Chapter 1443: Like a God

Fortunately, the four dispersed columns successfully converged at the predetermined time and location.

Only Long Wenzhang's unit encountered combat, but it was merely a small-scale skirmish against a single company of fewer than two hundred enemy troops.

Needing to maintain their marching schedule, Long Wenzhang did not linger to finish off this company; after breaking their ranks, he immediately led his team away.

This resulted in seven deaths and four critically wounded. In comparison, there were many lightly wounded, naturally because many new recruits had been added; a significant portion of these recruits' injuries were caused by their own recklessness and rash advances.

Some froze in panic the moment they fired, standing dumbstruck until an veteran kicked them flying, causing injury; others, fired up with bloodlust the moment they shot, charged forward without a word, only to be dragged back by veterans and slapped hard across the face, sustaining injuries in the process.

Others thought themselves clever, disobeyed orders once fighting began, got grazed by bullets, and were then beaten by their officers, thus adding to the wounded count.

The common cause of attrition across all four columns was sprained ankles from mountain trekking or falls from losing footing, resulting in bruises and twists; this was unavoidable, for even horses stumble and humans make mistakes.

When the forces finally regrouped and tallied the numbers, non-combat casualties for this march amounted to over thirty men.

Wang Yan, amused, beckoned over the steadfast veterinarian: "Come on, old sir, the Sick Soldier Camp is now open; have these men help care for the wounded and follow the Division Headquarters."

"Why not wait a few more days to fight? In two or three days, they'll be healed."

"No need; it's unlikely any major fighting will break out within two or three days," Wang Yan said. "We must first map out the nearby Japanese deployments. Come, where is the telegraph operator?"

"Reporting!" A young man wearing glasses ran out from behind.

"Send a telegram to Yu Xiaoqing: order him to launch an attack, and tell him not to treat his soldiers' lives as worthless. Our unit will not assault South Heaven Gate alongside him, as it is riddled with holes; the objective of this campaign is primarily to deplete Japanese ammunition and induce them to commit supplies."

"Yes, sir!"

Immediately, Wang Yan ordered each regiment to disperse and garrison within a ten-kilometer radius, while deploying the Division Reconnaissance Battalion and each regiment's reconnaissance company to radiate outward in all directions and scout the surrounding situation...

In Chanda, Yu Xiaoqing looked at the decoded telegram and angrily slammed the table again.

"So only his soldiers are his brothers, and mine are not my brothers? Does he need to teach me this?"

Tang Ji leaned over, picked up the telegram from the table, and glanced at it.

"Worthy nephew, now is not the time for anger. Although that brat Wang Yan is no good, his plan is sound; it will greatly reduce the pressure on our side. Once this battle concludes and cuts off Japanese supplies, if we besiege South Heaven Gate for three months, we can starve the little Japanese to death; annihilating an entire regiment would be a solid, tangible merit."

"I want to shoot them dead, not starve them to death!"

"The supreme art of war is to attack by strategy! The battles Wang Yan has fought are now clear: he never engages in head-on collisions; even when he could win, he tries his utmost to avoid frontal assaults, seeking breakthroughs elsewhere.

This battle is no different, worthy nephew; consider why he is fighting here—it is to pin down Japanese forces and revitalize the entire Burma theater. Speed is precious in warfare; it is better to act early than late. Worthy nephew, issue the order.

If we delay a few more days, I fear Wang Yan might come directly to execute us himself."

"Are you afraid of him? I am not!"

"Then will you fight or not?"

"Fight! But I do not fear him, Wang Yan; I act out of the duty to defend our land in the War of Resistance and expel the barbarians! Men!" Yu Xiaoqing shouted loudly!

Following Yu Xiaoqing's command, the army in Chanda sprang into action, directly bombarding South Heaven Gate with artillery; this naturally provoked an even fiercer Japanese counterattack, after all, they had plenty of shells.

This was precisely Yu Xiaoqing's intention: for every few shells he fired, the Japanese would expend even more in return; for every few shots he loosed, the Japanese would fire back even more bullets...

In the blink of an eye, three days passed; just as Wang Yan was carving wood with a knife to make a stool, Luo Youlun came running out.

"Colonel Lin sends word: a supply convoy is approaching from the Lashio direction, roughly twenty trucks, along with many mules and horses, amounting to about the strength of a transport battalion."

"Attack!" Wang Yan said without looking up. "Have Fan La lead troops to encircle them; leave neither men nor goods behind. Old Luo, do you really need to run errands for such matters? I merely prevented you from seizing my command authority; I never forbade you from working. As long as you don't sabotage me, I certainly won't target you.

We are all comrades-in-arms in the War of Resistance, fighting the little Japanese. What happens later is uncertain, but at least until the Japanese are driven out, you and I must cooperate fully. Without looking far ahead, consider this folding chair I am making right now—it is made for you. Now, hurry and transmit the orders; don't let the little devils escape."

Luo Youlun trotted away eagerly; Wang Yan shook his head, thinking, "Isn't he quite reasonable after all?"

