Menggong River Valley.

The Expeditionary Force Headquarters was slowly advancing towards the town of Mong Gong on the Mandalay-Myitkyina railway line with the 200th Division, the Tank Regiment, the Artillery Regiment, the Automobile Regiment and the Field Hospital.

Halfway through, General Luo Zhuoying, deputy commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, took a rare ride on Yue Weihan's jeep.

"Where is the seat, there are a few words that I don't know if I should tell you?" Luo Zhuoying is an eight-sided and exquisite character, he did not despise Yue Weihan because he was young and unqualified, nor did he put on an arrogant posture like Dai Anlan, Sun Liren, Hu Xianqun and other division commanders and regiment commanders, and seemed to ignore Yue Weihan.

"You Qing (Luo Zhuoying), brother, just say it bluntly." Yue Weihan said indifferently.

"That's just the point." Luo Zhuoying rubbed his hands and said in a low voice, "The general seat may not know, the situation of the expeditionary force is more complicated, the fifth army is the Central Army, but the sixth army is the Gui army, and the sixty-sixth army is the Hunan army, unlike the 39th Group Army of the general seat, which is the old subordinates and old troops brought out by the general seat from the sea of corpses and blood, so when the general seat commands this army, he must have a patient surname, pay attention to strategy, and can't come hard......"

Yue Weihan smiled faintly, with a noncommittal and profound look.

Luo Zhuoying didn't mean anything malicious in his words, but Yue Weihan didn't intend to accept his advice.

Yue Weihan never cared what the origin of his troops was, whether it was the Northeast Army, the Northwest Army, or even bandits and family forces, in the final analysis, they were all Chinese troops! As long as they have the common identity of Chinese, Yue Weihan is confident enough to clean them up and let them willingly accept his command!

Because, what Yue Weihan said, thought, and thought was never for himself, let alone for self-respect, as a warlord who cut off his dominance, everything Yue Weihan did was for this country, for this nation, for the sake of maintaining the country's reading power, in order to maintain the freedom of this nation!

And, more importantly, Yue Weihan was able to win the battle!

For soldiers, winning battles is very important, and winning battles not only means more bonuses and faster promotions, but also means a greater chance of survival!

No matter how flawed a general's surname is, as long as he can lead his troops to win battles, he will definitely be able to win the support of the officers and soldiers; on the contrary, if a general always loses a battle, no matter how high his personal charm is, he will eventually be abandoned by the officers and soldiers.

So, as long as Yue Weihan can lead the expeditionary force from victory to victory, then everything is not a problem!

After the two great victories, the grassroots officers and ordinary officers and soldiers of the expeditionary force will accept Yue Weihan from the bottom of their hearts, as for those army commanders or division commanders, I am afraid that it will not be so easy to accept Yue Weihan, but once they lose the support of the grassroots officers and soldiers, how big waves can they make? Yue Weihan could dismiss them in minutes.

Therefore, Yue Weihan never considered the question of whether he could suppress the expeditionary force.

There was only one question in Yue Weihan's mind from beginning to end, that is, how to lead the expeditionary force to win the battle, to paraphrase the words of Commander Yan of the Second War Zone, Yue Weihan could not do anything except win the battle!

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

The information provided by Nanzao Yunzi is absolutely reliable, and the Yue army stationed in Myitkyina does have only one infantry wing and a chariot wing, with a total of less than 4,000 men.

In addition, there are more than 5,000 militants of the Kachin Party in Myanmar.

Of the more than 5,000 Burmese militants, less than 500 have been trained in Thailand, and the vast majority of the remaining militants were temporarily conscripted after the Chinese army invaded Burma.

The infantry wing of the Chinese army stationed in Myitkyina is the 113th Wing, the unit that historically guarded Songshan.

The tank wing is the 14th tank wing, with 3 medium tank squadrons, 1 light tank squadron, 1 self-propelled artillery squadron and a maintenance squadron, with a total strength of about 1,000 people, with 60 Type 97 medium tanks, 20 Type 95 light tanks, and 12 self-propelled guns (doors) converted from combat vehicles.

