Colonel Liu Xianyong, commander of the First Bomber Regiment of the Southern Flight Group of the Independent Division, was about to give the order to drop bombs, but he received a call from the commander Le Yiqin, which startled him at that time. The British's fighter jets are coming?

Hurriedly turned on the airborne radar, carefully searched the surrounding airspace, looked at the blank radar screen, Liu Xianyong breathed a sigh of relief, "Report to the commander, I bombed the airspace near the area, no target was found, please instruct, is the bombing going on?" ”

Le Yiqin simply replied: "Execute according to the original plan!" Then, he ended the call, making Liu Xianyong inexplicable, and also made a false alarm, a regiment of bombers, after dropping bombs on the intended targets on both sides of the Hukang River Valley, climbed high in turn, Liu Xianyong looked at the black smoke rising from the ground, and ordered: "All return!" ”

In all fairness, Liu Xianyong's heart did not have the excitement of completing the bombing mission, for no other reason, the bombing was not enjoyable, Myitkyina Air Base, Le Yiqin put down the intercom, and said regretfully to the Minister of Operations: "The British did not take the bait, and ordered the Fourth Fighter Regiment to return from the airspace of the Hukang River Valley," he didn't quite understand, was his plan to lure the snake out of the hole failed, or did the British become smarter?

The bombing of the bombers of the independent division did not cause much damage to the British and Indian troops, as far as a regimental bombing is concerned, the losses were minimal, on the one hand, the anti-aircraft firepower of the British and Indian troops was well arranged, and more importantly, Liu Xianyong's regiment did not carry out a large-density heavy bombing, watching the bombers of the squadron disappear into the blue sky, Alexander's pale blue eyes were full of worry.

Now that Tang Qiuli dispatched bombers, there was no secret to the covert advance of the Central Route Army, and now, the only solution was to get out of the narrow area of the Hukang River Valley as quickly as possible. Occupy Magau and Myitkyina and gain a foothold in northern Burma, otherwise, as long as it is the troops of the independent division. Having bought time to block the exit of the Hukang Valley to northern Myanmar, what awaits them is a protracted war of attrition.

The battlefield is in Burma, Tang Qiu can afford to save energy, Alexander can't afford it, his logistics supply base. In Imphal, India, the deeper the troops went into Burma, the longer the supply line stretched, so Alexander interpreted the bombing of the independent division bombers just now as slowing down the march of his own troops.

Tang Qiuli's main force is still in the Malay Peninsula. It takes time to move to northern Myanmar, so the bombing of a harassing nature. In order to buy time for him to mobilize his troops, Alexander gave the order to his troops, "Advance as fast as you can!" ”

The following series of air raids confirmed his judgment, and the four British divisions that were advancing from the four directions of Ledo, Sugia, Gamai, and New Taiji to northern Burma and were responsible for the task of assisting the campaign sent telegrams to the headquarters at the same time. "At about 11 o'clock this morning, our unit was subjected to incessant and heavy bombardment by bomber groups of the Independent Division, and the advance of the troops was blocked. ”

Bombed, Alexander believed, but. When it comes to fierce bombing, he doesn't quite believe that the bombers of the Independent Division, with more than 200,000 troops crowded on both sides of the Hukang River Valley, do not come to bomb fiercely, but instead carry out fierce bombardment against the troops of a single division of you marching in the dense forest area.

There is only one purpose, to delay the advance of our army and buy time for him to mobilize troops, therefore, the British division commander of Alexander's four divisions gave the same order, "This is a harassing bombing that delays the advance of our army, ignore it, speed up the march, enter northern Burma as soon as possible, and then unfold, seize the predetermined target, and cooperate with the main force's offensive in northern Burma!" ”

In all fairness, the bomber units of Le Yiqin bombed the British troops in the four directions of Ledo, Sugia, Gamai, and New Taiji, and the effect was very unsatisfactory, for the simple reason that the four lightly armed British infantry divisions were all on remote mountain roads, and there were few areas with a wide field of vision except for the lush and dense forests. …,

Most of the bombs were dropped into the forest, and as for how many British and Indian soldiers were killed, only God knows, but these four divisions of British and Indian troops had never been bombed by air raids, let alone bombs whizzing and falling overhead.

Instead, the appearance of the bombers of the Independent Division reminded Alexander, and he said to the operational staff officer: "Order, Lieutenant General Bright, commander of the Air Force in India, your unit immediately dispatches all fighters to clear the bombers of the Independent Division bombing our troops in the direction of Ledo, Sugia, Gamai, and New Taiji, and in addition, to carry out saturation bombing of Magao and Myitkyina in order to completely eliminate the threat of the Chinese from the air, and this order is carried out immediately!" Otherwise, military law is ruthless, and you will bear full responsibility! ”

Alexander had to add these two sentences at the end of the order, from the bottom of his heart, he did not have a good impression of the air force guys, at the beginning, when the British troops stationed in Indochina withdrew to Mandalay, they were bombed indiscriminately by Japanese planes, and he repeatedly asked for air support, and these guys only sent a dozen fighters to deal with the matter.

