Hong Kong Island: From a small stall to a global supplier

Myanmar Army Commander Tin Aung Min Oo huddled under the bed in his commander's concrete house, clutching his head, while outside came the continuous sound of mortar shells exploding.

He doesn't need to look; he can imagine the situation of his men outside just by listening.

The camp of over 500 people had just been filled with excitement as almost everyone rushed out to fight the 'rebels,' but instead, artillery shells rained down like a barrage of thunder. Now, the area outside the camp was like hell.

He didn't know how many people would survive this round of shelling, but the number of casualties would definitely make his heart bleed.

who is it!

Who is it!

The fact that they could deploy so many mortars means they're definitely not some small, insignificant armed group. They don't even have a full complement of guns, and even if they did have a few mortars, they wouldn't have anywhere to get so many shells.

In Jingdong, the only person he could think of who could mobilize such a large amount of firepower was Luo Xinghan.

Why did this damn guy, who's destined for hell, suddenly go crazy?!
He waited until reinforcements from the other camps arrived, then he was determined to capture Luo Xinghan and hang him!

The three rounds of shelling did not actually last long.

It wasn't that Luo Xinghan didn't want to fire more artillery; it was simply that the amount of ammunition was limited, and there would be many more engagements later on, so they had to use it sparingly.

Thirty seconds later, the roar of artillery fire ceased, and the camp was riddled with shell craters.

Forty-five mortar shells were hardly a ground attack; the vast majority of people immediately lay down. Apart from a few unlucky ones who were within the absolute lethal range and were killed, only about a hundred people were actually killed on the spot, and most of them escaped unharmed.

However, everyone was injured by the huge explosion and shockwave. Some suffered from perforated eardrums, loss of hearing, dizziness, or internal injuries and vomiting blood due to the high pressure. Many more were cut by shrapnel.

The camp had no trenches and almost no anti-artillery facilities, resulting in heavy losses.

As soon as the artillery fire stopped, the Shan State Revolutionary Army charged forward with roars within seconds. Their elite assault company, fully equipped with Type 56 assault rifles, unleashed a devastating barrage of firepower.

"Da da da"

"Da da da"

The metal storm swept wildly back and forth in the camp, and the wounded Burmese soldiers who staggered toward their dormitories were mercilessly mowed down, unable to even scream before being swept to the ground.

"Tu tu tu tu——"

"Tu tu tu tu——"

At a critical moment, a light machine gun inside a well-preserved wooden and stone bunker of the Burmese army in the camp began to spew fire, and a storm of metal swept across the area, catching the assault company off guard.

"Lie down!"

"Take cover!"

Several assault team members were shot down on the spot, and the people around them swarmed towards the blind spots on both sides of the gun barrel like ants that had been blown apart.

On the other side, in a wooden and stone fortress that had collapsed by nearly half, a Burmese soldier with a face covered in blood wiped his face, struggled to grab a light machine gun, and began firing as well.

"Tu tu tu tu——"

The machine gun bunker unleashed its power, instantly suppressing the momentum of the charging assault company.

"Rocket launchers!" Commander Wu Dengsheng roared twice, "Take down the fortress!"

"Machine gunner, machine gunner, cover!"

The Burmese army's outposts are not easy to attack, and U Thein Sein was prepared for that, so he was not flustered.

"Tu tu tu tu——"

"Tu tu tu tu——"

With Wang Yaotang's support, each platoon was equipped with two 56 light machine guns, and two were assigned to each of the two bunkers. When the 7.62 NATO rounds were fired, the bunkers made of stone and mud were immediately riddled with flying stone chips, especially near the firing ports, where the smoke and dust made it impossible to see anything.

Many bullets even penetrated the weak points of the mud seal of the fortress and went in. If the area around the firing port had not been specially reinforced, the machine gunner would have been killed by now!

However, with two machine gun bunkers in front, the Burmese soldiers who had fled back to the dormitory area and found cover were finally able to catch their breath. However... the fierce counterattack that Tin Aung Min Wu had imagined did not materialize, and most of the people who escaped back lost their guns.

With machine gun suppression, the two men carrying 40mm guns successfully completed their aiming.

"Whoosh!" "Boom!"

"Whoosh!" "Boom!"

At a distance of less than 40 meters, one out of two shots hit the fixed target, which was the size of a fortress. The intact fortress was like a turtle whose box had been opened; the entire lid was blown off, leaving only a small section of the wall as a ruin.

Although the other bunker, which had been half-collapsed by artillery fire, was not directly hit, the shockwave from the explosion sent the people inside flying.

