In mid-July of the 30th year of the Republic of China (1941), the Southern Army launched a fierce attack on Southeast Asia with Indochina as its forward base.

In less than three months, the army swept through almost all of Southeast Asia.

On the Burma battlefield, the smooth advance of the Japanese army far exceeded the estimate of the Southern Army Command.

After the attack on Lashio, the 56th Division of the Chinese Army captured a large number of American vehicles to aid China, and used these vehicles to carry thousands of infantry to the north along the Yunnan-Burma Highway to quickly pursue them north.

Along the Yunnan-Burma Highway, the Chinese expeditionary force was defeated like a mountain, and the army was hardly met with any decent low resistance, and the emperor's soldiers suddenly soared in confidence, thinking that there was no power in this world that could stop their advance, and they would continue to pursue like this until they captured the capital of China, Yucheng!

However, at this time, Yue Weihan came to Myanmar and said that his dream was shattered!

After Yue Weihan succeeded Du Yuming as the commander-in-chief of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, he parachuted into the Burma battlefield in the shortest possible time, and successfully stimulated the fighting spirit of the expeditionary force and took Myitkyina in one fell swoop! After Myitkyina changed hands, the Chinese Expeditionary Force suddenly had a forward base for US transport planes to take off and land, and the situation in Burma was once again uncertain.

However, the success of the sneak attack on Myitkyina was not enough to reverse the grim situation faced by the expeditionary force, and the Chinese expeditionary force still firmly occupied the initiative in the Burma battlefield, and the Chinese expeditionary force was completely inferior in the three major factors of strength, battlefield environment, and soldier quality compared with the 15th Army Corps.

In terms of troops, the 15th Army Corps of the Japanese Army in the Burma battlefield has four field divisions and nearly 100,000 troops.

The 15th Army Corps of the Chinese Army had suffered heavy casualties on the battlefields of Ringanqiang and Tonggu, but the 15th Army had driven the British Navy out of the Bay of Bengal, and through sea and railway lines, the reserve of the Japanese Army could quickly land in Yangon and be transported to the front line in northern Burma, and the strength of the 15th Army Corps had even increased slightly.

However, the Chinese Expeditionary Force currently has only more than 70,000 people, among whom many officers and men are sick or wounded, and the real available troops are less than 50,000.

In terms of the battlefield environment, except for the hundreds of thousands of overseas Chinese living in Burma, almost all the indigenous Burmese support the Yue Army, in Burma, the Chinese Expeditionary Force is more like an invader, and the Yue Army is more like the "People's Liberation Army" of the Burmese aborigines, so the Chinese Expeditionary Force often encounters unexpected difficulties, while the Yue Army can gain widespread support.

In terms of the quality of soldiers, there is a significant gap between the Chinese Expeditionary Force and the 15th Army Corps of the Chinese Expeditionary Force!

The soldiers of the Yue Army generally believe in the spirit of bushido, and most of them are not afraid of death, but at the spiritual level, the Chinese Expeditionary Force is by no means much inferior to the Yue Army, however, in terms of the quality of soldiers, especially the quality of officers, the Chinese Expeditionary Force is far inferior to the Yue Army, and the soldiers generally have the initial Chinese, and the grass-roots officers are all graduated from the non-commissioned officer school.

A soldier is not afraid of not having a culture, as long as he is not afraid of death, he is basically qualified.

If an officer has no culture, it often means reckless command, reckless decision, stupid defense, and even idiotic suicidal attack, and the more courageous an officer is, the more afraid he is of death, the greater the harm to the army, and an illiterate tactical master like "Li Yunlong" is not only rare, but also requires a long process of growth.

Although Yue Weihan has demon-level tactical command ability, he is also powerless in the face of a large group of reckless, ignorant, reckless, and stupid grass-roots officers, and in the Taihang Mountain base area, Yue Weihan also spent great energy to establish the Taihang Military Academy and the officer crash training camp, so that the quality of the grass-roots officers of the 39 th Group Army has been qualitatively improved.

In short, the situation facing the expeditionary force is still very serious, and the slightest carelessness will end in the collapse of the whole front!

