In just half a year, starting from the Sichuan Army's attack on Nantianmen, the Western Yunnan counterattack was considered a great victory, which even the head of state in Chongqing did not expect.
In addition to handwritten documents commending several outstanding generals, the head of state's usual medals and commendations arrived in western Yunnan like snowflakes, and a large number of silver coins were distributed to reward officers from various ministries who had made the most outstanding contributions.
In particular, Liao Mingyu's First Division played a vital role in the entire battle. If the Third Division hadn't marched all the way west and defeated the Japanese, they lost their armor and armor. It's unknown how long the counterattack in Western Yunnan would have lasted.
At present, the first phase of the counterattack on Myanmar has come to an end, and the Allied forces have also completed the clearance of the India-Myanmar border. Stilwell immediately began to prepare for the next combat operation, but when he contacted Chongqing, the answer he received made him extremely angry. .
The government responded that the Western Yunnan Expeditionary Force had suffered heavy losses due to consecutive days of fighting, and should undergo a period of repair and replenishment. It would not use troops against Myanmar for the time being. The Chinese Army in India could continue to fight against Japan, and Sun Liren and Liao Yaoxiang would make their own arrangements.
Stilwell was furious. He and the Chongqing man had always disliked each other, but now that things were getting better and the conflict continued to escalate, Cha Hua pointed at each other and scolded him.
In fact, the bald head of state did not make up his mind to fight back in western Yunnan at this time.
First, the head of state has always been wary of the British. As early as the first time the Chinese Expeditionary Force entered Myanmar to fight, the British showed uncooperation many times and dropped the ball at critical moments, resulting in many defeats for the Chinese Expeditionary Force.
It can be said that the first battle was entirely to cover the retreat of these pig teammates. It was a bloody road paved by countless Chinese soldiers with their lives for the British.
Therefore, in the past year and a half, although the United Kingdom and the United States repeatedly urged the government to organize a counterattack, the bald head of state was afraid that the British would once again break their promises and not cooperate, causing the expeditionary force to face the Japanese army alone, so they remained stationary.
If Liao Mingyu hadn't emerged from nowhere, the counterattack in western Yunnan would not have started until May next year.
Secondly, the head of state is prepared to preserve his strength and focus more on the domestic battlefield than Myanmar.
At present, the Japanese are eyeing Hunan. Seeing that the Battle of Hengyang is about to begin, the Ninth Theater is not absolutely sure to stop the Japanese attack. At least there are two armies in western Yunnan with nearly 150,000 people. If the war goes unfavorably, the head of state is likely to transfer these more than 100,000 people to the domestic battlefield to relieve the pressure on the ninth theater.
Unwilling to give up, Stilwell continued to negotiate with the head of state, and even threatened to suspend international military aid to force Baldhead into palace. At the same time, they also began to contact Roosevelt to ask their president to put pressure on Baldhead.
The bald head of state, who had already made up his mind, hesitated again. After all, the Cairo Conference had just ended. In order to win over Chiang Kai-shek to continue resisting Japan and reduce the pressure on the US military in the Pacific, in addition to promising huge aid to China, Roosevelt publicly declared that Chiang Kai-shek was one of the "Four Powers". One of the leaders".
At this point, China has become one of the four major powers in the world, and will have to rely on the Americans in many places in the world in the future. Coupled with the importance of India's international aid line, Baldhead has no choice but to make concessions due to these reasons.
However, the shrewd head of state did not know how to make mistakes, and only mobilized the 71st Army and the 2nd Army as representatives to continue to advance westward, cooperating with the troops stationed in India to pose a threat to Myitkyina from the east, while most of the Western Yunnan Expeditionary Force stayed behind and waited. Next instruction.
On the other side, as the Third Division made great progress and achieved a major victory in Myanmar, the head of state decided to form a new 88th Army, which was mainly composed of the Honorable Third Division and the 200th Division. In addition, the temporary Seventh Division was transferred from the rear to his command.
Anyway, the Honorable Third Division is well-known for its ability to fight, and now it has been strengthened. Their role in Myanmar is comparable to that of half an army group.
This not only solves the problem of entering Myanmar but also retains the main force of the Western Yunnan Expeditionary Force to the greatest extent. It can be said to kill two birds with one stone.
However, the bald head of state had difficulties in choosing the commander of the army. Originally, the best candidate was Liao, who was cultivating land in Nankan. However, the opposition in the army was not ordinary. Among them was Minister He. The leading faction is the most intense,
For a time, rumors were flying all over Chongqing, with all kinds of words slandering Liao Mingyu emerging one after another, saying that he had a violent personality and was not suitable for high-level positions, or citing examples of being maverick and disobeying orders to deliberately discredit him.
Minister He also recommended Zhang Lingfu, who served under his trusted general Wang Yaowu, as the commander of the New 88th Army. The latter was a fourth-generation student in Huangpu, and his qualifications and abilities were sufficient to be the commander of an army.
However, Chief Chen from the Department of Civil Engineering couldn't sit still at this time. He was already at odds with Minister He, so how could he not get involved in this opportunity of confrontation?
