A long-term problem facing the Fifth Army is that if the fighting cannot be resolved as soon as possible, the reorganization of the troops after the rainy season arrives

logistical supply, it may be completely cut off.

Another long-term problem was that Chu Tingchang's strategy needed to be coordinated by other Chinese troops in northern Burma, not only by relying on them to hold back the enemy, but also by opening up all the nodes along the railway line from Sittwe Port to Shan State, so that Chu Tingchang's grand plan could be fully displayed, otherwise, as the offensive deepened and the supply lines increased, the unsustainable 5th Army might be beaten back by the Japanese before the rainy season.

The trio on 419 analyzed the situation faced by Chu and found various hidden dangers in this offensive, as for how Chu Tingchang persuaded the American army to support his adventure, they did not know, perhaps the Americans were in a hurry to delay the pace of the Southern Army's attack on Australia, and did not think carefully about the problem that the offensive might not be sustainable. It seems that Chu Tingchang has given 419 a problem, and everyone thinks that his plan is actually not feasible, but the wood is already in the boat, and they must try their best to support him.

"This matter, let's not rush to conclusions, it's best to listen to Deputy Captain Chu's thoughts first, I always feel that taking risks is not his style."

Lin Xiuxuan hopes to get his original intention from Chu Tingchang, it is said that he is a person who seeks stability in everything, and he will not be so wild.

"You still don't know him," Cheng Dayang obviously couldn't agree with Lin Xiuxuan's opinion, "He just looks steady, but in fact, he is more ambitious than anyone else." If nothing else, let's just say that in all the exercises, the plans made by him, you can see some details who are eager to show their talents and ignore the risks, hehe, I don't know him yet? ”

The political commissar on one side nodded, and his opinion of Chu Aiyun was the same as that of the captain. There are hidden things that can only be discovered by long-term observation.

"Let's get back in touch with him first, right?" Lin Xiuxuan said.

"At the moment, our location is in the Gulf of Thailand, which is too far away from the fighting area in northern Thailand to be covered by communications and reconnaissance." The commissar said.

"Can he hear us?"

"If they had a gain antenna like a radar antenna or a navigation station, they could have received us, but we haven't received a signal from them so far, so we're not sure what they're in."

"Then I'll go there, on the one hand, to understand Chu Tingchang's intentions, and on the other hand, to help him improve the communication command." Lin asked Ying to land again, in fact, everyone knew before the meeting that the situation forced him to go.

"Well, how are you going to get ashore?"

"I landed near Bangkok, and then used a fake identity to find the anti-government guerrillas nearby, who were working for the British, and I think it would be easy to sneak in." Lin said.

"Well, lately, I have heard that the guerrillas are active, and there are a lot of missions to the north to reconnoiter the Japanese army." Cheng Dayang nodded.

"Yes, the reason why I chose the Thai rebels, I think another point is that they can be used to send the correct information to the Allied headquarters, not only for the battle in Thailand, but also for northern Burma. It's just a fool's errand. ”

Lin Xiuxuan is not a lie, the guerrillas controlled by the British seem to be very amateurish in collecting intelligence, and sometimes they make up their own intelligence in order to make up their own information, 419 intercepted a lot of radio information of Thai guerrillas, and after comparing it with the intelligence of drone reconnaissance, it was found that it was about half and half of the correct rate.

"You have considered this point more deeply, but I still have to remind you that I think their current intelligence error rate is not simply poor business ability, which can be explained." Cheng Dayang said.

"I've also thought about this, maybe the Yugoslav agency has infiltrated the intelligence system."

"So, you have to be very careful. When they are in danger, they go to the beach to find us...... Or go to the north to find the co-captain. However, you have registered with the Yugoslav Agency, the Allies, and the Military Commanders, and it is also dangerous to go to him. Cheng Dayang shook his head as he spoke, Lin Xiuxuan really didn't make people worry.

"Understood. Now let's move on to the next question, how do I get ashore. ”

"I've figured it out," said the commissar, "and the British regularly use submarines to bring ashore their spies in the East Indies in the Gulf of Thailand." Just yesterday, a British submarine that sent spy personnel was sunk by a Japanese destroyer in the waters near Songkan, so Britain only had the news that the submarine was sunk, and did not know whether the intelligence officers on the submarine had gone ashore, which was a good opportunity for us to see the needle, in addition, most of these spies were of Chinese descent, because the allies could not recruit Thais in northern India, which is beneficial to you, and the composition of the Thai guerrillas, Chinese also accounted for half. It's also good for you to infiltrate. ”

The political commissar was obviously prepared, and he had already prepared a plan to send Lin Xiuxuan ashore, which sounded really reliable.

"It's a great opportunity. Also, I suggest that 419 leave the Gulf of Thailand and go to the Bay of Bengal through Malacca, because in the waters near Kayin State in Myanmar, it can be closer to the battlefield and conducive to reconnaissance and support. Lin Xiuxuan put forward his idea.

"It's good, it's good, but after passing through Malacca and then entering the Bay of Bengal, a few days have passed. The new battle with the deputy captain may start in a day or two."

"Without us in the past few months, Deputy Captain Chu has not survived, not worse than these few days."

"Okay, that's it."

