In the last few weeks, we’ve been covering a wide range of events that were happening in the
Pacific War, from Ceylon in the Indian Ocean to the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific.
But one of the regions that we have neglected during this time is none other than Burma,
which saw heavy fighting during these last few weeks as the victorious Japanese advanced towards
the Burma Road, the Chinese forces tried to stop them in their tracks and the decimated British
soldiers took new positions in defense of India. So today, we are going to cover the developments
in the Burma Road campaign, as well as the decisive actions of General Joseph Stilwell.
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The last time we left Burma, the fall of Rangoon had left the British and Burmese
defenders retreating along the Irrawaddy River. Thus, the Japanese had already fulfilled one of
their main objectives of the campaign, which was to cut off one of the main ports that
supplied the Burma Road, the last of the Chinese lifelines. After a short period of consolidation,
the 33rd Division then began its pursuit of the fleeing and decimated British units on March 12,
while the 55th Division headed to the Sittang valley to directly advance on Toungoo.
In the meantime, as we’ve seen, the Japanese also began an operation for the naval transportation
of two full divisions , among other units and supplies, which would be carried out across
March and April by Admiral Ozawa’s fleet. Both divisions would travel to the Sittang valley,
with the 56th Division tasked to go further east towards Taunggyi while the 18th Division
remained in reserve. On the other hand, General Alexander had the mission to hold Upper Burma
as long as possible to cover the oil fields at Yenangyaung and to keep contact with the Chinese.
In that regard, the remnants of the Burma Army had taken positions on Prome,
with the 1st Burma Division coming from Toungoo to reinforce them.
They were placed under the recently-formed Burma Corps, commanded by Lieutenant-General William
Slim, which was only reinforced with a British battalion and a handful of planes . After the
disastrous Indian Ocean Raid, there were still fears of a possible Japanese invasion of Ceylon
or India, so the British therefore decided to reinforce these places instead.
And speaking of the Chinese, General Stilwell’s CEF had taken positions on the Shan States and
across the Burma Road , with the 200th Division assuming the responsibility of defending Toungoo
by March 8. Although the 5th and 6th Armies were considered the best among the Chinese,
the soldiers were inadequately-equipped, and some even poorly-trained,
but they compensated with their long experience fighting against the Japanese. At Toungoo,
Major-General Dai Anlan established an outpost at Oktwin a few km to the south and also sent a
small detachment to the banks of the Kan River with the task of delaying the Japanese advance.
Stilwell’s plan was to immediately reinforce the 200th with the other Chinese divisions in the 5th
Army, but the American general immediately found himself at odds with his troops,
who refused to follow his commands and instead obeyed those of Lieutenant-General Luo Zhuoying.
Chiang Kai-Shek, who was Supreme Commander of the China Theater, had actually appointed Luo to truly
command the Chinese troops and to carry out his orders, so Stilwell’s position as head of the CEF
was merely symbolic . Despite this, he managed to cooperate with Luo and convince the Generalissimo
to send the 22nd Division and a detachment of the Temporary-55th Division towards Toungoo,
although the 96th Division was to keep safeguarding Mandalay.
Thus, an imaginary line was established from Prome to Toungoo; and if one of these positions fell,
the other would be left too exposed. Yet despite Stilwell’s actions,
the reinforcements would fail to arrive in time , so Dai would have to face the full might of the
55th Division by himself. On March 18, the first engagement occurred as the Japanese reconnaissance
of the 143rd Regiment advanced on a bridge over the Kan River. There, the Chinese ambushed them
and eventually forced them to retreat after inflicting many casualties. By night, however,
the Japanese returned and slowly started to push the defenders back. The following day,
the invaders had already captured Pyu and were preparing to attack Dai’s outpost at Oktwin.
On March 20, the Chinese Motorized Cavalry Regiment made a last delaying position north
of Pyu to allow Dai’s timber fortifications to be completed. In result, the cavalry
suffered enormous casualties and had to retreat directly to Toungoo, but the time they bought
eventually paid off, as on March 22, the 112th Regiment finally started its assault on Oktwin,
but made little progress against the staunch resistance of the entrenched Chinese battalion.
To force them to retreat, the Japanese sent their cavalry around the left flank of the defenders,
but another Chinese battalion in reserve counterattacked and managed to stabilize the
frontline. A heavy bombardment and several assaults followed in the next few days,
but the Chinese could not be pushed back. Only a second flanking maneuver on March 23,
this time against the right side of the Chinese, could put some heavy pressure over the defenders.
