Quartermasters can also fight the devils

On February 25, 1942, the highest level of the Chinese government ordered that the Fifth and Sixth Armies of the Chinese government, which were entering Burma to fight, be under the unified command of General Du of the Fifth Army, who was in turn commanded by Hutton, the then commander-in-chief of the British Burmese Army.

On March 1, 1942, the vanguard of the Chinese Expeditionary Force had arrived in Lashio, and on March 4 it reached Pingmanna, and began to occupy positions here to cover the concentration of the main force.

Commander Du of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, who was in charge of fighting in Mandalay, ordered the Fifth Army's vanguard, the 200th Division, to block the advance of the Japanese offensive forces in Tonggu and the area to its south, while covering the main force of the Fifth Army to assemble near Binwena.

The plan of General Du of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force was to prepare for a coordinated battle with the British-Burmese Allied Forces on the right wing, defeat the Japanese offensive forces that were attacking them head-on, and then take advantage of the situation to recapture the southern Burma area that had just been occupied by the Japanese offensive forces.

In March 1942, Admiral Alexander, the newly appointed commander of the British Burmese Army, fled with his troops in Rangoon without organizing any effective resistance. This allowed the Japanese offensive force to easily occupy the Burmese capital of Rangoon on March 8, and also allowed the Japanese offensive force to successfully achieve the first phase of the combat goal of occupying Burma.

After the Japanese army captured Rangoon, the Japanese Southern Army quickly formulated a new combat strategy, namely that the Japanese offensive forces needed to further seize the opportunity and fight boldly and decisively to force the British and Chinese coalition forces in Mandalay, especially the Chinese Expeditionary Force, to fight a decisive battle and completely annihilate the Chinese-British coalition in a short period of time.

In order to achieve this strategic goal, the Japanese Southern Army also dispatched the Japanese 18th Division, the 56th Division, part of the 3rd Air Group and the army's direct troops to the combat sequence of the Japanese 15th Army in Burma, which was responsible for this operation, to enhance the Japanese Army's combat strength on the Burmese battlefield.

On March 8, 1942, after the Chinese and British armies assembled, they followed the formulated battle plan and marched south in three routes to meet the Japanese attacking forces. Among them, the British army was responsible for the western route, the Sixth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force was responsible for the eastern route, and the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force was responsible for the central route.

On March 9, the 200th Division of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force took over the defense of the British-Burmese Allied Forces at the strategic pass of Tonggu. In accordance with the predetermined combat plan, it took over the defense of the First Division of the British-Burmese Allied Forces, covered the retreat of the First Division of the British-Burmese Allied Forces, and was responsible for the defense of Tonggu.

On March 12, 1942, the Chinese government formally established the "Headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief of the First Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force", with Commander Wei as the commander of the First Army. Since Commander Wei had not yet taken office, Deputy Commander Commander Du took over the command of the troops. However, as to the status between Commander Luo of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and Chief of Staff Stilwell, the Chinese government adopted a muddy approach and did not make any clear regulations.

On March 16, 1942, the Japanese offensive forces began to bomb Tonggu. This was the first large-scale contact between the Chinese Expeditionary Force and the Japanese offensive forces in Burma.

On March 18, 1942, the last brigade of the 1st Division of the Anglo-Burmese Force withdrew to Pyay. Then, the troops including the 1st Division of the Anglo-Burmese Force, the 17th Division of the British Indian Army, the 63rd Brigade of the British and Australian Army, and the 7th Armored Brigade of the British Army all began to retreat towards India.

That afternoon, the vanguard of the Japanese army attacking Burma advanced to twelve kilometers south of the Puyu River. However, until this time, the Japanese attacking forces still did not know that the Chinese Expeditionary Force had taken over the British defense here. As a result, the vanguard of the 200th Division of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force engaged in contact and combat with the vanguard of the Japanese attack on the Puyu River.

On March 20, 1942, the Battle of Tonggu officially began. The 55th Division of the Japanese Army organized a combined infantry and cavalry force to search and attack from the front. After discovering the front-line positions of the Chinese Expeditionary Army in Okchun, this Japanese attack force waited for the arrival of the 112th Regiment behind them, and then launched an attack on the defensive positions of the Chinese Expeditionary Army with the cooperation of aircraft.

At the same time, between March 21 and 22, 1942, dozens of Japanese planes, cooperating with the Japanese Army's attack, launched a massive bombing on the British Air Force base in Magway. Under the attack of the Japanese Air Force, a total of 28 British combat aircraft were destroyed, 8 were severely damaged, and 21 were slightly damaged. At this point, almost all of Britain's air force in Burma had lost its combat effectiveness, and the Japanese army also firmly grasped the air supremacy on the battlefield in Burma.

On March 22, the Japanese offensive forces continued to attack the defensive positions of the Chinese Expeditionary Force from the front. At the same time, the Japanese offensive forces also sent troops to conduct flanking operations on the defensive positions of the Chinese Expeditionary Force. However, these combat tactics of the Japanese army had long been known to the Chinese army, and all the flanking troops sent by the Japanese army were repelled by the Chinese Expeditionary Force.

The Japanese offensive force found that the defensive positions of the Chinese Expeditionary Force could not be broken through, so they demanded an increase in offensive forces. Therefore, on March 23, the Japanese army greatly increased the strength of the offensive force and, under the support and cover of more than 20 Japanese aircraft, launched continuous offensive operations against the defensive positions of the Chinese Expeditionary Force.

Faced with the reinforced Japanese attacking force, the 200th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force also organized a counterattack force and began to counterattack the flank of the Japanese attacking force. The Japanese attacking force had never expected that the Chinese Expeditionary Force would be able to organize troops to counterattack its flank when it was attacked fiercely. Caught off guard, many tanks and armored vehicles were destroyed by the counterattack force of the 200th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, and the attack of the Japanese attacking force was once again frustrated and retreated.

At the same time, Stilwell, as the Chief of Staff of the China Theater and the Chief of Staff of the China Expeditionary Force, issued the order for the Battle of Tonggu, deciding to stop the advance of the Japanese offensive forces near Tonggu. Stilwell ordered the Chinese Expeditionary Force's Fifth Army's direct troops, the Provisional 55th Division, the New 22nd Division and the 96th Division to move south to prepare to join the Tonggu battlefield.

On the afternoon of March 24, 1942, the Japanese attacking force captured the Yongkegang Airport. The Fifth Army of the Chinese government also ordered the First Supplementary Regiment in Binwen to provide emergency reinforcements, but the airport had already been lost. At the same time, the 200th Division also sent a regiment of troops to launch a counterattack against the Japanese troops in the direction of the airport, but failed to recapture the airport. The 200th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force finally decided to abandon the airport and gather its forces near Tonggu City for defensive operations.

As a result, the Japanese offensive forces finally cut off the connection between the 200th Division of the Chinese government and the rear. At this point, the 200th Division of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, which was responsible for the defense of Tonggu, was surrounded on three sides by the Japanese offensive forces.