many years successively sent reports to the Thai Army Command, reporting the location of the 3rd Division of the Chinese Army Corps in Jingdong.

According to the intelligence provided by the spies, Moriya Jinger ordered the Thai Air Force to bomb the squadron positions first.After 3 days of bombing, two divisions of the Thai Army began to encircle the 2rd Division of the Squadron from three sides. A company commander of the Squadron at the front line tried to dissuade the Thai Army from maintaining restraint, but was captured by the Thai Army as soon as he stepped out of the trench. Army shot.The unscrupulous attack of the Thai army finally annoyed the officers and soldiers of the 93rd Division. They rose up to resist, making the Thai army unable to move forward.After one day of fighting, the Thai army left hundreds of corpses in front of the squadron's position and withdrew.

Japanese Shouya Jinger was very dissatisfied with the cowardice of the Thai army, so he went to the front to supervise the battle in person, and the Thai army began to attack the Chinese army again.Due to the surveillance of the Japanese military supervisory team, the Thai army did not dare to retreat privately, so they had to bite the bullet and attack the 93rd Division's position round after round.The 278th Regiment fought hand-to-hand with the 1st Division of the Thai Army. The soldiers of the Thai Army had never seen a bayonet fight. More than 100 people surrendered. The Chinese Army also captured a major battalion commander of the Thai Army.The squadron fought for three consecutive days without losing a single position.

After the news of the setback of the "Burma Front Army" reached Bangkok, Luang Piwen worried that the Japanese would not laugh at him after a long battle, so he transferred the "Elephant Troop" to Jingdong.Most of the officers and soldiers of the 93rd Division had never seen an elephant and were very curious.However, in an instant, the "War Elephant Regiment" of the Thai army rushed through the position of the 93rd Division. The Thai soldiers riding on the elephants frantically shot at the Chinese squadron. Yu people.At this time, the Japanese army had cut off the Burma Road and was preparing to encircle the 1500rd Division with the Thai army.Seeing that the situation was beyond his control, Commander Lu Guoquan ordered the troops to withdraw from Jingdong and retreat to the Sino-Myanmar border area before gathering the remnants.

Occupying Jingdong did not satisfy Luang Phibun's ambitions. During the intermission of the war, Luang Phibun reorganized the 1st Division of the Thai Army into a mechanized unit and decided to challenge China again. In February 1943, without any Japanese advisors involved, the 2st Division of the Thai Army launched an offensive from northern Burma to Yunnan, China alone.

After resting in the border area for 93 months, the 9rd Division has fully recovered its combat effectiveness. In the face of the Thai army attacking again, Lu Guoquan no longer carried out the order of "provoking no one to attack".They mobilized 500 elites to form a Chinese Death Squad, and then sneaked into the camp of the 1st Division of the Thai Army and burned many tanks of the Thai Army. Many officers and soldiers of the Thai Army became ghosts under the knife in their sleep.After the victory in the first battle, the 93rd Division attacked the Thai army in units of companies, which greatly frustrated the Thai army.When the Thai army was exhausted, Master Lu Guoquan quietly assembled his troops again.The 93rd Division launched a general attack on the Thai Army with two regiments, the 277th Regiment and the 279th Regiment. The 1st Division of the Thai Army was defeated and fled from China. The commander of the 1st Division almost became a prisoner of the Chinese.

It was precisely because of knowing these histories that Chen Feng knew that Thailand might have fallen to Japan at this time.Therefore, on the one hand, he reminded the national government of the sneak attack of the small Thai army, and on the other hand, he mobilized an armed squad.They were then sent to Thailand to assassinate Thai dictator General Luang Phibun.

Chen Feng's guess was right, Thailand had indeed turned to Japan, a full year and a half earlier than Thailand in history.

