Chapter 12 Chapter Twelve The Setting Sun Is Like Blood (2)

Sun style training Stilwell could suppress the dissatisfaction of the Chinese, but he could not stop the decline of the British. On April 16, a division of the British Burmese Army retreated slowly due to damage to the Renangqiang oil field, and was surrounded by the 33rd Division.After receiving the telegram for help, Stilwell ordered Sun Liren's New 38th Division to go to the rescue. To talk about the New 38th Division, of course, we must mention its founder and teacher Sun Liren. In the later period of the Songhu Battle, Sun Liren was injured and was sent to Hong Kong by Song Ziwen for treatment.Two months later, when he was able to get out of bed, the first thing he asked was the army: "Where is my Tax Police Headquarters?"

Where did it go?It was merged, and the designation became "Fortieth Division", which became Hu Zongnan's unit. Sun Liren beat his chest and stamped his feet, "God, I'm just playing black and white while I'm hurt." In the eyes of Sun Liren, who had never been well versed in politics, this was something that could only be done by the underworld. The troops he built with great difficulty were swallowed by others in one bite. What he resented was none other than Hu Zongnan. What else can I do without an army?Sun Liren was in a constant state of panic. Fortunately, he found out that there were still 5,000 wounded soldiers left in the Tax Police Headquarters, all of whom were about to be discharged from the hospital like him, and they could rely on these people to start anew.

Before the wound was completely healed, Sun Liren hurried back to Wuhan, asking for the establishment, because the name of the Tax Police Headquarters no longer existed. Originally, the first person to look for was naturally the boss Song Ziwen. The latter was the boss and nobleman whom Sun Liren would be grateful to until the end of his life. Huang Jie also helped Sun Liren. When he was injured and left the field, Huang Jie, the head of the tax police, sent 500 yuan and comforted Sun Liren, "Don't worry, if I have a mouthful of food in the future, I will have a mouthful of food for you."

Sun Liren then entangled Huang Jie, my strength is limited, what do you think? Huang Jie gave money and "give food", he is already a very kind officer, and it was only aimed at Sun Liren personally, but now he is asked to make a preparation out of thin air, who has such great ability? But if he said no, and Sun Liren refused to let him go, Huang Jie had no choice but to push and say that I will find a way for you tomorrow. The next day, Sun Liren went to look for him again, but Huang Jie had already gone to the front line in Xuzhou. Sun Liren resented this liar. For a military genius, it was even more difficult to do personnel work, which made him wander around like a headless chicken all day long, but in the end he still couldn't find any way out.

It was not until the end of the Wuhan battle that Sun Li thought of seeking a solution from Kong Xiangxi, the Premier of the Executive Council and Minister of Finance, after being instructed by others. When Kong Xiangxi told Chiang Kai-shek, the latter not only agreed, but also decided to personally summon the meritorious minister of the Songhu Battle in Chongqing. Look, how simple it is to go around such a big circle with great effort. In November 1938, Sun Liren formally rebuilt the Tax Police Headquarters in Changsha, Hunan, and then transferred to Duyun, Guizhou for training. Sun Liren learned from the United States and adopted a unique "Sun-style training method" in military training.

Generally, domestic troops are all Whampoa-style, emphasizing discipline and obedience off the field, and calling for bloodshed and desperation on the field.Sun Liren advocates fitness and liveliness off the court, and requires flexibility and wit on the court. Americans believe that without a good physique, soldiers cannot fight well, let alone bleed.Sun Liren specially set up a sports department in the army, equipped with sports instructors at every level, and started fitness for the whole army. In this way, the officers and soldiers have almost no time to rest. They go all out during training, and after training, they still have to play ball, run, swim, and do gymnastics. No matter how many hormones they have in their bodies, it is not enough.

In other troops, they are afraid of officers and soldiers secretly gambling, drinking or fooling around when they are in charge of military discipline. Sleep soundly in bed. Others say that fighting depends on bravery, but Sun Liren thinks it depends on brains, so he holds various training courses in the army.Soldiers have training classes for soldiers, and officers have training classes for officers. Even signal soldiers, buglemen, and cooking soldiers have to run classes.The so-called three hundred and sixty lines, there are ways to do it, what line do you not learn? In the Tax Police Headquarters, even if you are assigned from the Whampoa Military Academy, you have to learn and practice again, otherwise you will not be promoted and reused. This is the experience Sun Lanfeng experienced when he was studying in Virginia-come to me, you You have to listen to me and shape it according to my mold.