The Chinese then continued to resist until nightfall and finally fell back
to their main line on Toungoo by March 24. But that same day, as the Chinese retreated,
the 143rd Regiment, with the help of the local Burmese, got to advance through the jungles
west of Toungoo towards the north of the city, capturing the lightly defended Kyungon airfield
and thus encircling Dai’s men. This forced the Chinese general to concentrate his men within
the city walls of Toungoo , with his headquarters moving to the eastern back of the Sittang River
to secure an escape route eastwards. At dawn on March 25, the Japanese commenced their assault
against all three sides of the city, trying to force the defenders towards the Sittang,
where they would be annihilated. The besieged Chinese again offered staunch resistance,
but by night, some Japanese troops had infiltrated the northwestern part of the city.
The following day, a renewed Japanese assault managed to take the southwestern corner of the
city, but failed to make further progress due to the large amount of losses. Chinese
counterattacks against the lost territories also failed and costed many lives for the defenders,
something that allowed the invaders to secure the whole western part of the city.
A heavy bombardment of the remaining Chinese positions followed in the next days,
which inflicted heavy casualties on the defenders, but the Japanese couldn’t capitalize on this
as they had suffered many losses as well. On March 26, the 22nd Division also arrived to the north of
Yedashe to relieve the besieged 200th Division, thus threatening the position of the 143rd
Regiment and forcing them to send a battalion to block the advance of the Chinese soldiers.
Yet to Stilwell’s surprise, the 22nd refused to follow his commands and attack the invaders,
as Chiang had instructed them never to go on the offensive. Two days later, with the 22nd still
not moving, the Japanese were reinforced with some heavy field artillery, with which they managed to
destroy many Chinese strongpoints. Despite this, the fierce defenders continued to hold on to their
positions on the eastern side of the city. But at the same time, the 56th Division finally arrived
to support the attack on Toungoo and then continue their drive towards the Shan States. During the
night of March 28, the 56th moved to the eastern bank of the Sittang River at Wagyi and headed
towards Dai’s headquarters. If this position fell, then the 200th would be completely encircled,
so the general sent a battalion to reinforce the defenders there. The tenacious Chinese soldiers
fiercely resisted against the simultaneous assaults of the 55th and 56th Divisions,
but by March 29, opposition on the eastern bank of the Sittang had been overrun. Facing complete
annihilation, Dai then had no other choice but to order the withdrawal of his troops to the east and
then to the north along the river. By nightfall, the Chinese began to move out of Toungoo after a
12 days-long stubborn defense of the city - yhe longest defense of the entire allied campaign.
On March 30, as the battered 200th Division joined the 22nd Division at Yedashe,
the Japanese finally occupied the city and ended the hard-fought and costly Battle of Toungoo.
Meanwhile, the 33rd Division had amassed in front of Prome by March 27. To relieve pressure over the
Chinese, General Alexander had sent some forces under Brigadier Cowan to attack the invaders,
capturing Paungde by March 29. Yet they quickly found themselves encircled and, after the Chinese
retreat from Toungoo, they had to fight their way back to Prome leaving vehicles and equipment
behind. The loss of strength suffered in the retreat forced Alexander and Slim to push back
all their forces closer to Prome , where efforts were still being made to transport vast stores
of supplies and resources to Mandalay. Even worse, they had lost air support after a series of strong
air raids against Magwe that forced the British to evacuate their aircraft towards Chittagong.
With Toungoo lost and his forces weakened, Alexander then met with General Wavell and
explained to him the situation, with both men agreeing that there was no point in holding Prome.
But before the British could retreat, the 215th Regiment launched its first probing attacks
on April 1. This attack was so successful that the Indians were left panicking and,
in their confusion, the whole 63rd Indian Brigade withdrew from the town, causing a domino effect
in which all the British forces began to pull back from Prome towards Nawin Chaung.
By April 2, the British had taken new positions on Allanmyo, but Alexander knew that they had to keep
retreating northwards. Thus, he decided to further withdraw to a new line ranging from Minhla to
Taungdwingyi just in front of Magwe, successfully establishing defensive positions there by April 8.
In the meantime, Stilwell had traveled to Chongqing
to demand Chiang either to relieve him or to grant him independent command over the CEF.
In response, the Generalissimo quickly appeased him, granting him the full authority he
requested and even suggesting to go to Burma to make that clear for the Chinese officers.
With his desired authority secured, Stillwell now planned to stop the Japanese advance at Pyinmana.