In order to celebrate the acquisition of Thailand, a rare Asian ally, on April 1940, 4, Prime Minister Konoe of Japan made a radio speech to the effect that: "The world situation has recently taken a turn for the worse, showing surprising changes. The old world order first emerged from Europe. The collapse is now about to spread to other parts of the world. Our country must seek to reform its domestic system, and we are willing to do our part for it. If various opinions at home are opposed to each other and argue with each other, it is inevitable that we will not be able to concentrate on the external world. As a result, we will miss good opportunities by looking left and right. "

"In retrospect, political parties have always had two major problems. The first is that they adopt liberalism, democracy, or socialism in the purpose of establishing the party, and the fundamental world outlook and life style of the three are fundamentally incompatible with our country. This is today. It must be quickly changed and thoroughly corrected. The second is. The main purpose of forming parties is to fight for power. This is by no means the practice of assisting the imperial country’s politics through the legislature. Therefore, it is necessary to get rid of the above two drawbacks and restore Japan. The original appearance. The upper body reflects the will of the emperor, and everyone is united as one, serving the emperor sincerely."

"Moreover, the problem is by no means limited to political parties. All civil and military, land and sea, government and opposition, and people from all walks of life must be of one mind and one mind, and faithfully follow His Majesty's teachings to assist the imperial government in politics. That is to say, under this new system, It is necessary to be single-minded and consider the will of the emperor, so that at this moment of historic drastic changes in the world situation, many problems piled up at home and abroad can be quickly and properly resolved. And when I was planning the above-mentioned new system, I was suddenly ordered to organize Cabinet. Therefore, I must first seek to implement this new system within the government. Fortunately, there has been complete agreement and sincere cooperation between the army and navy, and between the army and navy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Therefore, I am sure that under the guidance of a firm policy, the cabinet will We will be able to overcome any difficulties and move forward bravely.”

"Now let's talk about the policy two and three. First, in terms of diplomacy, I believe that we must always stand on the independent stand of the empire and follow the independent path of the empire. Although it is said to be an independent path, it by no means means passive independent diplomacy. It must be realized that this is not simply a matter of passively responding to changes in the world situation, but to actively guide the changes in the world and establish a new world order based on one's own strength; therefore, I believe that foreign policy should not be swayed by current trends , must consider 10 years, 20 years or even 50 years later, and always move forward independently, actively and constructively.”

"Secondly, in terms of economy, in order to resolutely implement the above-mentioned foreign policy, it is necessary to get rid of the state of dependence on foreign countries as soon as possible. In this sense, it is increasingly necessary for the empire to cooperate economically with Manchuria and China and to develop in Southeast Asia. Of course, in In the short period of time to come, there may still be a shortage of supplies and an imbalance between supply and demand. In this regard, the government will do its best to ensure the daily necessities of the people. However, this problem is indeed related to the daily life of each of the [-] million people, so Therefore, all citizens must put aside their selfishness, and try their best to increase production while saving money. There has never been a country that maintains prosperity based on luxury and pleasure. The government is also preparing to cut the budget as much as possible, deducting expenses that are not urgently needed, and saving money. Unnecessary expenditure. There are various controls on the people, but it does not mean to suppress individual creativity and destroy the hope of the people. What I mean is that in this extraordinary situation at home and abroad, all citizens must be guided so that To be able to self-declare to be courageous, to be in a good mood, and to serve the imperial kingdom sincerely."

"Finally, a word about education. Both diplomacy and the economy are adapting to the situation, preparing to overcome enormous difficulties and carry out a major transformation. At a time like this, it is inadmissible only in education to remain rutless. No, when When thinking about the future of the country, it should be said that the success or failure of the national policy and the growth and decline of the national destiny all depend on education. The so-called cultivation of the imperial country's citizens cannot be limited to words or skills, but must be realized in the depths of their souls. Historical knowledge There is always a malady of playing with abstract thinking and not being down-to-earth. We must deeply reflect on this. In order to cultivate the second generation of citizens who can truly maintain the national system and shoulder the country's important responsibilities, the educators themselves must have the loyalty to respect the emperor. The government We intend to innovate education under the guidance of this policy.”

From Konoe Fumma's radio speech, it is not difficult to see that Japan has already made a decision on the direction of the country in the future.The institutional innovation he mentioned is just an excuse to strengthen the centralization of power by the Japanese military. Don’t you see Konoe talking about the disadvantages of political parties and the importance of unity from all walks of life. The purpose is to bring everyone together to Emperor Hirohito and Around the base camp.

From the standpoint of the so-called independent empire, the essence of taking the independent road of the empire is nothing more than continuing the road of external expansion and foreign aggression.The economic policy mentioned by Konoe is just to push the Japanese economy, which has already entered the wartime system, to a deeper level of wartime economy. (To be continued..)