The third order of the riverside Shozo was to urgently transfer the 16th Wing of the 2nd Division, which was being deployed along the coastline, to return to defense.

Although the order of Shozo Riverside is a bit like tearing down the east wall and making up the west wall, it is still strategically reasonable.

The first reason is that it is impossible for the Japanese troops in other directions to return to the defense in time within more than ten hours, and only the 16th Wing is the closest, so it can only do this.

The other is because Kawabe Shozo judged that the British army at this time was only concerned with defending Imphal and was unlikely to attack the Japanese from the coastline again, and even if the British army would attack the Japanese army, there would still be a wing stationed on the coastline. What's more, the British army had the intention and intention to attack Rangoon, and it was the troops that were burning their eyebrows along the Irrawaddy River to Rangoon, and if they did not block this Chinese force and cause the loss of Rangoon, it would be meaningless for the Japanese army to garrison along the coastline.

The order of the 16th Wing of the 16th Wing was to rush to the Duandi Canal immediately and organize a defense along both sides of the canal.

This information was quickly transmitted by the Burmese Independence Volunteer Army to Zhang Chi's ears, and Zhang Chi couldn't help but gasp, he had to admit that Kawabe Shozo had grasped the key point...... The Duandi Canal was very narrow, and the fleet of more than 100 ships had to cross the Duandi Canal in a long snake formation, which was undoubtedly vulnerable to Japanese attack.

Originally, there were not many Japanese troops stationed in the Duandi Canal, and Zhang Chi and Stilwell thought that they could defeat the Japanese troops on both sides of the Duandi Canal in one fell swoop with the help of the Chindit troops and the Burmese, but now, Hebian Zhengzo transferred a whole wing back to defend ......

It should be said that this is also where Zhang Chi and Stilwell were negligent, they did not expect that Kawabe Shozo would ignore the gap in coastal defense.

But Stilwell was quick to offer a solution.

"I will send planes to bomb and have the Burmese and Chindit troops interfere with the march of the Japanese 16th Division!" Stilwell said, "But you have to speed up, you have to get through before the Japanese 16th Wing arrives at the Duandi Canal!" ”

Zhang Chi agreed, because it would take more than ten hours for the 16th Wing of the Japanese Army to reach the Duandi Canal, and if it was bombed by American air power or a few bridges were blown up to slow down the march, then the fleet might still be able to pass through the canal ahead of them.

The fourth order was to order the 52nd Flying Group at Yangon Airport to bomb the Chinese fleet.

The 52nd Flying Group was the only Japanese flying group in southern Burma, and the rest of the flying groups were engaged in the attack on Imphal according to Mutaguchi Ryoya's "U Plan". This flying group was originally intended to defend against a possible landing of British troops from the coast, but at this time, of course, it was to attack the Chinese convoy first.

But this order was stopped by the staff officer.

"Your Excellency, General!" The staff officer advised Kawabe Shozo: "It is impossible for the Chinese army to expose the fleet to the fire of our fighters, and our reconnaissance planes have also reported the discovery of US fighters, plus the 29th and 30th Wings have suffered heavy losses under the air raids of US aircraft, so I think ...... It is quite possible that the Chinese fleet is escorted by American fighters. If our flying group fights easily, the result may not only fail to stop the Chinese fleet from moving south, but it will also be killed and wounded under the attack of US fighters! ”

Hearing this, Kawabe Shozo couldn't help but be silent, his silence was not only because he knew that the staff officer was right, but also because he realized that he was a little rash in command.

After a while, Kawabe Shozo asked the staff officer, "Then what does Yamano-kun mean ......?"

Staff Officer Yamano used to be a pilot. Therefore, he was quite familiar with air warfare, and even had a deep understanding of US fighter planes, so he thought about it and replied: "I think it is necessary for our fighters to dispatch to defend against the enemy, but not now. Your Excellency, please see ......"

Saying that, Staff Officer Yamano pointed to the map in front of the riverside Shozo and said: "Judging from the current situation, it is very likely that the US planes will take off from Mandalay, and the straight-line distance between Mandalay and Yangon is more than 400 kilometers, which is almost the combat radius of the US fighters......"

"Oh!" Hearing this, Hebe Zhengzo couldn't help but nodded.

The maximum range of the US fighter P40 is 1,100 kilometers, and the fighter has to fly back after flying to the destination for combat. In addition, it is necessary to carry enough ammunition and throw away auxiliary fuel tanks during combat, so that the combat radius is about 500 kilometers when calculated, which is indeed just like the estimate of the mountain and field staff officers.

"In this way......" the staff officer continued, "we can wait for the Chinese fleet to reach the vicinity of the Duandi Canal and then send a flying group to intercept it." At that time, the combat effectiveness of US fighters will be reduced to a minimum! ”

Kawabe Shozo nodded in agreement.

This is very obvious, although the Japanese fighter group has only one group of about 40 fighters, while the US military may have prepared hundreds of fighters, which is completely disproportionate in number.

But. The distance is a very important factor in air combat.

For example, if the Japanese army planned to conduct an air battle near the Duandi Canal, the Japanese planes could be put into battle almost as soon as they flew together. As a result, they basically don't have to worry about running out of fuel, and even when they run out of ammunition, they can fly back to the airport to replenish it, and then they can go into battle again soon.

Although the total number of US planes at that time was much more than that of the Japanese army, there may be only a dozen or even fewer planes that can be put into battle at the same time, and even after these dozen fighters have been engaged in a struggle with the Japanese fighters for more than 10 minutes in the air, they may have to return because of lack of fuel, so the fleet will inevitably be ruthlessly attacked by the Japanese fighters.

Zhang Chi originally thought that the Japanese army would send fighter planes to bomb the convoy after discovering it, and then the US fighters escorting the convoy would be able to defeat the Japanese army's only little air power with the cooperation of the fleet's air defense forces. But unexpectedly, the Japanese flying group never came out.

So Zhang Chi knew that the Japanese army was likely to use the advantage of distance to attack closely...... And this is not good news for the Chinese interspersed forces.

At this time, Wang Mazi's phone call reached Zhang Chi's battalion headquarters: "There is an artillery regiment of the Japanese army twenty miles ahead, prepare for battle!" ”

Zhang Chi knew that it was the artillery unit that the Japanese army urgently pulled up to block the Chinese fleet, and even Zhang Chi knew that this artillery regiment was very likely to belong to the 24th Mixed Brigade.

No matter what will happen in the future, no matter what difficulties there will be, let's first annihilate the Japanese artillery unit. (To be continued.) )