Of course, it is impossible to hide such a large army for too long, and Noda must deal a head-on blow before the Chinese army can get information.

The 14th Division deployed rapidly on the last night of 1942, deploying thousands of troops along with a total of 12 47mm anti-tank guns into the sugar cane fields.

Zhou Youfu's 202nd Division came almost along the flattest part of northern Thailand, and his offensive force was rapidly shrinking in size in order to maintain the momentum of rapid advance with limited supplies. The Thai army, which was about to collapse at the touch of a button, gave the Chinese army great self-confidence. Self-confidence and contempt are actually two sides of a piece of paper, and this kind of pride is something that Noda cannot ask for.

The 14th Division had no time to gather enough horses, so they could only bring 12 anti-aircraft guns, 4 infantry guns, and a few mortars, but they couldn't wait to engage the elite Chinese troops, which were equipped with nearly 50 tanks.

At dawn, the Japanese troops in ambush in the mountains and sugar cane fields heard the rumbling roar of aircraft engines, and dozens of DC3 transport planes turned around on their heads and returned to Kunming. Apparently an airdrop has just been made.

Soon a reconnaissance team on bicycles and dressed in the clothes of locals arrived from afar. Report that the enemy is collecting airdrop fuel and weapons, and it looks like a new day of marching. The enemy contingent consisted of 55 tanks and 100 half-tracks, on which there were some * guns, and even though the number was less than 1,500 people, the firepower was somewhat stronger than the main force of the 14th Division, which did not unload heavy weapons. In addition, the scouts saw that there were a lot of trucks coming and going in the rear of the enemy.

Noda summarized the news and predicted that the enemy would still be advancing today, and for the enemy, Thailand's northern railway hub was in front of them, and they must fight hard, even if the strength of the army has reached the limit. In this way, Vietnam can be cut off from northern Myanmar once and for all.

"Yonekura Nakasa," Noda called the squadron leader of the main brigade, "you lead your troops around the enemy's rear, and once this is fired, attack their supply lines from the flanks." I studied the tactics of the enemy, who had set up a number of military stations on the supply lines, stockpiled food, ammunition and gasoline, and had to do everything in their power to receive them. ”

"Yes."

The subordinates were ordered, and Noda's plan was still thinking long-term, not only to repel the enemy, but also to capture the supply line material hoarding point first.

Terauchi is transferring the 3rd Brigade below the 2nd Tank Division from the Kwantung Army, which is in preparation, and is coming ashore in Vietnam at this time. His troops were stationed in Manchuria, assuming that the enemy was the Soviet Union, and had engaged in infantry and tank coordination training of various scales, so he was confident that he could control tank warfare and could compete with the enemy's best mechanized warfare. Today, of course, he doesn't have a tank, and he has to rely on anti-tank guns, anti-aircraft guns, and soldiers' human flesh* to destroy enemy tanks.

More than 6,000 people of the 14th Division were on standby. Soldiers, hiding in the sugar cane fields and waiting for the battle.

As a result of the war, Thai sugarcane lost its U.S. market, and northern cane farmers did not bother to harvest it, which gave the Japanese excellent hiding places. Even if the enemy attacked during the day, it was difficult to see the soldiers who were still wearing the summer uniforms of the Kwantung Army (the 14th Division did not have time to change its uniforms, so it used the summer uniforms of the Kwantung Army instead of the winter uniforms of the Southern Army).

Zhou Youfu's vanguard platoon of four tanks and some half-track vehicles arrived in front of the sugarcane field, and the platoon commander observed the front with a telescope, feeling that the north of the highway was sandwiched in the sugarcane field, which was very dangerous for the tanks to pass. The platoon commander stopped there and contacted the rear.

Zhou Youfu was looking at the map in the half-track command car, and he saw that he was getting closer and closer to the railway that the boss wanted the most, and he could get there in a few days. Suddenly, news came from the front, saying that they did not dare to cross a large area of sugar cane fields, and it was recommended to bypass it.

He got up and looked ahead with a telescope, and sure enough, it was densely packed with a large area.

"These grandsons are lazy like this, and they haven't harvested in January?" Zhou Youfu scolded in his heart, the farmers in China are not like this, whether it is Songhu or the Central Plains battlefield, the fighting on both sides is lively, and the farmers are still taking risks to harvest.

Gasoline and time are already in short supply, and you have to get around? Of course, he knew that his platoon commander's proposal was right, but in his position, he was bound to consider more interests and disadvantages.

Now he must take the risk, and perhaps tomorrow he will be able to take over the railroad, but if he is blocked by a small area of sugar cane fields and the enemy arrives, he will have to think in the long run.

"Tell the platoon commander in front of you to stop where you are first, and I will arrange fire reconnaissance."

He ordered the rear tanks to use * to shoot a few shots at random into the sugar cane fields, and if there was a crowd of people, they would definitely be able to blow it up.

Heavy fire from the rear tanks and half-tracks, together fired at the sugar cane fields, and the shells fell scattered, startling thousands of birds, and soon causing several fires.

