The planes landed in an open space outside Mandalay, and the city was smoking, as the Japanese had just attacked the Imperial Palace, presumably in retaliation for the onslaught of Chinese troops on the front line. The Japanese army did not have the technical means of night bombing, and it was completely indiscriminate bombing in the form of venting anger, which could avoid ground fire and the ambush of the Flying Tigers to the greatest extent, and only needed a few ground agents to indicate the approximate target area. ，

Sun Liren got into the jeep and galloped to the new headquarters, because he was worried about the Japanese air raid, the headquarters moved to the new 22nd Division defense area on the outskirts. In the distance, a long black dragon could be seen moving slowly, as the train was carrying ammunition forward. Since the foreign aid channel has been cut off, what is currently supporting this campaign is actually domestic stockpiles of ammunition. To some extent, a weakened China began to overdraw its forces and plunge into this foreign war. Even if the patchwork ammunition that has exhausted the national strength is transported from Yunnan, crossed the Huitong Bridge into the Lashio Railway, and passed through Meimiao to the Mandalay distribution center, only about one-third of the materials are finally delivered to the destination. Japanese fighter jets from Vietnam, Thailand, and southern Burma almost cut off daytime transport. Japanese planes came from the Thai border with the help of mountains to cover, and the British radar countermeasures were extremely short, and the Japanese troops fought and left, and the Flying Tigers were at a loss.

Entrance to the venue. Du Yuming saw that Chu Tingchang's car had arrived, and hurriedly stepped forward. Chief Chu shook off the Japanese military flag he had brought with him rather flatteringly. A bunch of officers from the headquarters also flocked over, lining up to shake hands with the minor major and take a group photo in front of the Japanese flag here.

Speaking of which, Kagesa Zhenzhao is indeed more cowardly, when the British commandos surrounded the headquarters, his first thought was to kill Hasegawa, which was different from other Japanese generals, the first thing ordinary officers thought about was to burn the military flag, and the second thing was probably to commit suicide by seppuku.

Even Stilwell was not exempt from vulgarity, and came to take a photo with Chu Tingchang; Before coming, Stilwell specially asked his deputy, and got a very accurate report, nearly five months after the start of the war, the American army had not captured a single Japanese flag, not even the squad flag on the bayonet.

When Sun Liren, who arrived one step later, entered the venue, everyone flocked to Chu Tingchang, and no one greeted the real initiator of the battle, only the guards on duty stepped forward and asked him to hand over his pistol and register.

In previous military meetings, there were no such strict precautions against senior generals, and he speculated that it might have something to do with his own heated telegram in the afternoon. Luo Zhuoying is probably really worried that he will collapse their rising star at the venue. In short, these people really think down on themselves.

He shook his hand and entered the venue, where Liao Yaoxiang was studying the map with the tall officer, and he didn't seem to bother to go outside, rubbing his presence on a guy who had just been promoted to major.

The tall man had clashed with Sun Liren before, and seemed to be a deputy division commander of the 74th Army, with an accent like Du Yuming's fellow countryman.

"Look here, the 93rd Division is east of Jingdong, and it has just fought with the Thai army, losing more than 400 people. It's a shame. Liao Yaoxiang said, "My 93 and 55 are too weak, only if your 74th Army enters Burma or is stationed in Banna, can the flanks rest assured." ”

The general next to him didn't speak, just nodded.

Sun Liren walked closer and looked at the map. He also knew that 2 days ago, the Thai army suddenly hit and then retracted, which seemed to be just a temptation.

"Yes, we need a strong force to defend the right flank, at least through Lincang and into Pu'er." Sun Liren's voice was loud, and he suddenly interjected, although he didn't talk to these two in the past, but when it came to the military, he didn't care about the distance of people.

"Division Commander Sun is right, the 93rd Division lost too ugly, was chased and beaten by the Thai Elephant Army, and was also captured by a regiment commander, as far as I know, since the Ming Dynasty our Central Plains troops mastered firearms, they have never been defeated by the Elephant Army. It's really going back the more I fight. Over there, Liao Yaoxiang shook his head and said.

