On 16 December, Li Junhao convened a meeting of the Allied Indo-Burma Theater Command, at which he introduced the visiting Assistant Secretary of State McDaniel, and at the same time introduced the new Deputy Commander of the Theater, Major General Ridgway, Chief of Staff, Major General Wheeler, and Air Force Commander Major General Strattmeyer.

Three days later, after inspecting the Indo-Burma Theater and the 10th Air Force, Major General McDaniel and Major General Strattmeyer rushed to Chongqing on a military transport plane, the former to meet with the leader of the Kuomintang government, and the latter to meet with Colonel Chennault to discuss the expansion of the "Flying Tigers" into the 14th Air Force.

On the 20th, Li Junhao took Major General Wheeler to northern Shaanxi on a special plane and left Major General Li Qiwei to watch his family.

For a week, Li Junhao didn't care about the situation in Chongqing, but he walked around the red holy land, met the leaders and generals he had loved for a long time, felt the passion here, and was happy every day as if he was celebrating the New Year - among them, it was really an unforgettable Christmas here!

Major General Wheeler, who accompanied him on his inspection, was also moved by the people here, and could not help but admire: With such a party and army, we will definitely win the final victory in the war against Japan, and the future of this country will be theirs!

——

On the 28th, Li Junhao flew back to Tonggu with a satisfactory harvest, and immediately ordered the 506th Engineer Regiment of the US Army, which had just arrived in northern Myanmar, to expand the airport and military camp in Mandalay, the largest city in central Myanmar; He also ordered Chief of Staff Wheeler to be in charge of preparing a corps of 50,000 men in Mandalay with armament and supplies......

On the 29th, McDaniel returned to Tonggu with Strattmeyer, accompanied by Colonel Chennault, and now the Flying Tigers have been transferred to the Allied Indo-Burma theater.

After everyone met, when McDaniel talked to Li Junhao alone, he sighed with a wry smile: "Og, don't you know, your trip to northern Shaanxi this time made that Chairman Jiang angry, and in front of me, he almost scolded his mother!" ”

Li Junhao smiled: "Riggs, I warned you that I knew that this would be the result!" ”

"Yes, you reminded me...... "but I didn't expect him to be so angry!" I think that's a bit too much for a leader! ”

"Hahaha......" Li Junhao smiled even more heartily, "So what happened in the end, how did this chairman decide?" ”

"Originally, he was determined to withdraw all the expeditionary forces to the country, but no matter what I said, he didn't agree......" McDaniel spread his hands and said, "I really have no choice, so I will use the method you told me before, saying that this time the underground party promised to provide a 50,000-strong, educated recruit army to enter Burma to receive equipment and training from the Allied forces, and accept the command of the Indo-Burma Theater Command until the end of the war......

"Don't you know, when he heard this, the leader's eyes almost popped out, and he shouted, 'This must not be allowed to happen'...... If it weren't for the persuasion of Dean Kong and Minister Song, he would have sent a formal letter of protest to Ambassador Jensen and me! ”

"And what about the end result?" Seeing that McDaniel was talking with emotion, Li Junhao didn't mind giving him a fun!

"In the end, Mr. Chairman suggested that as long as we don't want underground recruits, he could agree not to withdraw the expeditionary force to the country......," McDaniel said, "and I told him that it was impossible, because the United States is honest and will not change what has been promised." Therefore, he decided to withdraw most of the expeditionary force to the country, leaving only one army to protect the Yunnan-Burma road in northern Burma......"

"Leave an army behind?" Li Junhao nodded, "Which army is it?" ”

McDaniel said: "Originally, he wanted to leave the 66th Army, but later he changed his mind and left the 96th Division of the Fifth Army, the provisional 55th Division of the Sixth Army, and the 36th Division of the original 66th Army, and transferred the other units of the three armies back...... I don't understand what he thinks. ”

"It's easy!" Li Junhao said, "This chairman is thinking of withdrawing the main forces of the three armies to the country, and adding some new recruits of one division, and then it will be a complete army." ”

McDaniel nodded to show that he understood, and asked, "What about the three divisions that remained?" ”

"Not the best, not the worst, medium!" Li Junhao said, "The strongest in the Chinese Expeditionary Force are the 200th Division, the New 22nd Division, and the New 38th Division. ”

McDaniel smiled: "That's a coincidence, later, after the persuasion of Minister Song, Mr. Chairman decided to leave the new 38th Division behind, replace the 36th Division, and let General Sun of the New 38th Division command the remaining three divisions to establish a new military ......."

"Hah! This shows that he is still playing tricks! Li Junhao sneered.

"What do you mean?" McDaniel was puzzled.

Li Junhao knew that he did not know much about the Kuomintang army, so he explained: "The 36th Division is a German armament division that was reorganized in 1936, and although it suffered huge losses in the past few years, it is still the descendant of Chairman Chiang's line after reconstruction.

"The predecessor of the new 38th Division was the tax police corps established by Minister Song, and Lieutenant General Sun Liren's ability and prestige are sufficient, but the relationship with this chairman is one layer apart!

Moreover, this General Sun studied at the Virginia Military Academy in our country, and his combat thinking is closer to that of our US military, and leaving him in Burma is a win-win situation for the chairman, Minister Song, and us! ”

"Wow! It's so complicated! After listening to this, McDaniel couldn't help but sigh.

"This is the norm in the Kuomintang army!" Li Junhao said.

——

When the Allied Indo-Burma theater was facing major adjustments, the Japanese base camp was also reviewing the losses of the two Burma campaigns.

The 18th, 31st, 33rd, 49th, 53rd, 54th, 55th, and 56th divisions, the 72nd Mixed Brigade, the 5th Flying Division, and the 3rd Air Force were all wiped out, losing more than 180,000 officers and men and more than 700 fighters.

The generals of the Burmese Front, from Commander Mutaguchi Ryoya to all those killed in Burma, have no way to hold them accountable, which is even more depressing for the base camp.

In view of the importance of Burma, the base camp decided to reorganize its forces to attack Burma, at least to keep Thailand and French China.

In order to win this operation, the base camp decided to reorganize the Burma Front and transferred Yamashita Fumi, the commander of the 25th Army, who had successfully attacked the Malay Peninsula, as the commander of the new front.

(End of chapter)