After three days of attacking Tonggu, the Japanese 55th Division lost more than half of its regiment, and it was unable to attack again. The commander of the division, Takeuchi Kan, could only withdraw the 55th Division first, and then ask the commander of the 15th Army, Lieutenant General Shojiro Iida, for help. The headquarters of the 15th Army was located in Mawlamyine, southern Burma, and while the 55th Division was attacking Tonggu, the 56th Division had already arrived in Yangon and was preparing to attack the British forces in Ringanqiang. And the 18th and 33rd Divisions also reached Mawlamyine.

Lieutenant General Shojiro Iida and the two division commanders of the 18th and 33rd Divisions, Lieutenant General Shinichi Tanaka and Lieutenant General Sakurai Province, were discussing the goals and methods of the Burma operation against the map of Burma, and his subordinates sent a telegram from the 55th Division asking for help. This telegram surprised Lieutenant General Shojiro Iida and was also very strange.

It is not surprising that the squadron encountered the blockade of the ** squadron in Tonggu, after all, the news that China had organized an expeditionary force to Burma had already been learned by the Southern Command. Iida Shojiro is strange that the Chinese defenders of Tonggu only have one division, but the 55th Division attacked for three days, not only did not capture Tonggu, but lost half of its men and horses, and was unable to attack again.

Holding the telegram, Iida Shojiro asked Tanaka Shinichi, the commander of the 18th Division: "Tanaka-kun, your 18th Division has been to the battlefield in China, and has you ever learned about the situation of the 93rd Division in China? Why did the 55th Division not only lose but also suffer serious losses when attacking this ancient city defended by the 93rd Division?"

After reading the telegram, Shinichi Tanaka thought for a moment and replied: "Your Excellency Commander, my subordinates have heard from the former division commander General Seiichi Naguna that there is an army in the Chinese army: the 90th Army, which is the most combat-effective unit in the Chinese army, and is known as the First Army of China. The 6th, 13th, and 11th Divisions of the Imperial Army were all broken in the hands of this unit. Wang Haitao, the commander of the 90th Army, offered a reward of 1 million yen for his head, just because several imperial generals were broken jade in his hands. This 93rd Division was exactly one of the divisions of the 90th Army. ”

Iida Shojiro took a while before he said: "I have also heard of this 90th Army and Wang Haitao. The fact that the government of China has sent the 90th Army, which is the most effective in combat, to the Burma battlefield shows that the Chinese government attaches great importance to the Burma battlefield, and if our 15 th Army can destroy the 90 th Army in China on the Burma battlefield, it will not only be able to establish meritorious service for His Majesty the Emperor, but also greatly damage the morale of the Chinese people. Ladies and gentlemen, let's work together to destroy this 90th Army in China!"

Subsequently, Iida Shoro issued a series of orders to the map of Burma: 1. The 56th Division immediately reinforced the 55th Division, and sent a force to the north of Tonggu to prevent the 93rd Division of Tonggu from retreating north. 2. The 33rd Division passed through the eastern part of Tonggu and launched an attack on Taunggyi, and after capturing Taunggyi, it continued to attack Lashio, cut off the Yunnan-Burma road, and prevented the Chinese army entering Burma from withdrawing to China.

3. The 18th Division, with the strength of one brigade, launched an attack on the British troops in Ringanqiang, and after capturing Ringanqiang, it inserted between Mandalay and Tonggu from the west to prepare for the attack on Mandalay, and the other division was used as a reserve to meet the 55th and 56th Divisions attacking Tonggu at any time.

The order was immediately conveyed, and the 56th Division in Rangoon was preparing to launch an attack on the British garrison of Alanmu, when the order of the commander of the 15th Army, Shojiro Iida, was delivered to the hands of Lieutenant General Bianpifu, the commander of the 56th Division. The 56th Division, like the 55th Division, is also a newly formed three-wing division with 18,000 troops, and a field artillery wing with 24 75-caliber field guns and 12 105-caliber howitzers.

After receiving the order, Dubian Pifu immediately revised the battle plan and asked the 148th Wing to intersperse in the direction north of Tonggu to cut off the northward retreat of the Tonggu defenders. Then he personally led the 113th and 1462nd Wings and the Field Artillery Wing to join up with the 55th Division and jointly attack the ancient city from the front. After waiting for two days, Lieutenant General Takeuchi Kan, commander of the 55th Division, finally waited for reinforcements from the 56th Division, and the two divisions joined forces and decided to attack Tonggu again the next day.

After the 93rd Division in Tonggucheng defeated the Japanese attack, the division commander Li Yuanhong readjusted the positions of the various units. The 569th and 5702nd regiments of the 277th Brigade were still defending in the south of the city; the Nanyang Railway Station in the west of the city and the highlands in the west of the city were handed over to the 571st and 572nd regiments of the 278th Brigade for defense; and the 573rd Regiment was stationed along the Xidang River in the east of the city, with the focus on the bridge over the Xidang River.

As for the north of the city, it was defended by the troops directly under the 93rd Division, and after abandoning the Yongkegang airfield in the north of the city, the defense of the north of the city was mainly based on the city wall, and here the guard regiment directly under the division and the 568th Regiment were reorganized into a complete battalion to undertake the task of defense. When the Japanese army made a comeback, it was the 93rd Division after the adjustment.

