Chapter 161 Honor is bestowed upon you! (Second update!)

"Watanabe Masao committed suicide? His body was burnt?" After receiving the news, Cun Yunsheng looked at Meng Fan in disbelief.

"what happened?"

To be honest, Meng Fanle was also in a confused state. He was originally wondering when he could completely take over Lashio.

Who knew that good news would come soon after that the Japanese command center was captured and the division commander Watanabe Masao committed suicide.

But nothing was left, it was all burned down by the fire.

After Cun Yunsheng learned the details, he was speechless.

This He Shuguang is still so reckless.

But it’s not a big deal, just burn it!
Anyway, he didn't care much about the little intelligence the Japanese army had.

"Commander, what should we do now?" Meng Fanle asked after a moment of hesitation.

No useful intelligence was left behind, and not even a regimental flag was captured. Strictly speaking, it was still a huge loss.

Hearing this, Cun Yunsheng pondered for a while.

Logically speaking, this credit should be greatly discounted, but considering that the other party did not do it on purpose.

"I will not give the commendations that are due, but I will not do anything that will make heroes shed blood and tears," Cun Yunsheng said.

"Also, send a telegram in my name to the Chinese communities around Lashio, saying that I want to discuss an important matter with them."

"Also, have Kang Ya from the engineering battalion dispatch some people to find a beautiful place with clear water and mountains to build a cemetery for the soldiers who died in this battle."

"Send another telegram to Stilwell and tell him that Lashio has been captured by us."

“I kept my promise.”

"Yes." Meng Fan nodded, then turned around and began to make arrangements.

Cun Yunsheng looked at the casualty report that had just been delivered, sighed, opened it, and read it carefully.

The battle resulted in more than 1,500 casualties.

Even though I was mentally prepared, I still gasped when I saw the report of such a large number of casualties.

You know, in order to reduce casualties, he mobilized a total of 300 heavy artillery and several fighter planes, but there were still such heavy casualties.

He couldn't help but feel a little heartbroken.

The casualties were too great.

Although most of the first three lines of defense were destroyed by heavy artillery, some Japanese soldiers were very cunning and hid in pits and attacked secretly, causing many soldiers to suffer.

The infantry and tanks worked together to prevent Japanese suicide attacks, but some soldiers were also killed.

Some Japanese soldiers were hiding in bomb craters. When they saw the tanks appear, they exploded their explosives and rushed out.

Many soldiers were caught off guard and killed in the explosion.

In other words, nearly 700 people were killed in the first three lines of defense.

The rest was street fighting. Although the city was bombed into ruins, the Japanese army hid in the ruins like rats, launching sneak attacks and shooting from behind.

There were not many casualties in this area, most of them were injured.

"Street fighting is really a meat grinder. If we hadn't been well prepared in advance, the casualties would have doubled."

"No, even if we put all the troops we have into the city, we may not be able to capture Lashio." Cun Yunsheng murmured.

You know, after Long Wenjian's guerrillas achieved considerable results in Mandalay, he transferred the First Battalion stationed in Hsipaw over here.

Only a guard company and an engineering battalion were left there to maintain order.

When the general attack was finally launched, the troops included the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th Infantry Battalions, as well as the newly formed 7th Infantry Battalion.

That means five infantry battalions, with a strength of nearly 5,000 people.

This does not include reconnaissance battalions, guard battalions, artillery battalions, tank battalions and other troops.

In total, a force of nearly 8,000 people besieged a city with less than 1,000 people left.

Even so, there were still hundreds of casualties, which is enough to show how terrifying street fighting is.

After reading the casualty report, Cun Yunsheng felt sad. It seemed that in future urban sieges, sufficient artillery preparations must be made.

No matter what, he used heavy artillery to bombard the enemy for three to five days. He still didn't believe that the enemy still had the will to continue to hold on.

“I don’t know whether the ambush of the guard battalion and the reconnaissance battalion was successful.” Cun Yunsheng closed the casualty report in his hand and muttered.

…………

Imphal, the Allied headquarters, Stilwell has been particularly worried recently.

Because the 33rd Division of the Japanese Army cut off the connection between Chittagong and Imphal.

As a result, the supplies from there cannot be transported over temporarily.

Fortunately, there are still a lot of supplies stored in Imphal, which can sustain consumption for the time being.

However, the previous allocation of 200 heavy artillery pieces to the Sichuan Army resulted in a serious decline in the number of artillery pieces in Imphal.

