Li Yuanhong, who returned to Mandalay City, rushed to the military headquarters of the expeditionary force as soon as possible. Wang Haitao was making a plan to retreat, when he saw Li Yuanhong walking in and stood up. Li Yuanhong came to lead Wang Haitao to stand in front of Wang Haitao and saluted and said: "Report to the military seat, Li Yuanhong led the 93rd Division to retreat to Mandalay City, and now I am here to report." ”

Wang Haitao returned a military salute and said, "Yuanhong, do you understand why I asked the 93rd Division to abandon Myitila City and withdraw to Mandalay?" Li Yuanhong replied: "Military seat, could it be that the expeditionary force wants to withdraw to China?" Wang Haitao smiled and said: "Smart, Chongqing has called and asked our expeditionary force to withdraw to the country. Li Yuanhong nodded and said, "Then the military seat, what is the mission of our 93rd Division?"

Wang Haitao led Li Yuanhong to the war room, where there was a map of the entire territory of Burma, which had been corrected after being surveyed by the reconnaissance brigade, and basically guaranteed its authenticity. Wang Haitao pointed to the Yunnan-Burma Highway on the map and said to Li Yuanhong: "Yuanhong, you see, if our army wants to smoothly withdraw from Burma, we must ensure the smooth flow of the Yunnan-Burma Highway. Little Japan, on the other hand, was bent on cutting off the Yunnan-Burma Highway and annihilating our expeditionary force in Burma. Therefore, little Japan is bound to attack along the Yunnan-Burma Highway. ”

Speaking of this, Wang Haitao paused for a moment, and saw that Li Yuanhong was looking at the map intently, so he continued: "According to the report of the reconnaissance brigade, in the Lashio area, there is not only the 33rd division of the Japanese army, but also the number of the Taiwan brigade, and General Dai Anlan's 200th division has already caught fire with the Japanese army's Taiwan brigade here in Danglao. Starting from Mengba, General Yu Shao's 96th Division and 66th Army were fighting fiercely with the 33rd Division of the Japanese Army. The 66th Army is now stationed in Lashio with only one new 28th Division, and the new 29th Division is here in Mumba to prevent the interspersed detours of Little Japan. The new 38th Division is stationed in Ruili to guard the base camp. ”

Li Yuanhong saw Wang Haitao stop and asked, "Military seat, is it a little weak that there is only one division of the 66th Army stationed here in Lashio?" Wang Haitao nodded and replied: "This is also the point I am most worried about. In the Lashio area, a 33rd division of small Japan plus a Taiwan brigade has a strength of more than 50,000 troops. ”

When Li Yuanhong heard this, he resolutely said: "Military seat, my 93rd Division is willing to catch Lashio and guarantee that it will not lose its position with the newly formed 28th Division." Wang Haitao replied: "I have already sent the 210th Division to reinforce Lashio. With the degree of the 210th Division, it will arrive in Lashio in a day's time, and with the 210th Division here, Lashio should be fine. I'm worried about the 200th Division here in Danglao. Little Japan's Taiwan Brigade has nearly 20,000 men, and with the strength of 200 divisions and several thousand troops, it may be difficult to hold them back for a long time, and now your 93rd Division's task is to rush to Danglao as quickly as possible and reinforce 200 divisions. ”

Li Yuanhong replied after standing up: "I understand the humble position, I will immediately lead the 93rd division out and rush to work as quickly as possible." Wang Haitao nodded and said: "Yuanhong, thank you for your hard work, if the 200 divisions have been defeated and retreated, you will hold Nanlan, and no matter what, you must ensure the smooth flow of the Yunnan-Burma Highway." Li Yuanhong replied simply: "Yes, military seat!"

Li Yuanhong returned to the 93rd Division and called Mu Suzhong, the commander of the 277th Brigade, as soon as Li Yuanhong saw Mu Suzhong, he said: "Brigade Commander Mu, I just received an urgent task from the military seat, and the 93rd Division immediately sent reinforcements to the 200th Division of the Danglao Defenders. I will transfer you 100 trucks, and your brigade should rush to Danglao as quickly as possible, and firmly hold Danglao together with the new 200th Division. I arrived with the rest of my troops. ”

Mu Suzhong didn't say much, and immediately accepted the task and mobilized troops to rush to the job. Seeing that Mu Suzhong's whole army was opened, Li Yuanhong did not rush to lead the rest of the troops to set off, he still had something to do, that is, to receive the armored regiment that Wang Haitao had prepared for the 93rd Division. After Li Yuanhong of the army's logistics office asked where the armored regiment was now parked at the armored brigade's station, Li Yuanhong came to the armored brigade's station with a team of guards.

Wu Jianzhou, the brigade commander of the armored brigade, is an old friend of Li Yuanhong, and the two were partners when they were in Jing County. When Li Yuanhong explained his intentions, Wu Jianzhou said with a smile: "Lao Li, I have already prepared for you, I will help you overhaul all these tanks these days these days, and you can use them in combat as soon as you drive them out." ”

As he spoke, Wu Jianzhou took Li Yuanhong to a station, and Li Yuanhong saw that there were eighteen tank vehicles, ten six-wheeled heavy armored vehicles, fifteen four-wheeled light armored vehicles, and ten armored trucks neatly arranged here, these combat vehicles should have been repainted, and they looked the same as new. A group of soldiers gathered in front of their chariots, washing their vehicles, studying something, and seeing an officer explaining something. Seeing someone coming, an officer in a colonel's uniform approached.

