Mung Hang, Myanmar, Headquarters of the Provisional Army of the Japanese 18th Army. "Report to Your Excellency Commander, the General Headquarters of the Burmese Dispatch Army has issued an operational order, ordering our troops to immediately cross the Salween River and launch an attack on the Chinese army on the front line of Taunggyi, Namsan, Gunxin, Mengbin, and Jingdong!"

"Yo Si! It's finally time to let it go! Anda Twenty-three took the telegram and glanced at it, then turned his head to look at Lieutenant General Yoshihara, chief of staff of the 18th Army, and said, "Yoshihara Army, have the imperial warriors made all the pre-battle preparations?" "Hello!"

Yoshihara said suddenly: "Your Excellency Commander, the 42nd Division has arrived at Mengban, the 11th Division has arrived near Mengbin, and the vanguard of the 8th Division has established a forward position on the west bank of the Salween River. "Yo Xi, well done!" Anda Twenty-Three nodded with satisfaction, with a great sense of victory.

During the half month of shuttling in the jungle area, Anda Twenty-Three not only had to endure the extremely hot and humid climate, endure the ubiquitous insect bites every day, but also have to endure the casualty reports from time to time, especially the night sneak attack of the Chinese army, which had to be feared at night. Because Jiang Qiang's army had night vision devices, the Japanese devils not only did not dare to take away the night road in the jungle, but also had to place a large number of mines around the camp before night fell.

On the second day, a lot of energy and time had to be spent on demining, which greatly slowed down the pace of the march. Originally, it only took 10 days to work day and night, but it turned out to be 15 days. In just half a month, Anda Twenty-Three feels that a century has passed, and the grievances of being beaten passively for a long time almost did not make him insane!

If it weren't for the fact that he was beaten Yufang before setting off, and learned the lessons of jungle warfare from Iida Shojiro, Ishimoto Yinsan and others, Anda Twenty-three would have been extremely angry and ordered the troops to disperse the formation and carry out a large-scale clean-up, to wipe out those hateful Huaxia troops! Walking to the map, carefully examining it, and recalling the entire battle plan in his mind by the way, Anda twenty-three years later, Huo Ran turned his head to look at Ji Yuan and said:

"Do you think those damn Huaxia troops will still hold off the imperial army in the jungle area ahead?" The painful experience of these days has made Anda Twenty-Three full of anger and fear. was really blinded and scared by the elusive Huaxia Army. Yoshihara pondered slightly: "This is unlikely, due to the excessive cutting of teak resources by the British, there are not many real primeval dense forests on the west bank of Salwyn in front of the Imperial Army!."

In particular, on both sides of the highway leading directly to Taunggyi, Nam Sang and other places, not only many areas have become open land, but there are also many Burmese indigenous villages, so the imperial army does not have to dig into the forest like before! ”

"Yo Si! That's it! Anda Twenty-three breathed a sigh of relief, and then asked again, "Yoshihara-kun, do you have anything else to add?" Yoshihara nodded heavily and said, "Report to Your Excellency Commander, please rest assured that all preparations are ready, and everything is ready, only the east wind is owed!" Hearing this, Anda Twenty-three no longer hesitated, and immediately waved his hand at a devil communication staff officer: "Immediately send a telegram to the headquarters of the General Army, requesting air support and launching a bombardment of the Huaxia defenders on the front line from Taunggyi to Jingdong!" ”

Since the 18th Army spent most of its time in the woods, it could not carry too many heavy artillery pieces and medium tanks, only small-caliber guns and Type 95 light tanks. The Type 95 light tank, which was mass-produced by Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in 1935, was the best quality and performance of the Japanese light tank in World War II. The dead weight is 6.7 tons, the total combat weight is 7.4 tons, the crew is 3, the length of the vehicle is 4.3 meters, the width of the vehicle is meters, and the height of the vehicle is meters. Although the thickness of the armor of this tank is 6-12 mm, it can only defend against small arms attacks, and its poor protection is its Achilles' heel

However, in the Southeast Asian battlefield, the Type 95 light tank swept through Southeast Asian countries, especially in the Philippines, Malaysia and other operations, and beat the old Western empire to the point that it could only raise its hands and surrender. Due to its small size and strong mobility, this tank is also very sharp in jungle combat, and the 18th Army carried more than 200 vehicles with the army this time.

