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The Chief of Staff, Major General Naka Yutaro, thought for a moment and said, "Could it be that the British troops hid in the upper reaches of the Irrawaddy River during their retreat? Other than that, I really can't think of any other possibility!"

Masazo Kawabe also thought for a while. He felt that the world suddenly became unreal and everything became blurry.

"There is only one possibility. The cunning British army hid the warships in a hidden tributary. Now that the Xu family army has occupied the Bamao area, they are jumping out without restraint!"

Naka Yutaro was puzzled again, "But with only four warships, they can only bombard the northern city of Mandalay at most, and they can't cause much damage. What exactly does England want to do? Are they too bored to do anything? Aren't they afraid that our main force will circle back and capture them all?"

Kawabe Masazo shook his head slightly: "No matter what, since they want to die, let's grant their wish. Zhongyongjun, get the entire 7th Flying Division out to destroy these arrogant guys!"

"But Commander, we never thought that there would be enemy warships in the inland river basin, so we didn't prepare aerial torpedoes. If we rely solely on aerial bombs, I'm afraid we won't be able to destroy them!"

"Ah..." Hebian Zhengsan sighed: "What's going on? Do we have any heavy artillery units that can be transferred over?"

Naka Yutaro shook his head helplessly: "We only have two heavy artillery regiments, one is in Indo, and the other is on the way from Mawlamyine for support. Their marching speed is slow, and it will take at least 7 days to arrive!

We do have the 28th Independent Artillery Regiment in Lashio, but the caliber is too small and the power is not enough! Even if we transfer it now, it will take two days to arrive!"

Hebian Zhengda waved his hands and said, "No matter what, order the 7th Flying Division to use aerial bombs to attack. No matter what the cost, we must wipe them out completely!"

After saying this, Hebian Zhengsan felt his eyes blurred, his head tilted back and he fell down.

It was hard for him, but he was able to hold on for so long in the face of such a situation. He is worthy of being the commander of the Burma Front Army with hundreds of thousands of troops!

But no matter how hard he thought, he never imagined that he was facing not just four warships, but more than ten behind them.

It was just because the frigates and landing ships were too slow and still some distance away from Mandalay, so the initial Japanese flying regiment did not discover them!

Due to the fleet's successful sneak attack, Fang Yue immediately ordered the entire army to switch from a feint attack to a full-scale attack in order to delay the Japanese and prevent them from having the opportunity to withdraw to support Mandalay.

......

The Japanese 7th Flying Division received a death order, and almost all of its fighters and bombers were dispatched, all carrying aerial bombs to fight against the four destroyers!

The huge numerical advantage of more than 300 Japanese planes once again caused a qualitative change.

At this moment, Bai Shiyi, who was in charge of the commander-in-chief on the Yibin ship far behind, immediately ordered the First Destroyer Fleet to shrink into a square formation to reduce the combat area.

The combat area was reduced. In order to avoid their own planes colliding with each other, the Japanese could only attack in batches. The qualitative change process was interrupted and the only advantage was destroyed!

There are almost no fortifications around the river area of ​​Mandalay, so the destroyer's mission is not to attack the ground. The reason why it arrived first is to help the Marines solve possible hidden dangers.

Thus, a one-sided massacre began, with a Japanese plane being shot down almost every 10 seconds!

Of course, although the qualitative change of the Japanese aircraft was not completed, the overall numerical advantage was still there. Although the machine guns could not cause any damage to the warships themselves, it was inevitable that some of the ship's artillery soldiers would be hit.

As for the aerial bombs, although two of them fell on the warship, they only caused a little damage and had no overall impact!

By 12 noon, the entire Central Fleet arrived in Mandalay, and the remaining aircraft of the Japanese 7th Flying Division were less than %.

This scene frightened the commander of the aviation division. After reporting the intelligence to the front headquarters, he ordered all his aircraft to withdraw from the battlefield.

There is no turning back. If he persists, he will only follow in the footsteps of the 5th Flying Division.

In Lashio, Masazo Kawabe, who had just woken up from a coma, fainted again. The difference from the last time was that this time he vomited blood and was sent to a field hospital for emergency treatment!

At this moment, if Naka Yutaro still doesn't understand the intention of this fleet, he would be unworthy of the title of Chief of Staff.

This is inland, and it is impossible to dispatch so many warships for a naval battle. And based on the location where they appeared, there is only one possibility, and that is landing!

"What should I do? What should I do? The enemy has more than 10 warships with powerful firepower. What should I do? Is there any way to prevent them from landing? The defenders of Mandalay only have one wing, which can't withstand so many naval guns.

If they succeed in landing, the worst that can happen is that many of their troops will move towards India, but what about the 20 people in Lashio? Where can they retreat?

And if the troops retreated to India, wouldn't they be surrounded by the British army and Xu's army? England hid so many warships here, they must have been absolutely sure before they dared to show them!

What should I do? What should I do? "

At this moment, Naka Yutaro was a little envious of Kawabe Shozo. He fainted at the critical moment and left all the trouble to him.

After hesitating for a few minutes, he finally made up his mind. In order to ensure the survival of the force as much as possible, he chose to abandon Lashio. Indochina's troops fought to the death to guard the retreat route for the troops attacking Imphal!

However, how could Fang Yue let him get his wish? The three armored regiments of the 176th Division and the 3rd Mechanized Infantry Division rushed towards Lashio. At this moment, the Japanese formation was in complete chaos. It was the best time to attack!

Moreover, due to the disastrous defeat of the 7th Flying Division, the Japanese indirectly lost air superiority in the Mandalay and Lashio areas. Wang Yuqi was unwilling to fall behind, and ordered the attack aircraft and bomber squadrons to go out again to bomb the Japanese retreating troops.

Especially the J-5, which carried two 250kg bombs in its internal magazine and two HF-4 130mm rocket launchers externally, with a total of eight 8 rockets, specifically designed to target Japanese tanks. Under the ultra-low-altitude and high-speed strike, every rocket hit the target accurately.

Xu Le had specifically instructed that 130 rockets could only be used to attack Japanese tanks, large bunkers and heavy artillery, and that rockets were not allowed to be used against worthless things like trucks, motorcycles and mountain artillery!

For a moment, the 20 Japanese soldiers in Lashio who were already retreating in a hurry were like refugees fleeing famine. They completely lost their combat capability and were at the mercy of slaughter like wild boars!

The 1st Mechanized Infantry Regiment, the 7th Mechanized Infantry Regiment, and the 8th Mechanized Infantry Regiment were capturing prisoners almost all over the mountains.