Chapter 51: The British Only Know How to Retreat

The th Division's long‑awaited reinforcements finally arrived, but it was still too late; the reinforcements reached Tonggu on the 28th.

At this point the th Division had exhausted its ammunition and supplies, unable to fight further. One must remember the th Division was a Vanguard Unit, and it had already reached this state.

One can imagine how fierce the fighting was.

Dai Anlan's troops inflicted heavy casualties on the Japanese invaders, yet by employing successive blockades his own losses were far fewer compared with the Japanese.

The casualty ratio actually reached one to five.

This explains why the Japanese rushed reinforcements: the Japanese had initially thought two corps could seize Myanmar, but after learning that Chinese forces had entered Myanmar they kept sending aid; the Fifty‑five Division was blocked at Tonggu, prompting the dispatch of the 56th Division as reinforcement.

Liao Yaoxiang, together with Dai Anlan, continued to pressure the headquarters, requesting a retreat.

The Expeditionary Force also learned that the immediate enemy was the Japanese Fifty‑five Division and the 56th Division, though the exact numbers were unknown.

Meanwhile, the British forces on the western road faced the Japanese rd Division.

As a result, the Expeditionary Force's numerical advantage vanished.

The Japanese also employed biochemical weapons during the battle, firing Poison Gas Shells at Expeditionary Force soldiers; fortunately, after reorganization the th Division was equipped with Gas Masks, and even though the attack was sudden, they also carried a Towel, immediately dampening it with water to prevent inhalation of the gas.

Even so, the Japanese failed to breach the th Division's positions.

What worried Dai Anlan most was the whereabouts of the Japanese 18th Division, and Jiang Anguo also fretted; the Japanese were gradually reinforcing, not pouring four divisions into Myanmar all at once.

After all, the Japanese have limited troops, and the area they must defend is especially vast.

Stilwell, upon learning that the Japanese had deployed two divisions at Tonggu and that the th Division was low on ammunition with only the newly formed 22nd Division as reinforcement, reluctantly issued a retreat order, which in practice was still a retreat order given by Du Lvming.

If the British at Tonggu did not retreat, they might have held out a while longer; Dai Anlan also reported this matter to the Expeditionary Force Headquarters.

Under Stilwell's questioning, Yalishanda remained vague.

This gave Stilwell an unprecedented sense of powerlessness; he held the China Theater Chief of Staff position and the nominal command of the Expeditionary Force.

But in fact, Stilwell could not command any unit at all.

"You British only know how to retreat," Stilwell fumed, slamming the door as he stormed out.

Du Lvming did not linger either, departing with his men.

Only the British remained, and indeed the British had a thick, thieving nerve.

"Order all artillery fire at twelve o'clock tonight, fire at the Japanese to the south without holding back," Dai Anlan issued command after command.

That night, Dai Anlan led the th Division in a direct assault toward the Japanese, using Tank units as the vanguard; after breaking through the Japanese Defensive Line, he then led all forces to withdraw backward.

The newly formed Twenty‑second Division withdrew early, establishing positions under Yedaxi to cover the th Division's retreat to Pingmana.

The early hours of the 29th.

All th Division units withdrew from Tonggu; Dai Anlan was the last to retreat, taking every wounded soldier with him.

Thus the Tonggu Battle, or rather the Tonggu Defense Battle, came to an end.

Before the battle, Dai Anlan had already instilled a death‑defying mindset in all soldiers and had them write farewell letters.

Even at the officers' meeting, to prevent command disruption during combat, Dai Anlan declared: "If the Division Commander falls, the Deputy Division Commander shall replace him; if the Deputy falls, the Chief of Staff shall replace him; if the Chief of Staff falls, the Infantry Commander shall replace him; each level shall be handled accordingly."

For a Division Commander to utter such words shows how bleak the outlook was; even though they had inflicted heavy damage on the Japanese early on, the shortage of weapons and ammunition severely crippled the th Division's firepower.

In the end, it concluded so hastily.

With both resentment and helplessness, Dai Anlan's mood was extremely complex at that moment.

Nevertheless, the damage the th Division dealt to the Japanese was immense, effectively restraining them.

In this battle the th Division suffered 1,500 killed, while according to Japanese figures, at least 6,500 Imperial Soldiers died at Tonggu.

The Japanese lost dozens of Tanks, partly because Dai Anlan seized the British 57mm Anti‑tank Gun, inflicting heavy losses on Japanese Tanks.

The th Division's Tank losses were also severe; the entire division had 23 Tanks, and by the final withdrawal only eight British Vickers Tanks remained.

This inevitably made the Japanese wonder whether Chinese soldiers had become so formidable.

The British lack of cooperation, and the Expeditionary Force's early trust in the Allied Forces, both erupted at that moment.

Hundreds of kilometres away in Chanda, peace still reigned.

"Report."

Jiang Anguo looked up, saw Company Commander Yao Quanyi, and said, "Proceed."

"Company Commander Yao, what is it?" Jiang Anguo asked.

Yao Quanyi saluted Jiang Anguo, who returned the salute, then said, "Commander, in recent days near Songshan and Chanda we have discovered a large number of suspicious personnel."

Soldiers obtained through System Exchange usually address Jiang Anguo as Commander, while the stragglers at the Chanda camp call him Camp Leader.

"Oh," Jiang Anguo said, puzzled.

"Xiao Si, go fetch Meng Fanle for me."

Xiao Si quickly called Meng Fanle over.

"No need to salute, Meng Fanle, I ask you: have you heard of any suspicious personnel near the camp recently?" Jiang Anguo asked.

Meng Fanle's leg had healed, but a long‑standing limp meant he was still slow to react, and he walked cautiously at times.

Meng Fanle nodded, "Camp Leader, I know this. I've led men to inspect these people; they're all passing Caravan traders, but I feel they are linked to the Japanese plane crash."

"Oh, explain in detail," Jiang Anguo said, unable at the moment to connect the Caravan with the crash.

"Camp Leader, they have been asking along the way whether anyone saw a plane; I even went to Tengchong and Mangshi to ask the locals, and found they had all been questioned," Meng Fanle had also prepared in advance.

Jiang Anguo nodded, "It seems the Japanese are looking for their pilot!"

The Japanese, of course, were very concerned about the missing Reconnaissance Plane.

Jiang Anguo also thought that at this time, various cities in Yunnan likely harboured many Japanese spies.

"Meng Fanle, take some men and ask the Caravan people who sent them to search for the plane," Jiang Anguo said, knowing they might get nothing but still wanting to try.

The Yunnan Caravan is famous, having historically transported Salt and Iron, and later more valuable goods such as Opium.

Jiang Anguo now had no desire to deal with this matter, nor the capacity, since Yunnan was not his jurisdiction and he lacked the authority.

This involves many things, especially in Tengchong where Long Yun's son Long Shengwu is now a bona‑fide Opium trafficker.