mesbooks Chapter 257: Stevenson's Joy and Sadness (Part 2)
Chapter 257: Stevenson's Joy and Sadness (Part 2)
After hearing this, Stevenson nodded with satisfaction, a rare look of relief on his face.
"It seems that after losing their mobile forces, the Japanese are left with only the isolated city of Yangon, and their troops are not enough to support the defense of Yangon."
Then, Stevenson suddenly fell silent again, his eyes became deep, and he seemed to be lost in some thought.
After a moment, he slowly shook his head and whispered, "However, I don't think the devils in the encirclement will surrender. They, the East Asians, don't seem to have that tradition."
"Our retreat is cut off, and we're surrounded. We have no reinforcements outside, no food inside, and heavy artillery shells and aerial bombs rain down from the sky. Any other army in Europe, or even our White Eagles, would have surrendered long ago."
"But these Qian people, even the Japs, will persist in fighting until the last moment." Stevenson's eyes revealed awe. Although he did not agree with this value, he was still shocked by the "rather die than surrender" fighting spirit of these yellow people.
Unfortunately, Stevenson is still unaware of the series of inhumane incidents by the Japanese such as the "Bataan Death March" and the "Manila Prisoner of War Camp Massacre", otherwise he would think that the White Eagle troops might as well fight to the last shot.
"What's the total casualties? After multiple battles with nearly 12 devils in one go, our General Zhang's troops didn't suffer any serious losses, right?" Stevenson's eyes flashed with concern.
His eyes, which looked tired due to age, were still sharp, as if they could penetrate the fog of any difficulties and battles.
His long-term command experience has made him deeply aware that the victory or defeat of a war is often not simply a comparison of the numbers of the enemy and us, but more about logistical support, casualty control and the durability of combat effectiveness.
If every victory is a pyrrhic one, then even if you keep achieving tactical victories, the final outcome of the entire war may still be a disastrous defeat.
The staff officer was silent for a moment, thinking carefully before answering, "According to the telegram sent by General Zhang, the casualties are very small. If the data in the telegram is true, it is really quite astonishing."
He paused, then pulled out a statistical table, his eyes widening in disbelief. "The irrecoverable losses (deaths, disabilities, etc.) of the Anmin Army only accounted for 17% of the total casualties."
Thanks to Zhang Chi's efforts, not only are every infantryman of the Anmin Army equipped with a first aid kit, but every soldier in every squad has received first aid knowledge training.
He also invested heavily in various medicines such as penicillin, and generously used various types of vehicles and aircraft to evacuate the wounded. He also used high salaries to recruit medical personnel and established a three-tier medical system at the front line, assembly points, and rear areas.
This not only enabled the Anmin Army to achieve an exchange ratio of 5 to 1 or even 7 to 1 with the Japanese in battle, but also allowed a large number of seriously injured personnel to survive, with more injuries but fewer deaths.
Stevenson nodded after hearing this. As an old soldier, he knew very well that every surviving veteran would increase the combat effectiveness of an army.
He looked at another staff officer and ordered:
"Send a telegram to Zhang to express my congratulations and wish him a successful liberation of Pegu. Also, ask him if he has any good ideas or experiences in building a medical system."
Unlike the white bureaucrats in the Pentagon who always acted superior, Stevenson was not a racist and never felt that he was superior to others.
He himself had worked on the Qian Continent before the war, and had a deep understanding that these "descendants of the dragon" were actually no worse than white people.
That is why he single-handedly formed the resident poison army and expeditionary force and supported the development of Zhang Chi's security army.
He knew clearly that true military wisdom and strength did not come from skin color and race. Now that Zhang Chi had a way to significantly reduce irreversible casualties, he was happy to ask and learn.
After learning about the battlefields of Sindhu and Pegu, the next step is the highlight of today - the battlefield in central Henan between the 40 Tang troops and the 15 Japanese devils.
Although Stevenson had repeatedly asked Shancheng to pay attention to the Japanese troops in Henan Province, and even flew to Shancheng in person to complain to them about their severity.
But we can’t say that the White Party didn’t listen at all, at least it went in one ear and out the other.
As a result, when General Okamura Yasuji led the "rapid force" composed of the 3rd Tank Division and the 4th Cavalry Brigade to rampage across the plains of Henan Province, Tang's troops were indeed defeated.
However, Stevenson was not surprised by this. After all, as an old soldier, he had seen a lot of failures in his life.
Failure is not scary. The most important thing is how to learn lessons from failure. At worst, we can regroup and try again.
"How's the situation on the Qian Kingdom battlefield?" Stevenson, clearly in a good mood, continued to ask. "I heard that Claire's Flying Tigers, on average, each pilot sorties twice a day. With such air support, Tang's troops should be able to assemble a new line of defense, right?"
The staff officer opened his mouth, looked at each other, and tacitly gestured for Stevenson to sit down and wait for a moment.
Soon, the map on the wall was replaced by the staff with a battlefield map of Qianguo Yu Province.
When Stevenson saw the series of red dots on the map representing cities (the White Eagle's markings were enemy red and ours blue), he felt the blood rushing to his head and his temples ached with his heartbeat.
Each red dot was like a bloody wound, deeply piercing his heart. He cursed angrily:
"What a bastard! Zhengzhou, Xinzheng, Weishi, Weichuan, Xingyang, Guangwu, Sishui, Tashan, and Wanshan are all lost?"
Stevenson was so angry that he slammed his hands on the table, making a heavy sound.
The staff officers stood aside, silently looking at the old general who was over sixty years old, not knowing how to comfort him.
"5 million, a full 5 million US dollars in military aid. Even if it is converted into silver, it will kill hundreds of thousands of Japanese soldiers!" Stevenson, whose blood pressure was off the charts, began to pace anxiously in the war room.
Obviously, the situation on the battlefield showed that even with the Flying Tigers' fierce bombing, the Japanese could still quickly capture the county town garrisoned by the National Army.
His original plan was very good - the main force of Tang's army would gradually gain a foothold with the support of the air force, resist in stages, exhaust the enemy's attack kinetic energy, and then send out bombers to bomb the enemy's logistics nodes, and wait until the enemy troops were short of food and ammunition, and then launch an attack to regain lost ground.
However, Stevenson forgot one thing. He was in the rear. How could he force Tang's troops to hold on?
"No, we can't do this..." Stevenson looked at the map. If this continued, the front-line airports used by the Flying Tigers would fall under the enemy's attack. If a large number of White Eagle fighter planes were seized by the Japanese on the ground, it would be a huge embarrassment.
"Prepare the plane, I'm going to fly to the mountain city again." Stevenson, with white hair, put on his military cap and said suddenly.
He knew very well that in this situation, neither the Anmin Army in Pegu nor the expeditionary force still stranded in the south could be relied upon. The only way was for him to go and persuade the White Party leaders to make up their minds to resist and not retreat.
"If that doesn't work, I'll fly to the front lines in Henan Province!"
At this moment, Stevenson wished that there was a trustworthy army like Zhang Chi's army in Henan Province. However, the fact was that he only had the title of theater commander and could only threaten the White Party to persist in resistance by cutting off military aid.