One day in February 1945, on the eastern shore of the Bay of Bengal, nearly 1,000 Japanese soldiers were surrounded by flocks of hungry crocodiles, and the Japanese army was suddenly overwhelmed, and almost completely annihilated.
So, how did this group of Japanese troops reach Langley Island in the Bay of Bengal? How could a pack of crocodiles devour a well-equipped, heavily armed and powerful Japanese army?
Japanese army in Burma
This must begin with the Japanese invasion of Burma during World War II.
As we all know, during World War II, Japan extended its invasion claws almost to the whole of Southeast Asia. Wherever the Japanese army appeared, it would cry out everywhere, bringing deep disaster to the local people. However, wherever there is aggression, there is resistance. People all over the world hated the invading Japanese army and fought back one after another, dealing a fatal blow to the invaders.
The Japanese army swept through Southeast Asia
In the early 1940s, Japan successfully attacked Pearl Harbor, which led to the outbreak of the Pacific War. Less than a month later, Japan invaded most of Southeast Asia, and the war spread to Burma. The combined Chinese and British forces united and, together with the Burmese people, launched a powerful counterattack against the invading Japanese forces.
The war lasted until February 1945, when the Pacific War was coming to an end. The arrogance of the arrogant Japanese army was almost crushed. The Japanese army that invaded Burma was also trapped in the poor mountains and rivers and was eager to withdraw its troops.
The Japanese army in a land of poor mountains and bad waters
On the 19th, a fleeing Japanese army of more than 1,000 people tried to flee from the sea after being cut off from the sea by the Allies of China, Britain, and Burma. However, this Japanese fleet was discovered by the patrol British fleet in the Bay of Bengal.
The battle was imminent, and the desperate Japanese army could not withstand the fierce artillery fire of the British army. After a burst of artillery fire, several Japanese frigates were directly sunk by the British. Two transport ships laden with Japanese troops fled into the wilderness, and the British army took advantage of the victory to pursue, forcing the Japanese army into a desperate situation. At this time, the panicked Japanese army accidentally broke into the swamp of Langley Island. What kind of place is Langley?
The British forces in World War II forced the Japanese to Langley Island
Langley Island is located on the east coast of the Bay of Bengal. Although it is inaccessible, it has beautiful scenery. The blue sea is mesmerizing, but there are dangers lurking around it – deep swamps are everywhere. Even more frightening is the swamp inhabited by herds of crocodiles, who from time to time open their bloody mouths and stare at everything around them. All kinds of creatures that mistakenly enter the swamp, without exception, eventually become the crocodile's plate.
Langley Crocodile
When the Japanese were chased to Langley Island, it was already dusk. The British knew the danger on the island and the army decided to stop pursuing. They had to strengthen patrols and surveillance on the periphery to seal off the island and prevent the Japanese from escaping under the cover of night.
More than 1,000 exhausted and hungry Japanese soldiers struggled through the swamp. Waist-deep mud makes them move very slowly. A small number of Japanese troops were exhausted and could not get out of the swamp, so they sank into the deep mud and gradually submerged.
Japanese troops resting on the edge of the swamp
By the time most of the Japanese troops climbed the coast, it was already completely dark. At this time, the Japanese army was extremely tired and fell asleep on the shore. Only a few sentries remained to monitor the movements of the British army to prevent the British from attacking in the middle of the night. The island is quiet and cold at night. It seems far from the smoke of war. The sentry Japanese soldiers could not hold on and fell asleep in a daze. Suddenly, he was awakened by a strange noise in the swamp. From time to time there was a fierce rumbling sound in the water, as if someone were constantly emerging from the water.
The sentry immediately stood up to check, and he broke out in a cold sweat. In the calm swamp during the day, countless crocodiles suddenly appeared and scrambled to the shore.
It turned out that it was because the rumbling of gunfire during the day frightened the bloodthirsty guys, and they all dived to the bottom of the water. At night, the blood of the Japanese wounded attracted crocodiles around the island. They smelled the smell and surrounded the Japanese army deadly.
The crocodile opened its blood basin and opened its mouth
Before the Japanese sentries could sound the alarm to the soldiers, the soldiers sleeping by the water's edge had already been attacked by crocodiles. Immediately after, the crazy crocodiles in the swamp launched a surprise attack on the sleeping Japanese army, and the screams of the Japanese army, the drowning of soldiers, the sound of crocodile fighting, gunshots, sword stabbing and crocodile rolling in the mud were intertwined, and the crocodile's human flesh feast was obtained.
When the British maritime forces heard the gunshots, they quickly dispatched reconnaissance ships to check the situation and entered combat mode. Curiously, however, despite the shootings fired on the island, there was no sign of the Japanese troops fleeing. This puzzled the British army. Did the Japanese army clash internally or was it attacked by other Allied forces? After an emergency verdict on the Part of the British, the army decided not to land on the island for the time being. They only needed to seal the escape route of the Japanese army firmly, and the remaining Japanese army could not escape from the Hands of the British.
Overseeing the British Army
It was late at night, the gunfire and noise on the island gradually subsided, and everything returned to calm.
At dawn, the confused British army could not wait to send a small reconnaissance force to the island to conduct reconnaissance activities.
When the British army landed on the island, they were shocked by what they saw. The entire coast and swamp are full of mutilated corpses of Japanese soldiers, and the island is full of blood on the guns and bayonet weapons discarded by the Japanese army, as well as various weapons that can be used to attack crocodiles, such as belts, lunch boxes, helmets, etc. The Japanese army can be said to have done everything in their power. Of course, the crocodile also suffered heavy casualties, leaving dozens of corpses.
The swamps are miserable
The whole swamp was stained red with blood, and it was particularly dazzling in the morning sun.
However, there were still about 20 Japanese soldiers who escaped, but they were all frightened, pale and incoherent, and became prisoners of the British army.