Chapter 222: Supporting the British?

Since the Chinese Expeditionary Force entered Burma, the Eastern Front has always been the weak link in the defense line of the Expeditionary Force. The British side will be the 6th Division of the 93rd Army to the east. The 19th Division was placed on the Mengbian, the 55th Division was temporarily in Luo Yikao, and the team directly under the army was located in Releem, and the troops were extremely scattered.

Moreover, the three divisions of the main force of the Sixth Army became garrison units, and their mobility was severely limited. After the Battle of Tonggu, the expeditionary force gathered its main forces to prepare for the Battle of Pingmanna. Whether it's Du Yuming, Lin Wei, or Shi Dicheng. When Luo Zhuoying deployed the Battle of Pingmanna, he did not notice that after the loss of Tonggu, the road to Moltke had been opened, so he ignored the importance of strengthening the defense of the eastern front, effectively ensuring the safety of the left flank of the main force in the center, and preventing the enemy from advancing to our far-reaching rear, believing that it was impossible for the Japanese army to pass through the thick rainforest.

At the beginning of April, only the 55th Division of the Eastern Front was scattered in battalions and companies in Moltke Paulak, Nampa, Luo Yikao, Tangji, Taxi, Heihe, and other places.

In order to seize Lashio as soon as possible and cut off the retreat of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, the Japanese army threw the 56th Division, reinforced in late March, into the eastern front and advanced along the Tonggu-Moltke Highway.

On 6 April, the vanguard of the Japanese captured Moltke. On April 8, the commander of the 6th Army, Gan Lichu, ordered the 1st and 2nd Regiments of the 55th Division to concentrate at Luoyikao; The main force of the 3rd Regiment built fortifications in Tangji and Zaze, leaving one battalion to guard the Heihe airfield. The Japanese army repaired roads and bridges while increasing troops.

On the 10th, the battalions of the 1st Regiment of the 55th Division scattered near Moltke and suffered heavy losses, and after the 11th, they withdrew to the area around Paulak. In order to stabilize the morale of the army, Chen Mianwu, commander of the 55th Division, advanced the division headquarters to Luo Yi Kao on the 12th, and urged the 2nd and 3rd Regiments to occupy positions on the high ground line about 32 kilometers south of Luo Yi Kao. The command post of the 6th Army then also advanced to Luo Yikao.

He also ordered the 146th Regiment of the 49th Division to take a shortcut and rush to the north of Luo Yikao to occupy the reserve position. The 56th Division of the Japanese Army has also gathered its main forces in these days. On the 15th and 16th, they replenished food and ammunition and advanced to attack the two flanks of the position of the 55th Division in two directions. By the 18th, the enemy had advanced to the line of the heights south of Loi Kau.

For the time being, all parts of the 55th Division were scattered into battle and were broken by the enemy. None of the positions were able to hold back the enemy.

Three armoured vehicles belonging to the 5th Army were also destroyed in the melee. The troops were in disarray, and communication between corps and divisions was repeatedly lost. April 20th. The enemy captured Loi Kau. The weakness of the Chinese Expeditionary Force's defense on the Eastern Front has been exposed by this point.

On 18 April, Stilwell and Lo Cheuk-ying ordered the abandonment of the Battle of Pimphana, while making hasty decisions to prepare for the Battle of Mandalay. At that time, Lin Wei, the head of the staff group, put forward two opinions: "1. Implement the Battle of Pingmanna and strive to break through the enemy's way. In order to relieve my danger: 2. Completely get out of the enemy's encirclement, and retreat to the northeast of Shoudele. Troops will be increased and new operations will be deployed. However, Stilwell and Loh Cheuk Ying accepted the above advice and ordered the troops to retreat to the Mintilla and Min Yang lines north of Pyongmanna and south of Mandalay in preparation for the Battle of Mandalay.

