year, Thatcher thanked China for saving itThousand British troops
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher thanked an old Chinese man in English with a British accent, this old man is General Liu, who successfully rescued more than 7,000 British ** people.
The reporters present immediately seized this precious moment and photographed Margaret Thatcher and General Liu shaking hands cordially, which fully embodied the spirit of friendship and cooperation between China and Britain.
General Liu Fangwu, a veteran of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, used to travel in a wheelchair. However, before Margaret Thatcher personally came to thank her, this heroic general was not well known to Western countries, let alone that he had sacrificed his life to rescue the British.
In the 50 years before Thatcher's visit, there had been different opinions about who saved more than 7,000 British soldiers, and the person concerned, General Liu Fangwu, never received this credit, and there is no authoritative document to prove that he was the "savior of Britain" that year.
It is this historical gap that gives a ** opportunity to take advantage of it and sparked the controversy of "true and false generals".
In 1942, after the Japanese occupied Rangoon, they divided their troops into three ways to pursue the British army. One of the Japanese troops formulated an "encirclement and annihilation" plan, intending to encircle and annihilate all British troops at the Ringanqiang oil field.
The other two Japanese troops marched rapidly, trying to cut off the rear of the British retreat. Fortunately, the top general of the British army at that time, who had commanded the Dunkirk retreat, saw through the Japanese army's encirclement plan at a glance, and immediately asked the Chinese expeditionary force for help.
General Liu Fangwu, as the commander of the expeditionary force, was sent to the Ringanqiang oil field to rescue the troubled British 1st Division. By the time they arrived at their destination, the British army had reached the point of exhaustion, unable to effectively resist the Japanese attack, let alone break through.
Upon receiving the news of the arrival of Liu Fangwu's regimental headquarters, the British general, who had evacuated to the surrounding area, handed over command to him and demanded the full cooperation of another brigadier general-level officer. After gaining command, Liu Fangwu immediately launched an attack on the Japanese who were surrounding the British army.
Liu Fangwu fought many fierce battles with the Japanese at the 501 Heights near Ringanqiang. He keenly pointed out that this high ground was the lifeblood of the Japanese invaders, and if they captured it, the Japanese would retreat immediately, otherwise they would be completely annihilated.
Sure enough, after capturing the 501 heights, the Japanese immediately retreated. The trapped 7,000 British troops were rescued. However, Liu Fangwu did not let his guard down, but immediately pursued the Japanese invaders, and at the same time attacked the Japanese prisoners' capture points, rescuing more than 200 captured British troops.
Under his precise command and the heroic fighting of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, all the British troops were successfully rescued.
In the Battle of Ringanqiang in Burma, General Liu Fangwu successfully rescued a large number of British soldiers with his heroic and fearless spirit, but due to the urgency of the evacuation time, little is known about this history.
Except for the British generals and rescued soldiers who experienced this firsthand, others did not know about Liu Fangwu's exploits. In addition, General Liu Fangwu was not the kind of person who pursued fame and fortune, and as a result, his exploits were not properly recognized.
There are even people who take credit for his work for 50 years. It was not until Margaret Thatcher personally came to thank him that General Liu Fangwu's exploits were known to the world.