Chu Aiyun carefully photographed the number of each destroyed tank, so as not to think that it was just a different angle of a tank, and then found some Chinese tankers to be a foil, of course, he could not miss Jiang Weiguo with a cold face, Xiao Jiang seemed to be not interested in taking pictures, but every time he was very reluctant to stand on the side to cooperate, and was photographed by the way, he was the only person in the photo with a dignified face and a serious face. Of course, he did not forget to take some photos of the penetration parts of the enemy's tanks, which also made this work more teaching value and avoided the suspicion of smuggling horses.

Within 20 minutes it was all over, and they began to evacuate. The Shangfeng, who was constantly urging on the radio, was already crazy, and they were really worried that Jiang Weiguo, who was in the far south, might get away with it, and the attack of the 599th Regiment would be terminated after dark.

More than half of the enemy's 55th Cavalry Wing has been annihilated, but it seems that it has reached a stalemate and cannot be completely annihilated, and the annoyed Japanese army has also begun to counterattack on all fronts, at least on the Western Front, the 7th Panzer Brigade suffered heavy losses and was forced to retreat.

Chu Aiyun was on his way back and received some bad news. The Type 99 dive bombers of the Japanese Army Aviation launched a bombing of the Ava railway bridge on the Ava River south of Mandalay.

This Type 99 dive bomber produced by Mitsubishi is very similar to the Navy's Aichi 99 shipblast in appearance, and the bomb delivery accuracy is not far behind. According to information obtained through the monitoring of British radio, piers 2 and 4 of the 16 piers of the Ava railway bridge were damaged, the north and south approach bridges were also damaged, and the anti-aircraft artillery units defending the bridge were also attacked, killing more than 70 people. At present, the railway has suspended transportation and is waiting for the bridge deck to be repaired.

According to the old history of the Burma campaign, the bridge was held until the end of April, when the last Allied troops in Tonggu withdrew and were blown up by the British. Of course, there is no history to learn from the current situation. Now the heavy equipment of the 5th Army could not be transported by rail, and the follow-up troops came up through pontoon bridges, of course, the speed became very slow, and the main transportation capacity became the military automobile regiment and the truck fleet driven by Nanyang mechanics, of course, with the end of the Philippine campaign, the Japanese army transferred an entire flying division, and the Flying Tigers of only two squadrons began to be difficult to parry. Japan gave the task of attacking the road to fighters, and their fighters, constantly searching and strafing convoys at low altitudes.

When the last six tanks returned to the starting position with Chu Aiyun's 221, it was already 8 o'clock in the night, and it was already dark. However, the road was led by this magical 221, which came back with its headlights on, and encountered the Japanese column several times across a few hundred meters, but they were all regarded by the Japanese as their own.

As soon as Jiang Weiguo and Chu Aiyun arrived at their position, they rushed to the headquarters to listen to the latest enemy situation. Everyone in the command headquarters came back with a little relief, but then regained their previous nervous looks.

Director Chen Zhiping was reading his report on the enemy situation, and Chu Aiyun barely remembered what he had reported before, but there would definitely be an exception today, because he had a password given to him by Lin Xiuxuan, and he could listen to some valuable enemy information.

"Recently, I sent capable men to the rear of the enemy at Yangon Station to obtain the following information, and the 18th Division had ...... 4 days ago."

"Director Chen, wait," Dai Anlan interrupted him, "Is all this information true?" ”

"It's true, and it's been verified in several ways." Chen Zhiping swore to get up.

"The main force of the enemy's 18th Division has landed in Mawlamyine 4 days ago, and the enemy's 2nd Mixed Brigade is in the Japanese-occupied area, raising military rations nearby to make up for the lack of military rations after the division goes ashore."

"Second, the Yugoslav authorities plan to send a special team near our railway bridge to wait for an opportunity to sabotage. Today, * and *2 sets have been seized, and 16 of the enemy's agents below the rank of minor have been killed. ”

"Do you have the number of enemies in front of you?"

"This is not clear, but judging by the military rations that the enemy has asked to raise, there are at least two or three infantry wings."

Everyone began to talk to each other, and it seemed that the intelligence of China and Britain finally had some corroborating parts. The British side has just noticed that the Chinese army has two Japanese infantry wings in front of it, as well as one cavalry, artillery, and one engineer, about 10,000 men. The 200th Division currently has only more than 5,000 troops on the front line, and it will reach about 800 people per day in the next few days, which is still the best estimate that can be obtained when the road is not damaged by the enemy, and the automobile regiment is operating well and there is no car damage in battle. However, the actual situation is that the enemy's planes may continue to attack the railway nodes north of Mandalay, and once they succeed, the automobile troops will have to start transporting from a deeper distance, and the consumption of the cars themselves is already a problem that cannot be underestimated, in fact, after the blockade of Yangon, on the original Yunnan-Burma highway, thousands of trucks from various countries driven by the Nanyang Machinery Troupe composed of Chinese from Southeast Asian countries have begun to have the problem of shortage of spare parts, and the Japanese air raids have certainly exacerbated this situation, and Japan has strangled the noose around the neck of China, an agricultural country, is tightening more and more.

"I exchanged views with General Stilwell and decided that the next phase we should go on the defensive." Dai Anlan said and looked at the American major general on the side, and Stilwell nodded.

"In today's battle, we ran out of shells, and the enemy only suffered a little setback, so we should go on the defensive for the time being, wait for the railway to be repaired, and then wait for the opportunity to counterattack."

