The tide of the battle reversed, and in the headquarters of the Mandalay Expeditionary Force, several commanders were in a good mood. "Brother Ouyang, I didn't sleep much last night, but you slept very sweetly. General Stilwell slept for two hours and got up before dawn. Look at the Yankees' strength, it's like beating chicken blood without any tiredness. Bai Chongxi teased. Ouyang Jian saw that Stilwell was still meticulous in analyzing the enemy's situation with the combat staff and said with a smile: "Stilwell is going to be famous all over the world this time, so he naturally has to work hard at this moment." ”

"The report was that the special forces of the Eighth Route Army called, and the main force of the Japanese army suddenly retreated southward on a large scale at 4 o'clock in the morning, and a large number of fighters were dispatched to provide air cover. If the situation is unclear, please instruct! "A communications officer urgently!" Is there a fraud on the part of the Japanese army? If you want to retreat, you must meet the 113th and 146th Wings, the Japanese army is so strong that it will not be like this, and it is difficult for the Japanese army not to worry about the safety of the 113th and 146th Wings? Bai Chongxi questioned. Brother White! The commander in chief of the Japanese army must have misjudged and believed that our reserve corps had secretly entered Burma. ”

Ouyang Jian slammed his fist on the table and said decisively: "Order Mu Shixiong, commander of the special forces of the Eighth Route Army, to order a regiment to follow the main force of the Japanese army in pursuit, and its main force will immediately advance in the direction of Nanlan." The Japanese army gave us such a great opportunity, and we had no reason to refuse. surrounded and annihilated the 113th and 114th Wings of the Japanese Army in the Nanlan area, and was determined to eat him. Brother Bai, the situation on the battlefield is clear, and it is rare for you to command! "Someone is coming," Bai Chongxi shouted loudly with great excitement.

At this time, Stilwell was confused that his level was far behind, and he couldn't see how he could eat two wings of the Japanese army, more than 7,000 Japanese troops in the Nanlan area. With Bai Chongxi's decisive order, he mechanically planted a small flag on the sand table. "Ordered Zhang Zhen, commander of the 66th Army, to order the 29th Army to block the Japanese army at Nanlan Festival, and never let the Japanese army pass through the first-line ridge before dark. The main force of the 5th Army Chariot Regiment and the 28th Division was ordered to attack and advance along the road in the direction of Nanlan. The Special Forces Special Regiment of the Eighth Route Army and the 2nd Regiment of the Mountain and Jungle were ordered to outflank the north and northeast of Nanlan. ”

"Order the 49th Division of the 6th Army to stop the attack, and after the main force of the Japanese army has passed, immediately advance from the direction of Dagong to Nanlan, and be sure to build a blocking position on the first line ridge before dusk. Ordered the 6th Division of the 55th Army to continue to block the main Japanese forces at Laika and confuse the Japanese army. The 200th Division Supplementary Regiment, Guerrilla Brigade, Engineer Regiment, and Artillery Regiment directly under the headquarters were ordered to stay at Toshiba, and its main forces immediately went to Nanlan and outflanked the Japanese army from the south and southwest. The 36th, 22nd, 96th, and 38th Divisions were ordered to launch a feint attack on the Japanese army on the central and western fronts, and cooperate with the encirclement and annihilation operations on our eastern front. ”

When Stilwell planted small flags on the sand table, he immediately danced with joy. The 29th Division formed two blocking lines in front and behind the 49th Division, which meant that the 113th and 146th Wings of the Japanese Army could not escape. Moreover, the total strength of the encirclement and annihilation troops reached 30,000, and the comparison of troops could ensure encirclement operations. It was like a magic trick that woke Stilwell from a dream. When the combat staff officer gave the battle order, Stilwell walked up to Ouyang Jian and Bai Chongxi, and hugged the two of them unwillingly. At this moment, he was completely dormant by Ouyang Jian and Bao Chongxi's extraordinary military command art.

Let's turn the camera to the retreating large forces of the Japanese army, and under the cover of a large number of Japanese fighters, the main forces of the Japanese army quickly retreated south along the road. "Report to the general, Dagon's enemy army has been routed!" "Order the troops to pick up the speed!" At this time, the division commander Watanabe Pifu, whose ambition had already been lost to the country of Java, was now more important than anything else to retreat safely to Leigow. "Report, the 113th Wing and the 146th Wing are retreating, and their route is to retreat from the direction of the first line of ridges, and join up with our main division."

The chief of staff of the Japanese army continued: "Shizuo Pota reported that about one division of the enemy army was blocked. Although stubbornly intercepted, it was defeated and retreated, and it was estimated that it could pass through the first-line ridge before dusk. At present, the air force units are fully supporting, and there is no problem in breaking through the enemy's interception. "When the commander of the Japanese division was learning about the retreat of the troops, the vanguard of the retreating Japanese army encountered a large number of mines on the road in Laika, and the entire retreating unit had to stop. It took a lot of time for the Japanese sappers to clear the mines, but the sappers were attacked by small units of the 55th Division in the process of demining, and the Japanese had to send troops on both sides of the road to protect them.

At 10 noon, the Japanese army repeatedly tossed and turned on the Lake Highway and advanced only 3 kilometers. Watanabe was in a hurry, and if he waited until dark, the entire army would be in danger of being wiped out. Especially the rear guard troops, under the attack of the 3rd Regiment of the Special Forces of the Eighth Route Army, it was difficult to parry. Because the Eighth Route Army was wearing camouflage uniforms, it was difficult for the Japanese army's aerial reconnaissance to judge the accurate strength, which made Watanabe's puppet even more frightened. In order to speed up the retreat, Watanabe ordered the tanks to open the way to the mines.