Fortunately, the route between Myitkyina in northern Burma and the Ting River in India has been opened, with this air lifeline, the logistics supply of the expeditionary force is basically worry-free, and it is precisely because of this that the expeditionary force has the confidence to resist to the death, as long as it holds out for two to three months, the 39th Group Army will enter Burma, and the war situation will usher in a turnaround!

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

In the war room, senior generals such as Shojiro Iida and Haruki Isayama had already gathered next to the simulated sand table.

Isayama Haruki said to Iida Shojiro with a solemn expression: "Your Excellency Commander, although there is no exact information yet, but the collective jade fragmentation of the 14th Wing of the chariot is already undoubted, and the aviation scouts report that the Chinese army has put on a stubborn posture along the Menggong line, so far, Yue Weihan's intention is already obvious, that is, to hold on and wait for help!" ”

"Stuck on the ground?" Iida Shojiro said in a deep voice, "How to solve the logistics supply of the Chinese army?" ”

"It will definitely rely on the U.S. Air Force for airlift supplies." Haruki Isayama pointed to the sign of Myitkyina and said, "This is also the only reason why Yue Wei Hanshe sought to seize Myitkyina, because Myitkyina has an airfield built by the British army. ”

"Airlift supplies for the U.S. Air Force?" Iida Shojiro pondered for a moment, then turned back to Lieutenant General Hidera Oda, commander of the 5th Flight Group, and said, "Oda-kun, please be sure to send an air force to blow up the airfield in Myitkyina, please." ”

Oda Hidera smiled and said, "Iida-kun, don't worry, the 5th Flying Group of the Imperial Army will never let any American transport plane land at Myitkyina Airport. ”

………… Kunming, Wujiaba Airport.

Chennault was convening a meeting of more than 100 pilots of the Flying Tigers stationed at Kunming Airport.

Although Chennault is the captain of the Flying Tigers, he is also unable to make a decision on whether the Flying Tigers will be incorporated into the US Air Force, and he must first obtain the consent of the majority of the Flying Tigers.

"Oh no, to hell with the Pentagon's official documents!"

"Fools only returned to serve in the US Air Force, I hate lifeless barracks!"

"Yes, I will never leave Kunming, I like the girls here, they fascinate me."

"Sir, if the Pentagon is willing to pay us $500 a week, we might be able to consider it."

The opinions of the Flying Tigers are surprisingly unanimous, these guys were originally thorns in the US Air Force, and because they were not used to the atmosphere of the barracks, they chose to retire early and come to China to pan for gold, and now let them give up their high salary of $500 a month and return to the US Air Force to get a salary of $150 a month, of course they are unwilling.

More importantly, he served freely and freely in the US Volunteer Air Force for China's aid, and could even be openly summoned in the base building, but once he returned to the US Air Force, he would be constrained by many military regulations, and it would be absolutely impossible to continue the current merry and happy life.

"Hey, free boys, you're disappointing me." Chennault frowned, "Do you only have money and women in your eyes?" Aren't you willing to fight for America, for freedom? ”

"Sir, you should tell Roosevelt or Marshall."

"Yes, the U.S. Air Force's military regulations should have been reformed a long time ago, and those dirty politicians should really think about why the U.S. Air Force can't keep the best pilots? They were the ones who kicked us out of the U.S. Air Force in the first place, and now they need us to die for them, so they thought of transferring us back, God, it's shameless. ”

Chennault's remarks drew a more fierce rebuttal from the Flying Tigers.

While the argument was going on, a Chinese staff member of the intelligence station suddenly ran in and said with a nervous expression: "Sir, the radio teams have sent back an urgent telegram that a large number of bombers and fighters of the Chinese army are taking off from Hanoi, Bangkok, and Yangon airports. ”

As mentioned earlier, Chennault has adopted an early warning system in China.

This so-called early warning system sounds quite mysterious, but to put it bluntly, it is actually a group of spy teams lurking in the occupied areas; once planes take off from the various airports of the Chinese military, these spy teams will be able to quickly transmit the news back to the base building of Kunming's Wujiaba Airport, and the Flying Tigers will be able to get the news in advance and be ready to take off into the air to respond to the battle.

"A lot of machines? How many? Chennault, who had appeared to be a little lazy, suddenly became energetic, like a shark smelling blood, or a cheetah that has found its prey.

