"Hayi!" Iida Shojiro stepped forward and said, "The Shina army will deploy heavy troops near Tonggu, and its rear defense will inevitably be empty. With most of our troops, we pinned down the main force of the Chinese Army head-on, and sent an elite division to bypass the defensive line and make a long-distance attack to seize the rear base of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Lashio, cutting off their logistical supplies, so that they could be gathered and annihilated. ”

After hearing this, the river pinch his chin and paced back and forth in thought. This is a good idea, but in order to succeed in implementation, many conditions and restrictions must be considered in practice, and if you are not careful, the division sent out is very likely to be detected and annihilated by the enemy, and then the gains will outweigh the losses.

"Well, Iida-kun, you have a good idea." Kawabe Shozo stopped, and looked at Shojiro Iida with his hands behind his back, "It's just that this force sent out is bound to march covertly." Now that the air supremacy is in the hands of both sides, it is not easy to send such a large number of troops not to be discovered by the Chinese army. ”

Iida Shojiro shook his head, "Your Excellency Commander, you can let this unit of our army disguise itself as the Burmese Independence Army, make a detour from the outskirts of Tonggu, and go straight to the rear of the Chinese Army. This allows you to crush with a single blow. Of course, while implementing, the troops responsible for containment at the front line must not relax in the slightest, and must maintain a strong offensive against the Chinese army and not allow the other side to have any respite. ”

Kawabe Shozo nodded, "Just do as you say." Which force should be sent for the detour, according to your meaning? ”

Iida Shojiro stopped talking but stopped, in fact, among the subordinate divisions, there is not much difference in which unit is dispatched, so it is better to leave this selection opportunity to the commander.

"Your Excellency Commander, it's up to you to decide this yourself." Shojiro Iida said.

Kawabe Shozo thought for a while and said, "Then send the 56th Division to carry out this mission." This unit is brave and good at fighting, and it is only fitting to choose them. ”

"Nian Xi, their division is a very good guy who causes trouble for others, so it is only fitting to send him." Shojiro Iida should also be kind.

Once the strategy is set, the order begins. A few days later, the 56th Division of the Japanese Army had already set out from Tonggu, determined to bypass the Tonggu defense line and go straight to Lashio, the rear base of the expeditionary force.

At this time, a large number of troops of the expeditionary force gathered on the Tonggu front. At the same time, the Nanjing Ministry of National Defense ordered that a reserve army composed of 30,000 youth troops from Yunnan would be transferred to Burma to expand the scale of the expeditionary force.

The Japanese Burmese Front also showed no weakness, and hundreds of thousands of elites such as the 18th Division, the 33rd Division, and the 55th Division also gathered and mobilized.

At this time, Zhang Qifu, a lieutenant officer in the reserve cadre office in Tonggu, also received important news that Aung San, the leader of the Burmese Independence Army, wanted to meet with General Sun Liren.

After Zhang Qifu entered Tonggu, he started his own work. When he first arrived in Tonggu, the situation of the struggle here was extremely serious, and the independence representatives of Burma were mixed with the Japanese spies, who thought that they could drive out the British and gain the independence of Burma through the hands of the Japanese, so the opposition to the expeditionary force was very high.

At the beginning of his arrival in Tonggu, these forces colluded with each other, spread rumors against the expeditionary force on many occasions, secretly reported to the Japanese, created some terrorist incidents among the people on several occasions, deliberately created chaos, and the Burmese Independence Army even took the initiative to launch a direct attack on the expeditionary force.

Several of Aung San's subordinates divided the Independence Army into pieces, dressed in the clothes of ordinary Burmese people, and acted in groups of three or five dressed as ordinary people, so that the expeditionary force could relax its vigilance. Often, when the expeditionary force relaxed its vigilance, these people aimed the hundred styles* hidden on their bodies at the officers and men of the expeditionary force, and opened fire by surprise, causing the expeditionary force to suffer a lot of losses.

The various activities of the Independence Army caused a headache for the expeditionary force, but they could not avoid the common people when they saw them, and later Commander Dai had to order the officers and soldiers to be vigilant and prohibit personal contact with the Burmese people.

After Zhang Qifu arrived in Tonggu, he found that there was nothing about intelligence and liaison here. It was already difficult for the expeditionary force to deal with the Japanese attack with a small number of troops, where would there be any energy for this?

He knew that Pastor Sean had won the respect of many locals for his free treatment and distribution of food to ordinary people in the church, so he applied to his superiors to send a medical team to treat the people of Burma.

