Chapter 16 Return to Savage Mountain in the third quarter

What Savage Mountain left to the officers and soldiers of the New First Army was a nightmare experience and an unforgettable painful memory After more than half a year of rest and reorganization, the New 1st Army is full of energy and equipped with new equipment. It has the strength to return to Myanmar and fight the enemy decisively. Moreover, with the progress of the anti-fascist situation in China and the Pacific region, China needs overseas material assistance. It is also getting bigger and bigger, and the problem of reopening the Yunnan-Myanmar Highway has also been officially placed in front of the Chinese troops stationed in India.

It turned out that after the defeat of the expeditionary force in the previous stage, the Burma Road was blocked by the Japanese, and all land transportation lines for overseas aid to China were cut off.In order to prevent the Far East from completely falling into the hands of the Japanese and strengthen the power of the Chiang Kai-shek regime to contain the Japanese, the Americans spared no expense in organizing planes from India to fly over the roof of the world—the Himalayas—to transport materials to China. "Hump Route".However, the transportation cost of this route is huge, the terrain is complex, the danger is extremely high, and accidents of plane crashes and fatalities often occur.Therefore, in addition to building a road connecting China and India, China, Britain, and the United States have another way to dispatch the Chinese troops stationed in India to defeat the Japanese army in Burma and restore the Burma Road.

Regarding the offensive route of the New 1st Army, the Chinese troops stationed in India and the British colonial authorities had great differences.As the commander of the army, Zheng Dongguo advocated starting from the Imphal area in the three provinces of India, breaking into the south-central part of Myanmar, and then occupying the Burma Road.But the British authorities opposed this plan, and their attitude was firm. They only agreed that the troops stationed in India would open a road through the rugged and wild mountains in northern Myanmar, and then turn south to Menggong and Myitkyina to capture the Burma Road.Zheng Dongguo knew that the British were afraid that the Chinese army would go deep into the heartland of their Burmese colony, so as not to cause difficulties in their future control.Not only did he not support Zheng Dongguo's proposition, but he also echoed the British's point of view by saying that with the support of the air force, the dangerous roads and mountains were not enough to fear.In the end, the opinions of the British and American generals prevailed, and the New Army embarked on a difficult journey back to Savage Mountain.

Speaking of Savage Mountain, the officers and soldiers of the New 1st Army have nightmare-like experiences and unforgettable painful memories. Eight months ago, that is, after the defeat in the Battle of Mandalay in May 1942, Stilwell and Luo Zhuoying retreated to India alone, while Du Yuming led the troops directly under the 5th Army and its 200th Division, New 22nd Division, The 96th Division was forced to transfer to Yeren Mountain in northern Myanmar, planning to go from Daluo to Xinpingyang, and then find a way out. As the name suggests, Savage Mountain is inaccessible, with high mountains and ridges, and deep forests that block out the sun.Since ancient times, this place has been a primeval forest area, with big trees, thick vines, and intertwined roots. There is no way to find in the forest. Every step is extremely difficult. After entering the Savage Mountain, the soldiers of the 5th Army continued to use big knives to open the way. inside.It was the rainy season in South Asia, and there were several torrential rains a day. The rivers and ditches that could be used as traffic roads in the dry season were flooded and roaring at this time. Difficulties, although the engineering troops tried their best to make rafts, but all of them were washed away by the current, sometimes even people were washed away.

If these can still be overcome, then the lack of supplies and the risk of disease put all officers and soldiers in danger of their lives at any time.Due to the hasty retreat, and because there are very few people here, the officers and soldiers of the 5th Army entered here as if they had stepped into the hell in the forest. In the first few days, everyone brought some bread, biscuits, canned food, and beef jerky, and basically had two meals a day. Maintaining, everyone still feels a little fresh about the overwhelming forest, but the days that followed were unbearable hunger and fear of the boundless forest ship.When the food ran out, everyone reluctantly killed the mules and horses to supplement nutrition; when the mules and horses were all killed, everyone caught snakes, grasshoppers, mice, and monkeys, and tried to get everything that could be eaten to satisfy their hunger.The green leaves, verdant stems, and colorful mushrooms that can be seen everywhere have become the food picked by this army of 35,000 people at any time. Some people have diarrhea and diarrhea after eating, and die of exhaustion, and more people suffer from convulsions and poisoning dead.

