When the time entered August, Montbottom of the Allied Southeast Asia Theater Command finally couldn't stand it anymore. He urgently needed Gao Jianwu's expeditionary force group to open up a new situation and break the stalemate on the northern front.
There, the British and Indian troops joined forces with the National Army's Northern Front Expeditionary Force and fought bloody battles. However, they were unable to break through the 18th Division's defense line on the northern front.
So Gao Jianwu finally ushered in the second batch of expeditionary force that he had requested for a long time.
This time two old acquaintances came, Kong Jie, Kong Erluzi and Lu Fan.
More than 20,000 people, based on the New Second Regiment and the three Ping An Guard Regiments, were flown directly from Jinyang to Mandalay.
According to the organization of the expeditionary force group and the weapons and equipment provided, this group was organized into 12 main infantry battalions and two heavy artillery regiments (one heavy artillery regiment has 24 155mm howitzers, and the other heavy artillery regiment has 36 105mm howitzers) ), 1 battalion of 12 75mm howitzers, 2 armored battalions of 21 tanks.
Among them, Kong Jie formed the fifth attack group of 6 main infantry battalions and 1 75mm howitzer battalion.
The other six main battalions serve as strategic reserves, plus the artillery battalion composed of dozens of captured Little Devil 92 infantry guns and Type 41 mountain guns, to form the sixth attack group, commanded by Lu Fan, now responsible for defending Mandalay and The rear base on the Monywa front line.
At the same time, in the Air Force, the Lu Xingguo Flying Squadron, which has completed a new round of pilot training, also ushered in its first expansion, acquiring 9 new Mustang fighter jets, expanding the fleet to a complete squadron!
After another group of pilots were transported from Jinyang, the entire team expanded to 40 people, and they began to take turns training and fighting on the aircraft!
After expansion, the strength of the Second Theater Expeditionary Force Group has increased dramatically!
Just when Gao Jianwu was reorganizing the newly arrived troops, the commander of the 15th Army also received news of the arrival of reinforcements from the expeditionary force. He did not dare to wait any longer to allow the expeditionary force to form a complete combat force, and launched an attack on Meiktila in advance. In the battle, with the 33rd Division stationed in Sammana as the main force and the Second Division of the Ongsan Independent Army as the auxiliary, they took the lead in attacking Yangmiding!
"Ding, the 33rd Division and the 2nd Division of the Independent Army are about to attack Yangmedin and Meiktila in 6 hours. The offensive force distribution: 4 infantry regiments, 1 mountain artillery regiment, 1 heavy artillery regiment, 1 A tank regiment, a flying regiment,..."
Gao Jianwu's intelligence system promptly prompted this information. The strange thing is that this prompt also gave a detailed organization. Obviously, he did not know what hidden conditions were triggered to complete the upgrade of the intelligence system. Gao Jianwu couldn't help but take a breath after reading it. This time the little devil's team is really strong!
This is how many special regiments have been strengthened. One division actually has 9 regiments!
Gao Jianwu immediately asked Colonel Smith to contact the Allied Southeast Asia Command to obtain relevant information about the 33rd Division.
Although Colonel Smith was a little confused, he still called to inquire about the intelligence of the 33rd Division.
At the same time, Gao Jianwu of the headquarters stared at the map, compared it with the actual accurate map in his mind, and quickly concluded that Yang Miding was too close to Shanmana, and Chu Yunfei, who was currently guarding 3 It is difficult for a main infantry battalion and a 75mm howitzer battalion to hold on until the main force arrives.
In other words, even if Chu Yunfei's troops were exhausted, they would not be able to get the main force to Yangmiding to achieve the campaign goal of encircling the 33rd Division.
This is a bloody matter and must not be done.
Without waiting for the Allied Command to return intelligence, Gao Jianwu immediately and unexpectedly ordered Chu Yunfei's second attack group to abandon Yangmiding and retreat back to Meiktila!
Chu Yunfei, who was on the front line, was a little baffled when he received the order.
Call back to command to ask why the troops were withdrawing. Gao Jianwu called back and said that the 33rd Division was about to attack Yangmiding. The enemy was too powerful and the second attack group could not reach it.
