Chapter 158: Greet Stilwell with ruins! (Third update!) "The people in the city have suffered a lot." Zhu Maoqin looked at Krupp after hanging up the phone and couldn't help but sigh. Hearing this, Krupp glanced at the other party in surprise and said lightly. “It seems that Commander Zhu was tricked by the natives not badly enough.” As soon as these words came out, Zhu Maoqin chose to shut up. Because it reminded him of the previous scene where he was tricked by the natives. Emotionally speaking, Myanmar has been colonized by the British army for hundreds of years, and it is indeed gratifying to be able to get rid of colonization. But compared to the British army, the Japanese army was even worse. What's more, they have an indelible blood feud with the Japanese army. They would not have a good impression of the natives who sided with the Japanese army.
Not to mention, some troops were tricked by the natives until they vomited blood. The fall of Lashio was not only due to the sudden attack by the Japanese army, but also because of the tip-off by the indigenous people. So, Krupp’s words made Zhu Maoqin’s only trace of sympathy disappear. If you sympathize with these natives, it is better to think more about the soldiers of the expeditionary force who buried their bones in foreign lands. “Let the artillery brothers work hard and finish shooting the shells as soon as possible.” Krupp looked at Zhu Maoqin and consoled him. "Oh, I see." Some of the artillerymen in the artillery battalion he brought had experienced this feeling of endless fire last time in Myitkyina. However, some recruits may not be able to bear the first time they fire so many artillery shells at high intensity. But what he was more worried about was the artillery battalion of Division Yu. This is their first time to experience such endless treatment. "Isn't it over yet? Have you been fighting for an hour?" At the 155mm howitzer position, an artilleryman from the Yu Division Artillery Battalion put down the shells he had just brought together and said tiredly. A cannonball weighs more than 40 kilograms, and one person can barely carry it. But if you can’t hold on for long, you will be exhausted and out of breath. Usually two people work together to pick up the cannonball, which saves physical strength. Even so, after an hour, I was so tired that I didn’t want to move at all. No wonder some people always say that the infantry will run to death and the artillery will die from exhaustion. This artillery is really not something ordinary people can do. "It has been at least an hour, and the barrel has been cooled down with cold water several times. If this continues, the barrel will be useless." The gunner said distressedly. He has been an artilleryman for some years. When has he ever been so wealthy?
An hour of artillery preparation was really beyond his cognitive ability. In his opinion, those who prepare artillery fire for half an hour are considered elite troops. Even the direct troops would not dare to be so lavish. It is rare to see three hundred heavy artillery pieces and uninterrupted bombardment like this. “How many more shells are there?” the gunner asked again. As a result, as soon as he finished speaking, he saw a truck approaching in the distance, and the infantrymen who had been waiting for it began to unload the artillery shells. Seeing this scene, the officers and soldiers of Yu Division's artillery battalion instantly felt their scalps go numb. The fight is endless! It can’t be finished at all! For a time, they felt like crying. The gunner adjusted his mentality and said to everyone. “Brothers, work harder. Such a luxurious life is rare, so don’t give in.” Hearing this, the two artillerymen carrying the shells said with a grimace. “Captain, it’s not that I want to give in. I can’t lift my arms anymore. I’m too tired.” “Yeah, it would be great if the shells could be transported automatically, so we wouldn’t have to be so tired.” "What are you thinking about? Hurry up and move the shells. I guess you won't be able to eat tonight." The gunner said with a numb scalp as he looked at the boxes of shells piled on the ground. “Eat? Gunner, our hands are shaking like this, how can we still eat at night?” the artilleryman said with a grimace. “Hahahaha, if you don’t have food, you won’t have food. If you’ve had enough fun today, it’s just a meal.” The gunner laughed loudly. All the artillerymen also laughed. Indeed, after being an artilleryman for so long, today is the most enjoyable day. At Nantianmen, it was not so luxurious. Although there were artillery battles from time to time, how could it be as enjoyable as today? When they go back, they will have bragging rights. "What are you talking about? The order has come down. If we don't shoot all these shells today, we won't eat tonight." At this time, a captain came over and conveyed the command's order. Hearing this order, all the artillerymen shuddered subconsciously. At the same time, I was very lucky that it was the Japanese troops who were bombed. At the Sichuan Army Headquarters, Cun Yunsheng put down his telescope and saw that the density of artillery fire had increased a lot, and he felt relieved. "You still want to use those cannon fodder to consume my cannonballs? I would like to see whether he has more cannon fodder or I have more cannonballs." Cun Yunsheng said bitterly. “Tuanzuo, if the bombardment continues like this, Lashio City will be in ruins. It will take a lot of effort to rebuild it by then.” Meng Fangliao asked worriedly.
