What Liao Mingyu didn't know was that because of the emergency in the Yangon area, the Japanese territory in the occupied areas of Myanmar was about to be lost. This had already alarmed the base camp and the aloof "His Majesty the Emperor"
In addition, Juichi Terauchi spared no effort to publicize the serious threat of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, causing different opinions among the Japanese cabinet, and a dark cloud shrouded everyone's hearts.
On a smaller scale, it is called a strategic regional failure, but on a larger scale, it has an impact on the direction of the entire national destiny.
One is an important resource plundering area for the country's survival, and the other is the country's last gateway. These two equally severe battlefields, Yangon and the Ryukyu Islands, are both facing the risk of defeat, making it difficult for the top Japanese military leaders to make a choice in a short period of time.
It is a plot that cannot be given up for the Japanese army in Myanmar and even Southeast Asia. After all, the island country's resources are limited, and oil, rubber, minerals, etc. need to be imported on a large scale. This is an important place for them to plunder war resources.
Therefore, in the initial battle of Yangon, the base camp did not hesitate to mobilize the insufficient naval fleet to support.
It's a pity that the several cruisers and destroyers that came over ended up suffering two sinkings and three serious injuries, so they had no choice but to withdraw from the battle.
The original plan for the Yamato to participate in the Battle of Okinawa was also shelved by the wavering base camp early on, so that the Yamato did not receive clear instructions after the battle.
Although the Ryukyu Islands were eventually captured by the US military, the crisis in Yangon was not resolved. The funniest thing is that Terauchi Juichi's efforts to add fuel to the fire successfully caused the base camp to remove him from the post of commander-in-chief of the Southern Army and replace him with Itagaki in advance. Seishiro, this old devil.
I believe there is no need to introduce this active planner of the September 18th Incident. Historically, he was transferred to the Japanese Southern Army shortly before the end of World War II as the commander of the 7th Front Army. He served in Malaya and the Netherlands. East India commanded the Japanese army in combat. In September of the same year, after the Japanese Emperor announced unconditional surrender, he led his troops to surrender to the British army in Singapore.
However, due to the defeat in the Burma War, the Southern Army performed poorly for a long time. Not only Juichi Terauchi, but also a large number of senior officers of the Southern Army including him were replaced, and Seishiro Itagaki was also assigned to this position in advance.
Liao, a little butterfly, unknowingly changed many things that should have happened.
The first thing Seishiro Itagaki did after taking office was to prepare emergency rescue for tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers trapped in Yangon.
In his opinion, Myanmar has become an enclave, and there is little point in holding on. The top priority is to rescue the remaining troops as much as possible and use all available effective forces to defend the Malaysian region.
Therefore, sending the fleet headed by Yamato to Singapore became a top priority.
Because this mission was not a suicide attack, Little Japan still equipped the Yamato with some escort fleets, including the "Katsuragi" medium-sized aircraft carrier, two light cruisers and supporting escort destroyers.
The size of the fleet is not large, but it is the only trump card that the Japanese Navy Headquarters can use. Originally, there was an aircraft carrier of the same level "Dragon City" parked in Wu Gang, but now there are not that many naval aviation units at all. Even the fleet's crew and fuel supplies are not enough, so we can only settle for the next best thing.
As everyone knows, the whereabouts of this fleet have long been discovered by the US military. In order not to alert the enemy, the Yankees only sent a light cruiser to follow nearby, and reconnaissance planes were constantly monitoring the movements of the Japanese fleet at high altitude.
After route deduction, it was roughly determined that the other party's destination was Malaysia or Singapore, and it should be that they wanted to reach the Andaman Sea in southern Myanmar through the waters of Malacca.
"Jin Zuo, should we obey the arrangements and follow the Americans?"
Seeing Liao Mingyu sitting on a stool as if deep in thought, and there was no movement after a while, Meng Fanzai couldn't help but stepped forward and asked: "If we want to cooperate with them, what should we do in Yangon?"
"Haha, what should I do?"
Liao Mingyu silently opened the second telegram and said leisurely while reading: "Cooperation is not the point. That old guy Stilwell probably just wants to see my attitude."
Meng Fan rolled his eyes, and he was astute and understood the mystery in a moment, and then said: "Then are we going to do it in disguise, or are we just going to find an excuse...?"
"There's no need for that. Now that there are enough aircraft in the Heihe base area, it's time for our students to go to the battlefield to hone their skills."
"Ah this?" Meng Fan was a little surprised and asked in confusion: "Can I send some raw melon eggs...I'm afraid..."
I'm afraid there is no return.
He didn't finish the last sentence, because he had been staying in the Heihe base area to manage some military affairs since the beginning. He knew that there were factories and flight schools there. Not only was he working overtime every day to produce equipment, the aviation brigade was also training various flight students.
Although World War II aircraft are far inferior to modern jets, the selection and training of pilots are still extremely difficult.
On battlefields from ancient times to the present, experience has been the rarest thing. To become a qualified fighter pilot, in addition to physical fitness and a certain level of education, you also need to spend at least 200 hours of flight time before going to the battlefield. Otherwise, go to the battlefield. It's like being a target for artillery fire.
This is also the reason why Germany and Japan had huge fighter groups even before they were defeated, but they did not participate in the battle. It was simply that the training of pilots could not keep up with the consumption rate. Without anyone to fly the aircraft, the aircraft would be useless. of scrap metal.
Although Meng Fangliao didn't know much about aircraft, he knew the difference between rookies and veterans. Although the Heihe Base had established a flight training group for several months, it was still not optimistic to send those novices directly to the battlefield.
Unexpectedly, Liao Mingyu smiled indifferently and asked: "Who told you to send them to participate in the hunting attack?"
"Then what do you mean?" Meng Fangliao asked confused.
The air combat force of the expeditionary force now consists of four fighter squadrons and one bomber squadron. Among them, Jamie leads the first and second squadrons based at Mandalay Airport and is mainly responsible for supporting the New Army's battle in Ayeyarwaddy Province.
Andre led the 3rd and 4th Squadrons and bomber squadrons in Heihe and Taunggyi, responsible for air strikes on the Yangon battlefield.
Although each squadron has 18 fighter planes, leaving aside the aircraft parked at the airport for daily maintenance and post-war repairs, not many can go to the battlefield every day. They also have to support multiple combat targets. In fact, more still need to be relied on. Addendum from Stilwell's side.
If the existing aviation squadrons are deployed to cooperate with the American actions, it will inevitably result in a lack of air strike capabilities in Yangon, and the ground troops' offensive may be affected to some extent.
(End of chapter)
