At the same time that Zhang Mingyu's troops marched out of the three passes to Wuhan, the second batch of 10 divisions and regiments of the 20 specially formed divisions and regiments of the Chinese army were all armed and transported to Vietnam by ships dispatched by the navy.

The 15th and 16th Army Corps, which had invaded Burma in advance, were not idle, and marched towards Siam (Thailand), Laos, and Cambodia in two directions, and almost swept across the entire Indochina Peninsula in less than two weeks.

By the time Zhang Mingyu's troops left the third pass, the forward troops of the 15th Army Corps had crossed the border area between Burma and Siam (Thailand) and began to march into the interior of Burma.

Almost at the same time as the army launched an attack on Burma, the combined fleet of the navy and the marines, with the cooperation of naval aircraft and ships, stormed Yangon Port, an important coastal town in Burma.

The British army in Burma was crushed at the touch of a button, and the port of Yangon was lost in less than three days, and the situation in Burma was already very clear.

However, the offensive of the Chinese army in the Indochina Peninsula directly posed a fatal threat to the national political axe, that is, the Yunnan-Burma Highway, which had just been completed not long ago, because all the ports along the coastline of China were in the hands of devils, the Yunnan-Burma Highway, as the only lifeline of communication in the rear of China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, could not be lost.

…………….

The official residence of the leader of Yucheng.

Chairman Jiang listened to the report of the chief of the guard Wang Shihe with a pale face, and after a while, Chairman Jiang slowly turned around and said in a cold tone: "Let Bai Jiansheng, Chen Cixiu and others come to see me quickly." ”

"Yes!" Wang Shihe, the chief of the guard, bowed his head respectfully, and then turned around and walked away quickly.

In less than a moment, Bai Jiansheng, chief of staff, and General Chen Cixiu walked in quickly, and when they came to Chairman Jiang, the two of them stood up and said, "Take a seat!" ”

"Oh! You guys are coming," Chairman Chiang waved his hand and said, "I think you all know the situation in Myanmar and Southeast Asia, and you all tell us your views!" ”

"Take a seat! The situation in Burma is extremely dangerous, and if the Kou succeed in occupying the entire territory of Burma, the Yunnan-Burma Highway will be completely useless. The situation we will face will be extremely difficult, so this lifeline must not be lost. Chief Bai said with an awe-inspiring expression.

"Hmm!" Admiral Chen also nodded in agreement: "Bai Jiansheng is right, the Yunnan-Burma Highway is the last external passage of our country, and it must not be lost, otherwise the southwest will be in danger and China will be in danger!" ”

Chairman Jiang paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his brows and frowning, and after pondering for a while, he frowned and said solemnly: "At present, all theaters are making every effort to counterattack Central China, and they cannot afford to transfer south to fight in Burma. ”

"Take a seat! According to intelligence, the first batch of troops to fight in Burma alone is as high as more than 70,000 people in six divisions, and there are also a large number of troops in Siam (Thailand) and Laos who are marching towards Burma. Chief Bai immediately suggested.

"Take a seat! I think Du Guangting can serve as the commander of the expeditionary force, the Fifth Army is China's first mechanized force with strong combat effectiveness, and the battle of Kunlun Pass is enough to make Yue Kou frightened, so I humbly suggest that Du Guangting serve as the commander-in-chief of the Burmese Army, and use the Fifth Army as the main force to form an expeditionary force to fight in Burma! It will certainly be able to block the frantic offensive of the Yue army, and after the complete victory of the counteroffensive in Central and South China, it can launch a counteroffensive against Burma and the Indochina Peninsula. Admiral Chen immediately hit the railway while it was hot.

After hearing General Chen's suggestion, Chairman Jiang fell into deep thought, while General Bai was displeased, originally he planned to recommend Zhang Mingyu to Chairman General as the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, which was absolutely not mixed with any personal feelings, because in his opinion, only Zhang Mingyu could lead the expeditionary force and ensure the Yunnan-Burma Highway, so the post of commander of the expeditionary force must be Zhang Mingyu.

Although Du Yuming was brave, due to the interference of Chairman Chiang's remote command, he was unable to truly bring into full play his ability, which was extremely unfavorable to the invasion of Burma.

On the other hand, Zhang Mingyu will not, facts have proved that Zhang Mingyu is completely free from external interference when he fights, although sometimes it is inevitable that there is a suspicion of disobedience, but the facts have proved that every time he disobeys orders on the battlefield is correct, because he won the battle and reversed the decline of the battlefield.

