Chapter 131: Big Fish Reaches Lashu

However, plans cannot keep up with changes.

This year the rainy season in southern Myanmar arrived unusually early, and the sky seemed to have been pierced with a huge hole, with relentless downpours.

The heavy rain slowed the Expeditionary Force's retreat and redeployment, yet it also acted like a celestial trench, firmly blocking the Japanese Army's pursuit.

The muddy roads made the Japanese Army's mechanized units barely able to move, and the supply lines were stretched extremely long as a result.

Prolonged combat in harsh conditions likewise dealt a huge blow to the Japanese Army's morale.

Not only in the Mandalay direction, even the 56th Division that flanked Lashu from the side encountered unprecedented trouble.

This trouble stemmed not just from the weather, but also from an unprecedented sense of frustration.

Regiment Commander Watanabe Masao, the commander of the 56th Division, now stands on a height south of Zai An, letting the rain soak his cloak. Watanabe Masao leads the 56th Division, famed as the "Jungle Tiger," a trump card in Xia Shan Feng Wen's hand.

At this moment, Watanabe Masao's gaze is filled with hesitation.

As a gambler, Watanabe Masao dared to stake everything despite inferior forces, charging recklessly at the enemy, but that was when facing the French and the British. Now, before him are the Chinese.

Since Japan began the war in 1931, it has been entangled with the massive China for over a decade. They have occupied China's richest economic region, captured the capital Nanjing, even forced back the National Government, yet they could never make this ancient nation bow. Watanabe Masao knows better than anyone that only by truly destroying Chongqing, the wartime capital, can the war be won.

But reality dealt him a resounding slap.

On the march toward Lashu, his troops suffered successive setbacks. Taunggyi, the defeat at Xibu, the 113th and 148th Detachments being battered, made him hesitate whether to attack Lashu.

The 113th Detachment was even shattered by China's th Division, and its commander Colonel DaSuJiaShi fell, with Chief of Staff Matsui Shuji taking over as commander of the 113th Detachment.

It was precisely because Matsui Shuji, after the Expeditionary Force withdrew from Taunggyi, led the 113th Detachment to retake Taunggyi, ordering his snipers to cooperate with Myanmar troops along the Taunggyi and Corner Mei routes, pursuing the 200th Division and inflicting considerable losses.

Now, beside Watanabe Masao remains only an understrength 146th Detachment.

According to intelligence, toward Lashu the Expeditionary Force has over five thousand troops and has erected a tight Defensive Line. Worse, his 56th Division, due to a forced march, carries no heavy weapons. Apart from a few pitiful 75mm mountain guns and portable Grenade Launchers, they have virtually no breaching capability.

"No heavy artillery—what can we use to blast the Chinese positions?" Watanabe Masao felt a bitter sting in his heart.

Beyond the direct threat at Lashu, the situation toward Xibu also kept him on edge. Although they bombed the bridge from Xibu to Lashu, temporarily halting the enemy, the unit stationed on the opposite bank of the Yujie River…

China's 200th Division, like a wounded tiger still baring its fangs, stared intently at his every move.

Watanabe Masao would not mock the unlucky 55th Division commander Takeuchi Hiroshi.

Takeuchi Hiroshi, attacking the 200th Division at Tonggu, lost five to six thousand men and was berated by the 15th Army commander Iida Shojiro.

Because they were classmates at the Army University, before the march on Lashu Takeuchi Hiroshi had invited him for a drink and, with a solemn expression, warned: "Watanabe, beware the 200th Division. In the battle at Tonggu my division lost six thousand dead, over three thousand wounded, nearly annihilated. It is a terrifying force."

Back then Watanabe Masao was half‑skeptical; now it seems his old classmate's words were no exaggeration. The 200th Division truly is a hard bone to chew.

In Xibu, the situation left Watanabe Masao speechless; the 200th Division, despite such severe reductions, launched a counter‑offensive against Xibu, of course employing German aircraft.

Watanabe Masao informed the Southern Army commander and asked for clarification why German aircraft were over Myanmar's skies; the reply was that even the Germans themselves did not know.

One should know that today, to ship supplies into Asia one must pass through the Suez Canal, which is in British hands, so that alone rules out the Germans.

On the North Africa front, the Germans are also in a mess!

But the issue is that the German planes are definitely there.

His 148th Detachment, in Xibu, failed to block the 200th Division's advance and was driven out of Xibu, retreating into the great mountains of northern Myanmar.

Yet from Tonggu, through Taunggyi, chasing to Lashu, the 56th Division progressed too smoothly; along the way Watanabe Masao defeated the Chinese 6th Army's 49th Division, temporarily assigning the 55th Division, a truly brilliant record.