Once the two machine gun bunkers were shut down, the firepower of the Type 56 light machine guns extended towards the dormitory area.

"Go! Go! Go! All of you, get up here!" Wu Dengsheng roared. "You only have 10 minutes. Support from other stations will be coming soon!"

Under fire cover, the assault company spread out and crept forward.

The Burmese army's outpost was built at considerable expense, with 12 thick layers of standard red bricks and yellow mud. However, this thickness was simply insufficient against the full power of 7.62mm rounds. Machine guns swept through it directly, and the Burmese soldiers hiding behind it were instantly knocked to the ground.

More than 200 people were trapped inside the building. They had an overwhelming numerical advantage and were protected by cover, but most of them were lying on the ground with their heads covered, and the firepower they could return was sporadic.

Seeing that he was sure he couldn't hold out any longer, Ding Aung Min Wu immediately ordered the nearby Burmese troops to gather and protect him as he broke through the encirclement.

support?

There was no need to call out; Jingdong wasn't a large area, and the other camps couldn't possibly miss it. He just didn't want reinforcements to find him as a corpse.

"Grenades! Grenades! Throw them in there!"

"boom!"

"boom!"

"boom!"

Wu Dengsheng needs to use the 40mm rockets sparingly, but not the hand grenades; he heard from above that there are as many of those as needed.

As the dormitories were being demolished one by one, Wu Dengsheng was in high spirits. He was also a hawk in Luo Xinghan's team. Taking over the entire Jingdong would benefit everyone.

With a loud "bang!", a pickup truck crashed through the wall and sped out, followed closely by two more. The machine guns mounted on the back of the trucks were firing wildly at the front and sides. In just over ten seconds, the three vehicles carved a bloody path through the fence and rushed out.

Wu Dengsheng didn't even have time to react and watched helplessly as the other side broke through the encirclement and escaped.

He cursed, but wasn't too bothered. He was clearly the camp commander; he wouldn't die so easily.

There were mortars and 40mm rockets coming from this side. The explosions woke up the other three camps, and they couldn't contact each other for a while, but they had to be rescued no matter what.

The three camps communicated briefly and each sent over a hundred people to the rescue. It wasn't that they didn't want more, but they didn't have enough vehicles. If they had to walk there, they would only be able to collect the bodies.

Leading the way were two Mazda Pathfinder XV-1 pickup trucks (as shown in the picture).
Behind the pickup truck were seven or eight hand-operated tractors, their diesel engines clattering, and in the back of the truck were about a dozen Burmese soldiers.

This is already the most advanced motorized technology...

In 1970, Mazda had an assembly plant in Myanmar specifically for the country.

……

"They're here, they're here!" On a three-story building not far from the northern camp of the Burmese army, Luo Xinghan stood on the roof with binoculars, and Peng Jiasheng stood next to him.

In this joint operation, the two of them will definitely be in command on the front line!
Furthermore, after completely controlling Jingdong, Peng Jiasheng also wants to get involved here. The transaction with Wang Yaotang will pass through Jingdong, and completely opening up the lifeline is very important to Peng Jiasheng. It is not entirely to force Luo Xinghan to take sides completely.

"Notify the artillery company that the target is about to enter the designated range; prepare to fire!"

"Yes, General!"

"Calling artillery company, this is the command center. The rebels in the west of the city are about to enter the pre-set range. Prepare to fire!"

"Artillery Battery received."

Of all the support provided to these three individuals in Shan State, the most effective so far has been a batch of walkie-talkie equipment, the TBR-120A.

Communication is the most important capability on the battlefield, bar none.

TBR-120A from Shanghai Radio Factory No. 2: Backpack transceiver, weighing 5.5 kg, easy for soldiers to carry, with output power of 6W and 1W. When using a 2.9-meter antenna and 6W output, the typical communication range on flat terrain is 10 to 30 kilometers.

Wang Yaotang didn't provide the American products he used, which has nothing to do with whether they were expensive or not. The products from his hometown are cheap and durable, which is also a reflection of TZ's value.

This time, with the coordinates pre-set for unprotected vehicles and personnel, the artillery battery no longer needed to conduct test firings.

Gunner: "First group, to your positions! Prepare to fire!"

"Target: Rebels, distance 740 meters, set parameters!"

"Azimuth 075 - 38, firing angle 40 degrees 10 minutes, charge number 3, fuse to fire instantly!"