However, these tanks are not arrogant in front of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, which is equipped with a large number of individual anti-tank rocket launchers, and after suffering losses many times in a row, they can only let the scouts go to the front to do damage, and the tank troops have become auxiliary in the rear! It was also because the 18th Army lacked enough large-caliber heavy artillery, so in order to make up for the shortcomings of the 18th Army's lack of heavy firepower, before the 18th Army was deployed, Umezu Mijiro built several airstrips on the Thai border near the 18th Army's combat area, and transferred a sufficiently powerful aviation regiment.

So when the fight was about to start, Anda Twenty-Three took the lead in requesting a wave of fierce bombardment, and the three-plate axe transmission technique could not be lost, "Hai! The devil's communication staff officer hurriedly ordered the leader. Without waiting for the devil's communication staff officer to walk away, Anda Twenty-three continued to order in a deep voice: "Pass my order, the 42nd Division will immediately attack Jingdong, the 11th Division will immediately attack Meng Bin and Gunxin, and the 8th Division will immediately attack Nam Sang and Taunggyi.

The 1st Division, as a general reserve, is on standby! "Hello!" The devil's communications staff officer took the order and left. Half an hour later, the group of devil bombers that took off from Thailand's Bachi and Huai'ao airports roared towards Taunggyi, Namsang and other places. Woo~Woo~Woo~ When the devil plane appeared on the monitoring screen of the radar station, fierce air defense sirens sounded one after another in Taunggyi, Namsan, Gunxin, Lashio and other places, and the telephones of the divisions and divisions of the 6th Army, the 66th Army, and the 74th Army of the National Army, as well as the military headquarters of each army, were instantly blown up.

Not long after the alarm sounded, a large number of Japanese planes appeared over Taunggyi and Namsang to assist the Japanese troops on the ground in launching the first round of attacks. The devil group repeatedly circled and indiscriminately bombed the positions of the 6th Army and the 66th Army on all fronts. The anti-aircraft artillery and anti-aircraft units of the 6th and 66th armies fought back and shelled the devil group with all their might. At the same time, after receiving a telegram for help, the 23rd Group of the 10th Air Force stationed at Mandalay Airport, led by General Chennault himself, went to stop the Japanese Air Force. They were accompanied by a fighter flight regiment of the Flying Tigers.

"Tao Ci Change!" "Assault!"

The devil troops were eager to stand firm and break through the national defense line, and before the air force bombardment was completely over, the devil soldiers began to pounce frantically under the command of the commander's knife. Gan Lichu, commander of the 6th Army, and Zhang Zhen, commander of the 66th Army, ordered the troops to respond to the battle calmly, fight steadily, and not let the Japanese advance a single step.

A thrilling life-and-death struggle unfolded between the two armies. Not long after the Devil bomber group began to return, the air group led by Chennault and the 9th Fighter Flight Regiment of the Tiger Army were killed in the sky over Taunggyi. The devil's escort fighter group immediately turned the nose of the plane, covering the bomber group and fighting and retreating,

"Full speed pursuit! Let these damned Japanese invaders all see God! "Roger!" "Understood!" "Haha, brothers, today we finally have a chance to participate in the first round of the battle, there are not many opportunities like this, we have to have a good time today!"

"That's right, these dogs have to be kept coming and going!" "Don't get excited, keep in formation, and chase at full speed!"

And Chennault, who was bent on killing the devil happily, and the Flying Tigers of Burma, where would easily let go of the devil's air force, they pounced at full speed without the slightest hesitation, and fought together with the devil's escort fighter formation. A fierce air battle broke out in an instant! "Assault!" "Tao Ci Change!" Under the traction of the Type 95 tank unit, tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers from the three divisions of the Devils were divided into five routes, directly aiming at the five towns of Taunggyi, Namsan, Gunxin, Mengbin, and Jingdong.

