Li Junhao is now sure that the commander of the British-Burmese army Hutton should want to fight a good battle before retreating, so he ordered the main force of the British army to retreat from southern Burma to the front line of central Burma to defend the triangle area of Degong, Tonggu, and Mongzhen.

In fact, Lieutenant General Hutton's order has already achieved some results, for example, the 1st Division of the Anglo-Burmese Army, which was not good in the original history, actually held out in Tonggu for seven days despite the full attack of the Japanese 55th Division, and did not come to the rescue of the Chinese Expeditionary Force until the 14th.

At present, the 200th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force has been stationed in Tonggu to assist in the defense, while the 1st Division of the Anglo-Burmese Army has not retreated after handover, and the two Chinese and British divisions have each held half of the city, completely defending against the attack of the 55th Division of the Japanese Army.

According to the battle report, because of the heavy casualties, the Japanese 55th Division has stopped the offensive and is building fortifications, showing a trend of besieging Tonggu.

According to the analysis of the Anglo-Burmese General Staff, in the previous more than a month of fighting, the Japanese 55th Division lost one-third of its combat strength, and the current situation is that the offensive is weak and the defense is more than enough; Therefore, they built fortifications to protect themselves while waiting for the 56th Division, which had already landed from Rangoon, to advance north.

For this analysis, Li Junhao thinks that it is only half correct!

The British staff did not understand the arrogance of the Japanese army, and the 55th Division was indeed waiting for the defense, but it was not the 56th Division that was waiting, but the reinforcements and military supplies sent from the north of Yangon.

In the Japanese army's combat style, if the divisional and regimental level units had to rely on other units for support, then all officers and men from the division commander down would consider it a great shame and a disgrace to the honor of the division and regiment.

——

On March 17, under the watchful eye of Li Junhao, the Battle of Dragone began.

At 17 o'clock in the afternoon, the 214th Infantry Wing, the vanguard of the 33rd Division of the Japanese Army, advanced lightly and rushed to 30 kilometers south of Dragonine.

The commander of the 214th Infantry Wing, Sakuma Qiaoyi Daisa, immediately ordered the whole army to stop resting and recuperate and rush to Degongne, in order to take advantage of the Japanese army's experience in night battles to defeat the 17th Division of the British and Indian Army in one fell swoop, and seize the important nodes of the Japanese army's northward advance on the western route of Degong and Beiba.

At this time, the 214th Wing of the Japanese Army did not think that it was just a wing of less than 4,000 people, but a division of the British and Indian Army of 12,000 people was stationed in front, and they arrogantly thought: The Japanese army will win! Well, this has already been confirmed in previous battles!

At 19 o'clock, a brigade of the vanguard of the Japanese army withstood the attack and harassment of the British and Indian troops, rushed to 7 kilometers south of Dragone, and was immediately stubbornly blocked by the 46th Brigade, the main force of the British and Indian troops.

When the news spread, Sakuma Qiao Yi Daisa immediately ordered the whole army to press up, preparing to break through the British defense line with the strength of the entire wing. In his cognition, as long as this battle is won, the 17th Division of the British and Indian Army will only be able to escape! He is full of confidence in this.

At 23 o'clock in the night, the 214th Wing of the Japanese Army gave full play to the "advantages of the night battle, and the British and Indian troops were defeated and retreated", and finally the "successful" two Anglo-Indian defense lines approached 5 kilometers from the city of Dragon.

In the headquarters of the 17th Division of the British and Indian Army in the city of Dragone, Major General Yuen, who was nervously waiting for news, heard this report, slapped the table vigorously, jumped up, and shouted and ordered: "Open fire!" Fire now! Saturation shooting! I'm going to bury the 214th Wing completely! ”

The 17th Division of the British and Indian Army used its own artillery regiment and all the heavy artillery found in the Dragone arsenal, concentrated 15 150mm howitzers, 21 122mm cannons, 35 105mm howitzers, and 98 75mm mountain guns, and used dense artillery fire to weave a rainbow of death in the night sky of Dragone, projecting continuous heavy shells into the ranks of attacking Japanese troops, turning the front of the defensive position in the south of Dragone into a forbidden place of death!

The terrifying images of the intensive shelling stunned the British and Indian officers and soldiers who had not participated in the First World War and the European War, they did not expect the power of the concentrated artillery fire to be so strong, and they even had some sympathy for the Japanese troops who were enveloped in it!

——

At this time, Li Junhao, who was standing on the top of the fourth floor of the Lihua Hotel, looked at the Ambilight in the sky and smiled with satisfaction, he didn't know if it would change history, but the current result was that the Japanese army suffered greater casualties than in history, which was enough for him to be happy.

As for whether this will change the situation on the battlefield in Myanmar, he is not sure now, but he thinks it will also promote the situation on the battlefield for the better!

Of course, if the Anglo-Burmese army could change their minds bent on escaping to India, Li Junhao definitely thought it would be the most worthwhile thing.

——

At 1 a.m. on March 18, the two-hour shelling finally stopped, and the 16th Indian Brigade, the 2nd Burmese Brigade, and the 48th Indian Brigade, which had been prepared by the British and Indian forces, came out on three sides and pressed the remnants of the Japanese 214th Wing in the defensive position south of Dragone. Fighting a tailwind war, these colonial armies can still be trusted!

By 4 a.m., the 214th Wing of the Japanese Army was basically wiped out, and less than 300 people escaped.

So far, the British army in Burma has completed an unprecedented victory against Japan!

After receiving the battle report, Major General Youen, who was waiting for the news at the headquarters of the 17th Division of the British and Indian Army, jumped up frantically, waved his hand and shouted "Yes!" three times. Yes！ Yes！ ”

At the same time, there was a chorus of joy in the headquarters, and a group of young British staff officers jumped up happily and swayed the documents in their hands all over the sky.

——

At 7 o'clock in the morning, Major General Yuen, who could not bear it anymore, rushed to the Lihua Hotel by car with several young staff officers who liked the "American observers," ready to thank Mr. Observer in person for strengthening his confidence and proposing the tactics of artillery attack, but upon arrival, he learned that a group of American soldiers had already left in their cars an hour earlier!

Returning to the headquarters, Major General Yuen thought about it and felt that it was immoral to erase Mr. Panson's merits, so he prepared a long telegram to Lieutenant General Hutton, describing in detail the course of the Battle of Dragone, focusing on the situation of the "American observers", and explaining that the observers had now left Dragone, the purpose was unknown, and they might go to any city where the British troops were stationed to "observe......

Hutton, who had arrived at Ringanqiang and was recuperating from his wounds, was overjoyed to receive this telegram, no matter what the situation of the battle was afterward, with this victory of Dragone, the Anglo-Burmese army was already invincible! Therefore, he immediately ordered that the entire Anglo-Burmese army should use all propaganda means to spread the "Degong victory" all over the world.

(End of chapter)