Seeing off the king's envoy who had secretly visited, Zhao Tiehu also wrote a handwritten letter, asking the envoy to pass it on to the king who had just inherited the throne for less than two years. As for the choice that young king will make in the end, Zhao Tiehu only needs to wait.

The 1st Division of the 4th Theater captured Saigon in one fell swoop, and according to Zhao Tiehu's order, the main forces of the 1st Division, 1st Regiment and 2nd Regiment under his command were transferred to begin an offensive around Saigon. Strive to expand the strategic depth of the 1st Division before the arrival of Japanese reinforcements.

In order to prevent the Japanese army from detecting the combat intentions of the Xinghua army, Zhao Tiehu did not order the troops to advance to the hinterland of Annam. However, the 3rd Division and the 4th Infantry Brigade of the 4th Theater of Operations had already been ordered to assemble in the area bordering Laos and Annam.

As long as Zhao Tiehu was under his order, the main forces assembled in the area would cooperate with the southern Yunnan and Gui armies, which were also assembled, to outflank the Japanese troops in the encircled area. If you want to complete the outflanking, it will naturally take time.

In addition, in order to ensure the victory of the battle, in the Hainan area, which is now controlled by the Japanese army, a main division of the third theater of the Xinghua Army has been secretly transported to the wolf's den in the island area through various ship berths to wait and lurk.

In a word, for a long time in the future, around the control of Southeast Asia, the Xinghua army and the Japanese army will have a protracted war to fight. As the commander-in-chief of the Xinghua Army, Zhao Tiehu also needs to stay here for a while.

As for the situation in Nanyang, through the secret telegram sent by the Salvation Association, Zhao Tiehu also seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. As far as he is concerned, he really doesn't want to go to war with the little devils. Controlling the war in Southeast Asia is also the situation he wants to see the most.

It was learned that the Japanese army stationed in French Indochina had transferred the strength of a division and planned to encircle and suppress the Xinghua army that occupied the Saigon area. After reading the map, Zhao Tiehu felt that the Japanese army's practice of demolishing the east wall and making up the west wall would only make him exhausted.

Many of the troops of this patchwork Japanese division were drawn from Phnom Penh and Vientiane (the capital of Vientiane Laos). Zhao Tiehu felt that he could make the rest of the troops in the Fourth War Zone move.

Looking at the map of the French Indochina Theater hanging in the war room, Zhao Tiehu looked at the map that was very impressive and said: "Order, the Fourth Infantry Brigade of the Fourth Theater of Operations will immediately launch an operation codenamed Mae Yu and build up the momentum of the operation."

All the Japanese defense areas located on both sides of the Mekong River can be beaten. Remember, this battle is mainly about destroying the enemy, supplemented by occupation. Wolf's dens all over the river, fully cooperating with the 4th Infantry Brigade in this operation. ”

The Mekong River is an important freshwater river that flows through China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Annam, and finally flows into the South China Sea via Saigon. This river is undoubtedly very important for the countries of Southeast Asia.

Although the Japanese army formed river defense units in the river, the combat effectiveness of these river defense units should not be the opponent of the Fourth Infantry Brigade in Zhao Tiehu's opinion. What's more, this operation also has the cooperation of wolf's den squads from all over the country.

When he rushed to Southeast Asia earlier, Zhao Tiehu formulated a secret plan called 'Mei Yu'. Leading this plan is the 4th Infantry Brigade of the 4th Theater of Operations, which is currently assembled in the border between Laos and Annam.

After receiving the telegram from Zhao Tiehu, he also learned that the First Division had recovered the Fourth Infantry Brigade in Saigon, and it was clear that if they wanted to expand into the Fourth Division of the Fourth Theater, they must show excellent combat exploits.

Seeing that the operation could finally be started, the brigade commander Sun Xingyao also said excitedly: "Brothers, the telegram from the commander-in-chief has arrived, and we can finally do it." Have the troops of each regiment been assembled in place? ”

Several regiment commanders who were summoned for a meeting said in unison with excited expressions: "Brigade commander, you have already been in place." It's ready to take action, so give the order! ”

"Good! In that case, let's get moving. Remember what I told you earlier, this operation is crucial to the war zone. I hope that after the battle starts, the Japanese army's important water supply line will be completely cut off, understand? ”

"Yes!"

As an important water supply line for the Japanese army in French Indochina, this Tamsui River, which passed through many countries, was undoubtedly very important to the Japanese troops in various parts of the country, compared to transporting supplies through those dense jungles.

It's just that the river defense troops stationed in various places by the Japanese army also serve as garrison troops in various places. This also means that usually at night, these river defense units will be rebuilt. And the operation of the 4th Brigade naturally started at night.

The reason why this operation was carried out was to be carried out by the 4th Brigade, rather than by the 3rd Division, which had more troops and combat effectiveness. The reason for this is also because many officers and men of the Fourth Infantry Brigade were shipwrights before joining the army.

In addition, the 4th Brigade has also been operating in the Mekong region, specializing in combat missions of sneak attacks on imp transport ships. In view of these circumstances, Zhao Tiehu finally handed over the task of the 'Mae Yu' operation to the Fourth Brigade of the Fourth Theater of Operations.

In fact, when the 1st Division took the Saigon area, the river wharf flowing through Saigon was inevitably controlled by the Xinghua Army. The Japanese river defense units upstream of the estuary are also anxious to restore this river transportation channel.

