On the night of 21 May, Zhao Yuhe, chief of staff of the General Headquarters of the East India Campaign of the Independent Division, in the northwestern town of Luhatin in the East Indies, rushed in with a stack of telegrams in his hand.

Division Commander Tang Qiuli turned his head and said with a smile: "Yuhe, the cultivation of kung fu is not yet at home, as a soldier, joy and anger are invisible, look at the joy on your face, you know that there is good news to report, let's talk about it, how is the situation on each battlefield?" ”

Zhao Yuhe smiled, knowing that the division commander was joking, the set within the Central Army, in the independent division, there is no market, and then said: "Division commander, the successes on the battlefields are frequent, except for Imphal, all strategic points and the assembly areas of the British and Indian troops have been captured, today in one day, a total of dozens of battles took place, annihilating more than 60,000 British and Indian troops, I really didn't expect that the division commander's chaotic war skills have achieved such proud results!" ”

Tang Qiuli also said with emotion: "Yes, within one day, tens of thousands of square kilometers of land in the East Indies fell into our hands, and the casualties paid were so slight, this is something that even I didn't expect, it can be seen that the correct tactics are often more important than troops and equipment, Yuhe, I'm not boasting, I was forced out by that Chelsea!" ”

Zhao Yuhe couldn't hold back a smile, took out two copies from a stack of telegrams, and said: "Division commander, there are two different telegrams, other troops, all of them report the results of the battle, these two telegrams, in addition to reporting the results of the battle, also have to request punishment by themselves!" ”

Tang Qiuli's eyebrows raised, and he said curiously: "Come and show me, it's really novel, these generals of ours, one by one, are angry, and they have the posture of being the best in the world, when did they learn to criticize themselves?" ”

Zhao Yuhe handed over the telegram, and Tang Qiuli saw that it was Wang Zhanqun, the commander of the Seventh Brigade, and Qiao Manshan, the commander of the Eighth Brigade, who jointly sent it, "Division commander." Because of the slow outflanking speed of our two brigades, more than 50,000 British and Indian troops on the front line of the Naga Hills were able to withdraw to Imphal unscathed, and the task of deploying the division commander was not completed. This has caused great difficulties to the future campaign, and this is our dereliction of duty, and we hereby ask the division commander to give punishment to strictly enforce military discipline! ”

"In addition, the division commander is asked to approve a request from us, in the case of the general assault on Imphal. Our 7th Brigade and 8th Brigade served as the main attack troops, and they made meritorious contributions and shame for their crimes. “

It was Wang Zhanqun and Qiao Manshan, Tang Qiuli laughed, and the twelve brigade commanders directly under the corps. Usually one disagrees with the other, probably, these two people see other brigades. The troops, including the Sulu Mobile Corps, did a clean job in the East Indies Campaign, except for the 7th and 8th Brigades, which ran more than 200 kilometers and did not fight a single battle, and more than 50,000 British and Indian soldiers slipped into Imphal right under their noses.

At the same time that the boss is uncomfortable in his heart, he thinks that his attitude towards war is not positive. The outflanking action was not fast enough to have this telegram asking for punishment, and if you think about it, when you gave the order to outflank Imphal, you did not emphasize that the troops should arrive within the specified time. Speaking of which, the root is still in one's own body.

I have to admit that the brains of several brigade commanders directly under the corps are extremely flexible and easy to use, and there are a lot of ghost ideas, Wang Zhanqun and Qiao Manshan, on the bright side, are asking for punishment, but in fact, they are deliberately showing weakness, in order to win their own sympathy, and snatch the main attack task in advance.

However, after Tang Qiuli revised the battle plan, Impal was placed in the last position to be captured, the reason is very simple, Impal is the main assembly place of the Eastward Advance Army, and it is also an important town on the first line of the Indo-Burmese border, with a large number of troops and complete defense facilities. …,

Now, the plan has been implemented smoothly, Imphal has become an isolated city, the troops can attack at any time, the rhythm of the battlefield is in their own hands, the Anglo-Indian army under Chelsea in Imphal can be besieged or attacked, and the seventh and eighth brigades, whether to complete the siege of Imphal in advance, there is no direct relationship, the two guys are a little nervous!

Tang Qiuli smiled and said to Zhao Yuhe: "Yuhe, call back to Wang Zhanqun and Qiao Manshan, because of the layout of the battle of Pal, the ideal effect has been achieved, there is nothing wrong with the actions of your two troops, there is no need for punishment, without punishment, there is no saying that you are guilty of meritorious service, Yuhe, this telegram was sent over, the most depressed should be Wang Zhanqun and Qiao Manshan!" ”

After speaking, Tang Qiuli laughed out loud with a prank, Zhao Yuhe couldn't help laughing, Chen Feng, director of the Communications Department, happened to step in, heard the laughter, and asked strangely: "Division commander, chief of staff, what are you happy about, laughing like this?" ”

Tang Qiuli gasped and said, "The chief of staff sent me all good news, and you, Director Chen, most of the things sent were bad news, let's say, what happened unexpectedly?" ”

Chen Feng touched his nose, a little helpless to be wronged, but, if you think about it carefully, what the division commander said, there is really some truth, the battle reports and situations in various places, he is the first to see them, and then the division commander and chief of staff, isn't it just for those who report worries and don't report good news?

