In World War II, there was a recognized fact that the Japanese Army was very strong, and this was not only verified in China's anti-Japanese battlefield, but also stronger than the Soviet Union, Britain and even the United States. But in this way, the Japanese army, which believed in the spirit of bushido and was not afraid of death, was blocked by a company of the Chinese army on the battlefield in distant Burma, and could not pass for a month.
A new look for a new army
The first overseas operation of the Chinese Expeditionary Force ended in failure, and Du Yuming led his troops back to China from Savage Mountain and suffered heavy losses. To be reasonable, the troops sent by the Kuomintang government to the battlefield in Burma were definitely the elite of the Chinese army, taking the Fifth Army led by Du Yuming as an example, this unit was one of the best equipped units in the country at that time, well-trained, and had shown good strength in the previous Battle of Kunlun Pass.
Therefore, for Lao Chiang, although there were many factors in the failure of the First Expeditionary Force, such a result was still unacceptable. For the Kuomintang government at that time, in order to obtain foreign material aid and international solidarity, the Chinese Expeditionary Force had to make good results. In order to achieve a rise in the international battlefield, Chiang Kai-shek reorganized the more elite New First Army, with Zheng Dongguo as the commander, Sun Liren as the commander of the new 38th Division, and Liao Yaoxiang as the commander of the New 22nd Division.
Feng Shui takes turns and makes a comeback
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, a large part of the reason why the Chinese army often suffered a major rout in the face of the attacks of the Japanese invaders was that the Chinese army was uneven, and there was a big gap between the Chinese army and the quality of its equipment and soldiers. Therefore, after the new First Army was replaced with American weapons and equipment and received American-style training, the entire army immediately radiated a different mental outlook.
At this time, the officers and men of the New First Army, who were far away, had only one thought in their hearts, that is, to defeat the Japanese invaders and return to China. Therefore, when the arrogant Japanese elite 18th Division encountered an advance company of the New First Army at the Savage Mountain, a transportation hub, they had not yet realized the seriousness of the problem.
The self-confident Japanese thought that this small advance force would be a piece of cake to deal with, but they did not expect that this time they would have to suffer on their own. The advance force of this new army had already fortified itself before the Japanese attacked. They have a huge banyan tree at their core, surrounded by eight circular fortifications. The huge banyan tree frame machine gun made into a tree fort, and the eight circular fortifications also stretched out submachine guns and machine guns to take care of each other, it can be said that it has achieved 360 degrees of defense without dead ends.
This interlocking fortification became a nightmare for the Japanese 18th Division, which could be attacked by heavy attacks from the Chinese army. The Chinese army, which had been wronged on the battlefield before, could one day wantonly attack the Japanese with firepower, how happy it was.
A tooth for a tooth and blood for a blood
An advance force of 300 people could not be attacked for a long time, and the Japanese lost their temper in the face of such mountain fortifications. Since it can't get through, it can only be stationed, but the bigger problem needs to face the large army brought by General Sun Liren.
In the face of this advance force, the Japanese army could not fight and waited, but in the face of Sun Liren's large army, what awaited them was death.
Sun Liren's troops, which were already very strong in combat, were strengthened by the assembly of US weapons and equipment, and the 18th Division was defeated and retreated, constantly shrinking the defensive line. The Japanese never thought that the Chinese army, which they did not look down on at all on weekdays, would be so violent, and Sun Liren's troops, with their own way of treating others, also adopted the tactics of outflanking and outflanking the Japanese 18th Division, which claimed to be the elite of the elite, to withdraw from its position in a rout posture and give way to the strategic point of Savage Mountain.
The Chinese army's war in Burma has greatly improved the Chinese army to a certain extent, and through fighting against the Japanese army, they have realized the gap with others and have begun to seize the time to improve and learn. However, there is one problem that they fail to realize: a strong country should have a strong national defense, and relying only on other countries' funding is only a symptom rather than a cure.