Chapter Six

  "Takeishi, these two places must be taken down, so that we can cut off the road to Mandalay in the south. At least, we will suppress the 318th Army on the line of Mandalay, and their supply lines will also be compressed as much as possible. We have achieved more than half of our strategic goals!" Matsuyama Yuzo said to Takeishi Hiroshi "These two places are strategically very important, I think it's necessary for us to pay a great price to take them down. Urban warfare is not what our army is good at, this time we can only do our best! Our tanks just need to surround and intercept them over there, and compress them as much as possible in the back." Takeishi Hiroshi nodded.

  At this moment, Inaba Shijiro was also actively reporting to the Imperial Headquarters, asking whether the troops fighting in southern China could attack the 318th Army from two sides. However, this issue was still under consideration by the Japanese General Staff. There are gains and losses. If they gather their forces to attack the 318th Army, then the places they occupy will basically be retaken by the Chinese army.

  However, the Japanese command had to consider another possibility, that is, if the Burmese battlefield failed, then their entire strategic intention would be basically unachievable, in other words, what they are doing now is all in vain. This point really made the Japanese command a bit difficult.

  Of course, it's not just that. The number of Japanese troops has been decreasing day by day. Although they are still forming troops on a large scale, their combat effectiveness is no longer comparable to that of the previous troops. Now they urgently need to take down China, so that they can achieve remarkable achievements on future battlefields, otherwise it will be a futile effort.

  The Japanese tanks are in position, and now it's just a matter of seeing the capabilities of the Japanese tanks themselves. If the Japanese can suppress the 318th Corps, then their plans for the Burma battlefield will be smoothly realized.

  On the morning of May, Wang Mingyu's troops began to slowly gather towards the west. After nearly six hours of rapid march, the tank division also arrived at the western line of Yangon one after another.

  The Japanese were unaware that the 318th Army, which had always been on the defensive, would actually take the initiative to launch an attack against them. Tanei Hiroshi and others who were hesitating about whether or not to attack were almost startled awake. They really couldn't believe it - at this moment their tanks hadn't even moved out yet, but they had already attracted a tank unit from the 318th Army.

  Unfortunately, Wang Mingyu's troops were still a bit slow. The Japanese armored unit had arrived ahead of time, and this time the Japanese input was still a big investment, which also shocked Wang Mingyu somewhat.

  If it weren't for these tanks, Wang Mingyu would probably also know how great the loss would be this time. Because they don't have that many anti-tank weapons. If a few tanks can take them down, but if there are dozens or hundreds of tanks, then it's a bit depressing.

  However, what made Wang Mingyu feel relatively relieved was that their direct team had also discovered these so-called tank troops in the first place.

  If by any chance when the time comes to prepare for the annihilation of the Japanese army's tanks, suddenly so many tanks appear, then this is somewhat speechless. Even if the Japanese tanks are not good enough, they are not made of paper either. German tanks will also face great damage, which is a fact that Wang Mingyu fundamentally does not want to see.

  If they continue to attack when the battle starts, if there are so many tanks on both wings of the Japanese army at that time, it will be a bit costly. Now it seems that it is still possible, at least Wang Mingyu can make a series of dense deployments in response to this situation, and let the Japanese army suffer a big loss this time.

  The current result is that Wang Mingyu's tank division has already formed a formation in front of the Japanese 55th Division, and its purpose is self-evident, which is to eliminate this group of people and let them know that the 318 Group Army is not someone who can be provoked.

  It's just right that Little Japan has brought out so many tanks this time. Now, as long as we can eliminate these tanks of theirs, the domestic situation will necessarily be alleviated to some extent.

  The number of Japanese tanks was just that many, could they magically double it? Obviously this is impossible. So in such a situation, if Wang Mingyu can concentrate on annihilating the Japanese tanks, I'm afraid the confidence of these Japanese troops will be completely shattered.

  Wang Mingyu knew that these people would absolutely not give up, because the Japanese military also clearly understood how significant Burma was to them. Since it was such an important place, Wang Mingyu, even if he didn't come, the Japanese military would still attack, they couldn't let the Chinese have such a position, especially the 318th Regiment.

