This fatal time loophole was enough to put the two main field brigades directly under the corps into an extremely dangerous situation, and the new terrain conditions themselves were conducive to defense, and the Xiao Jinshan Brigade and the Fang Yuanshan Brigade, which had to retreat continuously all the way from the western section of the Hukang River Valley, fought a battle of grievances, plus their own orders to increase the intensity of their blockade.

In all this, it is not surprising that the commanders of the two main brigades, especially Xiao Jinshan, held back their strength in Xinduo and Alexander's main forces to fight a good battle, because in the event of a battle, it was impossible for the troops to retreat with their whole body, and the casualties caused by the first round of shelling would be even more determined to fight to the death with the British and Indian troops.

Less than 8 o'clock on the morning of the 28th, the 9th and 10th Brigades would never have been able to evacuate Xinduo without completing the blocking time set by the division commander, and this was the combat style of the main brigades of the Independent Division, and this tenacious and courageous fighting style in Xinduo may have been the result of heavy casualties, and the more than 30,000 troops of the two brigades were more than auspicious against the more than 200,000 British and Indian troops who were bent on rushing to northern Burma.

It all boils down to two words, "Meaning!" Looking at Tang Qiuli's ever-changing face, Zhao Yuhe and Liu Xinlan became anxious, and Zhao Yuhe hurriedly asked, "Master, is there any problem?" ”

Tang Qiuli let out a long breath and asked, "Yuhe, when did the Xiao Jinshan Brigade and the Fang Yuanshan Brigade retreat to Xinduo yesterday, and how to deploy them?" When did the forward units of the Anglo-Indian Army arrive on the periphery of Singapore? I want the details! ”

Zhao Yuhe replied succinctly: "The Ninth Brigade and the Tenth Brigade retreated to Xinduo at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon of the 27th, leaving one reinforced regiment each, and the rest of the troops covering the retreat of the residents to the direction of Magao, but the two brigade commanders Xiao and Fang stayed in Xinduo, the forward unit of the British and Indian Army. The two divisions arrived at a distance of 5 kilometers from Sinduo at 6:30 p.m. on the evening of the 27th, and at first assumed an offensive posture. Later, however, the attack was stopped and camped on the spot, and it was impossible to determine why it had stopped attacking. ”

Tang Qiuli looked up to the sky and sighed, and said to himself: "That's right, Alexander is deliberately giving me time, so that after entering northern Burma." Reducing the frequency of battles, I made a big mistake! It shouldn't be! ”

Zhao Yuhe asked puzzledly: "Commander, what mistake did you make?" My current deployment is going according to plan. ”

Tang Qiuli did not answer his words, looked at his watch, and at about four o'clock in the morning on April 28, he said to Zhao Yuhe in a hurried tone: "Yuhe, immediately order the troops of the Ninth Brigade and the Tenth Brigade in Xinduo. Immediately evacuate Xinduo, move closer to Magao, and return to the directly subordinate corps. Sue Xiao Jinshan and Fang Yuanshan, don't find any reason to delay, you must carry out the order unconditionally, otherwise, I will shoot the two of them! ”

Zhao Yuhe's face changed greatly, the teacher said such a stern word, there must be something wrong with Xinduo, but he didn't have any consciousness. Why is that?

Zhao Yuhe didn't have time to think about it, and asked casually: "Division commander, giving up Xinduo and not blocking the British and Indian troops in any way is tantamount to changing the established deployment, will it affect the progress of the battle plan." Moreover, will it arouse Alexander's suspicions? As a result, the British and Indian armies have stalled, and can the ambush battle of Ma Gao start as scheduled? ”

A series of questions are all orders to the Ninth Brigade and the Tenth Brigade to give up Xinduo, and the chain reaction that may be caused, Zhao Yu and this chief of staff are very competent, however, Tang Qiuli glared at Zhao Yuhe in an unusual, with a rare stern tone, and said sharply: "Execute the order immediately, there is so much nonsense from there, this is not the time to discuss the problem with you, go quickly!" ”

Zhao Yuhe was stunned for a moment, his face was flushed, but he closed his mouth knowingly, and hurriedly walked out, his mind kept echoing the words of the division commander just now, and his heart was very uncalm, "After being transferred to the division headquarters, it is the first time that the division commander is so stern and angry with himself, but the questions he raised are all possible, where is his mistake?" ”…,

Tang Qiuli turned his face to Liu Xinlan and said: "Xinlan, record the order, in the direction of Ledo, Sugia, Gamai, and Xintaiji, block the various units of the British and Indian army, reduce the intensity of the resistance, and let the British and Indian troops enter other areas in northern Myanmar to prepare for encirclement and annihilation." ”

Liu Xinlan rolled her big black eyes, wanting to say something, seeing Tang Qiuli's tired face, she silently poured him a cup of hot water, and walked out with a light foot, the staff officers were also frightened by the stern attitude of the division commander just now, everyone consciously was cautious when entering and exiting, and even the sound of dialogue was extremely low.