He immediately resumed his woodworking to pass the time.

This area was all jungle, so wood was hardly scarce; Wang Yan's Division Headquarters here was relatively idle, with few combat missions until a certain time, basically undertaking support, transport, and wounded recovery functions.

So, with nothing else to do, Wang Yan put everyone to work on carpentry; whether making stretchers, crutches, or even chopsticks and stools, it at least served some useful purpose.

Wang Yan had been busy for less than an hour when faint sounds of gunfire and artillery drifted over; Ah Yi's side had already engaged, meaning Fan La's unit should have by now completed their rear encirclement, cutting off the retreat of the Japanese transport battalion.

After another half-hour or so, a staff officer ran out to report: "Reporting to the Division Commander, the Japanese transport battalion has been completely annihilated; we have captured over one thousand rifles, more than two hundred submachine guns, over fifty light machine guns, ten heavy machine guns, and countless bullets. Additionally, there are artillery pieces... food, medicines, and other supplies in unspecified quantities. Total casualties: thirty-seven killed, fifty-six critically wounded, and one hundred twenty-eight other wounded requiring rest."

"Lead a team over there, bring back the wounded, distribute the captured goods, and replenish our manpower losses. Also, send a telegram to Si La, ordering him to move toward Lashio and distribute the spoils while setting up an ambush on the main road. Fan La and Ah Yi's two units are to march toward Nandu; since we captured artillery, haul it over and bombard Nandu at midnight tonight. Furthermore, transmit orders for the Division Headquarters to break camp and march fifteen kilometers northwest..."

The staff officer accepted the orders and departed; Wang Yan finished crafting the folding campstool with a backrest, clapped his hands, stood up, looked at the bustling troops, and casually carried the stool over to deliver it to Luo Youlun.

Luo Youlun was very grateful, daring not to fail to express his thanks...

Wartime transport and supply operations follow strict schedules; when one side departs, they inform the receiving party on the other end while also stipulating a delivery timeframe for the transport unit, all to ensure safety through multiple layers and facilitate passive information transmission.

When the predetermined final deadline arrived and the Japanese at South Heaven Gate had not received their supplies, they immediately reported this to their superiors, who naturally responded at once.

Wang Yan had vanished from the Burma battlefield for two months; although the Japanese learned through other channels that he was reorganizing new troops, they initially never imagined that this living King of Hell, whom they dreamed of killing, was behind it.

Thus, they directly dispatched a combat battalion from the Lashio direction, following the transport battalion's established route, proceeding with caution, maintaining alertness, and inspecting conditions along the way.

Combat units and transport units naturally differ vastly in fighting capability; by convention, a fully manned Japanese battalion could handle a Nationalist regiment with some ease and even a bit of leisure.

Deploying such a force, even to the front lines where both sides engaged, represented a power that could not be ignored; in this relatively rear area, it was already more than sufficient.

Consequently, they fell into Long Wenzhang's ambush; after three hours of fierce fighting, the Japanese suffered heavy casualties, and when the routed soldiers fled back to Lashio, it was already midnight.

At this same time, Fan La and Ah Yi, according to the predetermined plan, deployed their formations to bombard the Japanese camp at Nandu with artillery while feinting an assault.

The Japanese in Nandu sought aid from all directions; the recently defeated Lashio sector dispatched troops, and several other directions urgently mobilized forces for rescue.

However, after Lashio sent troops to reinforce, Wang Yan personally led forces to ambush them, once again annihilating the Japanese and eliminating the five hundred reinforcing soldiers.

Afterwards, Wang Yan joined forces with Long Wenzhang, launching a pincer attack from the west and north, destroying the outer defenses of Lashio and raiding the Japanese warehouse there.

The remaining Japanese put up a stubborn resistance, with some fleeing and others hiding within the city; Wang Yan halted his troops from pursuing or entering the city for street fighting, as the casualties would be too great and truly not worth the cost.

While this side reaped a rich harvest, on the Nandu front, Fan La and Ah Yi besieged a point to strike reinforcements, fighting until the afternoon of the next day, when Wang Yan led his forces westward to execute another encirclement, pushing the Nandu army to the brink of collapse.

Afterwards, merging their forces into one, they swept southward, creating the appearance of a direct assault on Mandalay; this frightened the Japanese into urgently dispatching surrounding troops, preventing Wang Yan from exploiting the situation. By now they knew it was Wang Yan, because once fighting commenced, reports were filed, and reports naturally led to leaks.

Undoubtedly, the Japanese intelligence system was quite adequate.

They accorded Wang Yan sufficient attention, for this battle was fought too brilliantly; dragging and pulling together, they directly attacked two towns, killing at least five thousand Japanese.

Of course, these were not purely combat troops, including logistics personnel and some puppet soldiers as well, but at least three thousand Japanese were killed, equivalent to the strength of an entire regiment.

However, the attention they gave Wang Yan was excessive; he was not Li Yunlong, who would attack Taiyuan even with tens of thousands of troops. Frontal assault battles incur huge casualties, which, in his view, were simply not worthwhile.

