Chapter 227 Volume 6, Chapter 37, Defeating Japan

Plans and Conundrums in Southeast Asia Fourteenth Army across the Irrawaddy General Slim wins the Battle of Meiktila Chiang Kai-shek recalls Chinese divisions Reply March 20 Conquest of Mandalay Seizing Rangoon May 2nd Amphibious Assault End of Long Battle My Message to Admiral Mountbatten May 9th High Point of Pacific War A British Fleet Arrives in Australia American Attack on Brimstone General Ramsden killed in action Okinawa captured on 22nd June I congratulate the President on the liberation of the East Indies British conscientiously helped the last attack Japan survived a greater sacrifice.

The winter campaign in Burma has already been discussed [1].When the decisive battle of crossing the Irrawaddy began in February 1945, Admiral Mountbatten encountered difficulties in making strategic decisions.His order was to liberate Burma, but for this purpose he could not hope for anything other than what he had; and then he was required to occupy Malaya and open the Straits of Malacca.Weather is dominant.The first task is to occupy the central plains of Myanmar and capture Rangoon before the rainy season.The onset of the rainy season is in early May.He can concentrate all the forces of the Fourteenth Army to fight a decisive battle on the Mandalay Plain, and then quickly move south; or divide his forces to conduct amphibious operations against Rangoon, and at the same time move north to attack the rear of the Japanese army.Phuket, off the coast of the Kra Isthmus, was a valuable stepping-stone to Malaya, and an amphibious attack on Rangoon would mean a delay in the occupation of Phuket.Some important but elusive factors made his choice tricky.Aviation supply has a lot to do with victory.In this regard, American aircraft play a major role, and we also hope that the combined Sino-American forces under the command of General Salton, who have been fighting against the two Japanese divisions north of Lashio, will fight with us to the end.But helping China is still the most important policy of the United States, so the help to us may be cancelled, and the general's plan may be destroyed.

[1] See Chapter Eleven, "Advance in Burma." Facing the imminent intensification of the crisis, Mountbatten decided to use General Slim's Fourteenth Army to launch a single, fully supported combat operation against the main body of enemy forces west of Mandalay before advancing on Rangoon. .According to his knowledge, the place can be reached on April 15th.At the same time, he ordered the Fifteenth Army in the Rakhine region to expand the air bases in Rakhine (Achabu) and Langley Island, and to expand its occupation along the coast, passing through the only two passes and going straight to the lower reaches of the Irrawaddy River.

The corps' supply planes were greatly reduced, but it still accomplished its mission and prevented a division of Japanese troops from participating in a decisive battle eastward. The situation here is moving fast.The Nineteenth Division had captured the bridgehead on the other side of the Irrawaddy, about forty miles north of Mandalay.Throughout February they repelled a series of violent counterattacks.On 12 February the 20th Division crossed the river downstream and reached west of Mandalay.They fought hard for two weeks to hold their positions before finally joining up with the British 2nd Division.This convinced the Japanese high command that a decisive battle was at hand, and they sent in large numbers of reinforcements.They believed that there was no possibility of serious attack on the flank, so they even reluctantly sent a division to Thailand.Yet this was exactly the move General Slim was planning and waiting for.On February 13th the 7th Division crossed the Irrawaddy River south of Mugokku and established a bridgehead position.The enemy thought it was just a slapstick tactic, but it didn't take long for them to figure it out.

On the 21st, two motorized brigades and one tank brigade of the 17th Division rushed out of the bridgehead position after crossing the river, and on the 28th they arrived in Meiktila.It is a major logistics center on Japan's main line, a transportation hub and a concentration point for several airfields.The guards of this place are very tenacious. The enemy quickly sent two divisions to help the defenders, but they were stopped by us after a certain distance, and our 17th Division received its Airborne Brigade and the 5th Division. Division reinforcements.After a week of hard fighting, the city fell into our hands, and all attempts by the enemy to recapture it failed.The Japanese admitted losing 5,000 men and wounding an equal number in this battle, which their commander-in-chief later called a strategically ingenious blow for the Allies.

