allonlinenovel Chapter 295: Capture of Myitkyina and pursuit of the enemy
Chapter 295: Capture of Myitkyina and pursuit of the enemy
"What did you say? The main force of Xu's army is attacking Myitkyina. How is this possible?"
After receiving the call for help from Sano Tadayoshi, Kawabe Masazo fell into a brief panic, and his mind suddenly went blank!
who am I?
where am I?
Who is talking to me!
"Yes, Commander! Division Commander Sano said that the enemy attacked the East Gate of Myitkyina. There is only one road there, which leads to the Dian Province of the Tang Dynasty. At the beginning of the year, a friendly army took that road to pursue the Tang Dynasty expeditionary army. The road is winding and full of mountains. Even though the friendly army is an elite field force, they can only send a large group to march on foot, and they have not yet caught up with the Tang Dynasty army!"
Kawabe Masamitsu suddenly remembered and said, "Yes, that road is full of hardships and the large army cannot move forward at all, but just in case, I also sent the 38th Division to garrison in Myitkyina.
But the key point now is not that. Isn't the main force of Xu's army attacking our Xingwei? Where did the main force of Myitkyina come from? "
The army staff thought about it and said, "Could it be the rest of the Tang army? For example, the Yunnan Army!"
The colonel who reported the incident immediately denied it: "It's impossible. According to what the division commander Sano said, they are facing a bombardment of hundreds of large-caliber heavy artillery. It is impossible for a group army of the Tang Dynasty to have so many heavy artillery!"
In fact, there were not so many heavy artillery. It was because the rocket launcher was too powerful and the firing rate was too fast, and Sano Tadayoshi did not know what rocket launchers were, so the misunderstanding about hundreds of heavy artillery pieces occurred.
But the actual firepower is indeed equivalent to that of hundreds of heavy artillery, at least that's what the Japanese know!
Masamitsu Kawabe was about to speak but swallowed the words back. The pilot of the 5th Flying Division reported the general situation of the enemy forces opposite. Judging from the size of the 88th Army in Shanxi Province, he was facing almost an entire army.
Based on the previous strength of Xu's army in Yunnan Province, the number of people and firepower are almost the same, which means that the main force of Xu's army is in Xingwei.
But apart from Xu's army that attacked Myitkyina, there is probably no other army in Asia with such powerful firepower!
Although he was not particularly familiar with the road from Mexico to Yunnan Province, he was certain that this road could only accommodate one division at most, and it was also very likely to expose their whereabouts.
"Forget it. Don't worry about which unit the enemy is in Myitkyina. The key is that we can't send troops to support them!"
The chief of staff shook his head helplessly: "The current situation is that there are two armies with firepower as strong as the Xu family army! In Xingwei alone, we have already used 15 troops and nearly half of Myanmar's armored vehicles, and we can only barely resist. If we withdraw troops, I'm afraid this place will fall within a day!"
河边正三接下来参谋长的话：“曼德勒还有以第5、第16、56师团、独立重炮兵第2联队等为首的10万兵力，包括新组建的第5战车师团。
还有一个地方是印度的因帕尔，有第2师团、4师团、42师团、独立混成21旅团和29旅团，总共12万兵力。
Finally, the only reserve forces left in Mawlamyine were the 34th Division, the 17th and 20th Independent Mixed Brigades, the 4th Independent Heavy Artillery Regiment, and the 7th Flying Division.
Only General Terauchi Juichi can mobilize the reserve troops. The battle of Imphal is in full swing. We cannot withdraw troops at such a critical time. Mandalay is our last guarantee. Where can I support him?"
Looking at Hebian Zhengzan who was scratching his head, the chief of staff said cautiously: "How about letting the 9th Air Division stationed in Yinduo provide air support to Myitkyina?"
"No!" Kawabe Masazo immediately objected righteously.
"If the enemy in Myitkyina is really the same as the Xu family army we are facing, then their anti-aircraft firepower must be very strong! Moreover, the Xu family army has been bombarding Xingwei for a day and a night, but their air force has not appeared yet. Why is that?
