Chapter 186 Volume 5, Chapter 31, Myanmar and its Peripherals

Looking back at the year when U.S. and Australian forces advanced Allied supremacy in the sea and air in the Pacific The war with Japan made great progress America's airlift over the hump Our different perspectives February 25th Call from President Roosevelt 1944 Burma campaign The victorious beginnings of the Japanese preparations for the invasion of India. Wingate's famous long-range breakthrough force operation at his expense. The Japanese began their attack on Imphal. The defense of Kohima. The climax of the war. All depended on the airlift. General Stilwell's victory at Myitkyina. Fighting around Seoul The Japanese army's attempt to invade India failed.

The reader must now be asked to review the situation about a year ago in order to understand the general situation of the war against Japan in the Pacific.At present, the United States and the Commonwealth of Australia are using their main forces to carry out this war. By the second half of 1943, the Japanese had lost the eastern tip of New Guinea.General MacArthur had to conquer the entire north coast of New Guinea before he could capture the Philippine Islands.Part of the American 41st Division advanced towards Salamaoa; at the end of June other troops came in from the sea and landed near it.They joined up with the 3rd Australian Division from Woowo and began their attack on Salamaoa.The attack was purposeful in order to draw enemy reinforcements away from Lae, which was the second objective.The attack on Lae began on September 4, 1943. The 9th Australian Division, which had made great achievements in Alamein, landed on the coast ten miles east of the city.The next day, the U.S. paratroopers landed at Nader Zap in the Markham Valley, and with the help of the Australian advance troops, an airfield was quickly built.

The 7th Australian Division was flown in and moved forward immediately.Lae was besieged from two sides and captured on 16 September.Saramoa was taken a few days ago, and Finschhaven was also captured on October 2.All of these cities resisted fiercely.In the Markham Valley, which stretches from Lae to the northwest, there are many places that can be used as airports.The 7th Australian Division quickly took advantage of the victory and captured the area through a series of air raids.All military operations were well planned and executed with ease, and at the same time, the entire army, navy and air force also achieved a high degree of cooperation.

After the Australian forces captured Finschhaven, they were met with a fierce Japanese counter-offensive. During the last two weeks of October, there were many battles.By mid-November, the 5th Australian Division was advancing through the mountains of the Huon Peninsula, capturing a series of fortified positions, while the 9th Australian Division was sweeping the high ground overlooking the Markham Valley.Part of the 32nd U.S. Division made an amphibious landing at Saydol in early January 1944, and was joined by the 5th Australian Division on 11 February.It took five months to clear the Huon Peninsula of the enemy.Of the 12,000 Japanese troops fighting there, no more than 4,200 survived.

In April, General MacArthur led his troops to quickly leap forward four hundred miles from both sea and air routes.Bypassing the 50,000 Japanese troops stationed on Wewak Island, he dispatched one American division at Aitape and two other divisions ashore near Hollandia.The Japanese air force was hit hard, with 380 planes destroyed.Since then the Allies had decisive naval and air superiority, so MacArthur could choose whatever targets were most beneficial to him, leaving the large Japanese pocket positions to be resolved later.He finally made the leap to Biak Island, where the American 41st Division fought fiercely with nearly 10,000 defenders on the island.A convoy of twelve Japanese battleships attempted to bring in reinforcements, but was sunk or seriously injured by air bombing; before the end of June 1944, Biak Island was under U.S. under effective occupation.This marked the end of two years of fighting in New Guinea; due to the tenacious resistance of the local enemy, the difficulties caused by local natural conditions, the rampant disease and the shortage of transportation conditions, the difficulty of this battle is rare in history.

Farther east, in early July 1943, Admiral Halsey launched an offensive in New Georgia at the same time that General MacArthur was attacking Sarah Maua.After several weeks of heavy fighting, the island and neighboring islands were captured.Air combat was again a feature of combat, and the superiority of USAF personnel soon proved decisive. Japanese Air Force losses now outnumbered the USAF by about four or five to one. In mid-July and August, the U.S. military gained command of the sea after a series of naval battles. By September, the main body of Japanese resistance had collapsed, and fighting in the Solomons ended in December 1943, although heavy fighting continued on Bougainville and other islands.The positions currently under enemy occupation have been isolated and we can now bypass them entirely and let them decay.