The officer came to Li Yuanhong and Wu Jianzhou, stood up and saluted, and shouted, "Hello, sir!" Li Yuanhong only felt that this person was familiar, but he couldn't call him a name. I heard Wu Jianzhou say: "Zige, you go to assemble the team, your division is here." The Colonel replied loudly, "Yes!" and turned away. Wu Jian turned his head and saw Li Yuanhong's questioning expression, and couldn't help laughing.

Wu Jianzhou asked: "What? Don't you recognize it?" Jin Zige, when he was in Jing County, wasn't he the commander of the second battalion under me?" Li Yuanhong thought about it and said, "Oh, I remember, he was the commander of the light tank battalion at that time. Wu Jianzhou said with a smile: "This is the commander of the armored regiment I chose for you, to tell you, if it weren't for you, the old commander, I would be reluctant to let him go, he is the most powerful person around me." ”

Li Yuanhong said with a smile: "Okay, I accept your favor, and when I return to Longzhou, I will set up a table to thank you." Wu Jianzhou also smiled and said: "Lao Li, you don't lose this wine, half of the armored soldiers of this regiment are veterans of my armored brigade, and I only gave them one-third of the veterans of the 90th Division." Plus a logistics maintenance company, ten armored trucks. You've made a lot of money!"

As he spoke, the soldiers in front of the armored car had finished the procession. It was still Jin Zige who ran over, stood up and saluted and shouted: "Report to the division seat, brigade seat, the armored regiment of the 93rd Division has been assembled, please give a lecture to the commander." Li Yuanhong nodded and took a few steps forward, and said loudly: "Brothers, from today onwards, you will be the soldiers of my 93rd Division, and I am Li Yuanhong, the commander of the 93rd Division. From now on, I will take you to fight with little Japan, most of you here are veterans, I won't say much nonsense, I just emphasize one point, no matter which unit you originally belonged to, today when you come to my 93rd Division, you will defend the honor of the 93rd Division! Our division has received the task, and it will be set off immediately, and you will be ready to go out immediately. ”

After Li Yuanhong finished speaking, he announced the disbandment, and then asked Jin Zige to lead the armored regiment to wait for the troops of the 93rd Division to come out in the east of Mandalay for two hours. After assigning the task to Jin Zige, Li Yuanhong said to Wu Jianzhou: "Old Wu, I am about to lead the team out, I don't have time to talk to you for a long time, I will definitely set up a wine and treat me when I return to China, and we will talk about it in detail later." After speaking, he shook hands with Wu Jianzhou and said goodbye.

Li Yuanhong got the armored regiment in his hands, and looked at the dozens of new combat vehicles that had just been painted, and a happy smile appeared on his face. The 93rd Division, under the leadership of Li Yuanhong, left the city of Mandalay and sent reinforcements to Danglao. At this time, the 277th Brigade led by Mu Suzhong had reached Meimu. Just when the 277th Brigade was just past the brow, it ran into trouble.

Mu Suzhong was sitting in the command car assigned to him by the division commander and thinking about the following course of action, when suddenly a burst of gunfire came from the front. The command car stopped, and Mu Suzhong got out of the car and looked into the distance. In fact, Mu Suzhong couldn't see anything, only the sound of gunfire in the distance, and the sound of mortars.

Mu Suzhong said to the guards beside him: "Quickly use the walkie-talkie to call the 568th Regiment in front and ask what is going on?" Before the guards could leave, a signal soldier ran over with a high-power walkie-talkie on his back and shouted: "Report to the brigade, the 568th Regiment has encountered an ambush, and the regiment commander Li Chunshan asks to talk to the brigade." Mu Suzhong took the walkie-talkie and shouted: "I am Mu Suzhong, are you Li Chunshan?"

The other party's reply came from the interlocutor: "Report to the brigade, I am Li Chunshan, and the first battalion of our regiment was on the march when it suddenly encountered an ambush by the Burmese Independence Army. I have sent reinforcements from the second battalion, and the other side, with two or three hundred men, occupies a favorable position, and is engaged in battle with our army. Mu Suzhong said with a serious face: "Li Chunshan, two or three hundred local armed forces have blocked your regiment? Your field artillery and heavy mortars are vegetarians? Tell you, I will give you half an hour to take down the other party, otherwise you will miss the military order of the military seat and the division seat, and you will wait for the removal from your post and investigation!"

A few minutes later, the roar of field artillery and the explosion of shells were heard in the distance. Twenty minutes later, the team began to move forward again, and Mu Suzhong said to the signal soldier waiting there: "Call the 568th Regiment, I want to talk to Commander Li Chunshan." After a while, when the signal corps was about to pass through the 568th Regiment, Mu Suzhong grabbed the walkie-talkie and shouted: "Is it Li Chunshan? Report on the situation of your regiment!"

Li Chunshan replied on the walkie-talkie: "Report to the brigade, the Burmese Independence Army has been routed by our regiment, killing 118 people, capturing 16 alive, and the rest have fled into the dense forest. Forty-six people were killed and twenty-seven wounded, and three trucks were destroyed. Mu Suzhong was satisfied with the number of casualties, so he said: "You immediately send a reconnaissance detachment to explore the way, increase vigilance, and don't be ambushed again, otherwise I will withdraw you!"

Mu Suzhong's words made Li Chunshan's face burn a little, this time he was ambushed because he was too careless, thinking that this place was not far from Mandalay City, and there would be no danger, so he patronized the road, and did not even send a reconnaissance detachment. Now Li Chunshan immediately dispatched several reconnaissance detachments to reconnoiter the situation along the way for several kilometers. Then he kept the troops on alert and continued his march towards Danglao.