In Tang Qiuli's heart, there is still a question, the big war is imminent, who is his opponent? So far, there has been no detailed information from the Intelligence Department, and I can only keep this question in my heart.

Tang Qiuli went through all the British commanders stationed in India in his mind, but he himself smiled, without the slightest impression, the senior commander of the British, except for the former British Supreme Commander of the British Army in Indochina, Alexander, who was overshadowed by himself, did not have the name of a British general, stored in his own memory.

It is no wonder that their biggest enemy and opponent in the Indochina Peninsula is the Japanese, and as for the British, India, far away in the South Asian subcontinent, has no intersection with them, and they do not pay attention to collecting information on the senior commanders of the British and Indian armies, and they have a great responsibility, not just to ignore, but not to regard the British as opponents.

Thinking of this, he was dissatisfied with the lack of work in the Water Intelligence Department, and the little dissatisfaction in his heart disappeared.

At this time, Zhao Yuhe, the chief of staff of the division commander, hurriedly came in and said: "Division commander, I have contacted Wen Rongcai, the commander of the northern Burma border garrison!" Tang Qiuli hurriedly asked, "What's the situation?" ”

Zhao Yuhe took a telegram and replied: "The situation is not optimistic, Wen Rongcai took the strength of a guard battalion last night, followed by the first and second garrisons of the department, rushed to Xiduo, and established a blocking line, and by about four o'clock this afternoon, he had exchanged fire with the vanguard of the British and Indian troops, at present, the battle is still ongoing, according to Wen Rongcai's telegram, the troops suffered heavy casualties, and at the same time, he also told the division commander that even if the garrison troops are exhausted, they will never take half a step back!" ”

Tang Qiuli was silent for a while. said slowly: "It's good, Wen Rongcai is worthy of coming down from the field army, and he is so ruthless, about the situation of the British and Indian army." How much does he know? ”

Zhao Yuhe looked at the telegram and said: "Division commander, according to Wen Rongcai's report, the Anglo-Indian troops on the opposite side have average combat effectiveness, and there is nothing new in tactical command. However, the armament was very good, and many attacks were launched on the blocking line of our army in Sido, the artillery fire was very fierce, and a large number of tanks were dispatched, and in addition, the British and Indian planes also carried out a large-scale bombardment of the position. ”

"In addition. Wen Rongcai also provided an important information, the heavy weapons used by the British and Indian troops were not the standard equipment of the British army. It's like an American product, "Oh! Tang Qiuli raised his eyebrows and said: "The Americans sent out their guns, and the British let the Indians take the lead, this is the consistent method of Britain and the United States, logical, it seems that the Americans still have reservations about this action of the British, or rather." I can't stop it, otherwise, there's more to it than that, which makes me solve a mystery. ”

Zhao Yuhe asked strangely: "Commander, what kind of mystery is it?" Tang Qiuli waved his hand and said, "Don't talk about this." Yuhe, you immediately telegraphed Wen Rongcai, the troops of the northern Burma border garrison in the Hukang River valley should withdraw from the Xiduo front line and assemble in the area of Magao to stand by, you must emphasize that it is my order, otherwise, Wen Rongcai will not retreat if he is stubborn and does not run out of troops. ”

Zhao Yuhe said with a smile: "It's still the division commander who understands Commander Wen's temper," Tang Qiuli said with a look of reminiscence: "Wen Rongcai turned out to be the deputy brigade commander of the Fourth Brigade of the Corps directly under him, Chu Ziye's deputy, and he was a guy who didn't want to die in a war. ”

In the Hukang River valley shrouded in the thick night, on the Xiduo blocking position, Tang Qiuli and Chief of Staff Zhao Yuhe were talking about, Major General Wen Rongcai, commander of the northern Burma border garrison area, at this time, they did not have their leisure and relaxation. …,

In a shelter that had been blown up by shells, Wen Rongcai was taking advantage of the gap between the British and Indian artillery bombardment to hold a military meeting, and on his left arm, he was hanging a bandage that was stained with mud and dust, and he could no longer see his true face.

In the midst of the loud noise of shaking the mountains, the flames flashed, and the tall trees and dirt flew into the air, sacrificing several staff officers, if it were not for Wen Rongcai's guards, who fought with their own lives and covered the commander under him, I am afraid that the commander of the major general, who commanded two garrisons plus a guard battalion and more than 9,000 troops, would have died in his post.

Wen Rongcai was very angry in his heart, it only took five or six hours for the troops to pull up, and the number of casualties reached more than 3,000 people, and most of them were sacrificed under the artillery fire of the British and Indian troops, and Wen Rongcai, who was transferred from the main force, had never fought such a bad battle.