Rabaul, on the island of New Britain, has become the second center of attack.During November and December, the area was under constant and heavy Allied air raids; in the last days of 1943, General MacArthur's amphibious forces landed at Cape Gloucester, on the western tip of New Britain.Now decided to bypass Rabaul.Therefore, another base was needed to support the US military's advance to the Philippines, and this base was Manus Island in the Admiralty Islands, which MacArthur could control.In February 1944, the capture of Green Island, 120 miles east of Rabaul, ended the first phase of this siege.Then, it brilliantly occupied the entire Admiralty Islands to the west.During March, Emirau Island, north of Rabaul, was captured by Admiral Halsey.Rabaul was thus completely isolated.In this way, the sky and sea surrounding these islands were completely transferred to the control of the US military.

At this time, the main force of the United States Navy under the command of Admiral Nimitz began to concentrate and prepare to rush through the various island groups near the equator; these islands formed a group of outposts defending the Japanese fleet in the Caroline Islands. base area.The easternmost Gilbert Islands, lost to the British in 1941, were now chosen as the first target.In October 1943, Admiral Spruance, who was famous in the Battle of Midway, was appointed as the commander of the Pacific Navy.In November, while Halsey attacked Bougainville, Spruance attacked Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands.The island was well-fortified, and about 3,500 Japanese troops served as defenses.Despite heavy air strikes beforehand, the 2nd Marine Division encountered fierce resistance when it landed.After four days of fierce fighting, the island was captured despite heavy casualties.

After the Tarawa stronghold was settled, the road to attack the Marshall Islands northwest of the Gilbert Islands was smooth.The February 1944 amphibious operation targeting the Marshall Islands was the largest ever attempted in the Pacific.At the end of February, the U.S. military was victorious.Without pausing, Spruance began the second phase of the offensive, using air strikes to weaken Japanese defenses in the Carolines and Marianas.The most notable feature of these military operations is the flexibility to attack from the sea within a sea area.On the European side, we are making the final deployments of Operation Overlord, concentrating our vast forces in the narrow waters of the English Channel, while Spruance's aircraft carriers are deployed in the open sea, attacking Mali, well within the Japanese defense circle. The various islands in the archipelago such as Yana, Palau and Caroline, and at the same time helped MacArthur attack Hollandia.On the eve of the implementation of the Overlord Operation Plan, the strength of the Japanese army in various places has been declining; many gaps have been opened in its defense system in the Central Pacific, and the situation is ripe for its disintegration.

General Marshall, summarizing these campaigns in the Southwest Pacific, reported that in a little over twelve months the Allies had advanced 1,300 miles into the heart of the Japanese Empire, cutting off the rear of more than 135,000 Japanese troops. way, so that they cannot be rescued. A very different picture of war in Southeast Asia must now be unfolded before the reader.For more than eighteen months, the Japanese had held a broad defensive arc that included the sites of earlier occupation.This arc begins in the jungle-covered mountains of northwestern Burma, where our British and Indian troops are engaged in fierce combat with the enemy, and stretches across the sea to the Andaman Islands and the vast territories of the Netherlands, Sumatra and Java, and then turns eastward. Along a chain of small islands stretches to New Guinea.

