After Li Gang fired two shots in succession, he rolled and dodged the Japanese army's return fire. At this time, a crooked machine gun of the Japanese army began to strafe wildly, and the leaves of the trees were flying sideways. The three of them were suppressed by Japanese machine-gun fire, and Li Gang calmly gestured backwards, allowing the team members behind him to attract the Japanese army. Soon Li Gang made a decisive attack on the left side, and the Japanese machine gunners and ammunition men were killed.

Before the other Japanese soldiers could recover, the horrific shooting was staged. Ten minutes later, only one Japanese squad leader remained, and the Japanese squad leader was forced under a tree, and Li Gang and two team members appeared. The Japanese squad leader threw away the Wangba box, took out the samurai's style, drew his saber and howled and rushed back.

Li Gang contemptuously put the pistol into the holster and walked towards the Japanese squad leader. The two sides entered the fighting distance, and the Japanese squad leader held his war knife high in both hands and slashed directly at Li Gang's face. Saying that it was too late, Li Gang jumped up and straightened his body in the air, and then slammed the Japanese squad leader in the chest with a chain of feet left and right. I saw that the Japanese squad leader's body flew up, and then fell heavily to the ground and remained motionless. A teammate stepped forward to check and said: "The team leader is really fierce, this guy's internal organs and abdomen are probably cracked, and there is blood coming out of his mouth without breathing." ”

Another teammate picked up the war knife and said, "Team leader, give me this war knife!" "Take it if you like it!" At this time, there was another gunshot on the right, Li Gang waved his hand, and the three of them quickly ran in the direction of the gunshot, and the dense woods drowned out their figures. The fighting in the woods was extremely lively, but the dense woods blocked the view, and the killing and blood in the woods were bloody, and the Japanese troops outside only heard the sound and did not know how the battle was going. In particular, the Eighth Route Army's familiarity with the terrain and landform made them feel like a fish in water.

What is the situation on the road? The Japanese tank was relatively smooth in its assault on the road due to the follow-up protection of Japanese soldiers on both sides. However, as the Japanese soldiers continued to receive high-intensity blows, the Japanese soldiers who served as assistants on one side fell behind the tank fighting vehicles. Hao Yi personally commanded the covering brigade to deal with the Japanese tank fighting vehicles. At this time, two tank-mounted machine guns fired wildly at one side of the hillside, and a commando soldier suddenly jumped from the grass on the other side. The commando soldier was held with a strange bottle in his hand, and the mouth of the bottle was burning with flames.

The soldier threw the bottle at the tank turret, and he himself was hit by a bullet. The bottle burst on the tank and immediately ignited a fire, which enveloped the tank. These bottles are called Molotov cocktails, and they contain gasoline. After the flames burned for dozens of seconds, the Japanese tank suddenly stopped, only to see the turret opened, and the three Japanese crew members desperately climbed out of it, and were immediately killed by bullets. The commandos bravely rushed onto the road and used Molotov cocktails against the Japanese tanks.

A rocket hit the upper part of a Japanese armored combat vehicle, which, with a violent explosion, was torn off. When the smoke cleared, I saw a Japanese soldier, getting up from the half-section of the armored combat vehicle, staggering as if drunk, and it was obvious that the Japanese soldier had been blown up. A bullet flew, and the Japanese soldier fell with both hands waving. From time to time, Japanese tanks lit fires on the road, and armored fighting vehicles with iron shells were destroyed. When the Japanese tanks and armored fighting vehicles behind saw this scene, they were so frightened that they hurriedly retreated.

At this time, the commander of the Japanese division, Watanabe Pifu, personally came to the front line to watch the enemy's formation, and he was incredulously frightened and terrifying. "Report to the general, the Chinese defenders on the opposite side are wearing camouflage uniforms, steel helmets are also camouflage, and the enemy is estimated to be about two regiments. According to the reports of the soldiers who exited the woods, the enemy was very strong in combat and advanced in weaponry. In particular, the enemy has a wealth of experience in jungle warfare, and after preliminary judgment, the enemy force that intercepted it was a special operations unit of the Eighth Route Army. ”

Watanabe and the generals heard that the enemy army on the opposite side was a special combat unit of the Eighth Route Army, and this surprise was not trivial. At this moment, Japanese tanks and armored fighting vehicles also escaped from the valley, and one of the armored fighting vehicles appeared with a large hole in the side, which was very terrifying. 20 tanks and 10 armored fighting vehicles went in, and 12 tanks and 6 armored fighting vehicles came out. Eight tanks and four armored fighting vehicles remained, and with the addition of three tanks and two armored fighting vehicles that were destroyed earlier, the Japanese lost 11 tanks and 6 armored fighting vehicles.

