Chapter 583: Thai Campaign (5)

Luan Piwen·Songkan just couldn't understand.

Before May, the Japanese were winning step by step, even hopeful of reaching the Huaxia Yunnan border.

But after May, everything seemed to have changed.

Originally, Luan Piwen·Songkan had also prepared an army, launching an offensive toward Jingdong while the Japanese attacked Mandalay.

However, a mysterious unit attacked the Thai Army's logistics warehouse, causing the plan to fail.

But Luan Piwen·Songkan had never imagined, from start to finish, that the Huaxia Army would march into Thailand, even reach Bangkok.

Beside him, Defense Minister Naraong lowered his head, his whole body rigid, his tone so heavy he could barely breathe, his voice trembling with an unhidden quiver: "Prime Minister, the Nankai Fleet is too formidable; our Thonburi and Ayutthaya are no match, annihilated within half an hour, the sea route completely blocked. The defenses of Beiliu Prefecture, Futong, and Pathum Thani have also been breached one by one."

Everyone knows that the Japanese are unreliable now, and their own army is even less dependable.

Even the Japanese have been defeated, and the Thai Army is even less a match for the Expeditionary Force.

Most crucially, the sea routes have also been blocked, leaving Luan Piwen·Songkan with no escape route.

Luan Piwen·Songkan stood dumbfounded in place, his mind a blank.

He recalled that he had initially defected to Japan, believing that with the Japanese's strength he could preserve Thailand's sovereignty and his own position.

But now the Japanese are suffering repeated defeats in Southeast Asia, utterly unable to provide support.

And the Nanko and Expeditionary Force's massive armies have already reached the city gates; he himself has driven Thailand into a desperate plight.

He thought he was Thailand's saint!

Yet he didn't realize that power is truly too tempting!

Ananta·Mahidun, the current king of Thailand, is nothing more than Luan Piwen·Songkan's mascot.

"Why... why is this happening..." he muttered, his eyes full of remorse and despair, his body going limp as he collapsed onto the chair, staring at the sky outside the window, his heart left with endless sorrow.

He knows that Bangkok's fall is only a matter of time, and his regime is also on the brink of collapse.

Outside the city, Nanko and the Expeditionary Force's troops had long prepared for the siege, rows of heavy artillery tightly aligned, barrels pointing at Bangkok's city walls, the gun barrels glinting with cold light, ready to unleash fury at any moment.

The soldiers rolled up their sleeves, morale soaring, weapons gripped tightly, eyes steadfast, their orderly ranks stretching into the distance, the sounds of footsteps and chants intertwining, deafening.

William piloted a carrier-based fighter, low‑flying over Bangkok, its wings skimming the walls, its cannon aimed at the city's defensive works, a formidable deterrent; each loop sent the enemy inside the city into a panic.

In the air, combat aircraft patrolled; on the ground, massive troops encircled; at sea, a fleet blockaded—under this triple deterrence, Bangkok became a trapped beast, the enemy inside unable to escape.

The pressure of the encirclement was like a heavy black cloud, hanging over every corner of Bangkok, suffocating.

Three armies converged, making Bangkok a matter of capture.

With Stilwell's single command, the all‑out assault on Bangkok was launched; the three forces struck simultaneously, mounting a fierce attack on the tightly besieged Thai capital.

The core defending force in Bangkok was the Japanese 48th Division.

This blood‑stained unit originated as the notorious "Yizhou" Mixed Brigade, which had directly participated in the Nanjing Massacre, its hands soaked with the blood of Huaxia compatriots, committing unforgivable atrocities.

Little known is that although the division bore the name "Yizhou" Mixed Brigade, its soldiers were not primarily from that southeastern island.

Most soldiers came from Fukuoka, Nagasaki and other parts of Japan's Kyushu, all zealots brain‑washed by militarist ideology; only a few hailed from the Japanese‑occupied island.

Since the Battle of the Yellow Sea, the island had been ceded to Japan, enduring nearly fifty years of colonial rule.

The island's elders had long since passed away, and the younger generation, raised under Japanese colonial schooling, had their minds severely warped, becoming extremely fanatical.

Some even considered themselves true Japanese, and these extremists flocked to the 48th Division, becoming accomplices of the Japanese.

"Baka!"

At this moment, Lieutenant General Zhong Teng Qianqiu, commander of the 48th Division, stood in the temporary command post inside Bangkok, his face no longer bearing the cruelty and arrogance of the Nanjing Massacre days, replaced instead by sheer terror and unease, an unprecedented fear that, like icy tide, completely engulfed him.

Outside the window, artillery roared, explosions, gunfire, and the roar of combat aircraft blended together incessantly; every inch of Bangkok quivered in the flames of war.

On the ground, Nanko and the Expeditionary Force's tank units surged like a steel torrent toward Bangkok's interior, the heavy tanks' tracks crushing the road and emitting a rumble—rumble—rumble; wherever they passed, the Japanese defensive works were utterly smashed.

Countless heavy guns were neatly arrayed, the smallest being 105 mm howitzers, their barrels aimed at every defensive point inside the city.

Even the thunder of guns over 150 mm could be heard; a single shell of that size could disable an entire Japanese squad.

"Boom—boom—boom" the artillery roared deafeningly, shells pouring down like rain, pulverizing the Japanese positions, fragments of stone and splinters flying everywhere.

These Chinese troops were different, not the elite Chinese encountered in Shanghai at all.

In the sky, the Nanhua Pacific Fleet's aircraft carrier "Qihang" launched F4U carrier‑based fighters and bombers.

Continuously they swept over Bangkok, the bombs under their wings striking the Japanese defensive positions, ammunition depots, and transport routes with pinpoint accuracy.

Each bombing was accompanied by flames and thick smoke; the Japanese defensive system rapidly collapsed under the coordinated air‑ground assault.

The focus was on areas marked with Japanese plaster patches, which were the first bombing targets.

Zhong Teng Qianqiu watched the devastation outside, his fists clenched, nails digging into his flesh, his heart filled with despair.

The Japanese and Thai forces had never imagined the Huaxia would march all the way to Bangkok, so Bangkok's outer defenses were very weak, unable to repel such a fierce assault.

Sure enough, under the Expeditionary Force's tank charge, the outer defensive line was quickly breached.

Sherman tanks led the way, crushing Japanese trenches and bunkers.

Infantry followed tightly behind the tanks, using their cover to methodically clear remaining enemies point by point, advancing steadily into Bangkok, their momentum unstoppable, encountering almost no substantial resistance.

Compared with the Expeditionary Force's frontal advance, the Yao Quanyi Independent Regiment in the north deployed its specialty—urban warfare—becoming the spearhead that broke through Bangkok's northern districts.

Yao Quanyi's hallmark is urban warfare.