Does anyone know the detailed information about the expeditionary force’s defense battle with the ancients? The more detailed the better.

The Japanese army captured Yangon in January 1942. On March 19, 1942, under the leadership of Dai Anlan, the commander of the 200th Division, the Tonggu Campaign was launched. Chiang Kai-shek’s plan was to use the 200th Division to defend Tonggu at all costs. Buy time to cover the main force of the expeditionary force to gather in the Tonggu area. The main force of the 5th Army was delayed in gathering, causing the 200 Division to suffer heavy losses. However, because the Chinese were unwilling to attack and only wanted to preserve their strength, the British army left the right Hebei area empty, causing the Japanese army to surround the 200 Division, leaving it alone and without support. . The 200th Division took the initiative to withdraw from Tonggu.

The 200th Division (Division Commander Dai Anlan), the vanguard of the 5th Army entering Myanmar, is a mechanized and equipped unit that has repeatedly made extraordinary achievements in the War of Resistance Against Japan. It entered Myanmar first and has high morale. The military transport trucks were covered with slogans written in Chinese and Burmese languages: "The Chinese army is here to defend the people of Burma!" "Strengthen Sino-British military cooperation!" "Myanmar is China's best neighbor!" "Expulsion Japanese pirates, showing off their power in foreign lands! "Win glory for the country, and never give back if you win!"

On March 7, 1942, the 200th Division traveled day and night to reach the front line of the battle. Tonggun is 250 kilometers away from Yangon in the south and 320 kilometers away from Mandalay in the north. It is an important city and strategic location on the Yangon-Mangan Railway. There is also Keyongang (Kaidao) Airport in the northwest, which is a place that the Japanese army "must quickly occupy". We believe that it echoes with Prome on the western front and Moltke on the eastern front, forming a barrier to prevent the Japanese army from invading the north. Especially after the fall of Yangon on March 8, the battle for Tonggu became even more important.

The British-Burmese 1st Division stationed in the Tonggu area was extremely rustic. It neither understood the enemy's situation nor prepared for a battle. It was only prepared to retreat safely and preserve its strength. On March 18, the Japanese army advanced towards Tonggu, and the British army withdrew to Prome at the same time. Starting from the 19th, the 112th Regiment of the Japanese 55th Division launched an attack on Tonggu. The 143rd Regiment entered the battle on the 20th. The two sides fought fiercely for 12 days. The Japanese army was hit by a fierce force they had not encountered since the beginning of the Pacific War. resistance.

Because the British army on the Western Front never took active actions to cooperate, and coupled with delays from the British side, the follow-up troops of the Chinese Expeditionary Force failed to be transported to the Tonggu front line as planned. The 200th Division fought hard for 12 days and suffered 2,000 casualties. The remaining men were short of food and ammunition inside and had no reinforcements outside. Facing an enemy four times their size after reinforcements, they were trapped in an isolated city and the situation was critical.

Du Yuming believed, “Under this situation, our army cannot concentrate its main force to engage in a decisive battle with the enemy in order to break the siege of Tonggu. However, if it lasts for a long time, the enemy who lands in Yangon will inevitably participate in the battle with Tonggu and sit down for the first time. The 200th Division was annihilated by the enemy. If this happened, our expeditionary force would be defeated one by one by the enemy, and there was a risk of the entire army being annihilated. Therefore, I decided to order the 200th Division to break out on the evening of the 29th to preserve our army's combat strength and prepare for another attack. A decisive battle with the enemy at another time and place." So the 200th Division, under the command of Dai Anlan, broke through safely without losing a single wounded soldier.

The Tonggu Defense War was the battle with the largest scale, the longest holding time, and the largest number of enemies annihilated during the Myanmar Defense War. Moreover, under the unfavorable situation of the fall of Yangon, the enemy forces, which had superior strength, equipment and air superiority, fought hard for 12 days and annihilated more than 5,000 enemy troops, covering the retreat of the British army and buying time for the follow-up troops of the expeditionary force. The safe transfer of the entire 200th Division cannot but be said to be a great victory. The Japanese army also admitted that the 200th Division was very heroic in the Battle of Tonggu. For the Japanese army, it was the most difficult battle in the Burma Campaign.

Tonggu is a small city on the plains of southern Myanmar, also translated as Taungoo or Donggua, with a population of 110,000. Tonggu is 260 kilometers away from Yangon, and it is an important road, railway and waterway. There is also a Yongkegang military airport in the north of the city, and its strategic position is very important. The famous Tonggu War kicked off here.

On March 20, 1942, a fierce battle broke out between the 200th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and the 55th Division of the Japanese invaders in Burma outside Tonggu City. Both sides suffered heavy casualties. According to the archival materials released by the Japanese Defense Agency after the war, we were able to compare the weapons and equipment of the two combatants at that time:

Japanese 55th Division:

Soldiers: 20,259; 150 mm field guns: 36; 200 mortars; tanks and armored vehicles: 40; air support: 3 aviation squadrons.

Chinese Expeditionary Force 200th Division:

Strength: 11,000; 20 75mm field guns; 100 mortars; 3 tanks (the rest remain in La garrison); air support: none

The 12-day Tonggu War finally ended with the active withdrawal of the Chinese army. The Japanese occupied an empty city, and the Chinese troops retreated to Pyinwenna, 100 miles away. The battle is not over yet. Both China and Japan can’t wait to release battle reports in their respective capitals, claiming that they have achieved a major victory. Public opinion on both sides was aroused, and national sentiment was inspired. In fact, the losses of both sides in this battle were basically equal. The Japanese paid a heavy price to capture a ruins. Although the Chinese retreated 100 miles, they blocked the enemy's offensive. Therefore, a fair conclusion should be that both sides achieved their due victory and suffering. To the point of undeserved failure.

The Battle of Tonggu initially corrected Westerners' discrimination and prejudice against the Chinese army. Its significance in military history is almost zero, but its epistemological value unexpectedly gets a high score.

"The Biography of Dai Anlan" contains: "...the enemy chief Hideki Tojo admitted in the Japanese Parliament that the Battle of Tonggu was the most difficult battle since the siege of Lushun."

"Indian Express": "Sir Weaver: 'I thought the Chinese couldn't do anything...now it seems they can do something'."

Stilwell: "Modern times have made meritorious deeds in foreign lands. , General Dai Anlan was probably the first person to promote the reputation of the Han Dynasty."

Stilwell: "...The soldiers should not be blamed for the failure on the battlefield, but the officers. Incompetence does not mean that the army has no morale, but that the commander has no confidence."