Taking out a telegram, Chen Feng said: "The captain of the Chutian detachment has called, in the area of Datihar in Central India, a new situation has been discovered!" ”

Tang Qiuli had an expression that he had already known that this was the case, and took the telegram, "Division commander, my special operations detachment 8 went deep into the area of Datihar in Central India to reconnoiter and found that the British and Indian army units with new numbers are advancing in the direction of Dhaka, Kulna, Pokaro, Sayifpur, and Zhenhati. ”

Tang Qiuli smiled again, the British are really persistent and persevering, the current Imphal, and the original Sido, how similar it is, Alexander fished Chelsea's eastward army, and now, Chelsea has fished the second line of the British, just in time, then look at how much capital the British have in the South Asian subcontinent to invest in this gamble with no chance of winning.

He said to Chen Feng: "Director Chen, record the order, all the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th brigades of the 1st and directly subordinate corps will continue to surround Imphal, and no attack in any way shall be launched without the order of the division headquarters, and the siege will be the mainstay." ”

"2. The 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th Brigades of the Corps directly under the Corps, and the 8th, 9th, and 10th Brigades of the Sulu Mobile Corps, except for some troops to consolidate the areas they are currently occupied, the rest of the troops will immediately leave for the front line of Dhaka, Kulna, Pokaro, Sajfpur, and Zhenhati."

"3. The above-mentioned troops, after arriving at the designated place, will actively look for fighters, and can determine the target of attack on their own, mainly to annihilate a large number of second-line troops of the British and Indian Army's Eastward Advance Corps."

Then, he asked Zhao Yuhe: "Yuhe, where has Deputy Division Commander Tang arrived now?" ”

Zhao Yuhe replied: "Division commander, Deputy Division Commander Tang arranged for Geng Zhijie of the 12th Brigade of the Sulu Mobile Corps to escort the prisoners of war of Xiduo to Hui Ma Gao, and he led the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th Brigades of the directly subordinate Corps, and the 11th Brigade of the Sulu Mobile Corps, a total of five brigades, have left Xiduo last night, and it is expected that they will be able to reach the Imphal area tomorrow evening. ”

Tang Qiuli nodded and said: "Yuhe, send a telegram to Deputy Division Commander Tang, Brother Qiusheng, you lead the 11th Brigade of the Sulu Mobile Corps to the periphery of Imphal, and unify the command of the five brigades including the four brigades of the directly subordinate corps, surround Imphal, and the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth brigades of the directly subordinate corps, continue to advance westward, and go to the front line of Dhaka, Kulna, Pokaro, Sajfpur, and Zhenhati. ”…,

Tang Qiuli looked around, and the headquarters of Lu Hading, who had lived for a few days, said to Zhao Yuhe: "Yuhe, we should go again, Impal left it to Deputy Division Commander Tang, let's go to the first line of Central India, and we will meet the second-line troops of the eastward army, according to your judgment, how many days will this battle take to end?" ”

Zhao Yuhe smiled and replied: "Division commander, we have deployed eighteen main field brigades on the front line of Dhaka, Kulna, Pokaro, Sajfpur, and Zhenhati, with more than 200,000 troops, in terms of the combat effectiveness and equipment level of the existing troops of the British and Indian Army, the so-called second-line troops, I'm afraid they can't even count as third-rate troops, this should be the last military strength of the British, if they intend to open the passage to the interior of India for Chelsea and take the initiative to attack, the battle will not take more than five days to end!" ”

Tang Qiuli smiled and said: "Five days, Yuhe, you overestimate the so-called second-line troops of the Eastward Advance Army, Alexander invaded northern Burma, did his best, and what was left for Chelsea was just some miscellaneous troops, Chelsea even gathered together the miscellaneous troops, and pieced together the Eastward Advance Army, and the rest was just a group of rabble, not even a formed army, it should be an armed militia." ”

"Against us, it will collapse at the first touch, and in one day, as long as it takes one day, this so-called second-line corps will fall apart! The second phase of the East Indies Campaign was mainly to eliminate the second-line troops of the Eastward Advance Army, and to exhaust the British military strength in the South Asian subcontinent. Order the division headquarters to move westward immediately! ”

On the night of 21 May, the Sulu Mobile Corps of the Independent Division and the brigades and brigades of the directly subordinate corps had not yet shaken off the smoke of gunpowder on their bodies, and they urgently left for the lines of Dhaka, Kulna, Pokaro, Saifpur, and Chenhati in Central India, and the night of the East Indies was boiling again.

At about 11 o'clock that night, Tang Qiuli led the members of the command to leave Luhatdin and go to the front line in Central India.

(To be continued) (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation and monthly passes, and your support is my biggest motivation. )