Far to the northeast, General Salton was also at work.The American God of War Brigade under his command, three divisions of the Chinese army, and the thirty-sixth division of the British army had opened up the road to China at the end of January and were advancing south.By mid-March, they reached the road from Lashio to Mandalay.But now Chiang Kai-shek forcibly stopped the advance.He would not let his Chinese divisions advance further.He had long asked that the American brigade, the Chinese divisions, and the squadrons of the American Air Force supporting them be brought back for him to build an army in China to drive the Japanese out of the rice fields.He suggested that after the capture of Mandalay, General Slim should stop advancing.This is exactly what General Mountbatten had in mind when he made the plan a month ago.But Chiang Kai-shek insisted on withdrawing his ground troops, so the Japanese were able to take two of their three divisions to meet our Fourteenth Army on this front.

Now only American planes remain.On March 30 I urged General Marshall to let them stay there. Prime Minister to Marshal Wilson (Washington) March 30, 1945 Please pass on my following comments, verbally or informally, to General Marshall. General Marshall will remember our conversation in Quebec that we strongly disapproved of a future large-scale war in the jungles of Burma, and personally I always had other ideas.But the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff regards this kind of battle against the Japanese as the most important thing, especially the opening of the Burma Road.So we put all our efforts into this battle.Although Mountbatten was unable to obtain the three British and Indian divisions as he wished due to the prolongation of the war against Germany, his success far exceeded our expectations. The importance of this battle lies not only in the conquest of Burma, but also as a prelude to the capture of Rangoon; it will also play a role in the overall consumption of Japan's military power, especially its air power.Also, once Rangoon is captured, our strong forces there will be free to engage in other campaigns in 1946, or earlier in the American general offensive. So I feel entitled to Marshall General appeal, how can we be fair and reasonable between us.Mountbatten now needs some minor air reinforcements for the success of the now decisive campaign in Burma, and I have no doubt that Marshall will do his best to satisfy him

General Marshall assured us that if Rangoon fell before June 1, the planes would not withdraw until then, but after June 1 they would.This makes things more rushed.Assuming we fail to capture Rangoon on June 1, transports will be reduced and the Fourteenth Army will have to retreat a long way until they can get their main supplies from land.The whole battle will be lost. The two successive battles of Mandalay and Meiktila raged throughout March.The 19th Division rushed out from the bridgehead position and marched downstream along the east bank of the Irrawaddy River.Enter Mandalay by March 9.The resistance of the Japanese was tenacious.

Mandalay Hill rises 780 inches from the surrounding fields, and it took two days to take it, but the walls of Fort Dufresne were impenetrable to ordinary shells.In the end, 2,000-pound bombs were used to blow up a breach, and on March 20 the enemy fled. The rest of the 33rd Army simultaneously attacked Meiktila.They encountered strong resistance, because although the 17th Division had penetrated behind their own lines, the Japanese commander-in-chief had not shown any intention of retreating, and the strength of the enemy and our troops was evenly matched.General Slim had six divisions and two armored brigades against the Japanese over eight weak divisions and one division of the Indian National Army[1], but by the end of the month the enemy gave up the fight and began Withdrew by the main roads of Yu and Rangoon, and retreated eastward through the mountains.After several weeks of fighting, our supplies were tight, but the enemy must have been far worse.The enemy's communications and rear installations were constantly attacked by strategic air forces, and their retreating troops were constantly harassed by tactical air forces, so that a critical situation arose on their side.

[1] Indian prisoners of war are equipped by the Japanese and fight for Japan. On our side, too, it was a matter of make-or-break.The campaign took a lot longer than we expected.General Salton was now blocked on the Lashio Highway, and the arrival of the two Japanese divisions that had opposed him further delayed the campaign. There was no prospect of the Fourteenth Army reaching Rangoon by mid-April, and it was doubtful whether they would even get there before the rainy season.So Mountbatten finally decided to use amphibious warfare on the city.The scale of this operation must be much smaller than originally planned, and the attack on Phuket must be cancelled.Even so, before the first week in May, it was too late to attack, and by that time, I am afraid it would be too late.