Chu Yunfei, who did not know the strength of the 33rd Division at this time, called back and promised that he could withstand the 33rd Division for 24 hours until the main force arrived, hoping to continue to hold on to Yangmiding.
But Gao Jianwu quickly called Chu Yunfei back and immediately executed the order to withdraw the entire army from Yangmiding! Just leave some scouts hidden in the dense forest to observe the enemy's movements.
The tone of the call back this time was stern, and Gao Jianwu said it was the final decision and would be implemented immediately! Although Chu Yunfei still didn't understand, he didn't ask any more questions this time and started executing the order.
Because no one expected that the little devils would launch a large-scale attack in such a rainy season.
At the same time, Gao Jianwu ordered the main forces of Ding Wei's first attack group and Zhang Dabiao's fourth attack group to gather in Meiktila and be on standby.
The two main forces are currently in Mandalay and the other in Taunggyi. Both are still more than 100 kilometers away from Meiktila, which is about the same distance from Sammana to Meiktila. Now they are marching in a hurry, just in time to reach the small The Japanese arrived before Meiktila.
Gao Jianwu took the main force of the heavy artillery regiment and the 1st tank regiment that had been fully drilled, and took advantage of the darkness to rush to the dense forest near Meiktila and hide there.
Thinking that the main force of the Japs had already been dispatched, Gao Jianwu no longer held back, and ordered Xu Shida's third attack group to start gathering the main force to continue southward along the Yinlowaddy River, aiming at Ren'an Qiang!
Kong Jie's fifth attack group, which had just arrived in Mandalay, began to assume the task of the general reserve team. Although the training after changing equipment was not in place, for the Eighth Route Army soldiers who had experienced hundreds of battles, they could start fighting as soon as they could fire a gun. Even if you are still a little unfamiliar with the weapons in your hands.
...
This series of orders allowed Colonel Smith to see that a battle was coming, but what surprised him was that Gao Jianwu suddenly started the battle when he was clearly not ready.
】
"Gao, what's going on now? Why did you suddenly start preparing for a big battle?" Colonel Smith couldn't help but ask, "Does this situation have something to do with your inquiry about the 33rd Division's intelligence?"
"Yes, John, the 33rd Division is now on its way to attack us, and my intelligence personnel have received top-secret news that the enemy is about to move out." Gao Jianwu said calmly.
Colonel Smith looked at Gao Jianwu with an awe-inspiring expression. He did not expect that Gao Jianwu would place intelligence personnel in key positions during his short life in the British territory of Burma. Such top-secret information could never be accessed by peripheral intelligence personnel.
You must know that this is information that the Allied Intelligence Department has not received yet, and Gao Jianwu actually received it first.
Thinking of Gao Jianwu's frequent contact with the locals, the young man in front of him really did a lot of things secretly!
Colonel Smith withdrew his gaze. This matter had little to do with him. The British territory of Burma and even Southeast Asia had little to do with the beautiful country where he lived. On the contrary, the harder Gao Jianwu fought in Southeast Asia, the more and more little devils he would attract and contain. The more, the less pressure and casualties the United States will face in the Pacific battlefield.
Therefore, the greater Gao Jianwu's ability, Colonel Smith is happy to see the results. As for Daiying, he may suffer some losses in the process, but it is none of Smith's business. He is not an officer leading the British.
...
Eight hours later, at the Expeditionary Force Cluster Meiktila headquarters meeting, all commanders of the three attack groups except Xu Shida gathered together.
"Commander, why do we retreat from Yangmiding? Even if the 33rd Division attacks, our second attack group can withstand the attack of the 33rd Division, thus buying time for our brother troops to annihilate them all in Yangmiding. "When they met, Chu Yunfei still had some objections to Gao Jianwu's retreat order.
Regarding Chu Yunfei's dissatisfaction, Gao Jianwu shook his head and did not say anything in a hurry, but distributed a stack of information.
"This information is the latest information from the Allied Forces Command, especially the 33rd Division." Gao Jianwu said to Chu Yunfei, Ding Wei, Zhang Dabiao and others who attended the meeting.
