Baoshan, known as Yongchang in ancient times, is located in the southwest of Yunnan Province, located on the north side of the Tropic of Cancer, with a warm and humid climate in all seasons, no severe cold in winter and no scorching heat in summer. It is located 486 kilometers away from the provincial capital Kongming www.biquge.info is connected to the mountains and rivers of Myanmar outside, and adjacent to Dali, Lincang and other regions.

Like many urban terrains located in the Hengduan Mountains, the terrain within its territory is complex, with more than ninety percent of the area under its jurisdiction being mountainous terrain and a vertical and horizontal river network, which is very unfavorable for the assault of large troops. The topography of the China-Myanmar border is much more complex than that of the southwest. The large and small mountains that continue from the Gaoligong Mountain and the Savage Mountain in the middle, as well as countless rivers and primeval forests, enclose the border between the two countries even more tightly.

As early as shortly after the outbreak of the armed conflict between China and Britain, Cai Ye had already received a notice of appointing him as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy. As the commander-in-chief of the British operation, and after leaving the rear to the political commissar to sit in charge, Cai Ye and his party rushed all the way from Kangding to Baoshan. Of course, he did not come here for a vacation, but deliberately set up the front-line headquarters for the self-defense counterattack against the British here. The purpose of his visit was simple, that is, to strengthen the combat conviction of all the troops on the front line and to teach the British an incomparably painful lesson.

"Judging from the intelligence, not counting a local regiment used by the British to interfere in Tibetan affairs, the British troops fighting in the southwest this time are mainly divided into three parts: the native army, the Anglo-Indian army, and the Anglo-Burmese army, with a total number of about 50,000 people. It sounds like a lot of people, but the ones that really deserve our attention are just one British native brigade and two Gurkha regiments, and as for the rest of the Anglo-Indian army and the Anglo-Burmese army, it is really not worth mentioning. At this time, Cai Ye's expression was much more relaxed than when he came.

Chief of Staff Lan Tianwei pondered for a long time, took a pencil and gestured on the map, and only raised his head and said: "The commander is right, as long as we can defeat these two forces, then we can concentrate our superior forces and teach the British a painful lesson." ”

Cai Yi nodded secretly and said: "That's right, but the British native brigade and Gurkha troops, that's not a good stubble!" ”

"Commander, you are a fan of the authorities, although the British Gurkha regiment is elite, but don't forget that their specialty is mountain warfare. If we put it in Tibet, we might find it troublesome, but now on the Sino-Burmese border, where the primeval forests are dense and there are jungles everywhere, I am sure that they are definitely no match for the 6th Division, which is good at jungle warfare. Besides, judging from the comprehensive intelligence of various aspects, the British do not know much about our army at all, perhaps in their cognition, we are still no different from the Manchus, they only need tens of thousands of troops all the time, and they can fight all the way to Kunming. Speaking of this, Lan Tianwei's tone was a little hateful, and her face was full of disdain for the British.

"Haha, Ji Hao, what you said is very right, then let's prepare well and give the British an unexpected surprise!" Hearing the words of the chief of staff, Cai Yi's eyes suddenly lit up. Lan Tianwei is right, you must know that the Sixth Division has been trained according to the jungle combat division since the day it was formed, jungle combat and mountain warfare, these are two subjects that are not very different from each other, and the two really can't be compared.

This is also the purpose of Cai Yi's purpose in setting up his headquarters so close to the front line this time. The construction of the southwest is already at a critical juncture, and once the British are allowed to drive straight in, the foundation that the Communist Party has saved will be over. After coming to Baoshan, according to the information gathered from many sides, he had already strengthened his belief that he would teach the British a painful lesson.

In the past two days, Cai Ye has not been idle, he and Chief of Staff Lan Tianwei took a group of young staff officers to gather all kinds of information, and finally understood the situation thoroughly.

"Comrades, two days ago, in defiance of the solemn warnings and protests of the government in the southwest of our country, British imperialism brazenly provoked an armed conflict on our border, causing bloodshed, and its wolf ambitions were clearly exposed. When we could no longer bear it, our party and our government made up their minds to carry out a self-defense counterattack against Britain. Next, please ask Chief of Staff Lan Tianwei to introduce the war situation. Cai Yi's face was solemn.