Now only the final step remains: Lashu, the key stronghold of northern Myanmar.

What Watanabe Masao never imagined was that on his inevitable route to Lashu, a unit had already prepared defenses, as if they knew he would pass here.

Until then, the Chinese forces encountered along the way were only repelled by a single strike from the 56th Division's Search Detachment.

Precisely because of that, a forward search squad dared to assault the Zai An Defensive Line.

Then Jiang Anguo mistook them for the main body of the Japanese 66th Division, which was quite a reception.

The shells fell heavily, and the result was dozens of small fish.

Watanabe Masao, with his staff, climbed a mountain southwest of Zai An. He raised his binoculars, peering through the rain curtain to discern distant movements.

Through the lenses, the outer positions of Zai An showed clear lines of fortifications. On the left hillside, anti‑aircraft gun barrels stared coldly at the sky. On the front line, several camouflaged corners clearly concealed some large‑caliber weapon.

"Divisional Commander, let me lead the troops and seize the opposite position in one push!" Colonel Jin Gang Zong Si Lang, commander of the 146th Infantry Detachment, could not contain his excitement.

"Hmm…" Watanabe Masao did not answer immediately, merely lowering his binoculars slowly, his brows knit into a river shape.

"Jin Gang, have you seen the opposite position?"

"Seen! The Chinese forces are constructing fortifications!"

"No, it's more than just fortifications." Watanabe Masao's voice carried a chill. "They have deployed dense anti‑aircraft weapons, indicating they have air support or have anticipated our air superiority. And those artillery positions… look at those concealed angles; they're probably not ordinary field guns."

Watanabe Masao knew that at this range, if the opposite side had heavy artillery, his light infantry would become sitting targets the moment they charged.

These Chinese troops differed from those he had previously defeated along the way, as if they were waiting here for something.

Originally, Watanabe Masao's plan was for April 29, the Ten‑Day Festival.

On the Emperor's birthday, capturing Lashu as a birthday gift to the Emperor would be supreme glory.

But now, piece after piece of intelligence forces him to halt his frantic advance. The loss at Xibu, the pressure from the 200th Division behind, and the Zai An Defensive Line before him press like three mountains on his heart.

After a long while, Watanabe Masao gritted his teeth and said gravely, "Order the Search Detachment to conduct a probing attack. Remember, only a probe! Locate the Chinese forces' fire points, and do not linger in battle!"

"Yes!" Jin Gang Zong Si Lang, though a bit reluctant, obeyed the order.

His gaze returned to the Zai An Defensive Line.

Song Mengqin stood on the forward position, rain streaming down his steel helmet. He raised his binoculars, likewise watching the Japanese movements on the opposite hill.

As a battalion‑level commander, he could sense the Japanese hesitation across.

The forward Reconnaissance Company had long learned of the Japanese movement; in terms of numbers, this was the "Big Fish" the commander had been awaiting—the main body of the Japanese 66th Division.

"Shi Xiaomao!" Song Mengqin set down his binoculars and shouted.

"Ready!"

A solid‑built soldier with oil paint on his face ran over. He mimicked the style, also liking to apply a few camouflage strokes on his face.

The commander had told Song Mengqin that Shi Xiaomao was a divine gunner, accurate with each shot, and bore the nickname Keluobo.

Shi Xiaomao chuckled, rubbed his rough finger across his mouth, showed a hint of confidence, and said, "Company Commander, shall we fire?"

Song Mengqin pointed at the faint silhouette on the distant mountaintop.

Although it was far away, his intuition told him that spot must be the Japanese Army's Commander.

"Did you see that position? The one with the telescope," Song Mengqin said, his tone carrying a hint of cold sharpness. "Although the distance is a bit far and it's an upward shot, I believe you have the skill for it."

Shi Xiaomao squinted and looked in the direction Song Mengqin's finger indicated. It was the high ground of the Japanese Army's position, with an open view, overlooking the entire Zai An Defensive Line. Shi Xiaomao could even imagine a pair of greedy and venomous eyes hidden behind it.

He took a deep breath, extended his thumb, aimed toward the direction the battalion commander had indicated, closed his eyes, and his gaze became focused and sharp.

"Battalion commander, don't worry. At this distance, it's nothing; I'll definitely hit the Little Devil (Japanese soldier)!" Shi Xiaomao patted his chest. "I've got confidence!"

"Alright, it's yours. This shot must be accurate and fierce!" Song Mengqin patted Shi Xiaomao's shoulder.