In the headquarters, the commander-in-chief of the Burmese "Kachin Party Rescue [***]" General Miya is reiterating to the commander of the 113th Infantry Wing of the Japanese Army, Hideji Matsui, the urgent desire to let Burma build a state, and since it is not possible to establish a provisional political axe for Burma in Yangon, it is acceptable to retreat to the next best thing and build a temporary political axe of the Kachin Party in Myitkyina in northern Burma.

The Kachin Party in Myanmar regarded the army as liberators and fully cooperated with the army when it entered Burma.

After driving out the British army, the Kachin people thought that Burma would be able to free itself from the enslavement of the British and gain reading power and freedom, but the Kachin party proposal to establish a provisional political axe in Myanmar was always shelved on the grounds that "Myanmar still needs protection".

The Kachin party naturally will not give up and rest, and many times found the commander of the 15th Army in Burma, Iida Shojiro, to ask for reading, Iida Shojiro was overwhelmed, and Suo surnamed Miya took his "Kachin Party Rescue [***]" with the 56th Division of the Japanese Army to attack Lashio, and then followed the 113th Infantry Wing to attack Myitkyina for a long distance.

After arriving in Myitkyina, Mia and other Kachin people pestered Matsui Hideji again.

On the grounds that the Chinese Expeditionary Force was still stationed in the Hukang River Valley, 200 miles away, he resolutely refused to allow the Kachin Communists to establish a temporary political axe in Myitkyina, so as not to arouse antagonistic feelings among various forces in northern Burma.

When Matsui Hideji was arguing with Miya, the commander of the 14th Wing of the Combat Vehicle of the Japanese Army, Yoshiro Ikeda, had already strode in with a saber on his shoulder, and immediately retracted his feet and said: "Matsui-kun, the aviation scout reports that the 200th Division of the mechanized unit of the China Expeditionary Force has driven out of the Hukang River Valley and is advancing towards Menggong Town!" ”

"Miyasan, do you hear me?" Matsui Hideji immediately said, "The Shina Army has not given up its intention to enslave Burma, and at such a moment, it is inappropriate to establish a provisional political axe in Burma, please be patient, please!" With that, Hideji Matsui bowed again to Miya, the leader of the Kachin Party in Myanmar.

Immediately, Hideji Matsui said to Yoshiro Ikeda, "Ikeda-kun, what do you think?" ”

Yoshiro Ikeda said: "The location of Mong Gong is extremely important, and once the railway line is cut off by the Chinese army, it will be difficult for us to get supplies from Rangoon, so we must seize the town of Mong Gong before the 200th Division of the Chinese Army, and then hold on until the arrival of the 18th Division." ”

Matsui Hideji said: "In this case, the task of rushing to the aid of Menggong Town can only be entrusted to your chariot wing." ”

"Hello." Yoshiro Ikeda bowed his head abruptly and said, "Our chariot wing will never let Menggong Town fall into the hands of the Shina army, but the defense of Myitkyina can only be entrusted to you, Matsui-kun." ”

"Please rest assured." Matsui Hideji said solemnly, "Myitkyina will be fine!" ”

At that moment, Yoshiro Ikeda and Hideji Matsui saluted each other, then turned around and walked away with their sabers on their shoulders.

From the beginning to the end, Hideharu Matsui never thought of reporting to the division headquarters and asked the division commander Masao Watanabe to make a decision.

As the commander of the combat mission of reading power, Hideji Matsui has the power to make decisions on the spot, which is also the tradition of the army.

In less than half an hour, Yoshiro Ikeda led his 14th Wing of chariots, and with the coordination of two infantry squadrons sent by the 113th Infantry Wing, rushed to the aid of Menggong Town.

………… When the 14th Wing of the Chariot of the Yue Army drove out of Myitkyina, Sun Liren's new 38th Division had unknowingly entered the dense forest of Myitkyina, although the army won the support of the Burmese natives, but the whereabouts of the new 38th Division were not revealed, the reason was very simple, all the Burmese natives encountered on the road were "handled" by [***].