It is a pity that the Japanese river defense troops assembled upstream also launched several charges. Without exception, they were all repelled by the river-guarding troops of the Xinghua Army. Such a situation also made many Japanese troops upstream feel a little headache.

I have to say that the capture of Saigon by the Xinghua Army really caused an unusual headache for the Japanese garrisons stationed in Laos and Annam, who needed to rely on the Mekong River to transport supplies.

The materials looted in the colony could not be transported, and some of the war readiness materials needed by the Japanese army could not be transported in, so it was no wonder that these little devils were in such a hurry. For this reason, among the troops of the Japanese counterattack on Saigon, there was also an elite river defense unit coordinated by the navy.

In addition to this, the large Japanese forces that had begun to assemble in the Phnom Penh area had already begun to advance towards the Saigon area. The route traveled by this force was the land route from Saigon to Phnom Penh.

In order to ensure the safety of the subsequent march of large troops, the Japanese army naturally needed to control this land passage in advance. It's just that for Zhao Tiehu, the Second Infantry Division, which was lurking in the place in advance, had been preparing for a long time.

However, when he learned that the vanguard of the Japanese army had come out, Zhao Tiehu instructed the Second Infantry Division to slow down the march of the vanguard of the Japanese army by attacking and harassing small troops. In this way, it also made the Japanese army feel that it was necessary to explore the way.

Mine warfare, sniper warfare, sparrow warfare, these tactics used by the Eighth Route Army in the anti-Japanese battlefield were all used by the small detachments of the Second Division. As a result, the vanguard of the Japanese army, which was responsible for exploring the way, had a somewhat annoying sense of helplessness.

Fortunately, there were not many troops attacking and harassing, and for the large Japanese troops who were about to leave, there was still no big problem. What's more, the Japanese troops who came by ship from Hainan and Guangxi have already completed the assembly first.

These troops will encircle the Hung Hwa Army assembled in the Saigon area by sea. Even in order to block the sea transportation lines of the Xinghua Army, the Japanese army also stepped up patrols in the Beibu Gulf and the South China Sea.

Fortunately, before the battle started, Zhao Tiehu transported a large number of weapons and equipment and supplies in advance. Coupled with the weapons, ammunition and materials that the Xinghua Army has seized from the Japanese army, even without the support of the Nanyang side, there is no fear at all.

When the navy of the little devils began to assemble near the South China Sea, the submarine force under Zhao Tiehu had also submarined to Beibu Gulf and other places. has been monitoring the movements of the little devil navy, waiting for Zhao Tiehu's order at any time.

In the Beibu Gulf region of the South China Sea, the Japanese army organized such a massive encirclement and suppression operation, and naturally could not escape the monitoring of the Allied forces. On the part of the Allies, who were engaged in the battle with the Japanese army, they were undoubtedly very happy to learn that the Xinghua Army was at war with the Japanese army in Southeast Asia.

The Allied forces, which were fighting with the main forces of the Japanese army in northern Burma, organized a large number of expeditionary forces to fight against the Japanese army. However, many of the Allied forces that had withdrawn to India earlier also joined the battle.

In view of this situation, the Allies also indicated that they would send their navy and air force to support the Hung Hwa Army in the Saigon area against the Japanese in the later stage. Regarding the Allied side's expression, Zhao Tiehu did not refuse or expect too much.

Again, Zhao Tiehu did not want the Allies to intervene in the war between the Xinghua Army and the Japanese army. If you accept the support of the allies, will the territory that has been conquered at that time be counted as the allies or the Xinghua army?

As for the Japanese aviation, in the dense jungle areas of Southeast Asia, the role is actually not great. What's more, the little devil really dared to organize a large-scale air raid, and Zhao Tiehu dared to order the wolf warrior to organize elite troops to attack the Japanese airfield.

Just when the Japanese army was in full swing to draw limited forces, trying to completely annihilate the troops assembled by the Xinghua Army in Southeast Asia in one fell swoop. The Japanese river defense units located on both sides of the Mekong River also welcomed a group of uninvited guests.

When the gunshots rang out on the bank of the river defense, the Japanese garrison stationed in the small town not far from the river defense wharf naturally came to the rescue urgently. But to the collapse of the Japanese army, shortly after leaving the city, they were ambushed by a large army.

Looking at the main force of the Xinghua Army coming out from everywhere, these Japanese commanders stationed in the local area couldn't help but be shocked: "Baga, this is not a guerrilla, this is the main force of the Xinghua Army." How did they get here? ”

It is not once or twice that the guerrillas have attacked and harassed the river defense units. But this time, looking at these uniformed troops, no matter how stupid the Japanese garrison was, they knew that this was not a guerrilla, but the main combat force of the Xinghua Army.

Situations like this are spreading rapidly across the banks of the Mekong River. Several Japanese river defense squadrons were completely annihilated or captured by the Xinghua Army troops during the night attack. As for the small city where they were stationed, it was also occupied by the raiding Xinghua army.

Relying on a large number of river defense boats captured from the Japanese army, the 4th Infantry Brigade also divided its troops into two routes, attacking from upstream and downstream respectively. This also means that the troops deployed by the Japanese army in the areas along the river may be attacked by the Xinghua army.

The most lethal thing is that the two cities of Phnom Penh and Vientiane, which are currently under the control of the Japanese army, are on the banks of the Mekong River. Once the Japanese army loses control of the river defense, it will also pose a fatal threat to the Japanese garrisons stationed in the above two places!