Chu Yunfei took the information and flipped through it. He quickly understood the general outline and couldn't help but take a breath!
The 33rd Infantry Division now has nine regiments under its command! It is an out-and-out effort to strengthen the elite Class A divisions, which is completely no longer on the same level as the second-tier parallel import divisions such as the 15th Division and the 22nd Division in Chu Yunfei's impression.
There are 4 infantry regiments, including: 215th Infantry Regiment (Takasaki), commander Harada Daidaizuo.
The 214th Regiment (Utsunomiya), commander Qiao Yi is on the left.
The 213th Regiment (Mito), the commander of the Regiment, Miyasukeyuki, assisted Ozuo.
151st Regiment (Tianjin), commander Kumagoro Hashimoto (temporary reinforcement).
Each infantry wing has a mountain artillery squadron (four Type 41 75mm mountain guns), a rapid-fire artillery squadron (four 37mm rapid-fire guns) and an infantry artillery squadron (four Type 92 infantry guns).
There are 3 infantry brigades under the infantry regiment. Each infantry regiment is directly affiliated with a Type 92 infantry artillery squad, equipped with 2 guns. The entire regiment has 6 Type 92 infantry cannons. In total, each regiment has There are 18 artillery pieces of various types, and 4 infantry regiments have 72 artillery pieces, with a full complement of nearly 4,000 officers and soldiers.
The 33rd Mountain Artillery Regiment, commander, Fuku Kasei, male, center left.
The 33rd Mountain Artillery Regiment has 36 75mm Type 41 mountain guns and 12 75mm field guns, and 4 artillery brigades, with a total of 3,699 officers and soldiers and 3,600 horses.
The 3rd Field Heavy Artillery Regiment (temporarily reinforced), Kazuo Mitsui on the left. It has 2 heavy artillery brigades and 6 heavy artillery squadrons. Each squadron is equipped with 4 Type 96 150mm howitzers, with a total of 24 heavy artillery pieces.
The 14th Tank Regiment (temporarily reinforced), commander, Nobuo Ueda. A total of 65 tanks and self-propelled artillery are equipped, including 36 Type 97 modified medium tanks, 18 Type 95 light tanks and 11 Type 1 gun combat vehicles (Type 1 75mm self-propelled artillery, mainly used for anti-tank combat), The number of officers and soldiers is 1,070.
The independent anti-aircraft artillery battalion, captained by Yamada Nagamitsu, has 3 anti-aircraft artillery squadrons, each equipped with 4 Type 98 20mm machine guns.
The 4th Independent Engineer Regiment, commander, Tian Yinji, center left.
The 33rd Infantry Regiment, commander, Matsuki Kumakichi, center left.
The division commander, Lieutenant General Sakurai Shozo, graduated from the 31st Saber Class of Army University in November 1919. (Note: The Saber Class is a saber given by the Emperor of Japan to the top six graduates of the same period. Only the top six graduates in the same period will receive special honors.)
It can be said that in terms of organization, weapons and equipment configuration, the 33rd Division has been strengthened to the peak level of the Little Japanese Division!
By no means can the second-line security divisions such as the 15th Division be compared.
"Commander in Chief, I..." Chu Yunfei said in a difficult tone after reading the information. Although his second attack group now has strong combat effectiveness, with three main infantry battalions and artillery battalions in hand, relying on its position, it can really compete with the second-line division of the Little Devils. It will not be a big problem to defend for more than ten hours.
But in the face of this kind of little Japanese A division that has strengthened its artillery and armored forces, and is completely overwhelmed in terms of equipment and troops, if we really have to fight against the hard steel of Yang Miding and the 33rd Division, I'm afraid it will take a few hours. After a battle, only God knows how much Chu Yunfei, the main force of the second attack group, will be left.
In a sense, Gao Jianwu saved his second attack group, and he, Chu Yunfei, was somewhat self-righteous in criticizing Gao Jianwu's command. Thinking of this, Chu Yunfei's face burned as if he had been slapped. Same.
"Brother Yunfei, we are all comrades and brothers in the trenches, so don't say anything unnecessary." Gao Jianwu waved his hand, interrupting Chu Yunfei's words.