General Slim at this time decided that the Fourth Army would pursue the enemy along roads and railroads, while the Thirty-third Army would press forward along the Irrawaddy River.He was not only determined to reach Rangoon, but also set up a net to capture the enemy alive in southern Burma.Therefore, the 7th and 20th Divisions went straight down the river and charged at the same time, arriving at Pyay on May 2.After Piaogai fought a fierce battle with the remnants of three Japanese divisions, their advance along roads and railways was even faster than along the river. The troops only carry half rations in order to bring more gasoline.An armored column and the mechanized brigades of the 5th and 17th Divisions advanced alternately and reached Taungoo on April 22. We are desperately needing airfields here to transfer aviation supplies to units and to extend the range of fighter jets of 221st RAF to Rangoon.The next destination is Pego. Taking Pego will close the southernmost route for the enemy to escape from Burma.Our vanguard arrived there on April 29th.That afternoon, there was a heavy downpour, which heralded the early onset of the rainy season.The quick airfield ahead cannot be used; tanks and other vehicles cannot move off the road.The Japanese tried their best to put together all their forces to hold on to the city and the bridges on the river.On May 2, the 17th Division finally broke through the enemy's lines.In order to reach Yangon first, they are ready to start the last few miles. But May 2 is also the offensive launch day for the joint land and sea attack.In the previous two days, Allied heavy bombers had attacked the fortifications at Cape Elephant, which blocked the entrance to the Rangoon River.On May 1, a battalion of paratroopers was thrown to the defenders and began to clear the waterway from the mines.The next day, the ships of the 26th Division, under the cover of the aircraft of the 224th Royal Air Force Group, reached the mouth of the river.A Mosquito plane flew over Rangoon with no trace of the enemy in sight.The pilot parked his plane at a nearby airfield and walked into town, where he was greeted by a few of our prisoners of war.Because the Japanese defenders believed that there would be no joint land and water attack, they set off to defend Pego a few days ago.That afternoon, the torrential rains of the monsoon season came suddenly, and Yangon was conquered only a few hours before the torrential rain. This amphibious force soon joined Pego's 17th Division and Prome's 20th Division.Thousands of Japanese were surrounded, and during the next three months, large numbers of Japanese died fleeing eastward. This ended the long-term struggle in Burma, but here we should also thank other military services for their assistance, otherwise, the army's fighting alone would not be of much use. The Royal Navy has undoubtedly achieved command of the seas.They can and do escort the Army safely wherever it is needed.Allied air forces completely destroyed the Japanese aircraft, and their support was uninterrupted.Airlift supplies have been established and maintained on an enormous scale.Under the leadership of General Snelling, the logistics chief of the Fourteenth Army, the logistics work was done very well.Finally, it is also worth noting that British and American engineers performed many engineering miracles according to local conditions. For example, they laid nearly 3,000 miles of oil pipelines across rivers, forests and mountains.The famous Fourteenth Army, under the excellent command of General Slim, fought bravely, overcame all difficulties, and accomplished what seemed impossible.On May 9 I sent a telegram to the Supreme Commander: Prime Minister to Admiral Mountbatten (South East Asia) May 9, 1945 My heartiest congratulations to you on your greatest victory at Rangoon in the Burmese campaign, and on the hard fighting at Imphal and Kohima in 1944, which opened the way for later brilliant campaigns over vast areas which It was the highest achievement of the Southeast Asian theater in 1945.When these matters were being studied in Quebec last September, the President and I learned from the report of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that they and your command agreed that to accomplish far more than you and your valiant and allied forces are doing now The much smaller program that has been completed on the World War II requires about half a dozen British and Indian divisions and as many transports, landing craft, etc. as all the forces you have ever asked for, or more.Due to the prolongation of the war with Germany it is impossible to send you the British and Indian divisions you need, and many other units which you count on will have to remain in the decisive European theaters.Despite this reduction in strength and disappointing circumstances, you and your men have done and exceeded the demands of your orders.For the glorious end of the Burma campaign, the whole country expresses its gratitude and admiration. Please convey this feeling in the country to your subordinates and everyone who fights with you. In recognition of these great feats in the Southeast Asian theater, His Majesty the Emperor has announced that a special medal, called the Burmese Star, will be cast, and it will be delivered by plane together with the great ribbon on the medal as soon as possible. The war in the Pacific was reaching its climax just as rapidly.In Quebec we promised to send full British troops to the Far East as soon as Germany was defeated.When I returned to London, I explained to the House that the United States had accepted our offer of a fleet.As to our contribution on land and in the