Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Subsequently, the highest level of the Chinese government announced in Lashio, Myanmar that it had granted Stilwell full authority to command the Chinese Expeditionary Force, nominally clarifying the issue of the ultimate command of the Chinese Expeditionary Force.

From April 11 to 16, 1942, the Japanese troops attacking Burma launched attacks on the defensive positions of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in turn after receiving reinforcements. The newly formed 22nd Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force also used guerrilla warfare to continuously block the ambushing Japanese offensive forces.

The battle lasted until the evening of April 16, when the Chinese Expeditionary Force had all safely entered the established positions in Pingmanna. However, the British army, which was responsible for the operations in the west, had already decided to abandon Burma and retreat to India.

Therefore, the British army ignored the battle plan coordinated with the Chinese Expeditionary Force, and took the initiative to abandon Pyay on April 1 and Aramy on April 5. At the same time, the British army responsible for fighting in the west also asked the Chinese Expeditionary Force to go to Shaswa and Magway where the British army was located in the west to take over the defense and cover the retreat of the British army.

After occupying Rangoon, the Japanese troops attacking Burma divided into three groups and pursued the fleeing British army to the north. The 33rd Division of the Japanese Army was responsible for the pursuit operation in the west.

After the troops of the 33rd Division of the Japanese Army set out from the Yangon area, they launched an attack along the Irrawaddy River towards Yenangyaung, attempting to quickly occupy the oil field area near Yenangyaung, and cooperate with the Japanese offensive forces on the east and central routes to eliminate the British troops in Burma and cut off the transportation lines of the United States and Britain to aid the Chinese government and army.

On April 213, 215, the th Regiment, the vanguard of the rd Division of the Japanese Army, passed through Magway south of Yenangyaung, while the th Regiment captured Koguwa and Sutterdam in one go, covering the rd Division of the Japanese Army's flanking operation to the north of Yenangyaung.

On April 13, 1942, the British army in Burma asked the Chinese Expeditionary Force to quickly send troops to take over the defense of Shaswa, Tangdeweni and Magwe on the western front to cover the British army's retreat.

On April 15, 1942, the troops responsible for the eastern route operations blew up the Yenangyaung oil field under the order of Slim, commander of the First Corps of the British and Burmese Allied Forces.

Lieutenant General Shozo Sakurai, commander of the 33rd Division of the Japanese Army, also personally led his troops to attack rapidly towards Yenangyaung overnight. At two o'clock in the afternoon of the same day, Lieutenant General Alexander, commander-in-chief of the Anglo-Burmese Allied Forces, saw that the situation of the Anglo-Burmese Allied Forces on the front line was already very urgent, so he asked the Chinese Expeditionary Force to quickly assist the Anglo-Burmese Allied Forces which had been defeated.

That evening, Lieutenant General Shozo Sakurai, commander of the 33rd Division of the Japanese Army, sent a battalion of troops to bypass the rear of the British army, captured the ferry on the north bank of the Bin River, and successfully blocked the British army's escape to the north. At the same time, he also sent troops to attack the flank and defeat the British and Burmese troops on the south bank of the Bin River.

On April 16, 1942, the 33rd Division of the Japanese Army quickly broke through the three lines of defense set up by the British army and surrounded nearly 10,000 British officers and soldiers in Yenangyaung.

Subsequently, Lieutenant General Alexander, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in Burma, chaired a military meeting in Mei Miao. At the meeting, the Chinese Expeditionary Force took the initiative to accept the combat mission to rescue the British army in Yenangyaung.

On April 17, 1942, the Japanese troops attacking Burma captured Magway and cut off the road from Magway to Yenangyaung. At the same time, the Japanese attacking forces had also attacked to a place about five kilometers east of Yenangyaung. At this time, the Japanese attacking forces surrounded the 1st Division of the Anglo-Burmese Allied Forces and part of the tank battalion in the desert area northeast of Yenangyaung.

The Japanese attacking force completely cut off the ammunition, medicine, food and other supplies of the British army from the outposts, and also set up two blockade lines on the periphery, which prevented the British army in the encirclement from getting close to water sources.

In the evening, after receiving the combat order, Liu Fangwu, the commander of the 113th Regiment of the newly formed 113th Division of the th Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, led the troops to the outskirts of Yenangyaung quickly and launched a fierce attack on the Japanese troops surrounding Yenangyaung. After a fierce battle, the officers and soldiers of the th Regiment defeated the Japanese encirclement troops in Yenangyaung and successfully opened a retreat channel for the besieged British army.

At dawn on April 113, 113, the 113th Regiment of the newly formed th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, under the cover of British army tanks and artillery, quickly launched a fierce offensive against the positions of the Japanese attacking forces. After fierce fighting, the th Regiment successfully defeated the Japanese attacking forces in front of them and successfully seized the ferry on the Bin River. Subsequently, the th Regiment crossed the Bin River to track and pursue the retreating Japanese attacking forces.

At the same time, in order to cooperate with the combat of the newly formed 38th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, the besieged British army also launched a breakout battle in the early morning of the 18th. The British army, with tank troops as the vanguard, repeatedly assaulted the Japanese defensive positions on the road, but the British army's attacks were blocked by Japanese troops. As a result, the British army fought hard for a day and still made no progress.

At 4:30 in the morning of April 19, 1942, the 113th Regiment of the 38th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, led by Commander Liu, launched an all-out attack on the Japanese offensive forces. After fierce fighting at 3:00 in the afternoon, the 38th Division of the 66th Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force recaptured the Yenangyaung Oilfield previously occupied by the Japanese offensive forces, and successfully rescued more than 7,000 British troops surrounded by the Japanese offensive forces, as well as more than 500 British-Burmese Allied Forces officers and soldiers, missionaries from the United States and journalists captured along the way by the Japanese offensive forces.

Then, the 38th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force covered the 1st Division of the Anglo-Burmese Joint Force and the 7th Armored Brigade of the British Army in their rapid retreat to the north.

After the Battle of Yenangyaung, Commander Sun of the 38th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force was ready to concentrate the entire division's forces to launch a counterattack against the Japanese attacking forces in front of them. Therefore, Commander Sun of the 38th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force ordered the 112th Regiment in Natmank and the 114th Regiment responsible for guarding Mandalay to quickly go to the front line to assemble.

But at this time, since the British-Burmese Allied Forces had withdrawn to the Myingyan area under the cover of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, Lieutenant General Alexander, commander-in-chief of the British army in Myanmar, believed that the current Japanese offensive was too fierce and it was hopeless for the British army and the Chinese Expeditionary Force to hold Mandalay.