Chapter 1109 Jedi

When General Ito Yanzaburo, commander of Japan's Southeast Asian Dispatch Army, saw that the British had begun to break through from Mandalay in accordance with his plan, he could predict that 9 June 1940 would be the last day when the British would survive in Indochina.

After instructing the chief of staff, Major General Koizumi, he half-jokingly admonished, "Koizumi-kun, the management troops of the prisoner of war camp should not be too manpowered!" Also, select some good-natured soldiers and officers," after speaking, he shook his head, and seemed to be a little helpless and said to himself: "With so many British prisoners of war, how much food shall I take out to feed them?" What a headache. ”

Almost at the same time, Alexander, who received the news of Francis' successful breakthrough, immediately sent a telegram to Tang Qiuli, "Dear Vice Chairman Tang, I would like to inform you of the most exciting good news, I have just received a telegram from my chief of staff, Major General Francis, after fierce fighting, the British Imperial ** team in Mandalay has broken through the encirclement of the Japanese army, and has repelled the Japanese pursuing troops, and is currently rushing in the direction of Myitkyina, hoping that Your Excellency's troops can join us victoriously on the way!" Congratulations! ”

Alexander's telegram was filled with an optimistic mood and a smugness that could not be concealed, Tang Qiuli couldn't help but shake his head after reading the telegram, and said, "Breakthrough success? God knows, perhaps it was the beginning of the disaster for the British, Chang Feng, from now on, on the grounds of a radio malfunction, to cut off a single qiē with Alexander and the Chongqing state capital. ”

"Next, it's time for the British to experience a scene that will never be forgotten for a lifetime, Alexander, who is desperate, will do everything he can, we don't need to go to this troubled water again, settle quietly, and order Chutian and the special operations detachment to closely monitor all the battles that took place along the retreat of the British army, and the battle situation needs to be reported at any time."

The British, who had broken through from Mandalay, were hurrying to a huge trap, the formation of which was the insidious cunning of the Japanese supreme commander Ito Yanzaburo on the one hand, and the bait thrown by Tang Qiuli in Myitkyina, northern Burma, to attract the British to go north regardless of a single thing.

In order to make the Japanese and the British, in this bloody battle in Burma, Tang Qiuli didn't know how many brains he racked and how many hands and feet he did in it, and finally got to the current situation, a bloody battle between the British army and the Japanese army was inevitable, no matter which side was killed, or there was damage to each other, it was beneficial to Tang Qiuli, at this time, it was not easy to meddle in this matter.

Even Ba Mo can't stay, Alexander can run directly from Tengchong to Ba Mo in a hurry, come to Tang Qiuli, and even Chairman Jiang of Chongqing will not be able to withstand the pressure of the British and the Americans, forcing himself to send troops.

Whether Tang Qiuli used a conspiracy or a trick, the British and the Japanese inevitably ran into each other, and they all became a pawn in his strategic pattern in Southeast Asia.

The British troops retreating in the direction of Myitkyina, with the Japanese in hot pursuit, did not have much confusion, and the fact that Francis used the early morning to break through the siege established his prestige among hundreds of thousands of Anglo-Burmese soldiers, and he constantly ordered the retreating troops to use the terrain that could be used to block the pursuing Japanese troops.

And Ito Yanzaburo, the purpose was to drive the British into the huge ambush circle set up by Libo, and he did not order the pursuing troops, and did his best to attack the retreating British army, just to maintain an appropriate distance and pressure, so that the British could not retreat with too many ideas, and there seemed to be a tacit understanding between the British and the Japanese.

The British rearguard troops, which were responsible for blocking the attack, were always able to repel the Japanese troops who were chasing after them, and won relatively ample time for the main force, which made Major General Francis, who commanded the retreat, have a new estimate of the combat effectiveness of his troops, and by noon on 9 June, the 7th Mechanized Division, the vanguard of the British army, had arrived at the mountain pass at the southern foot of Libao.

There were too many retreating British troops, the avant-garde arrived at Libao, and the rearguard troops were still fighting and retreating on the front line, with a distance of dozens of kilometers from the head to the end, I don't know what the reason was, among the retreating troops, a large number of expatriates were mixed in, more than 20,000 people, many of whom were still driving private cars and carrying a large amount of belongings, which also led to a much slower retreat.

When Francis found out after dawn, the expatriates and soldiers were mixed together, military vehicles, tanks and civilian cars were crowded together, and they all tried their best to run forward, and the road leading to Myitkyina, which was not wide, was crowded with water, and Francis immediately understood that these expatriates should have been evacuated from Yangon and Bangkok to Mandalay along with the rout.

