GBP Chapter 203: Temple Calculation (Part )
Chapter 203: Temple Calculation (Part )
As the first month of the Jiashen year (44 AD) approached, the Anmin Army's western, central, and eastern armies all stopped advancing.
On January 11, inside the General Command's Combat Situation Center in Myitkyina, the air was filled with the smell of dry tobacco. Staff officers of all ranks crowded into the limited space, and everyone had a solemn expression on their face.
Zhang Chi stood in front of the sand table, his eyes sharp as a torch, and the pen in his hand tapped on the notebook, making a slight "tapping" sound.
Chief of the General Staff Tan Zhijie, holding a pointer, pointed at the sand table and began his report: "Let's talk about the western route first."
He took a deep breath and placed his teaching stick firmly on the northwest of Pegu. "Our 5th and 6th Divisions are currently deployed in the Mengguan area of Sikkien Province, and together with the new 38th and 22nd Divisions stationed in Sikkien, they are confronting the Japanese invaders to the south."
Zhang Chi nodded, his eyes fixed on the red and blue markings on the sand table.
He was silent for a moment, then whispered, "Rather than saying we're on guard against each other, it's better to say we're on guard against each other."
Everyone smiled knowingly, but no one responded.
They all knew that the 5th and 6th Divisions were not so much stationed together with the new 38th and 22nd Divisions as they were guarding against and deterring these friendly forces.
After all, if one were to ask about the combat effectiveness of the New 1st Army, the Japanese soldiers who had already become dead in the rain forests of the New Pacific would certainly have the most direct experience of this issue.
So when asked about the military discipline of the New 1st Army, the citizens of Guangdong Province have the most say. After some educated youth retired, the New 1st Army stationed in Guangzhou quickly degenerated, causing complaints from local citizens.
It even developed to the point where the New First Army was called the New Japanese Army using a Cantonese homonym.
Zhang Chi couldn't guarantee that these Kuomintang uncles and the small number of White Eagle troops cooperating with them would not run around like Huskies after entering Pegu.
After all, Xinpingyang is a city founded by immigrants from Yunnan Province (an important node on the Ancient Tea-Horse Road out of Yunnan), and most of the locals are descendants of immigrants from Yunnan Province. Zhang Chi can't bear to see these core populations being harmed.
Therefore, he sent telegrams to Stevenson many times, requesting him to transfer the New 1st Army out of Pegu as soon as possible after the Stevenson Road was opened, and claimed that the People's Army of An had full confidence and ability to liberate the entire Pegu by its own strength.
On the other side, Zhang Chi sent the 5th and 6th divisions, which were no less powerful and well-equipped than the enemy, to be stationed close to the New 1st Army, always on guard against the enemy.
Fortunately, the new 1st Army at this time was still the elite composed entirely of educated youth and veterans. Both the military literacy and the personal qualities of officers and soldiers were excellent. In addition, the White Eagle side opened up its logistics supply. Apart from occasional minor problems such as trampling on crops and fighting, there was no major chaos.
The personnel sent by Zhang Chi also successfully took over the villages and towns in the northern part of Shijie Province, including Xinpingyang. Zhang Chi's ruling area was once again expanded by nearly 4 square kilometers.
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After staring at Food City, the capital of Food City Province southwest of Mandalay, for a while, Zhang Chi wondered whether he should attack Food City next and take over the entire Food City Province.
He signaled with his eyes that Tan Zhijie could continue, and then the latter waved his pointer and turned to the other side of the sand table, the southern part of the Food Province:
"The remaining 8000 troops of the Japanese 33rd Division have now joined up with the 2nd Guards Division in the rear and are stationed in the Mandidi and Homalin areas. Together with scattered puppet troops and other Japanese logistics and garrison units, they form a heavy force of nearly 5."
Tan Zhijie used his pointer to point at the red flags on the sand table that represented his own army, and continued:
"Because this heavy force constantly threatens our Western Route Army heading south to Mandalay, General Qi's troops are currently stationed in the Gaolin and Wenduo areas, forming a salient approximately 30km wide and 20km deep along the railway line leading to Mandalay."