The U.S. military has established a bomber fleet in China, which has carried out excellent and heavy bombing of the enemy's sea line of communication between mainland China and the Philippine Islands.The U.S. military wants to expand this air strike by establishing bases in China for long-range aircraft to bomb the Japanese mainland.The Burma Road had been cut, and the Americans were flying across the southern spur of the Himalayas they called the Hump, airlifting all the supplies their own and the Chinese army needed.This is a daunting task.I have always advocated aiding China by airlift, and improving air routes and securing airfields, however, I would like this assistance to be accomplished with a Wingate-type force maintained primarily by airlift and airborne supplies, but on a larger scale.The United States hoped to rescue China not only through the ever-increasing airlift, but also by land transportation, so it made great demands on Britain and India, which he ruled.They urged the construction of a motor road from their airlift starting point at Lido, through five hundred miles of jungle and mountains, to China, and regarded it as a most important and urgent task.There is only one single track narrow gauge railway from Assam to Lido.The railway was already in regular use for other needs, including the supply of troops defending the frontier positions.But in order to build a road leading to China, the United States wants us to quickly recover northern Myanmar first. Of course we are in favor of allowing China to continue the war of resistance and conduct air force activities from within China, but this matter requires overall consideration and consideration of other aspects of the situation.I am very opposed to future large-scale campaigns in northern Burma.This is one of the most unfavorable locations for fighting against Japan.Building a road from Lido to China is also a huge and difficult task, and when it is completed, it may not be necessary.Even if it can be built in time to support the Chinese army still fighting, it will not increase their combat effectiveness much.In my opinion the need to strengthen US air bases in China will also be diminished as we gain airfields closer to mainland Japan as the Allies advance in the Pacific and from Australia, so for both reasons , we argued that the huge expenditure of manpower and material resources was not worth the gain, but we failed to change their minds.Their national psychology is this: the bigger the ideal, the more wholeheartedly and tirelessly striving for success.This is an admirable quality, if ideals are good. Of course we would like to recover Burma, but we would not be compelled to do so by overland advance through weak lines of communication and through areas of unimaginable obstacle to warfare.The south of Burma and its southern port, Rangoon, are more valuable than the north, but the whole of Burma, both north and south, is too far from Japan.If our army is allowed to step on this fork and get stuck there, we will not be able to play its due role in the victory in the Far East.On the contrary, I wished to contain the Japanese in Burma and advance by breaking through or through the arc formed by the islands which formed the outskirts of the Dutch East Indies.Thus the whole of our British and Indian front would be pushed across the Bay of Bengal, relying on the prowess of amphibious warfare employed at all stages, to advance into direct engagement with the enemy.This difference of opinion has not been eliminated despite the sincere repression, frank discussions and serious implementation of the resolution on both sides.When we read the history of this campaign, we should refer to these backgrounds that have been at play: geography, limited manpower and material resources, and conflicts of policy. President Roosevelt made Washington's point of view clear to me. President Roosevelt to Prime Minister February 25, 1944 My Chiefs of Staff agreed that the main intermediate objective of our advance across the Pacific was Taiwan[1] in the area of ​​Luzon on the China coast.Recent victories in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands show that we can accelerate our westward advance.It seems that there is a possibility that we will enter the area of ​​Taiwan, China and Luzon before the summer of 1945.During the period when we enter this major area until we obtain a consolidated position in this area, it becomes an indispensable measure to mobilize the largest air force available to support our military operations. Therefore, it is necessary to try our best to expand Base air force strength. [1] The original text is Formosa, the same below.translator I have always advocated the development of China as a base to support our advances in the Pacific.As the war situation has become more favorable to us, it is becoming more and more urgent in terms of time to obtain due assistance from China. Therefore, it is imperative for us to do everything in our power to send more supplies to China.This can only be achieved by increasing air tonnage or opening a road through Burma. If we can occupy Myitkyina, obtain an airlift midway base, and at the same time strengthen the protection of the airway, we can immediately increase the amount of airlift to China. General Stitch believes that if Mountbatten's Fourth Army can start from Imphal and occupy the Ruimao and Wangse areas, then the Chinese and American coalition forces under his command will be able to capture Myitkyina before the end of this year's dry