"The enemy in this battle is fierce. We must cooperate sincerely to annihilate the 33rd Division in Meiktila."
"The opponents we faced in this battle had more than 150 artillery pieces of various types, plus more than 50 tanks. If our army had not just formed two new heavy artillery regiments and two tank battalions, the little devils' weapons and equipment would be better. It is said that it has formed an advantage over our army.
Obviously, the little devils have conducted intelligence penetration on us and have learned about the equipment situation of our army in the previous stage, thus carefully preparing the offensive troops this time.
There is no doubt that the 33rd Division is the most powerful enemy since our army entered the British territory of Burma. Even purely from the comparison of paper strength data, the Japs have surpassed us. They have invested nearly 40,000 main troops in this battle. There are more than 4,000 puppet troops, and the number of troops is already more than twice the number of our troops gathered in Meiktila! "
Gao Jianwu's words sounded like thunder in the ears of Chu Yunfei, Ding Wei, Zhang Dabiao and others.
According to everyone's current thinking, the fight from Shanxi to the British-Burmese territories during this period was almost smooth sailing. Everyone may think that the little devil is nothing more than this.
But today, if Gao Jianwu had not obtained the intelligence provided by the Allies and allowed Chu Yunfei to retreat in time, the first heavy loss of the expeditionary force group might have been caused!
Everyone has seen the lethality of the 150mm howitzer on troops. Although it was felt from the opponent, everyone here is very clear about the results of the enemy positions in Monywa, Sagaing and Mandalay.
What's more, the little devil also has a chariot regiment. With Chu Yunfei's current troop defense capabilities, it is impossible to deal with the attack of the little devil's chariot regiment.
If the Japs launch a chariot regiment attack after the artillery bombardment, Chu Yunfei can save 1/3 of his troops and retreat back, which means he is capable.
What's more, the little devils still have 4 infantry regiments, which have enough strength to outflank Chu Yunfei. If Chu Yunfei does not retreat in time, it is very likely that the entire army will be annihilated in Yangmiding.
After a series of victories against the Jaap, everyone had developed a paralysis of contempt for the Jaap, and it had begun to affect the troops. Even Chu Yunfei began to feel a little paralyzed.
Yang Miding's major retreat and the intelligence information of the 33rd Division can be regarded as a direct pouring of cold water on everyone's impetuous and arrogant mentality, allowing everyone to wake up.
No one questioned Gao Jianwu's adjusted and processed intelligence data. The intelligence returned by the Allied intelligence department was not so detailed. The person who handled it, Colonel Smith, knew very well. However, during the meeting, Colonel Smith, as the adjutant, did not interrupt at all.
Because he had confirmed that Gao Jianwu had established his own intelligence network in the British territory of Burma and was able to find out the exact departure time of the 33rd Division, it would be easy to get a more detailed deployment of the 33rd Division's troops and weapons and equipment.
...
At the same time, Lieutenant General Sakurai Shougi, who was stationed at the headquarters of the 33rd Division in Yangmiding, was full of doubts.
He checked the map repeatedly for a long time. Major General Nobunaga Nobunaga, chief of staff of the division, also followed Shozo Sakurai's gaze and was thinking about why the expeditionary force retreated without a fight.
The confidentiality of this battle plan is very high. Except for the division commander level and the senior staff of the 15th Army Staff Headquarters, the information about the division's attack is very tightly blocked. The Second Division of the Independence Army in Aung San prepares them in advance. , they were notified to follow the 33rd Division just before departure. They didn’t know their destination until they arrived at Yangmiding!
It can be said that in order to have a sudden launch effect this time and annihilate Chu Yunfei's troops who are protruding from Yangmiding, the 15th Army and the 33rd Division have taken all possible confidentiality measures.
There may be a possibility of internal leaks, but the possibility is very small.
So in this case, the expeditionary force was able to start retreating just as the troops were dispatched from Sumana. Is it a coincidence or an internal leak?
Sakurai Shozo and Iteng Nobunaga studied for a long time, but they couldn't figure out why the enemy retreated so coincidentally, making their heavy punches feel as uncomfortable as hitting the air.