When the Japanese search wing was all withdrawn from the woods, Watanabe was even more stunned. After preliminary statistics, a whole brigade of soldiers in a wing was reimbursed, which was not trivial. In just half a day of fighting, the unit actually lost more than 1,000 soldiers and more than a dozen tanks and armored combat vehicles. Watanabe was stunned and hurriedly reported the situation to the Yangon headquarters.

Commander Iida Shojiro did not panic when he received the telegram from Watanabe, but scolded: "This group of bastards of the intelligence agency, the troops of the Eighth Route Army who served as guarding the Yunnan-Burma transportation line, were not transferred, they were the troops who ambushed the 56th Division. ”

The chief of staff said: "According to the information provided by the special high-tech department, the road protection unit of the Eighth Route Army was ordered to be transferred back to Jiangxi in early February. It seems that this force was secretly ordered to enter Burma, and there is something wrong with our intelligence. Although the Eighth Route Army's road protection unit is strong in combat, its strength will not exceed two regiments. Because he should order Watanabe Pifu to quickly destroy this Eighth Route Army unit! "Send a report immediately to tell the commander of Watanabe's Puff Division not to panic, and it is ······ who is blocking it head-on.

Watanabe Pifu received a telegram from the headquarters and said calmly: "Now I know that the special forces of the Eighth Route Army have appeared at the front, but the strength will not exceed two regiments, so there is no need to panic." The canyon in front of Mengya is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the narrow territory is not conducive to the assault of armored troops. ”

Watanabe continued: "Order the forward troops to suspend the attack. Ordered Shizuo Pota to immediately capture Jiao Mei and take Lashio along the railway line. As long as we capture the strategic point of Lashio, we will go back and eat this Eighth Route Army force. "The commander of the division, Watanabe, immediately drew up a new battle plan after receiving the commander's order. In order to intensify the strike of Shizuo Slopeda, the 56 Artillery Wing was ordered to quickly support the direction of Jiaomei. But where did Watanabe Puppet think that in just one night, the mountains were shaken and the battle situation changed dramatically.

The 113th and 146th Wings of the 56th Division, after separating from the main force at a fork in the road, arrived at Jiaomei at 2 p.m. on the same day. Gem May is a larger station between Mandalay and Lashio, and once this point is captured, the connection between Mandalay and Lashio will be broken. The 28th Division of the 66th Army, under the leadership of division commander Liu Bolong, commanded the 82nd and 83rd regiments to guard Jiaomei, and the 84th regiment under the command to guard Lashio. As a reserve, they had practically no combat missions.

Liu Bolong is one of the members of the Renaissance Society of Whampoa Phase III. This person wears a pair of glasses and looks elegant, but has a rough personality. The Japanese army appeared in Jiaomei, and Liu Bolong said to his subordinates: "Brothers, the opportunity to make contributions to the country has come." The headquarters asked us to defend Jiaomei to intercept the Japanese army and ensure that Jiaomei's key points were not lost. At present, the 5th Army Chariot Regiment is rushing from Lashio, and the 29th Division is advancing towards Nanlan. The most exciting thing is that the special forces of the Eighth Route Army appeared in Mengya, and we are not alone. "Less than half an hour before the mobilization of division commander Liu Bolong, the Japanese army launched a fierce attack.

Although the 28th Division was a newly organized unit, it was all equipped with standard weapons produced in Jiangxi before going abroad, and the battle was greatly improved. In particular, after half a year of training, the unit has taken on a completely new look. In the past, if it was faced with the attack of two wings of the Japanese army, the headquarters would be cowardly or even collapse before fighting. Now from the chief officer to the soldier, he has changed his mind. Some of the generals of the army participated in the Battle of Guinan, and everyone was united and had strong fighting spirit. The battle soon began, and due to the strong fortifications of Jomei, the Japanese 113th Wing launched two unsuccessful attacks.

The commander of the 56th Infantry Regiment, Shizuo Slope, saw that the Chinese defenders were very stubborn and the losses were too great in the frontal attack, so he immediately ordered the 148th Wing to send a brigade to outflank Jiaomei from the north. The Japanese brigade was also unlucky, and when it was outflanked from the north, it encountered the 5th Army to support the chariot regiment.

