Chapter 430: Mijie River

"The Chinese… the Chinese actually surrounded us!"

Mukoda Koya's voice was hoarse, almost a roar.

"The Chinese st Division holds the Mijie River, cutting off our retreat southward; the Eastern Front is a mess, and it was taken by the 200th Division! Since when did they become mechanized units? They're advancing at full speed toward Mandalay! We… we have become isolated!"

As soon as those words were spoken, the headquarters erupted in uproar, and the officers' faces turned ashen.

No one expected that the 18th Division, which had once swept the British Army across Southeast Asia with unstoppable force, would now find itself in such a dire predicament.

The Chief of Staff hurried forward, his voice trembling as he reported, "Division Commander, the situation is extremely critical! According to frontline reconnaissance, the Chinese 200th Division is fully mechanized, with tanks, armored vehicles, and heavy artillery massed. The scattered defensive positions our troops have set up along the line cannot stop them and are being easily crushed! They are now less than thirty kilometers from Mandalay!"

"The Mijie River sector, the st Division's fortifications are solid and its firepower fierce; our troops have attempted several probing breakouts, only to be driven back with heavy casualties!"

"In the Southern Theater at Jaoshi, Colonel Ruo Song Zhi Lang's 124th Regiment also faced stubborn resistance from the Chinese st Division, halting its advance; it cannot move north to reinforce us in a short time!"

One bad report after another hammered his heart like a heavy hammer, making his vision go black and nearly causing him to lose his footing.

He staggered back a step, grasping the table to barely steady himself, the panic in his eyes no longer concealable: "It's over… completely over… we've been fully encircled by the Chinese forces!"

Mukoda Koya knew well that although the 18th Division was a Class A Division with formidable combat power, it is now trapped in Mandalay, severely lacking ammunition, food, and medicine; reinforcements are slow to arrive, there is no retreat. Facing the Expeditionary Force's two elite divisions squeezing from the north and south, and an east‑west encirclement, there is no way out but total annihilation.

What he could not comprehend was why the Chinese troops, having already been defeated in Myanmar, with the main Chinese 200th Division already shattered, could within such a short time transform from a regular infantry unit into a mechanized infantry force equipped with tanks and armor.

Of course, the Japanese Army's 15th Army also fielded two tank battalions, equipped with Type 95 light tanks and Type 97 medium tanks.

One of those tank battalions was stationed in Mandalay, but after losing air superiority, the Japanese tanks there became live targets; when the first wave of Expeditionary Force bombers swept over Mandalay, those tanks were singled out one by one.

"Contact the 124th Regiment immediately! Contact Ruo Song Zhi Lang!" Mukoda Koya seized the Chief of Staff's collar and screamed hysterically, "Make him, at any cost, break through the Chinese st Division's line and move north to reinforce the division's main force! This is an order! A death‑order!!"

"Hey!" The Chief of Staff trembled in fear, quickly bowed to receive the order, and hurried to shake the telephone.

Jaoshi front, Japanese 124th Regiment Headquarters.

Colonel Ruo Song Zhi Lang, a short, sharp‑eyed middle‑aged Japanese officer, is now crouched in a trench, holding a binocular to observe the Chinese troops' positions on the south bank of the Mijie River, his complexion extremely grim.

His 124th Regiment, the main regiment of the 18th Division, is fully staffed with nearly four thousand men, equipped with Type 92 heavy machine guns, Type 94 mountain guns, and anti‑tank guns, making its combat power very high.

Originally ordered to move north to reinforce the division's breakout, he did not expect that upon reaching the south bank of the Mijie River, a Chinese force would block them completely, leaving them unable to advance a single step.

"Regiment Commander, the frontline attack has failed!"

A Lieutenant Colonel staff officer, wounded all over, scrambled back, accidentally falling to the ground, said, "The Chinese defensive line is too solid—bunkers and trenches layered upon layers, with extremely fierce crossfire. Our 1st Battalion charged three times, suffering over two hundred casualties, and simply cannot break through!"

"Useless! All of you are useless!" Ruo Song Zhi Lang kicked the Lieutenant Colonel to the ground hard, his eyes flashing with ferocity, "Division Commander Mukoda Koya has already issued a death‑order, demanding we move north at any cost to reinforce! If we delay the division's breakout, you and I must commit seppuku as atonement!"

The Lieutenant Colonel lay on the ground, trembling, daring not to object.

Ruo Song Zhi Lang gritted his teeth, raised the binocular again, staring intently at the 2nd Regiment positions across the river held by Yang Zhi, a fierce glint in his eyes: "Chinese st Division… I have you memorized!"