season, and once occupied If you want the land, you can hold it.I know it is difficult, but I think that with your strong encouragement, the commanders under Mountbatten will be able to overcome many inevitable difficulties. The increasing Japanese forces in Burma necessitated us to maintain the initiative by acting as aggressively as we could, lest they launch an offensive that might cross the border into India.Therefore, I most urgently hope that you will use your best strength to support a fierce campaign in Upper Burma. The campaign began in December.At that time, General Stilwell led two Chinese divisions which he personally organized and trained in India, crossed the watershed from the Lido and entered the jungle area below the main mountain range.He met resistance from the famous Japanese Eighteenth Division, but advanced steadily, and by early January had penetrated forty miles while the road builders stayed behind to toil on the road.To the south, the British Fifteenth Corps under General Christson began advancing along the Arakan coast on 19 January.Meanwhile the Allied Air Forces redoubled their efforts, and with reinforcements from newly arrived Spitfires, had achieved a degree of air superiority which we soon saw to be extremely valuable. On February 4 our advance was suddenly stopped.The Japanese army also had their own plans.Since November they had increased their army in Burma from five to eight divisions, and they attempted to invade the East Indies and incite the local people to rebel against the British.Their first attack was a counteroffensive on the Arakan coast in an attempt to capture Chittagong and draw our attention and reserves to that front.They intercepted our 5th Division in front of the coast, and with the main body of a division passed through the jungle, they outflanked the 7th Division far inland.Within a few days, the 7th Division was surrounded and the enemy cut off the 5th Division's rear along the coast.They fully expected that the two divisions would retreat, but they did not take into account one factor, that is, airlift supplies.The Seventh Division deployed its troops to form a pocket position, stood firm and fought to the death.For two weeks, food, water and ammunition were dropped to them like manna from the sky.The enemy army has no such facilities; they have only ten days' supplies.The tenacious fighting of the 7th Division prevented them from obtaining more supplies.Since our advancing troops could not be overwhelmed, and the 26th Division we had transferred from the reserve force was pressing on the north, they dispersed into small units, fought through the jungle, and retreated, leaving 5,000 corpses . The Fifteenth Army moved on.They shattered the myth that the Japanese army was invincible in the jungle, an achievement they were proud of. Prime Minister to Admiral Mountbatten March 1, 1944 Today I have sent you a public message of congratulations on the Arakan War.I am very pleased to have won such a victory in this campaign.This marks a new spirit in your army, and I believe it will drive every soldier closer to the enemy.From the maps I've seen here, I see no reason why you shouldn't keep pushing along the coast in the direction of Port Achab. In February, there were every indication that the enemy was also preparing to attack Imphal on the central front in an attempt to pre-empt our own planned advance to the Chindoon.The now famous Operation Chindit[1] was part of our offensive plan.Although the Japanese would obviously attack first, it was decided that the Wingate Brigade should continue its mission.The mission was to cut off the enemy's lines of communication near Yingdu, thereby disrupting the supply system of the enemy, especially the Japanese 18th Division, which Stilwell was fighting.Also, the enemy would be forced to divide his forces to meet threats in the rear.A Chindit brigade, the British 16th Brigade, had set out from the Lido on 5 February.It marched through four hundred and fifty miles of mountains and jungle, and its supplies were dropped by air. 【1】Chindit is the popular name for Wingate's long-range breakthrough unit. On March 5, with the support of the American air commando with 250 aircraft, the airlift of the mixed British and Gurkha brigades 77th and 111th began to the field.After these troops were assembled at the assembly point, they began to carry out their mission and cut off the railway north of the British capital. I told President Roosevelt all the details. March 14, 1944 I think you'll be interested to hear that two brigades of Wingate's long-range breakthrough force have been flown into the field.The landing sites for the aircraft were selected in two areas from which the brigades could advance westward, the main purpose of which was to cut off the Japanese lines of communication and thus assist the American and Chinese forces in the further north. fighting.The planes landed one hundred miles deep into enemy-occupied territory and two hundred and sixty miles from the transport base. Initially, a glider is used for landing, and after landing, the glider prepares the runway for the transport aircraft to land.From the 6th to the 11th of March a total of 7,500 men landed safely with all their equipment and mules.Only a few gliders were lost, while some could still be repaired.The assault brigades are now advancing but there is a small contingent guarding a runway ready to receive a squadron of Spitfires and a squadron of Whirlwind fighter-bombers flown in to protect the base and provide