In addition, he somewhat admired and wanted to win over Liao Mingyu, Chief Chen immediately testified for him and recommended it to the head of state. Why didn't such a powerful general give him a bigger stage?
So the two groups of people quarreled over this issue, which also reflected the serious factional disputes within the government.
Seeing that the situation was tense, the head of state could not make up his mind for a while. Director Dai, who was well versed in the situation, did not stand up to speak out about Liao Mingyu this time. Instead, he chose to protect himself. This was also to make the head of state less suspicious of the latter.
Perhaps for the sake of balance, or perhaps because of suspicion, what is surprising is that the head of state did not support Liao Mingyu this time, but he also ignored Minister He's recommendation, and finally appointed Fan Shaozeng, who had been idle in Chongqing for half a year, as the commander of the 88th Army. .
Speaking of this, Fan Shaozeng is also a strange person. He was originally a general under Yang Sen, the great warlord of Sichuan, and he was also a representative figure in the Sichuan army who actively advocated resistance to Japan.
He was born in a large family in central Sichuan. He didn't like reading since he was a child. He often went to teahouses to listen to books, and he yearned for heroes who robbed the rich and helped the poor. He joined the robe at the age of 13 and wanders around all day long. To put it bluntly, he is a rich second generation living in mixed society.
In order to avoid studying when he was a child, he often pretended to be crazy and stupid in front of his teacher and father. Fan's father was so angry that he called him "Ha'er" (meaning fool in Sichuan dialect). Because of his upright, hot and free-spirited personality, he was nicknamed "Ha'er" after he became a general. For "Commander Hal"
During the period of warlord melee, there was no peace in central Sichuan. Yang Sen tried to unify Sichuan by force, but failed and had no choice but to step down. Most of the troops were handed over to Fan Shaozeng, who was also reorganized by Liu Xiang. .
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the Sichuan Army was reorganized and sent out of Sichuan to fight against the Japanese. Fan Shaozeng volunteered to fight against the enemy because of his disagreement with Liu Xiang, and rushed to the front line in Shanghai alone. He was then the deputy commander of the 11th Corps. Then Shanghai fell and the army retreated to Hankou.
The following year, Liu Xiang, Han Fuqu and others conspired to overthrow Chiang. This guy immediately reported the secret to Bald Head. He received Bald Head's trust and praise, and was appointed commander of the Eighty-Eighth Army to recruit soldiers to fight against Japan.
Fan Shaozeng, who once again gained military power, quickly organized four regiments in Sichuan, but the weapons were in dilapidated condition and the soldiers were evenly matched. He took out more than half of his belongings to finance his own equipment. He also told the officers and soldiers: In the past, civil wars only harmed the common people. This time to resist Japanese aggression, even if I lose everything, I will work hard with you to drive away the Japanese!
From leaving Sichuan in 1939 to returning to Chongqing in 1943, Fan Shaozeng fought in many places in Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Hubei. He fought dozens of battles with the Japanese army, large and small, and achieved many victories. The brave and capable Eighty-eighth Army became the lieutenant general of the Sichuan Army. There are always victorious troops. It has received dozens of awards and medals at all levels issued by the Ministry of Military Affairs and the Military Commission, and was upgraded to a Type A Army with jurisdiction over 3 divisions.
Especially in May 1942, Fan Shaozeng led his troops to kill a Japanese lieutenant general and wound a major general within two days. The two generals defeated by Fan Shaozeng were Lieutenant General Naoji Sakai, commander of the Japanese 15th Division, and Major General Kono, commander of the Japanese 40th Brigade.
In these two defeats against the Japanese army, the death of Naoji Sakai is definitely something that the Chinese people should be thankful for, because he was the Japanese officer who actively promoted the "Three Lights" policy, insulted women, and committed all kinds of evil. His death also caused an uproar in the Japanese army because he was the first division commander killed on the job in the history of the Japanese army.
However, there are many factions within the national army, and the combat effectiveness of the 88th Army and Fan Shaozeng's military exploits have also aroused the jealousy of some people. Soon after, Chiang Kai-shek also used the method of promotion and promotion, and transferred Fan Shaozeng away from the 88th Army, and only gave him the title of deputy commander-in-chief of the 10th Army, which was "favourable but not useful".
Although he had made great achievements, he was transferred away from the team he had led. This incident also made Fan Shaozeng feel very cold. With a hot temper and reckless temper, he quit the business in anger and returned to Chongqing in early 1943, where he has been idle ever since. .
As the saying goes, one learns from a tough time and one gains wisdom. This old Jianghu man from Paoge has not been idle since he returned to Chongqing. After knowing the rules of officialdom, he began to make friends from both sides and actively participated in the entertainment among the powerful. He also interacted with Minister He and Dai. Both the director and Chief Gu maintain a good relationship.
When the appointment of the new commander of the 88th Army fell to him this time, the two groups surprisingly stopped arguing and instead expressed that the head of state was "wise".
In this way, Fan Shaozeng happily embarked on the road to western Yunnan with his letter of appointment. However, Liao Mingyu, who was in Nankan, did not know that the head of state had parachuted an immediate boss for him...
