After nightfall, the army attacked again.

However, the attack of the Yue army was again thwarted by the heroic officers and men of the 6th Army, and the fierce battle lasted until dawn, and the Yue army retreated gloomily after leaving behind hundreds of corpses, and the little devil could not retreat without thinking, because as soon as the day dawned, the fighter formation of the 14th Air Force (Flying Tigers) of the US Air Force reappeared over Mandalay.

At this time, the army aviation of the Southeast Asian military is in the process of massing on a large scale, and it is not yet possible to take care of seizing air supremacy in Burma until the pilots of the naval air force are in place.

………… On the western outskirts of Mandalay, the position of the 93rd Company of the 279th Regiment of the 7th Division.

When the army finally retreated like a tidal tide at a low tide, the officers and men of the 7th Company couldn't help but breathe a long sigh of relief, and then sat down on the ground as if they had been suddenly pulled out of their spines.

No one grieves, and no one cries because they are so tired.

As long as they are not put to the head by the enemy with a gun, the officers and men of the 7th company commander only want to do one thing now, and that is to sleep!

In less than a moment, thunderous snoring sounded on the battlefield, and a veteran had just pulled out a cigarette roll, and before he could light it, he had already fallen asleep against the ammunition box.

It was not until noon that the sleeping officers and soldiers were awakened by the tempting smell of meat.

"Steamed buns, hot steamed buns, beef filling, leek filling, and pork and cabbage filling, it's enough!" The elderly cooks carried two large buckets of hot buns and shouted a bright trumpet to the position, and the officers and men of the 7th Company, who had just fallen asleep, suddenly turned over and sat up, and then swarmed to the cooks.

After the Chinese Expeditionary Force was replaced by Yue Weihan as the commander-in-chief, the battle was really fierce and the casualties were really large.

However, the treatment of the officers and men of the expedition is really different from before, not only the military pay and death pension have been greatly increased, but the food has also been greatly improved; in the past, when fighting in the country, they could have two meals a day, that is the treatment of the Central Army, but after Yue Weihan joined the expeditionary force, the officers and men had meat to eat, and the officers had wine to drink.

Just as the soldiers were eating big meat buns and the officers were enjoying American wine, a friendly army suddenly drove up.

This friendly army is obviously not from the Sixth Army, because the Sixth Army is wearing the uniforms of the British and Burmese Army, but they are wearing the grass green uniforms of the Central Army, and they are holding all American-style ordnance in their hands, almost all of them are carrying M1 Garand semi-automatic rifles in their hands, and many of them are also carrying Browning light machine guns or large-caliber heavy machine guns.

"This is ......" The officers and men of the 7th Company suddenly forgot to eat the buns when they saw this.

The commander of the 7th company suddenly poured a large sip of American wine, then wiped his mouth and stood up.

However, before the commander of the 7th company stepped forward to ask, a captain and company commander with a straight military posture had already walked out of the friendly army column, and immediately opened his throat and began to form a team: "All assemble, look left and right, look forward!" Take a break, stand upright! All of them, to the brethren of the valiant Sixth Army...... Salute! ”

"Bang Bang!" More than 100 friendly officers and soldiers raised their guns in unison to salute.

Finally, the friendly company commander, a standard turn to the right, saluted the 7th company commander.

Seeing the upright military posture and neat queue movements of the friendly troops, the officers and men of the 7th Company suddenly felt hot on their faces, but when they saw the undisguised respect in the eyes of the friendly officers and soldiers, the officers and men of the 7th Company felt sincerely proud.

"You are ......" The commander of the 7th company replied with a nondescript military salute and asked tentatively, "From the 39th Army?" ”

The commander of the friendly company put down his right hand, and immediately stood up and said again: "The 9th Company of the 5th Regiment of the Baoshan Division of the 39th Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army was ordered to come to change the guard, the brothers of the Sixth Army have worked hard, now please hand over the position to our company, please rest assured, as long as there is still one person alive in our company, we will never let the little devil step through our defense line." ”

"Changing guards?" The commander of the 7th Company flattened his mouth, and suddenly wanted to cry.

It is difficult for people living in peacetime to understand the inner world of a soldier, especially in the war years, when the war is tense, they are tired, except for fighting, eating and sleeping, they don't even have time to think or be afraid, but once they have the opportunity to rest, all kinds of tastes suddenly come to their hearts.

The commander of the 7th company resisted the urge to cry, but many soldiers had already squatted on the ground with their heads in their hands and cried, and a few soldiers wept while feeling the relics of their comrades from their arms, and then more and more tears rained down, and in the crowd, only one soldier was holding the ammunition box and laughing in the sky, but his face was also clearly dripping bitter tears.