  The Japanese army's plan was to cut off China's transportation supply line from Burma, so as to constantly create trouble for China, and even the Japanese army had the intention of advancing into China through the Yunnan-Burma Highway. However, from whatever angle, this batch of people is going to take down the defensive line currently occupied by the 318th Army.

  Although the Japanese army now controls part of the Yunnan-Burma Road, the defense in the western region is still relatively weak. How can such a defense achieve their expected results?

  "Commander, what do we do now? This time the little devils seem to have learned their lesson, but there's something strange - how did they get so many tanks? Logically speaking, their tanks shouldn't outnumber ours, so how did they suddenly appear in such large numbers?" Wu Peilin said with some frustration.

  The original Wu Peilin's tank division, which was originally prepared to kill all around, is now much more stable. After all, many of the students are driving tanks for the first time and look very powerful. In actual combat, they are basically not opponents of the Japanese army, because the Japanese tankers have undergone real combat training, and even many people have participated in many battles.

  Now they suddenly appeared, it was indeed a great pressure for Wu Peilin and others. However, Wu Peilin had to consult with Wang Mingyu, because if they fought the Japanese alone this time, their losses might increase greatly. To win the war, they must fight well, even make the enemy surrender unconditionally, and preserve their own strength to the greatest extent, which is the king's way.

  Wang Mingyu's expression was cold and stern, silently gazing at the Japanese tank troops that had suddenly appeared from who-knows-where through his binoculars, with a cold smile in his heart. The Japanese seemed to have a considerable number of tanks as well, but their numbers were not something to be trifled with. Now it was a matter of actual strength, so Wang Mingyu knew that they must do well in the first tank battle and make it a brilliant one, so that these little Japanese could clearly see their own strength and not casually send out a tank to roam around for no reason.

  It is worth noting that Japan is a resource-poor country and an island nation. After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, it proposed the strategy of "leaving Asia for Europe".

  On one hand Japan learned from Western capitalism development path, but on the other hand it followed in the footsteps of Western powers and dominated Asia.

  First, it invaded the Korean Peninsula. In 1895, Japan defeated China in the First Sino-Japanese War and obtained a war indemnity of 50 million taels of silver from China, which became the primitive capital accumulation for its industrialization. Following the path of militarism, Japan allied with Germany and Italy to launch World War II, invading China and Southeast Asian countries, and even launching the Pearl Harbor attack on the United States, ultimately ending in thorough defeat.

  After World War II, although a "Peace Constitution" was established, militarism was not thoroughly purged under the military protection of the US Cold War. On the contrary, taking advantage of the Korean War and the opportunity for colonies to fight for national independence after the war, relying on industrialization and cheap international resources, Japan completed its transformation into a "trading nation" and a "technological nation", becoming the world's second-largest economic power, and once again seeking to revive its old dream of Asian hegemony.

  The war drums of Japanese militarism are still beating, their hopes and ambitions growing bigger, even sometimes fantasizing about dominating the world. This fantasy reveals to some extent the narrow nationalism of the Japanese people. The nation wants to expand, but its cultural level is indeed not up to par.

  However, the world entered an era of peaceful development, especially when it touched the interests of the world's hegemon, the United States. As a result, under the opposition of people around the world, especially under the political, economic and military pressure from the United States, Japan signed the "Plaza Accord", which led to its economy falling into a long-term slump for over 20 years, making it difficult to recover.

  Today, the Korean Peninsula and China are no longer the weak feudal dynasties of yesterday, and the newly independent countries in Southeast Asia are also not what they used to be. Although there is a force of militarism in Japan that is always eager to move, it is impossible for them to return to the pre-war militaristic path and get rid of economic stagnation.

  Due to being unable to compete with Europe and the US in high-tech, and encountering strong competition from Asia and emerging countries around the world in general technology and products, Japan can no longer achieve new rapid development by relying on post-war US military strategic protection and cheap global resources.

  Under such a premise, Wang Mingyu knew that the Japanese basically used as much as they needed, and even if there were resources, they were very scarce, and basically still relied on imports.

  At this time, the Japanese army's foreign debt had already owed an unknown amount. Wang Mingyu had money and could make more, but the Japanese government was always busy with war and their consumption far exceeded their expenditure. Under such conditions, the several hundred tanks Japan had now were basically a quarter of all the tanks in the country.