In the past, they had to suppress the Japanese artillery attacks, but now they have to be bombarded by Japanese artillery shells from time to time.

This made General Wavell quite resentful, as he believed that so many heavy artillery should not be allocated to the Sichuan Army.

In particular, the Sichuan Army had made no progress for a long time, which led many people to secretly blame Stilwell.

This made Stilwell very helpless, and he could only hope that the Sichuan Army Corps could fight back.

However, compared with the Sichuan Army, the British Army's recent performance has been quite tough.

The British 15th Army, as Admiral Wavell said, did have a strong fighting spirit.

Several attacks by the Japanese 33rd Division have been blocked in the south.

"Commander, Admiral Wavell is here." The adjutant's words gave Stilwell a headache.

This guy must be here to complain again.

If it were in the past, he would definitely ignore the other person.

But now that the British army has shown some toughness, he naturally has to treat them well.

Thinking of this, Stilwell asked his adjutant to invite Admiral Wavell in.

"General Stilwell, the 15th Army has once again repelled the Japanese attack. You really shouldn't have transferred those heavy artillery. With the help of those heavy artillery, we might have been able to destroy more Japanese troops." As soon as they met, Admiral Wavell complained again.

Hearing this, Stilwell was also helpless. He did not expect that the 15th Army was indeed very powerful and had already blocked several attacks by the Japanese army.

Just as he was about to explain something, he heard a noise outside, followed by excited shouts.

"Commander, great victory, great victory. The Sichuan Army has captured Lashio, severely damaged the 56th Division of the Japanese Army, killed the Japanese division commander Watanabe Masao, and annihilated more than 10,000 Japanese troops." The communications staff rushed in, waving a telegram, and said excitedly.

"What..." After hearing the news, Stilwell could no longer sit still. He stood up suddenly and looked at the other party in disbelief.

The communications officer wanted to repeat it, but Stilwell took the telegram away directly.

After reading the telegram, Stilwell couldn't help cheering excitedly.

"Hahahaha, great, great, the Sichuan Army did a great job, the Japanese 56th Division is finished, and Lashio is back in our hands."

It's no wonder that Stilwell was so excited. It was just that Admiral Wavell had put too much pressure on him during this period.

So much so that other people in the headquarters secretly accused Stilwell of transferring so many heavy artillery to the Sichuan Army.

If there were so many heavy artillery, the Japanese army besieging Imphal could have been repelled long ago.

Now the Sichuan Army has lived up to expectations and completely occupied Lashio, and also severely damaged the 56th Division of the Japanese Army, and killed the division commander Lieutenant General Watanabe Masao.

This is definitely a great victory. Admiral Wavell's face was even more livid.

The young lieutenant colonel who pointed at him and scolded him actually did it.

This is incredible.

How on earth did he do it?
Just relying on a mere two hundred heavy artillery pieces?

For a mountain city, two hundred heavy artillery pieces are a lot.

But for the world's top powers like Britain and the United States, it is not much.

Apart from anything else, in which of the major battles fought by the German army on the Eastern Front did they have less than a few thousand artillery pieces?

It was common to have up to tens of thousands of artillery pieces.

Even for the upcoming Battle of El Alamein, the British army prepared thousands of artillery pieces.

Even so, the British army did not have enough confidence to defeat the German army.

So, when Admiral Wavell heard that the Sichuan Army actually captured Lashio with only 200 heavy artillery pieces, he still couldn't believe it.

"Could it be fake?" Admiral Wavell said subconsciously.

Hearing this, Stilwell sneered.

"Admiral Wavell, don't use your dirty mind to treat the Sichuan Army. They are an excellent unit. I will send a telegram to the White House and apply for the Medal of Merit for them."

The Medal of Merit, also known as the Medal of Merit, was established not long ago.

This medal is awarded to a member (usually a leading member) of the United States Armed Forces or an allied force for outstanding service.

In fact, it was mainly awarded to Allied officers.

Now that the Sichuan Army has captured Lashio, Cun Yunsheng is fully qualified to be awarded the Medal of Merit.

Upon hearing this, Admiral Wavell's face turned extremely ugly. He did not expect that Stilwell would actually apply for the Medal of Merit for him. This was really beyond his expectations.

"Admiral Wavell, I think the British Empire should also set an example and award Cun Yunsheng the Medal of the Order of the British Empire." Stilwell's words made the other party's face even uglier.

"Of course, if you are unwilling, I would suggest that the White House personally contact your Prime Minister, His Excellency Churchill."