I am sure that their commander is going to use the same trick he did with Guigai to lure out my air force!
Moreover, the 9th Air Division of Yingduo is mainly composed of bombers, which are used to bomb the British troops in Imphal. If they are transferred to support Myitkyina and fall into a trap, we have too few fighters and will not even have time to delay the retreat! "
The entire headquarters was completely silent. Even the Japanese soldier who was communicating fell into a brief silence. After a moment, Hebian Zhengsan said softly:
"Call General Terauchi Juichi. I want to talk to him in person!"
......
The Japanese's support plan would definitely take time, and at this moment, the 101st Regiment, with the firepower of the 101st Division's artillery regiment, blew a gap of 10 meters wide in the east wall of Myitkyina in less than an hour, and the city gate was also blown to pieces!
Following Zhu Yuan's order, 30 Type 69 tanks of the regiment's tank battalion launched a charge, rushing towards the city gate while firing high-explosive shells!
Because it was a surprise attack, the fortifications outside the city gate had already been destroyed in the first place, and it was impossible for the Japanese to place heavy artillery on the city wall.
Therefore, although 30 tanks were few in number, they were no match for the heavy machine guns and 37mm anti-tank guns of the Japanese defenders, and were at most just a tickle.
Fifteen minutes later, the first battalion, which followed the tank battalion in the charge, successfully occupied the East Gate with the advantage of automatic rifles and Type 15 grenades.
Afterwards, the remaining troops of the 101st Regiment rushed into the city one after another and engaged in street fighting with the Japanese!
At 6:30, as the 102nd Motorized Infantry Regiment entered the city, Myitkyina was divided into two parts.
The remnants of the Japanese 38th Division defended Xicheng, while the 101st Division attacked Dongcheng.
At 7 o'clock, as the 103rd Motorized Infantry Regiment entered the city, nearly tanks of the entire division swept across all the main streets of the city, and the infantry battalion also occupied the remaining % of the city.
Outside the west city gate, Sano Tadayoshi was still wearing only pajamas. He took one last look at Myitkyina, where he had only stayed for more than a month, and said helplessly, "Abandon the city and retreat south!"
Not only did he not wait for support, he didn't even know who would come to support him. In these two hours, he only made three phone calls to Hebian Zhengsan, and each time he heard: Just hold on a little longer, reinforcements will be here soon!
His 38th Division had a full strength of men, but all he could take away now were some light weapons and defeated soldiers!
However, Fang Yueke had no intention of letting the 38th Division go, or rather, he had no intention of stopping the attack. Why did the 176th Division and other units concentrate such strong firepower to attack Xingwei? Wasn't it to attract the attention of the Japanese so that the 101st Division's surprise attack would be more effective?
The raid is not just about attacking Mizhi, this is just the beginning.
So Fang Yue ordered the 4th Mechanized Infantry Division to pursue the 38th Division southward along the highway, and the 101st Division to attack southward from the Burma Central Railway after resting for half a day. The scheduled meeting point of the two divisions was Yingduo, and the machine gun regiment's task was to garrison Myitkyina!
The greatest use of the MG42 general-purpose machine gun is in defending fortresses. Only one machine gun is needed to occupy a small path, and even thousands of enemies will not be able to break through this firepower point.
This was also the reason why Dai Ming had not agreed to Zhu Yuan's request before. The mission of the machine gun regiment was the most important part of this raid. Although the machine gun regiment was equipped with enough trucks, without logistical replenishment, the extremely fast firing rate would quickly consume the bullets. Unless it was a critical moment, they would save as much as possible.
The result is obvious. Even without the help of the machine gun regiment, the 101st Regiment entered the city half an hour earlier.
In fact, Dai Ming knew Zhu Yuan too well. With the heavy artillery of the artillery regiment, it would be easy to attack a medium-sized city. There was no need for machine gun firepower. That guy just wanted to save ammunition for his regiment, and each of them was smarter than a monkey.
[Some of the data is too detailed, so it’s a bit messy now... I’ll stop when it reaches a million words]