air, it shall be according to the ability of shipping, and all plans shall proceed accordingly. Admiral Fraser arrived in Sydney in December 1944 aboard his flagship battleship HMS Howe.For the first time our capital fleet is deployed in the Pacific and is operationally under the command of an American officer.Our main difficulty is in supply and maintenance.In three years of operations, the Americans had built up a vast supply organization and a network of island bases.We cannot hope to match this achievement, but it is important that our fleet is not entirely dependent on our allies for logistics. We studied this question throughout 1944.In June, a delegation was sent to discuss with the Australian government to establish a base, but Australia's manpower had fully participated in General MacArthur's campaign and was busy providing supplies for the US military and its own army, so most of the supplies and Skilled workers are obviously dependent on the United Kingdom.The good port of Sydney is four thousand miles from the battle.To serve a fleet we need a chain of fueling and supply ships, supply and repair ships, ambulance ships, and many other types of ships, and a great deal of supplies must be brought in from the British Isles.This, of course, worried Lord Leathers, Secretary of State for War Transport, but the plans were laid out, the most important things were supplied, and when the war was over the work was still expanding. After Admiral Fraser took office, he flew to visit General MacArthur and General Nimitz immediately.Both himself and the fleet were received with the utmost cordiality, and from the first there formed between us a friendship of comrades-in-arms which, against all odds, enabled the closest co-operation between all ranks.Here's Admiral Nimitz's call: The British Navy will greatly enhance our attacking power and demonstrate unity of purpose in our counterattack against Japan.Welcome to the United States Pacific Fleet. However, Admiral Fraser's seniority made it inconvenient for him to command at sea, because in this way he would surpass Nimitz's direct subordinates in the ranks.Lieutenant General Rawlins had an outstanding record in the Mediterranean, so he was elected as the deputy commander and had to command at sea. In early February 1945, he arrived in Australia with the main fleet, many of which had already served in the Indian Ocean.At the beginning of March, the fleet and the attached supply ships assembled at the American base on Manus Island in the Admiralty Islands, and then set off on the 18th. Under the leadership of Admiral Spruance, the first Take part in the battle in the Pacific. Many things are happening here.The time has finally come to attack the enemy's homeland. Spruance had attacked Iwo Jima in the Ogasawara Islands on February 19, because from there American fighter planes could escort bombers from the Marianas to attack Honshu.The battle was fierce and dragged on for more than a month, but it was won.The former British fleet, now renamed Task Force Fifty-seventh, consisted of the battleships HMS George V and HMS Howe, four aircraft carriers (with a concentration of 250 aircraft), five cruisers, and eleven destroyers .They reached the combat area east of Taiwan on March 26.That was the first time their bombers struck airfields and installations on the islands south of Okinawa.Spruance himself was busy waging a full-scale air campaign as a prelude to the amphibious assault on Okinawa scheduled to begin on April 1.On March 8 his fleet of fast aircraft carriers attacked enemy bases off the coast of Japan, and from March 23 they turned towards Okinawa.The task of the British fleet was to prevent the enemy from using the airfields on the islands south of the island and north of Formosa. From March 26th to April 20th the fleet was fueled at sea and continued its mission.Soon, due to the loss of aircraft and lack of supplies, it had to temporarily retreat to Leyte Gulf.Enemy resistance has not been strong.Indefatigable was hit by a suicide bomber on 1 April, causing casualties.One destroyer had to retreat due to damage. In January, as I have already stated, we suffered greatly at the sacrifice of Lieutenant-General Ramsden. [1] He is the personal liaison between me and General MacArthur, and he has completely gained MacArthur's trust.Ramsden's exploits were brilliant.In his first contact on the Belgian battlefield, when he commanded the Twelfth Lancers, he restored the armored car to its rightful reputation and, in the war that ended at Dunkirk, was distinguished.He later commanded the 1st Armored Division in the Desert War for many months, and it was based on this merit that I selected him to work with MacArthur. The report he wrote to me enabled me to fully understand the defeat in the Far East. The various novel tactics of Japan's distant and brutal war.On January 6 he was standing on the bridge of the USS New Mexico, talking to Admiral Fraser.The admiral happened to go to the other side of the bridge.A Japanese suicide bomber suddenly circled down.General Ramsden and Fraser's aide-de-camp were killed at once.A mere accident of strolling across the bridge saved our Commander in Chief. 