"It seems that we are unable to confirm the cause of the enemy's actions, Mr. Sakurai," Shozo Sakurai said with a sigh, "According to air force reconnaissance information, the main force of the Second Theater Expeditionary Force Group is gathering towards Meiktila. Except for their third attack group, which is moving southward along the Yinlowaddy River, the main forces of the other three attack groups have almost reached Meiktila."
"What is more worrying is that our intelligence personnel discovered that the heavy artillery troops and tank troops of the expeditionary force group drove out of Mandalay and headed south. They speculated that they had arrived somewhere in Meiktila, but the aerial reconnaissance did not Found their traces.”
"Yes, Sakurai-kun, according to the information obtained by our intelligence personnel, the enemy's artillery is quite sharp and almost played a decisive role in Monywa and Mandalay. We must find them and carry out a devastating blow to them. , it is possible to win this battle." Nobunaga Iteng responded.
"What is worrying is that our air force only has 12 combat fighter jets, and they are Type 97 fighter jets. Compared with the opponent's Mustang fighter jets, they are completely at a disadvantage. In this battle, the air force may not only be unable to help us, but also It is very likely that we will also encounter ground attacks from enemy Mustang fighter jets!"
The 33rd Division dared to go north alone, which had a great relationship with their commander. Otherwise Shoji Iida of the 15th Army would not have let go. The destruction of the Monywa and Mandalay divisions did not leave Shoji Iida untouched. , the powerful attack power displayed by the opponent, and in the subsequent intelligence collection, it has been confirmed that this is the main force of the Eighth Route Army that swept across Jindi!
Even with Shoji Iida's arrogance, he had to lower his head to carefully study countermeasures, and finally requested reinforcements from the Southern Army, and strengthened them to the limit of a division!
The division commander of the 33rd Division, Shozo Sakurai, is also considered a leader among division commanders and was once a member of the saber team.
At this moment, Sakurai Shozo and Iteng Nobunaga were facing the easily accessible Yao Miding, and they did not feel happy, but had a hint of worry. It shows the caution a commander should have. If something goes wrong, there will be a monster. Sakurai Shozo will not be naive enough to make his opponent stupid.
Facing a powerful opponent who could kill four reorganized divisions, even if Shozo Sakurai held a powerful division with peak configuration at the moment, he did not have the calmness to face the British, Indian and National armies.
"Mr. An Teng, is the plan coming out now?" Shozo Sakurai asked with some confusion.
"Sakurai-kun, we can only act according to the predetermined plan and advance openly." Nobunaga Anten said, "In order to ensure the safety of the Locust Army, the first regiment of the Second Division of the Independence Army can be used as the right army, and the second regiment can be used as the left army. The leading troops of the route army are exploring the route and will arrive at Kawagan and Pawabi near Meiktila tomorrow."
.....
There are two highways from Sammana to Meiktila, the left road is through Kawagan, and the right road is through Yangmedin Pawabi going north. The main force of Sakurai Province's 33rd Division was placed on the right road.
The Left Army, with the 151st Regiment Kumagoro Hashimoto as the commander, integrated the Field Artillery Battalion and the First Mountain Artillery Battalion of the 33rd Mountain Artillery Regiment and the First Battalion of the 33rd Engineer Regiment, with nearly 7,000 people, plus the Second Division of the Independence Army. The second regiment had more than a thousand people, and the left army exceeded the strength of an ordinary brigade.
Lu Xingguo's flying squadron is now based in Mandalay and can already cover the air battlefield from Mandalay to Dagon. Before the 33rd Division's attack, Lu Xingguo and his squadron had actually encountered the Little Japanese's flying squadron several times in the air. , achieved the result of shooting down 3 Little Japanese reconnaissance planes.
This has greatly reduced the space for the Little Japanese Air Force to operate in the airspace north of Shanmana. However, since there is no radar now, the Little Japanese Air Force reconnaissance aircraft can still sneak into the northern airspace from time to time to conduct reconnaissance activities.