"Division, little devil's chariot troops!" Head Liu Fangwu asked in a low voice, "Where are they going?" ”

"Do you need to ask?" Sun Lidao, "It must be the 200th Division's feint in the direction of Menggong Town that has worked. ”

"Damn, as soon as this little devil's chariot unit leaves, it will be much easier to take Myitkyina Airport!" Liu Fangwu couldn't help but feel furious when he heard this, and said murderously, "Master, if the information provided by Yue Weihan is true, now Myitkyina has more than 2,000 devil soldiers, and how many troops can be assigned to garrison the airport?" ”

"Look at your little bit of interest?" Sun Liren said coldly, "Of course the airport must be taken, but none of the devils in Myitkyina and the Burmese puppet army can be spared!" Sun Liren held back his anger in his heart, and he was determined to fight a beautiful victory in Myitkyina, and when the time came, he would like to see if Yue Weihan could fulfill his "promise"?

However, Sun Liren also has this confidence, the new 38th Division is not only well-trained, but also well-equipped, after entering Burma, it has received a lot of good equipment from the British Army, although it fought a battle with the 33rd Division of the Yue Army in Ren'anqiang, but the battle damage is only more than 200 people, and more than 7,000 elites are basically unscathed!

In Ringanqiang, the new 113th Regiment defeated a wing of the Yue Army with the same strength!

So in Myitkyina, isn't it a piece of cake for a fully staffed new 38th Division to clean up more than 2,000 devils?

As for those Burmese puppet soldiers, Sun Liren and the officers and soldiers of the new 38th Division really didn't take them seriously, even if they were armed with all the beautiful weapons, they were just a group of vulnerable farmers!

………… In the evening, the scouts who had infiltrated Myitkyina to inquire about the details of the Burmese army finally returned.

These two scouts were originally Burmese overseas Chinese who had returned to China to resist the war, and they all spoke Burmese, and when Qiao Xiang mixed into Myitkyina, he did not attract the attention of the military sentry at all.

In terms of appearance alone, it is difficult to distinguish the indigenous people of Myanmar from the Chinese diaspora living in Myanmar.

"Master, the airport is very heavily guarded, and I can only hide in a big tree in the distance to see the general situation." The senior soldier in charge of exploring the Myitkyina airport first reported to General Sun Liren, "The army stationed at the airport should be about one squadron, and there is also about a battalion of Burmese puppet troops, and there are no turrets or pillboxes, but a trench about four meters deep and wide has been dug around it, and barbed wire has been encircled, there is only one exit, and there are two ring barricades on both sides of the suspension bridge." ”

Sun Liren nodded, and his gaze immediately turned to the senior soldier who was in charge of exploring the city.

Another senior soldier said: "Myitkyina has no city walls, the defense of the outer city is mainly responsible for the Burmese puppet army, only the defense of the central city is responsible for the devil soldiers, the defense of the Burmese puppet army is very lax, but the little devil is heavily guarded, the entire central city can be described as three steps and one sentry, five steps and one post, and a lot of barricades have been built!" ”

Sun Liren raised his right hand and said expressionlessly: "Now to the watch, the time is 6:05 p.m.!" ”

The three regiment commanders of the new 38th Division, as well as the commanders of the guard battalion and the artillery battalion, raised their right hands one after another and began to check the time.

After the regiment commander and battalion commander had a good time, Sun Liren said: "The specific battle plan has been clearly explained to you by the chief of staff just now, tomorrow at two o'clock in the morning, the artillery battalion will begin to shell the headquarters of the army, and at the same time, the 112th Regiment will begin to storm the airport, and the guard battalion will ambush and send reinforcements, and after 20 minutes of shelling, the 113th Regiment and the 114th Regiment will launch a surprise attack on Myitkyina from the north and south directions at the same time. ”

After speaking, Sun Liren specially advised: "Listen to me, the battle must be resolved before dawn!" ”

"Yes!" The three regiment commanders and the two battalion commanders immediately agreed to the promise and immediately received the order.

………… 2 a.m.

The commander of the 113th Infantry Wing, Hideji Matsui, was about to leave the war room when a piercing shell scream suddenly sounded outside the headquarters!

Immediately, an operational staff officer shouted: "British 25-pounder field artillery group!" ”

The caliber of the British 25-pounder field gun was 88mm, which was more than the 75mm caliber of the Japanese army.

However, due to the gun mount, the range of the British 25-pounder field gun was not as good as that of the 75mm field gun.

