At noon the next day, the army still discovered the whereabouts of the Sixth Army.

Although the Flying Tigers blocked the airspace along the Irrawaddy River, the South Korean authorities had already done a lot of infiltration work before the Japanese army entered Burma, in addition to directly supporting the Kachin armed forces, but also cultivating a large number of Burmese agents.

………… Yangon, known as the army headquarters.

Major General Haruki Isayama hurriedly walked into the office of Lieutenant General Shojiro Iida, and immediately retracted his feet and said uprightly: "Your Excellency, the Burmese agents of the Special High Division have reported that a large group of the Chinese Army has been found near Miadam, and it is estimated that the strength is at least two divisions or more!" ”

"Mi Adam?" Shojiro Iida frowned and hurriedly strode over to the map.

Haruki Isayama quickly found Mi Adam's location from the map, and immediately pointed to the map and said: "Mi Adam is here, just by the Irrawaddy River, about 180 kilometers away from Meng Gong. ”

"Why did the Chinese army run so far? Could it be that Yue Weihan wanted to repeat the old trick, detour behind the 55th Division, and then surround the 55th Division and the 18th Division together? Iida Shojiro snorted and said in a cruel voice, "Hmph, Yue Weihan really has a good appetite, and he wants to swallow the two elite divisions of the Imperial Army in one bite?" Aren't you afraid of eating too much? ”

Haruki Isayama seemed to have realized something, and he was a little distracted for a while.

Seeing that Isayama Haruki didn't react, Iida Shojiro immediately said a little unhappy: "Isayama-kun, what do you say?" ”

Haruki Isayama woke up suddenly, and immediately said in a solemn tone: "Your Excellency, Commander, I'm afraid that the intention of the Shina Army is not to detour behind the 55th Division, but...... Mandalay! ”

"Hmm, Mandalay!?" Hearing this, Iida Shojiro suddenly gasped.

Haruki Isayama hurriedly stepped forward to smooth out the map, and Iida Shojiro compared it with his hand on the map, and found that Miadam was less than 200 kilometers away from Mandalay, and at this time, the 56th Division was still far away in Lashio, and the 55th Division had even run north of Miadam, and there was no longer a large army near Mandalay!

"Yaga!" Iida Shojiro's heart suddenly lifted, and he asked Isayama Haruki in a hurry, "Isayama-kun, how many troops are left in the 55th Division to garrison Mandalay?" ”

"An infantry brigade!" Haruki Isayama said miserably, "Actually, there are only two infantry squadrons!" ”

"What! Only two infantry squadrons!? Iida Shojiro suddenly oozed a bean-sized cold sweat on his head, and asked with a miserable expression, "Isayama-kun, how many mobile troops are there in Yangon that can be mobilized?" ”

"There are only two supplementary wings." Haruki Isayama's face was as dead as ashes, "Moreover, now that these two supplementary wings are transferred to Mandalay, I'm afraid it's too late in time." After saying this, Haruki Isayama said in an inexplicable tone, "Your Excellency Commander, we are too careless, and the loss of Mandalay is unavoidable." ”

Iida Shojiro wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said in a slightly trembling voice: "Isayama-kun, immediately gather all the combat staff officers and conduct an urgent deduction of the battle situation after the fall of Mandalay!" ”

"Hello." Haruki Isayama bowed his head suddenly, and immediately took the order away.

………… Meng Gong, Expeditionary Force Headquarters.

Luo Youlun, chief of staff of the Fifth Army, hurriedly walked into the war room and reported to Yue Weihan: "General, the latest battlefield report of the Flying Tigers shows that the 55th Division of the Flying Army has advanced to the vicinity of Mengyang, and its forward troops have already had small-scale contact with the search team of the 96th Division, and the main force of its division is less than 100 kilometers away from Gamai!" ”

"The little devil came so fast!" Luo Zhuoying said awe-inspiringly, "The Sixth Army is only halfway there, and they are almost there!" ”

"The little devil took the railway, because he was afraid of the bombing of the Flying Tigers, so he didn't dare to take the train, but after all, it was a straight line, the distance was relatively short, and of course the speed was fast." Yue Weihan waved his hand and said indifferently, "In order not to expose its whereabouts in advance, the Sixth Army took interspersed curves in the first half of the journey and ran a lot of unjust roads, but the speed in the second half was faster. ”

Luo Youlun said again: "General seat, the 96th Division asks for instructions, do you need to block the 55th Division of the Yue Army?" ”

