After the defeat in the Battle of Tonggucheng, the three-star lieutenant general re-planned the battle of Mandalay, planning to gather 250,000 Chinese and British [***] teams, relying on the city of Mandalay, to fight a decisive battle with the main force of the army. The British [***] team is still listless, still crumbling at the slightest contact with the enemy, and still providing the Chinese allies with a plot that will only make people more confusing; The [***] team is still armed; Watanabe Masao and the 56th Division led by Watanabe still quietly hid under the black fog when the Allied forces had lost air supremacy and could no longer use reconnaissance planes to conduct large-scale searches.

And Dai Anlan, Gao Jiren and Zhou Zhizai, the three core senior officers of the 200th Division, they are facing the map for longer and longer hours every day. None of them said anything, but these professional soldiers who had been in a hundred battles saw a deep worry on each other's faces. Because they all understand that the mysterious disappearance of the 56th Division is a sword of Damocles that may have quietly moved over their heads!

And in the past few days, the army has been unusually calm, and it has made Dai Anlan and the other senior officers who have been vigilant feel the most terrible calm in their hearts. Chief of Staff Zhou Zhizai, when he watched the sky at night, sighed lightly in the hearts of all of them: "It's really the sky is bright, and its darkness is especially fierce!" ”

Out of the keen sense of danger of the outstanding soldiers, and out of absolute loyalty to the army and the country, the last 200 divisions still sent a telegram to Chiang Kai-shek, who had already flown to Miao Mei and commanded the expeditionary force to fight in Burma...... Beware of the enemy's 56th Division's sneak attack on Lashio!

Lashio is not only the most important arms storage base and transit station behind the expeditionary force, nor is it not only the gateway of the Yunnan-Burma Highway, but also the only way for their 100,000-strong expeditionary force to return to China! The expeditionary force, with only 100,000 troops, without the full participation of British "friendly forces" in the war, wants to defeat the enemy's four divisions without air supremacy, it is almost impossible, but no matter how the war situation in Burma develops, as long as they can firmly protect Lashio, the expeditionary force can withdraw to China at the worst!

Seeing the telegram sent by Dai Anlan, Chiang Kai-shek, who was in the Burma theater as the head of state, smiled, "This Anlan, when he fights, he will focus all his attention on the enemy, and he is a rare tiger general." However, if we focus too much on the local battlefield, we will often lose the overall picture. Now Anlan can give me advice to guard Lashio carefully, and I will make great progress! ”

In fact, Chiang Kai-shek, as a head of state who had experienced a hundred battles and finally reached the pinnacle of power step by step and made his fortune by relying on the army, as the founder and principal of the Whampoa Military Academy, he had long seen the important surname of Lashio City to the expeditionary force, and ordered Gan Lichu, the commander of the Sixth Army, who was responsible for defending Lashio, the life-and-death gate of the expeditionary force, that Lashio must be safe!

The same person who saw the urgency of the situation and smelled the danger was Stilwell!

Stilwell miscalculated the strength of both sides and made a battle plan that might not have been possible in reality, because the Chinese high command had given him the wrong information that "three Chinese divisions could deal with one division." Judging from the heart, aside from the error of judgment caused by intelligence errors, this three-star American lieutenant general definitely has the most outstanding military talent.

In other words, this three-star general who is qualified to become the "deputy commander of the Asian theater of operations", if he is given accurate intelligence and complete command, he is really qualified to win this war!

On 21 April, the 56th Division of the Sixth Army suddenly advanced eastward and captured the city of Le Ke, and the 55th Division of the Sixth Army, which was responsible for the defense, retreated on all fronts, resulting in a huge gap in the eastern theater.

When Stilwell found the commander under the leadership of the adjutant, he looked at everything in the room, and had not slept for more than 30 hours, and Stilwell, who was running back and forth on the battlefield, changed his face. Stilwell was silent for a long time before he stretched out his hand and pointed at Gan Lichu and said, "You're so busy!" ”

As the commander of the Sixth Army, as the commander of the defense of Lashio, and the commander of the expeditionary force guarding the artery of life and death, he was indeed very busy. But his busyness is not the same as that of Division Commander Dai Anlan and Army Commander Du Yuming, who fought bloodily on the front line, Gan Lichu is now wearing comfortable pajamas, muttering a cigarette imported from the United States, and busy playing mahjong with several subordinates. Facing General Stilwell who suddenly appeared in front of him, looking at his iron-blue face, after a moment of consternation, Gan Lichu reacted quickly, and gave a few subordinates sitting in front of him a little look.