Although Gao Jianwu has now established a ground air defense reconnaissance network from Mitra to Mandalay, and achieved a preliminary human eye recognition air defense system. But if an enemy reconnaissance plane comes over from the clouds, the forward air observation post will not notice it. In this case, the entire air defense system will have great loopholes.
Therefore, the enemy's reconnaissance plane can still see a lot of ground conditions in the north.
Especially the mobilization of large troops cannot hide from the enemy's aerial reconnaissance. Unless all movements are by night march.
It's just that it's still the rainy season here, and the roads are slippery. It's very inconvenient to march at night, especially the march of the baggage troops. It's even more difficult. A large number of mules and horses have to be restrained, which puts a lot of pressure on the logistics and baggage.
Therefore, Gao Jianwu did not hide the assembly of the main force this time. He only temporarily concealed the traces of the most mechanized heavy artillery and tank units through night marches, waiting to confirm the enemy's heavy firepower before launching a fatal pre-emptive strike against them. attack.
Don’t forget, the current air superiority is in the hands of Gao Jianwu. After owning 15 Mustang fighter jets, Gao Jianwu not only surpasses the squadron in the hands of the 15th Army in terms of quality, but also exceeds them in quantity, that is, his pilot experience level is still high. A little worse, except for Lu Xingguo, their previous six team members had some practical experience.
Many of the 40 newly added pilots are here for training. Of course, such people cannot be allowed to fly fighter planes and fight to the death against the Japs. For Gao Jianwu, these pilots are the most precious fighters. In the current situation of Dayou Under this condition, they can undertake low-intensity combat tasks such as reconnaissance and bombing to gain experience.
But you can't directly fight in the air with the Japanese fighter planes.
Now responsible for the task of direct combat with the Little Japanese fighters, there are 6 fighters, mainly Lu Xingguo and several veteran members.
It's just that the little devil didn't know this, so the main force of the air force stayed at Dagon Airport and did not dare to come out for a decisive battle.
Only when necessary, reconnaissance planes are allowed to secretly penetrate into the northern airspace for reconnaissance, and then escape when they see something is wrong.
...
The next day, the 33rd Division came out in full force. Except for leaving a brigade and a regiment of the Independence Army to defend Yangmiding, the main force all pushed northward. Even though the weather was pretty good today, it was a cloudy day, but the road to Meiktila The road was full of mud and puddles left by the wheels.
The right route army of the 33rd Division had to march on such a difficult road. The bad roads forced the 33rd Division to march for more than ten kilometers.
Sakurai Shozo and Iteng Nobunaga, who were riding tall horses, were currently in the middle of the team, looking at the arduous marching team with some worry on their faces.
"Sakurai-kun, it seems that we will arrive at our destination late today. We must send more warning posts in advance and carry radios deep into the vicinity of Meiktila for observation and warning. I am not worried about the Independence Army alone. , they may only care about missing the enemy's whereabouts, otherwise if the enemy launches an attack while we are not firmly established, the soldiers will be exhausted and we will suffer a big loss." Iteng Nobunaga said.
He was right. After a march like this, arriving at Pawabi at dark, the entire army was tired and hungry. Facing the expeditionary force waiting for work, Iteng Nobunaga was unable to improve their morale.
Sakurai Shozo nodded, this was also an aspect of his concern.
"Anteng-kun, I'm afraid our battle this time won't go too smoothly." Sakurai Shozo looked at the bitter-faced little devils marching and thought deeply.
“Not only that, I don’t think we should underestimate the threats from the air. Our air defense relies on only one anti-aircraft artillery brigade, but now they are all deployed on the heavy artillery unit.
Now our large troop marches lack necessary air protection. The group of red deer in the Air Force have become timid towards the Expeditionary Force Air Force and do not dare to deploy forward and take the initiative.
There are only 4 fighter jets at Sammana Field Airport to provide support for us. Once we are attacked, it will take ten minutes at the fastest to reinforce us. And if we set off from Dagon, it will be at least an hour. With such a long flight Time is enough for the enemy to launch a round of attacks on us. "
As if to confirm Sakurai Shozo's words, as soon as he finished speaking, the unique buzzing sound of fighter planes sounded in the sky. To the north, a group of small black dots rushed towards the right army!
