On November 13, the 200th Division and the 96th Division of the Fifth Army besieged Bago and completely suppressed the remnants of the Japanese 33rd Division and the 72nd Mixed Brigade. Although there were still more than 20,000 Japanese troops in the city, they were actually combatable. There are only about 12,000 troops, and the rest are logistics support personnel and wounded soldiers!
The only tank squadron of the 33rd Division has long been knocked out by the 200th Division, and the 33rd Mountain Artillery Regiment has been basically wiped out. There are less than 20 artillery pieces available in the city, and there is a serious shortage of ammunition, which cannot stop China at all. A massive artillery attack by the expeditionary force and an attack by armored forces...
The division commander, Lieutenant General Shosan Sakurai, desperately asked for help from Yangon, claiming that without reinforcements within three hours, the 33rd Division and the 72nd Mixed Brigade would all be "broken" in Bago!
Lieutenant General Mutaguchi Renya, the commander of the Japanese Fifteenth Army, is also angry. The only troops he currently has available are the 18th Division in Yangon and the 49th Division in Moulmein, but the latter is a newly formed The security division has a size of 12,000. Except for a small number of veterans in the countryside, most of them are new recruits. Their combat effectiveness is not good at all. The original purpose of its use is to serve as a security force in southern Myanmar. It is expected to resist the armored force of the Chinese Expeditionary Force. Not realistic.
In desperation, Mutaguchi Lian could only order the 18th Division to send an infantry regiment and a tank squadron to assist Bago. On the other hand, he urgently ordered the 31st Division to support Thailand to return quickly, and also asked the Kingdom of Thailand to The army supports the 53rd Division. As for the 54th Division in Laos, he can't take care of it now!
In addition, Mutaguchi Lian also informed the base camp of the war situation, requesting the dispatch of troops to reinforce the Burmese front army, and also requested that a naval fleet be sent to Yangon Port to protect the Japanese 18th Division with naval guns or to evacuate it - together with other divisions Differently, if this elite force of the 18th Division is destroyed in his own hands, I am afraid that the base camp will have to commit suicide by committing seppuku! ——
The New 38th Division, which was rapidly pursuing along the Yangon-Manchurian Railway, and its forward 113th Regiment, bypassed the 200th Division that was besieging Bago, penetrated Yangon from the middle, and ran into the Japanese 3rd Army, which was ordered to reinforce, 35 kilometers outside the city. The commander of the 56th Regiment of the 18th Division, Liu Fangwu, was not afraid and immediately ordered the fight to begin!
The Japanese 56th Regiment plus a tank squadron has more than 4,500 people; while the 113th Regiment has only 2,800 people, but it is fully armored, with three tank battalions and one armored battalion, but it directly takes the initiative when facing the Japanese army. During the attack, the Japanese army's 24 Xiaodouding tanks were wiped out in one go!
Subsequently, the 113th Regiment began to fight against the 56th Regiment. Artillery shells and machine gun shells rained down on the Japanese troops. The Japanese infantry without armor protection were beaten to pieces...
The battlefield situation changed drastically. Other units of the new 38th Division started a rush march mode and rushed to the battlefield. Of course, the 18th Division in Yangon City could not sit back and watch the destruction of the 56th Regiment and immediately dispatched reinforcements...
Mutaguchi Lian also looked up to the sky and sighed, remembering an old Chinese saying: "It is better not to be judged by God"! Having said that, he could only make a last-ditch effort - to mobilize the 49th Division from Moulmein to come to Yangon to help in the battle! ——
Li Junhao, who was in Tonggu, received this sudden battle report and immediately ordered the New 22nd Division marching from the west to assist the New 38th Division. He asked the 10th Air Force to send bombers for air support, and then ordered the 105th Battle Group of the 101st Group Army stationed in Meng Town. Immediately set off south to support the Yangon battlefield - the decisive battle has begun in advance!
——
That night, the New 38th Division and the New 22nd Division besieged the Japanese 18th Division, which was out in force. The 200th Division and the 96th Division, which had originally besieged Bago with all their strength, each dispatched two main tank regiments to rush to the battlefield!
At four o'clock in the morning on the 14th, the 105th Battle Group of the 101st Army rushed to the battlefield on a starry night and became the straw that broke the camel's back!
At nine o'clock in the morning, the last gunfire fell on the battlefield. The Japanese 18th Division, which had committed numerous blood debts to the Chinese people, was completely wiped out on the plain between Yangon and Bago. From the division commander, Lieutenant General Tanaka Shinichi, to the following , not one of the more than 20,000 people was spared, not a single prisoner!
Except for the military hospital left in Yangon City, this criminal unit of the 18th Division was completely wiped off the map by the Allied India-Burma Theater! ——
On the 15th, the 200th Division and the 96th Division, which regrouped, stormed Bago; the New 38th Division and the New 22nd Division attacked Insein, threatening Yangon; the 105th Battle Group bypassed Bago and deployed defenses on the east side of the Samin River. , preparing to meet the 31st Division withdrawing from Thailand...
Currently, there is only the 49th Division in Yangon that was urgently transferred, while the 31st Division, which is rushing back from Thailand, is being pursued and bombed by the US 10th Air Force all the way, and is moving at a turtle's speed!
On the same day, three divisions of the Sixth Army captured Chiang Mai, annihilated the Japanese 53rd Division and part of the 3rd Air Force, and were ordered to sweep and attack into the hinterland of Thailand; three divisions of the Sixty-sixth Army were besieging Luang Praa, Laos. The battle situation of the Japanese 54th Division in the country is going smoothly! ——
On the 19th, the New 38th Division and the New 22nd Division invaded Yangon and started street battles with the Japanese 49th Division; the 200th Division and the 96th Division cleared Bago, annihilating the Japanese 33rd Division and the 72nd Mixed Brigade, and then Rushing to Yangon; the 105th Battle Group annihilated the Japanese 31st Division on the banks of the Samhain River; the 66th Army captured Luang Prabang and annihilated the Japanese 54th Division...
On the 20th, Li Junhao arrived in Insein. After inspecting the street fighting in Yangon, he found that the Chinese Expeditionary Force was still somewhat disorganized, so he ordered each division to withdraw the offensive troops to rest and reorganize, and ordered the 108th New England Battalion and 109th Profile he brought with him. The Gurkha Brigade enters combat - both units have received special street fighting training, and the Gurkhas' close combat advantages make them suitable for urban combat.
The four expeditionary force commanders who were somewhat unconvinced did not dare to disobey his orders, but they sent out a team of observers. As a result, they discovered a huge gap at a glance!
The New England Battalion, which has only 1,000 people, is General Panson's guard force. It is half Chinese, half American and British. It is extremely well-equipped, and even some weapons have never been seen by expeditionary officers and soldiers, but its true combat effectiveness has always been unknown to everyone. I'm guessing because I haven't seen it before! But this time, after receiving the observer's report, the officers and soldiers of the expeditionary force were all shocked - this is too strong!
In Li Junhao's definition, the New England Battalion was formed and trained entirely in accordance with the special forces model of later generations. Urban street fighting is where combat effectiveness can best be exerted. This time it was just the right time to shine!
In the eyes of observers, the New England Battalion officers and soldiers held Somi KP-31 submachine guns, M87C shotguns, M1L semi-automatic sniper rifles, Browning M1918 automatic rifles, M2 vehicle-mounted large-caliber heavy machine guns, and Bazooka M1 individual rocket launchers. , M14 thermite grenade, MK3A2 offensive grenade and other weapons, the use combinations are ever-changing, dazzling them!
(End of chapter)
