Anti-Japanese War: From Becoming Chu Yunfei to Rising

Chapter 559 Chu Yunfei: Liao Yaoxiang, a true man should serve on the battlefield now! (Please subscribe)
Pyinmana, Myanmar.

The mud and blood mixed together, turning this once peaceful land into a living hell.

The Japanese artillery shells rained down like hail. They didn't have much ammunition to begin with, and now they were determined to use it all up here. The shells blasted the palm trees around the village into charred stumps.

The temporary headquarters of the newly formed 22nd Division was set up in a cellar of a reinforced Buddhist pagoda.

Each violent explosion caused sandbags overhead to shed dust.

Division Commander Liao Yaoxiang's eyes were bloodshot; he hadn't slept for two days and two nights.

Before him was a top-secret telegram, just delivered and personally sent by Chu Yunfei, the commander-in-chief of the Expeditionary Force.

To my esteemed elder brother Jianchu:
The enemy chieftain, like a cornered beast, fought desperately, gathering his main force in one corner, intending to launch a decisive battle at Binmana with overwhelming force.

This is not only a precarious situation for the 22nd Division, but also an opportunity for our expeditionary force to achieve a complete victory.

Brother, with the strength of one division, you have taken on an army of a million, holding back the main force of the enemy and creating a precious opportunity for our northern and southern armies to encircle and annihilate the enemy. This is an unparalleled achievement.

I know this battle will be extremely arduous and the casualties will be heavy.

But a true man should serve on the battlefield; this is the time for him to do so.

Yunfei has ordered all units to rush to the aid overnight, and the air force will also be deployed in full force.

I urge my brother to lead his brave soldiers to hold the position, fight valiantly against the enemy, and perish with the position.

The time has come for our generation to be tested by our motherland, our nation, and our people.

Brother, Yunfei.

Liao Yaoxiang slowly folded the telegram and carefully placed it in the pocket on his chest, close to his heart.

In a daze, a warm current surged from my chest to my limbs and bones.

It dispelled the fatigue brought on by days of hard fighting.

Chu Yunfei had indeed told him beforehand that this battle was of great importance.

And now, they've told Liao Yaoxiang directly and bluntly.

He guessed right.

The newly formed 22nd Division was the bait, and the area around Binmana was the decisive battlefield that Chu Yunfei had planned.

Of course.

This telegram was not an order.

It's an entrustment, it's a trust!
Liao Yaoxiang was quite aware of this.

He handed the telegram to his adjutant beside him: "Circulate the telegram to all regiments."

When the adjutant was about to take over.

Liao Yaoxiang suddenly changed his mind: "No, circulate it to each company as much as possible. I want every officer and soldier to know Commander Chu's expectations of us, and I also want them to understand the importance of our newly formed 22nd Division!"

After the adjutant left.

At that moment, Liao Yaoxiang also grabbed an entrenching tool from the corner of the wall.

The guards nearby were startled, and the clever ones immediately guessed what Liao Yaoxiang was planning to do.

He immediately spoke up to dissuade them, "Commander, what are you doing?!"

Liao Yaoxiang waved his hand: "The battle has come to this point, and I have to do something about it."

As he spoke, Liao Yaoxiang strode out of the cellar.

The blinding flames and deafening explosions instantly engulfed him.

"Master's seat!"

Upon hearing the commotion, staff officer Zou Mingcheng was terrified and tried to pull him back.

Liao Yaoxiang didn't turn his head and roared, "What are you afraid of! I'll give my life for my brothers today!"

"Pass on my order: everyone who can still move, follow me to reinforce the fortifications."

"We need to dig the circular fortification another foot deeper!"

"Yes!"

Zou Mingcheng was taken aback, but still decisively carried out the order.

Liao Yaoxiang quickly appeared on the front lines.

He leaped into the front trench, instantly splashing mud and water all over him.

He wielded his entrenching tool and dug with all his might, his hoarse roar echoing across the battlefield: "Brothers! The people of the whole country are watching us!"

All the Allied forces are waiting for good news of our victory.

Our new 22nd Division has no cowards!

If you want to live, then dig and beat me hard, and show the might of the Chinese soldiers!

Even if those damned Japanese devils really want to wipe us out here, they'll have to see if they have the teeth to do it!

Liao Yaoxiang's actions served as the best mobilization order.

The soldiers, who were already exhausted, were inspired to unleash tremendous power when they saw their division commander arrive at the front line.

They reinforced the fortifications, cleared the firing range, and moved boxes of grenades to the most convenient locations.

that's it.

Based on the original fortifications.

A circular, hedgehog-like defensive position.

Under the Japanese army's attack, it was fortified inch by inch.

Upon learning of this, Yutaro Igawa, the commander of the 18th Division who was in charge of the operation, was also filled with worry.

original.