"There is also the temporary 55th Division in the Leke area, which is also a well-known opium army, and it is said that the actual number of soldiers is only 6,000, and the military command department is 8,500."

When it came to the chronic illness of the national army, they quickly found a point of convergence, lit cigarettes with each other, and exchanged ideas enthusiastically.

"The 56th Division of the Japanese Army is still missing, Chen Zhiping doesn't know what to eat, and the whereabouts of the enemy army of nearly 20,000 people are unclear. One time it was in Yangon, and another time it was in western Myanmar. He told every possible place, and he could always match it when the time came, but what we wanted was exact information. ”

"I'm wondering if they will come from the Thai-Burma path, the 18th Division is known as the king of the mountains, but now it is in the open place, and this 56th Division is actually not to be underestimated. In the Philippine Campaign, it was this Dragon Division that interspersed Bataan for a long time and gave the most fatal blow to the American army. ”

was talking about Xingtou, and the crowd outside surrounded Chu Tingchang into the venue. The three generals here extinguished their cigarette butts in the ashtray and watched coldly.

"Without the support of your commanders, how can Changting dare to take the enemy's chieftain banner among the ten thousand armies? That's never daring to think about it, not daring to think about it. ”

In the crowd, Chu Tingchang was still there with a hippie smile, pretending to be polite.

Fifty kilometers away, the Japanese 56th Division, which had been reconnoitring troops, was moving in the dark through the steep mountains and forests, and they were tasked with the final confirmation of the road they were taking.

Two days ago, the Japanese army instigated two divisions of the Thai army to set off from the border and fight with the Chinese army stationed in Xishuangbanna, with the purpose of testing the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army in this area. On the surface, the Chinese army held the danger here, and recently stationed a second division, but the combat effectiveness of the troops sent was not at all comparable to that of other expeditionary forces.

When cleaning the battlefield, in addition to seizing a large number of rotten guns, cigarette guns and tobacco soil were also found. The dream of a sneak attack on Iida, which was almost extinguished, was rekindled.

Hirai Usuke Daisa opened the banana leaves and looked at the defense area of a regiment of the 55th Division in the flickering firelight. As you can see by the moonlight, the fortifications have come to a standstill, and in order to guard against flash floods, the troops abandoned the valley passage and moved to the nearby mountains.

"Roar, bring me the map."

A staff officer took the map in the back, and he made a mark on the mountain pass east of Moch.

"Zhongzuo, General Ba Song said that this was originally a primeval forest, and in the Qing Dynasty, Chinese merchants bought hardwood, so some mountain people cut out a vacant land, which can pass cars, but the cars will be scrapped if they go through here."

"Compared to the siege of 100,000 Chinese troops before the Tianchang Festival, the loss of cars is nothing.

"Sir, before the Tianchang Festival, can you capture Lashio?"

"Before I came, I also suspected that after all, there were two divisions blocking the road, but if the Chinese army defending this area was all of this virtue, we would not only capture Lashio, but even cross the Huitong Bridge and threaten Kunming."

At the venue, Du Yuming was briefing on the first phase of the campaign and the outlook for the second phase.

On the side of the sand table, the British listened attentively and nodded from time to time, of course, it was just a joke, Alexander was still worried about the Japanese amphibious attack, and he didn't want to participate in the attack and defense between China and Japan at all.

"This is a map of the Japanese army captured by the headquarters of the 2nd Brigade of the Japanese Mixed Brigade, which indicates the location of the Japanese reserves where the traces are currently hidden."

Someone spread out the map that Chu Tingchang got from the Shadow Zuo Zhenzhao Headquarters, and the map was real, but some of the marks on it were added by him later, which was used to reverse the situation that Chen Zhiping repeatedly did not report it.

Anderson, the head of the British intelligence agency, watched coldly from the sidelines, it was very strange that the air service regiment was negligent enough to leave such a map, and the British attached great importance to the intelligence advantage of the Chinese army, so the map was the focus of the search, and the Japanese military flag was not the focus, but deliberately left the favor of the Chinese. How did this Chu Tingchang get the map? Why is his map newer than the date Smith got it?