Seeing that Chairman Jiang was still hesitating, General Bai immediately suggested to him: "Commission, I think there is another person who is more suitable than Du Guangting to be the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force and command the expeditionary force to fight in Burma!" ”

"Huh?" Chairman Jiang frowned and said, "You mean Zhang Mingyu?" ”

"Yes! In terms of the command ability of soldiers, Zhang Mingyu is better than Du Guangting, and the combat effectiveness of the 42nd Group Army is not inferior to that of the Fifth Army. Chief Bai nodded.

Hearing General Bai's words, Chairman Chiang was slightly moved, in fact, Chairman Chiang knew that it was difficult and dangerous to send an expeditionary force into Burma to fight this time, and it was conceivable that the Fifth Army was an elite unit of his own lineage, and of course he did not want the Fifth Army to suffer heavy losses, but the Yunnan-Burma Highway was extremely important, and it was not necessarily useful to send a few miscellaneous armies, and if Zhang Mingyu could be allowed to lead the 42nd Group Army to take the lead, it would not be the best of both worlds for the Fifth Army to be postponed.

Thinking of this, the general frowned, stood up and said: "Jiansheng, order the Military Commission to form an expeditionary force with the Fifth, Sixth, and Sixty-sixth Armies to enter Burma in advance and help the British hold northern Burma first. Send a telegram to Zhang Mingyu again, and the 42nd Group Army will be organized as the second route of the expeditionary force, and let him lead all the 42nd Group Army to rush south to fight in Burma, and the Yunnan-Burma Highway must not be lost, and tell Zhang Mingyu that he must immediately carry out the order, otherwise the military law will deal with it! ”

"Commission, Zhang Mingyu is currently leading the 202nd Division and the 203rd Division of the 42nd Group Army into Wuhan, because the Ninth Theater has not yet fully recovered its combat strength, so the 42nd Group Army may not be able to be transferred at this time, and the 201st Division is guarding Beiping in case of a counteroffensive by the Tianjin Army, and it cannot be moved lightly." General Bai was immediately taken aback by Chairman Chiang's deployment, and if the 42nd Group Army was transferred to fight in Burma now, the situation of the counteroffensive in Central China would immediately fall into adversity.

It is likely that the army will take the opportunity to counterattack, and then the situation will be unimaginable.

"Bai Jiansheng is right!" General Chen glanced at General Bai and said: "Commission, I think it is okay to do this, first let Du Guangting lead the first expeditionary force into Burma to fight, not to win, just to delay the offensive of the army, and order the 42nd Group Army and the Ninth Theater to go all out to counterattack, and strive to take Wuhan as soon as possible, and then the 42nd Group Army will immediately go to Burma with the whole army." ”

"Hmm!" Chairman Jiang pondered for a while and said, "That's it!" ”

………………

Lishan County (now Dawu County. To the north of Pingwu Town, fierce battles are raging.

Two hours ago, Zhang Mingyu personally led the main force of the Second Division to arrive here, and immediately launched an attack on Pingwu Town, an important town at the gateway of Lishan County, and stationed in Pingwu Town, there were two infantry wings and an artillery wing of the Yue Army with a total strength of about 8,000 people, although the combat effectiveness of these two field wings was not very strong, but they completely relied on the spirit of bushido to wage a desperate struggle with the Second Division, and did not give up an inch of land, and the battle entered a white-hot battle at the beginning.

Ren Hui, commander of the Second Brigade of the Second Division, was ordered to lead the Second Brigade as the main attack, and because the devils relied on Yixiu's field fortifications to resist desperately, the battle entered a white-hot stage from the beginning.

Seeing that the attacks failed again and again, Ren Hui, who was extremely anxious, even personally led the assault team to attack several times, but they were all repelled by the Yue army.

In the former enemy command post of the Second Brigade, Zhang Mingyu saw through the telescope that the attack of the Second Brigade had been repulsed again, and he couldn't help but scold angrily: "Order the Air Force to dispatch immediately and bombard me with a son of a bitch!" ”

"Yes!" Xu Wen next to him immediately stepped forward to answer, and immediately turned around and ran quickly towards the communications department.