In northern Thailand, Chu Tingchang's 200th Division converged with Zhou Youfu's 202nd Division, which suffered great losses, and at the same time obtained the message of 419, which gave him a comprehensive understanding of the enemy's situation. However, the intelligence did not dispel the worries in his heart, because the enemy came quickly, not only the 14th Division, but also the tank brigade.

He originally judged that the Southern Army was an empty shell, and the headquarters of the Southern Army in Da Lat, Vietnam, could only mobilize a few security brigades into Thailand, because there were also anti-Japanese guerrillas operating in Vietnam. However, the temple was stunned by the troops who were sent to Palawan by sea, and intercepted a main force. If Chu Tingchang's offensive was a week late, the 14th Division would have gone to the Philippines, and it would be impossible to return to Da Nang to land, but the allied intelligence made him grasp the timing of the attack a little off.

On the other hand, the consequences of Zhou Youfu's failure to take the railway in time were spreading, and the Japanese army, which was backed by the railway, transported troops much faster than the 5th Army. Therefore, Chu Tingchang could not continue to wait for his follow-up troops to come up, and delaying time was not good for him. He must immediately move south and crush the main enemy forces near Chiang Mai.

Xu Chong had already gone south to reconnoiter for the new campaign, but although he was a good scout, he was not a spy, and could only observe the enemy's movements in the field, and could not enter the city and blend in with the crowd to find out the news.

In order to wait for Xu Chong's intelligence and the fuel and artillery shells necessary to launch the campaign, the Fifth Army was forced to wait a few more days, and there was no doubt that the Japanese would use these days to pull up the 3rd Tank Brigade in Phnom Penh. That's a formidable force with 170 to 180 tanks.

According to the reconnaissance of the 419, the brigade is equipped with Type 97 tanks improved from the Type 100, which is stronger in firepower than its own Stewart, and its mobility is not weak. Not much, Zhou Youfu's department found a lieutenant staff officer of the 3rd Tank Brigade who had been killed when cleaning the battlefield, and he may have rushed to the battlefield to observe. In his belongings, he found the newly revised syllabus of the Croatian army at the Xi Zhiye Armored Forces School in April 42, and this textbook allowed Chu Tingchang to find some doorways. Chu Tingchang still had the Japanese army's armored army regulations and tactics in his hands for the early ten years, most of which were the old era of fighting with the infantry, but this one had some improvements, and began to emphasize the breakthrough ability of the tank. Although the intention is correct, many details are wrong. He noted that the textbook was written by Takuji Aida, the commander of the 14 tank wing, who had already been killed by himself.

As early as half a year ago, when Chu Tingchang faced the 14th Tank Wing under the command of Takuji Aizawa, he found that the Japanese army had signs of learning from the German army, and now that I think about it, this 14th Tank Wing is a tank unit stripped from the 14th Division, and it can be seen that the 14th Division is specially strengthened for armored warfare. However, at present, it seems that the modification of the tactics of the Japanese army is still stuck before the destruction of the Aizawa Wing. It may be because the armored warfare theorist Aizawa was defeated and died, so that the Japanese army lost the opportunity to sum up the lesson.

If the enemy disperses the tank brigade to support the infantry, of course, it will cause trouble, the terrain of South Asia is very suitable for tank concealment, nearly 200 enemy tanks will delay the short attack into a protracted positional battle, and Chu is most lacking in time now. But if the enemy decides to concentrate his forces and make a long-distance outflanking, it will be right for Chu Tingchang's appetite. He can solve all the puzzles in a single decisive battle.

The news of 419 said that it was gone, and the last intelligence that came showed that Lin was going to go ashore again to help him, and 419 would bypass Malacca to the Bay of Bengal, which was of course something that Chu Tingchang could not ask for, but in the short term, he lost intelligence support again, and the campaign was imminent. He had no choice but to use the liaison plane of the American company to transfer Ma Qiang from the mountainous areas of northern Thailand to fill the reconnaissance vacancy. He then asked Stilwell for air support, hoping to destroy the railroad and weaken the enemy's forces by bombing.

Before the 14th Division retreated to Chiang Mai to build an offensive, Zhou Youfu and Zhao Xiaoli's troops followed. Also here were the 10th and 14th Air Forces. A large number of B17 and B25 bombers launched a heavy daytime bombardment of the railway lines near Chiang Mai in an attempt to disrupt the enemy's railway transport. However, the Second Railway Supervision Department, under the command of Major General Hamada Toshiei, under the command of Major General Hamada Toshiei, resisted the wanton and indiscriminate bombing very effectively. As long as the Allied planes were blown up during the day, the Japanese could resume transportation at night.

In Xu Chong's report, he spoke highly of the Japanese Army's 5th Special Railway Force, which relied on mules and horses and professionalism to maintain Noda's lifeline, and he suggested that the Allies throw some* and that this high-quality railway army must be consumed to the maximum extent to avoid future troubles. In addition, his reconnaissance platoon also sabotaged the railway signal and delayed the departure of the Japanese military column in the rear at night, hoping that the American military planes would be able to see the Japanese military column exposed due to a mistake during the day.

Amano Kunitomi Osa, who commanded the 3rd Brigade, arrived in Chiang Mai with his last tank brigade and the brigade headquarters, and before he had time to meet his new superior, Noda, he began to rush to command the tanks to unload, because the signal failed on the way, and his troops arrived four hours late, and it was about to dawn. He judged that the Allied planes had arrived.