The expeditionary force began to dominate Southeast Asia by recruiting defeated soldiers

Chapter 241 The mantis stalks the cicada, but the oriole follows behind

On April 10, Imphal was captured.

As reinforcements were delayed, the John leader in the city finally chose to open the city and surrender after suffering casualties for several days.

In exchange for treating the prisoners well, a large amount of military supplies, food and ammunition in the city were not destroyed but were all handed over to the Japanese.

Mutaguchi Ren'ya, who was making a desperate attempt, had already exhausted his logistics. All the cattle and sheep that were driven over had been eaten, and the ordinary soldiers had actually started eating grass.

As a result, after receiving the "big gift package" from John, he was revived with full health.

Zhang Chi was not surprised by this news.

"John was too clever for his own good and ended up shooting himself in the foot."

After Lashio was liberated, Zhang Chi returned to the Mandalay front line, looked at the telegram in front of him, and muttered to himself.

In the original time and space, several elite troops of the John people were not transferred to participate in the "Operation Overlord" in order to liberate Pegu. They surrounded and blocked Mutaguchi Ren'ya's 15th Army in time, and finally forced 100,000 devils into the rain forest to graze.

Now that Zhang Chi has occupied Pegu, Prime Minister Qiu naturally bet all his efforts on "Operation Overlord" in order to have more say in Europe after the war. As a result, he was defeated by the Japanese.

Although Zhang Chi surrounded Mandalay, Mutaguchi Ren'ya's 15th Army had completely become an isolated army trapped in Sindhu.

But after capturing Imphal, Mutaguchi Ren'ya's 15th Army was equivalent to taking a large wave of tonics. Zhang Chi estimated that many Japanese troops should have been fully equipped with John weapons.

Putting himself in Mutaguchi Ren'ya's shoes, Zhang Chi guessed that the other party would have two choices next.

One option is to stop while the going is good, return to the capital with the momentum of conquering Imphal, and fight a life-and-death battle with the An Min Army in Pegu.

Another option was to continue attacking the heartland of Sindhu. Now that the gateway to Imphal was open, the vast Sindhu region could be turned into a playground for the Japanese. Furthermore, Mutaguchi Renya still had the card of Boss in his hand.

The other party could directly establish a puppet regime in Sindhu, fight all the way to Chittagong, and then obtain weapons assistance from Fuso by sea.

Of course, Zhang Chi didn't know whether Mutaguchi Ren had the courage to choose the latter and the ability to coordinate the navy to transport supplies to him.

But Zhang Chi could make an extra effort to block the Japanese 15th Army's way back to Pegu, forcing Mutaguchi Ren'ya to make the second choice.

Or let the Japanese make some trouble in Sindhu?

Thinking of this, Zhang Chi directly asked the Chief of Staff Tan Zhijie beside him:

"How are the 11th and 13th Motorized Brigades resting?"

"To quickly approach Mandalay, both brigades undertook a nearly 200-kilometer motorized forced march. A large amount of machinery and vehicles are still undergoing repairs and replacement parts, and their combat readiness rate is currently barely 60%."

Zhang Chi nodded when he heard this, a 60% combat readiness rate was enough.

These two motorized brigades were actually no smaller than the regular Hans Panzergrenadier Division.

Each motorized brigade is composed of 2 motorized infantry regiments, 1 armored regiment, 1 light self-propelled artillery battalion, 1 motorized howitzer battalion, 1 motorized reconnaissance battalion, 1 self-propelled anti-tank gun company, 1 self-propelled anti-aircraft gun company, 1 motorized chemical company, and 1 motorized logistics battalion.

With the opening of the Stevenson Highway, Zhang Chi also purchased a large number of CCKW353 ten-wheel trucks (the author mentioned the picture at the end of the chapter). This truck, equipped with a two-person all-metal cab, was produced by General Motors and can carry 2.5 tons of supplies for nearly 300 kilometers in off-road conditions.

The batch ordered by Zhang Chi are all tropical special editions. In order to cope with the hot climate of Pegu, the top of the cab is all open-top design and equipped with a circular machine gun mount, which can be equipped with an M2HB heavy machine gun to provide supporting firepower.

