Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Therefore, Lieutenant General Alexander, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in Burma, decided to completely abandon Burma and retreat to India. Therefore, Lieutenant General Alexander, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in Burma, violated the Sino-British joint defense plan and ordered the British-Burmese Forces to immediately open a route to retreat westward across the Chindwin River and quickly retreat into India.

This order from Lieutenant General Alexander, the commander-in-chief of the British army in Burma, enabled the Japanese attacking forces to reoccupy Yenangyaung. The commander of the 38th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, Sun, had no choice but to abandon the plan of attacking Magway. On the night of April 21, he led the 38th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force to withdraw from Yenangyaung and, as the rear guard of the British army, followed the British army in retreating towards Mandalay.

In eastern Myanmar, when the Chinese Expeditionary Force just entered Myanmar, it ordered the Sixth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force to take on the garrison combat mission in the area between Jingdong and Mengpan. When the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force engaged in a fierce battle with the Japanese attacking forces near Tonggu, in order to cover the safety of the left flank of Tonggu, the Chinese Expeditionary Force Command ordered the First Regiment of the Temporary 55th Division of the Sixth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force to advance to the Moqi and Leigu areas east of Tonggu to cover the flank safety in the direction of Tonggu.

After the fall of Toungoo, the road from Toungoo to Lashio via Mochi, Loikaw, Taunggyi, and Relem was seriously threatened by the Japanese army.[48]

On April 1, the Japanese 15th Army ordered the Japanese 56th Division to send troops to the vicinity of Leigu to prepare for an attack in the direction of Lashio.

The Chinese Expeditionary Force Command also determined the next move of the Japanese offensive force, so it ordered the 1st Regiment of the 55th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, which was responsible for fortifying the defense, to prepare for war and guard against the attack that the 56th Division of the Japanese Army might launch at any time.

At the same time, the Chinese Expeditionary Force Command also transferred the main force of the 55th Temporary Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, which had been transferred to Taze, back to Leigu. In addition, the Chinese Expeditionary Force Command also transferred a regiment of the 93rd Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force stationed in Jingdong area, preparing to move west to the Taunggyi area to deploy deep defense.

On April 6, the Japanese offensive force launched an attack on Mochi. After blocking the attack of the Japanese offensive force, the Chinese Expeditionary Force gradually retreated to the vicinity of Kemabi.

On April 8, the 2nd Regiment of the 55th Temporary Division of the 6th Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force advanced to Leigu, and the 3rd Regiment remained in the Tatze and Taunggyi areas to build defensive fortifications. At the same time, the Chinese Expeditionary Force Command ordered the 279th Regiment of the 93rd Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force to quickly rush to Hebang east of Taunggyi to carry out defensive operations.

Starting from April 9, the Japanese offensive forces continuously increased their strength and launched a fierce attack on the Kemabi position defended by the 55th Provisional Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force. Facing the fierce attack of the Japanese offensive forces, the 55th Provisional Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force held their ground until April 11, and then retreated to the area north of the Tuchang River. On April 12, they retreated to Paolak and the line to its west.

On April 12, in order to strengthen the defense of Lei Gu, the Sixth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force ordered the Third Regiment of the Provisional 55th Division stationed in Taze and the Sixth Army's direct engineering battalion to rush to Lei Gu for support. On April 15, the Japanese offensive forces attacked the Chinese Expeditionary Force's defensive positions on the Tuchang River.

The Japanese offensive forces attacked the defensive positions of the 55th Provisional Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force from the east and west wings. After fighting for several days for the defensive positions on the Paulak line between the 55th Provisional Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and the Japanese offensive forces, they were forced to retreat.

The attacking force of the 56th Division of the Japanese Army formed a rapid attack force with tanks and cars, and quickly advanced towards the direction of the fort, cutting off the supply line behind the 55th Temporary Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force. At the same time, it also cut off the communication between the 55th Temporary Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and the headquarters of the 6th Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force.

On April 20, Commander Gan of the Sixth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force ordered his troops to destroy the highway from Leigu to Hebang, and ordered the headquarters of the Sixth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and the troops directly under the army to withdraw north to Hebang. Subsequently, Leigu was occupied by the rapid attack force of the 56th Division of the Japanese Army.

After the rapid attack force of the 56th Division of the Japanese Army occupied Leigu, it immediately divided into two routes and advanced northward. One route attacked and advanced towards Taunggyi from the west of Hebang, and the other route attacked and advanced towards Leiliem from the east of Hebang.

On April 21, the Chinese Expeditionary Force Headquarters ordered Commander Gan of the Sixth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force to lead his troops to build defensive fortifications near Leilem. It also ordered Chief of Staff Lin of the Sixth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force to lead the troops to retreat to the vicinity of Hebang to block the Japanese offensive forces attacking in that direction.

At the same time, the Chinese Expeditionary Force Command ordered Commander Du of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force to lead the 200th Division and the army's direct troops to immediately advance from Mintiela by car towards Taunggyi to attack the Japanese offensive forces advancing towards Taunggyi.

On April 21, the attacking force of the 56th Division of the Japanese Army had advanced to Hebang. After two days of fierce fighting between the defenders of Hebang and the attacking force of the 56th Division of the Japanese Army, the Chinese Expeditionary Force's defensive positions were completely destroyed by the Japanese attacking forces. They were forced to move to the existing positions in Mengpang in the rear under the cover of night.

On April 24, the offensive forces of the 56th Division of the Japanese Army launched a fierce attack on the defensive positions of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Mengpang. As the subsequent Japanese troops arrived in large numbers and were engaged in the attack, the defensive positions of the Chinese Expeditionary Force were eventually broken through by the offensive forces of the Japanese Army. The Chinese Expeditionary Force was forced to break out to Mengkun Dangxiang. This time, Leilem was also occupied by the offensive forces of the Japanese Army.

In Taunggyi, when the vanguard cavalry regiment of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force arrived at the west side of Taunggyi on April 23, the Japanese offensive force had already captured Taunggyi.

Faced with the current battlefield situation, the Chinese Expeditionary Force Command immediately decided that the main force of the Chinese Expeditionary Force's Fifth Army would deploy immediately under the cover of the vanguard cavalry regiment, and attack the Japanese troops in Taunggyi from the front and both wings at the same time, in order to defeat the Japanese troops in Taunggyi as quickly as possible and take Taunggyi back from the hands of the Japanese army.

At dawn on April 24, the 200th Division of the 5th Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force launched an attack on the Japanese troops in Taunggyi. After two days of fierce fighting, the 200th Division of the 5th Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force successfully defeated the Japanese troops in Taunggyi and successfully recaptured Taunggyi.

After recapturing Taunggyi, Commander Du of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force decided to gather troops to continue to consolidate Taunggyi's defense, while attacking in the direction of Lelem, so as to cut off the retreat of the Japanese offensive forces that were advancing northward to attack Lashio.