The rest of the march went very smoothly, after all, the engineer regiment chose to march in the dark, and the attention of the Japanese army was so focused on the main force of the Fifth Army in Pingmanna that they had no time to take care of the movement of the engineer regiment. In addition, the reconnaissance work of the engineer regiment was very inverted, so they crossed the mountains and rivers and waded through the water, and finally arrived at Pingmanna at dawn the next day after a night of non-stop hurry.

As soon as the convoy entered the flat, it felt that something was wrong.

In fact, Zhang Chi was already faintly aware of something before the team entered Pingmanna...... If the main force of the Fifth Army was retreating at this time, it should have withdrawn from the city of Pingmanna, and the direction of the engineer regiment was still the city at this time.

The only explanation that makes sense is that the Fifth Army has not yet withdrawn from Pingmanna.

At first, Zhang Chi thought that the Fifth Army was retreating slowly, after all, in order to prepare for the Battle of Pingmanna, the Fifth Army had already stored a certain amount of strategic materials in Pingmanna. But it wasn't until the convoy entered the city that Zhang Chi found that the truth was not at all what he imagined...... Pingmanna was full of soldiers running by, cars laden with ammunition were anxiously shuttling through the streets with their horns blaring, and the sound of artillery outside the city was shaking the sky, and there was no retreat.

"Sir!" With doubts, Zhang Chichao ran past an officer beside him and asked, "How is the situation outside?" ”

Of course, Zhang Chi couldn't ask why the Fifth Army hadn't retreated yet, which would have been killed as disturbing the morale of the army in wartime.

"382 Heights have been laid!" Zhang Chi got this reply: "I'm going to hit the 512 highlands soon!" ”

Hearing this, Zhang Chi couldn't help but feel cold, listening to the officer's meaning...... Instead of retreating, the Fifth Army was attacking!

Why is this happening? Knowing that the British army had retreated, the right flank had been exposed to the Japanese army, why didn't they retreat? Not only did they not retreat, but they also chose to attack?!

Zhang Chi guessed correctly, the Fifth Army was indeed attacking the Japanese army in the front.

The reason why this is the case is not that Du Yuming can't fight, but that Du Yuming is helpless.

In fact, after learning the news that the British army on the right flank had retreated and was besieged in Ringanqiang, Du Yuming made a judgment at the first time, that is, the Battle of Pingmanna was difficult to achieve, and at this time, it was necessary to retreat to the line of Mandalay and Donji (also known as Taunggyi) to ensure that the China-Burma Highway, that is, the way back to the expeditionary force, would not be cut off by the Japanese army.

The problem is that there are a few people who don't agree with that.

First of all, on the British side, the British army has been surrounded in Ren'anqiang on the Western Front, and they hope that the Chinese army will block the Japanese army on the central front, and even divide part of the troops on the Western Front to outflank Pingmanna, so that the British army on the Western Front can run more stable.

The second is the United States, whose interests determine that Stilwell prefers to hope that the Chinese army can fight a big war and a war of attrition with the Japanese army, so as to consume the limited war energy of the Japanese army and make the Japanese offensive in the Pacific direction unable to follow.

Objectively speaking, these two factors are somewhat insignificant, because at this time, Du Yuming had already seen the faces of the British clearly, and at the same time, he had a disagreement with Stilwell during the Battle of Tonggu. Therefore, the factors of Britain and the United States are not enough to affect Du Yuming.

But the problem is that Britain and the United States can influence Luo Zhuoying.

What is particularly important is that the staff group headed by Lin Wei is also on Luo Zhuoying's side.

In fact, Lin Wei is not on Luo Zhuoying's side, but he also has his considerations. This consideration is, in a nutshell, "great joy".

To put it in detail, it was Captain Lin, the head of the staff who could only talk on paper, who felt ...... after looking at the map in the office Although the British army on the Western Front retreated, the problem was not very big, a single engineer regiment could defeat the Japanese army to the ground, and the 33rd Division suffered heavy casualties. What's more, this Japanese army still has to pursue the British army, how many troops can be divided to flank and attack Pingmanna?!

You must know that the main force of the Fifth Army is in Pingmanna, and the Fifth Army has more than 40,000 people, and it is well-equipped, with heavy artillery and tanks, and it is not a problem to deal with the two divisions of the Japanese army.

As for the 56th Division of the Japanese Army on the Eastern Front, there is no need to worry, when the 200th Division retreated, it broke the road and blew up the bridge all the way, and a Japanese army of tens of thousands of people expected to arrive in a short time!

This is not to blame Captain Lin, because it is estimated that this is true from common sense, but the problem is that the Japanese 56th Division is known as the "King of Jungle Warfare" not without reason, and the 56th Division and the Burmese Independent Volunteer Army are in front of them to publicize, so along the way, there are Burmese people paving roads and bridges for the Japanese army and even preparing food, so that the Japanese 56th Division can march all the way without the need for logistics at all.

Considering these factors, Lin Wei decided to continue the Battle of Pingmanna, so that the Fifth Army could eat the Japanese 55th Division in front of him as soon as possible, so that the expeditionary force would defeat the Japanese army heroically under his command Lin Wei, so he could also become famous. (Note: At this time, the expeditionary force did not know that there were two divisions of the Japanese army in front of it, that is, the 55th Division and the 18th Division)

However, this is not the final deciding factor.

Because Du Yuming knew that the battlefield situation was already dangerous for the expeditionary force, and he could not let the 100,000 officers and soldiers of the expeditionary force take this risk, so he overstepped the level and wrote a report to Chiang Kai-shek to explain the battlefield situation clearly.

But this report did not reach Chiang Kai-shek...... was pressed down by Lin Wei, who was so happy, through the relationship, Chiang Kai-shek got a report from Lin Wei, and the wording was naturally completely reversed to the other side, which made Chiang Kai-shek feel that the situation of the Battle of Pingmanna was very good, and Chiang Kai-shek himself also wanted to fight a beautiful battle to improve himself or China's status in the world, so he waved his pen: Continue the Battle of Pingmanna!

Stilwell's orders could not be disobeyed, Luo Zhuoying's orders could not be disobeyed, and Lin Wei's orders could not be disobeyed, but Chiang Kai-shek's orders could not be disobeyed, so in the end Du Yuming could only compromise.

As a result of the compromise, the Battle of Pingmana continued to be fought, and Zhang Chi's painstaking efforts were in vain.

What to do? What to do? What to do?!

Zhang Chi panicked at this time, because he knew that when the Fifth Army was attacking the defense line of the Japanese 55th Division on the central front, the Japanese 56th Division had already penetrated directly into the rear of the expeditionary force on the eastern front, and the troops of the Sixth Army stationed on the eastern front, that is, Gan Lichu, were not vulnerable at all.

This will directly lead to the expeditionary force losing logistics and even being cut off from returning home, if the war situation is allowed to develop to this point, then the expeditionary force will almost be unavoidable like the defeat of the Savage Mountain in history.