Therefore, after mobilizing nearby forces, Wang Yan led his troops to retreat northwest to attack Mengmi, leaving four thousand soldiers to block the reinforcements coming from Mandalay.

After fighting for a long time and inflicting considerable casualties on the Japanese army, he used the cover of night to slip into the jungle and vanish without a trace.

In just a short week, he inflicted massive casualties on the Japanese army, far more fierce than when he had only four thousand men before.

Previously, his available forces numbered only four thousand; splitting them even slightly made it impossible to distinguish between main and secondary efforts. Now it was different; he could have a main attack, a supporting attack, and forces to pin down the enemy. The pinning effect of one thousand men versus two thousand was naturally different, and the pressure brought upon the Japanese army could not be compared to the past.

After Wang Yan caused chaos in this area, the defensive line in northern Burma indeed loosened, and the situation for the Allied forces and the Expeditionary Force there immediately improved greatly, because the Japanese army very decisively withdrew part of its troops.

The original situation of nearly rolling over the enemy was broken; the coalition of Allied and Expeditionary forces shifted from defense to offense, and the Japanese battle line naturally had to contract.

But they could not contract too much, otherwise, if the Allied forces on the western front all linked up, the Japanese army's favorable situation in Burma could be said to be ruined in a single day. Although the Burma Road was still not open, the Japanese army had fought for a year in vain, losing many men and investing many resources.

This was naturally unacceptable, and even more unacceptable to the Japanese Regional Commander in this region.

Thus, Wang Yan received a message sent by Luo Zhuoying, stating that the Japanese army was once again planning to transport troops from the home islands to East China, and then transfer troops from the East China and Central-South regions to join the battlefield in Southeast Asia.

At the same time, they appointed Masatake Okamura as the Regional Commander of the Burma Area Army.

This Masatake Okamura was a Class-A war criminal who had participated in fabricating the Marco Polo Bridge Incident; he rose rapidly through the ranks, accumulating crimes too numerous to record.

Clearly, Wang Yan had killed too ruthlessly, so they sent someone they considered a ruthless expert to come and kill Wang Yan.

"Those who come do not come in peace," Long Wenzhang murmured.

"Bullshit about not coming in peace; if they came in peace, would we not kill them?" Mi Long shouted, "How many people can the little Japanese transfer over? If they had the ability, would they have let us bounce around for so long? By now, we've taken out twenty thousand of them. What difference does it make if they send another twenty thousand?"

"We have even more troops now; after these few battles, the new recruits have become veterans. Are we still afraid of them? We'll fight them to death!"

"Hey, speaking of which, there is good news." The staff officer holding the telegraph report smiled, "The Commander said we fought well this time and is transferring another four thousand men to us. This time, they are drawing veterans from the western front, while new recruits will be sent to reinforce that side, ensuring our combat effectiveness."

Fan La retorted, "Is this ensuring our combat effectiveness? Isn't it just another attempt to strip our Duke Wang of his military command?"

"Enough, enough with the endless talk." Wang Yan waved his hand, "Old Luo and the others have done well, devoting their utmost effort. If more people come, we will simply reorganize; it's just right to rest and recuperate for a while, then go back and trap that Japanese unit at South Heaven Gate to death."

Luo Youlun said, "Let me remind you, the Japanese reinforcement troops are on their way and will reach our side in about a month. By then, their forces will be even greater, and it will be harder for us to fight."

"You are just impatient; I didn't say we would reorganize right now." Wang Yan shook his head with amusement and asked, "Old Luo, after fighting a round of battles with me, have you figured it out?"

"Your use of troops is unconstrained and imaginative, without any clear thread to grasp or understand," Luo Youlun said very sincerely and admiringly. Who could have expected that a big soldier from a peasant background would fight so fiercely, applying the art of war from the heart, in a manner bordering on the divine.

"You are also a veteran, still bearing the star of a general. Even if you don't understand, you should know that I do not fight assaults, I do not greed for cheap gains, I run after fighting, and if I encounter someone difficult to deal with, I absolutely will not get entangled."

Wang Yan said, "I'll give you a chance; take the radio station and go to receive those four thousand troops. We will split our forces into two routes, first stroll around Mandalay, then head to central western Burma to rescue the Allied forces once again, and afterwards unite our armies for a pincer attack from north and south."

"Can we attack successfully?" Luo Youlun was uncertain.

"Whether we can or not, we must first set up our formation; just scaring the little Japanese to death is enough. Then we'll see how the little Japanese respond and act according to the situation; there won't be any major problems."

"Remember this: you must maintain radio contact on schedule and act according to my orders; leave when you should leave, and do not get entangled in battle. If you execute properly but still lose the battle, that is my sin; if you fail to execute properly and miss the opportunity..."

"I will bring my head to see you!"

"Set off now." Wang Yan waved his hand, "I'll also assign a team to escort the severely wounded back for recuperation."

"Yes!" Luo Youlun, like a soldier, ignited with a longing for victory...

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