"More than 100 planes have taken off from Bangkok, Hanoi and Yangon airports!"

"More than 100 land-based planes took off? Maybe there are planes taking off from the air carrier, this is a large-scale cluster bombing operation! Chennault rubbed his hands excitedly, then turned back to the Flying Tigers and yelled, "Bunnies, let's talk about it after we return to the U.S. Air Force, it's time to get to work, go!" go！ go！ ”

Chennault gave an order, and more than 100 members of the Flying Tigers immediately flew down the base building.

In less than 15 minutes, the two squadrons of P-40 fighters stationed at Wujiaba airfield had all taken to the air, and after completing their formation in the air, they roared straight toward Myitkyina in northern Burma.

At this time, another batch of 120 P-40 fighters from the United States to assist China had arrived in Kunming, and the number of fighters that the Flying Tigers could take to the air to fight had reached more than 200.

After arriving over Myitkyina, the Flying Tigers immediately dispatched reconnaissance planes to search the airspace over the southeast.

Myitkyina Airport originally had a radar station, but before the British troops withdrew, they bombed all the radar stations and other important airport facilities, and after the army occupied Myitkyina, the expeditionary force was destroyed before they could repair the radar station, and the Flying Tigers could not get the guidance of ground radar, so they could only send reconnaissance planes to conduct an aerial search.

Half an hour later, a reconnaissance team made an urgent report that it had discovered a group of military aircraft!

………… Two hundred kilometers southeast of Myitkyina, a huge group of military planes is roaring forward.

The military aircraft group consisted of more than 30 Type 97 horizontal bombers and more than 50 Type 99 dive bombers, and the 5th Flying Group of the Southern Army, which was attached to the 15th Army Corps of Burma, could be said to be an elite sortie.

Such a large bomber group was only escorted by more than 20 Zero fighters.

The little devil really did not mean to underestimate the enemy, because the radar station at Myitkyina airport could not be repaired in a short time, and the bomber groups that took off from Hanoi, Bangkok, Yangon airports, and the air carriers anchored in the port of Singapore all flew in the occupied area, and the air alert of the Flying Tigers could not cover these airspace at all.

Under normal circumstances, the Flying Tigers would only know if the Myitkyina airport was bombed.

By the time the Flying Tigers rushed to Myitkyina to intercept them, the bomber group of the Flying Tigers had already finished dropping bombs and returned home, and once they were far away from the airspace near Myitkyina, in the vast sky, the Flying Tigers wanted to find the whereabouts of the bombers of the Flying Tigers, which was simply wishful thinking, and the fighters of this era were not equipped with airborne radar.

I didn't know that Chennault had already put his "tentacles" under their noses!

There was silence in the communication channel of the military fleet, and only occasionally the voice of Tomita Daisa sounded.

This old devil served in the 3rd Flying Group of the Kwantung Army for many years, participated in the Battle of Nomenkan, had a confrontation with the Soviet Air Force, and also participated in the military operation of the sneak attack on the Pearl Hong Kong dollar, and the battleship Nevada of the US Pacific Fleet was blown up by this old devil.

"Attention teams, attention teams." As soon as the landline got out of the clouds, Tomita Osa grabbed the walkie-talkie and said unhurriedly, "Arriving at the target airspace, about to arrive at the target airspace......" Before the words fell, Tomita Osa suddenly found a flash of light in the corner of his eyes, and when he turned his head sharply, a section of the tail quickly disappeared into the clouds in front of him.

Not good, it's a reconnaissance plane of the Flying Tigers!

Tomita Osa is worthy of being the ace pilot of the army, although it is only a glimpse, but he still accurately judged that it was the reconnaissance plane of the Flying Tigers just now, and in a few minutes at most, the fighter group of the Flying Tigers will definitely swarm in, and Tomita Osa immediately grabbed the walkie-talkie and issued a battle order: "The bomber squadron maintains formation, the fighter squadron, prepare for battle!" ”

The only 20-odd Zero fighters in the military fleet suddenly accelerated forward and formed a battle formation.

Suddenly, hundreds of Allied warplanes had come out of the clouds in front of them, and from a distance through the cabin, they looked like a large field of dense locusts!

(To be continued)