Chapter 171 How many are needed? Ten American-equipped divisions! (Fourth update!)
It has to be said that the Japanese army, which changed its mindset, was indeed extremely powerful, especially under the leadership of Mutaguchi Ren'ya, whose combat effectiveness soared.

The main reason was that the British army was too useless. The British troops stationed in those towns were no match for the Japanese army.

Especially after the 15th Army was withdrawn, only third-rate troops were left. How could they possibly hold the line in the face of the ferocious Japanese army?

This time, Mutaguchi Ren'ya learned from previous lessons and began to vigorously support the indigenous people.

But I have to say that these natives are really hopeless.

Considering the need to stir up trouble within India, Mutaguchi Renya could only suppress his anger and continue to expand the ranks of these natives.

Perhaps there were too many natives suffering from oppression by the British army, so there was no need for Mutaguchi Ren'ya to recruit them, as many of them came on their own.

In a short period of time, tens of thousands of people joined the movement.

As for the combat effectiveness of these people, it is unknown.

"Order, continue to attack forward." Seeing this, Mutaguchi Ren'ya decided to continue attacking westwards. He wanted to penetrate the entire India and learn from Wang Xuance of the Tang Dynasty.

It has to be said that the Japanese army was deeply influenced by the culture of the Tang Dynasty and was very familiar with these historical figures.

On this side, Mutaguchi Renya was full of ambition and was ready to sweep across the entire India.

On the other side, Admiral Wavell was completely panicked and no longer as calm as before.

"How is this possible? Without logistical supplies, how can he attack?" Admiral Wavell's face was full of disbelief.

"Your Excellency Governor, what should we do now? They are now recruiting natives along the way, and there are already nearly 100,000 of them. If we continue to fight like this, I'm afraid we will be completely finished." The officer who came to report was also a little panicked.

You have to know that India is the apple of the eye of the British Empire. If something goes wrong here, Admiral Wavell’s head would be chopped off.

What's more, the upcoming Battle of El Alamein will require supplies to be drawn from India.

If this went wrong, it might have affected the Battle of El Alamein.

"Asshole, how should I know?" Admiral Wavell was also furious, then he came to his senses and spoke.

"Asshole, go find Stilwell and have the Indian Army launch an attack immediately."

Having said that, he ran towards the headquarters.

At this moment, Stilwell had just digested the news brought by his subordinates. When he saw Admiral Wavell, he hurriedly spoke.

"Admiral Wavell, the British Army must show its true strength. Otherwise, if there is a problem in India, it will be a huge blow to the entire Allied war."

"Yes, you are right, General Stilwell. So I came here this time, hoping that you can send troops. India must not be lost." Admiral Wavell said very nervously.

Without India, the British Empire would be completely finished.

The reason we can still hold on now is not because we have Tianzhu in our hands, right?

It doesn't matter even if all other colonies are sold.

As long as India is in its hands, I believe the British Empire will be able to return to being the world's hegemony in the future.

This is why Admiral Wavell has remained calm.

But now it’s different. There is a high chance that Tianzhu will be lost, so he has to be nervous.

"Send troops? Where do I get the troops?" Stilwell said speechlessly.

"I asked you to transfer transport planes to help transport soldiers and supplies, but what happened? You kept making excuses. Where can we transfer troops now? There are only more than 10,000 troops stationed in India. Tell me, what can these few people do?"

"At the current pace of reorganization, it may not be completed in two years."

"Admiral Wavell, I know what you are thinking, but if you do this, the backlash will be huge, and now you will bear the consequences."

This time Stilwell was so angry that he scolded Admiral Wavell.

I have to say, this feeling is really great.

He had been annoyed with the other party for a long time, and now it felt really good to see him get humiliated.

The situation was originally very good, but this guy made all kinds of excuses and obstructions, first preventing the Sichuan Army from moving south to Mandalay.

Now the Japanese army has abandoned Imphal and continues to advance alone. The only ones who will suffer from the backlash will be the British army.

For a moment, Stilwell completely didn't want to care about it anymore.

That's good!

If the British army doesn't suffer some losses, they will fail to recognize reality.

Admiral Wavell, who had been criticized crazily, naturally looked extremely unhappy. He had always been worried that Stilwell would use a series of events to expand America's influence.