"Isn't this General Stilwell, why don't you notify the lower officials in advance when you want to go to Lashio, please forgive me for not greeting me well!"

Listening to Gan Lichu's words, looking at his face that had already raised the most "sincere" laughter, Stilwell's finger stretched out in mid-air began to tremble, "Notice?" Don't tell me, you don't even know that Chen Mianwu, the commander of the 55th Division, retreated without authorization and lost Leke City! ”

Commander Gan Lichu was stunned, although it had been a day, but he really didn't know that his henchman and favorite general, Chen Mianwu, did not receive the order, faced the enemy's all-out onslaught, retreated without authorization, and surrendered Le Ke City to the enemy. If he knew, even if the city of Lashio he was stationed in was in the rear and would not be attacked by the enemy, he would have made preparations in advance and posed as a loyal and patriotic general, how could he let Stilwell see himself wearing pajamas and playing mahjong with his subordinates?

Gan Lichu's lips squirmed for a long time, and before he could find an explanation in his head for his dereliction of duty, Stilwell had already slammed the door.

"Putting the strategic town of Lashio in the hands of someone like Gan Lichu is tantamount to putting your neck inside the noose, and I order that Gan Lichu of the Sixth Army be investigated immediately, and choose the real person to take his place. For the sake of the correct military law, he shot Chen Mianwu, the commander of the 55th Division, who was cowardly in battle, led his subordinates to retreat, and exposed the rear area of the battlefield on the east side of our country to the enemy! ”

After all, Stilwell is only a three-star lieutenant general of the Americans, not a Chinese. Although he gave this order with a strong attitude, this order was passed into the hands of Chiang Kai-shek, and after the instructions of the supreme commander who really controlled the expeditionary force, it was executed at a discount, and the commander of the Sixth Army, Gan Chuli, was reprimanded, and he himself criticized himself with a sincere attitude and made an unusual guarantee; As for the division commander Chen Mianwu, who was in a cowardly battle, withdrew from his position without authorization, surrendered the city to the enemy, and even gave the enemy a breakthrough on the eastern front and opened a door, he was ordered to make meritorious service and lead the troops to return to recapture the lost Leke City!

Faced with such a situation, Stilwell could only shake his head again and again, this three-star lieutenant general who was full of Western adventurous spirit and had a strategic vision, couldn't help but feel a sense of powerlessness in his heart.

It was also on this day that the British [***] team once again retreated from the frontal battlefield without notifying the friendly forces, exposing the flank of the [***] team to the enemy. That's not all, when the British [***] team retreated, they even planted explosives on the Mandalay Bridge, and once they detonated the explosives to blow up the bridge, according to General Stilwell's request, the squadron that was ready to fight the Battle of Mandalay would lose the way to retreat.

In the face of the actions of the Chinese [***] team and the British [***] team, Stilwell really has nothing to say. That evening, Stilwell wrote a report to the President of the United States. This three-star lieutenant general, who has a good vision and is more because of his age and experience, is more than Lei Zhen, Dai Anlan, Zhou Zhizai, and Gao Jiren, who stands taller and sees farther, and explained the stakes on the battlefield in Burma in one sentence: "As a British colony, Burma has no special geographical value, and there are no precious resources that must be desperately protected. The British were unwilling and would not fight to the death with Yue himself here, in fact, they had already written off the colony of Burma on the map, which was also the main reason why the British had been reluctant for the Chinese expeditionary force to enter Burma and assist in the war. And the reason why they finally nodded and agreed was just to hope that the Chinese [***] team could take over their defense line, so that they could withdraw from Myanmar and enter India more safely. ”

"The British had no intention of fighting, and in order to preserve their strength, they were on the verge of collapse with the enemy. The reason why the Chinese went to Burma was only to protect the Burma Highway, so that they could pass through this road every month and receive 5,000 tons of aid materials from the countries headed by the United States. It was also impossible for them to fight to the death on the battlefield in Burma for the benefit of the British, and it was because of this that the generals who retreated without receiving orders were not seriously responsible. ”

Writing here, the three-star lieutenant general made a final judgment on the Burma battlefield: "The matter has come to this, no matter how hard I try, the complete failure of the Burma battlefield will be inevitable!" ”

And on April 28, Stilwell's judgment was the most effective response!

