Myanmar, Monton.

The Southwest Army led by Zuo Zongtang had quietly entered Burma from Chiang Rai, North Vietnam Province, and the British had occupied most of Burma under the continuous destruction of two colonial divisions. However, its influence had not yet extended to the Sino-Burmese border, so Zuo Zongtang led a large army into Mengdong without the British knowing.

Zuo Zongtang took a dilapidated map of Burma and looked at it carefully, because many Burmese troops had retreated from the front. The deployment of troops and firepower of the British is still quite clear. The two colonial divisions that entered Burma this time were composed of the 1st Field Division of the Far East Army of the British Royal Army and the 18th Army of the Indian Colonial Vassals. The total number was nearly 50,000, and in the past few months, the British had also co-opted many Burmese bandits to form another colonial division. So in Burma, the existing British army has reached nearly 80,000. However, in addition to the relatively strong combat effectiveness of an integrated field division of the Royal Army, the combat effectiveness of the 18th Group Army, which was mainly composed of Indians, was probably on par with the combat effectiveness of the 400,000 troops formed by Da Qingxin, and the combat effectiveness of the colonial division composed of Burmese bandits was probably not even second-rate.

"Liu Yongfu, as the vanguard of the group army, you are attacked by Meng Dong towards Yangon. The supplies of the British will come ashore from Yangon, we will make a detour from the southeast to the northwest, and the new army will enter Burma from Ruili and detour from the northeast to the southwest, trapping all the British in Burma and cutting off their supply lines! Zuo Zongtang pointed to the map and said leisurely.

Nie Shicheng frowned and said, "Great Shuai, the Yangon port fort is old. Even if we capture this place, we will not be able to withstand the bombardment of the British fleet, and if we can't hold it, I am afraid that the casualties will be very large. When the British attacked Burma, the Burmese army was defeated after only four hours. ”

"The depth of Burma's interior is enough to keep our army out of range of the British ships, and the supplies he brings up must pass through our encirclement before they can be delivered. If you can't even hold the British convoy, then sooner or later go home and pick up the children, don't embarrass me here. Zuo Zongtang touched his long beard and continued: "Besides, my Great Qingshui Master has also gone south to prepare to open up the life channel between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. If we see our Qing warships in Yangon, then the war is basically over. ”

Liu Yongfu's black chess army has been systematically and formally trained since it was absorbed by the imperial court. Although its combat effectiveness is not as good as that of the rest of the group army, it has also been greatly improved compared with before, and this unit responds quickly to special situations, after all, its main generals have all been fought out of blood and water, and they have very rich experience in actual combat. Often this combat experience can play a decisive role on the battlefield. Therefore, Zuo Zongtang decided to let Liu Yongfu serve as the vanguard of the whole army.

On the other hand, the new army Feng Zicai entered the territory of Burma from Ruili. The topography here is almost identical to that of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, with lofty mountains and occasional basins called "dams". It is the place where the people live.

When Feng Zicai entered Burma, he had already contacted the Burmese Anti-British Righteous Army to serve as the guide of the army. However, recently the British army has stepped up the anti-British rebel army in Burma, and several rebel armies have been defeated. By the time Feng Zicai crossed the mountain, he had lost contact with them. Three days after going deep into the territory of Myanmar, Feng Zicai is still wandering around the Kumenling Mountains, where there are still many uninhabited places in the deep mountains and old forests of Myanmar. When you entered Burma, for the sake of the concealment of the army, you were picked to go in an uninhabited place, and now it is difficult to find a village to establish the coordinates. Although Feng Zicai's troops brought more than 10 days of food and grass with the army and seven days of dry food for each person to carry with them, the ammunition could also support three to five consecutive days of fighting. But not coming out of this deep mountain and old forest for three days in a row also made Feng Zicai angry.

"Junmen, what kind of ghost place is this where birds don't? There is no one, why are you still spinning in the same place for three whole days? A personal soldier wiped this big man with his head and complained.

"Damn, now I've lost contact with the country. This ghost local radio station can't be set up, don't count on domestic supplies in a short time, and now the top priority is to find a populated place, determine your location, figure out the surrounding environment, and then get in touch with the country. After all, Feng Zicai is an experienced veteran general, although he is irritable in his heart, he can still adjust himself in time to make the most suitable choice.

At the same time that the two armies of the Qing Dynasty entered Burma separately, the British were filled with an optimistic anger. An editorial in London's newspaper Tashi wrote: "As long as there are no accidents on the Sino-Burmese border, victory in this war is a foregone conclusion." Driven by the belief that the war would soon be over, the British Expeditionary Force had turned its energies to how to avoid the backlog of military supplies in Burma. Lieutenant General Wallace, commander of the expeditionary force, issued an order in his headquarters in the Mandalay palace to "lift all restrictions" and "launch a final attack with all efforts", and the expeditionary force command also began to "arrange the steps of action after the fighting has been reduced, so that the British soldiers can withdraw from Burma first". The Indian colonial government also informed Lieutenant General Barclay that they would stop sending additional personnel to Burma, to which Lieutenant General Wallace did not object.

