"Zhang..." Then Stilwell called Zhang Chi: "For the British affairs... I'm sorry, this is not something I can control!"

"I understand, general!" Zhang Chi replied.

In fact, Stilwell didn't need to say anything to Zhang Chi at all. On the one hand, Zhang Chi could understand Stilwell's difficulties at this time, and on the other hand, Stilwell, as the commander-in-chief of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, did not need to explain anything to the battalion commander Zhang Chi.

Stilwell really didn't need to explain to anyone. He didn't even sell Principal Jiang's account. He had a few quarrels with Principal Jiang and even tried to get Principal Jiang down. In private, he always called Principal Jiang "peanuts".

But Stilwell felt that he needed to give Zhang Chi an explanation, not only because Stilwell regarded Zhang Chi as a friend, but also because Stilwell felt that if he didn't explain it to Zhang Chi, he would feel betrayal and deceitful.

"Do you have nothing else to say?" Stilwell was a little surprised at Zhang Chi's reaction.

He originally thought that Zhang Chi would question a lot of questions or complain, but Zhang Chi just said: "I understand."

"No, general!" Zhang Chi replied: "I believe you have fought for the Chinese army as much as possible, so I have nothing to say!"

Zhang Chi is very clear about this, not because he believes in Stilwell, but because the Chinese army and Stilwell and even the United States are a community of interests at this time.

"Yeah!" Stilwell nodded, paused and explained: "You have to be careful of the British, they may cause you some unexpected trouble. In addition, I may have to send British troops in the later stages of the battle!"

"I understand, general!" Zhang Chi really understood that the British army was here to seize military achievements.

Objectively speaking, it is not easy for Stilwell to do this... You should know that he used to be a commander who had nothing but US aid, but he was rushing around between China, Britain, Burma and India with this US aid, and now he finally has an army of his dreams. But this army seems to have various troubles. It not only has conflicts between Chinese and American officers, but this has caused Stilwell to gradually lose strong control of the Chinese army. On the other hand, Stilwell's actions are also subject to both China and Britain.

Needless to say, due to the constraints of the British side, the British army relied on controlling the logistics supply of the Expeditionary Force, which forced Stilwell to make compromises in all aspects.

As for China, Principal Jiang always held an attitude of preserving his strength. Principal Jiang hoped that the Chinese Expeditionary Force would be air-carried back to China after training, rather than fighting with the Japanese in Myanmar. (Note: In history, most of the troops of the New Sixth Army, namely Liao Yaoxiang, were air-carried back to China for combat)

But at this point, Principal Jiang was actually wrong. The reason why the Chinese Expeditionary Force has such strong combat effectiveness in Myanmar is, on the one hand, because it has an urgent heart to fight back to its hometown, and more importantly, the Expeditionary Force has almost endless logistical supplies in Myanmar, which is the basis for the Chinese Expeditionary Force to have amazing combat effectiveness.

Once the expeditionary force is airlifted back to the country...the urgency to return to the hometown is certainly gone, the logistics supply will be greatly reduced, and tanks, artillery and air support will be even more fantastic, so it is impossible to exert its tactical advantages at all.

This is also the main reason why the Chinese Expeditionary Force can fight vigorously in Myanmar, but after being airlifted back to China, it becomes ordinary.

The Chinese and British Allied Forces set off the next day.

The first target of the Chinese-British Allied Forces was Xibu... The reason why he chose Xibu was because Xibu was located between Mandalay and Lashio. The Mandalay road and railway had to pass here. As long as we took it down, the connection between Mandalay and Lashio would be cut off, so that the reinforcements transferred to Lashio could not return to the rescue.

The Japanese troops stationed in Xibu had more than 4,000 people. Although the Japanese troops had more than 4,000 people, these Japanese troops had too complicated numbers, including the soldiers of the fifth infantry regiments of the 29th, 56th, 113th, 146th, and 148th, the soldiers of an artillery regiment, and the troops of other units.

The reason for this is that the Japanese army used Xibu as a replenishment base for rear soldiers... The so-called replenishment base for rear soldiers means that the Japanese army often sends wounded and sick people who were slightly injured on the front line or who recovered almost in the hospital to a position in the second line. Once the injuries are healed or there are insufficient soldiers on the front line, these wounded and sick people can be urgently replenished to the front line to participate in the war.

This is also the reason why the Japanese army stationed in Xibu is so complicated... In fact, the Japanese army should have withdrawn these Japanese soldiers who have not fully recovered their combat effectiveness back to Mandalay, but at this time, there was a shortage of Japanese troops, and the battle in the Impal direction had already made them anxious. A new situation appeared in the direction of Lashio, so the Japanese army hoped that these 4,000 Japanese troops could defend Xibu, which could ensure the connection between Lashio and Mandalay, and on the other hand, in an emergency, it could also reinforce Lashio, which was in a tight battle situation.

But the Japanese army's idea was obviously wishful thinking... If the 4,000 Japanese troops were on the domestic battlefield, they could withstand the attack of 20,000 to 40,000 Chinese troops. But on the Myanmar battlefield, they would not be the opponent of the New First Division.

In fact, the Japanese army was not just wishful thinking in Xibu, but the entire Battle of Impal was wishful thinking.

This is not to say that the Japanese army launched the Impal Battle, but in fact this strategy is still correct, but Mutaguchi Ryokawa was also naive to add additional troops to the 18th Division of the Japanese army and let the 18th Division block the attack of the Chinese army in northern Myanmar.

Mudaguchi Ryomaki didn't consider it at all: in the Battle of Lingbang and the Battle of Eighth Mo, it was proved that the Chinese army could defend against the Japanese army with one-to-one force. Then the 18th Division would have to die for more than 20,000 people. How could it be possible to block the attack of more than 60,000 people from two armies and four divisions of the Chinese army?

For example, in front of him, more than 4,000 Japanese troops fought against more than 9,000 Chinese New Division... The Japanese army knew at the first time that this battle would not have a good result.

Of course, there is also the 36th British and Indian Division with more than 11,000 people, but the Japanese army did not take this division seriously at all.

The Japanese commander in charge of the defense of Xibu was Yamazaki Nobu and Colonel. When he discovered the Chinese army, he sent a telegram to Mandalay and Lashio for help, but the reply he received made him desperate. Both sides meant: "We have no extra troops to reinforce, Yamazaki must defend Xibu at all costs!"
Chapter completed!