Li Junhao was now sure that Commander Hutton of the British-Burmese Army probably wanted to fight a good battle before retreating, so he ordered the main force of the British army to retreat from southern Myanmar to the central line of Myanmar to defend the triangular area of Degong, Tonggu, and Mengzhen.
In fact, Lieutenant General Hutton's order has achieved some results. For example, the 1st Division of the British-Burmese Army, which was historically incompetent, actually held on for seven days in Thonggu against the full attack of the Japanese 55th Division. It was not until the 14th that the Chinese Expeditionary Force was rescued.
At present, the 200th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force has been stationed in Tonggu to assist in the defense, but the 1st Division of the British and Burmese Army has not handed over and retreated. The Chinese and British divisions each defended half of the city, completely blocking the attack of the Japanese 55th Division.
According to the war report, due to excessive casualties, the Japanese 55th Division has stopped attacking and is building fortifications, showing the same ancient trend of siege.
The British-Burmese Army Staff analyzed that in the previous month of fighting, the Japanese 55th Division lost one-third of its combat strength. The current situation is that the offense is weak and the defense is insufficient; therefore, they built fortifications to protect themselves, and at the same time Waiting for the 56th Division, which has landed from Yangon, to move north.
Regarding this analysis, Li Junhao thinks it is only half correct!
The British staff did not understand the arrogance of the Japanese army. The 55th Division was indeed waiting on defense, but it was not the 56th Division that was waiting, but supplementary soldiers and military supplies sent north from Yangon.
In the Japanese army's combat style, if a division-level unit relies on support from other units, all officers and soldiers from the division commander on down will consider it a great shame and a disgrace to the division's honor.
——
On March 17, with Li Junhao's attention, the Battle of Degong began.
At 17:00 in the afternoon, the 214th Infantry Regiment, the leading force of the Japanese 33rd Division, marched lightly and reached 30 kilometers south of Degong. Before the garrison could rest, it was harassed and attacked by the British and Indian troops many times. Although The loss was not big, but it succeeded in arousing the anger of the arrogant Japanese army!
Colonel Qiao Yi, commander of the 214th Infantry Regiment, immediately ordered the entire army to stop resting and regroup and attack Degong, hoping to take advantage of the Japanese army's rich experience in night battles to defeat the 17th Division of the British and Indian Army in one fell swoop and seize Degong, an important node of the Japanese army's westward march to the north. Gong and Pimai.
At this time, the 214th Regiment of the Japanese Army did not even think about the fact that they were only a regiment of less than 4,000 people, but there was a division of 12,000 British and Indian troops stationed in front. They arrogantly believed that the Japanese army would win! Well, this has been proven in previous battles!
At 19:00, a brigade of the Japanese vanguard troops resisted attacks and harassment by the British and Indian troops and rushed to 7 kilometers south of Degong. They were immediately blocked by the 46th Brigade, the main force of the British and Indian troops. Both the number of soldiers and the density of firepower were greatly reduced. We were at an absolute disadvantage and had not made any progress for three hours.
After the news spread, Colonel Sakuma Qiaoyi immediately ordered the entire army to press forward, preparing to penetrate the British defense line with the strength of the entire regiment. In his opinion, as long as this battle is won, the 17th Division of the British and Indian Army can only focus on escaping! He was full of confidence in this.
At 23:00 at night, the Japanese 214th Regiment took full advantage of the night battle and defeated the British and Indian troops. Finally, it "successfully" defeated two British and Indian defense lines and approached Degong City. 5 kilometers away.
At the headquarters of the 17th Division of the British-Indian Army in Degong City, Major General Youn, who was nervously waiting for news, heard the report. He slammed the table vigorously, jumped up, and shouted an order: "Fire! Fire immediately! Saturation!" Shoot! I will completely bury the 214th Wing!"
The 17th Division of the British Indian Army used its own artillery regiment and all the heavy artillery found in the Degon arsenal, focusing on 15 150mm howitzers, 21 122mm cannons, 35 105mm howitzers, and 98 75mm mountain guns. Intensive artillery fire weaved rainbows of death in the night sky of Degong, projecting a continuous stream of heavy artillery shells into the attacking Japanese ranks, turning the frontier of Degong's southern defense positions into a forbidden land of death!
The horrific images of the intensive shelling shocked the British and Indian officers and soldiers who had not participated in World War I or the European War. They did not expect that the power of the concentrated artillery fire was so powerful, and they even sympathized with the Japanese troops who were enveloped in it!
——
At this time, Li Junhao, who was standing on the top of the fourth floor of the Lihua Hotel, looked at the brilliant lights in the sky and smiled happily. He didn't know whether it would change history, but the current result is that it has caused greater damage to the Japanese army than in history. Casualties, this is enough for him to be happy.
As for whether this will change the situation on the battlefield in Myanmar, he is not sure now, but presumably it will push the situation on the battlefield for the better!
Of course, if it could change the British-Burmese army's intention to escape to India, Li Junhao would definitely think it would be the most worthwhile thing.
——
At 1 o'clock in the morning on March 18, the shelling that lasted for two hours finally stopped. The 16th Indian Brigade, the 2nd Burmese Brigade, and the 48th Indian Brigade, which the British and Indian troops had prepared long ago, moved out from three sides and pressed towards the south of Degong. The remnants of the Japanese 214th Regiment in the defensive position. Fighting against the wind, these colonial armies can still be trusted!
By 4 a.m., the Japanese 214th Regiment was basically destroyed, and less than 300 people escaped.
At this point, the British troops stationed in Burma completed an unprecedented victory against Japan!
After receiving the battle report, Major General Youn, who was waiting for news at the headquarters of the 17th Division of the British Indian Army, jumped up crazily, waved his hands and shouted three times, "Yes! Yes! Yes!"
At the same time, there was a burst of joy in the headquarters. All the young British staff officers jumped up happily and spread the documents in their hands all over the sky. No one blamed this, but instead joined in laughing. Arrived in the celebration procession.
——
At 7 o'clock in the morning, Major General Youn, who could no longer bear it anymore, drove to the Lihua Hotel with several young staff officers who were interested in "American observers" and prepared to thank Mr. Observer in person for strengthening his confidence and proposing artillery attack tactics. However, when he arrived, Later, I learned that a group of American soldiers had driven away an hour ago!
After returning to the headquarters, Major General Youn thought about it and felt that it would be immoral to wipe out Mr. Panson's achievements, so he drafted an extended telegram to report to Lieutenant General Hutton, describing in detail the events of the Battle of Degon. After going back and forth, he focused on reporting on the situation of the "American observers" and explained that the observers have now left Degong with an unknown purpose and may go to any city where the British troops are stationed to "observe"...
Hutton, who had arrived at Ren'anqiang and was recuperating from his injuries, was overjoyed when he received this message. No matter what the subsequent battle situation was, with this victory of Degong, the British-Burmese army was in an invincible position! So he immediately ordered that the entire British-Burmese army use all their propaganda methods to publicize the "Victory of Degong" overwhelmingly.
(End of chapter)
