Division Commander Dai had been using binoculars to observe the opposite bank, and across the river nearly a kilometer wide, he felt that there was no need to use the artillery mirror. This is a battalion-level headquarters of the 2nd Brigade, and the deployment is quite in place, and it was specially arranged by General Wavell for the Chinese army to inspect. He hoped to show the Chinese confidence in the British army, and the Churchill government had mixed and contradictory feelings about letting the Chinese army enter the memory, and to a certain extent, they were indeed more defensive against the Chinese than against the Japanese.

"Commander, I think the Japanese army is showing signs of crossing the river today. But not necessarily in this section of the river, but probably in the north, where the channel is narrow and easy to come by. ”

"Their cars and heavy artillery are still coming, and in the morning the enemy reported that the flash flood road there is cut off, and I am afraid that it will take a week to repair the road at the earliest, and then the heavy firearms can be brought over. There were also the equipment for crossing the river, and the British said they burned all the boats on the east bank before they escaped from the shore. The Japanese probably wouldn't have crossed the river in rubber boats that leaked with a single bullet. ”

Du Yuming's judgment of the enemy's situation still relied on some empiricism, and he felt that the Japanese army had few men and no artillery fire, so at least they would not launch an attack today. However, the location of his headquarters happened to be not in the crossing area of the enemy's main force, the 123rd Wing, so he did not observe the enemy's movements for the time being.

"Yan Gong, you see, this river is 500 to 700 meters wide, and it is not so easy to come over. If you want to cross the river, you have to be at night, right? Or in the morning when the fog is up, and now under the big sun, it's not so easy. ”

"Commander, as far as I can see, the Japanese army may not pay attention to the right time and place when fighting a war, and didn't the Japanese soldiers criticize Sun Tzu's Art of War as nothing more than a cowardice? They have never been so concerned about small gains and losses. The words of the British cannot be taken too seriously, you see the smoke behind the enemy's line of defense along the river, indicating that there are convoys in action, who said that they do not have cars? ”

"Well, you're right, it's a pity that the phone line is broken here, otherwise I should have told Hu Dun your opinion. Let him strengthen the defenses to the north. ”

At the same time, Chu Aiyun hid outside the command headquarters, looking at the stack of photos on the car, there was indeed a 419 on that photo, he couldn't fully confirm that this was a code left by Lin Xiuxuan for himself, but if it was destroyed in combination with the surprise attack in the morning, it would be difficult to tell the matter. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but turn his head, maybe the people of 419 are hiding somewhere to observe themselves now?

A Wesley jeep sped up to the bottom of the hill, and a soldier with a * on his shoulder and a bandage on his head stumbled up to the headquarters. This is the British army liaison officer and Chu Aiyun's face is familiar, and it seems that there is something urgent about the situation.

"Tell your commander that the Japanese army is crossing the river in Pa'an."

"What?"

"30 minutes ago, General Hudun's headquarters began to evacuate as soon as he got the news, the new headquarters will be built in Bago, west of the Xitang River, he asked me to inform you to evacuate quickly, at 7 o'clock in the evening, the engineering council blew up the bridge over the Xitang River."

"Hu Dun has withdrawn?" Chu Aiyun glanced at his watch, "Why did you delay so long to notify us?" ”

"It's because the phone line doesn't work."

"Where are the Japanese troops now?"

"I don't know, when I came, the Independence Army had already set fire to Mawlamyine, and there were hundreds of them."

Chu Aiyun looked at Mawlamyine in the opposite direction, and sure enough, there was a thick smoke. This incident really took him by surprise, and as far as he knew, the Japanese attack would be 10 days later. Of course, what surprised him even more was that the British command of Mawlamyine had already slipped away. Obviously, their preset plan was that as long as the Japanese crossed the river, the command headquarters would retreat as soon as possible.

He hurried into the command post.

"The commander is not good, the Japanese army has crossed the river, in Hpa An in the north."

Several generals were stunned for a moment, and the scene seemed to freeze in time.

"What's the panic? What about coming here? Master Dai scolded, not only shocked Chu Aiyun, who was a little panicked, but also seemed to wake up Du Yuming from his stunned state.

Du Yuming walked to the map with his hands behind his back, and other Chinese officers gathered around him, squeezing the British staff officers out of the map table.

"Yan Gong, sure enough, it's coming from the north," he pretended to be calm and nodded, "Pavilion Chief, when did they cross the river?" ”

"30 minutes ago."

"Is a bridgehead being built, or is it ...... to go deeper"

"I don't know."

"What is the current position of the Mawlamyine Guard Reserve?"

"I don't know." Chu Aiyun really hated this occasion, he had never been asked three times in his life.

"By the way, the liaison said that we must immediately withdraw across the Xitang River, and the British will blow up the bridge before 7 o'clock."

"Seven o'clock, okay, let's go. It was hoped that the British would at least use up the artillery base before withdrawing. Otherwise, this battle will be too wretched. ”

They spoke Chinese, so as not to disturb the command of the British troops here, but depending on the situation, the command headquarters had begun to panic, once the Japanese outflanked the rear, even if there was only one squadron, the entire defense line would be officially broken. So the rather prescient Hutun left his troops and ran first.