Soon several tanks appeared on the road opening the road in front, and the convoy followed behind. Ordinary mines are no threat to tanks, but anti-tank mines are the nemesis of tanks. A tank in front detonated several ordinary mines in succession, and the Japanese troops behind them cheered. But the next scene left the Japanese soldiers dumbfounded. An anti-tank mine was detonated, and the Japanese tank was overturned by the blast of the explosion, and the track on one side was broken into three sections.

Several tank crews crawled out of the turret with bruised noses and swollen faces, and the Japanese did not care about this, and the tanks behind pushed the overturned tanks to the side of the road. At this moment, gunfire suddenly broke out in the woods in front of the side, and a dense rain of bullets was fired at the Japanese troops. The Japanese guards immediately went out to pounce on the woods, and from time to time the Japanese soldiers stepped on anti-infantry mines. After half an hour of fierce fighting, the attackers in the woods were gone.

Until 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the Japanese army paid the price of more than 10 tanks, "difficult" through Laika, when the division commander Watanabe Pifu led a large force to reach the Leimu Flood, the 113th Wing, the 146th Wing, although successfully broke through the enemy's interception, but was again stubbornly intercepted by a large number of Chinese troops at the first line of ridges, and asked for a quick rescue.

After a fierce battle during the day, Shizuo Pota led his troops to break through the 29th Division's resistance and reach the first line of ridges at 4 p.m. Because the 29th Division's stubborn resistance had won time for the 49th Division, the 49th Division rushed to the first-line ridge at 3 p.m. and immediately set up a blocking position. At this time, the officers and men of the 29th Division, which served as the interceptor, retreated to the first line of ridges one after another, and the forces of the two sides converged.

Finding that a large number of Chinese troops had appeared in the first line of ridges, Shizuo Pota immediately ordered the troops to attack. Less than an hour after the fierce fighting, the 5th Army Chariot Regiment pursued it. Shizuo Slope realized that something was wrong and immediately asked for help from the division headquarters. At this time, the division commander Watanabe Pifu led a large group of men and horses that had just arrived at Reim. "Report, Shizuo Slope called, and the department was blocked again on the first line of the ridge! An armored unit of the enemy pursues and asks for urgent reinforcements! Watanabe was shocked when he heard this, and hurried over to the military map to check it.

"Your Excellency General, if Shizuo Pota fails to break through, it will be dangerous after dark!" The chief of staff of the Japanese army panicked. "Immediately send a report to the headquarters and request the Air Force to cover the breakthrough of the 113th and 146th Wings with all its might. Order the 148th Wing to rush to the first line ridge for urgent help! Watanabe realized that the two Japanese wings were in great danger, but it was too late, and at this time, the 3rd Regiment of the Special Forces of the Eighth Route Army arrived in Laika and joined up at the headquarters of the 6th Army.

Li Chengru, commander of the 3rd Regiment of the 8th Route Army, the military headquarters of the 6th Army of Laika, reported to the army commander Gan Lichu on the combat situation of his department. At this time, an operational staff officer ran in with a telegram in his hand: "Report, the command of the expeditionary force is calling!" After reading the telegram, Gan Lichu was overjoyed and said: "The headquarters reported that the 49th Division of the headquarters joined the 29th Division of the 66th Army and blocked the 113th and 146th Wings of the Japanese Army at the first line ridge, and the various units are surrounding the Japanese army, and ordered our department to block the Japanese reinforcements at Laika!" ”

"Commander Li, my 55th Division has suffered serious losses, and it has been decided that the three regiments will be temporarily reduced into one regiment to assist your division in defense." "Commander Gan, the Japanese army will soon carry out the rescue, and our department will immediately build a blocking position when the time is urgent, and your troops will temporarily serve as a reserve to support the operation at any time." "Commander Li, your ministry is a brave division, so it depends on your department." Seeing the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army, tense, orderly, and in full swing to build a defensive position, Gan Lichu and the generals seemed to have a backbone.

Two hours later, the 148th Wing of the Japanese Army really appeared. The Japanese army was eager to rescue, and without the cover of artillery fire, they launched a fierce attack. The Japanese army's continuous combat capability was extremely strong, but in front of the position of the Eighth Route Army, the Japanese army launched continuous attacks to no avail. The Japanese changed tactics in an attempt to attack in a roundabout way, but were intercepted by the 55th Division. Soon it was dark, and the Japanese were forced to stop their offensive. The division commander Watanabe Pio was shocked to hear that the enemy army intercepted head-on was a powerful Eighth Route Army unit, and realized that it would be difficult for the 148th Wing to break through the Eighth Route Army's interception, so he had to order Shizuo Slope to break through at all costs.

The battlefield was confusing, and the division commander Watanabe didn't know how many troops the enemy had, and if he threw himself into the rescue again, he had to hesitate if it was a meat bun and a dog that would never return. In addition, the hasty retreat of the large army had become a tired division, and the morale of the soldiers was severely damaged, which made him even more undecided. Soon after, Watanabe received another distress telegram from Shizuo Slopea: The enemy armored forces in the northwest have launched an attack, and a large number of enemy troops have been found in the north, northeast, and west, and we have no power to break through.

Watanabe sat weakly in his chair when he heard the news, and fell into a state of numbness. Seeing this, the chief of staff hurriedly ordered a call back and ordered Shizuo Slope to defend on the spot and wait for rescue. This telegram undoubtedly told Shizuo Pota that there was hope if he persisted, but there was little hope.