. Chapter 1116 Desperate pursuit

Chang Feng, chief of staff of the independent division and chief of staff of the directly subordinate corps, was very incomprehensible and dissatisfied with some of the practices of the division commander Tang Qiuli.

This is due to his character, Chang Feng himself knows better, once these words are said, it is clear that they are inconsistent with the style of the division commander, a chief of staff, and the boss's views and concepts are different, that boss will no longer use it, and the chief of staff who is not in tune with himself is awkward, not to mention, just not being able to understand the intention of the boss proves that the chief of staff is incompetent.

When Chang Feng went out to convey the order of the division commander Tang Qiuli, he felt a little remorse in his heart, perhaps, he was too impulsive, the division commander should have his reason for doing this, perhaps, he failed to truly understand the deep meaning of the division commander, but in terms of his own character, it is difficult to let go of it after all, and he cannot eliminate the psychological shadow.

Compared with such a slight disagreement between Tang Qiuli and Chang Feng, the life of Major General Francis, the chief of staff of the British Army, was much more difficult.

Since paying the price of more than 100,000 casualties, after the Japanese ambush circle protruded from the Libao Grand Canyon, the remaining British troops, like a flood of embankments, with smoke and dust in the sky, rolled in the direction of Myitkyina.

Highlighting the Libao Grand Canyon, the disaster of the British did not end, and the embarrassed and angry commander-in-chief of the Japanese Southeast Asian Dispatch Army, General Ito Yanzaburo, saw that the big fish in his hand actually broke through the fishing net and slipped away, in addition to sending the commander in charge of tying the pocket mouth, Lieutenant General Takashima Uemon, directly to the military court, he also shot seven or eight commanders of the ambush unit at the level of wing captain and group leader, and then, with all the soldiers and horses, followed the footsteps of the British retreat, and chased down step by step.

Things are often very strange, when they are in a desperate situation and cornered, the British troops can burst out with amazing combat effectiveness, and in the rearguard line of Monywa and Madeya, they can withstand the fierce attacks of hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops and the indiscriminate bombardment of hundreds of planes in the sky, so that the British will not be broken through the rear line, and Francis has the opportunity and time to fight desperately.

But once it was learned that the Japanese blockade line leading to Myitkyina at the northern foot of the Libao Grand Canyon had been broken, and the surviving more than 300,000 British and Burmese soldiers suddenly lost the courage to fight to the death.

The last bit of courage in the fight, like a ball piercing a hole, leaked nothing left, and regained its true character of rushing to flee for his life, which may have been the result that Francis did not expect, and the chief of staff himself, who was also carried by the rebels, ran involuntarily in the direction of Myitkyina.

More than 300,000 people, on the narrow road north of Libao, crowded together, all the formations were in chaos, the British army at this time, is no longer an organized, sequenced force, is completely a group of defeated and fled, if there are several British troops into the formation of troops, holding the favorable position of the exit of the northern foot of the Libao Grand Canyon, the pursuit of the Japanese army, will never be so smooth.

These positions, which were already in the hands of the British, were so easily abandoned, and the British lost the last good chance to get themselves out of the dangerous situation, and paid an unimaginable price for this, and, having left behind the tens of thousands of troops that had been cut off, and none of them had to meet them.

When the 11th Infantry Division, the 13th Infantry Division, and the 5th, 6th, and 9th Mixed Brigades of the Anglo-Burmese Army, which were the last to retreat, rushed to Libao from Monywa and Madeya, the avant-garde British 7th Mechanized Infantry Division had already reached the Mogu area north of Libao, and the British advance guard and rear guard troops had opened a distance of more than 100 kilometers.

The Japanese ambush troops, who were so frightened that they were covered in a cold sweat by Ito's killing, refused to let go of these British and Burmese troops that were left behind, and after the big wave of British retreat passed, they tied up the pockets at the northern foot of the Libao Grand Canyon again, and packed more than 60,000 British and Burmese troops into it at once.

The Japanese troops, at that time, came to the spirit, surrounded the more than 60,000 British and Burmese soldiers, and fought fiercely, it was a big melee at that time, not only the unlucky British and Burmese rearguard troops, messed up, even the Japanese troops, also messed up, all the troops scrambled to seize this rare opportunity, swarmed up, there was not a single unit, remembered to continue the pursuit.