"I must add that the liberation of Yangon still makes our long-term goal." Stilwell stood up and said, "The loss of Rangoon must be strategically considered for the significant impact on the entire war situation. ”

Obviously, he did not give up the old idea, and what he said was certainly correct from a strategic point of view, but from the perspective of the form of the campaign, Rangoon had become a pawn of the Japanese army deliberately besieging but not attacking, just to make the Allies feel that there was still salvation and induce some impulses for military adventures.

The meeting ended in a dull atmosphere, Dai Anlan did not mention today's victory, in fact, the 599th Regiment fought to consume a lot of strength, but failed to gnaw the enemy cavalry wing of a battalion-level unit, and the highlight of the battle appeared in the mobile warfare part, as well as in the rear of the battle line, several beautiful attacks by armored units. However, after entering the fortification, the tenacious superiority of the Japanese army gradually emerged, and the poor coordination of the Chinese infantry and tanks was also highlighted in the attack, and the artillery shells were also exhausted in the afternoon, and the enemy who was stationed in the last two villages was never completely destroyed. Of course, after killing the captain of the opposing team, the propaganda can still emphasize the total annihilation of one wing of the enemy, and the clever part of this lies in the fact that the difference in strength between the so-called cavalry wing and the infantry wing is huge, the former commander is a captain, and the latter is a large captain.

Jiang Weiguo walked out of the command headquarters in a huff, it seems that he has a beautiful battle, which has not played much role in the overall situation, he advocates attacking; It is difficult for the motorized unit to play a role in the defense, and even his automobile unit will be withdrawn for transport duties.

Stilwell's lieutenant stopped him, hoping that he would come to the general's side to talk. Jiang Weiguo walked there, and the old man was standing by the jeep waiting for him. Unlike most of his officers, he had a good image of Stilwell, and sometimes Stilwell satirized the various ills of the Chinese army, and he felt that although it was scathing, it was not unreasonable.

Stilwell reached out and the two shook hands.

"I've heard from the intelligence officer that your performance in the rear of the battle line today is unparalleled," was probably Stilwell's highest compliment since he arrived in Burma, "and if it weren't for your lack of infantry who could keep up with the tanks, the results would have been even greater." ”

"The Chinese soldiers are all good, and I only played a secondary role." Jiang Weiguo said lightly, not flattered, nor arrogant.

"To get down to business, General Marshall sent a telegram in the afternoon informing him that the United States was getting closer and closer to declaring war on the entire Axis powers. You know the Russians may not be able to hold out, and although the president does not like Stalin, it must be recognized that they are our de facto allies and must be helped out. ”

"You mean that your country is going to declare war on Germany and Italy?"

"The president's determination is not yet made, and he wants the army to prove that they can defeat the Germans, by the way, have you seen Guderian?"

"No, I've just read his books and studied his thoughts."

"If you have any opinion on his thoughts, you may as well tell me about it."

"Is this," Jiang Weiguo realized that the high-ranking American Emperor seemed to be humble, and he asked him what he was good at, and he could show off.

"To put it simply, they emphasize a breakthrough through the fortified area in depth and then drive straight in, so their assault group is organized not only with tanks, but also with a large number of accompanying armored vehicles, including reconnaissance vehicles, artillery using tank chassis and armored vehicles transporting infantry on half-tracks, as well as some engineering troops who can keep up with the action. The only goal of these clusters is to break through, not to storm, and other countries simply carry infantry on tanks or accompany tanks with trucks. In all the exercises of the General Staff, it has been proved that this will not work, and it is impossible to attack too far-reaching targets. Just imagine, if we had such equipment, there would not be such a situation as today that we have opened the game but are unable to follow. ”

"I heard that you took part in the battles in Poland."

"Not only Poland, but I also participated in several battalion-level confrontations organized by the General Staff to refine Guderian's ideas, but that was only the beginning of the so-called blitzkrieg, and some of the simulated tanks in the exercise were replaced by cars with wooden shells, and I believe that in the last two years of fighting, they have improved their tactics, which is not the same as it was at the beginning."

"President Roosevelt's greatest concern about Germany's declaration of war was their army. However, the United States has the best automotive industry and can continuously produce a variety of combat vehicles suitable for the battlefield. ”

"You mean the Grant tank? When I saw this monster, I felt that your country's understanding of the role of armored troops was still inexplicable. ”

"Without saying that, your delegation is going to the United States soon, and I think you know about it." Stilwell shifted.

"I don't care much about politics."

"I hope you can go along, of course not to speak at the Congress, that's Madame Chiang's job. At the beginning of next month, there will be several battalion-level armored confrontations at Fort Benning, which will be used to sharpen the tactics of our armored corps, to prepare our troops for landing in North Africa or Europe, and to start a war with the German army, we need a commander who can play the role of the German army, this is General Marshall's idea. He had hoped that I would be able to find a suitable candidate among the British generals in Burma, preferably one who had fought the Battle of Tobruk and knew Rommel's tactics; But after this afternoon, I found out that you are the person we want. ”

"My battlefield is here, how can I leave this moment of crisis?"

"No, this war belongs to the whole world, and I think every military man has an obligation to help the entire Allies win, and not just see their own country. Once the President has made up his mind to free Stalin and go to war against Germany, I think he will make some demands to the Soviet Union, such as using Soviet ports and railroads to bring American supplies into your country, so that the Japanese can completely crush your plot to strangle you from the south. ”