Chapter 403: Mandalay Counteroffensive Plan

The Chongqing side moved quickly, not only sending over the troops from two training regiments, a total of three thousand men.

In reality, these rear training regiments having seven to eight hundred men would already be good.

It shows that this time the principal in Chongqing truly gave the personnel to Jiang Anguo's 1st Division.

At the same time, the transport troops also brought over several thousand civilians who had been stranded in Chongqing.

These civilians had fled into Chongqing; lingering there was not a solution, so since there was a place to receive them, they were sent over together.

Jiang Anguo was also well aware of the situation in Chongqing.

Even though he hadn't stayed in Chongqing long, as a major rear area Chongqing still lacked supplies, and many people were scrambling for a single meal.

He didn't expect such generosity.

"Lin Yi, you have a tough job here; set out for Chongqing and try to persuade more people to come to Myanmar," Jiang Anguo said.

Lin Yi was settling the civilians, "Commander, you mean we go to Chongqing and send all the civilians over?"

Jiang Anguo nodded, "Yes, you didn't notice that Chongqing has been 'releasing people'; since they don't want them, we will, the more the better."

In fact, Lin Yi and many others didn't understand why Jiang Anguo arranged it this way.

It is essentially providing these people food and drink for free, while they only need to contribute a small amount of labor.

"Yes, Commander, I'm heading to Chongqing now," Lin Yi said.

"Not only Chongqing," Jiang Anguo took out a map and pointed, "but also the Sichuan behind it; bring all the displaced civilians over as well."

"Understood!" Lin Yi said with a determined look.

With Chongqing easing up, Jiang Anguo also realized he could be even bolder.

Until now, he had not dared to make big moves; so far, only about two thousand civilians have entered Myanmar from the north.

Air transport is simply too slow.

Sea transport, however, all major ports in the interior and Southeast Asia are now occupied by the Japanese Army.

This was all done covertly through the Third War Zone and the Nonary War Zone; because those zones already had a foundation for sending weapons and equipment, Jiang Anguo leveraged that relationship to open a route on both sides, and Xue Yue and Gu Zhutong paid little attention to Jiang Anguo's movements.

After all, refugees at any time are a considerable risk for local officers.

Mainly because the front lines are in turmoil and rear supplies are insufficient, there is simply no way to rescue these disaster victims.

Jiang Anguo also thought of another place: the North.

After arranging Lin Yi's departure for Chongqing, he immediately informed Yan Xing, the chief of staff of the 1st Division stationed at Dangyang, to go to Henan himself, preferably to Luoyang or Xi'an, to first ascertain the situation of the local disaster victims.

Then transport the disaster victims to Dangyang and Changde, and finally to Lashu.

In this way, it neatly solves the "trouble" on the Chongqing side; Jiang Anguo is open to any population that comes.

Better if they come voluntarily.

Of course, transporting a single person consumes a huge amount of fuel; at least three hundred liters are needed for one person to reach Lashu.

That figure is enough to buy a life.

But Jiang Anguo still does this; he wants to seize this gap and send more population to Myanmar.

The current situation of the route is: transport population from the North to Lashu, then load Lashu with supplies and, most importantly, fuel, and fly again to Dangyang and Changde.

Through this relay method, more population is sent to Myanmar.

A huge map of Myanmar's terrain on the wall was densely marked with red and blue pencils.

Jiang Anguo stood before the map, heavily circling "Mandalay" with his pencil; the ancient city on the banks of the Yi Luo Wa Di Jiang is about to become the focal point of the counteroffensive.

In fact, Jiang Anguo also had some concerns about Mandalay.

Mainly because Mandalay's terrain is surrounded by rivers on both sides, with mountains encircling the right flank, making an attack indeed difficult.

Moreover, this is the rainy season in Southeast Asia; the river swells, making river‑crossing operations even more difficult.

However, he knows that after obtaining the system's population points reward, he needs to expand his territory to house the northern civilians.

Since he led Yao Quanyi's Independent Regiment north to join the Jianghan Campaign, Jiang Anguo's Independent Regiment—now the 1st Division—has quietly altered the garrison structure in Myanmar:

Among the five infantry regiments under his command, the Independent Regiment fought with him in western Hubei; although its manpower has been replenished to full strength, recruits now exceed sixty percent, and tactical coordination is still being refined; only Independent Regiment Two remains at Lashu to guard the rear; the other three infantry regiments are stationed at Taunggyi, holding the southern flank of the road from Lashu to Taunggyi.

At the same time, Dai Anlan's 200th Division was stationed at Corner Mei, Xibu, to guard against the Japanese Army in Mandalay.

Although called new recruits, most of the soldiers supplementing the Independent Regiment actually came from the WarSystem's replenishment, with only a small portion being local volunteers from the Jianghan Plain who joined the 1st Division.

"For this Mandalay counteroffensive, the Independent Regiment will not be placed in the main attack sequence for now," Jiang Anguo ordered the staff department clearly, "New recruits need combat honing, but the first battle is decisive; there is no room for trial and error."

He chose to concentrate two elite infantry regiments on the Taunggyi direction: Taunggyi Regiment One, commanded by Tie Quan, and Taunggyi Regiment Two, commanded by Hu Dali, as the spearhead of the assault.

At the same time, he mobilized Independent Regiment Two stationed at Lashu, using the manpower of three infantry regiments and the corresponding attached forces to attack Mandalay.

The Tonggu direction requires no concern; previously a Japanese 55th Division battalion was eliminated and Tonggu was completely cleared. Currently the Japanese only have a small detachment stationed at Tonggu as a reconnaissance unit, merely to monitor whether the expeditionary force in the Taunggyi direction shows any activity.

These troops have long trained in combat within the northern Myanmar jungles, familiar with the terrain, climate, and Japanese tactics; they are almost all veterans, with complete firepower allocation, and constitute the most reliable punch force currently.

Of course, Jiang Anguo is not the sole enemy in Mandalay, Myanmar.

He also has allied forces.

According to the Allied Forces China Theater Chief of Staff Stilwell's "Mandalay Counteroffensive Plan," the main expeditionary force will be deployed in this operation:

Dai Anlan's 200th Division, highly mechanized with armored vehicles and anti‑tank guns, will take the central breakthrough;

The Fifth Army's 96th Division, adept at mountain assaults, will be responsible for the left flank encirclement;

The 36th Division, reconstituted from the Yunnan forces, excels at hard fighting, will defend the left wing to block enemy reinforcements.

Together with Jiang Anguo's three regiments, the total strength exceeds 42,000 troops, directly targeting the Japanese 18th Division entrenched in Mandalay. This fierce division, which once carried out the "Swee Clear Massacre" in Singapore, now relies on the Yi Luo Wa Di Jiang to build a deep defensive line.

In terms of manpower, the expeditionary force's numbers will outpace the Japanese.

Of course, regarding weapons and equipment, Jiang Anguo's 1st Division and Dai Anlan's 200th Division also surpass the Japanese 18th Division.

Now the real trouble facing the expeditionary force is still the weather.

"The 18th Division, dubbed the 'Chrysanthemum Corps,' has extremely strong combat power," operations staff Song Yu reminded, "and Mandalay's city fortifications are solid, with three layers of outer defenses: minefields, anti‑tank ditches, and machine‑gun nests."

Regarding intelligence on Mandalay, Lin Yi and several staff members had long ago dispatched reconnaissance planes to scout, and new reports arrived almost daily.

Jiang Anguo nodded: "Precisely because of this, we must concentrate our superior forces and strike to crush it in one blow."