The wind is blowing, from the far north of the country, the cold wind blows, sweeping over the mountains and plains, lakes and rivers, cities and villages, shaking the land of southern Guangdong and the thousands of trees in the Indochina Peninsula, and the treetops whisper in the wind, like blowing the horn of the expedition.

At 3:58 a.m., Lieutenant General Tang Qiusheng, the front-line command of the Yangon Campaign of the ** Division, the front-line command of the Yangon Campaign, and the commander-in-chief of the campaign, glanced at Tang Qiuli, who had a calm face, and Tang Qiuli nodded slightly.

Tang Qiusheng said to Chief of Staff Chang Feng: "Let's start!" Chang Feng immediately ordered: "According to the original plan, the general attack on Rangoon begins!" "The operational staff officers who were responsible for contacting Feng Jiwu's corps and Li Honggang's corps immediately conveyed the order.

After the order to attack was issued, the atmosphere in the headquarters was relaxed, and the solemn and tense atmosphere before the start of the major battle was lost.

In the glimmer before dawn, there are no flying signal flares, no shouts during the charge, radios and walkie-talkies, which have been deployed to the ** division field corps at the company and platoon level, do not need signal flares to unify the actions of the troops, there is no usual artillery preparation, hundreds of thousands of troops, just like this, suddenly killed, there is no scene of artillery fire, but the suddenness of the campaign has been reached.

Thousands of tanks roared, and the soldiers' steel helmets flashed with a dim cold light in the faint sky, exuding an atmosphere of solemnity; Feng Jiwu's corps deployed 12 brigades in the west of Yangon, and Li Honggang's corps deployed 10 brigades in the north of Yangon, and the two corps, totaling 22 brigades and more than 350,000 troops, launched an attack at the same time.

The outer trench that Ito painstakingly dug had already fallen into the hands of the troops of the ** division a few days ago. As soon as the troops began to attack, they went directly to the edge of the city, and the 1st Brigade of the Feng Jiwu Corps, as the vanguard of the corps, was the first to exchange fire with the defending Japanese troops. With a fierce burst of gunfire, the pre-dawn calm in Yangon was shattered.

The brigade commander, Major General Liu Jinsheng, deployed the strength of four regiments and launched a fierce attack on the Japanese positions in front of him. The resistance of the Japanese army was hasty and chaotic, and the tension of more than 20 days made the spirit and body of the Japanese soldiers almost exhausted, and the tense nerves could not withstand the tension for a long time, and slackness was inevitable.

There was no warning beforehand. The attack was launched so suddenly that neither the commander-in-chief, Senior General Ito Yanzaburo, nor the chief of staff, Major General Kawashima, could have imagined that today would be the day that would decide the fate of the Southeast Asian dispatch forces. "Jingle bell" A rapid telephone ringing woke up Chief of Staff Kawashima, who was on duty at the headquarters, from his dream.

He grabbed the phone in a daze, "Report to Your Excellency Chief of Staff, I am the commander of the defense of the northern district of Yangon." The commander of the 13th Division, Oshima Shinhiko, at four o'clock in the morning, the troops of the ** Division launched a fierce attack on our defensive line! The battle was extremely fierce. In less than ten minutes, the armored units of the ** division have already broken through my positions in many places. ”

Kawashima was full of excitement, and he ran out of the clouds with sleepiness, and before he could ask Oshima Shinhiko about the specific situation, the more than a dozen telephones on the table rang. All rang out frantically, the staff officers on duty. Awakened by the loud ringing of the phone, he hurriedly ran in, picked up the phone, and was in the house. Immediately it was a mess.

All the phone calls were to report a message that "the ** division troops, from the north and west directions, launched a full-scale attack on Yangon, the battle was fierce, and the positions of the imperial army troops were broken through in many places" Originally, Kawashima still had a trace of luck, this was just a tentative attack carried out by the ** division troops!

But these news shattered his illusions, Kawashima sighed "It's finally here" He hurried to a red telephone, to tell Commander-in-Chief Ito the news, but before he picked up the phone, the phone rang first, "Is it Kawashima-kun?" What happened? Ito's tired voice came.

Kawashima calmed down and said: "Commander-in-chief, ** division troops, launch a full-scale attack on my Yangon" On the other end of the phone, Ito was silent for a long time, and said to himself: "It's still here!" Then, there was a sigh, and then he said: "Kawashima-kun, first order the troops, you must hold the existing positions, the troops in the city, immediately enter the street fighting fortifications, and I will rush to the headquarters immediately." ”

Ito was awakened by a burst of gunshots, at first, he thought he was dreaming, during this time, he often dreamed of these, pushed open the window, northwest direction, the gunfire was as dense as a storm through the woods, no overwhelming cannon sound, no usual fire preparation, without warning, Tang Qiuli began to move, this devil, like a poisonous snake hiding in the corner, finally revealed his hideous face.