At that time, Fan Shaozeng led the 88th Army from Sichuan to Jiangxi, Jiangsu and Zhejiang and other places. He did not ask for a penny from Chiang Kai-shek on the way, and even if he asked for it, he would not give it. Chiang Kai-shek couldn't wait for such miscellaneous troops to be consumed on the battlefield, so it was all He used his own savings to raise military supplies.
It was hard back then. Like all the Sichuan Army brothers who came out of Sichuan, the 88th Army also wore straw hats and straw sandals, and wore broadswords and red tassels. There were less than 10,000 people in the four regiments of the army, and half of them had no guns. An infantry battalion with several hundred people had machine guns. The number is less than two.
Even so, the soldiers of the Sichuan Army are still fearless of death. They can be seen throwing their heads and blood on all major battlefields in China, and the 88th Army is the best among them. This is also due to Fan Shaozeng's flexible and sophisticated command.
Some people seem to be born with rare talents, such as Fan Shaozeng. Although this guy never went to school, let alone a military academy, he was like a fish in water when it came to fighting.
Although he is usually blunt and stupid, he is as cunning as a fox on the battlefield. He has won many victories by avoiding the real and attacking the weak, and using ingenuity. He also tricked a division commander and injured a brigade commander. General "Haer"'s reputation shocked both China and Japan, and at the same time, it also promoted the Understand the Sichuan Army's status in various battlefields.
With this battle, the 88th Army was upgraded from a miscellaneous army to a Type A Army with three divisions. It was also considered a smash hit among the Chinese army at that time.
The 88th Army won the battle, and the people of the original country should be proud of it. But some people are jealous and want to annex this heroic army. This man was He Yingqin, the then commander-in-chief of the Army of the Nationalist Government.
Minister He promoted him to the deputy commander-in-chief of the 32nd Army without a smile, and asked his nephew He Shaozhou to fill the vacancy of commander of the 88th Army. Poor Fan Shaozeng almost lost all his money, so he moved here and there to recruit soldiers, and he worked hard to raise an army. As soon as it started to improve, he was robbed by his uncle and nephew from the He family.
This incident caused Fan Shaozeng to become disillusioned with the Kuomintang. He quit the job in anger and returned to Chongqing to live in seclusion.
Although this guy went around trying to build relationships and even pretended to be stupid to rebuild the relationship with Minister He, he never forgot his original shame and unwillingness for a moment, and he was extremely disappointed with Chiang Kai-shek's inaction.
In fact, Fan Shaozeng had paid attention to Liao Mingyu as early as half a year ago, because the latter's killing of He Shaoyi made a big fuss, which also made Lao Fan very happy and indirectly made him angry.
The key point is that Liao Mingyu killed an army commander but nothing happened in the end. This made Fan Shaozeng look at him with admiration, and he began to pay attention to him from then on.
It was a coincidence that when the new 88th Army was formed this time, Fan Shaozeng, the old 88th Army commander, was appointed. Moreover, before leaving, the head of state specifically stated that he must firmly grasp the military power, and that Liao Mingyu would be slowly transferred from the Honorary Third Division later. Minister He was even more ruthless. He went to him directly and said that he would find a way to kill someone...
The situation that Liao Mingyu was facing now was so similar to that of his own back then. They were all a form of killing to seize the fruits of victory. Fan Shaozeng was the most disgraceful to do such a thing, and he had long been dissatisfied with Chiang Kai-shek's style and the behavior of the Military and Political Department. Ganggucai has such a cool face, so before coming here, he decided that he would never listen to anyone's instructions when he arrived in Myanmar, and he would be happy as he pleased.
After listening to what Fan Shaozeng said, Liao Mingyu smiled bitterly and shook his head silently. Chiang Kai-shek's thoughts were really unpredictable, and those dogs inside the government were more sinister than the last. If he wanted to survive in such an environment, he would have to join in the evil deeds. Or be more ruthless and sinister than them.
With the strength of his drink, Fan Shaozeng shook his head and said frankly: "Brother Liao, I have said what needs to be said. This bullshit government is just like that. I dare to guarantee that there will be no peace once the little Japan and China are driven away. It would be strange if all forces do not engage in a war in the Central Plains again... We all are not economical on fuel."
"Let's talk about that later. For now, we still have to focus on the little devil." Liao Mingyu responded softly.
Unexpectedly, Fan Shaozeng had such a far-sighted vision and could actually see some clues about the situation in China after the war, but he certainly could not predict who would win in the end.
"In my opinion, it won't be fun to go back. Why don't we just hang out with the Americans here? What about the army commander and his deputy? I've just said this. From now on, you have the final say. Brother, I Just be a good person and I'll take care of the government, so you can develop in peace..."
Fan Haer, who came here all the time, inevitably acted like a warlord. He was obviously constantly wooing Liao Mingyu, or in other words, he wanted to join the latter.
"Regardless of the domestic struggle, managing this three-thirds of an acre of land is better than anything else. Even if one side wins, we still have the capital to express our stance...don't you think so?"
His idea is the most correct, but Liao Mingyu's heart is bigger than him.
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