Gunner: "Azimuth 075 - 38, firing angle 40 degrees 10 minutes, propellant charge #3, fuse detonation instantaneous, confirmed!"

Gunner: "First group, five salvos, fire! Fire! Fire!"

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

The sharp whistling sound of mortar shells flying through the air was completely drowned out by the 'clattering' engine of the tractor.

“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!”

Caught completely off guard by the sudden and fierce artillery barrage, the Burmese reinforcements were instantly engulfed by the shockwaves and shrapnel from the explosions. Limbs and severed bodies flew everywhere, and before screams could even be heard, the entire convoy was brought to a standstill, resulting in heavy casualties for the Burmese army!

The indirect fire and short bursts of concentrated fire from mortars are extremely effective against unprotected targets!
The shelling had just ended when a company lying in ambush nearby quickly surrounded them.

"Da da da"

"Da da da"

"boom!"

"boom!"

Machine gun fire, coupled with hand grenades, relentlessly decimated the Burmese army.

"Good, good, good, well done!" Luo Xinghan waved his arms fiercely from the rooftop.

"Observer, report the coordinates of the other two Burmese army units, fire!" Peng Jiasheng wasn't particularly excited, but immediately gave the order.

The other two support teams have not yet entered their designated positions, but that's okay, this situation is also within the plan, the pre-set positions are segmented.

The renewed artillery fire startled the other two Burmese reinforcements. The lead Mazda pickup truck quickly slammed on the brakes. Judging from the direction of the explosion, it wasn't coming from the northern camp. A thought popped into the mind of the company commander, filling his face with terror.

The attackers had an ambush!
This is a strategy of besieging a point to attack reinforcements!

"Quickly, stop the car and find cover!" the Burmese army company commander shouted at the top of his lungs.

The hasty shouts, the last-minute changes to the orders, and the distant sound of artillery fire—a series of unexpected events combined to plunge the already disorganized Burmese army into complete chaos.

The Burmese army company commander felt a chill run down his spine just from turning his head to look. "Don't stop! I didn't fucking tell you to stop! Run! Get out of there! I told you to step on the gas!"

Gunner: "Second group, on your marks! Prepare to fire!"

"Target: Rebels, distance 640 meters, set parameters!"

"Azimuth 069 - 43, firing angle 42 degrees 10 minutes, charge number 3, fuse to fire instantly!"

Gunner: "Azimuth 069 - 43, firing angle 42 degrees 10 minutes, propellant charge 3, fuse detonation instantaneous, confirmed!"

Gunner: "Second group, five salvos, fire! Fire! Fire!"

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

Gunner: "Third group, to your positions! Prepare to fire!"

"Target: Rebels, distance 850 meters, set parameters!"

"Azimuth 082 - 43, firing angle 52 degrees 8 minutes, charge number 3, fuse to fire instantly!"

Gunner: "Azimuth 082 - 43, firing angle 52 degrees 8 minutes, propellant charge 3, fuse detonation instantaneous, confirmed!"

Gunner: "Third group, five salvos, fire! Fire! Fire!"

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

63式 60毫米迫击炮射速为每分钟 30发左右，5轮齐射不过10秒而已，根本不会给敌军多少反应时间。

“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!”

After the artillery barrage, the Shan State Revolutionary Army, which had been lying in ambush more than 100 meters away, emerged from the building and quickly carried out a second round of harvesting!

"Perfect!"

"Damn, perfect!" Luo Xinghan laughed loudly. "We've lost nearly half our manpower and most of our vehicles. That guy Ruiman must be going crazy now."

“They still have 1200 men left, so it won’t be easy to fight them from here,” Peng Jiasheng said with a smile.

"Our courage has been lost, so there's nothing to fear!" Luo Xinghan seemed quite confident.

……

On the other side, at Jingdong West Camp.

Reiman stood in the command room with a gloomy face. The sound of artillery fire could no longer be heard, but the gunfire continued unabated.

"Signal soldier, still can't get in touch?"

"I'm sorry, General."

"Damn it!" Reman slammed his hand on the table. "Send men out to build defenses and gather the defeated soldiers. I need to know what's wrong with Luo Xinghan."

"It's impossible that only someone surnamed Luo was involved in this attack. Were Peng Jiasheng and Zhang Qifu also involved?"

How many rebels are there outside?

"What is the firepower configuration?"

"Get this straight right now!"

"Order the eastern and southern camps to extend their positions 500 meters outwards, block the streets, and conduct thorough internal checks to prevent the rebels from infiltrating!"

"What are you standing there for? Go and relay the order!"