Ito made this call, nothing more than to confirm his judgment, he did not immediately drive to the general headquarters, but leaned against the window in despair, the breeze before dawn, the cold bones, just like his mood, even if he arrived at the headquarters, how could he change the battle situation? At best, it is symbolic.

More than 30 minutes later, Kawashima called from the headquarters, "Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, I think you should come immediately and discuss countermeasures" Ito understood what Kawashima meant, the so-called deliberative countermeasures were nothing more than a plan to withdraw south to the Malay Peninsula and put it on the agenda, but he was unwilling to do this, and surrendered Yangon to that Shina devil.

On the way to the general headquarters, Ito had already made a decision to use the barricades in Yangon City that had been operating for a long time, and adopt a step-by-step resistance method to gradually shrink the troops to the east of the city.

In Ito's heart, he is already inclined to fight and then leave, even if he loses Yangon in the end, it will also make that Shina devil suffer a heavy loss, otherwise, he will have trouble sleeping and suffering for the rest of his life, and the shadow in his heart will accompany him for the rest of his life.

After arriving at the headquarters, Ito's first order was to "immediately report the situation to the General Staff of the base camp and truthfully report the battle situation" He didn't ask, how are the forward troops fighting? From the faces of Kawashima and many staff officers, he has already seen the result, Ito is smart, the attack of the ** division troops was sharp and fierce, and in less than an hour, the second line of defense of the Japanese army was beaten to pieces, and the six divisions and regiments placed in the front line were wiped out.

Ito's second order was the decision he had just considered in the car, after listening to the order, Kawashima's face changed greatly, and he didn't immediately convey his order, Ito looked at Kawashima with some annoyance, and shouted: "Yaga!" How? ** The troops of the division, before they have entered the city center, you will not listen to the command? ”

Kawashima pulled Ito into a room and said, "Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief, I don't doubt the correctness of your order, but have you ever thought about what kind of retaliation he will take if Tang Qiuli's troops suffered heavy casualties in the street battles in Yangon?" "Kawashima's words have been said very clearly, if Tang Qiuli suffers a loss, will we still be able to go?

But Ito glared at his bloodshot eyes, and said in a fierce tone: "Revenge? Then he will pay a greater price" Kawashima was speechless for a while, is this His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief who was originally wise and wise? From Mandalay to being besieged in Yangon for more than 20 days, a generation of famous generals has become a half-demented person, and he can't see the situation in front of him, which is sad and lamentable!

Kawashima can only wake up His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief who still admits defeat by taking strong medicine, and he also said in a cold tone: "The tactics of the imperial army to resist day by step can cause certain casualties to the troops of the ** division, but have you ever thought about it, since Tang Qiuli can besiege Yangon for more than 20 days, will he be in a hurry to capture Yangon City?" And let our street fortifications play the most role? ”

At this point, Ito understood that Yangon was already in Tang Qiuli's bag, but when to take it, but he still didn't understand what Kawashima was going to say, and said impatiently: "Chief of Staff Kawashima, if you have something to say, you don't have to go around in circles, I still have to command the troops?" There is no time to waste on nonsense. ”

Kawashima continued: "If Tang Qiuli's troops, in the process of capturing Yangon, suffered casualties that exceeded his psychological bottom line, he would not let us retreat south to the Malay Peninsula, Tang Qiuli in Bangkok, released a corps, more than 200,000 troops, and also completely controlled the air supremacy, from Bangkok to the west, without effort, you can cut off our way to retreat south, Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief, have you thought about it?" ”

Ito's head suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, he realized that the danger of his orders, Tang Qiuli lacked the most, that is, time, since he could surround Yangon for more than 20 days, he could also use a longer period of time, in the city of Yangon, adopt the encroachment tactics of slowly advancing and clearing point by point, and slowly play to death himself, it is not difficult to do this, the rhythm of the battlefield is completely in his hands, how to fight, that branch of the devil is counted, the imperial army is just a passive defense.

Ito sat down dejectedly, a little courage and ferocity just mustered, so that Kawashima's words leaked nothing, this is the reality, if it is a dead end, Ito doesn't mind fighting for a jade stone, but obviously there is a way to survive in front of him, and then there is a determination to fight to the death, it will also be shaken, Tang Qiuli's battle layout is to prevent Ito from being trapped in the beast and fighting to the death, and keep this defeated general to deal with the Americans.

Ito closed his eyes and sorted out his chaotic thoughts, Kawashima saw that he had convinced his boss that he had enough patience to wait for the commander-in-chief's decision, so he didn't bother him, the room was as quiet as death, and the continuous ringing of the phone outside became more and more harsh, as if urging Ito to make a decision-