That's why all kinds of precautions will hinder one attack.

Who would have thought that the Japanese army would abandon Imphal and head straight for his rear, which cost him his life.

If something goes wrong in the rear, we're really doomed.

"General Stilwell, from now on the British Indian Army will obey your orders, but please be sure to mobilize the troops stationed in India to block the Japanese attack." Admiral Wavell was very humble.

Unfortunately, Stilwell still sneered.

"Admiral Wavell, how much credibility do you have in what you say? The 15th Army is fully capable of pursuing the Japanese army. Two horses can never outrun four wheels."

The British 15th Army is an elite force and a mechanized force, so catching up with the Japanese army is definitely not a problem.

Even at this time, he is still playing tricks on him. Stilwell will naturally not tolerate him.

"The 15th Army has been fighting for days and needs to rest." Admiral Wavell said after a moment's hesitation.

This is not an exaggeration. The 15th Army has indeed been fighting fiercely in recent days, so it naturally needs rest.

"The Indian Army also needs to rest and replenish supplies. They have been fighting for a long time." Stilwell shook his head and said.

"Then transfer the Sichuan Army?" After hesitating for a moment, Admiral Wavell spoke again.

"They have just wiped out the Takeuchi Regiment, and not only that, they also captured the regiment's flag. This is the first time the Allies have captured a regiment's flag." Stilwell raised the telegram in his hand and gestured.

"General Stilwell, such an elite force can completely stop the Japanese attack." Admiral Wavell's eyes lit up, and without caring about anything else, he directly expressed his thoughts.

Who knew that Stilwell's face turned pale and he said lightly.

"I have appointed him to form a task force to take full charge of the war in the east and occupy Siam and all the colonies of Vichy France."

Upon hearing this, Admiral Wavell's face changed. He did not expect that Stilwell would make the appointment alone without his consent.

Just as he was about to speak, he saw Steve looking over.

"Don't forget, Siam and Vichy France's colonies are not colonies of the British Empire."

"What's more, Siam has already joined the Axis Powers and declared war on us. The Vichy French colonies have not made it clear who they support. It's time to deal with this fence-sitter."

Admiral Wavell, who had wanted to say something, was now completely speechless.

Because what the other person said is true.

In fact, if his strength allowed it, he would have wanted to defeat Siam first. After all, Siam was pro-British before, but when the Japanese army came, it turned directly to them, which made the British army very annoyed.

As for Vichy France, the Allies had already notified all colonies that those who chose to support Charles de Gaulle's Free France would be allies of the Allied Forces.

The others were colonies of Vichy France. The Vichy French Governor of Hanoi has not expressed his position, and it is obvious that he wants to be a fence-sitter.

None of this matters. As long as the British Empire returns to Southeast Asia, what is lost will eventually come back.

But Stilwell's move was obviously aimed at the British Empire.

Now it is not China that is expanding its influence, but America's influence that is gradually expanding.

This made Admiral Wavell a little unhappy.

But considering the importance of Tianzhu, he endured it.

"General Stilwell, this is a wise decision," Admiral Wavell exclaimed.

Hearing this, Stilwell showed a satisfied smile.

As expected, Cun Yunsheng was right. America can fully expand its influence through war.

The world needs a new world hegemon to maintain the new order.

The British Empire is indeed old, and it is time for them to withdraw from the old order.

"I will send transport planes to move the 15th Army to the rear, and let them rebuild the defense line in the rear to block the Japanese attack. As long as they hold on for a period of time, the Japanese troops without supplies will eventually be wiped out." After the previous panic, Stilwell has come up with a new idea.

That is to use the strong air advantage and strategic depth to rebuild the defense line in a farther place to block the Japanese attack.

Upon hearing this, Admiral Wavell had to admit that this plan was indeed very good.

After all, India's territory is too large. It is impossible for tens of thousands of people to capture the entire country in a short period of time.

"Thank you for your generosity, General Stilwell. You will be a friend of the British Indian Army forever." Admiral Wavell said quickly and humbly.

Unfortunately, Stilwell did not seem very enthusiastic. He was now particularly looking forward to whether the Sichuan Army Corps could bring more surprises.

The influence of the captured regimental flag continues to expand.

Especially at the headquarters of the Japanese 15th Army, when Masamitsu Kawabe received the telegram, he was completely paralyzed.