At this time, Ren Hui strode in with a dejected face, and when he saw Zhang Mingyu, he stood up and said: "General seat, Ren Hui is incompetent, he failed to press the position of the devil, please punish the general seat!" ”

"Punish a fart!" Zhang Mingyu scolded angrily: "Listen, your task is to do everything possible to take down the devil's position for me, and you don't have to worry about the rest." ”

"Yes!" Ren Hui snapped forward and said, "Guarantee to complete the task!" ”

At this moment, Xu Wen, who had just gone out not long ago, went back and forth, and stood up and said, "General seat, Chairman Jiang personally sent an urgent telegram!" ”

"Huh? Chairman? Zhang Mingyu was obviously taken aback, and at this juncture, Chairman Jiang personally sent an urgent telegram, and it seemed that something serious had happened. immediately took the telegram from Xu Wen's hand, and after reading it at a glance, Zhang Mingyu's face suddenly became solemn.

It was not Chairman Chiang's telegram that made him anxious, but the intelligence mentioned in the telegram, saying that the 100,000-strong army of Kou entered Burma, and the British army was almost defeated without a fight, Burma is not very important to China, but the Yunnan-Burma highway leading to Burma is different, it is simply too important for China, since the northeast coast, the eastern coast and the southeast coast cities and ports have been lost one after another, the Yunnan-Burma highway has become the last external passage for the national political axe.

At the same time, it is also the only life channel for the country's anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians, and all the anti-Japanese war materials purchased by the national political axe overseas and donated by overseas Chinese rely on this Yunnan-Burma highway to be transported into the southwest of the country to transfuse blood for the entire anti-Japanese war.

If the entire territory of Burma is occupied by the Yukou, not to mention that the lifeline of the Yunnan-Burma Highway will be cut off, it is very likely that the southwest will also be in danger.

Thinking of this, Zhang Mingyu was suddenly frightened, he didn't dare to imagine that if the Yue army invaded southwest China from Burma and Vietnam at the same time, the consequences would be terrible, first of all, Yu Hanmou's counteroffensive plan in the sixth theater would be frustrated, and it might be collapsed by the Yue army.

Moreover, Yunnan, Zhang Mingyu does not think that the so-called 100,000 security forces of Yunnan Wang Longyun can block the attack of the Yue army, in fact, the most terrible thing is the joint reaction, if the whole [***] people learn that the army is coming from the rear, the ironclad army will be in turmoil, and the morale of the army will be greatly boosted, and it will definitely take the opportunity to counterattack, and when the time comes, the morale of the troops in the [***] theater will be in turmoil, and it is beyond the power of manpower to reverse, and the situation will become unpredictable.

For today's plan, Zhang Mingyu can only completely and quickly solve the Wuhan army, and then immediately wave his army south to fight in Burma!

Thinking of this, Zhang Mingyu immediately got up and said to Xu Wen: "Immediately call Yan Xishan back and ask him to take over the defense of Beiping, and after the handover of the first division and the Jin Sui army, he will immediately wave his division south to prepare to fight in Burma." ”

"Ahh Total seat? Abandon Beiping? Xu Wen was shocked when he heard this.

"That's right! Abandon Beiping. Zhang Mingyu said in a calm tone.

"But, General Seat, Beiping City was finally recovered by our 42nd Group Army, so it's a pity to give it to Yan Laoxi's Jin Sui Army like this!" Xu Wen was a little unwilling.

"There's nothing to be sorry for! Let's withdraw from Beiping, and we are not giving it to the devils. And there's more important things we need to do! That is to expedition to Burma and defend the great southwest! Zhang Mingyu said with a solemn expression: "Execute the order!" ”

"But..."Xu Wen saw that Zhang Mingyu had made up his mind, and he didn't speak, so he sighed and turned to leave.

………….

Pingyang City, the residence of Yan Xishan.

Since the war in North China has been falling behind, the Jin Sui army has hardly had any major things except for Chang Yinglian. And because Taiyuan was in the hands of the 42nd Group Army, Yan Xishan Suo set up his residence in Pingyang County.

At this time, Yan Xishan was lying on the rattan chair and closed his eyes to recuperate, only to hear the sudden sound of hurried footsteps outside the door, Chief Yan opened his eyes slightly, and saw the attendant adjutant Xu Youde striding in with excitement on his face, and said in surprise: "Boss, great joy!" ”

"Huh? What's the matter? Chief Yan said casually.

"I just received an urgent telegram from General Zhang Mingyu, commander-in-chief of the 42nd Group Army." Xu Youde is happy with the way of color.