Due to railway transportation problems and fuel shortages, the 5th Army Tank Regiment was forced to stay in Lashio. It was not thought that the tank regiment would play a role at a critical moment. It can be said that it is intended to plant flowers and flowers, and there is no doubt that willows and willows are in the shade. The two sides suddenly encountered, and more than 40 tanks and armored fighting vehicles of the tank regiment launched a rapid attack. The Japanese brigade thought that it was in an ambush and could not parry, so it had to retreat. Before dark, the chariot regiment arrived at Jiaomei to join the defenders, and the morale of the defenders was greatly boosted.

At this time, the commander of the 56th Infantry Regiment of the Japanese Army, Shizuo Pota, received a report from the division commander that a special force of the Eighth Route Army had appeared in Mengya, and the main force was intercepted. Watanabe ordered Shizuo Poda to capture Jiaomei and then Lashio as soon as possible, and cooperate with the main force to outflank the special forces of the Eighth Route Army and annihilate him. In order to support Shizuo Slope, an artillery wing was requisitioned to support the operation. Shizuo Slope did not dare to slack off after receiving the order of the division commander, and immediately ordered the attack to be suspended, draw up a new battle plan, and launch an attack on all fronts as soon as the artillery wing arrived, so as to take Jiaomei in one fell swoop.

At dusk, in the headquarters of the Mandalay Expeditionary Force, the sound of telegrams was incessant. From time to time, the operational staff officers marked the changing positions of the troops on the military map, and the operational staff officers who were responsible for setting up the sand table also pulled out the blue sky and white sun flag from time to time and inserted it in a new position. At this time, the most excited and busy was Stilwell, who was consciously fulfilling his duties as chief of staff. Not to mention that the tide of the battle was reversed in one fell swoop, and the Japanese 56th Division faced collapse in the blink of an eye. Stilwell was like a chicken, and he was extremely excited.

Bai Chongxi said with a red face: "The special forces of the Eighth Route Army were born out of thin air, turning the tide of the battle in one fell swoop. It was simply exhilarating that the powerful corps of the Japanese army was blocked at Mengya and did not dare to advance, and the 28th Division, with the support of the 5th Army Tank Regiment, blocked the Japanese attack. The battle ahead is clear. The Japanese Army's Middle Route Corps attacked slowly, looking forward to the breakthrough of the 56th Division, and the Japanese army dreamed of it. "Report, the special forces of the Eighth Route Army have called, and the Japanese army has stopped attacking and asked for instructions!"

"Brother Ouyang, do you want the special forces to retreat to Mengya, and build fortifications on the spot to continue to block!" Bai Chongxi suggests! "We can't give the Japanese army any respite, order Mu Shixiong to launch a counterattack overnight, as for how to fight us, the more chaotic the fight, the better. Brother White! Now that the combat tasks of the various units have been clearly defined, we should not interfere in the command of the front, and give them full autonomy, and this is the last opportunity to temper the frontline generals. ”

"Brother Ouyang, I'm worried about the 96th Division in the middle lane, and its front is the 18th Division of the Japanese Army. If the 18th Division launches a strong attack, the 96th Division may not be able to withstand it. "Brother Bai doesn't have to worry, the 18th Division of the Japanese Army will not launch a strong attack. Now the whole mind of the Japanese army is the 56th Division, why don't we push the boat down the river. Tomorrow morning the Japanese army woke up, and it was too late. Tonight, we are cooking wine and talking and waiting for good news. ”

"Brother Ouyang, there's a question I've always wanted to ask you? You have to be outspoken! "What's the problem?" "The British army is vulnerable, we all know that you let the special forces of the Eighth Route Army secretly ambush east of Lashio and wait for an opportunity, just in the hope that the British would retreat to Burma in the hope that they would make a move. By the time the British came to their senses, we had already established ourselves in northern Burma. To put it bluntly, are you plotting against Burma through the hands of the Japanese army? Ouyang Jian stared at Bai Chongxi and hesitated.

"Brother Bai, do you think I'm mean?" "Nope! I would say that you seem to expect this to be the way the battle will be like. You have thought of the outcome before it happens, and it's all under your control! "Brother Bai, wouldn't I become an immortal like this. I do have an idea of what to do, maybe it's my luck. But luck is for those who are prepared. When a person is selfless in his heart, with all the sentient beings in China in his chest, he always thinks about the humiliated and suffering motherland. You will be able to overcome all difficulties and burst out with extraordinary wisdom. ”

Ouyang Jian continued: "Brother Bai, I said that the expeditionary force sent troops to Burma, and the political significance is greater than the military significance. Since our blood is sprinkled on this land, their heroic souls must be valuable and must be rewarded! ”