"It's too late, the forces of the 96th Division are too scattered!" Yue Weihan frowned, and immediately ordered, "Telegraph to Yu Shao, the task of the 96th Division is to clear out the stragglers of the 33rd Division of the Yue Army, and let them not make any extraneous branches, although they get out of the way and let the 55th Division of the Yue Army go north!" ”

After that, Yue Weihan said to Luo Zhuoying again: "Brother You Qing, call General Chennault immediately, the Sixth Army no longer needs to hide its traces, and the Flying Tigers' blockade of the airspace over the Irrawaddy River can also be canceled, let them immediately shift their targets, bomb the 55th Division of the Yue Army with all their might, and delay the march of the Yue Army as much as possible!" ”

Seeing Luo Zhuoying's figure go away, Yue Weihan said to Luo Youlun again: "Send a telegram to Dai Anlan immediately, four hours, I will only give him four hours, and after four hours, his assault cluster must destroy Mutaguchi Ryoya's division headquarters!" If he can't, he won't have to come back alive to see me! ”

………… Yangon, the headquarters of the 15th Army Corps.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the operational staff officers' simulated deduction was finally over, and the results were astonishing.

Mandalay is located in the middle of Myanmar, is the main hub of railway, highway and waterway transportation, the geographical location is extremely dangerous, its military value is incalculable, once Mandalay is lost, not only the 18th Division, even the 55th, 56th Division will be in danger in an instant, the entire Burma war situation will also be suddenly reversed!

The Guards Division is still far away in Bangkok, and the 31st Division is still in Singapore, and when these two divisions arrive in Burma, it will take half a month to say the least!

What's more, the Allied forces can also continue to increase troops to Burma, after the capture of Mandalay, the Allied forces have taken the absolute initiative strategically, not only the air transport line is unimpeded, but the Yunnan-Burma highway will soon be reopened, because the 56th Division of the Yue Army stationed in Lashio will not be able to hold out for too long after losing its logistical support.

"Your Excellency, the situation is already very obvious!" Haruki Isayama walked quickly to Shojiro Iida, and immediately bowed his head and said, "Once Mandalay is lost, the war situation in the entire Burma will be suddenly reversed, with Yue Weihan's strategic vision and tactical command ability, it will be difficult for the imperial army to regain the initiative on the battlefield in Burma in the future!" ”

"Yaga, of course I know this!" Iida Shojiro was so angry that he immediately slapped Haruki Isayama and said angrily, "What I want to know is, how can we avoid the loss of Mandalay?" ”

"Hello!" Haruki Isayama suddenly bowed his head and said, "Your Excellency, the loss of Mandalay is inevitable!" ”

Iida Shojiro's eyes suddenly widened when he heard this, and when he was about to slap Haruki Isayama twice in anger, Haruki Isayama continued: "However, as long as the 55th Division and the 56th Division can return in time to help, it is not difficult to recapture Mandalay, after all, this time it is only a lone army that has been interspersed, and the Chinese army also lacks logistical support!" ”

"Let the 55th Division return to Mandalay?" Shojiro Iida frowned and said, "So, what about the 18th Division?" ”

Haruki Isayama shook his head and said gloomily: "Your Excellency, the 18th Division can only find a way to break through on its own. ”

"Order, the 55th Division will return south immediately, and the 56th Division will immediately return to Mandalay!" The corners of Iida Shojiro's mouth twitched violently twice, and then he gritted his teeth and shouted in a cruel voice: "The 18th Division immediately broke into pieces, broke through separately, and after breaking through, it will use the people of northern Myanmar as a cover, self-sufficiency, and a permanent war of resistance!" ”

"Hello!" Isayama Haruki bowed his head suddenly, and then walked away with his saber on his shoulder.

………… Gamai, where the 18th Division of the Army is stationed.

Two hours ago, the assault group commanded by Dai Anlan finally arrived at Gamai, and immediately launched a fierce attack on the defensive position of the 18th Division of the Yue Army, and the remnants of the New 22 Division, which had been trapped in Gamai for nearly 10 days, also launched a large-scale counterattack, and cooperated with the assault cluster to launch a fierce attack on the Yue Army from the north and south directions at the same time.

At this time, although the 18th Division of the Japanese Army was complete and the main force was there, almost all the devil soldiers had not slept for more than half a month, and they had reached the limit in terms of energy and physical strength.

In addition, the ammunition of the 18th Division of the Japanese Army is also running out.

Now, the devil soldiers are completely supported by the crazy spirit of bushido, and on the battlefield, they can barely withstand the offensive of the expeditionary force by filling in human lives, but this situation obviously cannot last long, and when the "will" string that the devil soldiers rely on collapses, that is, when the 18th Division completely collapses!