【1】See Volume 5, page 84 (translator of the original page number). At the same time, there was a fierce battle in Okinawa, and the capture of Okinawa was the largest and longest-running joint land and water operation in the Pacific War.Four American divisions landed first.The rugged island was of great advantage to the defense, and the Japanese defenders of more than 100,000 fought desperately.Japan used all the remaining sea and air power.On April 7, her last modern battleship, the Yamato, under the protection of cruisers and destroyers, tried to rescue the crisis, but was intercepted by Spruance's aircraft carrier fleet. Except for a few destroyers, the entire army overwhelmed. Attacks by suicide bombers have reached alarming proportions.By the time Okinawa was captured, at least nineteen hundred times had been carried out, and according to Admiral Kim, thirty-four destroyers and other small boats were sunk, and about two hundred other ships were hit .These raids and thousands of general sorties constituted the most violent onslaught ever launched by the Japanese.But all is useless.By June 22, after nearly three months of fighting, the island was conquered.The campaign took up all of Admiral Nimitz's forces in the Central Pacific, including an army of 450,000 men. In the midst of elections and other busy business, my daily close attention to these moving battles gave me an immediate appreciation of the greatness of America's exploits. Prime Minister to President Truman June 22, 1945 I would like to extend to you my sincere congratulations to the United States Army, Navy, and Air Forces for their brilliant victory in Okinawa.The strong will and devotion of the United States in this combat mission and the technological prowess it employed, combined with the desperate struggle of the enemy (in which 90,000 people were reported killed), made this The battle became one of the most violent and famous in the history of warfare.With our deep admiration for American valor and determination to achieve victory at all necessary sacrifices, I salute you on behalf of your loyal allies and all British men and women who have cared for this memorable victory on the battlefield and at home and abroad .We salute all your troops and commanders who fought. The British fleet sailed again from Wright Gulf on 1 May.Between May 4th and 25th, our fleet continued to attack the same area, and on May 4th our ships bombarded Miyakojima.Enemies mostly fought back with suicide attacks.The aircraft carriers Formidable and Victory were badly damaged, the former suffering heavy casualties, but their armored decks saved them from catastrophe, and both ships continued to sail.On May 25, when supplies were running low and the ship retreated to Manus Island, they were encouraged by the following call from Admiral Spruance: After two months of your service as a task force with the Fifth Fleet, I would like to salute you, your officers, and your staff, for your good work and cooperative spirit.Task Force 57 gave American task forces a look at the great traditions of the Royal Navy. Further south, the war for the liberation of the East Indies was underway.On 1 May the Australian Ninth Division, supported by US and Australian naval and air forces, landed at Tarakan, Dutch Borneo.In June the Australians recaptured Brunei and Sarawak.The 7th Australian Division, supported by Dutch, American and Australian navies, then landed at Balikpapan on 1 July, but these encouraging events were soon paled in comparison to the looming climax of the Far Eastern War . We are still determined to send troops and aircraft to attack the Japanese mainland, but we also have to liberate Malaya, Singapore and the surrounding areas.For the main offensive, we can contribute at most three divisions, and probably two more divisions in the future. General MacArthur promised the most generous assistance, even offering to arm our troops with American weapons and equipment, and to send supplies from the United States.This is far more than we have always hoped, and it can reduce the tension of our shipping, but it is not easy to implement.On the air side we intend to establish twenty aviation squadrons, consisting of four hundred heavy bombers, half from England and the rest from the Dominions near the Pacific.But here again there is a difficulty.Since Yalta it was known that this force must be self-sufficient, acquiring its own airfields, equipment, docks, roads and oil pipelines. When it became apparent that Okinawa was about to be captured, General Marshall immediately offered us to establish a base there for the development of an air force.I welcome this proof that we will also play our part in the main attack on Japan. Prime Minister to General Marshall (Washington) June 12, 1945 I am very glad that you have offered us a base in Okinawa from which our first ten squadrons can participate in the bombing of Japan.This shows that you are very generous and generous, which is completely consistent with the spirit of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff that has always treated us preferentially.At a time when you are destroying Japan with thunderous force, our contribution may be difficult to express, but it may also be beneficial to the overall situation. However, by October 1945 we could only hope to have two squadrons in Okinawa, and by early 1946 we could have ten squadrons, but none of these plans could keep up with the development of the situation.Japan surrendered before our planes and soldiers could get there.So only our fleet, the combined forces of Australia and New Zealand, fought in the final phase of the Pacific War. The Americans originally planned to capture the westernmost island of Kyushu in early November 1945, and then attack the main island of Honshu from there.There was a Japanese army of over a million strong, well trained, well equipped, and fanatically determined to fight to the last man.The rest of the Japanese navy and air force were equally determined.We are so thankful that these two great battles, which would have resulted in fierce fighting and a great deal of sacrifice, never needed to be fought again!