Liao Yaoxiang set up tiered blocking positions.

Each regiment retreated like a rolling drum, launching attacks in batches.

There is time for rest and rotation, and there is no order of priority.

This tiered defensive tactic is Liao Yaoxiang's forte.

And now.

The establishment of the circular defensive position indicated that the newly formed 22nd Division was determined to fight to the death.

This gave Yutaro Igawa's 18th Division an opportunity to encircle and annihilate the newly formed 22nd Division.

But the same thing.

Yutaro Igawa also realized that this was a trap.

A bait deliberately thrown out by an expeditionary force.

"Division Commander, if we can't take down this tough nut, the newly formed 22nd Division, in a short time..."

Yutaro Igawa was a veteran Japanese soldier who had fought many battles.

Naturally, they are well aware of this.

If the newly formed 22nd Division cannot be dealt with quickly.

What awaits them will inevitably be a pincer attack from the north and south by the main force of the expeditionary force.

Terauchi Hisaichi's order was clear: at all costs, "destroy" and flatten Binmana.

Yutaro Igawa said calmly, “Gentlemen, the attack begins on time. Amaterasu is protecting us.”

"Great Japanese Army, Great Japanese Army, His Majesty the Heavenly Locust."

As the signal flare ascended into the sky.

The Japanese offensive began.

Groups of Japanese soldiers carried Type 99 rifles with bayonets fixed.

Driven by the officers, they howled "Banzai" from their mouths.

If viewed from above, they looked like a swarm of ants rushing up.

Of course, this is in general terms. In reality, the Japanese army's skirmish line attacks would be quite dispersed on flat terrain.

This confidence stems from their own marksmanship and is also based on their squad's infantry tactics.

As the vanguard of the Japanese army drew closer and closer.

"beat!"

On the position, a veteran company commander roared hoarsely.

Light and heavy machine guns instantly unleashed deadly flames, tearing through the charging Japanese ranks and creating gaps in the air.

The Japanese soldiers often chose to concentrate their grenade launchers.

The same was true of the habits of the Nationalist Army.

To put it bluntly, many officers in the National Revolutionary Army were actually trained by Japanese "teachers".

The advantage of using these grenade launchers in a concentrated manner is indeed quite significant.

In an instant, special grenades were hurled out like raindrops, exploding along the Japanese army's route of attack.

"Baka~!"

"Mama-san~!"

Screams filled the air; the Japanese soldiers were human, not beasts, and they felt pain too. The battle was extremely fierce.

"Onboard~!"

One of the Japanese lieutenants, brandishing his sword, rushed to the edge of the position. Before he could bring his sword down, a Chinese soldier with a bloodied face stabbed him through the chest with his bayonet.

The two men wrestled and rolled down the trench, never to rise again.

A machine gun position was destroyed by a Japanese grenade launcher, killing the assistant gunner instantly, while the gunner was blasted to death and bled from all seven orifices.

He shakily got up.

He picked up the scorching hot machine gun and placed it on his comrade's corpse.

A moment later, the machine gun resumed its roar.

Before long, grenade launcher grenades began to fall into the machine gun position again.

"Yosh, hit! Ichikawa-kun, you guys did a great job."

The little Japanese man with the sly look on his face said smugly, "Of course, I'm one of the best shooters in our squadron."

Before the other Japanese soldiers could say anything...

Then, a series of whooshing sounds came from the sky.

This piercing shriek was all too familiar to the Japanese soldiers.

There was no warning whatsoever.

The Japanese soldiers on the grenade launcher position immediately lay down and crawled on the ground, while some of the smarter ones rolled directly into the trenches.

A few seconds later.

Explosions continued one after another.

It was a barrage of mortar fire.

The difference in combat skills between the two sides destined this to be a brutal and bloody battle.

And so the battle continued from day to night, and from night to dawn.

The bodies of Japanese soldiers piled up like mountains in front of the position, almost filling the depression in front of the trenches.

But they still charged forward like madmen, wave after wave.

Liao Yaoxiang held up his binoculars, observing the battlefield situation with a solemn expression.

The situation is quite bad.

Calculations show that it takes an average of 1300 shells to destroy a single Japanese company.

PS: Xu Yongchang's diary and some other materials recall what appears to be Liao Yaoxiang's original words when he shared his experience of fighting in Burma at the Army University.

Their newly formed 22nd Division did not have a sufficient supply of artillery shells.

Their retreat was hasty, and the orders were received at the last minute.

After several days of fighting, their reserves were already depleted.

If the Japanese army continues its attack like this tomorrow, they will only have bullets and grenades left in two hours at most.

How should such a battle be conducted?
"Commander, should we send a telegram to the joint command, even just to request some air support?"

