The headquarters of the 33rd Division was unable to move at this moment. The rolling Irrawaddy River, like a rope, tied up the Sakurai troops who were surrounded on three sides from behind. The last time the Japanese saw the Chinese army using the river to block its attack was in 1938 when the new 8th Division dug up the Huayuan Pass. It was that operation that made the Japanese army see clearly that the Chinese government was essentially weak and completely detached from the lower classes.

Sakurai's distress calls kept flying to Iida's headquarters, each one shaking Iida's determination to the original plan. But he loved the original surprise plan, which, if successful, might become a parallel in the history of warfare to that of Hannibal's army across the Alps. At this moment, he was still hesitating.

Asano's plane quietly landed in Yangon, and then he and Masanobu Tsuji drove to the southern government office, where they had an emergency meeting with Keiji Suzuki and discussed countermeasures. Asano couldn't directly present his thoughts to Iida, who didn't know about the traverser or which onion he counted, so the plan to turn the tide of the situation this time had to be conveyed by Keiji Suzuki and Masanobu Tsuji. After arriving at the southern agency, they learned that Hasegawa had been killed, and Kagesa's news was always a major blow to Asano, and even for a moment, he began to consider the assumption that Makino had mentioned that the Chinese had crossed; Of course, he soon regained his senses, and put behind him the possibility that Makino had delusionally come out and scare Yamamoto.

Over the course of the long flight, the two of them had exchanged views to a bold comeback, and it was certain that Iida Shojiro would accept it. Because of this plan, it was grafted on Iida's original plan, and retained Iida's genius to attack Lashio.

When Masanobu Tsuji and Keiji Suzuki entered the headquarters, Commander Shojiro Iida was walking around, and when he saw Tsuji Osa arrive, he thought that the base camp had sent back guidance for his new course of action.

"Tsuji-kun, are you here so soon?"

"Your Excellency, I heard that the situation here has changed significantly, so I ......"

"Just in time, the Chinese army launched a counterattack in central and eastern Burma, so that our army could not care about each other. The situation is critical. ”

Iida said as he led Masanobu Tsuji to the map table.

"This time the Chinese used troops very strangely, and when they attacked the Second Brigade a few days ago, they felt strange and used a lot of campaign deception methods, but the Yugoslav organs have never detected the enemy's true intentions."

Next to him, Suzuki lowered his head and said nothing, he really didn't have a good grasp of the intentions of the Chinese army.

"General, when I was transiting in Bangkok, I already knew the general situation." Masanobu Tsuji took off his gloves and threw them aside, saying lightly, as if he didn't care about the crisis situation marked on the map.

"Tsuji-kun, do you have any guidance for the base camp?"

"Not yet, the current focus of the base camp is on New Guinea."

"Do they think Myanmar is not important?"

"Of course not, but the current crisis in Myanmar can only be solved by the existing strength of the 15th Army, and it is absurd to let those who are thousands of miles away, completely ignorant of the local area, and cannot bring you reinforcements, make decisions?"

Iida was stunned for a moment, he had known that Masanobu Tsuji was crazy, and he still didn't expect the junior to say such rude words, but it seemed that there was something in the words. He submitted the plan for the mobilization of the 56th Division to the rescue of other units to the General Staff, in part in preparation for future exculpation; If a stalemate in Burma had happened, or worse, the plan would have been reviewed by the higher-ups, but Staff Officer Tsuji seemed to see through the idea.

"General, what is the current movement of the British army on the Western Front?"

"The small forces of the 17th Division dispatched by Ringanqiang are advancing deep to the south to block the vanguard of the 31st Division from approaching Sakurai. They blew up the road, making it difficult for the 31st Division to rescue. ”

"The 31st Division is moving from Rangoon and advancing by land, when will it be able to send a wing to the vicinity of Magway?"

"Sakurai's division is in a hurry, and all the car squadrons have been allocated to him, so it will take at least eight days to move 600 kilometers along the road from Rangoon at the moment. And it's even more difficult to transport heavy equipment. ”

"General, as far as I know, the Chinese troops around Lieutenant General Sakurai are increasing day by day, and even if you pull up a wing, the enemy's strength will increase by about ten regiments during this time, forming a powerful reinforcement group."

"Yes, that's what I'm worried about, it's too slow by land."

"So, I think we should transport troops by water."

"Waterways? No, no, no, the water in the upper reaches of the Irrawaddy River is very strong now, and it is very difficult to go against the flow of ships, and when the British army withdrew, most of the river steamers were blown up. ”

"You misunderstood, it's not a river transport. Rather......" Masanobu Tsuji said as he left the map table, as the map was small in scale, but there was no sea, and he walked to the map of all Myanmar on the wall, "but ...... Let the 31st Division land from Sittwe. ”

"What?"

Iida was stunned, he was an old-school army general, and he was not very interested in amphibious assaults, because it involved complex troop and artillery organization, as well as logistical problems, especially when he knew that the Navy's Grand Fleet had long left the Bay of Bengal, and there was only a southern fleet composed of a dozen light cruisers and destroyers left, and the British Far East Fleet could come back at any time and strike back.

"Tsuji-kun, you're crazy, there are 2,000 British troops stationed there...... Without overwhelming firepower, it is simply impossible to go ashore, and we have almost no transport ships to complete this task. ”

"We really don't have enough ships, but the enemy doesn't know about it." Masanobu Tsuji said.