I saw Lan Tianwei stand up, picked up the baton and pointed to the map: "This time, our army will gather five infantry divisions to implement the plan of self-defense and counterattack against the British, the first offensive echelon is the fourth, sixth and eleventh divisions, and the second echelon is the second and third divisions. The British army we will face this time is a native brigade, four divisions and three brigades of Anglo-Indian troops, and one Anglo-Burmese division, totaling more than 50,000 people. Although the strength of the two sides is roughly the same, in terms of the quality of troops, weaponry, and logistical support, our army is more than a little bit stronger than the British army. ”

As soon as Lan Tianwei said this, the division commanders and political commissars sitting on both sides of the conference table smiled knowingly. This is really true, you must know that in the armed conflict two days ago, the British tried to annihilate their own patrol with several times the number of troops, but the patrol withstood the British offensive with a strong firepower advantage, and when the reinforcements arrived, although they suffered more than ten soldiers, the British obviously did not please them, and their casualties were as good as they were.

In a situation where the Sino-Burmese border is densely packed with jungles and water networks are extremely unfavorable to the operation of the troops, and in such a situation where heavy firepower cannot be fully deployed, the southwestern army, which is equipped with semi-automatic firepower and portable artillery, obviously has an advantage over the British army that uses a single one.

Waiting for Lan Tianwei to sit down again, Cai Yi pressed his hand and said loudly: "Next, issue a combat order." ”

Cai Yi's voice fell to the ground, and all the senior officers present were chest straight and sat straight. I only heard the chief of staff Lan Tianwei re-speak: "This operation will be divided into two fronts, east and west. Among them, the Western Front will be composed of the 6th and 11th Divisions; The Western Front consisted of the 4th Division alone. Division Commander Zhang, Political Commissar Zhao, the task of your 6th Division is to recover the Jiangxinpo area after gathering and destroying the enemy in front of you, and advance the battle line to the Savage Mountain line with the 11th Division, with the target of the British native brigade and one division of the British and Indian Army, and to capture Myitkyina in Burma as appropriate. ”

"Please rest assured, our Sixth Division will guarantee the completion of the mission!" Zhang Wenguang doesn't know how to speak, and his two concise and capable sentences show his attitude.

"Master Ye, Political Commissar Han. The task of your 11th Division is to advance all the way to the west, and its objective is to occupy the 1st Division and 1st Brigade of the British and Indian Army, capture the shoals and Langtao, and advance the battle line to the border between southern Tibet and India to consolidate the defensive line, so as to attract the attention of the British army and share the pressure on the troops in Tibet. ”

"Yes!" Ye Quan, the commander of the 11th Division, also simply stated his position. This officer who stayed in Japan looks very elegant, but he is not only extremely strict with the soldiers, but also very strict with himself, although the 11th Division has only been in the army for more than half a year, but its combat effectiveness is still quite extraordinary.

"As for Commander Luo's Fourth Division, it will attack from the front line of Jianglin and Canglan, recover Jingdong and other places, and go straight to Lashio, and solve the enemy in front of him with one division each of the British and Indian Army and the British and Burmese Army."

"Yes! Guaranteed completion of the task. ”

"And the 2nd and 3rd Divisions, as the general reserve of the whole army, are training while adapting to the environment here, and are ready to fight at any time."

"Yes!" The two division commanders, Li Hongxiang and Li Gengen, were full of helplessness, and even the momentum of replying at this time was a little weaker. But who is to blame for this? Both of them were stationed in Chengdu and Guizhou, and they were simply not adapted to fighting in such a humid climate. Before the battle, it was already three points weaker.

Cai Ye said with a serious face: "I can clearly tell you that the magnitude of this combat mission will be unprecedented, not only the main force responsible for the attack, but also the reinforcements of the second line, and they must be ready at any time." I hope you don't let me down, don't let the motherland, don't let the people down! ”

"Yes!!" After Cai finished speaking, the main commanders and fighters present stood up and saluted.

In this operation, the 6th Division had a difficult task, and its route of advance was not only in the uninhabited primeval forest area, but also in the face of the enemy with the most powerful native army and Gurkha regiment. But Zhang Wenguang, commander of the Sixth Division, still accepted the task with confidence. Without him, because they are professional jungle combatists.

"Our goal is to teach the arrogant empire that the sun never sets a lesson that will never be forgotten!!" At the end of the meeting, Cai Ye made up his mind to talk to the officers.