readx; Because of the fall of Lashio, all the cars running the Yunnan-Burma Road crowded in the direction of Myitkyina. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 infoSome of them are rushing to transport the backlog of aid materials in Myanmar. And more are pretending to be the property of the annihilators who engaged in illegal business and resold arms on the Yunnan-Burma Highway. On the truck, there are military blankets, leather shoes, raincoats, tires, cigarettes, canned food, tea, cloth, and even perfumes, bras, and high heels. How many merchants and thieves have bred on a Burma road.

The Burma Road is bleeding and pus.

The chariots, artillery fire, and personnel carriers of the expeditionary force were mixed with the chaotic flow of people and vehicles, and slowly crawled.

The car stops and goes, starts once, and can only walk one or two hundred meters, and cannot walk twenty or thirty miles a day. Some sections of the road are jammed with cars tens of kilometers long. The driver simply spread out the bedding, slept under the car, and woke up before leaving.

Refugees, often on foot, overtake the car and walk to the front. So the soldiers, wearing helmets and guns in their arms, stayed in the car and were bored, and they had a good opportunity to see the "Western scenery", and they could carefully watch the men and women passing by the car from a relatively high angle.

Refugees come in all shapes and sizes. There were Indians who came to Burma to work, there were black Africans and British colonial rulers who resold jewelry, and more often there were Burmese natives. In contrast, Burmese men are more lazy and appear shriveled. The men also wore tube skirts, which were loose and loose, and they were very careless with a knot at the waist, and they walked with a swagger. But initiating a hurry, working and doing things, a top one. On the way to escape, some men carried a bag in their left hand and a bag in their right hand, and they also carried bags under their two armpits, like acrobatic strongmen. Some pull a child with their left hand and a child with their right hand, and they still ride a child around their necks, like monkeys. But in any case, the man in the skirt always makes the Chinese soldiers look at it very unpleasantly.

Burmese women are all smart and can do it. Each person carried a pair of large bamboo baskets and walked forward with a twist. They were dressed in a single outfit, with a thin tube skirt and a tight undershirt on the top. The skirt, which could not have been longer, dragged all the way to the ground; And the undershirt is so short that it can't be shorter, it's just a small vest. Between the undershirt and the skirt, there is a white and tender waist like shallots. Women's blouses make sense. The absence of sleeves is to show off the jade bracelet on the wrist, and the neckline is open low to reveal the jeweled necklace. You must know that Myanmar is a place rich in jade, gold and silver! The tube skirt is novel in style, thin as cicada wings, and the color is gorgeous, like flowers all over the mountains. The gems of Myanmar's landscapes dress women up like fairies.

It's a pity that it's a refugee, everyone has a sad look on their faces, if they rush to the temple fair or the Songkran Festival, how happy it should be! Looking at the groups of refugees hurrying by, some soldiers couldn't help but feel stunned:

"Alas, just for the sake of these poor Burmese women, they shouldn't have lost the battle!"

Du Yuming's face was gloomy, and he sat in an open-top jeep without saying a word. When he left Mandalay, he changed cars. The beloved "Chevrolet" was squeamish and could not run the mountain roads of northern Myanmar, so it was retired halfway. In order to avoid saying that he was doing anything in the car of the deputy commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, the driver had no choice but to push the "Chevrolet" down the Irrawaddy River.

This incident seems small, but it has caused great pain in Du Yuming's heart. On the distraught march, you can no longer lock yourself in a closed carriage and think about what you should think. As a commander, the inability to even create a small environment for himself to develop his thoughts without interference already shows that the war is completely hopeless.

There is only one thing Du Yuming can think about and do now -- to seize Myitkyina, open up a bloody road, and withdraw troops and equipment to the country.

On the night of 9 May, the troops arrived at Kassa, and Myitkyina was not far away.

But on this dark and dreary night, I heard an Indian radio broadcast on the radio:

On May 8, the army captured Myitkyina.

A blow to the head, a punch to the chest. Du Yuming felt his head buzzing, his chest aching hotly, and beads of sweat dripping down.

For a few days, Du Yuming had only one Myitkyina in his heart. This important town in northern Myanmar, which is only separated from Gaoligong Mountain in Yunnan, China, is like a light in the vast night sky, hanging above Du Yuming's head. Suddenly, the light went out, and the last shimmer of light vanished. Suddenly, the world was plunged into darkness.

Du Yuming sat alone in a low, dimly lit marching tent. He felt his chest tighten and his whole body was hot, so he got up and stepped out of the tent.

