binnovel Chapter 723: Retreat in Different Directions
Chapter 723: Retreat in Different Directions
After arriving in Miaoxi, Chief of Staff of the Chinese Expeditionary Force Stilwell led a small number of Chinese and American command personnel to continue walking westward, arriving at Dingsuki, India on May 24th. Commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, Commander Luo, led the personnel of the Chinese Expeditionary Force Command to cover the rear, accommodate the retreating stragglers, and then continued to retreat westward and arrived at Imphal, India.
On May 7, the highest level of the Chinese government responded to Commander Du of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, demanding that the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force should immediately transfer and retreat to Myitkyina and Pianma without any hesitation or pause.
The top leaders of the Chinese government are now really anxious. You know, the Chinese Expeditionary Force was formed by the Chinese government's direct troops. Now the Chief of Staff of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, Stilwell, wants all troops to withdraw to India. This is very sensitive to the top leaders of the Chinese government, who are very sensitive about military power.
After receiving a telegram from the highest level of the government, Commander Du of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force decided that all troops of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force would retreat via Myitkyina towards Pianma and Tengchong, and return to China, instead of going to India as ordered by the Chinese Expeditionary Force Headquarters.
On May 9, when the troops of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force were retreating towards Myitkyina, they encountered the pursuing troops of the 56th Division of the Japanese Army in the Jesa area. At the same time, Commander Du of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force also learned that Bhamo and Myitkyina had been occupied by the Japanese offensive forces.
Commander Du of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force then ordered the troops of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force to retreat from the area west of the Manmi Railway to the Mengguan and Daluo line.
On May 12, the troops of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force arrived in Mansi, and on May 13 they began to retreat northward on foot, preparing to return to China along the Mengguan, Daluo and Putao lines.
During the period from May to July, all units of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force were on the road to retreat. After the newly formed 38th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force escaped the pursuit of the Japanese attacking forces on May 13, the entire division retreated towards Mansi and arrived in Mansi on May 18.
After carefully studying the advance speed of the various units of the newly formed 38th Division and the Japanese attack units as well as the current situation on the battlefield in Burma, Commander Sun of the 38th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force decided that the newly formed 38th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force would separate from the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and not withdraw back to China, but instead withdraw westward to India on the orders of Chief of Staff Stilwell of the Chinese Expeditionary Force Command.
Since the newly formed 38th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force had not suffered any major losses in previous battles and the troops had basically maintained their intact structure, they arrived safely in Imphal, India under the leadership of Division Commander Sun.
The retreat of the various units of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force was much more tragic. First, the troops directly under the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and the troops of the newly formed 22nd Division retreated on foot in the forest in the rain towards Daluo and Xinbeiyang in the Hukawng Valley.
However, when the troops directly under the Fifth Army Headquarters of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and the newly formed 22nd Division were on the march, it was the rainy season in Myanmar. The heavy rain caused mountain torrents. In addition, the food and medicines in the troops were all consumed. By the time the troops arrived near Xinbeiyang, they had been out of food for eight days.
Soldiers in the army suffered from hunger and disease on the road of retreat, and many died. In the newly formed 22nd Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force alone, more than 2,000 soldiers died of hunger and disease.
On May 31, the troops directly under the Fifth Army Headquarters of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and the newly formed 22nd Division were ordered to change the direction of retreat and retreat into India. With the support of the continuous airdrop of food and medicine by the United States Air Force, they finally arrived in Ledo, India on July 25.
The 96th Division of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and parts of the Fifth Army's artillery and engineers were ordered to return to western Yunnan within the territory of China via Menggong, Mengguan and Putao. The troops arrived in Putao on June 14 and then all moved to Yeren Mountain.
Hu Yibin, deputy commander of the 96th Division of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, was in charge of the rear guard of the entire division. During the retreat, he was ambushed by the Japanese attack force and unfortunately died while supervising the battle.
Finally, the 96th Division of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and parts of the Fifth Army's artillery and engineering units crossed the Gaoligong Mountains with great difficulty and arrived in Jianchuan in western Yunnan within the Chinese territory on August 17.
As for the 200th Division of the 5th Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, after the battle in the Taunggyi area in late April, they were ordered to retreat northward between Bhamo and Namkham.
On May 10, the troops of the 200th Division of the 5th Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force joined forces with the training department of the 5th Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and the remaining troops of the newly formed 28th Division of the 66th Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, and then retreated together.
On May 18, the troops of the 200th Division of the 5th Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, the training department of the 5th Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, and the newly formed 28th Division of the 66th Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force were ambushed by Japanese troops while crossing the Japanese blockade line on the Xibao and Mogu highways. The commander of the 200th Division, Dai Anlan, was hit in the chest and abdomen by two machine gun bullets from the Japanese ambush troops while commanding his troops to break through and was seriously injured.
On the night of May 26, the seriously injured 200th Division Commander Dai Anlan followed his troops in retreating to Maobang Village in northern Myanmar, but he died heroically due to his serious injuries. Afterwards, the officers and soldiers of the 200th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, led by the division infantry commander Zheng Tingji, carried the coffin of the 200th Division Commander Dai Anlan and continued to advance towards the border province of Yunnan, and arrived near Tengchong on June 17. On June 29, the 200th Division retreated to Yunlong in Yunnan Province. At this time, there were only more than 2,600 officers and soldiers left in the entire 200th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force.
Except for the newly formed 38th Division, the other units of the 66th Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force were responsible for the combat mission of blocking the Japanese offensive forces from Xibao to Mandalay and Lashio since late April.
After the fall of Lashio, the 66th Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force retreated along the Yunnan-Burma Highway towards Longling and Huitong Bridge. With the support of troops in China, they retreated to Yongping.
After the Sixth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, which was previously stationed in Kunxin, Tako and Kunmeng, learned the news of the fall of Lashio on April 30, the entire army moved towards the border of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos near Jingdong. By May 8, the 49th Division of the Sixth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force retreated to Dagao, and the vanguard of the temporary 55th Division retreated to Mengset and began to deploy defenses along the border between Myanmar and Thailand.