A Journey Through the Worlds of Film and Television.

Chapter 304 Battle of Imphal

After giving Stilwell a brief conditioning treatment, Lu Cheng left and returned to Heshun Town on the west bank of the Nujiang River to take charge of his work.

After this period of reorganization and expansion, the entire new 52nd Division has more than troops and is fully equipped.

The newly formed Fourth Regiment has more than 1500 people, which is considered a complete regiment.

Moreover, Lu Cheng's army also recruited many overseas Chinese mechanics. Except for a small number of these overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia who joined the main force, most of them stayed in the logistics department to work.

For these people, Lu Cheng is willing to support them even if they do nothing.

After all, these people are all wealthy children from Nanyang. They have certain roots and extensive connections in Nanyang and are definitely a force that cannot be ignored.

At the same time, Lu Cheng's special operations platoon was also expanded into a special operations company. In the newly formed special operations company, there were several representatives sent by the southern guerrillas, and three or four people came from northern Shaanxi.

For these people, Lu Cheng asked Xia Chen to give them a certain degree of training. He also handwrote a training material for the people from northern Shaanxi and asked them to take it back. This was his little token of appreciation.

After the beginning of spring, the soldiers under Lu Cheng's command were getting anxious. Long Wenjian even came over and said, "My division commander, when will the battle start? We are the most elite division, but we can only train here every day. It's so boring. How about you go up there and assign us a task? I heard that the fighting in northern Myanmar is going on right now."

"Why are you in such a hurry? If the superiors don't give the order, we can only wait. Besides, isn't it better not to fight? It can also avoid some casualties."

"Master, you are not such a person."

"Alright, alright, go back and train your troops. If you really want to fight, take a few people with Xia Chen and the others to fight guerrilla warfare."

After sending Long Wenjian away, Lu Cheng took out a detailed list of elite troops such as the Special Operations Company, the Sharp Knife Company, and the Guard Company, and was thinking about which ones could always stay with him and could be sent to the south in advance according to their respective abilities to develop jungle guerrillas.

After the war, the Malay guerrillas continued to fight until the 60s, when they finally achieved independence.

It will also be beneficial for the future if we can acquire a group of armed forces and stockpile some weapons and equipment in advance.

Just as the Yunnan-Western Expeditionary Force was making slow progress, the fighting in northern Burma was already in full swing.

On March 1944, 3, the Japanese 8th Army began to approach Imphal, attempting to destroy the British logistics supply base in Imphal. The Japanese army gained a certain advantage at the beginning, and the British army fought and retreated while asking for help from the Yunnan-Western Expeditionary Force.

At this time, Lu Cheng took the initiative to ask his superiors for help, and was willing to lead an elite force through the jungle to provide support to Imphal.

At this time, the location of Lu Cheng's troops was still a long distance away from Imphal in the north, and they had to pass through the Japanese-occupied area in between.

The superiors originally wanted to reject Lu Cheng's request to fight, but when they heard that Lu Cheng would leave a large force behind, they agreed.

Afterwards, Lu Cheng called Long Wenjian and selected a team of elite troops from each of the main regiments. Together with the special operations company and the spearhead company, they formed a similar elite force. They were lightly equipped and marched in company units, under the leadership of the guerrillas in northern Myanmar, through the Japanese-occupied areas and approached Imphal.

As a person from the future, Lu Cheng knew the direction of the Imphal Campaign very well. Although the Japanese had a certain advantage now, this time the Japanese 15th Army advanced straight into the city, the supply line was too long, and they were unable to capture Imphal in a short period of time and get replenishment, so they would soon be in trouble.

Moreover, with the arrival of the rainy season, the Japanese who have been cut off from supplies will have to face the troubles of malaria, dysentery, cholera, influenza and other diseases, and will surely pay a heavy price.

Long before setting off, Lu Cheng had planned the departure time, marching speed, and the amount of supplies to carry.

For this march, Lu Cheng carried sufficient quantities of medicines and ammunition.

On the other side, when their supplies were about to be cut off, the Japanese near the Imphal Plateau launched the most frenzied attack on Imphal, but were stubbornly blocked by the British army.

While the Japanese army was facing high-intensity and brutal battles, they had to repeatedly reduce rations. The morale and combat effectiveness of the soldiers were rapidly declining.

With the arrival of the rainy season, the roads became more and more muddy. The Japanese commander, Lieutenant General Mutaguchi Ren'ya, ordered a detour to bypass the Imphal Plateau and attack the Imphal base from the north.

Starting from June, the Japanese had to endure hunger and rely on the spirit of Bushido to launch tenacious attacks on rainy days.

After months of hard fighting, on June 6, the Japanese finally broke through the British blockade and returned to the edge of the Imphal base.

However, the Japanese were already at the end of their strength at this time and had no ability to launch an attack on the Imphal base.

With the arrival of the rainy season, many soldiers of the Japanese 15th Corps, in addition to some who died in battle, more than 3 were infected with diseases such as malaria and dysentery. Due to the lack of food and medicine, those soldiers infected with the disease could only wait to die.

At this time, tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers were already emaciated and had basically lost all their combat effectiveness.

At this point in the battle, Lieutenant General Mutaguchi Ren'ya had to order a retreat.

However, this retreat soon turned into a major defeat under the pursuit of the British army and the harsh environment.

The skinny Japanese soldiers fled, leaving all their weapons and equipment behind on the road.

At this time, more than a thousand elite soldiers of Lu Cheng were lying in ambush on the route that the Japanese had to take to retreat, waiting.

Soon, when the defeated vanguard of the Japanese army passed the ambush point, Lu Cheng did not rush to attack, but asked the soldiers to continue waiting.

The soldiers hiding in the jungle were all dumbfounded. When had the Japs fallen to this point? They were even more miserable than the expeditionary force in the Savage Mountains.

"My goodness, we are not here to fight, we are here to pick up bargains, right? I am really looking forward to it."

"Master, are you so smart that you have already guessed it?"

"Don't make a sound. Let this vanguard go first. We want to do something big. It would be best if we can capture or kill that Japanese lieutenant general."

"There's a Japanese lieutenant general here? We must keep him here!"

Lieutenant General Mutaguchi Ren'ya was a colonel at the time of the July 7 Incident, and was also the commander of the 1st Regiment of the Japanese Infantry Brigade. In addition, the Japanese brigade commander was not there at the time, and Colonel Mutaguchi Ren'ya was still the supreme commander at the time. It was he who gave the order to open fire on the Chinese army.

It can be said that this guy is also the culprit of the conflict in the July 7 Incident. Now that Lu Cheng is here, he will naturally not let that guy leave smoothly...