These 5 towns constitute a complete defensive chain, which is the barrier between the rear of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and the Yunnan-Burma Highway, so from the very beginning, Yang Fan put the 6th Army and the 66th Army on this defensive chain. And let the 71st Army be responsible for garrisoning the front line of Lashio and Xibu to ensure the safety of the Yunnan-Burma Highway and ensure the connection between the Chinese expedition and the country, so that it will not be cut off from the back road like the original history, and can only flee to India after the defeat.

"Quick! Fire! Hit me hard! Fuck these shit! "Brothers, the time has come to raise soldiers for a thousand days and use them for a while, and it is time to defend the family and the country, kill the enemy and make meritorious contributions!" "Brothers, the 5th Army, the 31st Army, and the Huaxia Shandong Group Army and other fraternal units have fought with the little devils many times, and have dealt heavy losses to the devil troops, and now it's our turn to play!"

"It's a gentleman, just stand up and stand up! , there is nothing terrible about devils, little devils are also human beings, and they are also flesh and blood, and they have to make a bloody hole with one shot! "Everyone, listen up, if anyone retreats from the battle and retreats without a fight, and discredits the face of our 38th Division, the gun in Lao Tzu's hand can only turn his face and deny people!"

"Brothers, hit me hard! Kill! "Kill!" "Little devil, grass your eighteenth generation ancestor!"

The 6th Army and the 66th Army have long completed the replacement of US weapons and equipment, and they have surpassed the Devil Army in terms of weapons and equipment, especially in large-caliber artillery. In addition, the long-term reorganization of the armament and the coordinated operations of the air force units, so although the devils are menacing, the morale of the 6th Army and the 66th Army is very strong from top to bottom, and there is no panic, let alone the phenomenon of collapse at the touch of a button.

Just when the 18th Army of the Devils launched an all-out attack on the Taunggyi-Jingdong line, the Japanese 15th, 19th, and 20th armies were not idle. The same recipe and the same taste, the devil is still the usual three-plate axe tactic, first pulling out the bomber group to bomb wildly, and then bombarding artillery and naval guns.

After doing this, the devil infantry began to cross the river and attack, or under the cover of the tank troops, they launched an attack on the Mawlamyine fortress. In addition to this, the Devils Task Force also transported a Devil Infantry Wing to land on Bilu Island for operations. The defense line of the section of the Ppa'an section of the Salween River, the pre-war headquarters of the 22nd Army. This is a small mountain located about 6 kilometers west of the Salween River, with a wide field of vision and a wide view of the entire defense line along the river.

After the bombing of the Devil Air Force was over, Li Jiayu hurriedly walked out of the air defense command room with a telescope and walked quickly to a reinforced concrete lookout on the top of the hill to observe the enemy situation on the front line. Li Jiayu was followed by Zhu Ying, chief of staff of the 22nd Group Army, Yang Junqing, chief of staff of the 41st Army, Chen Dingxun, commander of the 45th Army, and Sun Shengsong, chief of staff.

Although the Japanese shelling had not yet ended at this time, the sound of violent explosions continued to come from afar.

Walking into the lookout and standing next to the observation port, Li Jiayu hurriedly picked up the binoculars and looked forward. I saw that the sky above the defense line along the river, which stretched for more than 10 kilometers ahead, was already filled with gunsmoke and black oppression, as if a thunderstorm was about to break out under the cover of dark clouds. If you take a closer look, in the vast sky with dark clouds rolling, enemy and enemy fighters are chasing after us, flying up and down, and engaged in an extremely fierce battle of life and death.

Looking at the 22nd Army's defense line along the river, I saw black clouds of gunpowder rising on the ground, and the devil artillery on the opposite bank was carrying out high-intensity artillery bombardment. Due to the insufficient range of small arms and the fierce artillery fire of the devils, most of the officers and men of the 22nd Army could only temporarily hide in the anti-artillery holes behind the trenches. The rest of the people either hid in the sturdy reinforced concrete bunkers and stood by, just waiting for the little devils to enter the effective range and start to rush wildly.

