Upon hearing this news, the first reaction of the Japanese troops besieging Mandalay was disbelief, but it is an indisputable fact that two infantry squadrons of the Sato Brigade have lost contact. Although the 55th Division of the Japanese Army was only a first-class division, and its combat effectiveness was not as good as that of other Japanese divisions and regiments in the Chinese theater, there were also many veterans of the Japanese Army who had returned from injuries in the 55th Division, and two squadrons were eliminated in one day, which was completely unacceptable to the top and bottom of the 55th Division.

However, the facts are the facts, and with the in-depth investigation launched by the 55th Division, several wings belonging to the 5th Division successively lost contact with units of small squadrons, and in just three days, the 55th Division inexplicably lost nearly one brigade of troops and equipment. "Yaga, what's going on? Why are our soldiers losing contact one after another? Takeuchi Kuan, who was the commander of the 55th Division at the time, had smashed several cups in a row, but he still couldn't dissipate the anger in his heart.

According to the battle plan of the Japanese base camp, the 55th and 33rd Divisions launched attacks from Thailand to Dawei and Mawlamyine in southern Burma respectively. Subsequently, the landing force pursued the retreating British troops, invaded Mineva, and went straight to Kawonri to occupy the Ringanqiang oil field. The 55th Division commanded by Takeuchi Kuan needed to go north to capture Donggu, advance to Mandalay, and encircle and annihilate the main force of the British army, while the 33rd Division advanced from Donggu to Taunggyi to attack Lashio, and then north to Bamo and Myitkyina to prevent the Chinese army from taking the opportunity to move south to Burma to help the British army.

This battle plan of the base camp was well thought out, and the Japanese army's early offensive was as smooth as the base camp plan, but when the 55th Division besieged Mandalay, it was blocked by the British army. As long as the 33rd Division could successfully occupy Lashio and cut off the retreat of the British army in Mandalay, it would only be a matter of time before the British army defending Mandalay was defeated.

However, the situation has changed now, the 33rd Division has not been able to successfully occupy Lashio according to the plan of action, and according to the analysis of the divisional staff officers, it is very likely that the scattered troops of the 55th Division attacked the scattered troops of the 55th Division on the outskirts of Mandalay. The search forces picked up the cartridge casings of Mauser rifle cartridges one after another, which is very telling, the British and the Germans were hostile, and the British army could not use and be equipped with weapons, and the most equipped with weapons in the whole of Asia was the Chinese army.

The 55th Division's attacks over the past few days have put the British defense line in Mandalay in jeopardy, and Takeuchi is even speculating on the retreat time of the British army in Mandalay. But the trouble came, there was a Shina army attacking his own army outside Mandalay, and Takeuchi was not afraid to fight with the Shina army, but he was worried that the Shina army cruising outside Mandalay would join forces with the British army to flank him. Before the 33rd Division was in place, Takeuchi did not want his 55th Division to face the danger of a flanking attack, so he ordered the 55th Division to shrink the battle line to avoid the possibility of a sneak attack on him by the Shina army.

"Wouldn't it? The little devil is scared of this? "Knowing that the 55th Division began to shrink the front, Chen Geng and others were greatly surprised, this is different from the usual style of the Japanese army? After shrinking the battle line, the 55th Division was heavily guarded, and the reconnaissance troops cruising around Mandalay gradually lost the opportunity to continue attacking the other side.

"It's not impossible to fight positional warfare, but once we enter Mandalay, the British army will take the opportunity to withdraw, and at that time, we will really become cannon fodder for the British to resist the Japanese attack." Looking at the map spread out in front of him, Chen Geng's tone was a little heavy. The main purpose of the 1st Independent Division going south this time was only to train troops, and to let the soldiers of the 1st Independent Division adapt to the battlefield and terrain in advance.

Perhaps because of the arrival of the 1st Independent Division, the British troops stationed in Mandalay also broke out with strong combat effectiveness, blocking the 55th Division for many days, and the British troops who paid a certain number of casualties did not have the slightest idea of withdrawing from Mandalay, on the contrary, some British officers led by Colm thought that they could prevent the Japanese army from continuing to move north. The situation in Burma has changed strangely, and after contacting Ruili, the 1st Independent Division intends to continue to stand still and continue to use reconnaissance troops to carry out various means of attacking the Japanese 55th Division besieging Mandalay.

The strange situation in Burma also gave Zhuo Fei a headache, due to his appearance, the time of the Burma campaign was advanced by 2 years, and the reaction of the British army was also beyond Zhuo Fei's expectations. Zhuo Fei didn't expect that the British army in Burma, known as the sheep herding unit, could also show such blood, and could withstand the attack of the 55th Division for more than ten consecutive days.

