At this time, the Chinese Expeditionary Force was ready to retreat.
And at this moment, an extremely unexpected situation happened.
After the Japanese 56th Division occupied Lashio, they did not stop attacking. They divided their troops into two groups and continued to circuit northwest. They successively captured Nancha, Bhamo, and Myitkyina. The other group moved closer to the Nu River and successively occupied China. Wanding, Mangshi and Longling are approaching Huitong Bridge.
Wanding, Mangshi and Longling are all towns along the Burma Road. Huitong Bridge is a bridge across the Nu River on the Burma Road. Once the Japanese army occupied Huitong Bridge, they would have entered the hinterland of Yunnan, China. At that time, Kunming It's hard to say whether it can be defended.
Once Kunming is lost, there will be no need to fight the War of Resistance. The Japanese army arrived near Huitong Bridge. The cunning Japanese and Burmese traitors mingled with the refugees crossing the bridge, preparing to capture Huitong Bridge by surprise.
At that time, there was chaos on the Huitong Bridge. A large number of refugees and defeated troops were vying to cross the bridge first, refusing to give way to each other. The suspension bridge, which was already full, began to shake violently. The Chinese troops guarding the bridge fired warning shots to maintain order.
Seeing the Chinese army firing, the Japanese bridge-capture force mixed in with the refugees thought they had been discovered, and immediately fired back and seized the bridge.
The Chinese army saw someone shooting among the refugees and knew that the Japanese had sneaked in. Since they did not know whether the Japanese troops were real or not, nor could they tell which were the Japanese troops and which were the refugees, the panicked bridge defenders detonated the pre-planted explosives.
After failing to seize the bridge, the Japanese army began to forcefully cross the Nu River. The number of Chinese defenders was too small and they could not stop the Japanese army.
At the critical moment, Song Xilian arrived with the 36th Division. They were originally ordered to support Lashio and had just arrived here.
The 36th Division was also one of the three German weapon divisions that year. It had strong combat capabilities. After a fierce battle, the 36th Division annihilated hundreds of Japanese troops who had just crossed the Nu River and repelled the Japanese troops' forced crossing.
Chennault's Flying Tigers also came to join the battle and continuously strafed and bombed the Japanese troops, causing heavy casualties to the Japanese troops. The Chinese army barely blocked the Japanese army on the west bank of the Nu River.
Many, many years later, a TV series described this scene:
The Chinese soldiers were singing on the edge of the Nu River and found that the Japanese had mixed in. Then they identified the Japanese through singing and quietly wiped their necks. (My leader is my group.)
The Japanese's goal was achieved. They blocked all roads from Myanmar to China. There were no roads in places that were not blocked, such as Savage Mountain.
All the escape routes have been taken away, and this battle cannot be fought.
Stilwell finally realized that the Battle of Pingmanna could not be won. The most important issue now was how to retreat safely.
On April 30, Stilwell abandoned Mandalay and led more than 42,000 people from the 5th Army, the main force of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, to the west bank of the Irrawaddy River, preparing to retreat to Myitkyina.
Later, Stilwell received news that Wanding, Longling and other places had been lost, and the Burma Highway was completely cut off. Due to poor communication, Stilwell did not know the news about Bhamo and Myitkyina.
Now the Chinese Expeditionary Force has only two ways to go. One is to take the road traveled by the British and withdraw to India. Since the 38th Division blocks the Japanese 33rd Division, the road to India has not been cut off. The other is to withdraw to the densely populated area. China, and from there withdraw to China.
In fact, no matter which way you go, you will be hunted down.
Before the British fled, they let it go. If the Chinese army retreated to India, the British Empire would welcome it, but the British Empire could only receive the Chinese army as refugees.
What's the meaning?
If Chinese troops want to enter India, they must first take off their military caps, tear off their logos, and then disarm.
Du Yuming was already angry with the British. When he heard the British say this, he became furious: "Even if we all die fighting the Japanese army, we will not go to India as refugees."
Stilwell and Luo Zhuoying's opinion was to withdraw to India. The British insulted the Chinese and not the Americans. It would be better to go to India. The Chinese Expeditionary Force needed help from the Americans. Stilwell could take the opportunity to completely control the Chinese Expeditionary Force. .
Du Yuming asked the Chairman of the Standing Committee for instructions to withdraw from Tengchong from Myitkyina. The Chairman of the Standing Committee, who did not know that Myitkyina had been occupied by the Japanese army, agreed to this plan.
Just as Du Yuming led the 5th Army to move, hundreds of people from the headquarters led by Stilwell and Luo Zhuoying fled.
They didn't want to evacuate to Myitkyina in the first place, they only wanted to go to India. What's more, the current mess was caused by them, and it would be difficult to explain back to China.
In times of crisis, what is the behavior of a commander abandoning his subordinates and fleeing first?
This is a felony that should be shot in any country.
Stilwell told only Marshall about his escape, and he led the small force into the jungles of Burma and lost the news. After more than two weeks of arduous march, Stilwell arrived in Dinsuki, India.
Stilwell served as a military attache and liaison officer stationed abroad. He not only had a group of journalist friends, but was also very good at using the power of the media. In any case, abandoning him without fleeing is a disgraceful act, and Americans cannot forgive him.
Steve asked his journalist friends for help, trumpeting that he was not afraid of dangers and led his troops to break through.
Americans, who are full of personal heroism, heard about the adventures of Stilwell and his party in the jungle, and gave the old cowboy a thumbs up. No one suspected that he was a deserter.
Americans are confused, but the Chinese are not confused. Not only the Chinese, but Americans in China can also see clearly.
Flying Tigers commander Chennault once said:
"If he is a company commander or battalion commander, he is only responsible for the troops under his direct command. This behavior is indeed commendable. However, as an important commander of the US military in Asia and chief of staff of the Chinese theater, he left the unit without permission. "To not hear anything from him for three weeks is shockingly ignorant and irresponsible."
On May 9, Du Yuming heard the news on the radio that the Japanese army had occupied Myitkyina.
The road back home was blocked.
Now, there is a road that is not a road:
Savage Mountain!
Go west, cross the Sheren Mountain, pass through the Jiangxin Slope, and climb over the Gaoligong Mountain with an altitude of more than 4,000 meters.
Considering that marching together would be too chaotic and would easily expose targets, Du Yuming ordered the 200th Division to stay behind and use guerrilla warfare to contain the Japanese pursuing troops, and then retreat at the same time. He himself decided to lead the New 22nd Division through the Foreigner Mountain.
At the same time, Sun Liren's 38th Division was ordered to rush to Yeren Mountain quickly.
Dai Anlan has always regarded obeying orders as his bounden duty. After receiving the order, he did not hesitate at all.
However, he still couldn't understand Du Yuming's order to destroy all tanks and trucks.
"Report, Meng Shao is here."
"What? What is he doing here at this time?"
Dai Anlan was startled: "Let him come in."
As soon as Meng Shaoyuan came in, he immediately said with a serious face: "Please let the division commander let the others go out, leaving only the division commander and the chief of staff."
Dai Anlan frowned, and then did the same: "Meng Shaoyuan, why is this so mysterious? This is me and the chief of staff."
Meng Shaoyuan said with a straight face: "Convey the secret order!"
