Just when Li Junhao had already expanded his thinking, from preparing to win over the front-line generals of the British army to preparing to completely control the Anglo-Burmese army and the Anglo-Indian army, General Wavell, the commander-in-chief of the Anglo-Indian army in Delhi, India, was angry and worried about the obstruction of the withdrawal of the British army in Burma!

The commander-in-chief of the Anglo-Indian Army, Admiral Archibald Percival Wavell, who was over 60 years old, was a typical "British Empire supremacist", and in his mind, nothing was more important than British interests, and he presided over the formulation of the previous Anglo-Burmese army's strategy against Japan.

To this end, he also specially transferred Lieutenant General Hadro Alexander, who had successfully commanded the retreat of the British 1st Army at Dunkirk, to take over as the commander of the Anglo-Burmese army, replacing Thomas Hutton, who could not understand his strategic thinking!

But what Wavell didn't expect was that not long after Alexander took office, he only organized the retreat to Yangon, and he was assassinated at the station, and he still hasn't figured out who did it! He had no choice but to reinstate the wounded Hutton as commander of the Anglo-Burmese army.

Then, something happened that made Wavell even more angry, Hutton actually ordered the British troops in Burma to stick to the line of Degong, Tonggu, and Mong Zhen in central Burma, and he stationed himself with reserves in Ringanqiang, the largest oil field in Burma, and then did not retreat an inch!

Of course, Hutton's order bought time for the British troops in Burma to withdraw more British property and supplies in Burma, and at the same time allowed the Chinese expeditionary force to enter Burma to reach the front line smoothly, which was good in this regard.

Then Hutton's behavior made Wavell intolerable, and he even teamed up with the American Stilwell and the new commander of the 1st Division of the Anglo-Burmese Army Slim to hand over a large number of weapons and equipment and military supplies belonging to Britain to the Chinese - although they used some methods to cover up, how could they hide from him, an "old qualified general"?

Of course, Hutton took advantage of this to successfully withdraw the 1st Anglo-Burmese Army north to Ringanqiang, but this could not make up for the damage he did to British interests! So, he sent Alvin to Burma to replace him, and reinstated Scott as commander of the 1st Division, and transferred Hutton and Slim to India to hang up.

However, now that the situation in Burma is still out of Wavell's control, the American observer who does not know the origin of the United States has become the deputy commander and commander-in-chief of the Indo-Burma Allied Forces, directly ordered the British troops not to retreat, and used the Chinese expeditionary force to threaten with force, which is very difficult to do!

In such a situation, Wavell had no choice but to urgently telegraph the British ambassador to China, Sir Shermus, the US ambassador to China, Jensen, and General Stilwell, chief of staff of the Allied China Theater and commander of the Indo-Burma Theater, to ask them to coordinate the situation in Burma.

He didn't even dare to report this matter directly to the domestic cabinet, for fear of being scolded by the tough prime minister, and then he would lose face as a lord! ——

In fact, Li Junhao expected the predicament faced by Sir Wavell, so he dared to do so.

During this time period, in addition to the people of China and Southeast Asia, the eyes of other major powers in the world were focused on the European battlefield, especially the Soviet battlefield!

Winston Churchill, Britain's war prime minister, was trying to expand the British army, arm the civilian population, cope with the Luftwaffe bombing of the British Isles, and, oh, fend off German attacks in the Middle East and North Africa.

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was considering whether to send ground troops into Europe or launch a war in the Pacific to punish Japan according to the Navy's plan.

Not to mention the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, half of the country had fallen, and he had to firmly lead the army and the people to resist and counterattack the German army.

China's Kuomintang and Communist Party are grappling with the spring offensive of the invading Japanese army......

In a word, in addition to the Chinese and Anglo-Burmese forces with fundamental interests, only a few Americans like Stilwell and Li Junhao are paying attention to the current Burma battlefield.

Under such circumstances, even if Wavell now asks for help from home, Churchill can only let him find his own way in addition to scolding, and it is impossible to have any actual support for him.

However, in order to add an extra layer of insurance, Li Junhao personally drafted two telegrams, one of which was sent to Washington, focusing on showing to General Leahy, chief of staff of the White House, and General Marshall, commander-in-chief of the Far Eastern Theater.

In the telegram, he gave a detailed account of the current situation in the Indo-Burma theater of operations, asked the Joint Chiefs of Staff to support his actions, and at the same time put pressure on the British side to help him gain command of the Allied forces in the Indo-Burma theater.

Another telegram was sent directly to Ambassador Jensen in Chongqing, briefly describing the situation in Burma, asking him to cooperate with his actions in his capacity as chief assistant to the national security adviser and director of national intelligence, to exert diplomatic influence on the Kuomintang government, to obtain command of the Chinese expeditionary force, and to reduce the "unfavorable" influence from the Kuomintang government, especially Chairman Chiang.

——

At this time, the British ambassador to China, Sir Xue Mu, who was in Chongqing at the end of January 1942, had just taken office and did not have a deep understanding of the complex relationship between China and Burma.

But in any case, he could not turn a blind eye to Sir Wavell's request, so he summoned the military attache of the embassy, Major General Dennis, to inquire about the situation on the battlefield in Burma, intending to pay a visit to Chairman Chiang after understanding the situation, after all, the other party was the real commander of the Chinese expeditionary force.

Major General Dennis introduced the current war situation in Burma to Xue Mu, and vaguely said Wavell's real plan for the battlefields of India and Burma, which made Xue Mu very surprised, and he personally did not understand this plan!

In Xue Mu's view, Britain has formed an alliance with China, the United States, and the Soviet Union, and the most important thing at present is to unite to fight back against the war of aggression of the fascist countries.

With this idea in mind, Xue Mu didn't bother with Wavell's request for help.

Dennis persuaded him that Wavell's plan should have been approved by the prime minister, and that if it was ignored, it would cause dissatisfaction in London.

Dennis finally suggested that since the current situation in Burma is dominated by the Allied Indo-Burma Theater Command, it is better to go to General Stilwell, the commander of the lower theater of operations. Of course, it is better to reach a consensus with Mr. Jensen, the U.S. Ambassador to China, before doing so.

Xue Mu gladly accepted Dennis's suggestion and immediately took him out of the car and rushed to the U.S. Embassy.

Chapter 404 has been screened, revised, and is applying for lifting the ban, with a special chapter.

(End of chapter)