After three years of hard work, by the end of 1941, a brand-new unit was formed. The three infantry regiments and the direct subordinate unit of the Tax Police Headquarters were merged and reorganized into the new 38th Division. In the national military review, the New 38th Division ranked far ahead, rising from the almost bottom Class C Division to the First Class Strengthened Division. Sixty-six army sequence. Before the expeditionary force went abroad, Chiang Kai-shek's high command decided to conduct another quality check on all the expeditionary force units.After Sun Liren received the notice, he was both excited and nervous, for fear that something might go wrong and he would be beaten back into the mortal world with a stick.

If you want people to see, you have to come up with the best ones. Sun Liren pulled out the teaching team, which is full of officers. Every day, he personally demonstrates how to handle various firearms, how to move forward, and how to stop. He teaches them all by hand. Of course, there is nothing to say about the effect. There are dozens of people in the school checking team, sitting on the rostrum, and they all applaud loudly. Sun Liren heaved a sigh of relief, and felt a little complacent in his heart, but a sentence during the commentary was like pouring a basin of cold water, which made him feel cold from head to toe.

"The exercise is good, I'm afraid we can't fight..." Whoever is so ignorant is none other than Sun Liren's new boss, Zhang Zhen, commander of the 66th Army. Zhang Zhen used to be Tang Enbo's favorite general, and the double student of Baoding and Lu Shi. Since the victory in Taierzhuang, he has shown his reputation as the "Yizi Army" (Zhang Zhen's name Yisan). He is also a character, and he came out of Tang Enbo. , has always regarded himself as the elite of the Central Army, and walks with his nostrils facing his head. How can he take Sun Liren seriously.