"25-pounder field artillery group!?" Matsui Hideji's face changed drastically, "Yaga Yalu, could it be that the damn British have returned to Myanmar again?" No, it can't be, the British have already been frightened by the military threat of the Imperial Army, and they don't dare to return to Burma with their courage, the Chinese army, this must be the Chinese army in the Hukang River Valley! ”

As soon as the words fell, the deputy wing commander of the 113th Infantry Wing, Takeuchi Lianshan, had already strode in with a saber on his shoulder, and immediately retracted his feet and said: "Your Excellency, the airport was raided by the Shina Army, and the firepower of the Shina Army is very fast, with at least two regiments, Captain Tachihara asked the wing headquarters to send reinforcements quickly!" ”

"Sure enough, it's the Chinese army!" Hideji Matsui immediately ordered, "Order, the artillery squadron and the search squadron will immediately counterattack and destroy the 25-pounder field artillery group of the Shina Army, the 1st and 2nd Infantry Brigades will immediately enter the fortifications and prepare to deal with the attack of the Shina Army, and the 3rd Infantry Brigade will immediately go out of the city and quickly reinforce the airfield!" ”

"Hello." The herald bowed his head suddenly, and immediately took the order and left.

The artillery in Myitkyina soon began to counterattack, and soon three infantry battalions were assembled, two of which quickly entered the fortifications built along the street, and the other brigade quickly rushed to the airfield, but as soon as it left the city, this infantry brigade was ambushed by the guard battalion of the new 38th Division.

………… To the east of Myitkyina there is a river with a wooden bridge.

Wang Fusheng, commander of the guard battalion of the new 38th Division, and Sun Liren are fellow villagers, who graduated from the ninth phase of Huangpu, and after inspecting the terrain at the bridgehead, the six Bren Mark 1 heavy machine guns supported by the British army were arranged at the three commanding heights on the east side of the bridgehead, and the entire position was in an inverted triangle.

Myanmar is a tropical rainforest terrain with dense jungle and many of them are broad-leaved plants.

In such terrain, as long as you don't encounter each other directly, it is difficult to detect the existence of the other party even if you are only three or five meters apart.

Due to the tight time, the two side three-wheeled motorcycles that served as the search team of the Yue Army only symbolically carried out fire reconnaissance on the banana forests on both sides of the road, and the officers and men of the guard battalion of the new 38th Division were not moved at all, and when the main force of the 3rd Brigade of the Yue Army of more than 500 people entered the ambush circle, six Bren Mark 1 heavy machine guns suddenly opened fire fiercely!

At the same time, more than two dozen Brown light machine guns and nearly a hundred Stern submachine guns also opened fire at the same time!

The light firepower of the guard battalion of the new 38th Division is far greater than that of the Yue Army, which has to start from the Battle of Ringanqiang, because the new 38th Division rescued more than 7,000 British troops who were besieged in Ringanqiang, and won the favor of the British ghosts, therefore, before this part of the British army withdrew to India, a small number of 25-pounder field guns and a large number of machine guns and submachine guns were donated to the new 38th Division.

Six heavy machine guns, more than 20 light guns, and nearly 100 submachine guns were intertwined into a dense crossfire, and the more than 500 devil soldiers who stepped into the death trap could not find a hiding place at all, and in less than five minutes, the troops who went out of the city to reinforce the airport left behind more than 300 corpses, and less than 200 people retreated to the city.

Seeing that the army had fled back to the city in a hurry, Wang Fusheng, the commander of the guard battalion, stood up from the banana forest, first blew the smoke on the muzzle of the Browning pistol in his hand coolly, and then turned back to the attendant adjutant and said: "Immediately send a report to the division headquarters, our battalion won the first battle, severely damaged the reinforcements out of the city, and killed more than 300 enemies!" ”

………… Myitkyina City Effect, New 38th Division Headquarters.

The chief of staff hurriedly walked into the temporary headquarters and said to Sun Li: "Division, the guard battalion won the first battle, and the reinforcements out of the city were severely damaged, killing more than 300 enemies!" ”

"Well, well done!" Sun Liren couldn't help but wave his fist fiercely.

As soon as the words fell, another communications staff officer stepped inside, and excitedly reported: "Division, the 112th Regiment has successfully captured the Myitkyina airport, killed more than 200 people of the Japanese army and the Burmese puppet army, and captured more than 500 people. ”

(To be continued)