Major General Marceau of the Eighteenth Army of the Indian Colony told Lieutenant General Wallace that he had more than enough ammunition. All the ammunition and equipment that have been brought from India can be shipped back to India. All orders for ammunition in Britain could be stopped, because the war was coming to an end.

And when the logisticians of the British Expeditionary Force handed out the price list of Christmas gifts to the British soldiers in Burma, many soldiers threw the price list away, believing that Christmas was absurd in Burma.

The British army, which had not suffered a major defeat for more than 100 years, was arrogant to the sky, and they were not at all worried about the possibility of China intervening in the war, "how could such an uncivilized country dare to challenge the British Empire." The stubborn arrogance of the British was vividly manifested at this moment.

Afterwards, Lieutenant General Barclay, commander of the British Expeditionary Force, said: "Although I have been reminded at home that China may intervene in the war, we think we know everything, but in fact we don't know anything." However, the other party knows everything. And so, the war began. ”

"Bang, bang......" The deafening sound of gunfire and fighting echoed in the deep mountains.

"Where to shoot? Where to shoot? Feng Zicai asked loudly.

"Military gate, listening to the sound, it should be that there are gunshots in the direction of Li Biaotong's troops." One of the soldiers replied after pondering.

"Quick, let the communications corps figure out the situation and report back to me."

"Wow."

In a small valley in Kumen Ridge, a Burmese army armed with bows and arrows and scimitars engaged the British with all Marl rifles. The red uniforms were particularly glaring, and although the Burmese army had an absolute advantage in numbers, the situation seemed to be very unfavorable to them, and the British army had surrounded the Burmese from both sides of the valley.

I saw that the Burmese were very brave and rushed towards the British army surrounding them, in a vain attempt to break through the British encirclement.

The British army was divided into two rows, with the front row kneeling on one knee and the rear row holding rifles flat. The Burmese tried their best to rush through, but the accurate fire of the British infantry made the Burmese have to pay for empty casualties, and many Burmese have fallen in layers 100 meters in front of the valley mouth.

"Report to the military gate, Li Biaotong reports. It was a small British army that was always fighting against the Burmese, but the cold weapons used by the Burmese could not resist the British army. Li Biaotong asked if he wanted reinforcements. ”

"Okay, tell Li Kuan that the army entering Burma is extremely hidden. can't leak it in advance, annihilate all this small British army, and can't let one go, otherwise Lao Tzu will ask for his head. Feng Zicai said loudly.

"Wow."

After an afternoon of fierce fighting, the Burmese were finally reborn under Li Kuan's troops. It was also because of these Burmese that Feng Zicai's army was finally able to leave the hateful deep mountains and old forests.

But the disappearance of this small British force as a whole aroused the suspicion of the British.

"What? The third battalion has not returned? What's going on? Have you sent someone to the clearance zone they are responsible for? Colonel Mowson, commander of the 386th Regiment of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Field Division of the Royal Far East Army, looked at his intelligence staff officer in surprise.

I have already sent people to find traces of fierce battles in the mountains of Savan. I believe they should have gone missing there. We didn't find the corpse of a soldier nearby, but we did find something strange, and this is it. Major Henry, an intelligence staff officer, pulled out several shell casings from the pocket of his jacket, "This is the bullet of the American Ley, which is a little lighter than Marl's. ”

Colonel Mawson frowned and took the bullet casing from Major Henry's hand, stood up and said, "How can these natives have American rifles, are the Americans secretly supporting these natives against the British Empire?" ”

Major Henry gave way to Colonel Mawson, and said, "We have never seen the natives here use it before, they only have a few Marles that have been taken from us. In fact, Americans are not the only ones in the world who use Lai Yi guns. The Chinese also have such rifles. ”

Hearing this, Mawson turned his head sharply and looked at Major Henry, "You mean that the Chinese have sent troops?" ”

Major Henry said expressionlessly, "I don't rule out the possibility of this. ”

"It's ridiculous, and now the best time to enter the war has been missed, if they send troops before the Battle of Bagan. Maybe we haven't taken Mandalay yet. Moreover, the Chinese are facing off against the Russians in the north, where do they have the courage to challenge two world powers at the same time. Colonel Mawson shook his head like a rattle.

Major Henry suggested at this point: "I think we should report this to the command. ”

Mawson shook his finger and said, "Just these few bullet shells?" Maybe it's China's support for the natives? Just report it up, and we will be ridiculed ignorantly. It's better to report it after you have detailed information. ”

"Yes." Henry's palms are facing outward, a standard upright.

Mawson looked at Henry at this time, and felt that he couldn't give him too much face, and those natives were able to wipe out the three battalions. The combat effectiveness is not trivial, and now there are three more battalions of those weapons, which is a big threat. "The order was given to the 1st and 2nd battalions to return to Myitkyina. Help with defense. ”