The field artillery wing of the 56th Division of the Japanese Army set up artillery positions in two places, one was 24 75-caliber field guns with a short firing range, and the other was 12 105-caliber howitzers with a long firing range. And the 56th Division also brought a batch of poison gas bombs, ready to be put into the battlefield if necessary.

On this day at the end of May, the Japanese army dispatched more than 70 planes at one time to the skies over the ancient city. Among the weapons and equipment of the 93rd Division, there were still some special anti-aircraft weapons, including 20 37-caliber twin antiaircraft guns, which combined the antiaircraft artillery battalions of the two brigades into one place. There are also 15 German-made 20-caliber single-barreled anti-aircraft guns mounted on armored trucks under the heavy artillery regiment, as well as a large number of Type 6 or 7 heavy machine guns.

Japanese planes flew over Tonggucheng, and under the command of commanders at all levels, countless muzzles and muzzles of guns were pointed at the sky, and a large-scale ground-air battle began. Among the Japanese planes that came, the latest Zero fighters were escorted, and most of the bombing missions were Type 96 medium bombers, as well as a few Type 1 large bombers.

It was the first time that the officers and men of the 93rd Division had seen a huge Type 1 large bomber, and its huge body had brought tremendous pressure to the officers and men of the 93rd Division, and at the same time, it had also attracted most of the anti-aircraft firepower. However, large bombers do not need to do low-altitude dive bombing, and they can make accurate bomb drops at an altitude of 1,500 to 2,000 meters.

Several large bombers of the same type first reached the sky over Tonggu and dropped bombs at a distance of 2,000 meters. The bomb load of this kind of bomber was 1,200 kilograms, and aerial bombs of several tens of kilograms in the air rained down on Tonggu City. At this height, only a few dozen anti-aircraft guns can attack it, the anti-aircraft guns of the heavy artillery regiment have to protect the heavy artillery positions, and some of the 37 anti-aircraft guns are arranged in important places such as the division headquarters, and only a dozen anti-aircraft guns can really attack it.

However, the huge size and weak protection of the large bomber became its fatal weakness, and only a dozen anti-aircraft guns attacked one and wounded two. Just when the anti-aircraft artillery fire was attracted by the Type 1 large bombers, dozens of Type 96 medium bombers took the opportunity to start dive bombing.

The heavy machine guns on the ground were also blocking the dive of the Type 96 bombers, but without the antiaircraft guns that were the main air defense, dozens of Type 96 bombers still broke through the heavy machine guns on the ground, and although they also paid the price of more than 10 planes being destroyed and injured, they still dropped a large number of aerial bombs on the positions outside the city and on the targets inside the city.

The sound of bombs exploding inside and outside the city of Tongcheng was continuous, and the power of aerial bombs on the positions outside the city was much greater than that of field artillery and mountain artillery, and not only the fortifications were seriously damaged, but also many anti-artillery holes were also blown up. In the city, a large number of buildings collapsed, and fires were ignited everywhere, and it was a mess.

Before the officers and men of the 93rd Division could extinguish the fire and repair their positions, the Japanese field artillery continued to bombard the positions outside the city, and at the same time, the 113th Wing of the 56th Division was also ready to attack. On the position outside the south gate of the ancient city, the 570th Regiment was at the forefront.

The bombardment of Japanese planes just now not only destroyed half of the fortifications on the position, but also caused more than 100 casualties to the concealed soldiers due to the collapse of the anti-artillery holes. As soon as the regiment commander Liu Yuzhu gave the order to rescue the wounded and repair the fortifications, the Japanese artillery bombardment began. The officers and men of the 570th Regiment were on the position, and many officers and men fell under the Japanese shells.

Fortunately, the number of veterans accounted for more than half of the officers and men of the 570th Regiment, and in the face of the sudden shelling by the Japanese army, the veterans took the initiative to find a place where they could hide without waiting for the officer's order, and those recruits also learned to hide. The Japanese artillery bombardment attracted the attention of Li Yuanhong, the division commander in the ancient city, and Li Yuanhong, who was unhappy because of the large-scale air raid by the Japanese army, looked at the direction of the Japanese artillery position and scolded: "Damn little Japan, the plane has just been blown up, and the artillery has come to join in the fun, this is not taking my 93rd Division in your eyes! If I don't give you a little power, you don't know how many eyes Ma Wang Ye has!"

Li Yuanhong called Tang Shanhu, commander of the division's heavy artillery regiment, and after learning that the heavy artillery regiment had not suffered losses due to its camouflage and protection, he first praised Tangshan Hu, and then asked Tangshan Hu to send people to observe the position of the Japanese artillery position and counterattack the Japanese artillery position. Tang Shanhu received the order and trotted all the way excitedly.

The 113rd Wing of the Japanese army entered the attack position, and this time it was an infantry brigade that came up. The 570th Regiment discovered the Japanese infantry preparing to attack, and under the order of the regiment commander Liu Yuzhu, the 1st Battalion, the 2nd Battalion, and the Heavy Fire Battalion all braved the Japanese artillery fire to enter the position. Some of the fortifications were damaged, and the fighters took the initiative to find suitable cover, and then set up their weapons, pointing their guns in the direction of the Japanese attack.