~――~ Chapter 1204 was scared

Tang Qiuli ordered all the troops in Mogu to retreat, and hundreds of thousands of independent division troops, without warning, all disappeared in one night, leaving a complete and solid defense system, empty, so that all the senior commanders of the Japanese army, including Ito, could not guess what it meant?

Lieutenant General Masaki Takemura, the new chief of staff of Japan's Southeast Asian Dispatch Army, is a high-ranking officer who has been engaged in strategic planning in the General Staff Headquarters for a long time; to tell the truth, he has not even been on a single battlefield, and he is a typical officer who relies on maps and commands hundreds of thousands of troops thousands of miles away, and has rich theory but lacks actual combat experience.

He mobilized all his theoretical knowledge, and he couldn't judge the real reason why the troops of the independent division suddenly abandoned their positions and evacuated this time, the imperial army was preparing for a large-scale offensive, but the opponent disappeared, what the hell is it about? I can't judge it, and I'm not sure about it, so I asked General Ito Yanzaburo.

Before Ito could answer, a staff officer of Nakasa hurriedly ran in, "Report to Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, I have received an urgent report from the front-line troops of Loika, Taunggyi, Namlan, and Laika, and the observation posts set up in the area east of Mandalay have found that on the west bank of the Salween River, on a front of about several hundred kilometers, a large number of independent division troops have been found, advancing rapidly, judging from the enemy's movements, the target is Mandalay. ”

Ito hugged his head and groaned in pain, he did have a terrible headache, the troops on the front line were the independent divisions he sent to monitor the eastern part of the Indochina Peninsula, and the strength was only three divisions, for this reason, Ito also secretly rejoiced, Tang Qiuli's troops were on the front line of the Salween River, because of the heavy rain, they were slow to move, and they were a chance to recover their vitality.

At least, in a short period of time, he doesn't have to worry about his right flank, and he can concentrate on planning to deal with the independent division troops in the Mogok area, Ito knows in his heart that he does not have the strength to take the initiative to attack, at least not at the moment, and he is even more worried that the more than 200,000 troops of the independent division on the right flank will stab him in the back, and now, this worry has become a reality.

Three divisions, spread over hundreds of kilometers of defensive line, each point, but a little more than a squadron of troops, to put it mildly, is almost like paper, and the independent division troops, at any point, can carry out a breakthrough attack, Ito dare to assert that once the fire is exchanged, the Imperial Army troops on the defense line east of Mandalay will not be able to hold out for even three hours.

Ito recognized his weakness, so he desperately replenished his troops and equipment, but until now, the number of troops had been replenished to more than 80 percent, and the number of aircraft, tanks, and artillery was far from enough to support a decisive offensive war.

But just the day before yesterday, I received an order from the base camp, "Commander-in-Chief Ito Yanzaburo, the Imperial Southeast Asia Dispatch Army, with the permission of His Majesty the Emperor, the General Staff of the base camp has formulated a plan for the Burma battle, and now, I will send it to you, hoping to carry out the combat mission in strict accordance with the plan," Ito was furious after reading this Burma battle plan.

Of course, Ito would never dare to insult His Majesty the Emperor, he scolded the officers and men of the General Staff, sitting in a comfortable office in Tokyo, thousands of miles away, who did not understand the war situation in Burma at all, patted his head, and came up with a bullshit plan out of thin air, and even ordered the dispatched troops who were still in the process of recovery to quickly end the Burma campaign and launch an attack on the main force of the independent division entrenched on the front line of Mogok no later than 13 October. ”

It's no wonder that Ito was so angry that he scolded the heavens and the earth, scolded the General Staff, after the battle of the Baldwin mining area, the Southeast Asian army sent troops to the bones, relying on the Libao Grand Canyon defense line, temporarily safe, very afraid of the independent division troops, storming the Libao defense line, just like the defeated army that retracted into the city in ancient times, eager to hang up the war exemption card.

But the damn General Staff actually let the Southeast Asian dispatch army, which has not yet recovered its vitality, strength and equipment, and is at a disadvantage, take the initiative to attack Tang Qiuli's independent division, which is fat and strong, and has taken advantage of the victory, what is the difference between this and suicide? Ito's original plan was to move most of the troops on the Libao Grand Canyon and the Mandalay line to the east in mid-October, when the troops on the flanks of the Independent Division advanced to the vicinity of Mandalay.

First of all, annihilate or defeat the troops of the two corps of the independent division from the eastern part of the Indochina Peninsula, remove the threat of the flanks, and then, at the beginning of November, after all the troops and equipment were replenished, a decisive battle with Tang Qiuli's main force was fought, but this order from the base camp disrupted all his deployments.

