The War of Resistance: My Expedition, My Country

Support aircraft from the Japanese 33rd Air Corps detected no signs of large-scale British and Chinese troop movements over Magway, but instead discovered the devastation left by Araki's fleeing troops. The squadron commander immediately reported the situation to the commander of the rd Division, Sakurai Shozo. Furious, Sakurai immediately ordered Colonel Harada, who had arrived to assist, to take command of Major General Araki and arrest him. He was then taken back to division headquarters, where he would face a court-martial.

Upon receiving the order from his division commander, Harada immediately led his troops to land on the west bank of the Irrawaddy River west of Magway and launched another aggressive assault on Magway, successfully retaking it without a fight at noon on the 21st. Although seemingly reckless, Harada was actually cautious and he hesitated to completely trust the air force's reports. After retaking Magway, he dispatched several advance parties, each consisting of a squadron, to search for positions towards Kokguwa and Satdan. Simultaneously, two squadrons were dispatched north of Magway, attempting to establish a forward position along the west bank of the Irrawaddy River northwest of Yenangyaung. At this point, Colonel Sakuma of the 214th Regiment received a telegram stating that the 214th Regiment, along with part of the accompanying 215th Regiment, had encountered a large-scale counterattack by Chinese and British forces southeast of Yenangyaung. Sakuma, outnumbered, had retreated south along the Yenangyaung-Rangoon highway.

"Baga! Are you a pig? Sakuma?" Colonel Harada was originally dissatisfied with Sakuma's seizure of his plan to launch a roundabout attack on the British army. Sakuma relied on the favor of Division Commander Sakurai and always disrespected his elders. After the failure of this battle, Harada had decided to take this opportunity to teach him a lesson.

"Order the troops at Sakuma to retreat southwards towards Keguwa and Satdan. We have already dispatched troops to support them."

Harada's plan was practical, his eyes gleaming with a sinister glint. If the Sino-British coalition forces truly launched a counterattack on the Yenangyaung front, then Sakuma's role in the southeast would be minimal. According to Harada's calculations, Sakuma's 214th Regiment currently had at least one to two thousand men. With the addition of the two squadrons he had sent, he felt confident they could capture Koguwa and Satdan, using them as a base to consolidate the defense. The main force of the division, led by the division commander, should reach the Magway front in a day. By then, it would be impossible for the Sino-British forces to defeat him.

Harada was secretly pleased with himself, as if he had already seen the dawn of victory. He decided to have his troops march along the Irrawaddy River to the north of the enemy, seize the area north of Yenangyaung, reoccupy the Bin River Bridge, and advance north along the Yangon-Mandalay highway to capture Guiyeo and Chokpattang, forming a pincer attack.

"This is a huge gamble!" Harada thought to himself. He knew the plan was fraught with risk, but he firmly believed that if it succeeded, he could quickly open the way to Mandalay and achieve the strategic goal of encircling the Chinese and British forces in northern Burma. Thinking of this, Harada's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a sinister smile. He immediately ordered a battalion from the 215th Regiment, in conjunction with the Engineer Regiment, to follow the two squadrons that had set out earlier and open up a path along the way. At the same time, he ordered the Supply Regiment, artillery, and part of the armored unit to prepare for a flanking operation.

Harada did not forget to present his plan to Lieutenant General Sakurai, who immediately agreed and ordered the supporting air group to attack Kokguwa, Satdam, and Yenangyaung. Harada's plan was shrouded in cunning and insidiousness, a vain attempt to defeat the Sino-British coalition in one fell swoop and achieve his strategic objectives. However, the outcome of a war often depends on many factors, and the success of Harada's plan would require time to verify.

Besides, after the successful night attack on Magway, Liu Fangwu and other Chinese and British allied forces gave up defending Magway in order not to expose their lack of manpower and turned to the northeast of Magway, leaving only two companies of the 113st Battalion of the 1th Regiment to garrison Keguwa and Sutterdam respectively to contain the actions of the Japanese army. Then, they chose a favorable terrain to the north of Keguwa and Sutterdam, preparing to attack the 2th Regiment of the Japanese army retreating south again.

The idea of ​​mobile warfare proposed by Yang Hong to Liu Fangwu was very consistent with the current situation of the war on the Western Front. Due to the spoils of war in Magway, the Sino-British Allied Forces, mainly composed of the 113th Regiment, had actually achieved motorization. They had a large number of cars, a small number of tanks and armored vehicles, flexible field mortars, a very high ratio of light machine guns and submachine guns, sufficient ammunition, and high morale. It was indeed a very strong mobile force.

Scom, on the Yenangyaung front, was overjoyed to receive reports of Liu Fangwu's attack on Magway. Although puzzled by Liu's abandonment of Magway and his planned abandonment of Kokguwa and Satdam, he did not delve into the matter further. His ultimate goal was to implement General Alexander's plan, delaying the Japanese advance as much as possible and buying time for the remaining British troops to withdraw from Burma. Coincidentally, part of the 112th Division and the 96th Regiment of the Chinese Army arrived at the Guiyue and Chokbetang fronts. He immediately ordered these troops to leave a small number behind to support the follow-up troops, while the rest quickly advanced towards Yenangyaung. Scom's objective was clear: to allow the Chinese to defend Yenangyaung directly, he could then, under the pretext of the British-Burmese 1st Division's losses and fatigue, withdraw it to open a route to India.

The Japanese Third Air Corps launched a heavy bombardment of Keguwa, Satdan, and Yenangyaung, but significantly less bombing of the Yenangyaung oil fields. The newly arrived 38th Division's deputy commander, Qi Xueqi, and the 112th Regiment's commander, Chen Mingren, immediately recognized the Japanese intentions and refocused their defenses, originally planned to focus on Yenangyaung, to the Yenangyaung airfield and oil fields. The 112th Regiment would be stationed there, while the defense of the Bin River Bridge and its surroundings would be assigned to the 96th Division's advance battalion. At Qi Xueqi's insistence, Scom left British tanks and artillery behind to support the Chinese forces. Immediately, the 38th Regiment and other units of the 112th Division began strengthening their fortifications in preparation for the Japanese arrival.

The Sino-British Allied Forces commanded by Liu Fangwu and Yang Hong once again demonstrated their fierce combat capabilities. They indeed discovered the Japanese 214th Regiment north of Keguwa and Satdan. Through another surprise attack, they completely defeated the Japanese 214th Regiment. Colonel Sakuma was shot dead by Luo Bing during the battle. The remnants of the Japanese 214th Regiment suffered heavy losses in this surprise attack, with more than 1000 people killed, wounded or captured, and the rest had to flee in different directions.

Unfortunately, General Liu Fangwu was seriously injured in the battle. Yang Hong, the previously unknown major battalion commander, took over the command of the Sino-British Allied Forces as the colonel deputy chief of staff. From then on, a force that made the Japanese army tremble in fear in Burma - the Dragon Army, was officially born!