………… Headquarters of the 18th Division.

Mu Taguchi Lian is also like a sleepy beast pacing back and forth in the war room, this old devil has not closed his eyes for three whole days, and his beard has not been shaved for several days, if it is not for the uniform of the lieutenant general on his body, he is completely a Burmese native with his unkempt appearance, and he is also a Burmese gambler who is in a hurry!

"Your Excellency, Division Commander, the defense line of the 114th Brigade of the 1st Wing has been broken through by the Chinese Army!"

"Your Excellency Division Commander, the defense line of the 124th Brigade of the 3rd Wing has been broken through by the Chinese Army!"

"Your Excellency Division Commander, the position of the 18th Mountain Artillery Wing has been raided by a tank cluster of the Chinese Army!"

"Your Excellency Division Commander, the counterattack of the 12th Engineer Wing has been defeated, and Fujii Osa is shattered on the spot!"

The battle reports from the front line flowed into Mutaguchi Ryoya's headquarters, and all the news was bad news, either the defense line of this infantry brigade was breached, or which position was raided, or which Dazuo officer was broken, in short, there was no news that was exciting good news!

When another communications staff officer came in to report, Mutaguchi finally ran away.

Mutaguchi Ryoya kicked over the communications staff officer, immediately turned around, grabbed the placket of the division's chief of staff, Takeda Shou Daisa, and roared with great anger: "Takeda-kun, when will the transport plane of the 5th Flight Group arrive?" And reinforcements, when will the 55th Division arrive in Gamai? ”

Takeda Shou looked miserable and speechless.

"Yagayalu." Mutaguchi Lian also scolded angrily, and immediately slapped Takeda Shoufan to the ground.

At this moment, another staff officer hurriedly entered, and immediately reported with a miserable expression: "Your Excellency the division commander, due to the danger of losing Mandalay, the 55th Division has returned south!" The corps headquarters ordered our division to be divided into pieces, break through separately, and after the breakthrough, use the local Burmese natives as a cover, self-sufficient, and fight a permanent war! ”

"What! Break it into pieces and break through separately!? Mutaguchi also sat back in his chair and muttered to himself, "Self-sufficiency, permanent resistance? ”

Before the words fell, another officer of Shaozuo walked into the war room in a hurry, and immediately suddenly retracted his feet and said: "Your Excellency the division commander, the tank cluster of the Chinese Army has broken through the last line of defense of the 124th Infantry Wing, and it is less than two kilometers away from the division headquarters!" ”

Mutaguchi Lianya didn't seem to hear it, and there was no reaction.

Takeda Shou sighed, the 18th Division has in fact been abandoned by the corps headquarters, and the sadness and depression in Mutaguchi's heart can be imagined, Takeda Shou immediately replaced Mutaguchi Renya and ordered: "Order, each unit will break through separately in squadrons and squads, and after breaking through, choose its own combat area, be self-sufficient, and fight a permanent war!" ”

………… Meng Gong, Expeditionary Force Headquarters.

Lunch time has long passed, and the men in the headquarters have already heated the meal several times, but Yue Weihan has no intention of eating at all, Yue Weihan does not eat, Luo Zhuoying, Luo Youlun, and the staff officers of the Expeditionary Force Headquarters and the Fifth Army Headquarters do not dare to eat first, and they only wait.

Don't look at Yue Weihan's calm on the surface, but he is actually very nervous in his heart!

If it weren't for his nervousness, Yue Weihan wouldn't have been able to wait until now without having the heart to eat!

It was impossible for Yue Weihan not to be nervous, at this time, the 55th Division of the Chinese Army was already less than 50 kilometers away from Gamai, and after the 55th Division entered Burma, it was equipped with a large number of cars and bicycles, and it only took more than two hours to arrive in a hurry.

Yue Weihan gave Dai Anlan a time limit of four hours, but it is really difficult to say whether Dai Anlan's assault group can break through the defense line of the 18th Division of the Yue Army within four hours! Although the 18th Division of the Army is exhausted and sleepy, it is a four-unit veteran division after all, and the tiger can't afford to fall!

Yue Weihan subconsciously took out a cigarette, put it under his nose and sniffed it gently.

No one noticed that the half of the cigarette roll pinched by Yue Weihan in the palm of his hand was completely wet, at this moment, the palms of Yue Weihan's hands were full of sweat, on the one hand, because of the hot weather, on the other hand, because of nervousness, Yue Weihan usually rarely gets nervous, but when he is nervous, his palms will sweat.

(To be continued)