In order to capture Ren'anqiang, the 33rd Division of the Japanese Army adopted the tactics of blocking in the front, chasing in the rear, and flanking the attack
The 214th Infantry Wing led by Sakuma Qiao Yi Daisaku was used as a surprise force to cut a shortcut into the area north of Ringanqiang and cut off the way of the British army.
The 213th Wing, led by Major General Shoji Araki, with armored vehicles and artillery, pursued north from the east bank of the Irrawaddy River.
Harada led the 215th Wing from the east and attacked Ringanqiang.
The 214th Wing led by Sakuma Qiao Yi Dazuo has always been the vanguard of the battle on the western route, attacking Prome and capturing the Alan Temple, they took the lead, and now they received the battle order to seize Ringanqiang, and they rushed forward desperately.
On the night of April 9, 1942, they made a covert advance by car towards Redett, and on the 11th they routed the British forces near Setagauk and entered the area north of the road.
On the night of the 12th, the troops crossed the Yin River, passed through Xindian and Lashio, and advanced to 5 kilometers east of Ringanqiang.
At midnight, Sakuma's troops entered the area near the road, and saw a large number of British military vehicles driving by on the road from a distance, and the headlights illuminated the road as if it were day, and Sakuma Osa was so happy that he almost jumped up.
It was a large and panicked force, and the 1st Division of the Anglo-Burmese Army and the temporarily attached 7th Armored Brigade, led by the division commander General Scott, were hurrying north and fleeing.
Since the 1st Division of the Anglo-Burmese Army withdrew from Tonggu, it has continued to retreat, and there has been only small-scale contact with the Japanese along the way, and the team is basically intact.
The 7th Armored Brigade had more than 100 tanks, but it had never fought the Japanese in Burma.
Now, the two retreating teams have gathered, with a total of more than 7,000 people and hundreds of military vehicles of various types, like a long, pot-bellied snake, slowly wriggling north along the road.
In the ranks, there were also hundreds of British missionaries and journalists who had retreated with the army.
General Scott's plan was to bring the troops to Ringanqiang as soon as possible, where they would rest for a while, replenish their oil supplies, destroy the oil fields, and then continue their retreat north.
At this time, Sakuma Osaku was lying on the high ground on the east side of the road, looking at the British troops moving slowly on the road, and he couldn't hold back the impulse in his heart.
Sakuma Osa was a hungry wolf, and when he saw his prey, he was about to pounce and bite it, and he didn't have time to find out which unit of the British army this team was, and he didn't have time to see how long this team was, and he didn't ask how many troops this British army had, let alone what the comparison of the forces between the enemy and us was, he immediately ordered an attack.
He divided his forces into two routes, sent the 3rd Brigade to the south, occupied positions in the Kemin area, cut off the road, and choked the retreat of the British army to the south, and he himself led the main force of the wing to attack the three-way junction in the northeast corner of Ringanqiang, control the road, and block the road to the north of the British army.
The retreating British troops were in a hurry, never dreaming that there would be a sudden sneak attack by Japanese troops.
In the darkness of the night, Sakuma's troops easily occupied the favorable terrain on the north and south sides of the Ringanqiang Highway, cut off the road, and surrounded the British army in a narrow oil field area east of the Irrawaddy River and south of the Binqiang River.
After dawn, the British army organized a breakthrough, but the British army did not know where the Japanese troops surrounding them came from, nor did they know how many Japanese troops there were, and the terrain of Ringanqiang was complex, undulating, and the cracks formed by the erosion of rain were like cliffs, making it impossible for British artillery and tanks to maneuver.
The British army was like a dragon out of the water, unable to use all its strength, the British army was defeated in two breakthroughs, and General Scott fell into despair and had to ask his superiors for help.
Ren'anqiang is a desert area, the red sun is scorching, not to mention that the Japanese army is besieging on all sides, as long as the water source is cut off, within 3 days, the British army in the encirclement will collapse.
The situation is critical! After receiving Scott's urgent telegram, Slim, the commander of the corps, did not dare to delay for a moment, and immediately reported to Alexander, who knew too well the situation of the British army, so the British knight immediately deigned to ask for help from the squadron.
On April 16, General Sun Liren was ordered to attend the Sino-British military conference in Meimiao.
Located 50 kilometers east of Mandalay, Mui Miao is a summer resort in Myanmar, a small but beautiful environment with exquisite Western-style architecture dotted among green pines and bamboos.
In previous years, every summer, all the Myanmar ** agencies in Yangon moved to Mui Miao to work. At present, Mui Miao has become the command center of the Allied forces in Burma.
The headquarters of the British Army in Burma, the headquarters of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, the Yunnan-Burma Staff Corps of the Chongqing Military Commission, and Stilwell's headquarters are all located here, and the flags of China, Britain, the United States and Burma are fluttering at the same time in this cool world.
Yunnan-Burma Highway [No. 27].
Sun Liren. About the Author.
Since I was a child, I liked words, and when I was a primary school student, I often used to do sample essays. During the literary youth, many articles won awards. After decades of wind and rain, his hobby has not changed, he likes to read literature and history, insists on writing, and welcomes exchanges.