In addition, there are also many artillery soldiers along the defense line along the river, relying on strong pillbox fortifications and controlling anti-aircraft guns to bombard the devil troops who are carrying out the river-crossing operation! The 88mm anti-aircraft gun has excellent anti-aircraft performance, and is also extremely sharp against ground targets, with a flat muzzle velocity of up to 1,000 m/s and a maximum range of 14.5 km.

The 88mm anti-aircraft gun was the most successful artillery system used in World War II, and Jiang Qiang also favored it very much, so he kept adding it. The price of the Shanghai Navy factory is 80,000 US dollars, although it does not seem to be much, but it cannot withstand the demand is too large, and it consumes extremely ammunition, even if Jiang Qiang's wealth is large, he can't withstand consumption.

So after learning from the pain, Yang Fan has spent 150 million fortune points to customize an 88-mm anti-aircraft gun production line one and a half months ago, which has now been officially put into operation in Zhucheng County, Shandong. Then the field of vision extended to the other side of the river, and I saw the black and oppressive devil infantry on the other side of the river pushing rafts, wooden boats, fishing boats and other means of crossing the river, like dumplings plopping into the river.

The artillery unit of the 22nd Group Army, which was preset in the mountainous anticline position in the rear, naturally would not be accustomed to the devil infantry, and hundreds of 155-mm and 150-mm howitzers roared one after another, and the shells rushed into the sky like thunderbolts on a sunny day, and after a while, they continued to explode among the Japanese troops. The heavy gunners of the Chinese army had accurately measured the terrain distance on the other side of the river in the morning, and at this time they were in full swing and almost missed.

Every shell can cause casualties to the devil, and the little devil screams. From the current battle situation, it can be seen that the primary target of the devil's attack is indeed set on the narrow and gentle section of the Hpa'an River.

In addition, because the defense line of this section of the river is stationed in the Sichuan Army, which has always been regarded by the devils as a local miscellaneous army and a weak brigade of straw shoes, so the devils naturally put on a bloody posture and put on a posture that is bound to win. At the beginning, the devils not only used a large number of planes and heavy artillery to carry out high-intensity and wanton bombardment of the 22nd Group Army's positions along the river, but then launched a simultaneous river-crossing attack in the section of the river that stretched several kilometers wide.

In addition, on both sides of the 22nd Army, which was focused on attacking, the devils also gathered heavy troops to contain them, preventing the 5th Army and the Tiger Army on both sides from going to support the Sichuan Army. However, it is obvious that the little devil miscalculated, and the 22nd Group Army has long since changed its bicycles into motorcycles, and its weapons and equipment have long been replaced with the most advanced American-style equipment, including German heavy machine guns, anti-aircraft guns, and other heavy firepower.

Although the range of small arms is still out of reach, heavy artillery and anti-aircraft guns are not a problem at all, and shells are constantly exploding among the devils, harvesting the devils' heads all the time. Not long after the start of the war, I saw that the other side of the river was bombed into potholes, thick gunpowder smoke filled everywhere, and corpses flew horizontally, as if it had become a hell on earth.

As the Devil troops began to cross the river to fight, the shells began to extend backwards. Boom, boom, waves rose on the river, and the rafts and boats of the devils were either directly blown to pieces, torn into sections of sticks and chips, or trembling up and down in the stormy waves. Although the infantry of the two armies had not yet formally exchanged fire, the 22nd Army, which had powerful artillery, had already taken the lead in the city, inflicting heavy casualties on the devil's river-crossing troops.

"These dogs, do you still think that our Sichuan Legion is the same Sichuan Legion before? Can you easily eat us with your planes, tanks, and artillery? However, seeing that the devil really concentrated all his firepower on himself, Li Jiayu was not surprised, clenched his fists, and roared heavily: "Brothers, give me a hard beating, kill all these dogs!" Let these dogs know that our Sichuan Legion is not easy to mess with! ”

Chief of Staff Zhu Ying nodded thoughtfully: "Brother Xiang is right, our 22nd Group Army is now considered to be strong, and its weapons and equipment are not bad compared to the little devils!" "It's so relieving, good kill! These dogs, trying to break through from us, are completely wishful thinking! ”