After Tan Zhijie introduced the situation, Zhang Chi, the supreme commander, rubbed his temples and began to think.
The 18th Division stationed in Mandalay is a Type A division. Even though it has been changed to a three-unit division with three regiments under its jurisdiction, as an elite division, it has much more troops than ordinary divisions, with a total strength of about 17,000 to 18,000.
Together with the Japanese 2nd and 33rd Guards Divisions in the southwestern part of Shijie Province, Qi Quan's Western Route Army was actually facing two and a half divisions, plus miscellaneous artillery, armor, and logistics units, nearly 7 Japanese soldiers.
This scale is no less than the number of troops dispatched by the Japanese in the Battle of Changde (the Japanese dispatched 10 troops, but there were puppet troops among them).
Of course, our own military strength is not bad either.
Qi Quan's West Route Army has the 1st and 3rd Infantry Divisions, the 11th Motorized Brigade and the 101st Mobile Artillery Brigade. In addition, there are the 5th and 6th Divisions with a large number of recruits currently in Xinpingyang. In terms of troop strength, it is no less than that of the Japanese, and even slightly exceeds it.
As for the New 1st Army, in principle, Zhang Chi did not want them to get involved after the battle to open up the Stilwell Road.
After all, the next step is to eliminate the Japanese 15th and 33rd Armies in Pegu and liberate the entire Pegu. This is a battle for the establishment of a nation, and it is best to be completed by the Security Army.
In this way, by personally driving away the devils and expelling the Japanese pirates, the country was established in a legitimate way.
Only when the name is right can the words be justified.
Thinking of this, he tapped the pen on the table twice and said to the people around him:
"There will inevitably be a major battle. The outcome of this battle will not only determine our strategic situation, but also our future legitimacy and orthodoxy."
He swept his eyes over everyone present, his tone firm: "If we can liberate Pegu and drive out the devils alone, then the people of this country will remember that it was our Anmin Army that drove out the invaders."
After a brief silence, Tan Zhijie asked softly, "So, should we go all out to attack the southern part of Food City Province and try to capture Food City after the Spring Festival?"
In order to fight a decisive battle and to divide troops to occupy and garrison the newly captured areas, Qi Quan's Western Army did not have enough troops.
Then more troops would be needed. Zhang Chi did not answer Tan Zhijie's question, but instead asked, "What's the situation on the eastern front? Is it possible for Hao Yi of the Central Army to cooperate in launching an attack on Mandalay?"
Tan Zhijie pointed his pointer at Lashio on the sand table and immediately replied, "General Hao's Central Army is making good progress. They have crossed the Shweli River, occupied the Baodewen mining area and Mengmi, and are attempting to attack Hsipaw and cut off the Lashio-Mandalay railway line."
Hearing this, Zhang Chi's eyes fell on the spot marked "Bao De Wen" on the sand table. A small red flag had been placed there, and a series of thoughts immediately flashed through his mind:
The Baodewen mining area is located in the northern part of Shan State, 60 kilometers northwest of Lashio. It is rich in minerals and can almost be called the "underground treasure house of Shan State."
The nearby area contains various precious and non-ferrous metals such as silver, lead, zinc, nickel and gold, which are not only complete in variety but also in huge reserves.
In the 90s, John the colonist began industrial mining, and later the Japanese came and forcibly conscripted miners to carry out mining.
Now that Zhang Chi's troops have taken control of this mining area, the name of this important mineral has naturally changed.
Zhang Chi estimated that Jason from the Intelligence Agency would come soon with a new loan agreement, and the tycoons of the United States would definitely not miss the precious opportunity to use the loan to indirectly obtain the mining rights of this mining area that originally belonged to the John people.
After all, no matter how high the inflation is, the value of natural resources such as oil and minerals is there. They are very useful for both wealth appreciation and value preservation, not to mention that they can also be used to influence the situation in a country.