Chapter 508: Republic of China: Starting from the First Class of Whampoa Chapter 518 The British Bullfighter Plan

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

The British did not want the Xia Expeditionary Force to intervene, nor did they want the Youth Army and Zhongnan State's forces to spread into British colonies.

Therefore they chose to face the Japanese offensive alone.

Yamashita Tomoyuki's forty-plus thousand men advanced rapidly on the Malay Peninsula, and Malayan Army Commander-in-Chief Lieutenant General Percival sent a rescue telegram to British Burma Governor Smith.

In the telegram, he requested that Smith's British Army take the initiative to attack, attacking Bangkok, Thailand, to harass the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters in Thailand.

Lieutenant General Percival himself led eighty thousand British troops to directly welcome the attack of Yamashita Tomoyuki's forty thousand Japanese troops.

The radio waves flew over layers of mountain ridges and reached the official residence of British Burma Governor Smith.

Governor Smith was shocked by the Navy's defeat, but still had a mysterious confidence in the Army.

Because Governor Smith had three main forces in his hands, including an armored force.

He had three main forces under him: the British Burma First Division, the British Indian Seventeenth Division, and the Armored Seventh Brigade.

The British Indian Seventeenth Division was responsible for guarding Burma, an army composed of British and Indians.

The British Burma First Division and the Armored Seventh Brigade went to attack the Japanese Southern Army Imperial General Headquarters stationed in Thailand, among which the British Burma First Division was an army composed of British and Burmese.

The British Seventh Armored Brigade among them was a veteran elite force that had repeatedly achieved military exploits in the North African desert. It was the later famous "Desert Rats."

However, this "Desert Rats" seemed unaccustomed to the local conditions after arriving in Southeast Asia.

The Seventh Armored Brigade was not entirely committed to the Southeast Asia battlefield, but rather over a hundred tanks were transferred to Burma, these tanks were mainly American-produced M3 Stuart Light Tanks.

"The destruction of the Navy was Commander Tom Phillips's mistake, but this does not mean that the infantry and tanks of the Great British Empire will also fail."

Smith immediately announced the operational plan and named this plan the "Bullfighter Plan"!

He ordered that the British Burma First Division serve as the main force, coordinating with over a hundred M3 Light Tanks of the Armored Seventh Brigade, the great army crossing the national border to launch a military strike against Japanese troops within Thailand, best to directly attack into Bangkok, forcing Yamashita Tomoyuki to abandon the invasion of the Malay Peninsula and turn back to reinforce Bangkok.

A staff officer walked in and said: "Your Excellency Governor, the Xia side has sent a note, claiming they are willing to enter Burma to assist in the war."

Governor Smith directly refused: "Not needed, let them wait well on the national border, watch how I defeat the Japanese troops!"

"Without my order, the Xia Expeditionary Force may not enter Burma!"

"Yes!"

Governor Smith's Bullfighter Plan unfolded as scheduled, he firmly believed this bullfighter of his could stop this mad wild bull of the Japanese troops.

On the road from Rangoon to the Thailand-Burma border, the marching columns of the British Burma First Division and the Seventh Armored Brigade stretched for several li, appearing mighty and imposing.

British officers mostly wore khaki shorts, exposing hairy calves, wearing long socks and leather shoes on their feet.

Ahead of the main force, an armored reconnaissance detachment was opening the way ahead, five M3 Light Tanks and a company of British troops searching and advancing ahead.

A captain officer sat on the roof of a Stuart tank, continuously slapping his own thighs.

There were too many mosquitoes and insects in the jungle; the British troops wore shorts, enduring mosquito bites, and could only continuously slap their thighs to drive away mosquitoes.

The Burmese soldiers walking behind the tanks appeared somewhat restrained, with tense expressions, closely following behind the British tank tracks.

At this time, Marshal Lawan of Bangkok City, this Japanese puppet, nominal highest ruler of Thailand, was already unable to sit or stand still, pacing nervously in his office.

"Your Excellency, the British are getting serious; they actually sent over a hundred tanks to attack Thailand."

"If Zhongnan State to the east seizes this opportunity to cooperate with the British to stab us in the back, Thailand will be completely finished!"

Lieutenant General Terauchi Hisaichi sat steadily on the main seat, not panicked at all.

"Marshal Lawan, please calm down; you are after all a Marshal."

"Those coming are British, not the Youth Army; don't forget I have stationed three divisions in Thailand, enough to block the British offensive."

"As for Zhongnan State and the Youth Army, there are currently no signs of them mobilizing."

Marshal Lawan asked: "Your Excellency, are you confident of repelling the British?"