air support of. On the night of the first day, the only serious accident occurred.One runway in the northern region was found to be blocked by Japanese troops, while the road surface on the remaining runways was much worse than expected. As a result, the plane crashed and debris blocked the runway, preventing the plane from continuing to land that night.A few gliders were forced to turn back in the air and failed to reach our area.Another runway was immediately prepared in the area for use two days later.The dead, wounded and missing totaled at most one hundred and forty-five. This military action seems to be completely out of the Japanese army's surprise.The air runways in the north were not attacked by the enemy air force, and a runway in the south was only bombed after our personnel left on March 10.It turned out that one of the enemy's own plans was to concentrate aircraft at airfields in the Mandalay area.As a result, our powerful air force, which was concentrated to protect the landing, achieved brilliant results. In two days, sixty-one enemy planes were destroyed, while we lost only three of our own. We are all pleased that Wingate's daring effort has gotten off to such a good start, and that the success of the airlift operation to the front bodes well for the future. Your personnel play an important role in transport squadrons and in support of air combat. The next day, Roosevelt replied that I was heartened to hear the news of the victory for our forces under Wingate's command.If you call Wingate, please pass on my sincere congratulations.Hope this great action continues.This is the heroic deeds of the airborne troops, but the deeds of the mules must not be forgotten. Wingate was too young to see this first victory come to fruition.On March 24th he died in flight, much to my grief.He insisted on taking off that day.Facts have yet to be ascertained, perhaps because the pilot lost his way in the thick clouds.The plane crashed on the hillside (not found much later), and a bright flame went out with him. On March 8, three divisions of the Japanese army launched an expected attack on our central front.General Scoons withdrew his Fourth Corps, also with three divisions, to the Imphal Heights in order to concentrate on fighting in areas of his own choice. If the enemy cut off the road to the Dimapur logistics base, Scoons would have to rely on airlifts until the battle was won.The Japanese repeated the tactics they had failed in the Battle of Arakan.They are counting on taking the supplies we have stored in Imphal to supply themselves.They wanted to cut off not only our road to Dimapur, but also the railway, thus cutting in half the supply lines that maintained Stilwell's troops and American airlifts to China.Therefore, this is a particularly serious problem. The key is still air freight.Although Mountbatten's resources are quite strong, they are far from sufficient.He wanted to keep the twenty American planes he had borrowed from the Hump line, and asked to borrow another seventy.This is a requirement that is difficult to export and difficult to fulfill.I gave him my strongest support during the anxious weeks that followed.I said to him: The Chiefs of Staff and I are giving you our full support.I have telegraphed President Roosevelt.I think everything should be based on war.You will definitely get there.In the end, Mountbatten temporarily borrowed seventy-nine aircraft from the Mediterranean theater, so his needs were largely met. By the end of March, the Japanese had cut off the road to Dimapur and were pressing on the edge of the Imphal plain on three sides.The 5th Indian Division was airlifted to Imphal from the Arakan coast where the war had ceased, while the 7th Indian Division was airlifted to Dimapur.General Stopford's headquarters of XIII Corps, the British 2nd Division, an independent Indian brigade and the last remaining brigade of Wingate's force all reached Dimapur by rail. The Japanese attack to the north was stopped at a small village called Kohima along the mountain road.The defenders here included a battalion of the Royal West Kent Army, a Nepalese battalion, a battalion of the Assamese Rifles and everyone who could bear arms, including even convalescents who had just been released from the hospital.Attacked by the Japanese 31st Division on April 4, they were forced to retreat gradually into an ever-shrinking area and finally into the mountains.They had no supplies other than airdropped supplies.They were besieged from all sides, but supported by air bombardment and artillery fire, they held their ground until the relief of the Indian 161st Brigade and the British 2nd Division, which had attacked all the way from Dimapur, came to their rescue on the 20th.Four thousand Japanese soldiers were killed.The valiant defense of Kohima, carried out under arduous circumstances, is a deed worthy of praise. We have gained air supremacy, but we need to be backed by adequate transport aircraft.The most pressing issues arose in mid-May.Sixty thousand British and Indian troops and all their modern equipment were surrounded in the circular area of ​​the Imphal Plain. I feel this is more urgent than any other issue.In accordance with all principles of war, I exercise my power. Prime Minister to Admiral Mountbatten (in Southeast Asia) May 4, 1944 Everything you need to be victorious in this campaign should be done.Rejection in either direction is beyond my tolerance.I decided to give you my full support. Prime Minister to General Ismay, Transfer to the Chiefs