I don't know what channel Guò took, I learned the time of the withdrawal of the troops, mixed in the middle of the troops, and withdrew from Mandalay together, such a messy scene. Francis was furious at that time, and he had no time and energy to hold the commander of the unit accountable, and if he did not change such a crowded and chaotic situation, even the Japanese infantry could not catch up.

In case the Japanese planes arrived and a burst of bombs was dropped, it would be a massacre, and he immediately ordered the headquarters guard regiment to play the role of a military police, and all civilian vehicles blocking the intersection were pushed down the deep stream by the road with tanks.

One civilian vehicle after another, along with the gold and silver on board, was pushed down, and from time to time a puff of black smoke rose from the mountain stream, and most of the British, who had looted their property in the colonies of Southeast Asia for many years, suddenly disappeared, causing a wave of weeping and scolding, and Francis became the most vicious curse object of these subjects of the British Empire.

Francis, who had just solved the transportation problem, received bad news that the Japanese army in pursuit suddenly strengthened the attack, not only invested several times more troops, but also appeared a large number of tanks, and the rear guard troops were also subjected to heavy artillery shelling by the Japanese army, and the task began to become difficult.

Francis, who received the report, instinctively felt a great danger, slowly approaching, the Japanese army was unusual, strengthened the attack, is there any conspiracy in it, and then look at the terrain in front, a winding path, hidden in the long canyon, there is no end in sight, although the peaks on both sides are not very high and steep, but the woods are dense, the strange rocks are craggy, and there is danger everywhere.

Thinking about it, the early morning breakthrough seemed too smooth, Francis ordered the avant-garde 7th Mechanized Infantry Division to stop advancing, send troops, and look for other roads, all of which came here, and Francis would rather waste more time on the road than walk the Grand Canyon in front of him, which seemed to exude a murderous aura.

Ito, who was chasing behind, saw the resistance of the British army, stubbornly became tenacious, and, there were signs of stopping the advance, he smiled coldly in his heart, knowing that the British commander, after a dizzy and hurried retreat for several hours, finally realized that something was not quite right, but it was too late, even if the British turned back now, it would be too late.

Ito calmly ordered: "Immediately order the dispatch of military aviation, all of which will take to the air, and bombard the British troops on the front line of Libo, and the pursuing troops will continue to increase the intensity of the attack, and be sure to rush all the British into the canyon." ”

The Japanese army dispatched a chariot unit to the British army that blocked the rearguard, launched the most fierce attack since the retreat, this time, the British troops could not bear the strength, under great pressure, they retreated, and now, even if Francis found another direction, the road that can bypass Libao, Ito will not give him the opportunity and time to divert the route, not to mention, this is the only passage to Myitkyina within a radius of dozens of kilometers.

It was only a few kilometers away from the mountain pass at the southern foot of Libao, and Lieutenant General Takahashi Uemon, who was ordered to temporarily command the Japanese ambush troops, put down the binoculars and said to the staff officers around him: "Order all the artillery units to enter the battle state immediately," With Takahashi's order, on both sides of the mountain road that stretched for dozens of kilometers in Libao, hundreds of Japanese artillery pieces slowly raised their hideous muzzles, and the Japanese soldiers holding the shells stared at the small red flag in the commander's hand.

Unable to hesitate any longer, the British rearguard troops, who could not withstand the huge pressure of the Japanese army, retreated step by step, gradually leaning together with the large army, huddled together, and the Japanese artillery shells were already whistling and flying over, "Order to go down, as fast as possible, through the valley in front of Guò, no matter what resistance is encountered, all troops must not retreat or stay," Francis said with a blue face, he decided to gamble, and also fight, the bet is that there is no Japanese ambush in front.

Lieutenant General Takahashi Uemon, watching the British soldiers pouring into the canyon like a tide, combed a pinch of mustache on his lips with satisfaction, "To the west, Commander Ito has a great cleverness, the British have entered the net, send a report to Your Excellency the commander, and plan to go smoothly." ”

The narrow mountain road was crowded with British-Burmese soldiers running briskly, all kinds of military vehicles and tanks, in the crowded flow of people, laboriously rushing left and right, and the atmosphere of tension, fear, and suffocation shrouded in this canyon, and after more than 30 minutes, the canyon had swallowed more than 100,000 British and Burmese soldiers, and the tails left outside the canyon were being fiercely attacked by the Japanese army, which further aggravated this tense atmosphere.

Francis had been forced to abandon his car, under the protection of more than a dozen guards, crowded in the flow of soldiers, suddenly, in the noisy sound, there was an abnormal sound, in the clear sky, there was a strange roar, from far and near, irritating people's skin tightened, a staff officer looked up at the sky, and screamed "Shelling!" ”

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