After the comments were over, Zhang Zhen called Sun Liren over. "I heard that you studied in America?" Without waiting for the other party to reply, he threw another nonsensical sentence, "Oh, why are you a soldier? It's a pity, you are a student." Sun Liren didn't know how to answer, "I am a citizen, and all citizens have the obligation to join the army..." However, Zhang Zhen didn't intend to spare his poor subordinates yet. "In my opinion, among the three divisions of the Sixty-sixth Army, your division is the worst!" Sun Liren's face turned red immediately. If he hadn't suffered a lot in Virginia, he would have jumped up at this time. After a long time, he finally managed to choke out a sentence, "Just do whatever the commander says, and we can still see how he behaves in the future." As soon as Zhang Zhen left, Sun Liren immediately summoned the troops to give lectures. "I'm really angry today. I don't want to make steamed buns to fight for my breath. When I go to the battlefield, no one is allowed to be my coward." glorious battle The New 38th Division arrived in Burma holding their breath, and everyone was eagerly looking forward to winning a battle for others to see. On the Burmese battlefield, Sun Lanfeng's main task was to defend Mandalay. To rescue the British and Burmese troops, he could only draw out one regiment. On April 17th, the division of the British Burmese Army was surrounded by both inside and outside, and could not rush out no matter how hard it went. In the case of lack of food and ammunition, it was on the verge of extinction. The commander telegraphed the commander-in-chief of the British Burma Army, General Alexander If they could not be rescued, they had no choice but to surrender. Alexander is very famous. He was the commander of the Dunkirk evacuation. He rescued hundreds of thousands of British and French allied forces from the sea of ​​suffering. But seeing the strength of the British and Burmese troops, even if you let the ancient Emperor Alexander possess you use. But the commander-in-chief of the general suddenly heard the good news that the Chinese reinforcements had been called to the vicinity of Ren'an Qiang. He was overjoyed and immediately sent Slime, the head of the First Army of the British Burmese Army, to contact him, and at the same time agreed to dispatch special forces to attack cover. On April 18, with the cooperation of two heavy artillery pieces and 18 British tanks, the soldiers of the New 38th Division descended from the sky and suddenly launched an attack on the surrounding Japanese security forces. Sun Liren grasped the timing very well. At that time, the Japanese army was eating, and before he could react, he was beaten and passed out. After the war, I picked up more than 500 boxes of hot lunch boxes. At this time, Slime asked Sun Liren to cross the river quickly and attack the Japanese army inside, but Sun Liren shook his head. It's not yet the time, the main force of the Japanese army on the south bank is already prepared. If you fight with your head covered, not only will you not be able to rescue your troops, but your own troops will also be trapped. At this time, the trapped commander of the British Burmese Army sent another telegram: "We have no water to drink for three days. If we don't come to rescue, the army will really collapse." Slime showed the telegram to Sun Liren, and Sun Liren smiled, "Reassure him that the Chinese army, including me, will definitely rescue them even if they hit the last one. Please give me a day, Guaranteed to strike tomorrow." Sun Liren sent an order to harass the Japanese army in small groups to confuse the Japanese army. Taking advantage of this time, he carefully observed the Japanese army's positions. You can see clearly that there are two highlands on the opposite bank, overlooking the entire Ren'an Qiang. Only by taking down the highlands can the universe be determined in one fell swoop. But what Sun Liren saw was also very clear to him. The 33rd Division has a main unit in Ren'anqiang. They have controlled the high ground in advance, and they used the high ground to encircle the British and Burmese troops through the tactics of "earth barrier encirclement". The new 38th Division is only one regiment, and it is very difficult for a regiment to break up a regiment under any circumstances. This is the case at home and abroad. Otherwise, the British and Burmese troops in a division will not sit back and wait for others to rescue them up. You must break the rules and send surprise soldiers! On April 19, Sun Liren initiated a forced migration. On the battlefield, if your strength is inferior to that of the opponent, there is usually only one magic weapon to win, and that is to be suspicious. One regiment was divided into two, one was the decoy unit, and there were very few people in this part, but Sun Liren had a way to make the Japanese think that there were many. The 33rd Division often fought against the Chinese army before, and their estimate of the number of the Chinese army was based on the number of light machine guns. The large number of light machine guns shows that the main force is here. Sun Liren was familiar with the psychology of the Japanese army. He "followed what he liked" and placed light machine guns at the forefront of the decoy troops as much as possible, thus attracting all the firepower of the Japanese army. At this time, he can use his trump card: the main attacking force. Attack one side.Farther away, use mountain artillery, light and heavy mortars, and even British heavy artillery to bombard them; closer, use heavy machine guns to shoot intensively; a little closer, when the local number is dominant, carry out repeated hand-to-hand attacks. The 33rd Division had a lot of fun when facing the British and Burmese troops, but when the Chinese army came up with bayonets, they were all terrified, as if they had entered the tragic situation during the Shanggao Battle. Order tofu in brine, and one thing will drop one thing." Sun Liren charged three times in a row, finally got the