He was disgusted by Admiral Wavell, and now that he finally got the chance, he was determined to disgust the other party.

As expected, Admiral Wavell's face looked extremely ugly, and he didn't know how many times he had greeted the other party in his heart.

Thinking of this, Admiral Wavell spoke.

"General Stilwell, I will consider your proposal, but awarding the medal is not something I can decide."

"I know, but you are the Governor-General of India. Prime Minister Churchill will not reject your suggestion." Stilwell's words left Wavell speechless.

"I will advise the Prime Minister." Admiral Wavell left this sentence and walked out of the headquarters angrily.

There were bursts of cheers coming from outside, and it was obvious that the morale of the people was slowly improving due to the siege by the Japanese army.

At the same time, it also means that Stilwell's prestige has been enhanced again.

"What a pity! Half of the 200 heavy artillery pieces were lost." The telegram also stated that half of the 200 heavy artillery pieces provided were lost.

Stilwell didn't care much about this. As he said, everything would be easy if we could take Lashio.

If you can't defeat it, it's useless even if you blow it to the sky.

So he chose to forgive.

He even handed over the remaining 100 heavy artillery pieces to the Sichuan Army as a personal reward.

"It would be even better if we could capture a regimental flag," Stilwell said with some regret.

But he also knew that this situation was rare.

Basically, if something went wrong, the Japanese army would burn down the regiment to ensure that the regiment's number would continue to exist.

"Send a reply to the Sichuan Army Corps. The Allied Command expressed congratulations on their spirit of fearlessness of sacrifice and capture of Lashio. I will arrive in Lashio in person soon to bring them awards." Stilwell thought for a moment and then added again.

"Let Chennault's Flying Tigers transport some supplies. Now the victory belongs to them. These great guys should celebrate."

I have to say that Stilwell was very considerate and asked the logistics department to deliver canned food and other supplies.

"Yes." The adjutant responded quickly.

At the same time, Yamashiro also received a telegram forwarded by the Allied Command.

After reading the telegram, everyone was silent.

They couldn't believe that the Sichuan Army actually captured Lashio.

More importantly, the Japanese division commander, Lieutenant General Watanabe Masao, was killed.

This is truly a great victory.

But this great victory was achieved by a ragtag army.

If it were their own troops, they would definitely publicize it.

If they publicize it now, then the Sichuan Army that they had broken up with great difficulty will come back again, right?
This is absolutely intolerable.

Originally they wanted to handle the matter coldly, but they couldn't just ignore the telegram forwarded by Stilwell himself.

More importantly, Stilwell also said that he would apply for the Medal of Merit for Cun Yunsheng.

This time, they could no longer sit still.

If there is really no expression at all, it will probably really discourage the soldiers.

After some discussion, it was decided to award Cun Yunsheng the fourth-class Yunhui Medal and promote him to the rank of colonel.

As for the position, it remains the same and there is no change.

Nowadays, Shancheng is very stingy with serial numbers.

Especially for these ragtag troops, it is impossible for them to obtain a larger organization.

After all, Shancheng’s idea was to continuously consume the strength of the miscellaneous troops in the war while reducing their organization.

The Sichuan Army is an example; it has been torn to pieces.

If the Sichuan Army is now given a larger organization, wouldn’t all their previous efforts be in vain?

Unless the Sichuan Army Corps is incorporated into the Central Army, it will probably be given a larger organization at that time.

But at that time, it is unknown whether the Sichuan Army was still decided by Cun Yunsheng.

At the same time, at the headquarters of the Japanese 15th Army, Kawabe Masamitsu received the telegram and remained silent for a long time.

"Bagaya Road."

Everyone in the entire military knew that Kawabe Masamitsu was extremely angry.

Unexpectedly, the 56th Division was completely wiped out after only seven days.

It cannot be said that the entire army was wiped out. At least there were still two regiments left, and more than 3,000 defeated soldiers were retreating.

But the death of Watanabe Masao did make him extremely angry.

"Send a telegram to the headquarters, requesting them to dispatch at least two divisions to Rangoon. We must contain the Sichuan Army, otherwise the situation in Southeast Asia will become out of control." After a long time, Hebian Zhengsan came to his senses and suppressed his anger, speaking word by word.

"Hi!" Yahara Hiromichi didn't dare to say anything and responded quickly.

　I'll try to write one more chapter in the morning. Can you be so shameless as to beg for some support?

　　
　
(End of this chapter)