The regiment flag was captured?
What exactly does Takeuchi Renzan eat?
Why not burn the regimental flag?
This really cannot be blamed on the other party. He did not expect that the Sichuan Army would actually get directly to his headquarters. Caught off guard, everyone in the headquarters was knocked down. How could they have time to burn the regiment flag?

"Damn it, Takeuchi Renzan is a loser, a bastard. The regiment's flag has been seized, which is a great shame." Kawabe Masazo cursed loudly.

All the officers in the entire military department dared not breathe, for fear of being scolded.

After Kawabe Masazo's anger had subsided a lot, Yahara Hiromichi spoke.

"Commander, there is only one search regiment left in the 56th Division. I suggest that they withdraw. There is no point in continuing to defend Nantianmen. Once the Sichuan Army and Nantianmen attack them, they will eventually be crushed."

That’s absolutely true!

Once caught in two, the only option left is to be annihilated.

Kawabe Masazo was silent for a while, then shook his head and said.

"I'm afraid it's impossible to withdraw at this time."

Hearing this, Yahara Hiromichi was speechless.

The occupation of Lashio meant that withdrawal was impossible.

Unless you are willing to go into the jungle, the casualties will be heavy, refer to the 200th Division.

Therefore, it is absolutely impossible to enter the primeval forest unless it is absolutely necessary.

"Send a telegram to the 56th Search Regiment and tell them that if the battle goes unfavorably, the regiment flag should be burned immediately and the second flag should not be allowed to be captured." Kawabe Masazo said coldly.

"Hay."

On the other side, Shancheng was silent when he heard the news.

Unexpectedly, this time the Sichuan Army not only wiped out an entire regiment, but also seized the regiment's flag. They could no longer pretend that nothing had happened.

"Another enemy regiment of Japanese troops was annihilated? And the regiment's flag was seized. The fighting power of this Sichuan Army Corps is so strong? Why wasn't it included in the expeditionary force before?" Many people remained silent in response to this question.

"I remember that this Sichuan Army was established not long ago, right? How has it developed to this point in just a few months?"

"Damn it, are you guys too useless, or are they too strong?"

"And what's going on with the Nantian Gate? Why hasn't it been taken down yet?"

"They only care about fighting for American weapons and equipment. Have they ever thought about national affairs?"

Before this, he wasn't that annoyed, but now he is really annoyed.

His own regular troops were actually not as good as a ragtag army. If he told this to others, he would lose all his face.

It was still the Sichuan Army that was dismembered by itself.

"General, the Sichuan Army has the Allied Forces' headquarters and powerful American equipment. This is the key to their victory in the war. I think we should increase our purchase of American equipment."

"I know all this. I went to military school and fought in wars."

How could he not know about weapons and stuff?
After all, I have been a soldier and fought in wars, so I naturally know the importance of these things.

But ammunition means a lot of money. He always felt that it was a waste for the Sichuan Army to use a large number of automatic weapons. It might be okay for a small army, but if it was a force of millions of people, the consumption would be too great.

Even if we produce it all ourselves, it still won't be enough if we use up all the copper metal.

If you want to import, you will have to consume more hard currencies such as gold, silver, and foreign exchange, but those things are very scarce.

Having lost an important source of tax revenue, the mountain city is now really poor.

The salaries of many troops have been delayed.

But he had no choice because the tax he could collect was only so little.

"Tell me, how many American-equipped divisions are needed to fight back?"

"At least ten reorganized divisions."

Hearing this, the bald man frowned even deeper and kept calculating.

"I see. I will discuss this matter with Stilwell."

Cun Yunsheng in Myitkyina didn’t know yet that because of him, American equipment was becoming extremely popular again.

The Sichuan Army won victory after victory and proved with its strength that the Sichuan Army equipped with American weapons was so strong.

Aren't their direct troops stronger?

Cun Yunsheng welcomed a special guest.

It was William who we parted last time in Hsipaw.

He didn't expect the other party to be so efficient. How long did it take for them to gather all the equipment he needed?

Although they are all basic industrial equipment, this is wartime and it is not easy to get them all together.

"Nice to meet you again, Colonel. Congratulations on your series of great achievements." William said with a smile as soon as they met.

(End of this chapter)