Did he remember to greet Stilwell at the Lashio military parade? Now meet Stilwell with ruins? Isn’t that old boy so angry? "What does reconstruction have to do with us? Leave it to those big Chinese families. It's not our turn to worry about it. All we have to do is capture Lashio." Cun Yunsheng said with a sneer. The reason why three hundred heavy artillery pieces were used was to prevent the Japanese army from engaging in street fighting? Why did the troops stationed in India suffer heavy losses later? It was not because of street fighting with the Japanese army that they were unable to take advantage of their weapons. He would not use such dull tactics. It’s not a Chinese city, so it would be painful to see it reduced to ruins. The foreign city was reduced to ruins, and it was also the British army who felt distressed. What does it have to do with him? All he has to do is reduce casualties. So they would rather bomb Lashio into rubble than engage in street fighting with the Japanese army. If you obviously have an advantage but use your disadvantage to compete with someone else's advantage, isn't that a bad idea? “But aren’t you going to have a military parade here to welcome Stilwell? How can you welcome him when everything is in ruins?” Meng Fangliao asked in surprise. Hearing this, Cun Yunsheng took a look, then sneered and said. "Don't the ruins better illustrate the difficulty of this battle? If Stilwell is not allowed to see these ruins, how can we reflect the difficulty of our battle?" “Otherwise, why would you have the nerve to ask Stilwell for weapons and equipment?” Meng Fan was completely speechless. The people in the mountain city were eager to greet him with flowers and applause. The result is good for you! Welcoming people with a piece of ruins? This is really not treating people as human beings. "Okay, although that old boy Stilwell has a bad temper and is harsh, he is still very reasonable. I believe he will definitely like the scene I have arranged for him." Cun Yunsheng said confidently. Seeing that everyone in his family had said this, he couldn't say anything else. “Ask Stilwell to send more shells. Two hours of fighting is not enough. Let him increase the amount of transportation. The hump route is so dangerous. We can fly three round trips a day. Isn’t this safer than the hump route?” “You just gave me these few supplies? Are you sending me to beg for food?” Cun Yunsheng said with a slight frown as he watched the buildings in the city fall to the ground one after another under the bombardment of heavy artillery. “Tuanzuo, I think you are just trying to destroy those two hundred artillery pieces, so you continue to bombard them like this.” Meng Fan could tell Cun Yunsheng’s true thoughts at a glance, and couldn’t help but sarcastically said. “I’ve heard that in just a short while, at least twenty or thirty artillery pieces will be scrapped.” “Go, go, go, are you so bold now that you dare to ridicule me?” Cun Yunsheng glared angrily. "How can Krupp do things? He only has twenty or thirty gates, which is far from two hundred gates."
“Are you really planning to destroy all these heavy artillery pieces?” Meng Fangliao said with some distress. "Why not? It's not my cannon. Stilwell said that these artillery pieces will be returned after they are fired. Now they are all turned into scrap metal. If I don't believe it, he will transport them back?" Cun Yunsheng sneered. “The steel used to cast the cannons is of special quality, and it is definitely a good thing to use to make knives and the like.” “At that time, let our steel factory bring it back, smelt it, and make knives. We can’t just sell rice.” “Knives, farm tools, whatever.” After hearing what Cun Yunsheng said, Meng Fan was speechless for a while, but asked worriedly. "Aren't you afraid that Stilwell will get angry? This is two hundred heavy artillery pieces. According to the standards of the US military, three infantry divisions cannot reach this number." "Going mad? Aren't I doing this for Lashio?" Cun Yunsheng spread his hands and said helplessly. "Look, the effect is so good. Under the bombardment of 300 heavy artillery, Lashio City was blown into ruins. We severely damaged the 56th Division, killing the division commander and so on." “It’s impossible for Stilwell to get angry because of this result.” Hearing this, Meng Fanglia couldn’t help but give a thumbs up. "You have really plotted against Stilwell. Now the other party is really dumb and eating coptis. He can't tell the story of his suffering." "You are thinking too much. He will be depressed for a while at most. He won't care too much about a mere two hundred heavy artillery pieces. On the European battlefield, artillery pieces are counted in thousands. A large battle involves tens of thousands of artillery pieces. Who are we? No matter where you go, there is no point in making a small fuss," Cun Yunsheng said regretfully. Meng Fan could not help but roll his eyes, too lazy to talk nonsense to him anymore. "It's time to let the infantry take the field. Let the chariot battalion take the lead. The third and sixth battalions will attack from the two wings. There is only one goal. Capture Lashio and capture Masao Watanabe alive. I will chop off his head." Cun Yunsheng put down the telescope again, thought for a while, and immediately asked Meng Fanglia to order the final general attack.