It was on this day that the 56th Division, which had been missing from the Allied territory for more than ten days, suddenly appeared in the Nanpao Valley, twenty kilometers north of Lashio! Under the leadership of the commander of Masao Watanabe's Division, which is proficient in jungle and mountain operations, this well-known "Dragon Division" that is good at creating miracles on the battlefield broke away from the logistical supply line and broke through more than a dozen checkpoints in a row with the arc army, carrying out a 1,500-kilometer strategic intersperse. In the end, the surprise soldiers stood out, with lightning speed, with the tank force as the vanguard, launched a surprise attack on Lashio City!

The commander of the Sixth Army, Gan Lichu, who lost the strategic place and didn't know it after a day, was still wearing pajamas and playing mahjong with his subordinates, but in the end he was only reprimanded and punished, what kind of soldiers can he bring out and what kind of troops can he train?

In the face of the fierce artillery fire of the heavy artillery regiment, he was caught off guard, and I don't know how many soldiers fell in a pool of blood before they could figure out what was going on. The vast majority of the soldiers did not even put on their uniforms, they heard the sound of artillery bombardment, heard the shouts of the enemy launching a group charge on the city, and their most intuitive thing to do was not to pick up arms and immediately throw themselves into the battlefield, but to stumble backwards, no matter what, behind them was the gate of the country, as long as they fled into the jungle and deep mountains, all the way to the east, they could always return to China!

Only a very small number of soldiers, under the leadership of junior officers, rose up to resist, but there was no unified command, no senior officers sat in charge of the overall situation, with the charge of the tank regiment of the army, these local resistance gunfire, was quickly suppressed.

As for the commander Gan Chuli, who faced a big battle, could still be calm and unhurried, and showed the demeanor of a famous general with mahjong, he fled to Wan Town at the first time when Lashio was attacked, and then this army commander gave full play to the characteristics of soldiers who are not afraid of hardship and tiredness, and took an armored car that was absolutely not comfortable in pajamas, and retreated 300 kilometers non-stop, and fled directly to Baoshan in China. It is estimated that no matter how good the army is, it will not be possible to reach this position in a short time, so Commander Gan Chuli finally stopped his outlaw expedition.

In the face of such an enemy commander, it only took a few hours for Masao Watanabe to lead his "Dragon Division", which was good at creating battlefield miracles, to break the defense of the Sixth Army and raise a national flag over Lashio City.

When Masao Watanabe transmitted the good news of the victory to the headquarters by radio, the army of Samoto, which had been calm for several days, launched a fierce attack on the Chinese expeditionary force almost simultaneously.

The Chinese Expeditionary Force has fallen into the most terrible situation in the face of a strong enemy that cannot be overcome, and even the way to retreat and withdraw to China has been cut off! At this point, the Allied forces besieged on three sides had only one last way, that is, to withdraw into India from the only western side that was not surrounded by the Japanese army.

Faced with the situation that the rear road was cut off, the supply was interrupted, and the enemy was surrounded on three sides, and there was no way to return to the sky, the Chinese Expeditionary Force, the British [***] side, and General Stilwell, the commander in name only, had to sit down and have a good talk anyway.

It was only at this time that the commander of the British [***] team, Alexander, opened their hole cards: "Now that the army has captured Lashio, and the allies are attacked on three sides, I, the British Imperial Political Axe, out of humanitarian considerations, allow the Chinese [***] team to carry weapons and equipment and retreat to India for refuge!" ”

Commander Du Yuming, who was present at what may have been the last coalition meeting, was stunned when he finally understood what Commander Alexander had said through an interpreter, and he was really stunned.

Humanitarian?!

Refuge?!

Their exotic expedition was to help the British [***] team to resist the invasion of strong enemies in their colonies, for this goal, they endured the treachery of the British "allies" again and again, they fought a bloody battle with the ancient city for 12 days, they counterattacked Tangji, they withstood the enemy's bombardment, with the lives of soldiers, suppressed the enemy's attack again and again, when the war situation finally returned to various reasons, and fell into absolute passivity, as allies, as allies, as a matter of course, retreat, It was included in the category of evacuation?!