high ground, and drove the Japanese army out of Ren'anqiang that day. The Great Victory in Ren'an and Qiang was a battle in which the Chinese Expeditionary Force gained international reputation. In this battle, more than 7,000 British and Burmese troops were rescued, and a large group of captured British officers, soldiers, journalists and missionaries were also included.When the British who escaped from death saw their benefactor, they shouted loudly, Long Live China, with tears in their eyes! The Chinese Expeditionary Force rescued the British officers and soldiers in the Great Victory in Ren'an and Qiang After media reports, the British Isles were sensationalized. The British thanked Sun Liren, calling him "a rare Chinese general", and awarded him the British Royal Medal in India the following year. That tone, at any rate, was fought back. magic potion After the great victory in Ren'an and Qiang, what the British and Burmese troops thought of was not to hold on or counterattack, but to continue to retreat.In fact, since the fall of Yangon, they wanted to abandon Myanmar and retreat to India, which is the so-called "abandoning Myanmar and keeping India". In fact, it’s okay to talk about this issue. Since I feel that I can’t keep Myanmar, I should go back to my own home. The British army went to India, and the Chinese army returned to Yunnan, but the British still had a small belly in their stomachs, and they still refused to take it. The intention speaks out. Because India can't withdraw if it wants to, the Japanese army bites its tail tightly, and the commander-in-chief of the British Burmese Army, Alexander, is afraid that his troops will suffer the same fate as the Renangqiang besieged again. It is best to have someone who can cover behind, such as the Chinese army. If it was a Chinese general, no one would be so stupid.Oh, you British are human beings, but we Chinese are not human beings, and all of them can only be sacrificed for you? Alexander secretly rejoiced that the person he was dealing with was not a Chinese, but an American, an American who made all the Chinese around him obedient to him. This American had never fought any wars, and he was only thinking of showing off and making great achievements. He looked really stupid as hell. If you don't fool him, who will you fool? On April 19, Alexander and Slime found Stilwell. When they met, of course they praised each other and poured ecstasy soup. Yankees just love this, and they are in a fog right away. Seeing that the time had come, Alexander and Slime started to partner up.Alexander emphasized that the hub on the western front is very important and should be ensured as much as possible.Slime said, let the Chinese army take an offensive on the western front as soon as possible, where the 33rd Division is very scattered, and it is easy to defeat them all. It's really "easy as pie", how can you British and Burmese troops let go of such a good thing? In fact, at this time Alexander had already received an order from the British government to retreat to India today, and he needed to use the Chinese army to block the Japanese army. At that time, the Chinese Expeditionary Force was preparing to organize the Pingmanna Battle on the center line, and all units were also ready. However, the Japanese Fifteenth Army had to send the Tenth Army because of the heavy casualties of the Fifty-fifth Division in the Donggua Defense Battle. The Eighth Division instead. If the expeditionary force can concentrate its forces and deal a strong blow to the 18th Division in Pingmanna, the battle situation will undoubtedly be changed. At this time, how can we still draw people? But Stilwell didn't care about this, and pulled out all the main forces of the Fifth Army and other expeditionary forces, and stopped the Pingmanna battle, and went to the Western Front to do a good job. What he couldn't see, others could see. Most of the battle-tested Chinese generals saw it. Luo Zhuoying didn't dare to make a sound, the honest man Du Yuming couldn't understand this smart American boss from the bottom of his heart.At that time, he had discovered that with the fall of Donggua, the Japanese army could go straight to Lashio, the general rear of the expeditionary force, along the road. Therefore, he strongly advocated that the main force should be moved, but not to the west line, but to the east line. There is everyone's escape route. If you don't protect yourself, you won't even be able to go back home. Stilwell dismissed Du Yuming's proposal contemptuously, as the absolute master of the expeditionary force. Who is smarter than me? In fact, the stupidest person was himself. The Fifth Army sent to the Western Front had nothing to do, because there were no Japanese troops there at all, only a large number of British troops fled in embarrassment under the cover of the New 38th Division, and precious deployment time was wasted. fatal flaw On the Burmese battlefield, almost everyone was smarter than Stilwell, the British, the Chinese, and of course the Japanese. Shojiro Iida, the commander of the Japanese Fifteenth Army, used to be in charge of the military police. He was neither well-known nor very capable among a group of Japanese generals. , but even he saw the loopholes in Stilwell's layout, which is really tragic. After Iida understood the role of his opponent, he couldn't hold back his excitement. He immediately formed a mobile fast column with the main force of the 56th Division, and drove towards Lashio at a speed of 120 kilometers a day. Du Yuming's worries unfortunately became a reality. On April 20, the Japanese army rushed to attack Taunggyi, which is the gateway to Lashio. Only then did Stilwell wake up a little bit, and issued an order for the Fifth Army to rush from the western front to the eastern front for emergency relief. It’s a long way from the west line to the east line. Fortunately, the ace troops traveled 500 kilometers in three days, and rushed to Taunggyi. On the evening of April 24, they took over the city of Taunggyi in one fell swoop. . Without