The shells hit the Japanese troops, who were lurking in dense formations. The Japanese army relied on gas masks to resist the poisonous smoke, but many of them were ignited, but the burned soldiers retreated in an orderly manner, and many were killed on stretchers without shouting. Zhou Youfu's army did not find any clues, he originally expected that if there were ambushes, if they were hit by shells, they would have to blow up the nest. However, the sugar cane here is more than 3.5 meters high, and the South Asian climate and fertile soil make it very densely planted, and it is not easy to observe. Soon, several puddles of flame were extinguished. Sugarcane is high in moisture and does not ignite easily.

Noda's division headquarters was on the front line, and the nearest artillery shell fell not far from him, and a spark even fell on his chest, burning through the military uniform and shirt, and almost burned the meat, thanks to the thick material of the Kwantung Army's clothing, Rao was so, and he also burned his wife's face in his pocket.

"But so," he dusted off his clothes contemptuously, and by this time the artillery had stopped, "the shelling is very chaotic, it is tentative, inform the troops, put the troops in front, attack the main force in the rear with all their might, and be sure to kill the headquarters." ”

"Division commander, the telephone lines of some units have been interrupted."

"Send someone to deliver the letter."

The correspondent received the order to follow the telephone lines scattered on the ground to find the troops in front, and the four tanks and a company of mechanized infantry in front of the 202nd Division had already begun to advance. They quickly passed down the road in a straight column.

This is still part of Zhou Youfu's reconnaissance, and sometimes it is necessary to test the enemy's fire deployment by exposing his own side.

The Japanese signal corps rushed to the front in time to prevent the Japanese troops at the front from making a move, and this company passed under their noses unscathed. Zhou Youfu had been observing and was sure that his vanguard had passed, so he ordered the rear troops to advance. His division was left at the end of the line.

The column dragged out two or three kilometers (including the advance troops), and Zhou Youfu pointed out that when he was just approaching the sugarcane field, there were continuous explosions in front.

Hidden Japanese soldiers rushed out from both sides. When the Chinese soldiers were unable to react, they slipped under the tank or half-track and detonated it*. Suicide attacks have always been a standard anti-tank operation for the Japanese army, and soldiers are told that such an exchange is cost-effective, regardless of whether they have enough anti-tank weapons on their side.

For a while, explosions came and went. Noda's artillery brigade did not shoot at the first time, and they took advantage of the confusion and launched a second round of firing. Most of the shots were fired at a distance of no more than 200 meters from the target, and at a good angle. For a time, the column of the 202nd Division was in chaos.

After all, Zhou Youfu had seen the world, so he hurriedly called the rear troops to reverse and retreat, and the front troops did not need to reverse, accelerated their charge, and rushed through the enemy's blocking position. At the same time, he called the infantry in the rear to move closer immediately, and he knew that the plan to take the railway had failed, and he needed to establish a defensive line.

All the actions of the Chinese army before the attack were expected by Noda, but after the attack began, there was no chaos as he expected. During the annual exercises of the Kwantung Army, he had dealt with the 1st and 2nd Tank Divisions under preparation, and knew that it was difficult for tank columns to respond urgently in the event of a surprise attack, mainly because the crew's vision was limited and it was easy to get into a mess. But the 202nd Division minimized this situation. There were not many tanks, because of the panicked reversing, U-turn became a target that almost did not move, on the contrary, the tanks in front began to accelerate, so that the firing line of the anti-aircraft guns that was too close was difficult to keep up with the angular velocity of the tanks moving, and for a while, the Japanese army was a little chaotic here.

The tanks, even if they did not have enough vision to observe the enemy's position, knew exactly what to do, and they quickly rushed down the road and into the sugar cane fields, which disrupted the Japanese deployment and could only fight at the swaying sugar cane.

Zhou Youfu's mid-section infantry suffered heavy losses. The half-track does not have a strong ability to break through, and the most tanks have been destroyed here, resulting in the most chaotic formation, and some vehicles are out of a situation where they cannot advance or retreat.

The heavy machine guns deployed by the Japanese could still penetrate the side armor of these vehicles at close range. Experienced grenadiers can even shoot a very bizarre trajectory from a distance of 150 meters, with a few test shots, and shoot ammunition into the rear compartment without top defense.

The soldiers were forced to jump out of the car and engage in close combat with the enemy. The enemy's anti-aircraft artillery gradually shifted their fire back, and these vehicles that could not advance or retreat were named. Soon, about 40 half-tracks were destroyed.

Zhou Youfu, who fled to the rear, observed that on the battlefield with thick smoke, the gunfire was showing signs of weakening, and he knew that he could not save the brothers inside, just now he carefully distinguished the enemy's gunfire, and determined that the ambush here was a large part, and now some of the enemies have rushed onto the road, and it can be seen that they are wearing dark uniforms that are completely different from the green uniforms of the Southern Army. It is hateful that the intelligence agencies of the United States and Britain have leaked such a large enemy force.

The rear reported that after the US airdrop in the morning, the newly established military station was attacked by the enemy, and the remaining troops could not resist it, and dozens of trucks were damaged. He ordered that there was no need to defend, and that all the fuel in the station should be burned immediately. He had fought with the Japanese too many times, and knew that every time they attacked, they had a hand in seizing Allied supplies, so he could not leave it to them.

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Sorry, I've been too busy lately, and I'll probably have to stop tomorrow.