What a joke that makes people laugh at all, and what a sarcasm!

But before Commander Alexander's words were finished, he squinted at Du Yuming, first with the most gentlemanly attitude, took a puff of the Cuban cigar in his mouth, and after elegantly spitting out a smoke ring, he continued: "But I must apply in advance, according to international practice, and for security reasons, before your army enters India, it must first declare its refugee status according to the strength of the army, and it can only be contained after being reviewed and approved by my British Imperial Political Axe." Moreover, it must be centrally managed at the designated location of our political axe. If you have any comments or suggestions, Mr. Du Yuming, you can put them to me. ”

Understood, everything is understood!

Du Yuming really wanted to laugh out loud now, if he wasn't the commander of the Fifth Army and didn't need to be responsible for the lives of tens of thousands of brothers in the division, he would really not hesitate to pull out his matching gun and kill Alexandra in this ally, this ally, with one shot!

It is no wonder that the British [***] team will collapse with the enemy on the battlefield, and lose the face of their British Empire; No wonder they keep sending false information to their friends; No wonder this Alexander general, who was obviously defeated and lost the whole of Burma, can still wear a smile on his face, with a full body of elegance, and can still wear a gentleman's dress well-dressed, and he can also talk about a cheap Cuban cigar in his mouth!

It turned out that the British [***] team had long been ready to abandon Burma, and they let the Chinese expeditionary force enter Burma, not just to help them take over the defense, so that they could safely withdraw the whole division to India.

Don't look at the British [***] team is always about to collapse at the touch of a button, but they have always guarded the last line of defense, guarding the last retreat route that even the [***] team did not hold, doesn't this explain the problem? Not only do they want the Chinese [***] team to enter Burma as their shield, but they also want to use a gentlemanly attitude and a humane stance to "welcome" the 100,000 Chinese [***] team, which has been embattled and isolated under the design of their British "friendly forces", as "refugees", to withdraw into India and be stationed in the position they command, and accept their management.

Facing Alexander's victorious gaze, looking at General Stilwell, who was sitting there silent, but secretly shaking his head and sighing, Du Yuming stood up and said: "Thank you General Alexander for your kindness, but we are China's army, we are from China, and we are going back to China!" We have our own homeland, we have our own homeland, we don't need to run to India to be refugees! ”

Alexander reminded with a smile: "Commander Du, don't forget, on your way home, there is a whole division of the enemy waiting for you, blocking your way home, I think, with the strength of your army, it will be difficult to break through the enemy's defense line before the whole army surrounds you." ”

Du Yuming looked back at Alexander, the commander who has been working tirelessly to revitalize the Fifth Army and make the Fifth Army a model for training the whole team for several years, his eyes suddenly raised a bayonet-like light, he puffed up his chest, and said in a deep voice word by word: "If you can't break it, you have to attack it!" ”

Alexander smiled, he knew that Du Yuming, as a soldier with a blood surname that had not disappeared, would naturally react so violently, he waved his right hand, made a tolerant and generous movement, and said with a tolerant attitude: "I can understand Commander Du's feelings, and I also respect Commander Du's bravery, if Commander Du can change the meaning, I, Alexander himself and the British political axe, welcome you at any time." ”

Alexander is really in control, now the Allies are surrounded on three sides, the Chinese expeditionary force to return to China, has been the 56th Division, which can fight well, known as the "Dragon Division" of the strong force, want to in a short period of time, there are tank regiments, automobile regiments, heavy artillery regiments, more aviation support of the army, with the current morale of the [***] team, it is absolutely impossible.

Even if Du Yuming refuses, but according to Alexander's judgment, those politicians in the Chinese political axe will still nod and agree, these tens of thousands of Chinese [***] people, even if they are evacuated to India as refugees and accept the management of their British political axe, it is better than being completely wiped out by the Japanese army in Burma, right?

Besides, when did the weak Chinese political axe, in the face of their British Empire, ever straighten its waist?

