12dz Chapter 240: Pegu Front Army Wants to Know Where Mutaguchi Renya Is
Chapter 240: Pegu Front Army Wants to Know Where Mutaguchi Renya Is
Let’s go back a little to an earlier time.
General Heitaro Kimura, commander of the Pegu Front Army stationed in Yangon, had just laid down to rest when he was called up by his staff.
"Hasn't the Lashio direction just entered the street fighting stage? It will take at least 72 hours to decide the outcome? Why are you asking me to get up?" People have difficulty falling asleep as they get older, so the old man, who was in a bad mood after waking up, spoke quite rudely.
"Hi, but there's the latest news from Lashio," the staff officer saluted respectfully. "His Excellency Takeuchi Sadaichi stated that the entire army has reached its final moments. They are burning the regimental flag, blowing up the radio station, destroying the code books, and preparing to break out."
"What? So soon? It's only been a few hours?"
Heitaro Kimura was extremely surprised when he heard this. According to his experience, even if the Yamashiro army was weak in combat, as long as they were determined to defend the city, they could inflict heavy casualties on the locust army in hand-to-hand street fighting.
Not to mention the locust army full of 'Bushido' spirit, can't they stop the Anmin Army for 72 hours?
"What is Takeuchi Sadaichi doing?" Heitaro Kimura stood up cursing and went back to the command room.
As the former commander of the 32nd Division, Heitaro Kimura had carried out many "mopping-up" and "three-light" operations, and his hands were full of blood debts. He was later transferred to the Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army.
Later, as one of the "Four Foolish" among Tojo's "Three Loyal and Four Foolish" henchmen, Kimura Heitaro was sent to Pegu to clean up the mess.
Heitaro Kimura originally thought that the news that the Japanese troops in Pegu suffered heavy losses were all fake news. How could the Security Army composed of a group of cowardly Qian people be a match for the locust army?
When he first took office, he planned to conduct another "mopping-up operation" to strengthen public security operations.
However, after arriving in Pegu, he found that the firepower of the Anmin Army was even greater than that of the Nomonhan Red Army that he had seen as the Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army.
安民军的105mm榴弹炮、155mm榴弹炮使用起来就和不要钱一样，再加上天上安民军的各种飞机携带的500磅、1000磅、2000磅重磅炸弹可不是远东红军那些老旧双翼机能比的。
Only then did Kimura Heitaro realize that he was the one sent by Tojo to take the scapegoat.
I fight the Anmin Army?
I can't fight at all.
When Kimura Heitaro arrived at the command room and saw Lashio occupied by the blue flag symbolizing the An Min Jun on the large-scale map, he felt a bitter taste in his mouth.
Two motorized brigades and two infantry divisions of the right-wing group of the People's Army have gathered at the outskirts of Mandalay, and the troops behind are still coming up continuously.
With the loss of Lashio, Mandalay's flank has been exposed, and another wave of heavy troops of the People's Army of Security will surge from the flank.
If we say that in the winter of 41, the Man of Steel was able to hold his ground against the pincer attack of Hans's Central Army Group in Moscow, it was because of the reserve troops of the Steppe Front and the Far Eastern Front that were continuously pouring in from the rear.
Then, apart from the two independent mixed brigades responsible for public security, Kimura Heitaro only had the 2nd and 54th Divisions, two field forces.
As for the additional three divisions of reinforcements promised by the headquarters, they are still waiting to be loaded at the ports on the mainland.
Moreover, with the implementation of the "Dalu No. 1" combat plan, it is still unknown whether this batch of reinforcements will be moved to the Qian Kingdom battlefield.
After losing Lashio, the next thing to do is to lose Mandalay.
After losing Mandalay, will Yangon be lost next?
Once Yangon is lost, there will be nothing left to lose in Bago.
Having taken such a big blame, shouldn't Kimura Heitaro be ordered to commit suicide by seppuku?