There is no way, the troops to which the border garrison area belongs are originally the configuration of the second-line troops, and the equipment level cannot be compared with the first-line field troops, a garrison with a reinforced regimental size, 45,600 people, and only one artillery battalion equipped with mortars and mountain artillery, which is full of more than 70 small and medium-caliber artillery.

In order to ensure the speed of the march, the troops left behind all their heavy equipment, including the more than 30 mountain guns, until more than three hours after the battle began, and then rushed to the battlefield.

Looking at the Anglo-Indian army on the opposite side, in one attack, there were no less than 100 large-caliber heavy artillery pieces to suppress fire, large-caliber shells, blowing up the position in muddy water, coupled with the geographical conditions of the Hukang River Valley, there was mud everywhere, not even a decent stone could be found, and the fortifications built, in the words of the soldiers, "can collapse the machine gun bunker with a soak of urine!" ”

Fortunately, the area around Xiduo, in the primeval forest, there is no shortage of wood, after the hard work of the soldiers, finally rushed in front of the British and Indian troops, built a blocking position, before they had time to catch their breath, they exchanged fire with the vanguard of the British and Indian troops, and began to fight well, those British and Indian Ah San, did not understand the details, screamed and rushed up.

The soldiers of the garrison, of course, would not be polite, and beat them all over, and after more than an hour, the British and Indian troops dropped hundreds of corpses and retreated, but the situation was not very good.

The main force of the Anglo-Indian army in the back came up, and the head was covered by a heavy artillery shell, a fortification made of wood and earth, in the face of such a fierce shelling, debris flew everywhere, and then there was a group charge under the cover of tanks, the first garrison and the guard battalion, gritted their teeth and persevered, repelled the enemy's repeated attacks, and staggered until dark.

When night fell, the infantry of the British and Indian troops did not dare to attack, but the artillery fire was more fierce than during the day, and there was no time to even give the troops to repair the trenches, so Wen Rongcai could only order the troops to dig individual bunkers on the spot, and then, the adjacent ones on the left and right gradually dug through, and finally formed a fortification, against the artillery fire of the British and Indian troops, in the dark night, the soldiers took advantage of the fire of the shell explosion, and raced against time to build the fortifications that were blown down by the shells.

Although the terrain conditions in Sido were not conducive to the defense of the defenders, because of the narrow terrain, it was not conducive to the large-scale deployment of the British and Indian attacks, and it was impossible to invest more troops at one time, so that the troops could hold out for a day and ensure that the position was not breached.

However, as a general transferred from the main force, Wen Rongcai knew better how difficult it was to block more than 200,000 British and Indian troops with heavy artillery, tanks and aircraft with less than 10,000 troops without heavy firepower, relying on temporary civil engineering fortifications, and with less than 10,000 soldiers. What to do tomorrow? …,

This is the purpose of Wen Rongcai's urgent military meeting, he looked at more than a dozen officers with sharp eyes, and said in a dumb voice: "I don't talk nonsense, the current situation, everyone knows that the British and Indian soldiers on the opposite side are bullying us without artillery support, if we continue to fight like this, tomorrow, our casualties will be greater, perhaps, by tomorrow evening, we will be gone!" That's the reality! ”

Wen Rongcai's voice was heavy and hoarse, and what he said was also the reality of the situation, the officers did not speak, but quietly listened to the commander's speech, from time to time there were shells whistling and flying, explosions near and far, and suddenly a flash of firelight reflected his resolute face, and his bloodshot and tired eyes, and his body was full of gunsmoke.

Wen Rongcai continued: "However, I, Wen Rongcai, am a soldier of an independent division, I am a Chinese, I know that we are at a disadvantage, but I still have to fight, this is not only our duty, but also the integrity of our Chinese, the British and Indians, will definitely step on our position, but only after we become a corpse." ”

"I have reported the situation of the Xiduo battlefield to the division commander, and I want to tell you a good news, the division commander has personally led the direct corps to the northern Burma battlefield to command this battle, there is only one thing we have to do, at the cost of all the deaths, drag the British and Indian soldiers as much time as possible, deploy troops for the division commander, and buy the most time, okay, everyone go back and prepare, seize the time to rest, tomorrow, it will be a vicious battle!"

The officers suddenly stood up, and after saying goodbye tonight, they returned to their combat posts, perhaps for the last time they met, looking at the resolute look of the commander, the officers suddenly roared: "Please rest assured, commander, none of our soldiers are of bad seeds, let the British and Indian soldiers, taste the power of our people, after this battle, we play the prestige of the squadron, and it is worth dying!" ”

Wen Rongcai's nose was sour, he waved his hand wordlessly, and turned his face away, he was afraid that his subordinates would see the tears of the man who burst out of his eyes.

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