Along with Du Yuming, Luo Zhuoying, who was sent to Burma by Chiang Kai-shek to serve as the commander-in-chief of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, in order to mediate the contradictions between the Chinese, British, and American coalition forces. Luo Zhuoying quietly pulled Du Yuming and said in a low voice: "It is a matter of life and death for tens of thousands of brothers in the expeditionary force, we should report to Yucheng first, and wait for Chairman Jiang to dec......ide."

Looking at Luo Zhuoying's small movements in private, although he couldn't hear it clearly, and he didn't understand what he was whispering, the smile on Alexander's face was even stronger. Look, he didn't guess wrong, through the bloody battle in Burma, Alexander agreed that there are fierce warriors who are not afraid of death in the middle [***] team, but usually, among the Chinese, there is no shortage of cowards who are afraid of things!

"Decided? What is there to decide? ”

Du Yuming turned his head and looked at the man sitting beside him with a strange look, who was pot-bellied and poopy, without a bit of military bearing and demeanor, but could be reused by Chiang Kai-shek. Looking at Luo Zhuoying's face full of willingness and eagerness, the surprise on Du Yuming's face was slowly replaced by thick crumbs.

"Dear Commander Luo Zhuoying, I don't think you will forget Xie Jinyuan and his eight hundred warriors, right? At that time, our gentleman's British allies, our noble and humane British allies, also persuaded Xie Jinyuan to lead the eight hundred warriors in the Sixing warehouse to retreat through their British concessions, and the result? ”

Faced with Du Yuming's inquiry, Luo Zhuoying was really stunned. The story of Xie Jinyuan and the 800 warriors not only once became the front page headlines of newspapers, but was also made into a TV and a drama, which was widely circulated in the land of China.

"I respect Xie Jinyuan's character and tenacity, and I sigh that such a soldier did not die on the battlefield, but under the captivity and detention of his allies. Whenever I think of this person and his affairs, I often think in my heart, if I Du Yuming encountered such a situation, what would I do? ”

In front of everyone's eyes, Du Yuming straightened his waist, an unyielding momentum that could only belong to an iron-blooded soldier, and a tragic murderous aura like Jing Ke's assassination of Qin, which stabbed Alexander's eyes in an instant.

The calm smile on Alexander's face finally disappeared. He can become the commander of the British army in Burma, of course he has a considerable vision, of course he should understand that the man in front of him is a sword, a sword that would rather bend than bend, a sword that is stronger, sharper, and not to be humiliated than Xie Jinyuan!

Du Yuming looked directly at Alexander, and said in a deep voice: "Gather the net and break the game with death!" ”

At this point, the negotiations between Du Yuming and Alexander have officially broken down, Du Yuming glanced at Luo Zhuoying, who was full of helplessness and full of dissatisfaction, with contemptuous eyes, and said: "If you think that you should ask Yucheng for instructions and Chairman Jiang for instructions, that is your freedom." But I, Du Yuming, will never change my mind, unless I am no longer the commander of the Fifth Army! ”

After saying these words, Du Yuming grabbed his military hat and seriously saluted Stilwell. There were so many people present, and only this three-star lieutenant general, who had no soldiers and no power in his hands, but was working hard, was still qualified to be respected by him.

Looking at the iron-clad soldier in front of him, who vividly interpreted China's style of "knowing that there are tigers in the mountains and preferring to go to the tiger mountains", and felt the firm and impeccable will in his heart, Stilwell suddenly smiled, "Although we lost this time, I think that as long as there are soldiers like you, we will soon counterattack back!" ”

After listening to the translated words, Du Yuming nodded slightly to Stilwell, then straightened his military hat, and strode out of this place where the ugliness of politics was brought into full play, making him, a professional soldier, feel too depressed. Looking at the sunset that the west is gradually sinking, but still exuding the last light and heat, looking at this empty blue sky and earth, and looking at the endless silent mountains in the distance, an indescribable loneliness and helplessness suddenly surrounded Du Yuming.

"Can I really bring these tens of thousands of brothers back to China safely? I rejected Alexander's proposal, was it really right? ”

If you are not in Du Yuming's position, you will never understand, let alone understand his feelings. It is a kind of burden that is faced with embattlement, walking on thin ice every step, and the slightest carelessness will wipe out the entire army, and must be responsible for tens of thousands of subordinates!

In any case, the Chinese Expeditionary Force will fight for its fate from this moment on.

(To be continued)