The War of Resistance: My Expedition, My Country

Chapter 156: Northern Burma Counterattack

The Second Army pursued all the way and finally had to stop at the Todd line south of Luxor. The reason was simple: the supply line was too long and the fuel, ammunition, etc. could not keep up. The German-Italian coalition had a large supply base and air force base in Luxor, which posed a great threat to the Second Army's long-distance attack. Kuang Zhengqi decisively ordered all units to stop moving north and establish a defense line on the spot.

Von Arnim took the opportunity to gather his troops and reorganize them. He transferred the remnants of the 3rd Tank Division to the 21st Tank Division, merged part of the 27th Tank Division into the 15th Tank Division, and integrated the 1st Light Division and the 151st Grenadier Division to form the new 1st Armored Cavalry Division. He ordered the headquarters of the 3rd Tank Corps and the backbone of the 27th and 3rd Divisions to return north to Egypt to await new assistance and reorganize them into new tank and armored divisions. At the same time, according to Rommel's orders, von Arnim was also dismissed and replaced by Ludwig Kluwer.

Neither side in southern Egypt was capable of taking further action, and it seemed that they needed some time to rest and prepare for war. Thus, the southern African front operations known as the "Nasser Campaign" came to an end.

The losses on both sides were roughly equal. The Germans lost 234 tanks and tank destroyers of various types, while the Allies lost 257. The Germans lost 215 artillery pieces of various types, while the Allies lost 134. The Germans lost over 5300 soldiers, while the Allies lost over 5200. However, in addition to the German losses, the Italians also lost over 7000 men, most of whom were captured, most of whom surrendered voluntarily. The Allies occupied nearly 10 square kilometers of land north of Aswan, most of which was desert and therefore meaningless.

The biggest blow that the Second Army dealt to the German-Italian North African Corps was that it not only crippled the main tank group that Rommel relied on, but also allowed the Allies to find a breakthrough against the German-Italian North African Corps. In North Africa, Montgomery and Eisenhower took advantage of this to capture Tripoli and gain control of the largest port in the Mediterranean, which was very fatal to Rommel's African Corps.

Kuang Zhengqi had even better news. After repairs, 80 captured and damaged German tanks were ready for combat, including over 50 Panthers. Kuang Zhengqi planned to establish a German-style tank regiment with these tanks, and this plan was recognized by the Allied African Theater Command. Meanwhile, the capabilities of the Chinese army and its commanders were also recognized by the African Theater Command. After contacting Stilwell and seeking Chiang's opinion, Wedemeyer decided to separate the American and British units from the Second Army and integrate them into the new force. Trained Chinese soldiers from East India, along with new reinforcements from the United States, arrived soon after, and Kuang Zhengqi was officially appointed commander of the new Second Army (Sun Liren had made other arrangements). With the exception of a few key technical personnel and translators, the new Second Army was composed entirely of Chinese personnel, temporarily commanding the 114th and 28th Divisions, as well as a newly established independent anti-tank artillery brigade. Thus, the Chinese Army officially entered the African theater under a separate name!

In northern Burma, Liao Yaoxiang was appointed as the new commander of the Indian Army, under which the new 1st Army and the new 22nd Army were commanded. The 200th Division was transferred from the Indian Army and headed north from Gansu to join the newly established 12th War Zone in Suiyuan area, and will be expanded into the 200th Group Army. Their mission is obvious: they will join the Soviet battlefield with the Third Route Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force.

The Chinese Expeditionary Force also underwent structural changes. Its First Route Army consisted of two corps: the First India Corps and the Second Burma Corps. Since the Burma Corps currently had only one guerrilla force in Burma (Qin Shi's Burma Guerrilla Army), its main forces were the 6th and 12th Armies in southern Yunnan. The Second Route Army also had two group armies: the First Pacific Group Army and the Second African Group Army. The Third Route Army was significantly larger, comprising the 18th Group Army, the 115th Group Army, and the 120th Group Army, expanded from the original 129th Group Army, the newly formed 4th Group Army, the newly formed 35th Group Army (under Fu Zuoyi), and the newly formed 200th Group Army (under Huang Wei). Furthermore, there was the newly formed 3rd Group Army (under Yan Xishan), the newly formed 1st Cavalry Corps (under San Ma), and the newly formed 2nd Cavalry Corps (under Mongolia), which was under construction.

According to the new requirements agreed upon by all parties, the local armed forces of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, and Guangdong will also be unified and reorganized, and the flower-growing country will realize the nationalization of its army for the first time. This is a very meaningful thing for the flower-growing country.

To rapidly reorganize these forces, especially the Third Expeditionary Force, which was about to join the Soviet Union, relying solely on equipment quietly transported from Far Eastern ports to Mongolia was insufficient. Therefore, the Far Eastern Theater had reached a tacit understanding that the Sino-Indian Highway must be opened as soon as possible. To this end, over 2 US engineers were dispatched there. Considering the risks of airlifting troops from China, the Far Eastern Theater transferred as many as 10 divisions of British Indian troops from the Indian Theater to join the Southeast Asian Theater, launching a counteroffensive against the Japanese Burma Front entrenched in Burma from both the north and the south. The main offensive was in northern Burma, with Liao Yaoxiang as the commander-in-chief. Zheng Dongguo had already returned to China. As the commander-in-chief of the First Route Army, he would personally lead the 6th and 12th Armies in southern Yunnan southward to capture the important city of Baoshan in southern Yunnan and defeat the current enemy, the Japanese 56th Division, a powerful force in northern Burma, along the Ruili line.

Liao Yaoxiang's Indian Army was far more powerful than the Second Army in southern Yunnan in terms of equipment and firepower. They used improved heavy rocket launchers to clear the way and continuously attacked the 18th and 33rd Divisions of the Japanese Army defending northern Myanmar. After more than a month of fierce fighting, they had occupied a large area in northern Myanmar south of the Hugang Valley. The highway line extending from the Dingsujia railway hub in northeastern India has penetrated into Nanyun and Hinbeyan in northern Myanmar. The new 1st Army and the new 22nd Army of the Indian Army have penetrated into the Dero and Magao line and are launching an attack on the Maikun (Mengguan) line.

At the same time, Qin Shi's First Column of the Burmese Guerrilla Army had occupied Benkan and Basijia, compressing the Japanese 33rd Division headquarters to the central line area in northern Myanmar. The Second Corps in southern Yunnan recaptured Baoshan and was launching an attack on Tengchong.

Mutaguchi Ren'ya was promoted to commander of the Japanese 28th Army, commanding the 18th and 33rd Divisions, as well as several independent brigades. The Japanese defeat in the South Pacific forced the Southern Army to relocate the 2nd and 55th Divisions, previously stationed in Burma. The severely depleted Burma Front was forced to upgrade some of its security regiments and integrate them with the Burma National Salvation Army to form security brigades responsible for internal Burma security. Several independent brigades, previously part of the security forces, were deployed to the front lines to join the various armies in defending against the Expeditionary Force's counteroffensive.