The group got into the car and quickly drove west. The prescient rout had blocked the roads, and it seemed that the Japanese really didn't need heavy artillery to win. The mere scene of the assassination of prisoners of war on the other side of the river was enough to break the spirit of the entire Allied army and flee without standing. There was no longer order with the Indian military and police on the way, and the roads were clogged with vehicles of all kinds, and the elephants were still able to run through the mud. They left all the way and did not hear the nearby British artillery fire, presumably fleeing without a fight.

At 3 p.m., the two cars were almost no longer on the road, and the trucks that had been abandoned on the road were set on fire by the guerrillas, blocking the entire procession. They waited on the road for an hour and advanced less than 2 kilometers. Moreover, the insignificant artillery fire of the Japanese troops on the opposite bank actually began to extend the strike, probably to strengthen the momentum of the troops crossing the river to attack the deep zone. The Japanese have really become heavenly soldiers and generals, chasing and killing all the way, and no one dares to fight.

Du Yuming decided to abandon the car and walk, taking only the necessary information and a knapsack walkie-talkie. If the British sent planes to find them, it might still be useful.

Before nightfall, they had walked about half the way, and it seemed that they would not be able to cross the Xitang River before the British bombed the bridge.

Chu Aiyun and one guard followed Du Yuming closely, and Dai Anlan took two guards to break off and continue to move forward. The exchange of fire in the back was very sporadic, but it never stopped, listening to the movement, it was not Japanese weapons, it may be that the rebellious independent army began to attack the Allied forces.

They walked through a ridge of mountains in the twilight, just in time to meet the local people who had returned from working in the sugar cane geography. All the natives avoided their gaze when they were close, but seemed to be watching them from a distance.

Although he ran in disgrace, Du Yuming's military uniform and leather boots became an easily recognizable symbol. Even if the locals are illiterate, they know very well that these people are the bad guys who have come to stop the liberators from coming, and this one in leather boots is the leader of the bad guys. Chu Aiyun began to worry that their whereabouts would be reported to the Independence Army or the Japanese by these people. A group of eight of them were fully armed and had a few long and short guns, but in such an unfamiliar place, they would definitely not be able to resist for too long.

"Commander, you're too conspicuous." Chu Aiyun reminded.

"Where are you going to change this now?" Du Yuming said helplessly, he didn't want to dress so formally, but he was scheduled to see General Wavell today, so naturally he couldn't lose the face of the Chinese army, who knew that this kind of thing would happen.

"I can't walk, let's rest for a while."

"But Commander, it's too late."

"It's 6 o'clock now, and there's at least 30 kilometers left, it's too late, fuck it." Du Yuming sat on a tree stump and unbuttoned his shirt to breathe, "I swear, I will never be carried away like this again in this life." ”

"Why swear like that?"

"Can't you see, you're in good shape? It's not like the eldest young master. ”

"I have been riding horses and playing tennis since I was a child, and I often go to the beach to swim, and I am in good health." As Chu Aiyun spoke, he cut a branch from the woods, cut off the branches and leaves with a knife, and made a crutch for Du Yuming.

"Hey, I won't look away, you kid is good, it's a pity that my daughter is still young, otherwise I would have the heart to recruit you as a son-in-law."

"Commander, look at what you say."

"I'm serious, this year, a good young man like you......"

Suddenly, the conversation was interrupted by the sound of gunfire behind him. PPD*'s furious fire could be heard, instantly suppressing the enemy's weak firepower.

"Is there a situation with Master Dai?"

After a while, Dai Anlan led two guards out of the darkness. One of the guards, who was carrying the radio on his back, seemed to have suffered a slight injury.

"Yan Gong, what's going on?"

"It's an independent army, there are a few earthen guns, most of them are bows and arrows, but there are a lot of them, and we must be targeted by the locals."

"Then what should we do, we are not familiar with the route, and it is difficult to get out."

"Pack light, throw away all the useless ones," Dai Anlan said and went to relieve the radio on the back of the wounded soldier, "I don't want this either, anyway, I can't call the British command in the afternoon." ”

"Don't! I'll carry it, what if it helps? Chu Aiyun hurriedly stopped.

"Can you catch up with us on your back?"

"No problem. Leave it to me. ”

He hurriedly took the radio and carried it to himself, this radio station was an old-fashioned German product imported 37 years ago, the communication distance was about within the visual distance, not across the mountain, and it was usually okay to talk to the air liaison plane, but Chu Aiyun knew that if the special team was really nearby, it might be possible to receive it with the sensitivity of the communication equipment they carried.

They set out at once, and continued to run west along the country dirt road, and as for what happened to the banks of the Siddang River, it was left to rest for now.

With the dotted torches behind them and the barking of dogs, the most worrying thing happened, they were clearly targeted, and the nearby villagers seemed to be mobilized to chase after them. It seems reasonable for the British to run away in advance as soon as there is a stir, they are too oppressed in this colony, and they know that they are the first choice for revenge, and the Chinese soldiers who do not know what they are doing have broken into this revenge of the world, and have become the object of hatred, perhaps they have thrown the Japanese army away in the afternoon, but the real danger has just begun.

Soon they found that not only were they full of torches behind them, but they were also intercepted by people with torches in front of them. Dai Anlan decided to find a gap to get out, but the barking of the dog quickly turned to them, obviously it was not so easy to fool the past today.