Chen Dingxun saw it with enthusiasm, and after a big compliment, he read in pieces: "It's really thirty years in Hedong and thirty years in Hexi, I never dreamed that our 22nd Army would have today, and it would be able to beat the devil A division all over the ground in such a dignified way!" Li Jiayu smiled proudly: "Haha, where is this, if the little devils don't touch their heads today, they won't give up the attack!" Lao Chen, Lao Zhu, the best is yet to come! ”

"Well, today our Sichuan Legion must raise our eyebrows!" "As long as you can kill the little devil happily, why sacrifice your life for righteousness!" Chen Dingxun and Zhu Ying looked at each other and smiled, although as senior generals of the Sichuan Army, it was not their turn to fight bayonets in the line of fire under normal circumstances, but if it really came to that time, they would never be ambiguous! Buzzing, at this moment, there was a motor humming in the sky behind me.

Li Jiayu hurriedly walked out of the bunker to follow the prestige, and immediately became happy, and pointed with his hand: "Great, our bomber group has finally come to participate in the war, as long as we can get rid of the devil artillery on the other side, then we can sit back and relax!" ”

Because the defense line along the river is too long, even if Yang Fan is opened, it is impossible to build a "Maginot Line" built with reinforced concrete in a short time, so most of the river section can only be defended by open-air trench fortifications. And the devils concentrated a large number of heavy artillery units to shell the positions of the 22nd Army, which put a lot of pressure on the frontal defense of the 22nd Army.

Now the devils are far away, and the range of small arms is not enough, and they can hide in the anti-artillery holes to avoid shelling, but once the devils enter the effective range, they must be tough against artillery fire. And the murderous nature of the devil is obvious to all, Li Jiayu has no doubt that once the war does not go well, the devil will jump over the wall so hard that he will even bombard his own people together!

Therefore, before that, the heavy artillery troops that could beat the dumb devils could get twice the result with half the effort. "Brothers, pay attention to all of them!"

After Qiao Yong, commander of the 3rd Bomber Flying Regiment, led the team to arrive at the defense line of the Hpa'an River section, he said loudly into the communication channel: "Again, the primary target of the attack is the artillery position of the devils, and then bomb the devils' troops crossing the river when we turn around!" ”

At this time, the fighter group of the Burmese army was engaged in a large-scale fierce battle in the air with the fighter group of the devils, and taking advantage of this gap, Li Jinglin sent a bombing flight regiment to support the 22nd Group Army.

"Roger!" "Understood!"

The bomber pilots roared excitedly, like a group of sharks smelling blood, and they pounced on the devil artillery positions on the other side of the river. "I can finally work happily!" Deng Ling piloted a dive bomber, rushed to the front, and went straight to the mountains where black smoke clouds were constantly rising.

"Baga Ya Road! The Huaxia bomber is coming! Anti-aircraft guns, hurry up and drop the artillery! "Shoot! Hurry up and drop! "Knowing that Jiang Qiang's air force is very powerful, the devil army will naturally not run naked, and the army is also equipped with a lot of anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns. When the Flying Tigers bomber group flew from a distance, the Devil Air Defense Units hidden in the mountains and the ground began to aim and shoot in a panic.

"Little devil of dog day, don't give your life yet!" As soon as he flew to the east bank of the Salween River, a string of anti-aircraft machine gun bullets whistled in, Deng Ling continued to dive forward without fear, and by the way, he was not used to the devil anti-aircraft machine gun on the ground, and suddenly pressed the fire control switch to strafe.

With a click, four heavy machine guns erupted tongues of fire at the same time, and then a string of bullet lines appeared on the ground that quickly stretched forward. "Ahh Eight Ga Ya Road! The devil anti-aircraft machine gunner had already sensed that death was approaching quickly, but his ferocious nature did not let him throw down the gun and escape, but continued to shoot at Deng Ling with a hideous face.

This devil soldier actually thought that he would break the net with Deng Lingyu and die together. "Dog, you want to die with me, you really think too much!" Seeing through the devil's attempt, Deng Ling did not panic at all, and continued to dive forward and strafe!