frightfiction Chapter 222 The Battle of Imphal Begins
Chapter 222 The Battle of Imphal Begins
The activities of cold guns and cold artillery are becoming more and more frequent, and the ways in which the Japanese die on the front line seem to be becoming more and more varied and bizarre.
When he left the trench to go to the pit, a cold gun fell from the sky and directly pierced the enemy's neck;
Late at night, the Japanese soldiers were smoking cigarettes in the trenches to refresh themselves and slightly relaxed their vigilance. Then a dull explosion sounded, and the shells fired by the Type 88 rifles directly hit the mud pit in front of the Japanese soldiers.
There were even some unlucky Japanese soldiers who were eating peacefully in the trenches, when suddenly a mortar shell flew straight into their aluminum lunch box - it was truly a symphony of death without any warning.
The Japanese soldiers could never know what deadly threat they would encounter in the next second, and even a moment of peeing could mean the difference between life and death.
However, for the 15th Army Commander Mutaguchi Ren'ya, these were not worth mentioning at all.
He sat upright in the armchair in the command post, with a huge battle map in front of him. His eyes swept over the red and blue pencil lines marking the positions and supply lines of both sides, without a trace of fluctuation on his face.
He seemed to have long been accustomed to the dead Japanese soldiers.
"Only a few dozen people die in battle every day?" Mutaguchi sneered. "What's this little sacrifice? It's not worth mentioning."
He waved his hand dismissively, his gaze fixed on the map. "As long as Zhang Chi doesn't launch a large-scale attack, it'll be fine. We can just ship in new soldiers from mainland China to fill this shortfall. It won't be a big deal."
In addition, they obtained information that Zhang Chi's most elite "Mecha Unit" was patrolling the border area of Qian Country and seemed to have a rift with the Shancheng Army.
There is also a "Headquarters Battle Report" that shows that in the previous battle, each unit fought desperately and inflicted heavy casualties on Zhang's unit before being defeated.
Mutaguchi Renya came to a conclusion that was 180 degrees opposite to the facts.
"Zhang Chi's Anmin Army is just posturing," Mutaguchi Ren'ya confidently analyzed, as if trying to convince himself, "They're playing the 'nurturing the enemy for their own benefit' trick."
"The situation in the salient appears tense, but in reality it is merely a delay to obtain assistance from the White Eagles and avoid casualties in large-scale combat."
"In the coming period, they will only launch some small-scale harassment and maintain contact with us, but will not take any real offensive action."
Leaving the 2nd Guards Division and the 72nd Independent Mixed Brigade to take the beating on the contact line of the salient without worry, Mutaguchi's eyes flashed coldly. He waved his hand and called the staff officer.
"Adjust the deployment immediately and prepare to attack."
-----
So, with the collection of 3 cattle and sheep completed in early March, all the Japanese divisions were mobilized into place, and Mutaguchi Ren officially began his attack on Sindhu.
On March 2, Operation Wu officially began.
From a distance, the outline of the mountains is faintly visible in the mist.
Mutaguchi Ren'ya held the reins in his hand, riding on a tall horse, and moving forward leisurely.
There was a small hill ahead, and he let his horse run free and came to the top of the hill.
Looking down, the dusty marching column had already been spread out.
This is the core force of the 15th Army, with three divisions and a total strength of nearly 100,000. Together with Bose's Indian puppet army and some logistical support personnel, the entire team is like a giant snake entwined on the land, winding its way through the mountains and fields of Pegu.
The large number of live cattle and sheep that served as meat supplies in the team followed the army's footsteps like black and white waves.
The roaring of cattle and horses, the sound of soldiers whipping their whips, and the orders of officers were intertwined into one, as if the whole world was running in these chaotic sounds.
Hundreds of horse-drawn carts were crowded on both sides of the column, and the squeaking sound of the wheels rubbing against the soil exacerbated the dull atmosphere of the march.
More than 10 people, tens of thousands of cattle and sheep, and countless donkeys, horses, and carts formed a long line that stretched as far as the eye could see.
Such a large team was crossing the Chindwin River in the border area of Sindhu and Pegu under the witness of Mutagu.
"吆西!"
Mutaguchi Renya's face was filled with a confident and enthusiastic smile. He drew his saber and shouted to the marching troops below:
"Warriors of the Empire, the time has come to drink from the Ganges!"
-----
On the other side, the Japanese air force was the first to engage in battle.
The 5th Air Division gathered the last few dozen Nakajima Type 1 fighters, plus more than a dozen of the latest Ki-61 "Hien" Type 3 fighters dispatched from the Guinea battlefield, and briefly seized air superiority through a surprise attack.
John's strategy of concentrating all of his main air forces on Europa suffered a great loss.
The Japanese planes with red Hinomaru painted on their wings dominated the sky, and John's second-line pilots who stayed in Sindhu could only fight with early Typhoon and Hurricane fighters eliminated from the European battlefield.
These old stuffs which only had 7.7mm machine guns were no match for the Japanese fighter planes. As for the new Tempest and Spitfire fighter planes, the nearest ones were deployed in the North Afrika coast of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Far water could not quench immediate thirst.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, about 100 Japanese paratroopers took the opportunity to airborne and quickly captured the bridge over the Manpurnir River flowing through Imphal.
This paratrooper unit was composed entirely of elite troops from the 1st Airborne Regiment, and was commanded by Lieutenant Michio Okuyama, a "very popular" member of the Army's paratrooper unit.
Since this is not the kind of "airborne team that rushes to die without seeking survival" in history, their code name this time is naturally not "Yilie Airborne Team" but the more proactive "Zhongyong Airborne Team".
After the 2nd Airborne Regiment's attempt to land in Bamao and block the Anmin Army's southward advance (see Chapter 148) was completely futile, this time the "Loyal and Brave Airborne Team" finally gave the Japanese airborne troops a good name.
When the weak Japanese paratroopers met the even weaker Indian garrison, it was obvious that the less weak Japanese paratroopers performed better.
After a fierce round of light machine gun fire and grenade launcher bombardment, more than 800 Indians quickly raised the white flag and surrendered.
Even these captured Indians took the initiative to help the Japanese paratroopers transport supplies and build fortifications.
After asking some Japanese soldiers who knew a little about John language, they learned that in the first round of attack, they wiped out the command center where the John officers gathered. Without the command of those white people, the Indian soldiers naturally fell to their knees at the speed of light.
As for helping the devils with work, it was because in the prisoners' view, they had to exchange labor for food.
So the Japanese found that as long as they gave the prisoners something to eat, these Indians would be very obedient and behave well.
When he learned that the airborne operation went smoothly, the John people's colony was vulnerable, and the Indian soldiers' obedience was somewhat unusual, Mutaguchi Renya smiled.
He finally regained the feeling of winning a battle, and the decadence he had suffered from repeated defeats against the New 1st Army and the Anmin Army was swept away.
Mutaguchi Renya feels that the invincible Neon Locust Army is back again!
It turns out that when eating persimmons, you have to find the soft ones!
"Notify the entire army to speed up and advance. The road ahead is clear."
Thus, the prelude to the Battle of Imphal slowly began.