bookrebus Chapter 722 Comprehensive Retreat
Chapter 722 Comprehensive Retreat
After careful study, the Chinese Expeditionary Force Command did not fully agree with the combat plan of Commander Du of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force. At the same time, the Chinese Expeditionary Force Command ordered the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force to leave the 200th Division to continue the attack on Leilem. The direct troops of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and the newly formed 22nd Division and 96th Division that were gathering in Taunggyi all went to Mandalay to prepare for the Battle of Mandalay.
After receiving the order from the Chinese Expeditionary Force Headquarters, Commander Du of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force had no choice but to follow the order and begin leading his troops to move westward.
On April 26, due to the retreat of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, Taunggyi was once again occupied by the Japanese offensive forces.
Under the fierce attack of the Japanese offensive forces, the Sixth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force was forced to abandon its defensive position in Leilem and retreat on April 24. On April 26, Commander Gan of the Sixth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force personally led the officers and soldiers of the army to accommodate the remnants of the Sixth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force who retreated here near Mengshan.
Afterwards, the various units of the Sixth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force continued to move to the east bank of the Salween River. After occupying Leilem, the offensive forces of the 56th Division of the Japanese Army took advantage of the lack of troops in the rear of the Sixth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and continued to attack northward rapidly in two routes. One route attacked northward rapidly through Binglong, quickly captured Laika, and continued to approach towards Xibao. The other route attacked eastward through Nansang, and on April 25th, it attacked and advanced to Mengnang, and then quickly detoured towards Lashio. As a result, the two offensive forces of the Japanese Army formed a pincer attack on Lashio.
On April 24, the top leaders of the Chinese government saw that the current war situation in Myanmar had become extremely unfavorable, so they sent a telegram to the Chinese Expeditionary Force Headquarters. In the telegram, the top leaders of the Chinese government requested the Chinese Expeditionary Force Headquarters to take emergency measures against Lashio. If it was decided that Lashio would not be defended, the Fifth and Sixty-sixth Armies of the Chinese Expeditionary Force should immediately withdraw to the rear of Myitkyina and Bhamo.
The top leaders of the Chinese government are also very anxious now. Most of the troops of the Chinese Expeditionary Force are their own troops. If they were all lost on the battlefield in Myanmar, it would be a huge loss.
But at this time, the Chinese Expeditionary Force Command still insisted on fighting the Japanese army in Mandalay. On April 28, the highest level of the Chinese government sent a telegram to the Chinese Expeditionary Force Command, requesting that the Chinese Expeditionary Force Command should withdraw as many powerful troops as possible in Mandalay to reinforce Lashio and first break one side of the Japanese attacking force's back. In this way, Mandalay could be abandoned, and the defense of Lashio should be the top priority at this time.
On April 28, the Japanese attacking force defeated the hastily deployed four battalions of the newly formed 28th Division and two battalions of the newly formed 29th Division of the 66th Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Xibao. In this way, the Japanese attacking force successfully attacked the city of Lashio.
On April 29th, the Japanese offensive forces, with the support of dozens of aircraft and more than 30 tanks, launched a fierce attack on Lashio. Lashio was immediately occupied by the Japanese offensive forces. At this point, the Burma Road was successfully cut off by the Japanese army attacking Myanmar. Moreover, a large amount of strategic materials previously stored in Lashio also fell into the hands of the Japanese army.
The Japanese troops responsible for the central attack also launched an attack on Mandalay from Binwenna on April 18. Facing the fierce attacks of the Japanese offensive forces, the 96th Division of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force fought a blocking battle for eight days.
However, the British troops in the Mandalay area retreated to Imphal, India on April 26. In order to quickly escape to the Indian border before the rainy season arrived, the fleeing British troops discarded equipment along the way to speed up the march, including all the tanks.
The Chinese Expeditionary Force Command also issued an official order to launch the Battle of Mandalay on April 27 because the main force of the Chinese Expeditionary Force's Fifth Army rushed to Taunggyi but failed to realize the operational plan of annihilating part of the Japanese attack force in the Binwen area.
On April 28, the 55th Division of the Japanese Army began to advance towards Kyauksi, threatening Mandalay. At the same time, after the offensive force of the 56th Division of the Japanese Army captured Lashio, it immediately organized a rapid attack force to encircle Mandalay.
The attacking force of the 56th Division of the Japanese Army began to attack and advance towards western Yunnan in China from Lashio. The newly formed 28th Division and the newly formed 29th Division of the 66th Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force stationed along the Burma Road were unable to stop the advance of the attacking force of the 56th Division of the Japanese Army.
In early May, the attacking forces of the 56th Division of the Japanese Army successively captured Wanding, Mangshi and Longling. Subsequently, the attacking forces of the 56th Division of the Japanese Army quickly advanced to the west side of Huitong Bridge on the Nujiang River. The Chinese army responsible for guarding the bridge also blew up the bridge, which prevented the attacking forces of the Japanese Army from crossing the bridge.
In order to stop the rapid advance of the 56th Division of the Japanese Army, the Chinese government also urgently dispatched troops from western Yunnan and Kunming to the Nujiang front to block the advance of the Japanese Army. They fought fiercely with the offensive forces of the 56th Division of the Japanese Army in the Huitong Bridge area for three days, and annihilated all the hundreds of soldiers of the 56th Division of the Japanese Army who had crossed the Nujiang River before. Relying on the terrain of the Nujiang River, they formed a situation of confrontation across the river with the offensive forces of the 56th Division of the Japanese Army.
The 56th Division of the Japanese Army also sent offensive forces to capture Bhamo on May 5 and Myitkyina on May 8, completely cutting off the retreat route of the main force of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Burma.
At the Chinese Expeditionary Force Headquarters, Commander Luo and Chief of Staff Stilwell saw that the Japanese offensive forces had captured Wanding and Bhamo so quickly, so they decided to withdraw the entire Chinese Expeditionary Force into India. They sent a telegram to Commander Du of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, requesting that the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and the newly formed 38th Division also follow the Chinese Expeditionary Force Headquarters to withdraw to India.
However, on May 6, Commander Du of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force sent a reply telegram to Commander Luo of the Chinese Expeditionary Force. In the telegram, Commander Du of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force expressed his hope to lead the troops of the Fifth Army back to China and was unwilling to withdraw to India.
On April 30, the Chinese Expeditionary Force Headquarters moved from Ribo to Gambaro, and then to Yingdo. After the Chinese Expeditionary Force Headquarters issued an order for the entire army to withdraw to India on the evening of May 5, the Chinese Expeditionary Force Headquarters continued to move to Banmaok, and then marched westward, arriving in Miaoxi on May 7.