Tang Qiuli closed his eyes, rubbed his temples with his fingers, and secretly blamed himself, "You shouldn't make this mistake, it may be that in the past two years, you have been too smooth, and you don't have the kind of caution and nervousness that you are on the edge of the abyss and walking on thin ice when you are facing the Kwantung Army in the Northeast, and you have repeatedly warned senior generals to guard against arrogance and rashness, but what about yourself?" If Brother Qiu Sheng had commanded this campaign, there would never have been such a low-level mistake. ”

Tang Qiuli's judgment is a little different from Alexander's idea of ordering not to attack Xinduo for the time being, but it is not far away, for Xiao Jinshan, the commander of the 9th Brigade and Fang Yuanshan, the commander of the 10th Brigade, his own commander and the commander of the enemy's army, two orders with diametrically opposite contents, both saved the lives of themselves and nearly 10,000 soldiers, but they don't know it yet!

At 4:20 a.m. on 28 April, Xiao Jinshan received an urgent order from the division headquarters, and as soon as he finished reading the first few lines of the telegram, Xiao Jinshan complained, "What are you doing?" The evacuation was set before eight o'clock, why did he suddenly order an immediate evacuation, such a favorable terrain, and the British and Indian soldiers in front of him were not allowed to fight, what did the division commander think? ”

Looking at the last few lines of the telegram, I was startled at the time, and exclaimed in my heart: "My good boy, what's wrong with the division commander, even let out such cruel words, if you don't carry out the order, you will be shot, right?" ”

Unwillingly, he picked up the walkie-talkie and called Fang Yuanshan on the other side of the Hukang River, "I said Lao Fang, have you received an order from the division commander?" I received it, the content is the same as mine, I really don't understand, what is the division commander going to do? The British and the Indian soldiers are sleeping, but we have to run away! Nest fire! Lao Xiao, I'm not reconciled! ”

Fang Yuanshan didn't mean to joke at all, and said sternly: "Old Xiao, we just carry out the order, it should be the enemy situation in other directions, there was an unexpected change, the division commander changed the deployment, my troops will withdraw immediately, don't delay the time, be careful that the division commander really shoots you!" Besides, after the reconstruction, is there still a big battle in Magao, what are you complaining about! ”

At about five o'clock in the morning, in a dense jungle more than 10 kilometers east of Xinduo, the 9th and 10th Brigades met here, and the Hukang River turned a corner here, and the surging river became suddenly open, the water was not waist-deep, and the troops could wade across the river.

Fang Yuanshan twisted his wet military uniform, looked at Xiao Jinshan with a gloomy face with a smile, and said, "Why is Old Xiao, still unhappy in your heart?" Be content, I'm soaking wet across the river, how can you be blessed! ”

Xiao Jinshan said angrily: "Old Xiao, I just can't figure it out, the order of the division headquarters has been changed day by day, so how can we, the front-line commanders, command the troops?" I was already holding back my strength, but after dawn, I taught these arrogant bastards of the British and Indian army a hard lesson, but an order came down and ran away overnight, if I was asked to go back and go to Xinduo to block the attack, I would have crossed the river ten times back and forth, and my heart was comfortable! ”

Fang Yuanshan shook his head helplessly, and said, "You, it's this stinky temper, when you reach Ma Gao, you are still worried about not fighting?" ”…,

Xiao Jinshan said: "That's different, in Xinduo, it's our brothers who can fight how they want, when we get to Magao, hundreds of thousands of troops are crowded together, there are Liu Dazi from the First Brigade and Chu Da Voice from the Fourth Brigade, can it be our turn to seize the main attack task?" In that pre-war meeting, these two people were not the main attack with thick necks and blushing faces! ”

Fang Yuanshan didn't answer, in fact, he very much agreed with Xiao Jinshan's statement, when the direct corps acted together, the ninth brigade and the tenth brigade were mostly reserves, but this did not mean that he agreed with Xiao Jinshan's current attitude, how to say it, as a subordinate, it is a matter of course to obey the orders of the superiors.

The division commander ordered the withdrawal of Xinduo, naturally there was a reason for the division commander, looking at Fang Yuanshan's demeanor, Xiao Jinshan was a little anxious, and was just about to continue, when suddenly, in the direction of Xinduo behind him, there was an earth-shattering loud noise, which shook the ground in the current position, and they all trembled.

Xiao Jinshan was shocked, what happened? Hurriedly picked up the telescope and observed the direction of Xinduo, Xinduo was already a sea of fire, in the faint light of dawn, looking from the current position of the two of them, Ma Gao was shrouded in a cloud.

Although I can't really see it, the columns of smoke that splash up from time to time can still explain what happened there, Xiao Jinshan put down the binoculars, his face was a little pale, they are all veterans of the war, can they still understand what happened to Xinduo?

He took a breath, and said to the other party's distant mountain: "Old Fang, it's so dangerous, the British and Indian troops have shelled Ma Gao, looking at the scale, there are at least four or five artillery regiments, among them, there are a lot of heavy artillery, which is completely all-round covering shelling. ”

After a pause, he looked at Fang Yuanshan, his eyes flashing with a strange light, and then said, "Old Fang, what the fuck did I just complain about?" The division commander's order was to save the lives of the two of us and nearly 10,000 soldiers, and I kept complaining to the division commander that if I didn't withdraw in advance, our brothers would have to explain here just this shell. ”

Fang Yuanshan sighed slightly and said: "Old Xiao, I'm convinced, the division commander is really a master, you say, how did he know that the artillery of the British and Indian armies would definitely shell Xinduo?" Ordered us to withdraw an hour earlier? ”

(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. )