If at this time, most of the troops of the Libao defense line were transferred eastward, the strength of the two corps of the independent division could be stopped or defeated, but once Tang Qiuli took this opportunity to attack the Libao Grand Canyon defense line on a large scale, with the few remaining troops, it would be impossible to stop the attack of the independent division.

Ito knew that if the consequences of the plan for the Burma battle in the base camp were carried out, the fate of the imperial dispatch of troops to Southeast Asia would be the annihilation of the entire army, and he wanted to disobey the order, and even wanted to fly back to Tokyo in person to state the reason to prevent this tragedy from happening, but in the telegram, the words "His Majesty the Emperor" dispelled all his impulsive thoughts.

That is to say, the plan for the battle of Burma was personally reviewed by His Majesty the Emperor, and it is very likely that it was formulated in person, and the temper of this Majesty, Ito knew very well, neurotic, with incomprehensible stubbornness, if Ito met with His Majesty the Emperor and stated his reasons, His Majesty would definitely not be angry, but the position of the commander-in-chief of the dispatch army would immediately change to an obedient ass to sit.

In the past few days, Ito has been racking his brains to find a way to postpone or avoid the implementation of this plan to send him to death, this idea, Ito held back in his heart, and no one revealed it, including the new chief of staff of the dispatch army, Lieutenant General Takemura Masaki, this Takemura, after receiving the order from the base camp, expressed Xiàn very positively.

With a group of senior staff officers, working day and night to formulate a detailed plan, Ito sneered in his stomach, a guy who can only talk on paper, this Takemura, obviously sent by the base camp to supervise the implementation of his plan, is not good, it is to monitor his emperor's cronies, but at this time, Tang Qiuli came to such a hand again.

This time, Takemura is more active, and Ito has no reason to delay, the enemy has already retreated, and there is no obstacle to the attack, why did the troops of the imperial army dare not go north out of the Libao Grand Canyon and attack in the direction of Myitkyina, it is simply Ito's life.

Takemura's words were very meaningful, and Ito secretly cursed in his stomach, "Petant guy, what do you think of this?" Judging from my experience of fighting with Tang Qiuli many times, this is a trap, wanting to lure our imperial army troops, leave the strong defense line, and fight with the independent division troops in the field. ”

These considerations, the words in the stomach, Ito can't say a word to Takemura, the trouble comes out of his mouth, and as soon as he turns around, this guy Takemura, after adding oil and vinegar to his words, report them to those old men in the base camp, isn't he unlucky? Perhaps, Masaki Takemura just took this opportunity to overturn himself and take his place?

Therefore, Ito said to Takemura gently: "Takemura-kun, it's too early to draw conclusions, it's all speculation, we can only determine the next plan of action after we get Tang Qiuli's troops, withdraw to that direction specifically, and what the follow-up actions will be," Takemura took off his gold-rimmed glasses and wiped them carefully with a snow-white handkerchief.

He said without yin or yang: "Commander-in-chief, I think that no matter what tricks Tang Qiuli plays by the devil of China, it is a great opportunity now, we should not miss it, send enough troops to immediately seize Mogu, in this way, we can also establish a prominent point in front of the defense line of the Libao Grand Canyon, as a buffer zone to withstand the attack of the independent division troops, and also consume the spirit and strength of the independent division troops, wouldn't it be better?" ”

Takemura not only thought so, but also did so, he did not ask Ito Yanzaburo, he ordered the troops of the five divisions to immediately occupy the Mogok line, but unfortunately, Takemura overestimated his status and prestige, and the commanders of the five divisions who received the order replied surprisingly unanimously, "I'm sorry, Your Excellency the Chief of Staff, according to the regulations of the Southeast Asian Dispatch Army, we have no right to send any troops without a personal order from the Supreme Military Commander, or a written order." ”

Listening to the commanders of the five divisions, it seemed to be humble, but in fact, in his eyes, there was no tone of his own chief of staff at all, Takemura was so angry that he dropped the phone and came to Ito angrily, several Japanese division commanders, and he gave Takemura some thin face to the chief of staff, and according to his order, each sent a squadron of troops to go out of the direction of Mogu to find out the situation.

Takemura's tone, how could Ito not hear it, from his heart, he despised this guy who could only talk on paper and had never even smelled the smell of gunsmoke, but he had never seen Tang Qiuli's methods, before the battle of the Baldwin mining area began, his own ideas were much simpler, using the superior strength and equipment of the imperial army to solve the situation in northern Myanmar in one fell swoop.

But after the first battle, he fell into Tang Qiuli's ambush, and the strong empire sent troops to Southeast Asia, to the current point, who can guarantee that Mogu will not be another trap for Tang Qiuli, and the battle of the Baldwin mining area will be repeated? There are also two corps of troops of the independent division that are approaching step by step, and they all lose all the games if they accidentally do it!

(To be continued)

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