Lieutenant General Terauchi Hisaichi was full of confidence: "My fighters are more numerous than the British, better than the British, possessing absolute air supremacy."

"The British have tanks; I have also prepared tank forces in Thailand."

"The British soldiers are mostly Burmese and Indians, lacking training, while my army, many were transferred from the Xia Guo battlefield; many new recruits underwent targeted training on Hainan Island, adapting to the climate."

"Based on these points, the British are no match for me!"

On the Thailand-Burma border, the British armored vanguard squad was currently driving through dense jungle trails, completely unaware that the god of death was near.

Five M3 Stuart tanks formed a single-file line, with dense woods on both sides.

The tank commander of the lead tank poked his head out from the top hatch, looking around, trying to determine his position on the map.

Crack! Crack!

Crisp sounds of trees breaking rang out one after another in the silent woods.

Several large trees ahead suddenly crashed down, thick trunks falling haphazardly across the road, blocking the path of the British tank force.

The lead British tank braked suddenly, and inertia nearly caused several British infantrymen on top of the tank to fall off.

Before the British Company Commander could issue a warning, a deafening explosion came from the rear of the column.

A Japanese anti-tank gun hidden in the woods opened fire, directly destroying the rearmost tank and blocking the retreat of the British armored reconnaissance squad.

The Stuart tank's thin side armor had no power to fight back before the anti-tank gun, instantly turning into a roaring fireball.

"Enemy attack! Scatter! Scatter quickly!"

The British lieutenant shouted hoarsely, but the narrow jungle path gave them little reaction time.

Japanese soldiers emerged like ghosts from the dense canopy and thick piles of fallen leaves.

Many Japanese hid in large trees several meters high, setting up Type 99 Rifles and Type 97 Light Machine Guns, picking off the British infantry below with aimed shots.

The British Burma troops wearing shorts were thrown into confusion by the gunfire, falling one after another under the dense hail of bullets.

The British Army's Stuart tanks searched everywhere for traces of the Japanese Army, their machine guns and tank cannons opening fire on the dense forest, blasting the waists off many large trees, and Japanese soldiers atop the tree tops fell down one after another, some dying instantly upon hitting the ground.

The combat was quite fierce.

The Japanese Army's suicide infantry went mad; they wrapped white bands around their heads, held up spike mines, and rushed out from the jungles on both sides of the road, appearing like ghosts and impossible to track.

"Banzai!"

A Japanese soldier held a spike mine and rushed toward the side of a British tank.

The Japanese soldier seemed to be holding a long spear, thrusting fiercely at the tank.

With a loud bang, one of the British Stuart tanks was blown up on the spot, while that Japanese suicide soldier was also severely wounded, lying on the ground with pitch-black blood gushing from his mouth; it seemed they had perished together.

The tongues of flame from the anti-tank guns flashed continuously in the grass, soon destroying all the British Stuart tanks.

The smoke of battle had not yet cleared when the roar of aircraft engines came from the horizon.

They were airmen dispatched by the Imperial Japanese Army Southern Army; a dark mass of fighter planes pressed over like dark clouds.

These were Japanese fighter planes coming to attack the main forces of the British Burma Army's First Division and the Armored Seventh Brigade.

The Japanese Army's Type 96 land attack aircraft carried heavy bombs and began bombing the British main forces in the rear.

The Navy took off Zero Fighters from aircraft carriers, and the Army took off Type 1 Fighters from airfields.

The air fleet launched bombing and strafing against the British main forces.

Where the aircraft cannon tongues of flame swept, British military vehicles disintegrated one after another.

The British Army lacked effective air protection and could only constantly evacuate troops to reduce losses.

Immediately after, the heavy artillery force of the Japanese Army's 33rd Division began long-range firepower strikes.

150-millimeter shells fell on the British assembly area, blowing the originally neat marching columns into pieces.

After the artillery fire strike ended.

The Japanese Army's Type 95 light tanks and Type 97 Kai medium tanks rushed out from the slanting side.

They seemed like hungry jackals, charging into the chaotic British camp.

"Retreat! Full line retreat!"

Amidst chaos and disarray, before the British Army had even entered the Thai Border, the commander helplessly issued the retreat order.

This ambitious Bullfighter Plan thus came to a hasty end.

In the Zhi Hui Li in Rangoon, Governor Smith received battle reports more terrifying than the last.

The Armored Seventh Brigade, which he had placed great hopes in, had lost about thirty percent of its tanks before even entering the Thai Border.

The British infantry main force began to flee in panic, abandoning a large number of trucks and ammunition.

Meanwhile, Yamashita Tomoyuki's troops rode bicycles, advancing unimpeded across the Malay Peninsula with great momentum, seeming to have a touch of Blitzkrieg.