"Oh? Zhang Mingyu? What did he do? Could it be that you want to return the hungry Taiyuan? Chief Yan asked in surprise.

"Total seat! You are really clever, you guessed it, Zhang Mingyu is going to give us a city, but it is not Taiyuan, but Beiping City, which is bigger and better than Taiyuan! Xu Youde said with great joy.

"What? What do you say? Did you hear it wrong? You repeat. Chief Yan stood up in shock and said.

"Total seat! You heard it right, Zhang Mingyu said in the telegram that he would hand over Beiping to us to garrison! Xu Youde said excitedly.

"Hahahaha! I heard you right, hahaha! Zhang Mingyu, this kid is really good, haha, much stronger than someone. Chief Yan burst out laughing incoherently in surprise.

Beiping City, that is not comparable to a Taiyuan City, no matter what purpose Zhang Mingyu is in to give Beiping to him, it is enough for Chief Yan to be ecstatic.

At this time, after several years of development, the combat effectiveness of the Jin Sui Army was not what it used to be compared with the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, and with the large number of weapons and equipment purchased from Zhang Mingyu's arsenal and the equipment of the troops, the combat effectiveness of all units of the Jin Sui Army was generally improved.

At this time, Yan Xishan had four group armies and several reading divisions and brigades in his hands, with more than 200,000 troops, which could be described as strong.

In Commander Yan's view, with his 200,000 male soldiers, there was no problem in facing the Okamura Ningji Division, which was beaten by the 42nd Group Army and cowered in Tianjin.

After a period of ecstasy, Chief Yan immediately regained his composure and said to Xu Youde: "Adjutant Xu, immediately telegraph Yang Aiyuan and prepare to take over Beiping City!" We must remember not to have contradictions and frictions with the 42nd Group Army, and try to let them go, as long as they are willing to give up Beiping City, everything is easy to say. ”

"Yes!" Xu Youde snapped up and stood upright, then turned around and strode away.

……………

The former enemy headquarters of the 42nd Group Army in Pingwu Town.

"Total seat! Yan Laoxi called back, he fully agreed to take over Beiping City, and called back to thank you. Xu Wen reported to Zhang Mingyu with a solemn expression.

"Hmmm! Know, it would be strange if Yan Laoxi didn't want Beiping City. Zhang Mingyu nodded. Then he said to Xu Wen: "By the way, you send another urgent telegram to General Xue Yue, commander-in-chief of the Ninth Theater, in my own name, asking him to immediately lead the troops of the Ninth Theater to the river, and join our troops to attack Wuhan, and recover Wuhan as soon as possible!" ”

"Total seat! Will General Xue Yue listen to us? Xu Wen couldn't help asking, although Zhang Mingyu and Xue Yue were of the same level, after all, Xue Yue had higher qualifications than Zhang Mingyu, and he was also the confidant of the chairman of the committee.

"Yes! I think General Xue Yue should know that the current situation in Burma is not optimistic, and if Wuhan is captured earlier, our 42nd Group Army will also be able to move southward as soon as possible, and I believe that he should know this better than anyone else. Zhang Mingyu nodded.

"Yes!" Xu Wen snapped up and stood upright, then turned around and strode away.

After Xu Wen left, Zhang Mingyu said to Ling Tianbao, the commander of the Second Division: "Tianbao, order all regiments to immediately launch an attack on Pingwu Town, and give me the shortest time to take Pingwu Town at all costs!" ”

"Yes!" Ling Tianbao snapped forward, and immediately turned around and walked away quickly.

………

In Jiujiang, due to the timely delivery of relief materials from the 42nd Group Army, the plague virus was effectively suppressed, and hundreds of thousands of Jiujiang people were spared except for a few people, but the officers and men of the 58th Division, who were the first to rush into the city, left the world forever with full regret.

General Xue Yue ordered people to build a tomb on the bank of the Yangtze River outside Jiujiang City, where the officers and soldiers of the 58th Division were buried together, and erected a tombstone to be admired by future generations.

Lushan, inside the General Headquarters of the Ninth Theater of Operations.

General Xue Yue was reading the telegram sent to him by Zhang Mingyu, and after a while, General Xue Yue got up and said to the attendant adjutant: "Call the officers at and above the division level and ask them to come to the headquarters immediately for a meeting!" ”

"Yes!" The aide-de-camp snapped to his feet, and then gladly took the order.

(To be continued)