"Call Mutaguchi Ren'ya for me, immediately, right now..." Thinking of using a wakizashi to poke his sagging belly, Kimura Heitaro immediately grabbed the collar of the staff officer next to him and shouted viciously.
"Order him to abandon the attack on Imphal and return to support the Pegu battlefield! This is an order from the front headquarters!"
"Mister Mutaguchi..." The staff officer swallowed, "He can't hear..."
"If the call doesn't work, just keep calling, idiot!" Kimura Heitaro immediately gave the staff officer a "Sanbin" in the face. "Do I need to teach you this? If the call doesn't work, just keep calling!"
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On the other hand, Mutaguchi Ren'ya began radio silence on the grounds of confidentiality, making it clear that he wanted to "rebel against his superiors" and not obey the command of the front army.
On April 2, Major Nishikawa's bicycle unit, assisted by heavy artillery and tank units, captured the Sheam Pass on the Baler Road southeast of Imphal, and Mutaguchi Renya was already very close to Imphal.
When he returned, he would face the powerful Anmin Army, so Mutaguchi Ren'ya naturally chose to bully the weak one - Brother San.
In addition, Mandalay is 400km away from the Imphal front line in a straight line. The actual distance is more than doubled because the road is difficult to travel across the border mountains. Even if Mutaguchi Ren wanted to return for assistance, it would be too late.
On April 5, Mutaguchi Ren'ya led his 15th Army to surround the small town of Imphal from the east, north and south.
At this time, there were only two crippled divisions in the city, the 17th and 20th Divisions of the John Sindhu Corps of the 4th Army, plus an Assam Rifles Division reinforced by the 15th Army.
As for the other John's rescue troops, they were still marching more than 100 kilometers away.
The truly combat-capable troops in John's Federation, such as those from the Kangaroo Nation, the Southern Cross, and the Maple Leaf Nation, had long been transferred back to their homeland by John's Prime Minister Qiu to prepare for the "Operation Overlord" to be launched in two months.
The new 1st Army coordinated by Stevenson was a member of the expeditionary force that year. Most of the generals in it were already dissatisfied with the behavior of the John people who betrayed the expeditionary force and ran away first, and would not risk their lives to rescue them.
So after liberating Kohima, north of Imphal, which had been captured by the 33rd Division and reopening the Stilwell Road, the new 1st Army began to watch the show, dawdling on its way south to Imphal.
The three infantry divisions of the People's Security Army led by Bai Minghui used the excuse of clearing out the Japanese soldiers scattered in the jungle. After entering the territory of Sindhu, they began to go into the mountains and forests, specifically looking for the temples and tombs of the ancient Sindhu Kingdom.
Traveling along the way and exploring tombs, Bai Minghui, with the help of those synthetic experts, quickly collected a large amount of gold, silver, treasures and antiques.
Everyone was waiting to see the fun of the Johns, Imphal was in danger.
Lord Mountbatten had no choice but to seek help from General Stevenson, commander of the India-Burma theater.
However, Stevenson's recent energy has been focused on the Qian Kingdom Continent.
After Zhang Chi's repeated reminders, he became more cautious. Instead of going through the channels in Shancheng, he sent observers to Henan Province to check the preparations for war.
The result is not clear even if you look at it, and you will be shocked when you look at it.
The national army troops throughout Henan Province have actually become calm and playful.
As the White Eagle's aid began to increase, a strange argument began to spread among the middle and upper-level officers of Tang's army in Henan Province - as long as the White Eagle soldiers arrived, the Japanese would collapse in an instant, and the war would naturally end at that time.
Since we can rely on the White Eagle United States for everything, why should we fight the devils and lose our own strength?
When Stevenson learned of this situation, as an outsider, he was helpless.
In addition to urgently dispatching Claire's Flying Tigers to an airport near Henan Province and starting to transport and reserve aerial bombs and fuel in advance, he could only repeatedly urge Shancheng to remind them to prepare for war.