Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, China's old calendar year has arrived. However, the year was not enjoyed by the Chinese expeditionary force, and was diluted by the situation in Burma. The British army was powerless in the face of the fierce offensive launched by the Japanese army, and was about to fall into a situation of collapse. On 14 February, the thirtieth day of the Chinese New Year's Eve, Bai Chongxi received an order from the Ministry of National Defense to immediately convene a military meeting of generals and officers at and above the division level. The atmosphere was a little tense, Bai Chongxi looked around at the generals and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, since January 4, the Japanese 55th Division launched an attack on Dawei in southern Burma, the battle situation in Burma has not been good. ”

"As we judged, the British were powerless. After the 1st Division of the 55th Division of the Japanese Army captured Dawei, it quickly captured the southern region. On January 10, the Japanese 33rd Division landed in the Gulf of Thailand and quickly entered the territory of Burma. The situation of the war was so rotten, and the British side did not have any sincerity at all, and did not report the situation of the war, we learned from the radio decipherment: the Japanese 33rd Division and the 55th Division went north in two ways, and on January 31, the Japanese army captured the port of Mawlamyine. ”

"In the face of the crisis, the British only allowed the 93rd Division of the 6th Army on the Eastern Road to attack Jingdong in the east to replace the defense line of the 2nd Brigade of the Burmese Army, and the 2nd Brigade of the Burmese Army was urgently transferred to Yangon to strengthen the defense. At present, the 93rd Division has been deployed on the front line of Jingdong, and frankly Jingdong has nothing to do with the overall situation. On February 11, the Japanese 33rd Division broke through the defense line of the Salween River, and the Indian 46th Brigade and the Burmese 2nd Brigade, which had just arrived, were defeated. The Japanese quickly drew up a battle plan to capture Rangoon and launched an attack on the Siddang Line. ”

Ouyang Jian stood up and said, "The war situation in Myanmar has been eroded, and we must be ready to send troops." It is expected that the British side will soon announce the large-scale entry of the expeditionary force, and Rangoon is very dangerous at present. It can be said that the tentative attack of the Japanese army worked, and the combat effectiveness of the British army was clear to the Japanese army. We judged that the British side would order our Central Route Army to quickly fortify in Tonggu and order our expeditionary force to fight a decisive battle with the Japanese army in Tonggu. Ladies and gentlemen, due to the unreasonable obstruction of the British army, the best time for us to enter Burma has been missed. ”

"At present, the Malay semi-war is nearing its end, and the defeat of the British army is a foregone conclusion. According to what we have, on December 8 last year, Japanese troops landed on the Malay Peninsula. The combat strength of the two sides was as follows: The Japanese army dispatched the 25th Army, which had jurisdiction over the newly formed 5th Division, the 2nd Guards Division, the 18th Division, and the 56th Division. The total strength was 110,000, and the commander of the Japanese army was Lieutenant General Yamashita Fumi. The Sunrise dispatched the southern fleet with 9 cruisers, 16 destroyers, 16 submarines, 3 seaplane aircraft carriers, and many support ships. ”

In addition, it includes the 3rd Air Force, the 22nd Naval Air Force, and more than 600 combat aircraft. The commander-in-chief of the British defense of the Malay Peninsula was Lieutenant General Percival, with three integrated divisions and independent units under his command, with a total strength of 140,000 troops. The British Eastern Fleet had 1 battleship, 1 battlecruiser, 3 cruisers, 9 destroyers, and about 400 shore-based combat aircraft. On December 4, the Japanese army, under the command of Yamashita Fengwen, set sail from the port of Sanya on Hainan Island and went straight to the Malay Peninsula under the cover of the fleet. ”

"On the night of December 7 last year, the Japanese advance troops landed in Songkhla, Thailand, and Kota Bharu, Malaysia, respectively, and the Japanese troops quickly captured the Kra Isthmus and the airfields in Kota Bharu, and then marched south in three directions. After the British army was unprepared and retreated after a little resistance from Kota Bharu, the 22nd Air Force and the 3rd Air Regiment of the Japanese Navy bombed the British military base in Singapore and the airfield in Kuantan, respectively, and inflicted heavy damage on the British Air Force, causing it to quickly lose air supremacy. ”

"In order to combat the Japanese landing operation, the British Eastern Fleet dispatched the flagship battleship Prince of Wales from Singapore, counterattacked the battlecruiser HMS Battlecruiser, and attacked under the cover of four destroyers. Since the British ship sailed without air cover, it was discovered by Japanese reconnaissance planes and submarines. The Japanese Navy's 22nd Air Force concentrated its forces and launched an attack 70 miles south of Kuantan, sinking the Prince of Wales and the Counter-Attack. HMS Prince of Wales, the most advanced battleship of the British Navy, was launched early last year. ”

"The Prince of Wales battleship has a displacement of more than 35,000 tons, and last year the Prince of Wales was listed in the British Navy as a transport ship escort. Soon after the battleship Prince of Wales entered the ranks, it was heavily damaged by German warships in naval battles. Due to the tense war in the Far East, the ship was repaired and sent to the South Seas. The sinking of the Prince of Wales once again proved the end of the era of giant ship cannons. With the sinking of the Prince of Wales and the Counterattack, the Japanese fleet quickly gained air and sea supremacy. ”

