Chapter 529: Lightning Strike on Yangon (3)

At this moment, Fan Tian Xiang Erlang stood inside the Japanese Army headquarters in Yangon, and the air around him seemed to have solidified.

He wore a crisp Japanese Army lieutenant general uniform, yet could not hide the fatigue and anxiety in his eyes; his brows were tightly knit, his fingers kept tapping the desk, and his gaze was fixed on the map of southern Myanmar hanging on the wall.

On the map, the red arrows representing the Huaxia Expeditionary Force were firmly pinned outside Yangon, while the blue markings for the Japanese Army appeared scattered and thin.

In fact, as early as July 26, when news arrived that Bogu had been captured by the Chinese Expeditionary Force, Fan Tian Xiang Erlang had already sensed trouble.

Bogu was an important barrier north of Yangon, a transport hub linking Yangon and Mandalay; once Bogu fell, Yangon would lose its last northern defensive line, allowing the Huaxia Expeditionary Force to surge straight in and attack Yangon.

At that moment, the hope in Fan Tian Xiang Erlang's heart was completely shattered; he knew clearly that the Chinese Expeditionary Force's goal had never been isolated towns, but the very heart of Myanmar—Yangon.

Realizing the crisis, Fan Tian Xiang Erlang did not hesitate; he immediately grabbed the radio and sent an urgent telegram to the Japanese Army 33rd Division still stationed south of Muge County, the division led by Zhu Nei Kuan.

The telegram was brief and urgent, with no superfluous preamble: "Abandon Ren'ankiang, rush south to Yangon, must arrive within three days, reinforce Yangon's defenses, delay will be dealt with by military law!"

After sending the telegram, Fan Tian Xiang Erlang's mood still showed no relief.

He knew well that Zhu Nei Kuan's 33rd Division, though still reasonably strong, was still some distance from Yangon, with complicated road conditions en route and the need to fend off Chinese Expeditionary Force interdiction; reaching Yangon within three days would be extremely difficult.

What worried him more was that the 33rd Division had already suffered considerable casualties while skirmishing with Huaxia forces at Ren'ankiang, depleting both manpower and equipment; even if they arrived on time, they might not form an effective defensive force.

Zhu Nei Kuan, at this point having a clear assessment of the Yangon situation, immediately ordered the entire division to move light and fast, abandoning all nonessential baggage, carrying only ammunition and rations, and to force‑march along the east bank of the Yi Luo Wa Di Jiang.

The current 33rd Division was like Dai Anlan's 200th Division at the time, running east and west yet never encountering Huaxia troops.

Ren'ankiang was Myanmar's economic lifeline, namely oil, which Japan desperately lacked.

The great port of Sumatra also had oil, but when the Dutch withdrew they decisively blew up all the extraction facilities and oil fields.

Therefore, in the short term the Indonesian oil fields could not be used.

Moreover, the oil fields at Ren'ankiang, thanks to the 33rd Division's efforts, had gradually recovered, producing only one‑tenth of their former output.

Abandoning Ren'ankiang now meant giving up its oil fields.

Having decided to move south to Yangon, Zhu Nei Kuan also ordered all units to destroy every oil‑transport facility at Ren'ankiang, leaving none for the Expeditionary Force.

At the same time, this would also help contain the Expeditionary Force units to the north.

Zhu Nei Kuan's tactics were indeed numerous; the 3rd Regiment of the 201st Division stationed on Dongsha, whose commander Yang Zhi, upon learning of the 33rd Division's southward move, ordered his troops to pursue from behind.

Reaching the Ren'ankiang area, they saw the massive fire there; helplessly, Yang Zhi could only order his troops to halt the pursuit and have the regiment's soldiers join the firefighting teams.

Relying solely on the 33rd Division's reinforcement, Fan Tian Xiang Erlang had no confidence of holding Yangon.

With no other choice, he forced himself to send a request for reinforcement via telegram to General Terauchi Hisaichi, the commander of the Japanese Southern Army stationed in Singapore.