All units under the two motorized brigades are equipped with a large number of these CCKW353 ten-wheel trucks, especially the motorized logistics battalions, each of which has 100 ten-wheel trucks for transportation.

As for the two motorized infantry regiments under each brigade.

One of the regiments was a heavily equipped regiment, with each squad consisting of 10 people in an M3 half-track vehicle. Two people stayed on the vehicle to drive and operate the M2HB heavy machine gun on the roof, while the other 8 people got off the vehicle to fight. They were equipped with 2 submachine guns, 4 semi-automatic rifles, and 2 light machine gun.

The M3 half-track vehicle also carries an 88mm recoilless rifle and four disposable RPGs, which can be taken out at any time.

The other regiment is a light assault regiment, with 12 people in each squad, riding on two first-generation Lynx assault vehicles. In wartime, all 12 people will get off the vehicle to fight. They are equipped with 4 submachine guns, 4 semi-automatic rifles, 1 light machine gun, and 1 88mm recoilless gun.

The armored regiment is mainly equipped with M5A1 light tanks, which are responsible for supporting the infantry, while the anti-tank mission is entrusted to the six M10 Wolverines of the self-propelled anti-tank gun company.

不过由于鬼子的主要坦克用M5A1型轻坦的37mm主炮就能解决，6辆M10狼獾坦克歼击车更多时候是在用自己的76mm主炮发射高爆弹为步兵提供近距离火力支援。

The light self-propelled artillery battalion is equipped with 24 M8 75mm self-propelled howitzers.

The motorized howitzer battalion is equipped with 24 105mm howitzers, towed by CCKW353 ten-wheeled trucks.

The reason why such a large mechanized force with an actual strength of more than 16,000 people is called a "brigade" is just for Zhang Chi to keep a low profile and avoid the White Eagle guys from having wild thoughts.

After all, he already had two regular armored divisions: the 7th Armored Division and the Armored Training Division.

虽然白鹰人还以为里边都是些M5A1轻坦，M8轻自行火炮之类的小家伙，还不清楚里边都是M4A3（105）谢尔曼中坦，谢尔曼‘管风琴’自行多管火箭炮这样的‘大家伙’。

But after all, the Anmin Army is composed entirely of Qian people and is located in Southeast Asia, the back garden of white imperial colonialism.

If Zhang Chi showed off a huge mechanized force like four armored divisions at once, not only the John people, but even the White Eagle people would not be able to sleep at night.

You have to know that before Hans' Hill shouted "Danze or Peace", he only had three proper armored divisions.

By the time they attacked France and headed straight for Paris, they only had 7 armored divisions.

Even in 44, including the armored grenadier divisions, there were only more than 20 armored divisions.

In comparison, the four armored divisions under Zhang Chi's command are already a very important force.

"So, have the 11th and 13th Motorized Brigades each draw a portion of immediately deployable units from the Armored and Motorized Regiments, forming two regimental-level battle groups. They will immediately rush along the highway to the Chindwin River on the border to deploy defenses."

In the command center, Zhang Chi thought for a while and then gave the order directly.

"Hey, Sir, are you going to block the way back for the Japanese 15th Army?" Tan Zhijie was a little surprised.

The attack on Mandalay was about to begin, but he didn't expect that Zhang Chi would first withdraw some elite troops from the two mechanized forces to perform tasks unrelated to the siege.

"That's right. Using the 11th and 13th Motorized Brigades for a close-quarters battle like a siege is a waste. Let them form two regimental-level battle groups to seal off the border. I'll have other uses for the remaining troops after they've rested."

As he spoke, Zhang Chi pointed to the blue line on the map representing the Chindwin River.

He wanted to force Mutaguchi Ren'ya to rush into the heartland of Sindhu, and then let Bai Minghui's three divisions follow behind as liberators to pick up the leaks and carefully plunder those temples and ancient tombs.

Moreover, the Japanese 15th Army in front will be able to plunder a lot of gold and supplies.

When the old soldiers of the Japanese 15th Army Division are tired, Bai Minghui's three divisions will rush in and eat them up directly, turning the spoils they plundered into the property of the "Zhang" clan.