January 5, 1942, Myitkyina.

The last British troop was about to leave Myitkyina, and Slim and Alexander had mixed emotions.

"General, are we really giving up this land to the Chinese like this?" Slim said to Alexander with some reluctance.

Alexander's eyes were always looking at the backs of the retreating British soldiers, and he said without looking back:

"General Slim, to be honest, Burma was obtained by the Chinese with their own strength. Although we are very reluctant to admit this, it is a fact!

Without the expeditionary force we would not have been able to hold Burma, and the country would have fallen into the hands of the Japanese monkeys."

Slim was slightly excited.

"General, from the current point of view, the threat to the empire from the Chinese seems to be greater than the threat from the Japanese monkeys!

The Japanese's front has been stretched too long, and the attack has gradually shown its decline!

The Chinese are different. Their development can be said to be changing rapidly. God can testify to this.

We all know the terrible heritage of this nation. If we give them enough time, the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets may lose all its interests in Asia!"

Alexander glanced at Slim in surprise. He did not expect that the major general in front of him would gain so much political knowledge after experiencing a siege.

"General Slim, you are right, but for now, the Sun Never Sets Empire has no choice but to let China develop."

Alexander raised his hand to stop Slim from speaking and continued:

“In Eastern Europe, the Third Reich and the Soviet Union were fighting bloody battles, and it was hard to tell the winner.

The terrifying military strength of the Third Reich forces us to focus our main attention on Europe. As for matters in Asia, we can only deal with them after the threat of the Third Reich is resolved.

The most important task of the Prime Minister and the government at the moment is to drive the German troops out of the island of Great Britain, but this is by no means easy. Even with the help of the United States, we will still need at least a year!

In this war, China was the earliest to enter! They accumulated rich experience in fighting the Japanese. At the same time, the war also led to the rapid development of military industrial enterprises!

In terms of military production strength alone, China has far surpassed Great Britain!"

Alexander paused, looked into Slim's eyes and said:

"The main culprit for the current situation is the Third Reich, followed by the incompetence of the Japanese.

For you and me, it is a good thing that there is an expeditionary force in Burma and the Japanese are far away from India.

We have defended the largest colony in the Far East for the Empire on which the sun never sets, and neither the king nor the prime minister will blame us.

General Slim, I don't have much time to stay in the Far East. I am needed on other battlefields, and you will have to worry more about the Far East in the future.

Japan does not pose a threat to Tianzhu, so your most important next target is the Chinese."

"I seem to understand what you mean, General." Slim said thoughtfully, "Don't worry, I will definitely stop the Chinese from continuing to expand!"

Alexander nodded.

The two of them watched the flag of the Sun Never Set Empire fall on the top of the city of Myzina. They suddenly lost interest in talking and felt empty in their hearts.

After looking at each other, they walked towards the jeep at the same time.

With the establishment of the new government and the departure of the British-Indian and British-Burmese troops, the rule of the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets on this land came to a complete end.

A new flag has been raised, and a new era is coming soon.

………

Yangon.

Major General Haruki Isayama, Chief of Staff of the Fifteenth Army of Japan, reported to Shojiro Iida:

"The Chinese defeated Siam and the Burmese servant army organized by us. The three-pronged army has passed through Yan'anqiang and Taunggyi and can reach Tongku within 5 days!"

Shojiro Iida stood up from his chair in shock and asked in disbelief:

"How could it be so fast?"

"China's 200,000 troops are all mechanized troops, and they mobilize and pursue very quickly! The imperial army has lost air supremacy and cannot stop the Chinese's rapid advance!"

(To be precise, it’s a motorized force, but Haruki Isayama doesn’t know the difference between mechanization and motorization.)

Iida Shojiro's fingers slid along Mandalay to Tonggu.

"There are only 5 days. After 5 days, the imperial army will rush to fight again. This is not a good thing for our army, absolutely not!" Shojiro Iida racked his brains, but for a while he couldn't think of an effective resistance strategy.

"When will the 18th Division and the 56th Division arrive at their scheduled combat positions?"

Isayama Haruki flipped through the telegram in his hand and replied after a moment:

"The earliest is 8 days, the latest is 10 days, it depends on the weather conditions!

It has been raining in the south for the past few days. Although it is light rain, it rains for a long time, making the roads muddy and making the transportation of weapons and equipment very difficult.