This proposal was reported layer by layer, and finally arrived at the desk of Master Dai. Division Commander Dai asked Zhang Qifu to come to the division headquarters to explain, and as soon as he came in, a cadre officer was very unkind to him, and a colonel regiment commander simply pointed at Zhang Qifu's nose and reprimanded: "Are you sent by the fucking Japanese?" Have such a bad idea to trick us? Provoke Lao Tzu, no matter what kind of bird cadre you are from the Ministry of National Defense, I still shot you. ”

"That is, the brothers are desperately working on the front line, and you little white-faced lieutenant is stabbing the old men in the rear! Do you know how many of our brothers have been killed by the Burmese Independence Army disguised as civilians? ”

"Division commander, I think this person may be a spy sent by the Japanese, or he should be tied up and examined!"

The officers chatted around Zhang Qifu non-stop, and it was obvious that Zhang Qifu's proposal had provoked public anger.

A cadre of officers at the division headquarters did not agree. The fighting on the front lines is extremely fierce, the number of casualties is not small every day, and the brothers are in short supply of medicine and food, but now they have to distribute them to the local people in Burma? Isn't that a joke?

Master Dai waved his hand and motioned for everyone to sit down. The officers reluctantly sat down.

"Zhang Qifu, I have read the report you submitted to me. Let us know what you think. Although Master Dai's words did not indicate a supportive attitude, they were already the greatest support in this complex environment.

Zhang Qifu nodded and said bluntly: "Commanders, please calm your anger, I, Zhang Qifu, am a Chinese soldier, so I am here to be able to assist the brothers of the expeditionary force, there is no problem with my motives and character, and I can accept the investigation of the commanders at any time." ”

"There's no problem with character, is there something wrong with your brain?" A deputy head of the regiment scoffed.

However, after seeing Division Commander Dai frowning, he realized that he had said a little too much, after all, this was an officer meeting, not a miscellaneous shop, so he stopped talking.

"We distribute food and basic medical care to the Burmese people, not only out of humanitarianism, but also to help to create the image of our officers and soldiers as a mighty army among the people. As everyone knows, the Burmese people hate the British and Americans the most, and with all due respect, among our brothers in the expeditionary force, the impression of the British is not very good. ”

Speaking of this, all the officers showed expressions of approval, after all, the British army had pitted the expeditionary force too hard, and it was they who fled like rabbits, which caused the two sides of Tonggu to suffer from the enemy.

Zhang continued: "But Pastor Sean, as an American, was able to echo the Burmese people and the soldiers of the expeditionary force. At present, many of the officers and soldiers of the expeditionary force and the people of Burma believe in Christianity, and as far as I know, some officers and soldiers will go to church on weekends rain or shine when they are not on combat duty. Don't you think that such a phenomenon is not worth pondering? ”

"What is the reason? The reason is simple, it is because Pastor Sean saved their lives by opening the doors of the church and distributing food to them to cure their illnesses during the most difficult time for the expeditionary force and the Burmese people. That's why they listened to Pastor Sean to believe in God, and they thought that Pastor Sean was following God's word to save them. ”

None of the officers were able to refute what he said, and Pastor Sean was very influential among so many high-ranking officers, not to mention among ordinary officers and soldiers.

Seeing that everyone no longer raised objections, Zhang Qifu threw out his own opinion, "When I say the rations squeezed out of the mouths of the brothers, I don't mean to make the brothers hungry, but when the conditions permit. Our logistical support is quite sufficient now, and a little rations and medical conditions will not affect our combat effectiveness. On the contrary, winning the hearts and minds of the people of Tonggu would reduce the various attacks against the expeditionary force and thus the casualties of the brothers. This seems to have been plucked out of the mouths of the brothers and distributed to the people of Burma, but in fact it was also a grain exchange for the hearts of the people. ”

Zhang Qifu's words made many officers stop talking, but in the final analysis, they were still reluctant.

At this time, Zhang Qifu set his eyes on Division Commander Dai, and after thinking about it, Division Commander Dai, who frowned, said: "Qifu's opinion is good, the quartermaster will go back and sort out the number of our logistics items to see if we can squeeze out some." A medical team was then drawn from the division headquarters to treat the local people in Myanmar. ”

After saying this, he asked Zhang Qifu again, "If there are any other methods, let's say them together." ”

Zhang Qifu nodded, "We should also expand our propaganda to the people of Myanmar." For the sake of the Sino-British alliance, it is not appropriate for us to openly advertise that it is to help them drive out the British, but we can publicize that it is to help them 'independence, democracy, and freedom'. I have had a lot of leaflets and posters printed, and I asked my teacher to send some of my brothers for a few days, and I will put them up in the streets and alleys of Tonggu. They also went deep into their rural areas and distributed these things to the common people. At the same time, I suggested that a working group be sent to carry out land reform in rural areas, so that the peasants could get a share of the land, and naturally they supported us. ”

Master Dai nodded, "Okay, just do as you say." ”