In the telegram, he detailed the dire situation in Yangon, earnestly pleading with Terauchi Hisaichi to swiftly allocate troops to reinforce Yangon; otherwise, if Yangon fell, the entire Myanmar battlefield would collapse and could even affect the whole Southeast Asian front.

But Fan Tian Xiang Erlang knew that Terauchi Hisaichi was also severely short of troops at that moment, and pulling a large force to reinforce Yangon would be as hard as moving mountains.

He knew clearly that the Japanese Southern Army's 25th Army was the absolute main force on the Southeast Asian front, comprising the 5th Division, the 56th Division, the 18th Division, and the Guard Division.

These four divisions were all elite Japanese units with very high combat power.

But now, these four elite units were far from their original full strength.

The 56th Division, after being shattered by the Expeditionary Force at Lashu and suffering through the Pingmana offensive‑defensive battles and the Bogu campaign, was completely annihilated in Myanmar.

The 18th Division, during the Mandalay campaign, was utterly wiped out by the Chinese Expeditionary Force; its commander was killed and only a handful of troops remained.

The 5th Division was the most likely to enter Myanmar to support Fan Tian Xiang Erlang.

However, because of the Japanese "victory" at the Battle of Midway, the Japanese Headquarters saw hope for an offensive against Pacific islands.

So it ordered the 5th Division to leave Myanmar, board transport ships to Papua New Guinea, preparing to take part in the assault on Port Moresby.

Now the 5th Division is already en route to the Pacific and cannot be recalled to reinforce Yangon.

As a result, the entire Malay Peninsula and Sumatra region are left with only the Guard Division as a main force.

The Guard Division, directly under the Japanese Emperor, is fiercely combat‑ready, and Terauchi Hisaichi dares not move this unit lightly.

Singapore is a key Japanese base in Southeast Asia and a strategic point linking the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

If the Guard Division were pulled to reinforce Yangon, Singapore's defenses would become hollow, and the British Army could seize the chance to retake Singapore—something the Japanese Headquarters could never accept.

The 25th Army had two divisions wiped out in Myanmar, which enraged the Headquarters greatly.

Even Xia Shan Feng Wen could not accept his troops being defeated by Huaxia forces in Myanmar.

Fan Tian Xiang Erlang waited for Terauchi Hisaichi's reply, each minute feeling especially long.

He knew that Terauchi Hisaichi would not stand by while Yangon fell, yet truly had no spare ground troops to allocate.

As expected, shortly thereafter he received a reply from Terauchi Hisaichi.

In the telegram, Terauchi Hisaichi stated that he could not dispatch ground forces to reinforce Yangon.

However, he had already mobilized the South Kwan fleet led by Xiao Ze Zhi Sanlang, racing at full speed toward Yangon to support, hoping Fan Tian Xiang Erlang could hold the city until the fleet arrived.

Seeing the reply, Fan Tian Xiang Erlang felt a faint glimmer of hope, but it was quickly replaced by despair.

He knew better than anyone that Yangon is not a coastal city; it lies over forty kilometers from the sea, and that entire stretch...

... is all tidal flats formed by the long erosion of the Yi Luo Wa Di River, low‑lying and muddy, where large warships cannot approach and even small vessels struggle to pass.

This fleet can get in, but may not get out; therefore the South Kwan fleet's safest striking range is out at sea.

The South Kwan fleet's guns are massive; if they could reach outside Yangon, they would indeed exert strong fire suppression on the Chinese Expeditionary Force, easing Yangon's defensive pressure.

The problem is the fleet cannot approach Yangon; although the gun range can cover Yangon, accuracy drops sharply, making it hard to inflict real damage on the Chinese Expeditionary Force's armored units outside the city and unable to effectively support the inner defenses.

In plain terms, Terauchi Hisaichi's deployment of the South Kwan fleet was mostly a show; truly relying on the fleet to hold Yangon was virtually impossible.