Suspension was not guaranteed, and disease followed.Malaria, relapsing fever, and other infectious diseases were prevalent in the extremely humid primitive forest ship, which greatly increased the death toll of troops.In the Daluo area, Du Yuming also suffered from relapsing fever, a high fever that persisted, and fell into a coma for 2 days. The officer's life, and the officers and soldiers of the whole army have suspended the march because of this, delaying the itinerary for two days.The mortality rate of some wounded officers and soldiers reached almost 100%. In mid-May, Dai Anlan, the commander of the 200th Division, was shot by a machine gun bullet in the chest and abdomen during the fierce battle in Langke. After retreating into the Savage Mountain area, he had no food or medicine. Get a bowl of porridge there, the general looks around

The sallow, emaciated, skinny officers and soldiers on the left and right said: "How can I bear to eat alone?" After taking a sip, they stopped eating.Two days later, the general festered all over his body and died of serious injuries. At the end of his life, he murmured: "Counterattack! Counterattack! Long live the motherland!..." If the death of soldiers from injuries and diseases is not terrible, then the invasion of animals of all sizes in the forest makes people's expressions change, hearing of them makes one's heart chill, and encountering them makes one feel numb!There are not many female fighters in the 5th Army, and even a few of them are still guarded by male soldiers even after entering Savage Mountain.One day, a female soldier wanted to relieve herself, so she went into the woods by the roadside for convenience. Unexpectedly, there was no movement of the female soldier for a long time.A few male soldiers were so strange, they pushed aside the vines, and took a closer look, and saw a giant scorpion wrapped around the female comrade, rolling back and forth, and swallowing!

As for the incidents of leeches, mosquitoes and all kinds of strange minibuses attacking people, they happen on a large scale all the time.Once a patient with a fever falls into a coma, there will be a large number of leeches crawling to suck blood, ants crawling to eat, and with heavy rain washing, the person will become a white skeleton within a few hours! After walking out of this area, Du Yuming once made a statistics. The 5th Army suffered about 7,300 casualties in the battle with the Japanese army, while in the Savage Mountain area, the 5th Army suffered more than 14,700 casualties; the 5th Army did not lose in the official battle Generals above the head of the regiment, but during the retreat of Savage Mountain, the 5th Army actually sacrificed as many as 4 people, which shows the tragic situation of Savage Mountain!

Savage Mountain remains in the minds of officers and soldiers of the New 1st Army as Cannibal Mountain, Bone Mountain, and Death Mountain! Of course, the situation of returning to Savage Mountain this time is very different. The officers and soldiers of the New First Army with a new look are specially looking for the main force of the Japanese army to fight. The New 1st Army has a lot of heavy equipment, and opening up roads in the mountains and tropical rainforests is the top priority of this dispatch to northern Myanmar. In March 1943, Stilwell formed the Chinese and American engineering corps with two engineering regiments from each side as the backbone. Under the command of Major General Huilai and Brigadier General Arusmi of the United States, he began to build China-India Highway.Due to the high mountains and dense forests, it is difficult for large troops to carry out operations. The Chinese and American engineers (about 7,000 actual workers) progress less than 2 kilometers per day. Therefore, this main road was not completed until early September.

In order to protect the safety of the road construction troops, as early as when the engineers entered the operation point, the 114th regiment of the new 38th division marched into the savage mountain area to occupy the cover position.The regiment came prepared, with sufficient food and ammunition, and complete communication facilities. Even so, they still often lost their way in the jungle. Thanks to the frequent flight of US military planes, the 114th regiment arrived in Baichahai more than half a month later to seize The main points of the first line from Karaka to Dajiaka. The main force of the Japanese army occupying northern Myanmar is the 18th Division, headed by Lieutenant General Tanaka Shinichi.Knowing that the Chinese troops stationed in India had been operating around Ghaka, Tanaka immediately ordered his 114th Regiment to fight desperately in an attempt to drive the Chinese back to the savage mountains, but several attacks were repelled. The Hukang Valley where it is located is gradually flooding, and the 114th Regiment has difficulty in supplying supplies. In the end, it has to retreat to the hinterland of the Hukang River Valley. The 112th Regiment, which took over the defense of the 114th Regiment, pushed the front line to Xinpingyang, Yubang, Mengguan and other places. .

In late October, the rainy season stopped, and the large-scale military operations of the New 1st Army officially began.The main force of the New 22nd Division and the New 38th Division who had been waiting in Liedo soon arrived at the edge of the Hukang River Valley by car, and the counteroffensive in northern Myanmar kicked off.