of Staff Committee May 9, 1944 All sacrifices must be made to make up for this deficiency by either delaying the transfer of seventy-nine transport planes to the Mediterranean, or keeping twenty and borrowing another fifty-nine from Hump, or both.We cannot sacrifice this campaign under any circumstances.I would very much like to call President Roosevelt and point out to him the unfortunate consequences of sacrificing this campaign for his own plans to aid China. The Prime Minister to General Ismay and General Hollis, Transfer to the Chiefs of Staff Committee May 14, 1944 In any case, Admiral Mountbatten should not have sent seventy-nine planes to the Mediterranean unless the planes under his command were replaced by suitable planes from the United States or Camelbee.His arguments, it seems to me, seem unrefutable. I have not heard any good reason why General Alexander's campaign would be hindered if these planes were delayed in reaching the Mediterranean.General Wilson had gained absolute superiority in the air force, and while these aircraft were not so necessary for the present war as they would be for amphibious operations after the war was won, they were, on the other hand, indispensable for the Burma campaign. General Hollis should therefore prepare me a brief memorandum which I will discuss with him at midnight today.At the same time, this memorandum should be referred to the chiefs of staff of the armed forces.I am determined that the Mountbatten campaign should not be frustrated by the folly of diverting one hundred and fifty planes five thousand miles away in the opposite direction; if this need cannot be met To my satisfaction, tomorrow I shall appeal to President Roosevelt. During this period, on the northern front line, under the stubborn resistance of the Japanese 18th Division, Stilwell was rapidly advancing towards the Menggong-Myitkyina line.He was apprehensive about the eastern flank because the enemy's 56th Division along the Chinese border might bombard him.President Roosevelt had urged Chiang Kai-shek to send Stilwell another Chinese division, but it was not until April 21 that the Generalissimo agreed to send his troops in Yunnan into Burma.On May 10, four Chinese divisions crossed the Salween River at and above Kun Nong, thus troubling the Japanese flank. The Chindit, operating on the enemy's lines of communication, was reinforced by two more brigades in early April, so that a total of five brigades were now at work.They pushed north along the railroad, blocking the passage of enemy reinforcements and destroying temporary stores of munitions along the way.Despite the severe damage they inflicted, the Japanese did not withdraw any troops from the Imphal front, but only one battalion from Stilwell's front.They transferred the 53rd Division from Siam in an attempt to get out of the predicament, but failed, but more than 5,400 people were killed. On May 17, Stilwell surprised both the Japanese and us when the American brigade under General Merrell advanced rapidly and captured Myitkyina airfield.So reinforcements were airlifted to attack the city, but the Japanese held on tenaciously until early August.At the end of May, Stilwell's other major target, Meng Gong, was surrounded by the elite Chindit Brigade, the 77th Brigade, and finally captured on June 26.These victories were largely due to Stilwell's leadership, courage, and indomitable spirit, but his troops were exhausted from fighting and many had to retreat. The situation around Imphal remains tense.Our air force was in a superior position to control everything, but the rainy season prevented us from airlifting the supplies on which our victory depended.Our four divisions gradually broke through the encirclement.Along the Kohima road, our reinforcements and the besieged troops fought from both sides to meet.It's a race against time.We watched their progress with nervousness. Prime Minister to Admiral Mountbatten (in Southeast Asia) June 22, 1944 The Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces were concerned about the situation at Imphal, especially with regard to the stockpiles of supplies and ammunition.You have the absolute right to claim all the aircraft you need to keep the war going, whether from the hump or from any other source.Humped aircraft must be considered a present reserve force and should be called up as necessary.Thanks to the brilliant victories of the American army, our army has reached Myitkyina, but neither Myitkyina nor Imphal will be able to hold if it is not replenished from the Hump.If you don't ask in time and ask me to help from here when you need it, it won't do you any good to complain afterwards if you lose a battle in the future.This problem must be grasped, it seems to me to be both serious and critical. I wish you success. Before the telegram had even arrived, news of a successful outcome came.I quote Admiral Mountbatten's report as follows: During the third week of June, the situation was critical.Although after all our efforts in the previous two months, it seemed that the Fourth Army might exhaust its reserves in early July, on June 22, a week and a half early, the British Second Division and the Fifth Indian Division A point twenty-nine miles north of Imphal joined forces and opened the way to the plain.Convoys also began arriving the same day. Mountbatten has good reason to add the following: The Japanese attempt to invade India is practically a thing of the past, and the prospect opens before us of the first great British victory in Burma.