It's not cool outside the tent either. May is the hottest month of the year in Myanmar. The ground was steaming hot, and the air was sticky. Hungry mosquitoes buzzed in a hurry. And what is even more painful is the psychological disorder. If the heart is quiet, it will be cold, and if the heart is restless, it will be hot. The deputy commander didn't even notice that he was facing his army in the dark with his waistcoat and shoes on.

The black ground is a long convoy of vehicles, all kinds of vehicles, neatly arranged. On and off the bus, the soldiers camping were snoring. The night sky is clear and cloudless, with stars and twinkling stars.

Du Yuming suddenly paid attention to the starry sky. At first glance, the vast starry sky is chaotic and clueless; In fact, there are even seats and fights, and there are doors and roads, such as soldiers in formation. Among them, the mystery is deep, the mystery is dense, and it is unfathomable.

How much like the war situation in Burma!

For the first time, Du Yuming felt that leading the troops to fight and fighting on the battlefield was like stargazing and exploring mysteries, confusing and elusive.

In a world where real swords and guns and strong people survive, when people are cornered, they will also get a moment of comfort in the shadow of fatalism.

Standing on the empty hillside, looking at the rolling mountains under the moonlight, the reckless jungle, and the endless convoy and the gray marching tent on the highway up close, Du Yuming felt heavy:

How to bring these tens of thousands of horses back home?

The next day, Du Yuming decided that the troops would return to China by different routes and seek their own survival. He led the headquarters of the 5th Army and Liao Yaoxiang's new 22nd Division to leave the Miwa Highway and divert to the northwest. After walking for a few days, the situation is getting worse and worse. The road became narrower and narrower, with towering trees on both sides, covering the clouds. As the convoy marched, the atmosphere of terror and oppression was breathless.

As soon as the team arrived, they arrived at a small village called Dongdong Mountain. Further on, there is a deserted primeval jungle. Not even a cattle lane.

The huge convoy was blocked out of the jungle and could not move.

A mechanized army, which finally came to a dead end.

Du Yuming jumped out of the jeep and looked around to check the terrain. But there was a broken rock behind the village. Beneath the broken rock, there is a canyon. In the canyon, the fog rises and is unfathomable. The mountain wind blew, the forest was bursting, and the tiger roared and the ape cried.

There is no road in front and there are pursuers behind, what should I do with the troops, what should I do with the vehicles and equipment? Du Yuming walked around the village a few times, and his determination was difficult. Looking at the chariots and cannons parked on the road, I don't feel distressed!

These equipment were bought by the Chinese with their blood and lives during the War of Resistance for several years. Some tanks and artillery, before they had time to shoot a cannon on the battlefield in Burma, threw them away in vain, that was the flesh that ripped off his heart!

It wasn't until the sun was in the west that Du Yuming gave the order that made him regret it for the rest of his life:

Abandon the car and go up the mountain!

The officers and men removed the gun mirror from the cannon, removed the inner tube of the car, and a number of other important parts. Then, blow up all the vehicles, artillery.

This is equivalent to cutting off one's own arms and legs!

Before the day fell, the officers and men carried light weapons, led the mules and horses they had been assigned, and went into the boundless and reckless tropical jungle.

Outside the jungle, the wreckage of tank artillery was left, which was the cemetery of the mechanized troops of the Chinese Expeditionary Force!

Leaving Da Luo, Du Yuming lay on a stretcher and was carried by the guards.

The regression fever continued to torment him, and his temperature rose again. He was sometimes awake, sometimes fainting. He kept repeating one sentence:

Don't stay, and move forward even if you die

Showers are slow and sharp, and thunder rumbles overhead. The troops walked hard for another day in the dense forest.

When they camped in the evening, the exhausted soldiers looked back and saw that the mango grove they had left in the morning was still on the hillside behind them, and they had only walked four or five miles that day!

The road is so difficult, at this rate, when will you get out of the jungle?

The most fatal thing is that there is no food, and the officers and men have not eaten a grain of rice, and they only rely on wild fruits to satisfy their hunger. During the camp, the officers and soldiers were hungry and cold, and the voices were all over the field.

"Call Chief of Staff Luo Youlun!" Du Yuming said in a commanding tone: "In any case, you have to get something to eat, otherwise you will die." ”

He fought all his life, and he used to think that as long as he had good weapons, sufficient ammunition, and proper command, he could win battles. Only now do I understand that in order for the army to survive, it must first eat. The people take food as their sky, and the army also takes food as their sky.

