On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, and the United States declared war on Japan. On the day of the incident, China also officially declared war on Japan, and on December 26, it ordered the formation of a Chinese expeditionary force to fight in Burma.

The Chinese Expeditionary Force has the 5th Army, the 6th Army, and the 66th Army, with a total of about 100,000 troops in three armies. Among them, the Chinese Expeditionary Force Commander's Department is headed by Wei Lihuang as the commander-in-chief, and Du Yuming as the deputy commander-in-chief; Li Ming appointed Lao Jiang as the chief of staff of the expeditionary force and the commander-in-chief of the front of the Sixth Army, and the commander of the 5th Army was concurrently served by Du Yuming, under the jurisdiction of Dai Anlan's 200th Division, Liao Yaoxiang's new 22nd Division, and Yu Shao's 96th Division; The 6th Army was first commanded by Gan Lichu, under the jurisdiction of Peng Bisheng's 49th Division, Lu Guoquan's 93rd Division, and Chen Mianwu's Temporary 55th Division; The 66th Army was commanded by Zhang Zhen, and was under the command of Liu Bolong's new 28th Division, Ma Weiji's new 29th Division, and Sun Liren's new 38th Division. In the expeditionary force sequence, all the elites of the national army, especially the 5th Army, is China's first mechanized army and the trump card of the trump cards.

In addition, in order to ensure the operational plan of the Yunnan-Burma Highway, the 52nd Army, the 71st Army, and the 79th Army were also deployed in Yunnan as the second-line corps. In Yunnan, nearly 200,000 troops were assembled, ready to attack the anti-Japanese front at any time

The first attempt to aid Burma failed

At the end of 1941, in order to protect the Yunnan-Burma Highway, the last lifeline of foreign aid, China and the British signed the Sino-British Agreement on the Joint Defense of the Yunnan-Burma Road in Chongqing. Subsequently, the Nationalist ** formed the Chinese Expeditionary Force with the 5th Army, the 6th Army, and the 66th Army. Due to the obstruction of the British, until February 1942, only one part of the 6th Army entered the Jingdong area of Burma, and the rest of the troops were still assembled on the Yunnan-Burma Highway. Later, due to the tense situation of the war, the British side demanded that all the Chinese expeditionary forces enter Burma. On 16 February, the 5th Army entered Burma as the vanguard, and on 7 March, the 200th Division of the 5th Army arrived in Tonggu.

Later, due to various reasons, the Chinese expeditionary force lost the battle in Burma, and tens of thousands of soldiers were buried in the area of Savage Mountain, and only more than 30,000 Chinese troops successfully crossed Savage Mountain.

After the defeat of the Burma operation, the Yunnan-Burma Highway was cut off by the Japanese army, and the western Yunnan region was occupied by the Japanese army, China fell into the most critical moment since the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. Due to the loss of the Yunnan-Burma Highway, U.S. aid could not be transported to China. Western Yunnan was occupied by the Japanese army, and the safest rear area was now in danger; Once the Japanese Burma Front crosses the Nu River and attacks Baoshan and Kunming, the people will be in danger of being attacked by the enemy.

On December 27, 1941, Lieutenant General Stilwell, Chief of Staff of the Chinese Theater of Operations, handed over a memorandum to Chiang Kai-shek proposing a plan for a counteroffensive against Burma. Subsequently, Chiang Kai-shek approved it to He Yingqin, chief of staff, and the Military Command Department for approval. Later, the Military Command Department put forward the "Outline of the Plan for the Joint Counteroffensive of China, Britain and the United States in Burma". With 15-20 elite divisions, the Chinese Army is preparing to attack the Japanese army from western Yunnan and southern Yunnan with the main force. The British and U.S. armies, with 5-7 divisions and airborne troops, combined with the Chinese troops in India, attacked the Japanese army in Burma, and the plan was scheduled to be implemented in the summer of 1942.

However, the vast majority of the British and American armies and navies served in the European theater and could not draw the necessary forces. Therefore, the Chinese side will bear all the troops for the counteroffensive in northern Burma and western Yunnan, and the United States will provide weapons and logistical support.

The Chinese army that counterattacked northern Burma and western Yunnan selected 15 divisions from 30 divisions with American-style weapons and equipment to form the Chinese Expeditionary Force to attack Burma from Yunnan, and this force was called Force Y. The new 22nd Division and the new 38th Division in India were formed as the Chinese Army in India, known as Unit X, and were trained by American officers led by Stilwell.

Stilwell planned to concentrate on equipping and training the Chinese army, and set up infantry, artillery, and army-air force coordinated combat classes in Kunming, set up a rear service school, and established an efficient logistical supply system, including engineering, medical care, communications, transportation, and so on. Stilwell's idea was approved by Chiang Kai-shek. On February 1, 1942, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Chen Cheng to serve as commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Force. Stilwell sent his deputy chief of staff, Colonel Dorne, to set up an office in Kunming with a number of personnel from the U.S. Command in Chongqing, and ordered the transfer of American instructors to Yunnan.

Under the U.S.-China agreement, the Chinese Expeditionary Force (Force Y) in Yunnan was under the command of Chinese officers, and U.S. personnel were responsible for training and supplying weapons and supplies.

The training was carried out separately in the training center and in the troops. A training center for infantry, artillery, communications, and transportation troops has been set up in Kunming, where officers attend classes and return to their original units to serve as instructors after the training period is completed. The training period of each course is six weeks, and each branch of the military trains 150 to 450 cadres. In the first phase, there were 450 infantry squads, 300 artillery squads, and 150 communications and military doctors. Each army and division dispatched a group of US military instructors to assist in organizing and guiding the training.