the Fifth Army, he almost fell into a deep ditch, but Stilwell didn't seem to realize how unfavorable the situation was, and he was still thinking about making great contributions. On April 24, he issued an order to all Chinese troops stationed in Taunggyi: Except for the 200th Division, all the rest turned to Mandalay to organize the "Mandalay Great Battle". Before the defense of Taunggyi, Stilwell had three top, middle, and bottom strategies, which were "consolidate the eastern front", "decisive battle on the middle line" and "win the western front".In the situation where the British army was going straight ahead, "victory on the Western Front" was really the worst strategy, and Stilwell chose the worst strategy. When the defense of Taunggyi started, "decisive battle on the central line" became the worst strategy, and "consolidating the eastern front" was the only best strategy that could save lives, but he turned a blind eye to it. On April 25, after the defending Chinese army moved to Mandalay, the 56th Division did not even touch Taunggyi City, and went directly to Lashio by bypassing the city. The 200th Division in Taunggyi City The teacher was left far behind, unable to recover. Japanese chariot troops speeding through the mountain roads in Myanmar On April 28, Lashio fell, and the main channel for the Chinese expeditionary force to return home was cut off. They inevitably embarked on the fate of failure. In late April, the Chinese Expeditionary Force was besieged by the Japanese army in Mandalay. At this time, Stilwell, the planner of the "Mandalay Battle", left the army and fled to India alone, which made the expeditionary force even more at a loss. Able to break through on their own. This is a series of unbearable scenes: first, "Seagull General" Dai Anlan was ambushed halfway to his death, and he was still marking the route for the officers and soldiers to return home on the map when he was dying; The magic pit of human beings, countless people fell down in the primeval forest and never got up again. There are only 40,000 of the 100,000 elites, and the loss is unprecedented and unprecedented. Chiang Kai-shek was inexplicably shocked when he heard the news. China's domestic military strength itself is stretched. To be able to draw out the 100,000 elite is to tear down the east wall to make up for the west wall. If the lost 60,000 is put on the domestic battlefield, it is still possible to wipe out the Japanese army divisions. yes. The loss this time was not lost in other places, but precisely in strategic command. The so-called incompetence of one general exhausted the entire army. What chilled Chiang Kai-shek the most was Stilwell's performance when he failed. How could he leave his subordinates and run away without authorization? If Stilwell was a Whampoa general under Chiang Kai-shek, perhaps what awaits him now is the death sentence.In the past, more than one or two people were shot for this reason. In this way, Chiang Kai-shek completely overturned his original impression of Stilwell, from military command to personal quality, and at the same time, his trust in this American foreigner was also denied. It was an invisible wound with little hope of healing. Contrary to the evaluation of the Chinese, the Americans felt that Stilwell was very brave, because the old man did not get on the plane, but went to India on foot, and in India he said another sentence of pretending to be relaxed: "We just suffered A good fight." Stilwell was already sixty years old at the time, and he was able to walk to India for more than 20 days with vigor and vigor, and he was able to be playful again. The problem was that he was not a donkey friend or a simple soldier, but a A frontline commander who cannot give up his responsibility! The fact is that if he flies, he can reach India in three hours and Kunming in six hours. While ensuring his own safety, he can still command the expeditionary force to launch a counterattack by radio, even if it is a designated retreat route. For more than 20 days, so many Chinese soldiers who lost their support struggled and died in despair. Assuming that there are American soldiers in the Chinese Expeditionary Force, can Stilwell leave the army so easily? Not to mention him, if he didn't get an order from his superiors, I'm afraid MacArthur wouldn't dare to do this. As for Shi's "bravery", someone put it bluntly: he had to perform a trip out of Myanmar on foot, otherwise he would have to go back to China and wait for the end of get out of class. Stilwell and Chennault are both Americans, so why is there such a big gap? Chennault once expressed his personal impression of this compatriot: "Stilwell looked down on the Chinese, he thought he was the savior of the world." In terms of difference, this is probably the biggest difference. Chennault came to China as a poor person and started as a behind-the-scenes consultant. He had both brilliant victories and bitter defeats. The Chinese government and the public gave him treatment, respect and honor beyond his original imagination, and he also made In exchange for a huge return, the two sides accumulated feelings little by little until it was unbreakable. Chennault has said many times that he is completely Chinese emotionally. Stilwell, however, was directly airborne, and after he arrived, he became personally inflated, and even took it for granted that he was great and absolutely qualified to lead this "inferior nation", but he didn't know that on the battlefield, the actual combat experience of an ordinary Chinese general much more than him. If he could be more modest and listen carefully to the suggestions of Luo Zhuoying, Du Yuming and others, he might not be able to knead the Chinese Expeditionary Force into a Flying Tigers on the ground, and he might not be defeated so badly in Burma. In this world, no one can really destroy you. The one who can destroy you is often yourself, so don’t treat yourself as a celebrity at any time. The so-called "celebrity" is actually just a "celebrity" read backwards. name" only.