Where can I get food?

Luo Youlun rubbed his hands and feet, in a dilemma, and had to say truthfully for a while: "I can't get food, and there is no one in the mountains." ”

"Just waiting to die?" The deputy commander's face was angry, he did not believe that the shrewd and capable chief of staff had no way at all.

"Alas, this is true," the Chief of Staff sighed and turned his face away. After a while, he said to himself, "There are still some mules and horses."

"How much?" Du Yuming's ears were surprisingly bright, and he asked tightly.

"Each company ranges from five or six horses to carry ammunition and the wounded."

At this moment, the chief of staff was especially reluctant to mention these mules and horses. In the Burma war, mules and horses delivered ammunition and the wounded in the rear, which was a great achievement. After entering the jungle, the mules and horses carried heavy loads, which were greater than the sins of men. How can you beat their minds?

"Kill!" Du Yuming, who was seriously ill, came from a force out of nowhere, made a very powerful gesture, and said loudly.

It's forced out.

As soon as the order to kill the horse was heard, the jungle immediately went crazy. The soldiers, who had already fainted from hunger, scrambled up from the ground, spears and knives, and surrounded themselves under the big tree where their horses were tethered. Ma Tong personnel, seeing that the big thing is not good, is terrified. The soldier with the gun couldn't help but say, "bang" a shot, and the horse fell to the ground. People rushed up, with seven hands and eight feet, clicking, you rip a piece, I cut a knife, and in the blink of an eye, only the skeleton, hooves and fur of a war horse remained. The soldiers, in groups of three or five, made fires and skewered the horse meat with bamboo sticks, roasting and eating it.

The jungle is filled with the smell of barbecued meat.

According to the order, each company was only allowed to kill one horse, but the soldiers were so hungry that some companies put down two horses at once. Even so, the soldiers who started late could not eat horse meat, so they could only hold the horse's bones and hooves and gnaw on it.

When the soldiers finished eating the horse meat, many people gathered around the fur and bones left behind by the horses, and could not help but cry. The war horses have been killed, what hope do people have? A company with a total of five or six horses, how many days can it eat? After eating horses, what do we eat?

The jungle was a mourning again.

Because of a full meal of horse meat, the officers and men had strong legs and feet, and the speed of the march was noticeably quickened. Du Yuming, who was lying on the stretcher, felt a little relieved.

However, I didn't go far when bad news came from ahead.

The local native, who had been serving as a guide for the troops for more than 10 days in the mountains, had lost his way today and could not find the marks he had left when he crossed the jungle the year before.

OMG! The jungle with a radius of hundreds of miles, if you go around in circles, you won't be able to get out in this life.

The direction was unknown, and the troops did not dare to advance. Suddenly the army's heart was in turmoil.

When someone heard the news, they were frightened, and quietly left the group and ran back the way they came.

When the morale of this army is unstable and everyone is panicking, the undercurrent of desertion by a small number of officers and men, if it is not resolutely stopped, may turn into a turbid wave that disintegrates the whole army. Besides, in the huge forest, there is no food, and it is a dead end to go backwards. The only way is for the whole army to unite as one, huddle as one, and work together to forge ahead, so as to forge a way out.

Du Yuming thought that it was not easy to be a victorious general by commanding thousands of troops and conquering cities, but once the army was lost and retreated for thousands of miles, it was especially difficult to be a defeated general.

It's hard to lose!

How to straighten out the broken ranks and clean up the turbulent military spirit? In the face of a great defeat, it is more important than ever to have strong faith and an iron hand.

Du Yuming helps the sick and takes care of everything. On the one hand, he ordered the special battalion to immediately send troops to pursue the fleeing officers and soldiers; At the same time, he called the guide, so he comforted him, told him not to panic, remember slowly, and look carefully, believing that he would definitely find the marker for the way.

At noon the next day, Li Gongyu, the commander of the special service battalion, escorted the five deserters who had been captured to see Du Yuming.

Deputy Commander Du, supporting his weak body, sat up from the stretcher, glanced at the officers and soldiers kneeling in front of him, and asked:

"Greedy for life and afraid of death, fleeing in danger, are you guilty?"

"Guilty." The deserters kowtowed like garlic.

"What's your name? Where are the people? What other relatives are there at home? ”

The five officers and men burst into tears and reported them one by one.

Du Yuming's pen tip shook and recorded in detail.