The Japanese base camp was planned to attack Mandalay while the 55th Division was besieging Mandalay, and the 33rd Division would be able to quickly intersperse northward until it took Lashio and took control of the Bamo and Myitkyina areas. Due to the emergence of the Independent Army, the 33rd Division from Tonggu Dongdong to Taunggyi North never succeeded in moving north, but was blocked by the 2nd Independent Division in the line of Danglao and Mengxiu, and in the battle report sent back by the 33rd Division, the Jewish soldiers of the 2nd Independent Division were mistaken by them for the British troops stationed in Burma.

It was precisely because the 33rd Division failed to occupy Lashio as planned, and the 55th Division, which was facing the enemy, failed to take Mandalay, and the British troops stationed in Mandalay were also greatly confident and claimed that they could withstand the Japanese attack in Mandalay. "Since the British have the confidence to hold Mandalay, then we will help them to see the way back, and if necessary, we can provide some supplies to the British army in Mandalay." Zhuo Fei quickly made a decision, anyway, the umbrella company bought a lot of military supplies at a low price from the retreating British army, as long as the British army and the Japanese army could fight more fiercely, Zhuo Fei would not pity those materials purchased at a low price.

The British in Burma had an armoured unit that was supposed to be equipped with Matilda 1 tanks to retreat to Lashio during the siege of Mandalay and transfer their 12 Matilda 1 tanks to the Independence Army. However, due to the southward movement of the Independence Army, this armored unit of the British army became the key to the British army's fortification of Mandalay, and the Matilda 1 tank, which was not fast but had a strong defense, had been used by the British army as a mobile battery.

"If the British want to defend Mandalay, let them defend it, and according to the order of the headquarters, we can even send additional reconnaissance troops to carry out a surprise attack on the artillery positions of the Japanese 55th Division behind the defensive line, and at the same time attack and harass their supply lines." After Zhuo Fei's recovery, Chen Geng made a detailed supplement to Zhuo Fei's decision, and he was ready to use half of the strength of the 1st Independent Division as a pure guerrilla force.

According to Chen Geng's order, thousands of soldiers of the 1st Independent Division followed the reconnaissance troops to bypass the defense area of the 55th Division and began to be active in the rear line of the 55th Division. The soldiers of the 1st Independent Division still played a high level of cold gun attacks, roadblock ambushes, midnight raids, and long-range bombardment using mortars, but the 55th Division, which they regarded as the target of guerrillas, could not say what they were suffering.

"Baga, Bageyalu, damn the people, they are all a bunch of cowards, and they will only hide in the dark and shoot cold." The attacks and harassment events in the past few days have made Takeuchi's temper worse and worse. While scolding the Shina army for being cowards, Takeuchi had to send a search force to carry out counter-sneak tactics against the attackers, but he soon learned what it was like to feel aggrieved when a bolt-action rifle was against a semi-automatic weapon.

Most of the search teams drawn by Takeuchi were led by veterans, and he hoped that the recruits in the division could be led by these veterans to grow up quickly, but he didn't expect that the opponents that the search troops would face were already armed to the teeth. The 1st and 2nd Independent Divisions that went south to Burma were all equipped with assault rifles and submachine guns suitable for jungle warfare, and there were also a large number of snipers and heavy firefighters carrying Bazooka in the middle of the period.

Battles were taking place every day, and casualties were occurring every day, but on the whole, it was the 55th Division that suffered heavy casualties, and in the face of superior equipment such as assault rifles and bazookas, the Japanese bolt-action rifles and grenadiers could not take advantage of anything at all. Relying on the walkie-talkie to communicate with them, the officers and men of the 1st Independent Division scattered in the jungle sometimes attacked in groups, sometimes dispersed against the enemy, and the 55th Division, which was fighting against them, had the Japanese search units that were disabled every day and were forced to withdraw from the jungle

What's going on? When did the Chinese army have such combat effectiveness? Takeuchi was so confused by the battle reports that he could barely believe his eyes, and he couldn't believe the battle reports after the collection. Since the 55th Division entered Burma, it has never suffered such heavy casualties, and even in the siege of Mandalay, the 55th Division has never had its subordinate units wiped out by formed regiments.

But this was only a skirmish found behind his own defensive line, and in just one week, his 55th Division had already suffered casualties of almost 2 brigades, and if it continued like this, the casualties of the 55th Division would break through one infantry wing. At the same time that Takeuchi was worried, another even more unbelievable news came, the 55th Mountain Artillery Wing of the 55th Division was deployed on the rear line of defense and suffered a night attack.