Cross the Songhu battlefield and rise to become the most powerful warlord

Chapter 500: Watanabe Masao's Despair

500 The Despair of Masao Watanabe

Time soon came to 4:30 in the afternoon, and the commander of the Japanese 56th Division, Masao Watanabe, was commanding the Japanese supply troops remaining in Lashio.

Start building defensive positions and wait for reinforcements to arrive tomorrow.

Suddenly, a Japanese officer ran in in panic and reported: "Your Excellency, division commander, this is not good.

A few kilometers to the north on the Burma Road, a group of Chinese troops appeared and were heading towards Lashio.

It should be Ye Qingshan’s 86th Army.”

"Nani?"

Watanabe Masao was stunned.

"Nonsense, Ye Qingshan's 86th Army is still in Nankan, fighting with our 148th Regiment and Engineer Regiment.

How could it appear in Lashio?

Besides, it’s more than a hundred kilometers from Namkham to Lashio.

With the speed at which the Chinese army marches, it would be impossible for them to arrive in less than a day."

Watanabe Masao shouted loudly.

He thought this information was outrageous.

“But that’s what our scouts reported.

They said that the Chinese army that came from the Burma Road numbered at least two to three thousand people.

They all rode bicycles and marched at a very fast speed.

In half an hour at most, they will reach Lashio."

The Japanese major officer continued helplessly.

"The Chinese Army equipped with bicycles?"

At this moment, Watanabe Masao's face changed drastically.

Because the Japanese army was actually also equipped with bicycles, which Watanabe Masao knew very well.

How fast can soldiers riding bicycles march on a flat road like the Burma Road?

It is not inferior to the armored forces.

Given Ye Qingshan's conditions, it would not be a difficult task for him to equip himself with just a few thousand bicycles.

Now, Watanabe Masao knew that the information was most likely true.

"Baga, hurry up, gather all the soldiers and immediately get into combat readiness.

Let our reconnaissance troops first block this Chinese army along the highway and slow down their marching speed."

Watanabe Masao immediately became nervous and gave orders to the Japanese officers.

You know, at this time, Lashio was the logistics supply base of the Japanese 56th Division, and it not only stockpiled a large amount of ammunition, medicines, fuel and other important supplies.

What if these important military supplies stored in Lashio were destroyed by the expeditionary force.

Then, the subsequent units of the 56th Division will lose ammunition and fuel, and a large number of armored vehicles and cars will be grounded.

The soldiers lack ammunition, medicine and rations, so there is no way to fight this war.

More importantly, Lashio is the most important node hub on Myanmar’s eastern battlefield.

At this time, it was also the retreat route for the various units of their 56th Division.

Once Lashio fell, it was captured by Ye Qingshan.

Then, the Japanese troops sent by Watanabe Masao to Yingduo, Myitkyina and other places to carry out interception missions will have their retreat cut off.

Let their 56th Division completely cut off contact with the main force of the Japanese 15th Army.

Therefore, the gain or loss of Lashio is related to the life and death of the Japanese 56th Division.

The survival of the 56th Division directly affects whether the Japanese can win this battle.

A single move affects the whole body!

It is precisely because of knowing the importance of Lashio.

Therefore, Watanabe Masao was so panicked when he learned that a mobile group had suddenly arrived.

Boom boom boom!

Not long after, Watanabe Masao heard gunfire coming from the north in Lashio.

It was their reconnaissance troops that engaged in a battle with the vanguard of Zhao Dongsheng's mobile regiment.

Masao Watanabe deliberately found a commanding height and used a telescope to observe the situation on the northern highway.

When he saw the soldiers of the mobile regiment riding their 28-inch bicycles and driving fast on the Burma Road, his face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

"idiot!"

Watanabe Masao roared angrily.

He knew that he had miscalculated.

He didn't expect that Ye Qingshan's 86th Army was equipped with so many bicycles, which was completely different from other national armies.

He had never met Ye Qingshan before, and he had evaluated Ye Qingshan based on his experience in dealing with other national troops.

Now, it’s time to suffer a big loss.

"Quick, send a telegram to the headquarters.

Tell them that part of Ye Qingshan’s 86th Army has arrived in Lashio.

Let the two regiments coming to support from the 55th Division speed up their march.

First, gather the armored vehicles in their hands and use them together.

Send a small group of elite troops to reach Lashio tonight.

Otherwise, Lashio will be in danger."

Masao Watanabe quickly asked the headquarters for help.

From what he saw just now, the expeditionary soldiers riding bicycles on the road were only a regiment in strength.

And now, he has more than 2,000 baggage soldiers.

Moreover, he knew very well that these soldiers marching on bicycles could not carry heavy weapons.

Plus, they have a defensive advantage.

Watanabe Masao was confident that he could use the more than 2,000 baggage soldiers in his hands to stop the more than 3,000 expeditionary soldiers who were attacking.

As long as we hold on, reinforcements from the 55th Division will arrive.

It is not necessary for both regiments to arrive in full, just a few hundred elite soldiers are needed to resolve the crisis in Lashio.

I have to say that Watanabe Masao's idea is really correct.

However, Watanabe Masao soon discovered something else.

The mobile regiment coming from the Burma Road, under the cover of armored vehicles, quickly defeated the blocking troops he sent out.

Quickly surrounded Lashio.

But he did not attack immediately, and deployed defensive positions around Lashio.

They only sent out small units to conduct reconnaissance around Lashio, to find out every defensive position set up by Watanabe Masao around Lashio, as well as the firepower situation of the Japanese.

This gave Watanabe Masao a bad feeling in his heart.

Because, the mobile regiment's behavior was clearly pre-war reconnaissance, and they were not in a hurry to attack.

Could it be that there are more expeditionary forces coming from behind?

Isn't this Chinese army of 3,000 people the main force coming to attack Lashio?

“Impossible, Ye Qingshan’s 86th Army only has men.

If he wanted to wipe out my 148th Regiment and the Engineer Regiment in Nankham, he would not be able to do it without people.

It was impossible for Ye Qingshan to free up so many troops to attack Lashio.

These three thousand people are already the limit."

Watanabe Masao shook his head. He believed in his own judgment.

But just half an hour later, an armored force appeared on the Burma Road, although it was not large in number.

But it once again made Watanabe Masao's heart twitch.

So many armored vehicles were not seen in previous expeditionary forces, only in the British colonial army.

It's not the deadliest yet.

What really frightened Watanabe Masao was the cars following behind this armored unit.

Behind these cars, there were howitzers towing, and rocket launchers following behind.

Although the artillery brigade set out late, they could not resist the speed of the cars.

So, they became the second troop to arrive in Lashio after Zhao Dongsheng's mobile regiment.

Coincidentally, the arrival of the artillery brigade met the final condition for the mobile regiment to launch a strong attack on Lashio.

Otherwise, if the mobile regiment attacked the Japanese defensive positions without artillery support, it would increase their troop losses.