Chapter 109: Encountered the Expeditionary Force

Quan Zong looked toward the distant Japanese position, but was unable to act for the moment.

"I didn't expect the enemy's firepower to be so fierce," Quan Zong said, lowering his head.

Quan Zong's position was a small earthen mound that happened to block the Japanese line of sight.

In fact, the ones occupying Xibu were the 148th Regiment's advance detachment of the Japanese, together with part of the Engineer Company; the follow‑up forces were still arriving one after another.

Therefore, in terms of manpower, the th Division actually held the advantage.

And on the Zai An side, Jiang Anguo's annihilation of a Japanese squad at Zai An Bridge involved a Search Detachment of the 56th Division.

These were actually two units, but both belonged to the 56th Division.

However, the Search Detachment, being a direct unit of the 56th Division, did not have as many troops or firepower as the 148th Regiment.

Finally, after sacrificing 32 soldiers and exhausting all Grenade Launcher shells, the warriors of the Eighth Company drove back the Little Japan; indeed, they only repelled them, not annihilated them.

In fact, the Little Japan was bewildered by the Eighth Company's tactics, thinking they had encountered the main force of the Chongqing Army, whereas it was merely a Japanese company, and not even a full‑strength one.

The prolonged high‑intensity advance made the various units of the 56th Division suffer, and material supplies could not be effectively replenished.

This led many units to experience disorganized staffing.

Consequently, the material resupply each of the two units could obtain was extremely limited; fortunately, the 56th Division's northward march met only weak resistance.

The 148th Regiment, whose commander Colonel Xiangyuan Wuwei Zhi Fu, at this moment already knew that he had encountered news of the Chongqing Army coming from the Mandalay direction.

He simply did not expect that one of his companies had actually been defeated.

Neither side had pre‑arranged positions, and the Expeditionary Force arrived later, while this Japanese company had discovered the Expeditionary Force in advance.

It was a skirmish, and the only thing each could rely on was the terrain.

Colonel Xiangyuan Wuwei Zhi Fu chose to stay at Xibu because the first unit needed rest and supplies, and he had already ordered the soldiers to resolve it on the spot.

Second, the Japanese were also hesitating whether to continue the next offensive.

As a senior officer, Colonel Xiangyuan Wuwei Zhi Fu naturally knew that the 113th Regiment had encountered the th Division at Taunggyi.

Even the regiment commander Colonel DaSuJiaShi died in battle at Taunggyi, which was a disgrace to Imperial Japan.

It was precisely because of this mishap that the commander of the 56th Division, Watanabe Masao, hesitated; after repeated deliberation, he still decided to continue northward, capture Lashu, and cut off the Chongqing Army's retreat.

"Baka, this must be the th Division of the Chongqing Army," Colonel Xiangyuan Wuwei Zhi Fu said angrily.

The deputy officer asked from the side, "Regiment commander, should we report the situation here to the division commander and request reinforcements?"

Colonel Xiangyuan Wuwei Zhi Fu thought for a moment, then said, "Reporting to the division commander is fine, but our goal is to take Lashu; once Lashu is seized, the Chinese forces before us will have no retreat, and it must not hinder the main army's advance."

Colonel Xiangyuan Wuwei Zhi Fu knew that division commander Watanabe Masao was leading the main force of the 56th Division northward to capture Lashu; if at this moment his side failed to block the Chinese forces,

the 56th Division's rear would be cut off by the Chinese, and that would be trouble.

It should be noted that even though the Japanese intelligence was superior to that of the Chinese, the Japanese had not planned to seize Lashu or conduct operations in northern Myanmar.

Thus, the battlefield changed in an instant; Watanabe Masao was extremely daring, or rather, a madman—there is no shortage of madmen in the Japanese army.

Colonel Xiangyuan Wuwei Zhi Fu issued the order, "All units, prepare defenses; the Chinese must not breach the Xibu defensive line."

"Yes, Regiment commander."

The Chinese Army had only broken through the Japanese first defensive line; the 148th Regiment had already prepared its defenses, making it very difficult for the Chinese to breach the Xibu defensive line.

Xibu, also called Xibao.

The main issue was translation errors among the units, causing each to refer to it differently, and some officers' accents led to inconsistent naming.

Nevertheless, this was not the problem, because Jiang Anguo also called Xibu 'Xibao'; in fact, this was a serious issue.

In telegram exchanges, some referred to Xibu, others to Xibao, forcing officers at all levels to search the map for a long time.

"The Little Japan's map is more detailed than ours," Jiang Anguo said, comparing the map obtained from the Japanese squad with the one from the Lashu command post, feeling truly helpless.

The intelligence gap means that the Expeditionary Force does not even know how many opponents it faces; if the Expeditionary Force's command and Chongqing learned that the Japanese opposite already comprised four divisions—the 33rd Division, the 56th Division, the 55th Division, and the 18th Division,

the manpower advantage was gone.

Even though the Japanese focus remained on Indonesia's oil and Australia, the Japanese forces in Myanmar were already approaching one hundred thousand, not counting the Thai auxiliaries already serving Japan.

Fortunately, Jiang Anguo had Quan Zong deliver a message to Quan Zong, reminding Dai Anlan that the Japanese forces in Myanmar were in an urgent situation; Dai Anlan reported this to Du Lvming.

During the battle at Taunggyi, the Expeditionary Force's main body had already encountered the Japanese 113th Regiment and learned that the reinforcement was the 56th Division; therefore, Du Lvming also took note of Dai Anlan's mention that the Japanese 18th Division had entered Myanmar.

"We can't keep fighting like this," Du Lvming said, looking at Stilwell and Yalishanda.

Du Lvming held a low opinion of Yalishanda, saying politely that the so‑called Dunkirk Victory Great Transfer was actually a massive retreat, which was common back home.

Du Lvming found it puzzling; if the Expeditionary Force possessed the British weaponry, even a one‑for‑one exchange—or even two‑for‑one—would be possible, because China does not lack soldiers.

"I think we can wear down the Japanese at Mandalay; Mandalay's terrain is sufficient to resist the Japanese," Stilwell analyzed.

The old man remained determined to fight the Mandalay Battle.

Du Lvming shook his head and said sternly, "General, I do not endorse your decision; you must know that the Japanese now have four divisions in Myanmar, while we have only one army at Mandalay, namely my 5th Army, and it is understaffed."

In fact, the 5th Army under Du Lvming was not lacking troops; it merely missed the th Division, but it was reinforced by Sun Liren's New 38th Division.

"Commander Du, you should respect General Stilwell's advice," Yalishanda said from the side, always advocating anything beneficial to the British.

Du Lvming looked at Yalishanda and shouted, "If it weren't for you British, we could have driven the Japanese down to Yangon directly; you know how many troops we mobilized to rescue your units, shuttling back and forth, only to find you still issuing false orders."

Faced with Du Lvming's rebuke, Yalishanda fell silent; not only Yalishanda, even Stilwell could not stand the British, who were utterly ineffective in combat.