'The Chinese have occupied the sky!'

Viceroy and Governor-General of India, Sir Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, Lord Irwin, raised a finger after seeing the war report, asking the Commander of the British Indian Army to pause the report. Viceroy Irwin recalled the situation he understood: the Chinese National Defense Force stated that it was 'invited by Burma.' At this time, there was no such country as Burma in the world; Burma was just a part of British India.

Viceroy Irwin was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford, specializing in history. In 1903, he became a fellow of All Souls College, teaching history and traveling around the world. In the eyes of this historian, what the current Chinese army pursued was to seize the entire Burma and restore China's sphere of influence.

After making such a judgment, the Viceroy of India allowed the Commander of the British Indian Army to continue reporting. The Commander was very pessimistic about the war situation. Not only was the British Air Force severely beaten, but the British Army's autumn counter-offensive, the 'Operation Crusader'... or rather the Cool Season counter-offensive, also suffered a head-on blow from the Chinese army.

According to the report of the British Command in India, a total of 200,000 troops were invested in the attack. Although they didn't know how many Chinese troops were on the opposite side, these 200,000 troops under the command of the British Command in India were all attacked. This forced the British Command in India to send another 200,000 troops into the war, trying to defeat the Chinese National Defense Force attacking the British army.

However, the subsequent 200,000 troops sent news that they were also besieged...

Viceroy Irwin confirmed his thoughts again: China was preparing to fully retake Burma. That was why they sent a huge army capable of besieging 400,000 British troops.

After the Commander of the British Indian Army finished reporting, Viceroy Irwin asked, "Commander, how many troops do you think we need now to defeat the Chinese army?"

The Commander answered immediately, "According to the assessment of the General Staff, we now need 1.2 million British mainland troops and 2 million auxiliary troops to completely defeat the Chinese army."

Viceroy Irwin was shocked by such a number. He pondered for a moment, stabilized his mind, and continued to ask, "Why are so many troops needed?"

The Commander of the British Indian Army handed over an assessment report. While Viceroy Irwin browsed the open page, the Commander explained, "During China's unification war, He Rui's troop number significantly exceeded 2 million..."

Viceroy Irwin's finger trembled slightly. 2 million army troops, that was the number of the Russian standing army. Tsarist Russia with such a scale of standing army was regarded as a threat by Europe for this reason.

"After the establishment of the Chinese National Defense Force, its scale was between 3 million and 3.5 million. Among them, 500,000 to 700,000 are in the Manchuria and Mongolia regions, 1 million are currently dispersed within China, and about 800,000 have formed corps in Shandong and Fujian, China, to defend against Japanese attacks. Now about 500,000 can be put into the Burma operation."

As a historian, Viceroy Irwin's math was good. He asked, "There are still 500,000 troops; where are they used?"

The Chief of Staff of the British Command in India replied, "Report to Your Excellency Viceroy, this is the reserve force, to support directions that may be needed."

Viceroy Irwin calculated a little and found that 500,000 Chinese troops were already in Burma, plus 500,000 reserves. The British Command in India believed that 3 million various troops were needed to defeat these 1 million Chinese troops.

As the Viceroy of India, Your Excellency Irwin felt that the Kingdom government probably wouldn't really send 1.2 million British mainland troops, so the actual troop strength was probably 2 million against 1 million. He listened to the command staff continue to narrate.

Finally, a report requesting an increase of 1.2 million troops and allowing the British Indian colonial government to use funds to form 2 million various troops was sent to London.

London felt tremendous pressure at this time. From the telegrams of the frontline troops, it was learned that the Chinese army adopted 'audacious' interspersed attacks. Those 'innumerable thin and small Chinese soldiers carried a small amount of weapons and ammunition, advanced lightly, interspersed from the junction of the British army, and began to launch attacks on the British army from all directions.'

If the British radio telegram code was deciphered by China, the troops in the Burma Theater would definitely think the British were crazy. First of all, the Chinese army had a good diet, and the officers and soldiers just had a lower body fat percentage; there was no problem of being thin and small. The average height of the British was 165 cm. When the Chinese army conscripted soldiers, the height requirement was above 165 cm. Compared with Chinese officers and soldiers, British officers and soldiers were actually slightly disadvantaged in height. If one had to choose a 'thin and small' side, it must be Britain.

As for the statement 'innumerable,' it belonged to 'feeling' rather than specific numbers. The total number of Chinese troops in Burma now was only 200,000. The number of troops launching attacks against 400,000 various British troops was only about 150,000. In terms of troop strength, the Chinese army was the inferior side.

What truly possessed the advantage was that after China adopted infantry squad and platoon tactics, the number of combat units capable of implementing attacks was about ten times that of Britain.

In the report, combat units at all levels noticed that although the British troops also had 'squad' level organization, they actually used platoons as combat units. Their command was rigid, and troop movement was slow, which in the eyes of the Republic National Defense Force was simply a crime.