After that, Chief Du said: "Everyone is old and young in the family, this official will take proper care, rest assured!" ”

The five officers and men wept loudly in unison.

A quarter of an hour later, five gunshots rang out in the jungle. The voice was low and poignant, echoing through the forest for a long time.

In the afternoon, Yucheng called to instruct that the army had detected the route of the Chinese [***] team to return to China, and that all the mountain passes of Gaoligong Mountain had deployed heavy troops. The middle [***] team retreated north, and there was more than luck. Therefore, the headquarters of the 5th Army and the new 22nd Division were ordered to divert into India.

Du Yuming was reluctant to retreat to India. If the Chinese lose the war, do they still want to be embarrassed in India? However, now, the salvation army is important, and I can't care about face. He summoned Luo Youlun and Liao Yaoxiang to convey Yucheng's orders. Then he called a guide and asked for directions to India. As soon as he said that he was going to India, the short and sturdy local man immediately became frightened. He said that there are still more than 100 kilometers to India, which is closer than to China's grapes and horses. But the road is even more difficult. It's all old barren mountains infested by savages. He also said: "The year before last, he and five men went to India to sell salt, and he was the only one who came back alive. It was still the dry season, and it's even harder to say now. ”

Deputy Commander Du was silent for a long time, and finally, he said categorically: "Pass through the Savage Mountain and advance towards India!" ”

It was extremely dark and quiet. There was no moon, no stars, no wind, no rain. This is often the case at night in the jungles of northern Myanmar.

But tonight was a little bit unusual. Crows croaked in the treetops, gnats buzzed and chirped merrily, and at night they chirped beautifully, and frogs seeking mates were silent, and fireflies flew back and forth as if they were carrying torches, exploring the secrets of the Black Forest.

The perception of birds and insects is accurate and is not the same. In the darkness, this mountain forest has buried an army full of sweat and the smell of rancid.

Dai Anlan, the commander of the 200th Division, was lying on a mess of rocks at this time. Sitting next to him leaning against a stone was Zheng Tingqian, the commander of the division's infantry. Farther away were his guards, and farther away, the nearby hills were all his men.

When it went abroad to fight, the 200th Division was fully loaded, with a total of more than 12,000 people. After more than two months of arduous fighting, more than 4,000 brothers have fallen on the battlefield in Burma. Now, the remaining thousands of people are all gathered around the division commander.

In the dark, Dai Anlan and Zheng Tingqian were slowly gnawing on the buds in their hands. This is what the quartermaster bought with great pains, quietly sneaking into the people's homes. The first few months of the war in Myanmar were good. We don't have to handle the military supplies ourselves, and all the supplies are handled by the British army. Wherever they went, as long as the list was opened to the British army liaison officer, the British would drive the food to bring it.

Now it's a good thing, the battle was lost, the British ran first, leaving the [***] team behind, and no one cared about it. In the half month of retreat, he relied on a little kyat in his hand to buy food from the locals all the way, which was similar to calling Huazi.

The military rations are not too much to call Dai Anlan worried, and the Quartermaster Department still has some money. What made him most uncertain was that the troops were scheduled to smuggle across the Nandu River tomorrow morning. This was the first large river encountered on the way to retreat. The river is more than 1,000 meters wide, and there are neither bridges nor boats. In the past two days, Dai Anlan ordered the whole division to hide in the mountains and weave bamboo rafts. Now everything is ready, just wait for tomorrow morning to cross the river.

It is said that with a bamboo raft, a Nandu River is not a problem. However, at present, the British army has run away without a trace, and the situation of the friendly Chinese troops is unknown.

The last telegram sent to him by Commander Du Yuming was from Mandalay ten days ago. At that time, the 200th Division retreated from Tonggu to Tangji in central Burma. The army commander said that the Sino-British coalition forces had begun to retreat from the Burma battlefield, and the 200th Division should immediately abandon Tangji, assemble on the Myitkyina and Bhamo lines, and then take the road back to China.

However, when the whole division withdrew north to Nanlun, it was learned that Lashio had been captured by the Yue army and the situation was critical. At this time, Lin Wei, head of the Yunnan-Burma Staff Corps of the Military Commission, ordered Dai Anlan to lead his division to reroute eastward, cross the Salween River, and reach the Jingdong area, where he joined the 6th Army of Gan Lichu, and then retreated to Xishuangbanna, Yunnan.

However, he refused Lin Wei's order.

(To be continued)