Suzuki, the head of the spy next to him, nodded and endorsed Masanobu Tsuji, knowing that the British had deployed heavy troops in Sittwe, the last port controlled by the British, because General Alexander was worried that the Japanese fleet would escort the landing ships from there, thus cutting off the retreat of India.

"Your Excellency, I will mention it in passing. Your plan to drive a long attack from the Thai-Burmese border and take Lashio directly is a model of military planning, and if implemented, it will inevitably leave a shocking mark in military history. It would be a pity if the Chinese army was just held by the nose and withdrew the 56th Division, turning it from a strange soldier into a mediocre firefighting team. ”

"This ......" Iida carried the two of them on his back, speechless. Masanobu Tsuji spoke his mind very precisely.

Kyaukxi, a small town in central Myanmar.

On both sides of the road, Kachin fighters wearing Benny hats, armed with guns, stood under palm trees, waiting for a string of British generals' cars to pass by. The common people in bloomers on the side of the street were not very concerned about Lord Mountbatten, who had come to inspect the defense.

In the middle of a Rolls-Royce, General Alexander sat side by side with Lord Mountbatten, his hands folded, looking preoccupied with the preoccupation he had been on his mind since his return from Mandalay to British-controlled territory.

"I recruited 3,000 new mountain warriors and armed them with old weapons that had been eliminated from the 17th Division, but it will take some time to train before I can fight." Alexander casually found a topic to break the dull situation.

"How are the Chinese troops fighting in the south?" Lord Mountbatten, apparently uninterested in this topic, asked about the offensive of the Chinese army.

"The fight was good, the Sakurai headquarters was surrounded, and the Japanese army was currently scattered and difficult to rescue. They asked us to send troops to attack the Japanese troops heading north from Rangoon, but the current location of the enemy's 56th Division is unknown, and I warn them not to be careless, at least I must have enough troops to hold the coastline. ”

Alexander said. He was still worried about the Japanese amphibious assault, probably fighting the German and Italian forces in Libya for too long, believing that every ocean was as easy to cross as the Mediterranean.

"For the long-term interests of the Empire......" the Lord paused for a long time, making Alexander think for a moment that he would not go on," ...... Is the real long-term threat the Japanese or the Chinese? ”

"What?" Alexander was taken aback, he did not expect the Lord to ask such a thing.

"Look at here, there are no locals who care if we stay or go back to India, but in Mandalay, they are all empty to send the Chinese army to the front line to fight."

"That's what worries you?"

"Not bad. The Japanese ......," the lord sneered, "the annual output of 5 million tons of steel, from the moment the steaming Zhuhai port was thrown down, was doomed to failure, sooner or later." Germany has about 30 million tons, while the United States has 80 million tons. ”

"But...... The current situation ......"

"I'll give you a thorough explanation, the focus of the German spring offensive this year is in the south, and Hitler hopes to launch an attack along the Don River, across Mount Elbrus and into Georgia."

"He is trying to open up Europe and Asia, to get closer to India?"

For President Roosevelt, this was the bottom line, and the situation of the Axis division must not be allowed, so the Americans would soon declare war on Germany. And I'm planning a landing on the French coast...... Grab the Germans from behind......"

"Are you sure?"

"There is no certainty, it is just a diversionary operation, and before the arrival of the United States, we have to drag 30 to 40 German divisions on the Western Front, which is also the greatest responsibility of Britain to the Allies in 42."

"For the sake of a diversionary mission, sacrifice soldiers in vain?"

"In wartime, human life itself is sacrificed, not to mention that I plan to use the Canadian division to fight this battle; I advise you not to take Chinese alliance too seriously, the only real ally of the British Empire at the moment is the United States, and China ...... is a potential adversary. ”

Mountbatten spoke his mind explicitly, leaving Alexander speechless.

"So...... It would not be an ideal outcome for the Chinese army to defeat the Japanese in Upper Burma, where they would gain a foothold, and with the favorable demographics and historically and historically fragmented ties, the old balance would be difficult to maintain after the war, and the imperial power would be expelled. It should be considered that once the war is coming to an end, perhaps the Chinese will use their sphere of influence to compromise with the Burmese independence elements on a certain demarcation line in the central part of the country, thus sacrificing our interests. ”

Alexander remained silent, waiting for the Lord to continue. The lord certainly has the fault of the aristocracy's rhetoric, but he also has the unique vision of the aristocracy.

Prime Minister Churchill was also unanimous in his opinion that the Japanese army was only a short-term scourge, and its expansion rate would soon be slowed down by a shortage of supplies. And the land border between the Chinese and here will be a long-term trouble. ”

"What do you want to do. The demographics began to change hundreds of years ago. ”

"Perhaps we can use the talent of the Japanese to settle the matter once and for all, judging from the war in Southeast Asia, wherever the Japanese go, they will inevitably persecute the Chinese, confiscate their property, and drive them out...... And a few years later, when we came back, our hands were clean. While we still have to confront the independents and talk to them about the cost of maintaining the order of the empire, there will be no Chinese involved. ”

"With all due respect, I'm worried that it might be self-defeating."

"Self-defeating? Okay, let's go to the beach first, and I'll go to India in a few days. ”