During the period of the Japanese attack on Imphal, the Chinese army added another unit of equipment to the American-style equipment...... Fiftieth Division.

Unlike the previous New 1st Division, the New 38th Division, and the New 22nd Division, the 50th Division was trained and equipped by a group of recruits who had been shipped from the country, so this division had been trained for a long time, and now it was finally able to go to the battlefield only as a reserve.

Since there were already four divisions, Stilwell made an adjustment in the establishment, he created a new army, that is, the New Sixth Army, and transferred the new 22nd Division that was originally under the new First Army structure to the New Sixth Army.

That is to say, at this time, the Chinese army has completed the replacement of American-style equipment with a total of two armies and four divisions, namely the new 1st Division and the new 38th Division under the New First Army, and the new 22nd and 50th Divisions under the New Sixth Army.

It can also be seen from this that the Japanese were right to attack Imphal, because if they continued to wait like this, the result would be to wait until the Chinese expeditionary force was completely re-equipped and had six divisions of 100,000 men...... And this division of the Chinese army can fight one division of the Japanese army, and it is also the elite division of the Japanese army. It is conceivable that by that time, the ten divisions of the Japanese army defending on multiple fronts in Burma would only have to wait for defeat to come.

Therefore, the battle of Imphal launched by the Japanese army was still strategically correct, but tactically it should not be launched in a hurry when the supply is so insufficient.

Of course, the Battle of Imphal at this time was different, because Zhang Chi deliberately leaked intelligence to the Japanese army so that the Japanese army could get a large amount of supplies, which made the progress of the Japanese army in Imphal very smooth, and in less than a month, it had broken through the multiple defenses of the British army and approached to a position where Imphal could be seen from a distance.

"Zhang ......" On this day, Stilwell called Zhang Chi to the headquarters, he pointed to a location on the map and said: "We can't wait any longer, the Japanese army has reached the Mengyu line, and it is only a few days away from Imphal!" ”

Zhang Chi also agrees with this, although the Sino-US coalition forces want to give the British who only want to protect their own interests a little hardship, but if the Japanese army takes Imphal. That didn't do the U.S.-China coalition any good.

"I'd like to hear your thoughts!" Stilwell handed Zhang Chi a cigarette, leaned back in his chair, and said a little depressedly: "My staff officers...... The plan they came up with would only be to move forward, advance and move forward, and if we fought in this way, we would most likely be stopped by the Japanese halfway through the fight. I think that's what Mountbatten wants! ”

Zhang Chi nodded.

Zhang Chi can understand the opinions of the staff officers around Stilwell, the Americans, they think that war is to use aircraft artillery and tank infantry to push flat, and any other strategy is superfluous...... For them. The war is about who has good equipment and hard fists, and whoever can survive to the end will win.

But the problem was that after realizing that the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army had improved by leaps and bounds, the Japanese army quickly transferred several divisions and regiments from the country and the Chinese battlefield, and the Japanese army in Burma at this time had as many as 10 divisions and more than 200,000 people.

Of the ten divisions, three divisions were used for operations in Imphal, one division was used in western Yunnan, one division was used to defend northern Burma, two divisions were used to prevent British landings in the south, and the remaining three divisions were distributed in central and southern Burma.

The reason why Mountbatten dared to let the Chinese army go south was not only to relieve the siege of Imphal. Another reason is to see this: no matter how strong the Chinese army is, it is afraid that it will be difficult to quickly break through the defenses of these three divisions, not to mention that there is still the 18th Division in front of it, which has once again received a large number of reinforcements.

So, if you follow the strategy that Stilwell said, push forward. The most likely outcome is that the Sino-US coalition forces will use fire tactics to advance little by little, and when the Sino-US coalition forces have rescued Imphal and almost exhausted the Japanese army, the British army will "recover" Burma from Imphal and the south coast of Burma...... This was by no means something Stilwell was happy about.

"General!" Zhang Chi said to the map: "Have you noticed that due to the needs of the war, the Japanese have allocated most of their forces on the west bank of the Irrawaddy River. ”

Stilwell nodded. Because of the attack on Imphal, India, and the previous feint attack on Chittagong, most of the ten divisions of the Japanese army were deployed on the west bank of the Irrawaddy River. On the east bank, there were only the 18th and 56th Divisions of the Japanese Army, and the 2nd Division in Rangoon.

Zhang Chi continued: "On the other hand, the Japanese have invested the vast majority of their air power in Imphal, which means that we can effortlessly seize air supremacy, and with air supremacy, we will have sea supremacy, to be precise, we should have the right to control the river, and we can quickly control the Irrawaddy River and divide the whole of Myanmar in half from the middle...... The Japanese army on the east bank has only three divisions, and the 56th division must defend western Yunnan, but our army has two corps and four divisions, and it is not a big problem to take the west bank when the supplies are sufficient, and then the Japanese will have to cross the Irrawaddy River if they want to fight us! ”

"That's right!" Hearing this, Stilwell's eyes couldn't help but light up: "This reminds me of a sentence you Chinese, called...... We only need to deploy defenses along the Irrawaddy River all the way, and on the basis of mastering air and river supremacy, it is not difficult to block the Japanese army on the other side of the river. This will not only avoid the dilemma of being surrounded by the Japanese, but will also be able to surround the Japanese! ”

This is also Zhang Chi's idea, you must know that the Chinese Expeditionary Force at this time only has four divisions and more than 60,000 people, while the total strength of the Japanese army is more than 200,000...... The Japanese only had to pull Imphal's troops back, and they could easily surround the Chinese army. And then...... Who knows if the British will once again be watching a good show on the sidelines.

This problem is unlikely to arise if you fight down the Irrawaddy River...... If the Japanese army wanted to encircle the Chinese army, it would have to break through the Chinese army's defenses on the banks of the Irrawaddy River, which was obviously very difficult.

Then Stilwell frowned again: "If we want to do this, we should first take Mandalay, and the main force of the Japanese 18th Division is ...... in Mandalay"

Zhang Chi knew what Stilwell meant by this, if he wanted to fight down the river, he first had to ensure that his logistics supply line would not be cut off by the Japanese 56th Division stationed in western Yunnan, and in order to do this, he had to take Mandalay and establish a defensive line between Bamo and Mandalay. (To be continued.) )