"Judging from this map, the Japanese 56th Division Hirai Wing appeared in Biaoguan. There seems to be some attempt. Du Yuming didn't say anything to death, waiting for everyone to discuss.

"I think it may be false information," General Slim said, "and according to our intelligence, the 56th Division has been in Rangoon, ready to board ships and land on the western coast." ”

The Chinese soldiers focused their attention on Chen Zhiping, hoping that he would refute the British crankiness.

"According to our information, the Hirai Wing did appear at Biaoguan, but please pay attention. The Hirai Wing is not an infantry wing, but a direct search wing, with only seven or eight hundred people, and Hirai Usuke is only a Nakasa, so it is likely that it is just a false shot. ”

He seemed to have made a ball for the British, and Lin Xiuxuan was hollowed out to provide information, and the waves set off easily calmed down. Of course, behind this incident was his own judgment, and he stubbornly believed that it was impossible for a large army to pass through the mountainous areas on the Thai-Burmese border. He completely exceeded the proper duties of an intelligence officer.

"I would like to add," Sun said, "that whatever decision we make, it has to be fast." It is estimated that while we are arguing, the third pontoon bridge of the Japanese army on the Irrawaddy River has been assumed, so that the main force of the 33rd Division, plus the tanks of the 14th Wing, will quickly appear on the flank of our division, how should we deal with this? ”

As he spoke, he turned to Chief Chu, as if he had designated him to answer.

Chu Tingchang saw that the opportunity was almost over, and he firmly squeezed to the front and stood next to Stilwell. Even high-ranking Chinese generals did not dare to stand on Stilwell's side, this old man always put invisible pressure on everyone, and he had never seen a good face.

"According to me, this Sakurai San, he simply doesn't know whether he is alive or dead, and he is in a hurry to be reincarnated."

Stilwell turned grim, he felt that Chu Tingchang's evaluation of the opponent was not serious. But I'm looking forward to hearing about it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you see, the enemy on the Eastern Front has already formed a group and it is difficult to fight, so it is not appropriate for us to fight hard. According to me, it's better to go back and fuck the 33rd Division, the iron bridge in the upper reaches of the river is still in our hands, and we have a lot of mobile advantages, if we can give full play to it. ”

There was silence in the venue.

"Hit the Sakurai Division?" Sun Liren couldn't help but ask.

"Didn't Sakurai open a 60-kilometer front, and still build a bridge to the east? In my opinion, just wait for his main force to cross the river, and when he is halfway through, blow up his pontoon bridge, and then General Sun can quickly go north, use the upstream iron bridge at our disposal, maneuver around the side and back, and kick him in the ass. ”

The British and American staff suddenly began to whisper, and the Chinese soldiers here also understood what Chu Tingchang meant, regardless of whether he had prejudices or not, he provided a very strange plan that made people's blood begin to boil. The use of upstream bridges to enhance mobility is a novel idea, and the half-crossing attack is an ancient strategy, which was pinched together by this person.

"Half-crossed?" Liao Yaoxiang hesitated, "How can you guarantee that the enemy pontoon bridge will be destroyed when you want?" ”

"Take advantage of the Air Force."

"But we don't have air supremacy."

"Night attack."

"Nighttime? If the Japanese control the lights, how to drop bombs? Liao Yaoxiang quickly pulled everyone back to reality, Chu Tingchang's strategy of half-crossing does have an attractive side, but there are also problems that are extremely difficult to overcome technically.

"It's up to General Roao's Royal Air Force."

Chu Tingchang turned to the commander of the British Air Force, Luo O, who did not speak much. The other side was a little stunned, because of the heavy losses, the burden of air support is gradually being picked up by the flying American air force, not the British air force, which only has some old bombers left. He attends meetings to listen.

"What can I do?"

"Do you have some 1,600-pound thunderbolts?"

"Yes, but the Wellington bomber can only carry one."

"1 is enough, throw it downstream, and it will blow up the Japanese pontoon bridge downstream."