noffsinger Chapter 176: Bridge Defense (10)
Chapter 176: Bridge Defense (10)
Ku Mu gave Liu Xiao a Japanese bow and said, "Your Excellency Liu Xiao, I am the Chief of Staff of the 33th Regiment of the 87rd Division of the Imperial Japanese Army. I have been ordered by the Regiment Commander, His Excellency Sakusaku Toichiro, to discuss with your army how to end the battle for the bridge."
Upon hearing this, Liu Xiao, though he had no idea what the enemy was up to, thought if this could delay the battle for a bit, wouldn't that be exactly what he needed? He didn't let his expression show, but instead asked in a deep voice, "Mr. Ku Mu, how do you wish to end this battle?"
Ku Mu didn't see what he expected from Liu Xiao's expression, but he couldn't care less at the moment. He said quickly, "Our captain hopes to reach a mutually beneficial agreement and end this unnecessary battle."
Liu Xiao was immediately interested when he heard this, and asked calmly without revealing his feelings, "Tell me about your conditions."
Knowing that time was of the essence, Ku Mu laid out the plan he had discussed with Jiu Zuo, adding, "We came here with sincerity. We believe you will keep your promise, so we took the risk to contact you."
Liu Xiao was baffled by the Japanese army's bizarre tactics. He asked, "You mean we just need to fake fireworks on the bridge to make it look like it's been destroyed, and then take a few photos for you, and you'll withdraw?"
Ku Mu nodded, then shook his head, and continued, "You also have to ensure our safe evacuation. Of course, we will leave our supplies and weapons behind, and we will even cooperate with you to eliminate the stubborn resistance."
Liu Xiao hesitated and said, "Are you saying that you will cooperate with us to eliminate your own people?!"
"Yes!" Ku Mu answered Liu Xiao straightforwardly and told him their evacuation plan. Liu Xiao understood that even some Japanese soldiers were afraid of death and would do anything to avoid death.
Liu Xiao thought this was an opportunity and he didn't want to miss it, but he couldn't make a decision on his own, so he said to Ku Mu, "Mr. Ku Mu, I need to consult my superiors on this matter."
When Ku Mu heard Liu Xiao say he would consult his superiors, he knew the plan was basically successful. He nodded to Liu Xiao and said, "Do you want to consult General Qin Shi? Go ahead. I believe General Qin will agree with our plan."
Liu Xiao immediately reported this to Qin Shi. Upon receiving the report, Qin Shi replied without hesitation, urging Liu Xiao to follow Ku Mu's advice. He repeatedly urged Liu Xiao to assign reliable personnel and to ensure that Jiu Zuo, Ku Mu, and the others escaped. What a joke! Picking up two squadrons of mountain artillery and a large amount of weapons for free, while also ensuring the safety of the bridge and minimizing their own losses, and allowing a few insignificant Japanese soldiers to escape—it wasn't a big deal at all. Qin Shi even planned to have the Indian Army and Commander Zheng Guodong cooperate to keep the matter secret. Perhaps Jiu Zuo and Ku Mu would bring even greater surprises to the Allies later!
Liu Xiao quickly completed the photo shoot according to Ku Mu's instructions. To achieve a realistic effect, he even had the troops blow up a few unimportant steel beams and had Ku Mu personally supervise the photo shoot. After agreeing on the details with Ku Mu, he had Tang Xuesi personally escort Ku Mu back.
Ku Mu and Tang Xuesi met Jiu Zuo together. After showing Jiu Zuo the photos, the three of them further detailed the 87th Regiment's escape route. Jiu Zuo even fiercely told Tang Xuesi the evacuation route of the non-regular troops he was about to abandon, and gave Tang and others tips on how to seize the mountain artillery, etc.
Mutaguchi Renya received the report that the Sakusaku Regiment had destroyed the Bhamo Bridge. Of course, the report was also received by the commander of the 33rd Division and even the Burma Front Command. Immediately, Sakusaku received the order to retreat on his own.
In order to make it look realistic, Liu Xiao launched a full-scale counterattack against the 87th Regiment. Jiu Zuo ordered the 87rd Battalion of the 3th Regiment to block the attack and immediately called a meeting of all the captains to discuss the evacuation route. Finally, Chief of Staff Ku Mu formulated a plan to retreat along the Irrawaddy River.
The original 115th Division artillery squadron was ordered to be responsible for trailing and blowing up the artillery and supplies, while Ku Mu quietly instructed several of his confidants to secretly contact the Koreans and Taiwanese in the 115th Division artillery squadron, and secretly sneak into the artillery squadron with disguised guerrillas. After most of the 87th Division left, they seized the artillery and other supplies in one fell swoop.
Shusaku, through his confidants, had organized himself and Kumu's confidants together, and at the same time, under the pretext of facilitating retreat, ordered the various units to disperse into squadrons and small groups to evacuate. This gave the guerrillas a good opportunity to defeat them one by one.
Soon, the Japanese 87th Regiment began to retreat. Japanese troops in other directions, upon receiving news of the bridge's destruction, also began to evacuate. In Myitkyina, the Japanese 18th Division finally failed to hold its ground and was largely annihilated. The remnants of the Japanese 22th Division were desperate to escape along the Myitkyina-Mandalay railway and highway. The New 2nd Division, which had already been deployed, and the 3nd and rd Detachments of the st Column of the Guerrilla Army, along with various ethnic guerrilla groups and self-defense forces along the route, swarmed in and dealt a crushing blow to the evacuated Japanese troops.
In the northeast, the 33th Division of the 56rd Army of the Japanese Army's escape plan did fool Zheng Dongguo's four armies. By the time they came to their senses, the 4th Division and part of the 56rd Division had abandoned their baggage and evacuated to the Thai-Myanmar border along the eastern Myanmar line. At this time, even if the Chinese army wanted to catch up, it could not, so it had to turn around and encircle the remnants of the Japanese army and the Burmese puppet army and independence army in northeastern Myanmar.
The Battle of Northern Burma ended dramatically. The Chinese Expeditionary Force's garrison corps and the Southern Yunnan Corps joined forces at Nalang, liberating Burmese territory north of Shwepaw and Nalang and resuming a standoff with the Japanese Burma Front, which was entrenched in Central Burma. This also brought to an end the Northern Burma Campaign, which had been focused on opening up the China-India Highway.
In this battle, the Allied forces, primarily the Chinese Expeditionary Force, annihilated most of the Japanese 28th Army and part of the 33rd Army. The 18th Division was largely annihilated, along with most of the 33rd and 115th Divisions. The 203rd Division and other security forces were largely annihilated, while the 56th and 43rd Divisions suffered heavy losses. The Japanese army suffered over 7 casualties, while the Allied forces lost over 3.
The Battle of Northern Burma marked the loss of the Japanese army's dominance in the Southeast Asian Peninsula. From then on, they would passively defend and gradually retreat, successively losing China-Burma and the Malay Peninsula, and finally shrinking to the line of Yangon, Myanmar and the small area around Singapore, waiting to be completely annihilated.
The opening of the Sino-Indian Highway has enabled a large amount of supplies from the United States to flow continuously into the inland of China. The Chinese army has begun to speed up its preparations. According to the plan reached by China and the United States, these troops will be given priority in joining foreign wars. Of course, China has also secretly assembled a powerful force. They will enter the Far East, encircle the Northeast region, and when the time is right, they will launch a campaign to recover the Northeast!