The officers and men of the Baoshan Division stood silently, neither stepped forward to stop them, nor did they laugh or laugh.

People who have never been a soldier will never know the inner world of a soldier, and a soldier who has not been on the battlefield will never understand the preciousness of life.

Half an hour later, the officers and men of the 7th Company staggered down the position under the eyes of the officers and men of the Baoshan Division.

When they first took up the position, the 7th Company had more than 180 officers and men, but when they left the position 12 days later, there were less than 40 people left, and two of them were seriously wounded, one fell from the jeep on the way back to the division headquarters and died, and the other died in the field hospital the next day due to ineffective rescue.

………… On the western outskirts of Mandalay, the headquarters of the 143rd Infantry Wing.

Deputy Wing Commander Jiro Ozawa Nakasa strode into the war room, and immediately retracted his feet and stood upright, and said to Wing Commander Uno Tsutsui Osa: "Your Excellency, the forward observation post reports that the Chinese army on the opposite side seems to be changing guards!" ”

"Changing guards?" Uno nodded and said indifferently, "This is also expected. ”

"Your Excellency Dazuo, while the newly arrived Chinese army is not firmly established, is it a surprise attack?" Ozawa Jiro said, "Since the outbreak of the Battle of Mandalay, the Imperial Army has never launched an attack during the day, and this surprise attack will definitely catch the Zhina Army by surprise, as long as the action is fast enough, it can completely retreat before the Flying Tigers arrive." ”

It has to be said that Jiro Ozawa is very tactically minded, and his proposals are also insightful.

However, Uno Setsu did not hesitate to veto Ozawa Jiro's proposal, and said coldly: "Ozawa-kun, do you know which unit the newly changed Shina Army is?" ”

"Isn't it the 39th Army?" Jiro Ozawa said disapprerovingly.

"Isn't it the 39th Army?" Uno Setsu said indifferently, "If you have the experience of serving in the North China Front Army, and you have the experience of fighting against the 39th Group Army of China, you will dispel this unrealistic idea, the 39th Group Army of China is by no means comparable to the ordinary China Army, and it is wishful thinking to sneak attack them." ”

"Woo Woo ......" Uno Jie's voice fell, and a piercing scream suddenly sounded outside the war room.

"Yaga Yaru!" Uno Setsu was suddenly furious, and roared outside the war room, "Who gave the order to let the artillery brigade open fire during the day?" What to do if the target is exposed and the bombers of the Flying Tigers are recruited? ”

"Your Excellency Dazuo, it's not an artillery brigade!" A junior officer hurriedly entered, and immediately suddenly retracted his feet and stood upright, "The opposite branch of the Chinese army is launching a large-scale artillery bombardment on the position of our wing!" ”

"Well, the Chinese Army!?" Hearing this, Uno Setsu's face suddenly changed greatly, and he and Ozawa Jiro hurriedly walked into the observation post outside the headquarters, and looked out through the artillery mirror, only to see that the forward position of the 143rd Infantry Wing had been completely shrouded in the smoke of gunpowder from the explosion, judging from the effect of the shelling, the Shina artillery had at least 20 cannons!

"Yaga Yaru!" Jiro Ozawa said in disbelief, "Where did this group of Chinese artillery come from?" ”

"Ozawa-kun, can you tell what caliber and what model of artillery this is?" Uno Setsu suddenly asked.

Jiro Ozawa shook his head awely and said: "Your Excellency, I don't seem to have seen this kind of artillery, judging by the explosion effect, it seems to be a heavy howitzer, and the caliber seems to be more than 300mm, but how is this possible!?" Only the fortress cannon has such a terrifying caliber, but the fortress cannon cannot be maneuvered at all, let alone airborne! ”

"I seem to get a little bit of it." Uno Setsu said awe-inspiringly, "This should be a cannon without conscience, Ozawa-kun, we are in big trouble, and the Shina army will soon launch a frontal assault!" With that, Uno Setsu turned his head and shouted, "Order, the artillery brigade immediately suppresses the artillery fire, and the tank squadron and the infantry brigades urgently assemble to prepare for an assault!" ”

The old devil of Uno Festival is still very powerful, he knows that the Baoshan Division not only has a bazooka, but also a large-scale piece of destruction weapon, no conscience cannon, therefore, it is absolutely impossible for the army to block the attack of the Baoshan Division with only simple civil fortifications, and hiding in the trench fortifications and being beaten can only be a dead end!