The chief of staff, Major General Koizumi, excitedly holding a bunch of telegrams, strode into the command headquarters, and shouted from afar: "Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief, good news, our troops have captured the rearguard of the British, and now, all the divisions have been engaged in battle, this is a rare victory, there are more than 60,000 British troops!" This is the battle report sent by the attacking forces. ”

Unexpectedly, after listening to Koizumi's words, Ito's face turned pale, he snatched the telegram, tore it to pieces in a few strokes, and then roared angrily, "Yaga, the commanders of all divisions and regiments are stupid pigs, because of these more than 60,000 British, they let go of more than 200,000 British troops, because they lost their big mistakes, they were stupid, short-sighted, and they were not worthy of being the senior commanders of the Imperial Japanese Army." ”

Koizumi suddenly woke up, but didn't he, he blocked more than 60,000 Britons, and more than 200,000 ran in front, that big, that small, he was really stupid, he was fascinated by the little battle results in front of him, and let go of the big fish because he caught small shrimps, as the chief of the general staff of the dispatch army, he did not expect this, and he was ashamed of the importance of the commander-in-chief, and it is difficult to escape the blame.

Koizumi "snapped" and said in a guilty tone: "Please forgive Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, this is a dereliction of duty, and it is difficult to make up for the mistake in death, Commander-in-Chief, what should we do next?" Koizumi had to ask Ito for attention, and the troops who were fighting well and tasted the sweetness were really difficult to stop for a while.

Ito Yanzaburo, his face was like an iron plate, and when he saw that he didn't look at Koizumi, he said: "Order, the 1st Army, the 3rd Army, the 4th Army, the 91st Division, the 103rd Division, the 167th Division, the 5th, 7th, and 11th Independent Mixed Brigades, the 1st, 2nd, and 6th Tank Brigades, and the four cavalry wings of Okazaki, Valley, Sasaki, and Murakami, immediately throw off the British troops in front of them, pass through the Grand Canyon as quickly as possible, and seize the British troops by 4 o'clock this afternoon at the latest." ”

Ito said, Koizumi hurriedly recorded, his mouth was still "Hai", his hands and mouth did not dare to be idle, Ito continued: "Order to send military aviation units, immediately dispatch all planes, bomb all bridges and passes on the road from Libao to Myitkyina, at any cost, slow down the retreat of the British, I will be at Kunguan, re-encircle the British, this time, they will never be allowed to escape again." ”

As he spoke, a grim smile appeared on the corner of Ito's mouth, and he added: "If the units responsible for pursuing the main force of the British army do not follow my order, before four o'clock this afternoon, they will seize the British, the supreme commanders of all the troops, and collectively cut themselves off to apologize to His Majesty the Emperor and the subjects of the Great Japanese Empire!" ”

Koizumi was stunned, this task seemed to be difficult to complete, in addition to dropping this tail, the main force of the British had already run out at least sixty or seventy kilometers away, could it be that His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief would kill all these commanders? But looking at Ito's blood-red crazy look, Koizumi believes that General Ito is completely capable of doing it.

There was another question that Koizumi had to ask, and he asked more and more cautiously: "Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief, what should we do with this part of the British army that is surrounded?" Do you ignore it? Koizumi's question was reasonable, because the troops pursuing the main force of the British army had already exceeded four-fifths of the total strength of the sending army, and most of the troops left behind were baggage troops and second-line troops, and it would be difficult to encircle and annihilate more than 60,000 British.

Ito looked at Koizumi with pitiful eyes, shook his head and said: "Koizumi-kun, the way and angle you consider the problem make me speechless, you have to know that this part of the British army has completely lost its fighting spirit, it is a group of routs, plus, our troops were beaten hard just now, how many troops and combat effectiveness do the British still have?" handed over to the second-line troops to encircle and annihilate them, they are already very important. ”

"Also, add a point to the order of the follow-up troops, with the fastest action, quickly annihilate the British army, do not be bound by the prisoners of war, all the British prisoners of war, dispose of them on the spot, and then, immediately catch up with the pursuing troops, participate in the attack on the British army, we have no extra time, waste on these British."

Ito's order was poisonous enough, and he was worried that the follow-up troops, in order to capture the prisoners, would delay the speed of the pursuit, so they would simply have a spoonful of stew, regardless of whether you British laid down their weapons or not, and killed them on the spot.

So, in the Libao Grand Canyon, there was a strange scene, the Japanese troops who were swarming up, and the more than 60,000 British and Burmese soldiers who were beaten to the ground and dizzy, suddenly found that the Japanese who attacked them turned around and whizzed past them, just like the British who had not seen the mountains and fields running around, whizzing past them, not only a large number of tanks, but also countless cavalry.

The British, who were confused, were stunned by this sudden change, but it was better to not be chased and beaten than to be killed at any time, but they were too happy too early, after a large number of Japanese troops passed through the Grand Canyon, the British gradually moved closer together, but did not know which direction to flee for their lives.

In less than two hours, the Anglo-Burmese soldiers who suffered heavy casualties and looked around blankly ushered in the fierce attack of the Japanese follow-up troops, and the brutal massacre, even at night, you can also hear the screams of the British soldiers before they died.

(To be continued)

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