"yes." … On the other side, Hebian Zhengzo, who received the telegram from the 56th Division, remained silent. Last time it was tactical guidance, what was the result? This time, I didn’t even give up the last bit of dignity and directly asked for support. This shows that the situation in Lashio has truly reached a life-or-death situation. “Let’s take a look.” Kawabe Shozo handed the telegram to Yahara Hiromichi. After reading the telegram, Yahara Hiromichi also looked incredulous. How long has it been since the situation reached this point? You must know that even the 106th Division was not that fast. The results of it? The 56th Division was defeated so quickly.
Although there are two less regiments, the loss is not so huge? "No less than three hundred heavy cannons. With such skill, no wonder Mr. Watanabe couldn't hold on." Kawabe Shozo said with emotion. Hearing the three hundred heavy cannons, the other staff officers of the military department were also silent. The entire Fifteenth Army does not have so many heavy artillery. I didn’t expect that a small Sichuan regiment could produce so many heavy artillery. It was indeed beyond their expectations. The situation has reached this point and is irreversible, so we can only find another way. "Your Excellency, Commander, we must not sit still and wait for death." Yahara Hiromichi said. "Mandalay's reinforcements will not be able to reach Hsipaw for a while. As soon as they left the city, they were attacked by indigenous guerrillas and suffered heavy losses." "These natives have a large amount of beautiful weapons and equipment, and with the convenient terrain, more than half of the imperial army that left the city lost. Now they have withdrawn into the city and can only hold on." Kawabe Shozo knew what the other party meant, but there was really no other way at the moment. The Thai army of the two divisions collapsed at the first touch and had no effect at all. On the contrary, it dragged down the Japanese troops in the rear, causing the formation to be broken up, and many imperial soldiers were killed by the guerrillas. This made Hebian Zhengzo extremely angry. Even secretly made up his mind to completely wipe out these indigenous guerrillas after Lashio was solved. At the same time, I was very confused, why do these natives have art equipment? Could it be that the US military was behind this? About this situation, he must report it to the base camp, and the intelligence department of the base camp will be responsible for solving it. "Then there is only one way left, retreat to Nansang and Taungzhi." Yahara Hiromichi said helplessly. Plans cannot keep up with changes! There is absolutely no problem with the plan he made. Who would have known that the Sichuan Army Corps did not respect military ethics and mobilized 300 heavy artillery pieces to bombard Lashio indiscriminately without caring about the buildings in the city. Looking like he wants to blow the city into rubble. Coupled with the fact that the indigenous guerrillas defeated Mandalay's aid, his plan was completely bankrupt. “What if we retreat to Nantianmen?” Hebian Zhengsan said still somewhat unwillingly. He didn't want to give up the two regiments directly yet, he still wanted to struggle. "I'm afraid we are not far from total annihilation. Unless we mobilize the remaining three divisions to attack the Sichuan Army regardless of the situation, it will be difficult to rescue them." Yahara Hiromichi shook his head and said. That means that they will give up a large area of territory, which is not in line with the base camp's strategy. The base camp is where they come to scavenge for resources, but they are not asking him to abandon the place he finally captured.
"Unless the base camp is willing to deploy two additional divisions, otherwise, we have no choice." Yahara Hiromichi's words made everyone realize that the Sichuan Army had become a serious problem for them. But the stalls set up by the Japanese army are too big now, and it is impossible to send more troops to them. “Send a telegram to Mr. Watanabe and allow them to withdraw to the Taunggyi line and re-establish the defense line.” Kawabe Shozo said with a sigh. “Hai.” Masao Watanabe, who received the telegram, looked at the telegram coldly. He knew that there were no reinforcements. “Your Excellency, Division Commander, the Sichuan Army has launched a general offensive.” The Chief of Staff walked in and said seriously. One more update! From nine-thirty to ten o'clock!
(End of this chapter)