According to the plan, a total of 11 corps (31 divisions) participated in the training, and the number of soldiers in each division increased from 8,400 to 10,300. It is estimated that 24 new-style attack divisions, 2 old-style attack divisions, and 6 adjustment divisions will be formed according to the new establishment, with a total of 412,600 troops. At the same time, in order to ensure the training and combat needs of the Chinese Expeditionary Force (Unit Y), it is expected to transport 4,300 tons of supplies from the Hump route in three months from November 15, 1942 to February 15, 1943. In the future, the Chinese Expeditionary Force and other Chinese troops will continue to need 3,500 tons of supplies per month.

The ill-equipped "U.S. Armament Army"

The situation of the Chinese Expeditionary Force equipped with American-style weapons can be referred to the recollection of Lieutenant General Song Xilian, commander-in-chief of the 11th Group Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force: "At that time, the Kuomintang army that received American weapons and equipment had a total of 12 armies, namely the 2nd, 5th, 6th, 8th, 13th, 18th, 53rd, 54th, 71st, 73rd, 74th, and 94th armies. Each corps set up 1 ** artillery battalion, equipped with 12 105 mm ** guns; Each division set up 1 mountain artillery battalion, equipped with 12 75mm mountain guns; Each infantry regiment established 1 anti-aircraft artillery company, equipped with 4 37-mm anti-aircraft guns; Each infantry battalion formed 1 mortar platoon with 82 mortars and 2 rocket platoons with 2 rocket launchers; Each infantry battalion was armed with 6 heavy machine guns; Each infantry company was equipped with 9 light machine guns, 18 Thomson hand-held machine guns, 60 mortars (2 per platoon) and 1 *****. Each corps and division has one well-equipped field hospital, and all armies and divisions have complete communications equipment from battalions and companies. Compared with the original equipment, these units of American equipment are much more perfect, and in particular, their firepower has been greatly enhanced. ”

The 12 armies have a total of 5,832 American 60-mm mortars, 432 American 37-mm anti-aircraft guns, 432 American 75-mm mountain guns, and 144 American-style 105-mm guns. Among them, a total of 16 divisions of the 2nd Army, 6th Army, 71st Army, 53rd Army, 54th Army and 8th Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force (Y Force) should be equipped with 192 American 37mm tank defense guns, 192 American 75mm mountain guns, and 72 105mm ** guns.

The battle reports of the Chinese army in the Battle of Changde, the Battle of Central Henan, the Battle of Changheng, and the Battle of Xiangxi found that the Chinese army had never been equipped with American-style 105 mm ** guns, and the number of 75 mm mountain guns was also very small.

According to the first volume of "The First Compilation of Important Historical Materials of the Republic of China - Wartime Diplomacy": "A total of 2,724 hand-held machine guns, 663 machine guns, 70 chariot defense guns, 524 rocket launchers, 284 small mortars, 651 chariot defense guns, 302 mountain artillery, and 164 million rifle ammunition were handed over to the expeditionary force. A total of 1,706 hand-held machine guns, 351 machine guns, 28 chariot defense guns, 30 small mortars, 618 chariot defense guns, 1,000 rifles, 96 mountain guns, and 50 million rifle rounds were handed over to troops other than the expeditionary force. ”

In addition to the newly formed 22nd Division and the newly formed 38th Division, the Chinese Garrison in India also airlifted the new 30th, 14th, and 50th Divisions from China. Since the Yunnan-Burma Highway was cut off by the Japanese army, most of the American-style equipment was hoarded in India, and only a small number of weapons and equipment were transported by transport planes to Kunming, China, through the Hump route.

China provided 5,000 rifles, light machine guns, grenadiers, 82-mm mortars and semi-automatic rifles of the Chinese Expeditionary Force (Unit Y). The United States supplied 2,200 semi-automatic rifles, 576 combat vehicle defense guns, 900 60-mm mortars, 40 75-mm ** guns, 430 rocket launchers, 558 heavy machine guns, and 6,900 tons of ammunition for various guns. ”

But the Chinese expeditionary force simply did not equip such a large number of combat vehicles, defensive guns and mountain artillery. According to the second volume of Volume 4 of the Logistics History of the National Army (Taiwan), the Chinese Expeditionary Force responsible for counterattacking western Yunnan had only 14 37-mm tank defense guns, 5 47-mm tank defense guns, and 24 American-style 75mm mountain guns.

The medium and heavy artillery of the Chinese Expeditionary Force is still mainly Soviet-style and German-style. The artillery regiment of the 2nd Army is still equipped with 12 Russian M1909 76.2 mm mountain guns, and the mountain artillery battalion of the 6th Army is also equipped with 10 Russian M1909 76.2 mm mountain guns.

In other words, the claim that the so-called Chinese Expeditionary Force (Unit Y) was all American-style equipment is unreliable, and according to the original archival records, the Chinese Expeditionary Force responsible for the counterattack in western Yunnan had only 24 American-style 75mm mountain guns. Rifles, light machine guns, and mortars are all nationally made, and field guns and ** guns are the only remaining Soviet-style and German-style artillery.

The only two armies that can really be called the US Ordnance Army are the new 1st Army (new 30th Division, new 38th Division) and the new 6th Army (new 22nd Division, 14th Division, and 50th Division) of the Chinese Army stationed in India.

Li Ming came to this space to know that if the army really had so much equipment, would it still fail? Obviously, it can be seen that this list is just a promise by the US side, and it is a false document。。。。。。