By April 6, this position would be held by the 96th Division, covered by the battered
200th Division to the northeast of the town and with the 22nd Division falling back slowly from
Yedashe towards the northwest of Pyinmana. Once the invaders had engaged the 96th, then
the three divisions would launch a coordinated counterattack to destroy the enemy forces. Yet
the British retreat completely ruined his plans, forcing him to stop any offensive preparations.
Furthermore, Alexander requested a Chinese division to defend Taungdwingyi, and although
Stilwell had agreed to his request, none was sent due to the disillusionment of the Chinese towards
the British defenders. Meanwhile, General Iida expected that the Chinese would seek a decisive
engagement south of Mandalay, so he had decided to send the 56th Division eastwards to encircle
the defenders and take Lashio while the 18th and 55th Divisions advanced towards Mandalay and the
33rd continued up the Irrawaddy to annihilate Burma Army. Immediately, the 56th Division of
Lieutenant-General Watanabe Masao crossed the Sittang River and in the next few days overran a
small Chinese garrison at Mawchi, thus forcing the Temporary-55th Division to pull back to Bawlake.
To counter the Japanese offensive, Stilwell sent the 93rd Division to reinforce the poorly-trained
55th and Chiang ordered forward the 66th Army to Mandalay, but both forces would
arrive way too late. Watanabe had already sent some companies to encircle the 55th,
and on April 17, his forces fell on the Chinese and routed them . Three days later,
the Japanese had gotten to Loikaw and Taunggyi unopposed with the road to Lashio completely
open. At the same time, the 33rd Division of General Sakurai was also making rapid progress.
After repelling the first Japanese probing attacks against Kokkogwa on April 10,
Alexander rapidly saw the center of his line disintegrate as the Japanese gradually pushed
the 1st Burma Division towards Magwe, where it was decisively defeated five days later.
This left Yenangyaung extremely exposed, with the 214th Regiment establishing itself to the
north over the Pin Chaung and with the 1st Burma Division and 7th Armoured Brigade trapped inside
the town after a long withdrawal in really hot temperatures . In response, Slim ordered the
burning of the Yenangyaung oil fields and urgently asked Stilwell to send a division to save the
now-encircled British defenders. The 38th Division of Lieutenant-General Sun Li-Jen luckily was in
the area, so it was brought forward to relieve the besieged division. On the morning of April 18,
while the Burmese were outflanked and repeatedly attacked under a dense pall of smoke, the 38th
Division and the 7th Armoured Brigade tried to push back the Japanese from the Pin Chaung,
but were continuously repelled by the invaders. By afternoon, however, the Chinese attacked again
with great tenacity and got as far as Twingon, finally repelling the 214th Regiment and even
fighting into Yenangyaung itself. Surprised as they were by the fighting spirit of their allies,
the 1st Burma didn’t waste any time and got to escape from their encirclement through the
Pin Chaung by April 19. Although Sakurai’s men had suffered many casualties against the determined
Chinese soldiers, Sun finally had to order the withdrawal northwards , covering the British as
they escaped. Despite this, Stilwell and Alexander were still planning to counterattack Magwe with
the 17th Indian Division while the Chinese launched their main offensive from Pyinmana.
But upon learning that the 6th Army had been overrun and was now withdrawing eastwards
Stilwell had to scrap his offensive plans yet again. He then quickly sent the 200th Division
towards Taunggyi to stop the Japanese advance on Lashio and also ordered the 96th Division to delay
the invaders while the remaining Allied forces pulled back to Meiktila and Thazi. In doing so,
the 96th was badly beaten, suffering heavy casualties as Japanese tanks caught them on
the road on April 24. At the same time, the 66th Army had been ordered to defend Lashio,
but it failed to concentrate there in time ; and to the south, the 200th attacked Taungyyi
and defeated the Japanese garrison there. Invigorated by their victory, the 200th then
continued forward to Loilem, reaching the town on April 29, but finding the enemy already there.
Despite clearing another garrison on the town, the 148th Regiment had already entered into
Lashio on that day and the Burma Road was now in the firm hands of Matsuyama and his 56th Division.
Stilwell now had no other choice but to retreat either back to Yunnan or to India. Meanwhile,
with the deadly monsoon season approaching, Alexander and Slim had decided to do the same,
with their goal being to reach India either through Imphal or via the Hukawng valley.
This would prevent General Iida the chance to have a decisive victory and thus destroy the Burma
Army, so a race would begin in the following weeks to escape Burma or get annihilated. Next week, we
are going to take a short break to prepare for one of the most important naval battles of the entire
war, so join us in two weeks for the first carrier battle of the war: The Battle of the Coral Sea. If
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