Jungle Citadel

As part of the multi-pronged drive to re-open the northern end of the Burma Road, the Chinese New 1st Army had pushed south to the river port of Bhamo, the terminus of navigation on the Irrawaddy. The Japanese had spent some six months turning it into a fortress. …

1944-12-09

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As part of the multi-pronged drive to re-open the northern end of the Burma Road, the Chinese New 1st Army had pushed south to the river port of Bhamo, the terminus of navigation on the Irrawaddy. The Japanese had spent some six months turning it into a fortress. Tasked to capture the city were the veteran jungle-fighters of the Chinese 38th Division, now confronted by an entirely new type of combat. The initial attacks of its 113th Infantry Regiment got nowhere. However, north of Bhamo, the 114th, with only half the support but a more aggressive and imaginative commander, pushed into the Japanese defenses and held firm. The air and artillery assets were shifted to him, and he proceeded to the next phase of his break-in.

Bhamo, Burma

The fighting in the Burma campaign in 1944 was among the most severe in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II. It took place along the borders between Burma and India, and Burma and China, and involved the British Commonwealth, Chinese and United States forces, against the forces of Imperial Japan and the Indian National Army. British Commonwealth land forces were drawn primarily from the United Kingdom, British India and Africa. The Allies had overcome the logistic and organisational difficulties which had crippled their earlier efforts, and they were preparing to invade Japanese-occupied Burma at several widely separated points. The Japanese forestalled them by launching their own offensive into India, and this offensive became larger in scope than originally intended. By the end of the year, the Allies had achieved significant territorial gains only in one sector, the extreme north-east of Burma, but the Japanese attack on India had been defeated with very heavy casualties. This handicapped the Japanese attempts to defend Burma against renewed Allied offensives in the following year.

Chinese

Japanese

Scenario Type = Standard