Time slowly moved forward, and in the blink of an eye it was March 1944. This was also the beginning of the Chinese New Year. Even the depressing war atmosphere could not affect the joy of the people celebrating the Spring Festival.
The world structure is also undergoing earth-shaking changes. On the European battlefield, the Soviet army went on the offensive in Leningrad and Novgorod. President Luo Si persuaded the president to convene a Pacific Operations Conference to re-plan the deployment and plan for the war against Japan. Coupled with the expeditionary force's victory in Southeast Asia, this also represents the beginning of the anti-Japanese camp's gradual shift from defense to offense.
In order to save the crisis, Japan replaced the two commanders-in-chief of the army and navy. The Prime Minister Hideki Tojo is also the Chief of Staff, and the Marine Minister Shimada is also the Chief of the Military Command Department. They hope to quickly implement "Operation No. 1".
This so-called "Operation No. 1" refers to the operation to open up the communication lines of mainland China. The Japanese "China Dispatch Force" finally issued a notification after many meetings and revisions. The purpose of the operation is to defeat the enemy, occupy and secure key points along the southern Hunan-Guangxi, Guangdong-Han and Beijing-Hankou railways, so as to destroy the main base of the enemy's air force, prevent enemy air attacks on the mainland of the empire, and disrupt sea transportation.
At the same time, Juichi Terauchi, then the commander-in-chief of southern Japan, was so angry that he almost had a stroke after receiving the news of the disastrous defeat in Myitkyina. He was so angry that he dismissed several senior officers in succession. Shojiro Iida, the commander of the 15th Front Army, fled in panic. , and he was directly sent back to the base camp to accept arbitration by the military court.
The old Japanese in the temple were also afraid of being held accountable at the base camp, so they quickly dispatched troops to try to retake northern Myanmar. The Lashio front line was once again ignited by the flames of war.
On the Pacific battlefield, they still pursued "hold on" tactics, trying to use the offshore islands to drag the Americans into the quagmire. On the other hand, they also tried their best to buy time for the Chinese army on the battlefield.
The dark clouds of war are hanging over Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangxi and other places, and armies from all walks of life are deploying troops and generals to prepare for the new campaign starting in the new year.
Just as Chiang Kai-shek hoped, the Chinese troops in Burma began to withdraw into the country one by one, splitting the two major armies of the expeditionary force and sending support to Hunan, Guangxi and other places.
The more than 80,000 troops stationed in India were regarded by him as his trump card and were reorganized in Kunming. The purpose is to reintegrate the Ministry and increase control over the troops so that it can play a decisive role in the next battle.
The Fourth Battle of Changsha was about to begin, but at this time, Chiang Kai-shek was already well prepared for the defense of Guizhou. Although Xue Yue repeatedly emphasized that he must coexist with Changsha, he was skeptical about whether he could hold on to Hunan.
If Changsha really cannot be defended, then the trump card of the troops stationed in India will be pushed to the front, trying to recapture northern Hunan with superior equipment and super combat power and save the decline.
In order to appease Sun Liren, Lao Jiang privately promised to make him the commander-in-chief of the New First Army and the New Sixth Army. When the Ninth Theater really couldn't hold it anymore, he would let him join the battle with the new army.
The reason why they are not allowed to go to the battlefield now is that Lao Jiang also has his own plan. Steel is good and must be used on the blade. Wouldn't it be more effective to wait until the little devils have been consumed enough by Xue Yue's six armies before going up?
After all, there are already more than 300,000 people in the Ninth War Zone, and now Huo Kuozhang's 20th Army has been transferred there. If so many troops can't stop the iron hoof of the little devil, then whether or not the Indian troops are stationed will have no impact on the outcome. If it is too large, it may be forced to pass through, but the number of troops will be too large and the command will be out of control.
Taking a step back, even if the Japanese take Hunan, they will definitely pay a heavy price. At this time, if the troops stationed in India counterattack with absolute firepower superiority like a magical force descending from the sky, there may be a better outcome. What an unexpected gain.
This is what Chiang Kai-shek thinks. The elite members of his direct line are all treasures, so don’t waste any of them if they can survive. On the contrary, those miscellaneous soldiers are just stepmothers, and they won’t feel bad if they die 11,000 times.
Anyway, Chiang Kai-shek is no longer in a hurry. Thanks to Liao Mingyu, he was able to mobilize nearly 200,000 troops from western Yunnan to support the domestic battlefield. Compared with history, the pressure the Japanese will face this time has become unprecedentedly huge.
On the other hand, whether it is the troops stationed in India or Liao Mingyu's troops, they basically use American equipment and fighting methods. The senior officials of the national government also saw the combat advantages. Compared with the German weapon masters who were praised before the war, , the era gap brought about by beautiful weapons is really too tempting.
So while Chiang Kai-shek was reorganizing the American Armed Forces, he was reaching out to the Americans on the other side of the ocean for guns and artillery.
Liao Mingyu also had the same idea as him, but their treatment was completely different.
The former kept making requests to the Indo-Chinese Allied Forces, hoping to get more military support, but he was answered with various excuses and excuses. The monthly transportation volume is only 1.5 tons, and the air line is less than 3 tons, which is not much improvement compared to the improvement before retaking the Burma Highway.
There are many reasons for the slow transportation of materials. On the one hand, it is because of the long distance. International aid first goes from the sea to India, then passes through Myitkyina, takes Bhamo and crosses Nankan, then passes through the Burma Highway to western Yunnan, and is finally sent to the rear areas of the country. The difficulty of transporting thousands of kilometers can be imagined.
On the other hand, the United States is not a fool. She will just give you a blood transfusion to hang on to your life. No more, no less. If you really can't hold on anymore, add more. Anyway, as long as you can't die, it will be fine. If everything is satisfied, you Can you still listen to me?
…
Two days later, a C47 transport plane took off from Tengchong Airport and flew slowly south across the sky.
The person who boarded the plane was none other than Liao Mingyu, and riding with him was his "old friend", Colonel Smith, the person in charge of international aid supplies.
The military situation on the front line was urgent. Liao Mingyu did not care about his fear of flying and returned to the Nankan headquarters as quickly as possible. Meng Fanle was arranged to stay in Zenda to continue transferring the troops' supplies and personnel, and to recruit more civilians along the way. labor.
What Liao Mingyu didn't expect was that when he arrived at Tengchong Airport and before he even had time to get on the plane, Smith, an old guy, chased him non-stop and insisted on going with him.
"My Colonel Smith, what happened to be so anxious? You have to squeeze into the same plane as me." Liao Mingyu said loudly at the top of his voice.
The huge noise of the transport plane almost covered up the voice of the voice, and the continuous vibration from the aircraft body made Liao Mingyu, who had extremely sensitive senses, feel very uncomfortable. This was one of the reasons why he was unwilling to fly.
Smith looked contented, stretched, half-reclined in his seat and said leisurely: "I'm here to say goodbye to you this time..."
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