I didn't even see the shadow of the Japanese bomber, and hurriedly turned around the side of the Yindun River, and then returned, at that time, his subordinates were blown up by the Japanese plane, and the blood stained the river red, and the corpses of the soldiers flowed down the surging river to the east.

What is even more infuriating is that the British air force unit stationed in Indochina Peninsula, which was originally under his command, had just been shot out by the Japanese, and these guys, without receiving their own orders, set up their planes and ran to the East Indies like smoke, leaving behind poor infantry and suffering the destruction of Japanese planes.

It's just that after he fled to India, he was left out in the cold and lost his position, and he didn't have the ability to find trouble with these guys, today is different, he is the commander-in-chief of the army stationed in India, and he has the right to mobilize all the troops, including those who are usually arrogant and well-paid, and when they fight, they think about running away by themselves, no matter what, they must be forced to fight, if they dare to disobey their orders again, Commander Alexander, don't mind using a few heads of air force officers to stand up!

Tang Qiuli's purpose of using aerial bombardment to delay the advance of the British and Indian troops made Alexander judge, but for the judgment of the ultimate goal, Alexander was very wrong, and this fatal mistake was enough to lead to a fiasco of the annihilation of the whole army.

The troops of the independent division are not being transferred to northern Burma, including the troops of the Sulu Mobile Corps that were later mobilized, and they are basically in place, and in the four directions of Ledo, Sugia, Gamai, and New Taiji, facing the exit of the northern Burma region, there are two brigades of the Sulu Mobile Corps in each place, and they are still a pocket formation, just waiting for the British and Indian troops to drill.

For the lightly armed four divisions of the British and Indian troops, the troops of the Sulu Mobile Corps, which had absolute superiority in strength and firepower, encircled and annihilated them without much effort, and in the direction of Magao, the troops of the eight brigades directly under the corps were already in the ambush site, waiting for Alexander's more than 200,000 troops to drill out of the Hukang River valley, crash headlong into the ambush circle, and annihilate them in one fell swoop.

However, in the ambush circle near Ma Gao, Tang Qiuli's command of the troops did not have an advantage, the 130,000 troops of the eight brigades directly under the corps were more than 200,000 British and Indian troops, which seemed dangerous.

Regarding this question, Major General Zhao Yuhe, chief of staff of the independent division, cautiously raised questions, and he said to Tang Qiuli, who was at the Magao headquarters and looking at the map of the Hukang River Valley: "Division commander, at present, the intention of the British and Indian troops has become obvious, the enemy army advancing along the line of the Hukang River Valley is its main force, according to the aerial reconnaissance report, there are more than 200,000 people, and it is also equipped with a large number of tanks, and the firepower is also very strong. ”…,

After looking at the division commander Tang Qiuli, who was silent but obviously listening, Zhao Yuhe continued: "And the troops we set up in ambush near Magao are far less than the Anglo-Indian army, and I am worried that I will not be able to eat a bite, so I will build yì and transfer six to eight brigades of the Niangziguan Garrison Corps to participate in the Magao ambush, is it more safe?" Moreover, according to the current position of the Anglo-Indian army and the pace of its advance, it is completely too late for us to mobilize our forces again! ”

After listening to Zhao Yuhe's words, Tang Qiuli nodded approvingly, and said: "Yuhe, I'm very happy, you can speak your mind in front of me, and you can put forward your own ideas, which is very good, I have always been worried that you have been away from the division headquarters for too long, and you can't let go of your hands and feet to work because of all kinds of concerns, now, I am relieved." ”

Zhao Yuhe's face turned pale, and he replied solemnly: "Division commander, as your chief of staff, it is the main responsibility of the chief of staff to express your heart and come up with your own reference opinions for the division commander to decide, even if it is disliked by the division commander, I will be blunt!" ”

Tang Qiuli laughed and said, "Okay! Yuhe, it should be like this, I don't like to be arbitrary and arbitrary, and I will give you an analysis, I will use the existing forces to set up an ambush in Magao, and save you from worrying! ”

Tang Qiuli first took out a file bag, opened it, took out a few pages, patted it, and said playfully: "Before deciding on the battle mode, what I need to understand first is my opponent, a few hours ago, I received information from the intelligence department, commanding hundreds of thousands of British and Indian troops, and the supreme commander of the British army who invaded northern Burma is called Alexander. ”

Zhao Yuhe looked at Tang Qiuli's expression, which seemed to have a hint of ridicule, and asked very strangely: "Commander, are you familiar with this Alexander?" ”

(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. )