"Relay my orders!" Ruo Song Zhi Lang spun around sharply, bellowing to his subordinates, "Artillery company, advance fully! Concentrate all mountain guns and mortars, and give me a fierce bombardment of the Chinese positions! Level their trenches, level their bunkers!"

"Infantry 3rd Battalion, 4th Battalion, prepare for bayonet charge! After the artillery barrage, all troops fix bayonets and break through the Chinese defensive line in one thrust! Today, we must break the Mijie River and move north to Mandalay!"

"Hey!!"

The Japanese officers all answered in unison, their voices bleak.

Soon, a deep thudding of artillery rang from the Japanese positions; dozens of mountain guns and mortars fired in unison, shells raining down on the 2nd Regiment's position like raindrops, earth splashing, smoke filling the air, and the trench instantly engulfed by fire.

But Yang Zhi was already prepared.

"All units, take cover in the anti‑air and anti‑artillery shelters!" Yang Zhi's calm voice broadcast over the radio across the position, "Hold your fire, and as soon as the barrage stops, counter‑attack!"

The 2nd Regiment's soldiers quickly slipped into the pre‑constructed sturdy anti‑artillery shelters, and despite the Japanese barrage's relentless pounding, the position remained firm.

The artillery cover lasted a full ten minutes, the Japanese shells almost turned the south‑bank position upside down.

"Charge!!"

Ruo Song Zhi Lang, seeing this, drew his command sword sharply and swung it fiercely toward the front.

"Board—!!"

Over a thousand Japanese soldiers, rifles fitted with bayonets, let out a wild howl, swarming toward the 2nd Regiment's position like locusts; the bayonets glinted coldly in the sun, a fierce onslaught.

In the past, when Japanese soldiers launched a suicidal charge, Huaxia soldiers might have felt fear at the Japanese pronunciation.

But to the st Division's soldiers, these Japanese troops seemed like madmen, or perhaps fools.

However, just when the Japanese were 150 meters from the position,

"Fire!"

Yang Zhi gave the order.

"Clack clack clack! Bang bang bang!"

In an instant, the Expeditionary Force's st Division's position erupted with gunfire!

MG42 General Machine Gun, Mauser rifles, and Hand Grenades all fired simultaneously, a dense web of fire like the Grim Reaper's scythe, instantly sweeping the charging Japanese.

The Japanese soldiers at the front fell in sheets, their cries and wails rising and falling, blood staining the banks of the Mijie River red.

The heavy machine guns in the bunkers kept spitting fire, soldiers in the trenches fired precisely, Hand Grenades exploded in the Japanese ranks like blood flowers, the Japanese charge formation was instantly shattered, corpses littered the ground, making any advance impossible.

Ruo Song Zhi Lang watched from the rear, his eyes bulging with rage, yet he was helpless.

His 124th Regiment was completely nailed into the south bank of the Mijie River by Yang Zhi's 2nd Regiment, unable to advance another step.

Inside Mandalay, Mukoda Koya received the report from the 124th Regiment.

When he saw the words "Attack failed, unable to advance, heavy casualties," Mukoda Koya's vision went black, and he collapsed onto his chair, the Telegram falling to the ground.

Finished.

Everything is over.

The southern retreat route is locked by the st Division, the Southern Theater reinforcements are cut off by Yang Zhi's 2nd Regiment, the Eastern Front's 200th Division's mechanized army presses forward step by step, and Mandalay has become an isolated fortress.

The 18th Division, this once‑glorious Class A Division, has fallen into boundless terror.

The Japanese soldiers in the city, after learning of the encirclement, saw their morale completely collapse; their previously arrogant gazes turned anxious, ammunition ran low, food was scarce, the wounded wailed, and the whole city was suffused with a sense of despair.

"Division Commander, what do we do now?" the staff whispered, their voices trembling.

Mukoda Koya slowly lifted his head, his eyes no longer holding any spark of battle, only endless despondence and fear.

He stared out the window at Mandalay's gray, misty sky, then glanced at the steel defensive line spanning the Mijie River on the map, and finally understood.

I and the 18th Division have already fallen into the inescapable net Jiang Anguo laid, unable to escape even with wings.

The Mi River's waters still roar, yet it has already become the burial river of the Japanese Army's 18th Division.

Along the north and south Defensive Lines, twenty thousand Expeditionary Force troops, like iron chains spanning the river, have locked the Japanese Army's main force in Mandalay firmly in a dead end.

A large‑scale encirclement‑and‑annihilation battle against the elite division is about to break out in full force.