In 1942, in order to protect the Burma Highway, an international rescue line that provided material assistance to the Nationalist government, and also to help the British army fight against the Japanese army in Southeast Asia, the Nationalist government set up a 100,000-strong Chinese Expeditionary Force to fight in Burma, but the war in Burma did not go as previously expected, and the British army all retreated to India, and the Chinese 100,000 expeditionary force became a living target for the elite division of the Japanese army in Southeast Asia. How can you be willing to be so damaged in Southeast Asia? Chiang Kai-shek ordered the Chinese Expeditionary Force to retreat back to China.
However, at this time the retreat is also difficult to ride the tiger, the Burma Road has been cut off by the Japanese army at this time, the Chinese expeditionary force wants to return all the way back to China along the Burma Road as when entering Burma, there are only two roads in front of the expeditionary force, one is to follow the defeated British army into India, and then take a detour back to China, the other way is to return to China through the Savage Mountain, the later story we are very clear, Du Yuming led 50,000 expeditionary troops into the Savage Mountain, after a long trek, only to come out of the Savage Mountain, what he did not expect was that The 100,000 expeditionary force in Burma suffered no more than 20,000 casualties, and the number of soldiers who came out of the Savage Mountain reached more than 30,000, which was even greater than the casualties in the battle.
So, what exactly made Du Yuming desperately choose the road of Savage Mountain to return to China?
First, before entering the Savage Mountain, Du Yuming did not have enough understanding of the harsh natural environment of the Savage Mountain, the Savage Mountain is full of tropical primeval forests, inaccessible, in the mouth of the local residents of northern Myanmar is the "place where the devil lives", in the early stage of his military career, not only Du Yuming, even the 50,000 expeditionary soldiers he led knew very little about the original tropical rainforest wilderness survival march, this is not simply to climb over several mountains, wading through several rivers, but a difficult trek for several months, during which to withstand the test of climate and environment Heavy rain, floods, mosquito bites, infectious diseases prevail, more terrible is the lack of water and food, if there is a full understanding, careful consideration, I believe Du Yuming will also go to India like Sun Liren.
Second, Chiang Kai-shek issued an order that no expeditionary force officer should set foot in India without his consent, why would Chiang Kai-shek have such an order, first of all, he was not on the front line, he did not know the real situation of the expeditionary force at that time, he knew less about the natural environment of Savage Mountain than Du Yuming, Du Yuming gave him two choices He would naturally choose Savage Mountain, a road that did not expect any help from the Allies, and Chiang Kai-shek was extremely "good face" in the international environment at that time, defending the war from Changde. The arrest of Yu Chengwan can be seen in the clues, how can he count on the help of the Allies at this moment, and Du Yuming is his absolute follower, whether right or wrong, Du Yuming will obey Chiang Kai-shek.
Third, the intricate command system of the expeditionary force made Du Yuming unable to choose, the Chinese expeditionary force was nominally Luo Zhuoying as commander-in-chief, Du Yuming as deputy commander-in-chief, and chief of staff Stilwell, but behind this Stilwell was US President Roosevelt, when the Chinese Expeditionary Force did not enter Burma, he repeatedly gave advice to Chiang Kai-shek, saying that it was actually Roosevelt who suppressed Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang Kai-shek was very dissatisfied with him but there was nothing he could do, then there were three obvious factions in the Chinese expeditionary force, one was that Du Yuming absolutely obeyed Chiang Kai-shek. The second is Luo Zhuoying's centrist faction, neither side can be sinned, Stilwell is American, and Stilwell very much wants to make the expeditionary force into his own unit, Sun Liren's 38th Division retreated to India, he did this, this is also paid back, so Chiang Kai-shek's strict orders, coupled with Du Yuming's vigilance against Stilwell, so he obeyed Chiang Kai-shek's orders, refused Stilwell and Luo Zhuoying's suggestion to let him retreat to India, and resolutely walked into the Savage Mountain.
The most tragic thing on the battlefield is that the non-combat attrition, 100,000 expeditionary forces into Burma to fight, wounded or killed in battle also contributed to the defense of the country, and like starvation, death, beast attacks and deaths in the Savage Mountain, they are the most tragic, I believe they will look in the direction of their hometown before death.