Aiming at British characteristics, the National Defense Force emphasized adopting 3-man teams to implement attacks in combat command in the early stage. Although the command based on platoons was rigid, when the shooting direction was determined, the pouring firepower was quite fierce. Among the early wounded, more than half were not injured in combat but were injured by stray bullets before entering combat.

After the adjusted tactics, although it was impossible to eliminate various British troops with a small number of troops, it was surprisingly easy to pin down a regiment with a company. Other troops could gather and annihilate the divided and surrounded British troops one by one with superior firepower and troop strength.

Although the British army didn't know what kind of war they were fighting, they also began to feel that things were not going well. Because every day, several British units called for help via radio, reporting that they were fiercely attacked by a large number of Chinese troops. The distress telegrams became more and more urgent, and finally ended with 'Our army is unable to resist, is burning code books and military flags and other materials, requesting to surrender.' Although it was unknown whether those British troops were all killed or finally surrendered. Afterwards, no news was received from those British army units.

Seeing that one-fifth of the British troops had no news after reporting telegrams of having to surrender, the British Command in India had to order, 'The whole army attacks the rear to restore the traffic line as soon as possible.'

This was October 4, and on this day. Lieutenant Colonel Ma Yuteng, the former manager of the POW camp and now a regimental staff officer back in the army, was riding a bicycle. This was a specially produced mountain bicycle. The wheels were very wide, and the tires were not the 28-inch heavy-duty bicycles used in rural areas, but 29-inch military bicycles with 3-speed gears for combat.

At this time, it was an uphill slope, so the vehicle chain was hung on the largest gear, riding forward. Racks capable of carrying loads were installed on both sides of the front fork, the rear rack, and both sides of the rear rack. On these were marching equipment, logistical supplies, and weapons and ammunition. A division of troops was using such transportation tools to advance towards the Siliguri Corridor in the west.

As a regimental staff officer, Ma Yuteng also rode the same field mountain bicycle as his comrades, advancing towards the destination with the bicycle torrent of the troops.

The local people encountered along the way, except for slightly different clothes, had no difference in appearance from the officers and soldiers of the troops. Although the locals were very vigilant about this suddenly appearing army and dodged one after another. But seeing the same faces, the hostility was much smaller. After all, those who oppressed the locals in these years were the British and the Indian running dogs of the British. Moreover, for more than a year recently, news about the success of the Chinese revolution had been coming. Watching these troops marching all the way west, that was the direction where the British and Indian running dogs came from. The locals also decided not to conflict with this army for the time being.

In the past thousand years, the people living here were of East Asian descent, not traditional Indian races. The British included Burma into British India, and the Assam region was ruled by Britain. Before that, Britain also coexisted with Burma for a hundred years. This was not because the British lacked the ambition to annex Burma at that time, but because there were indeed mountain barriers between Burma and India.

North of these mountain barriers is the 20-kilometer-wide Siliguri Corridor. From a long-term strategic perspective, as long as this place is seized, the passage from the Indian region into the Assam region can be blocked. From a short-term campaign perspective, seizing this place will completely cut off the northern retreat route of the British army attacking the Chinese Expeditionary Force from the Assam region. And the southern cluster of the Expeditionary Force can go all the way south, seize Yangon, and surround the British army in the Lower Burma region.

Regimental Staff Officer Ma Yuteng knew that his division advancing so fiercely might indeed face the possibility of being attacked from both front and back by British reinforcements and British troops trying to escape. However, the opportunity was rare at the moment, and there was also the possibility of annihilating the British army in one fell swoop. If it was the latter, the National Defense Force would sit on the geographical advantage of mountains and rivers, facing the Indian region controlled by Britain directly, and the war would enter a brand-new stage. To achieve such a strategic situation, it was indeed worth the risk.

The Assam region is a basin. To the north is the highlands of South Tibet, China, and to the south is the Jaintia Hills in the Bengal region. This is a hilly area about 900 meters high. Although not a natural barrier, it is at least difficult to pass. There was no need to worry about the British army suddenly killing out from the south.

Just then, the signal corpsman in front waved the command flag and shouted to the bicycle troops rolling past him: "Enemy forces found ahead, prepare for combat."

The torrent of bicycles stopped. The vehicles were arranged neatly together, taken over by the logistics department attached to each combat unit. The combat troops took off their weapons and equipment one after another and began to assemble. The squad and platoon commanders first gathered the squads and platoons near them together, then ordered the troops to count off. Afterwards, company and battalion combat units began to call their own squads and platoons to assemble.

Those personnel mixed with other troops for various reasons also rode their bicycles at this time and headed towards their own units. Not long after, each unit completed the assembly of more than 96% of its own personnel.

After completing the assembly of the unit, the division staff had also made combat preparations. At this time, planes in the sky also appeared at an altitude of more than 1,000 meters. Although there were only three planes, they did their best to provide air reconnaissance for the troops.

Regimental Staff Officer Ma Yuteng quickly received the combat order from the division staff, marked the combat direction accurately on the map, and noted down the combat plan. After a simple meeting at the regimental headquarters, the troops adjusted the radio frequency and checked their watches. With the order given, the troops advanced rapidly towards the enemy.