The only chance for the Uno Wing is to rush forward and attack against each other, as long as the two armies are mixed up, then the Flying Tigers and the terrible unconscionable cannon will become ornaments, and with the tenacious spirit of bushido, the warriors of the Imperial Army may still have a chance to win this sudden encounter in white-knuckle combat.

………… Opposite the army, the headquarters of the Baoshan Division.

Chief of Staff Colonel Zhang Zhongyi hurriedly walked into the war room and reported to Li Yulong: "Division, forward observation post report, the little devil's artillery has begun to counterattack!" ”

"Oh, the devil artillery counterattacked?" Li Yulong couldn't help but feel a little surprised when he heard this.

"Little devil is it?" Colonel Yang Donglin, commander of the 5th Regiment, also said, "It's not afraid of the targeted bombing of the Flying Tigers?" ”

"It's a bit of an evil sect." Li Yulong touched his chin, subconsciously paced back and forth for two steps, and then suddenly paused and turned back and said, "Damn, the little devil doesn't know whether he is alive or dead, this is going to attack and attack!" After that, Li Yulong said to Zhang Zhongyi again, "Order the troops, the general attack plan remains unchanged, and then order the artillery battalion to stop the shelling!" ”

………… The headquarters of the 143rd Infantry Wing.

Jiro Ozawa suddenly straightened up from behind the artillery mirror and said to Uno Setsu: "Your Excellency Osa, the Shina Army has stopped shelling!" ”

Without being reminded by Jiro Ozawa, Uno Setsu also saw that thousands of Chinese soldiers had already rushed out of the trenches.

Uno Setsu immediately drew his saber and swung it forward, and at the same time shouted in a fierce voice: "Order, the artillery brigade will be transferred immediately, with the chariot squadron as the lead, and the whole army will assault!" ”

………… Half an hour later, the headquarters of the 55th Division of the Army.

Gennosuke Kato walked into the war room angrily, and before he could close his feet, he said to Lieutenant General Takeuchi Kan: "Your Excellency the division commander, the Uno Wing has been broken through head-on by the Shina Army, and now, the Shina Army is tearing the defense line of the Kogen Wing and the Nanshu Wing along the gap to the north and south wings, and the river defense on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River has also been lost!" ”

"What!?" Takeuchi Kuan Huo Ran turned his head and said in disbelief, "How long has it been since the Uno United's defense line allowed the Shina Army to break through from the front?" Moreover, even the east bank of the Irrawaddy River has been lost!? ”

"Hello!" Gennosuke Kato bowed his head abruptly and said, "Uno Setsu, a fool, when the Shina army launched an attack, not only did he not rely on the fortifications to hold on, but he launched a counterattack with self-righteousness, trying to attack the Shina army with an attack, but he was defeated by the Shina army and the defense line collapsed. ”

Takeuchi frowned, and said disapprehantly: "In the case of losing air supremacy on the battlefield, it is not a wise choice to attack against attack, and white-knuckle combat is also what the imperial army is good at, with the combat effectiveness of the Uno United, it seems that it should not be lost to the Shina army in white-knuckle combat, let alone defeat so quickly?" ”

"Your Excellency the Division Commander doesn't know anything." Gennosuke Kato said miserably, "The Shina Baoshan Division is not only equipped with a large number of individual rocket launchers, all soldiers are equipped with semi-automatic rifles, and each infantry squad is also equipped with a Browning light machine gun. ”

"Master Baoshan actually changed into a beautiful weapon!?" Hearing this, Takeuchi was awe-inspiring, and a terrible battle scene suddenly appeared in front of his eyes, thousands of officers and men were charging forward with bayonets, and before the charge, the Chinese officers and soldiers on the opposite side were also charging, the difference was that the Chinese officers and soldiers were still firing fiercely while charging, and under the intensive fire of the Chinese officers and soldiers, the officers and men were like wheat cut down by a sickle, falling down one by one.

Gennosuke Kato calmed down and reminded Takeuchi in a deep voice: "Your Excellency, division commander, if the imperial army cannot recapture the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, the progress of the sappers erecting pontoon bridges on the west bank of China will be greatly accelerated, and according to the current progress, the mechanized troops of the Fifth Army of China will be able to cross the river in five days at most!" ”

"Yagayalu." Takeuchi cursed viciously, and then turned back and roared, "Order, the 112th Infantry Wing and the 144th Infantry Wing immediately organize troops to counterattack, and tell Kogenzawa Kozou and Nanshu Masao to recapture the east bank of the Irrawaddy River at all costs!" ”

(To be continued)