The Imperial Army soldiers were marching in the rain, and the number of illnesses was four to five times higher than usual. All units were suffering from illness and attrition, some of which were serious!"

"Baga!" Iida Shojiro felt that God was against him. He wanted to shout angrily, but he didn't have the courage.

"Order the 18th Division and the 56th Division to speed up their march and arrive at the scheduled battlefield before the 8th no matter what."

"Hiyi!"

Isayama Haruki saw that the surrounding staff officers were a little far away from the two of them, so he took a step closer and asked:

"Your Excellency, Commander, even with the support of the 18th Division and the 56th Division, it will be difficult for us to stop the Chinese Expeditionary Force. What is the attitude of the base camp? Do we need to defend Burma?"

Iida Shojiro looked at the battle map and said without raising his head:

"The Burma Highway is very important to both China and Jiangdong. It is the most important channel for China to communicate with the outside world. For a relatively long period of time in the future, China's goods and materials must pass through the Burma Road!

Yangon is the intersection of land and sea transportation. As long as the Japanese Empire controls Yangon, the Burma Highway will not be open to traffic!

To prevent the development of Jiangdong and China is to coordinate the Southeast Asian theater and defend the homeland!"

Isayama Haruki understood.

Yangon must not fall into the hands of the Chinese unless the entire 15th Army is annihilated.

"But now our military strength is worrying, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold on for too long!"

Iida Shojiro finally raised his head, his eyes were a little complicated, seeming helpless and decisive.

"January 1 is the day when Jiang Dong established the puppet government base camp in Mandalay, and the age of conscription has been lowered to 15 years old!"

The age limit for conscription in Japan was originally nineteen, then eighteen. After the Pearl Harbor incident and the annihilation of the Kwantung Army, the age was seventeen, and now it has been raised to fifteen.

The intensity of the Japanese military strength can be seen from the rate of reduction in the number of years for conscription.

Shojiro Iida continued without any emotion:

"In addition to lowering the recruitment period, the base camp is also recruiting and training servant troops in various regions of Southeast Asia. The first batch of 200,000 servant troops will be deployed on various fronts before January 15."

Perhaps for fear of affecting the morale of the troops, the Japanese base camp has not informed ordinary soldiers about the reduction in the recruitment period. It was also the first time for Isayama Haruki to hear about it, and he felt the tension and urgency in the base camp.

"If the 1.2 million Kwantung Army were still there, the Imperial Army wouldn't be like this...sigh..."

Iida Shojiro seemed to have a more open mind and said while studying the map:

"The Navy has always believed that the United States is the most threatening enemy of the Japanese Empire, but on land they cannot see, an enemy more ferocious than tigers and lions is growing!"

"What a bunch of idiots!"

Shojiro Iida once requested the navy to send aviation troops to assist in the defense of Yangon, but the navy troops ruthlessly refused.

The conflict between land and sea has been going on for a long time, with both sides looking down on each other and even deliberately holding each other back.

The Japanese Empire won consecutive battles in Southeast Asia and gained large tracts of land.

It looks majestic and might soon dominate the world.

But Shojiro Iida knew that Japan today is like a balloon that is continuously inflated. After it expands to a certain level, it will disappear without a trace in an explosion.

Neither the Navy nor the Army was willing to deflate the balloon.

It is even developing towards two extremes, accelerating the deformation and explosion of the balloon.

Not only Shojiro Iida saw the danger, but the conflict between the navy and the army would not be resolved by this danger.

Because in the navy and army, scolding each other and arguing with each other to hold back each other has evolved into pathological "political correctness."

Not even the emperor can do anything about it.

………

It took the Fifth Army two days to put out the fire in the Ren'anqiang Oil Field.

You must know that the Japanese and some local people have been busy in the oil fields for a week before this.

The fire lasted for more than half a month, which shows that the British had no intention of returning to Myanmar when they set the fire.

The air was filled with the pungent smell of gasoline, and Fu Yisheng couldn't help but cover his nose.

An Chunshan, commander of the 13th Division, whose face and clothes were covered with oil and dust, came to Fu Yisheng panting.

"Deputy Commander, the fires have all been put out, and the brothers are clearing away possible spark hazards bit by bit. The scouts reported that there were not only locals in the woods around the oil field, but also some Japanese stragglers. These

It seems like the son of a bitch is waiting for our army to leave before setting fire to it!"

Fu Yisheng frowned, he had also received the report on what An Chunshan said.
To be continued...