Liao Yaoxiang nodded slowly: "Draft a telegram immediately, truthfully reporting the situation of our army and requesting support from the Flying Tigers!"

"Yes~!"
-
Yangon.

He served as Chief of Staff of the Far East Theater and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the India-Burma Theater.

Stilwell already held considerable power.

However, he and Chang Ruiyuan never got along.

The global situation is now quite clear.

Chang Ruiyuan and other officials in the mountain city have begun to consider the distribution of post-war benefits.

Ultimately, he was only a deputy commander-in-chief.

Stilwell was only truly able to command those two US armored brigades.

Even the use of the Flying Tigers had to be discussed with Chennault.

This made him quite dissatisfied.

He did not believe this was a good opportunity to defeat the main force of the Japanese army in Thailand and Burma.

In his opinion, they still need at least six months.

At least four armored divisions will be formed, and more than 300 fighter jets will be deployed in Myanmar.

Even Stilwell wanted to deploy B-29s at field airfields in northern Burma.
Of course, this is impossible.

The expeditionary force is now primarily strengthening its light weapons and artillery capabilities.

The number of bullets was sufficient, but in the eyes of General Stilwell, the number of artillery shells was merely adequate.

This is why Stilwell maintained a passive attitude throughout the operation.

Until Chu Yunfei returned to the front lines.

This gave him hope of winning the battle.

In front of Eisenhower, Stilwell made no attempt to hide his dissatisfaction with Luo Zhuoying, Du Yuming, and others: "They are like barbarians who don't know how to use troops. In their view, this war should be won by whoever has the advantage in numbers."

"I have witnessed their battles firsthand; soldiers are like waste paper to them."

Eisenhower was somewhat puzzled: "General Stilwell, aren't soldiers just 'power' to us, a kind of cost?"

Stilwell's anger seemed to ignite instantly. At this moment, he seemed to transform into Chu Yunfei's little fanboy, and immediately retorted: "But Chu can use them to the maximum efficiency!"

Eisenhower shrugged. He was just a brigadier general and not in a position to contradict Stilwell. "You're right, General. What do you think of this telegram requesting air support?"

Da da da~!

The leather boots creaked as they stepped on the wooden floor.

After a moment, Stilwell gritted his teeth: "Send a telegram to General Chennault, requesting no, ordering them to immediately participate in this military operation. I need them to support our front lines at the appropriate time."

"Yes!"

Joint Command Center.

Holding the telegram, Du Yuming found Chu Yunfei, who was observing the battlefield situation, and asked bluntly, "Commander Chu, when will our air support arrive?"

"The Southern Route Army had no air support."

Chu Yunfei spoke the truth.

His three-dimensional combat map had long ago incorporated the function of apocalyptic forecasting.

The next seven days.

Neither they nor the Japanese could rely on power from the air.

This is also the fundamental reason why Chu Yunfei firmly believes that the newly formed 22nd Division can hold the line.

However, Du Yuming and others were unaware of this.

Upon hearing Chu Yunfei's words, Du Yuming immediately expressed his dissatisfaction: "What does this mean? Didn't you promise before the battle that air support would fly over the battlefield?"

"Brother Guangting, the battlefield is constantly shrouded in dark clouds. How can our warplanes fight? Similarly, have you heard from Brother Jianchu or other combat units that they have been harassed by Japanese aircraft?"

"That's definitely not the case."

Du Yuming touched his chin, realizing what was happening.

He knew that he was just being overly concerned.

After all, these are two main divisions.

Even his entire Fifth Army, which was the main force, had previously often only faced one main division.

Now, the newly formed 22nd Division is facing a pincer attack from two main divisions.

The difficulty of this kind of operation is unimaginable!

The newly formed 22nd Division was, after all, Du Yuming's elite force, so he was naturally extremely worried.

But now that I think about it carefully...

In his reports over the past two days, Liao Yaoxiang did not mention the Japanese air support.

Given the continuous rain on the front lines, it is reasonable to conclude that Japanese warplanes were also unable to provide support.

This is actually a good thing for the expeditionary force, which has relatively weak air power!

Soon, Du Yuming had another idea.

If this battle is won, the Japanese army will have no power to resist in Southeast Asia.

Du Yuming benefited from this and made unparalleled contributions.

His Fifth Army Corps will once again rise to prominence in the National Army, becoming an elite force second only to the Flying Tigers!

Chu Yunfei, who had just been talking to him, was now...

At this moment, their gaze was once again focused on the three-dimensional combat map, continuing to observe the specific situation of the main Japanese combat forces.

Since the start of this campaign.

Chu Yunfei has always had only one goal.

That is to completely annihilate the main force of the Thai-Burma Area Army, which is fighting against the Southern Route Army, and at the same time severely damage the Japanese 56th Division that is fleeing south!

(End of this chapter)