"The Japanese ground offensive was invincible, capturing Kuantan on December 31 last year and Kuala Lumpur on January 11 this year. After the Japanese entered the open area of Johor, the speed of the attack accelerated, and the British army was defeated. On January 31, the Japanese captured the key point of Johor Bahru, and the British army retreated to Singapore as a last resort. On 8 February, Japanese troops landed in two ways in the Strait of Johor, and fierce fighting broke out between the two sides. On the 9th, the Japanese occupied the Singapore airport, advanced to the outskirts of Singapore on the 12th, and captured the coastal naval base on the 14th. On February 15th, today, the sad news came. ”

"The commander of the British army, Lieutenant General Percival, ordered the surrender in Singapore, and 80,000 British troops laid down their arms. From the landing of the Japanese army on the Malay Peninsula on December 8 last year to February 15 this year, only 69 days have passed since the Japanese army forcefully captured the entire territory of the Malay Peninsula, and 140,000 British troops have been wiped out. As you may not know, Singapore has a large amount of military supplies, and the Japanese army has captured tens of thousands of cars alone, and the war materials are even more astronomical. These military supplies will provide a strong impetus for the continuous operation of the Japanese army. ”

"According to the information we have, the commander of the Japanese army, Yamashita Fumi, has ordered: the 56th and 18th divisions of the Japanese army immediately reinforce the Burma battlefield. Ladies and gentlemen, the war situation in Burma is at stake, and it can be said that the British army is already facing collapse. The only straw for the British now is us, so it is no longer a problem for our troops to enter Burma, and the order to fight will be given soon. Ladies and gentlemen, time is pressing, and this is the last military meeting. I demand that all units act quickly, and in particular, the operational command of the headquarters must be carried out to the letter. ”

Sure enough, on March 2, the British side asked the Chinese expeditionary force to enter Burma as soon as possible to deploy defenses, and then the Ministry of Defense issued an order for all the expeditionary forces to enter Burma. Due to the Ouyang Sword butterfly effect, it is much calmer than the expeditionary force of later generations. After all, the expeditionary force is all concentrated in Ruili, and the 5th Army has all entered Burma. After the order was issued, the 200th Division at Lashio was supposed to quickly get on the bus and go to the Tonggu fortification, but the British delayed arranging for the 200th Division to board the bus on the grounds of tight transportation.

In particular, the British side promised to provide oil, but the British side made very few commitments. After the order was given, the units of the 5th Army set off and continued their advance towards Lashio. Subsequently, the 6th and 66th armies set out from Ruili and entered Burma. The troops crowded the highway like snails crawling again. In the marching column, Ouyang Jian and Bai Chongxi sat in the same car, the road conditions were not good, the car was not only bumpy and bumpy, but also faster than the speed of the carriage.

Bai Chongxi's face showed an anxious look, but Ouyang Jian acted like nothing had happened. "Brother Ouyang, look at the chaotic situation on the highway, where is this like a war!" "Brother Bai, do you know why the British emphasize the shortage of transportation and oil?" "Why?" "According to the analysis of the situation of radio listening, the British army has constantly ordered the deployment of materials and vehicles to the west, especially the most oil, which is very revealing. I suspect that the British army is rushing to repair the road from the west to India in preparation for a retreat! ”

"What you say makes sense, the British are planning a retreat, and they should report to the Ministry of Defense immediately!" "Brother Bai, the useless British will not admit it, and the lack of evidence is just your and my speculation. But as long as you and I are sober, we won't lose our way. In addition, there was a shortage of fuel, our heavy equipment could not be transported, the troops could not reach the front line for a long time, and it was the British who were in a hurry. "At this moment, a combat staff officer dismounted next to the car." Report, the command of the British army called! ”

Bai Chongxi took the telegram and checked: "The British army asked my vanguard in Lashio to quickly get on the car and go to Tonggu to defend it!" Bai Chongxi continued: "It seems that Rangoon is in danger, order Du Yuming, and order the 200th Division to move quickly." "The operational staff officer has to be ordered to go." Brother Bai, I estimate that the Japanese army broke through the Xidang defensive line, and the British were in a hurry. However, if Dai Anlan wants to reach Tonggu smoothly, it may not be easy, and the British ghosts along the way are also difficult. ”

"In any case, the 200th division has been pulled out from Lashio, and as for whether it can reach Tonggu smoothly, that is a matter for the British, and my pressure can be reduced." Bai Chongxi sighed. Ouyang Jian changed the topic and said: "According to intelligence, the 71st Division of the Japanese Army has also arrived in Thailand and will soon be engaged in Burma operations, and Rangoon will not be able to hold it at all. Even if our unit reaches the front, it will wipe the ass of the British! ”

Ouyang Jian knew that the Japanese army invested the 71st Division to deal with the Chinese Expeditionary Force. The British army's incompetence in the Malay Peninsula, coupled with the autumn wind sweeping away the leaves of the Japanese army in southern Burma, made the British army vulnerable to the Japanese army, so the strategic focus of the Japanese army must be aimed at the expeditionary force. "In the next step, we will continue to pay attention to the movement of the British army, so as to judge the movement of the Japanese army." "Brother Ouyang, thanks to you borrowing 4 code breakers from the Second Intelligence Department, otherwise we would really be blind!"

March 5, Bai Chongxi; Ouyang Jian led the headquarters to Lashio. At this time, the 200th Division had only reached Mandalay. Lashio is less than 300 kilometers from Mandalay, and it is conceivable that the efficiency of the British is completely artificial.