The order for the disposition of the various units was: "The main force of the 5th Army should first assemble in the vicinity of Mintila and Scoop and put up a protracted resistance in the vicinity of Pyongmanna, covering the main force of the army. The 66th Army was to assemble in Mandalay and send one battalion to Minjian to guard it, and its new 38th Division was to give two regiments to Ringanqiang. They should move towards Chokpadang one by one, and work together to delay the enemy. ”

On the same day, Luo Zhuoying sent a special letter to Lin Wei and gave a detailed explanation of the deployment: "Order the Liu Division of the 66th Army (the new 28th Division) to hold Wacheng, and first send one to occupy Minyang and Tangsha, and guard the southwest; The two regiments in front of the Sun Division (the new 38th Division) blocked the enemy one by one, and converged behind Qiao Ke Bodang, taking Tangsha as the rear road, blocking the enemy's advance step by step. The 5th Army was ordered to draw 200 divisions back to occupy the line of Mintila and Piaobei, cover the upward force to advance, and use the 96th Division to resist the enemy in front of it in Pingmanna. ”

The above-mentioned deployment of Stilwell and Luo Zhuoying dispersed the main forces of the 5th Army and the 66th Army on the road line of more than 300 kilometers between Pingmanna and Mandalay, which could neither concentrate forces and attack, nor establish a solid defensive line.

Du Yuming resolutely opposed such a dispersion of troops, which were broken by the enemy, and proposed that they should either fight at Pingmanna, or concentrate their forces to protect the two major gates of Lashio, Tang Ji and Mei Miao, instead of focusing on the preparation for the Battle of Mandalay.

Luo Zhuoying completely rejected Du Liming's opinion.

Du Luming warned Luo Zhuoying: "If this decision is made, I cannot be responsible."

Stilwell sneered and said, "Doesn't the Chinese army eat and fight?"

Du Yuming unceremoniously replied to this sworn enemy: "I eat Chinese food, not British food."

A scolding war began, and Du Luming really wanted to call Zhang Ziwen directly over and kill this blind Yankee, but unfortunately he couldn't.

After the big quarrel, Du Yuming repeatedly stated. "Even if Chokberdang discovers the enemy and uses the new 38th Division to cover the retreat of the British army, our army should take into account the overall situation, and do not reject the wolf at the front door and enter the tiger at the back door, so that our expeditionary force will be completely defeated."

Stilwell and Luo Zhuoying ignored the real crisis on the Eastern Front and resolutely transferred all the three divisions of the Chinese Expeditionary Force with the strongest combat strength to the Western Front on Chokberdang. The reasons for this are; "If I don't go, the British will go."

This erroneous decision not only intensified the contradictions among the main leaders of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, but more seriously, it lost precious time to save the crisis on the Eastern Front, resulting in the Japanese 56th Division defeating the weak resistance of the Provisional 55th Division and trapping Moltke and Luo Yikao. The Eastern Front was exposed to the weak link in the defense of the Chinese Expeditionary Force.

The commander of the 15th Army, Iida, judged that the battle situation would be decided on the front line of Tangyoshi Yimin Tiela, that is, he ordered the 56th Division to break through to the Lashio side, cut off the retreat of the Chinese army, and the 18th and 55th Divisions advanced to the east and west areas of Yangmi respectively, and then advanced in the direction of Mandalay, compressing and annihilating the main force of the expeditionary force on the banks of the Irrawaddy River.

After the 599th Regiment, the vanguard of the 200th Division, arrived at Chokpatang on 20 April, it did not find the enemy, and only when the British retreated under the cover of the new 38th Division did they understand that they had fallen into the hands of the British.

Dai Anlan, who received the news, directly flipped the table, remembered Zhang Ziwen who retreated to Mandalay, and hoped that Du Luming could move him to support the Eastern Front and keep the expeditionary force retreating.

Stilwell and Luo Zhuoying had no choice but to change their decision, so that the new 22nd Division could not move in Mintiela, but still asked the 200th Division to continue to open near Chok Padang, search for the enemy situation with one division, wait for the opportunity with the main force, and support the operation of the new 38th Division.

At 11 o'clock at noon on the 20th, the Japanese army occupied Luo Yi Kao, and in the afternoon of the same day, the news of the loss of Luo Yi Kao reached the headquarters of the commander of the expeditionary force. Luo Zhuoying was at a loss and changed her decision again. The new 22nd Division was ordered to reinforce the 6th Army with a chariot and a battle defense gun, but there were no cars until the 200th Division had finished transporting half of the vehicles, and the trains were unreliable, so the 200th Division arrived at Chokpadang, and if the enemy was not in a hurry, it would wait for the new 38th Division to assemble or stand firm, and then drive back to Mintiera.

As for Zhang Ziwen's guerrilla detachment, except for Du Luming, who was a little uncomfortable and fell ill, who still remembers this unit that is not weak in combat effectiveness.