"Yes, sir!" The messenger hurriedly saluted and ran off.

"General," the adjutant approached and whispered, "Should we request reinforcements from Dongzhi?"

Reiman pursed his lips, thought for a moment, and shook his head, saying, "I'll report to them personally in a bit. There's no need to ask for help for now. It'll be a fucking week before they get any reinforcements!"

“If Luo Xinghan really has joined forces with Zhang Qifu…” Reiman pursed his lips, “gather all the vehicles and be ready at any time.”

As the highest-ranking official in East Shan State, he cannot simply wait here to die with a bunch of ordinary soldiers.

The government army is mostly composed of Burmese people. Due to the British actions and the military government's "Greater Burmese" policy, ethnic tensions are very high, and government soldiers who are captured will not have a good ending.

Of course, it wouldn't have been a massacre.

The adjutant nodded slightly and was about to go out to make arrangements when the door to the command room was pushed open from the outside, and Ding Angmin Wu walked in looking disheveled.

"What's wrong with you! You came back here, leaving the troops behind!" Ryman stepped forward and slapped him twice across the face.

“I’m sorry, sir.” Ding Angmin Wu lowered his head.

The slap was meant to be seen by everyone; it's impossible to lose a battle and abandon your troops without punishment.

But Rehman was prepared to run if things got too bad. He needed to bring these trusted confidants with him as the core of his comeback team; he couldn't just shoot them all.

"Who attacked you? How could you have been defeated so quickly!" Reman asked coldly.

"It's not that we're unwilling to fight to the death, it's just that the enemy is too cunning!" Ding Angmin said with a mournful face, "The enemy initially launched a small-scale attack on the camp, causing chaos. In fact, they had prepared artillery well in advance. I didn't have time to give orders. The soldiers all came out to prepare for battle immediately, and then suddenly the artillery bombarded the ground..."

"It's terrible, so terrible!" Ding Angmin burst into tears.

The people in the command center felt a chill run down their spines. If this happened to them, the outcome wouldn't be any different.

The Myanmar military's training level is just so-so; it's normal that they can't cope with unexpected events.

"Alright, get out of here!" Reiman waved his hand with a dark face. After all that talk, he hadn't brought back a single piece of information. Useless!
Taking a deep breath, Reiman said in a deep voice, "Dig trenches and anti-artillery pits in the camp, and also dig the street positions in front. Pile up more sandbags. It's just a few mortars. Why are you so scared? This thing is only good for a surprise attack!"

Yes, it's just a mortar. They also have real cannons. What's so scary about it!

In terms of equipment, they are definitely stronger than those rebels.

News came back from the outside one by one. The troops that went out to provide support were almost completely wiped out. Only a few men and artillerymen returned. The situation at the North Camp was similar. Of the more than 800 men, less than 40 returned alive. Perhaps some others had escaped, but it was too late.

At this point, Lo Hsing Han stopped pretending. The Shan State Revolutionary Army openly raised its banner and occupied the northern part of the city. In the occupied area, it spread the slogan "Drive out Burmese rule, Shan State is the Shan State of the Shan people". The 3000-strong army directly surrounded the Burmese army's eastern camp, showing a posture of launching an attack at any time.

In the Eastern Camp, Chin Nyu shouted into the phone, "General Rehman, General Rehman, my troops are completely surrounded! Requesting reinforcements! Requesting reinforcements!"

"Stay calm, hold the line. Don't listen to their boasting. Where did they get 3000 men? Do they have that much ammunition? Can they even deploy that many on the battlefield? At most, they can only launch an attack with 200 men at a time. Dig trenches, hold the camp, they can't break through!" Reiman reassured him in a deep voice, "The western and southern camps will try their best to tie down Luo Xinghan's forces, I..."

"Hey, hey, hey!"

The receiver was constantly busy, clearly indicating that the line had been cut. Ryman angrily slammed down the phone.

The entire communication system in Myanmar is extremely backward, especially in East Shan State, where technology from World War II is still in use, with hand-cranked phone numbers, and this is only for communication within cities.

Telegraph machines are needed to travel between cities.

The Burmese army only has 1200 men now. It's obvious that Luo Xinghan and Peng Jiasheng are taking advantage of their small numbers and want to defeat them one by one.

If Ruiman dares to come out to rescue, then we will be besiege the enemy's stronghold and attack their reinforcements; if he doesn't dare, then we will slowly break through the eastern camp!
Chin Nyu slammed the telephone to the ground, jumping up and down and shouting angrily, "Go to hell with your support! Do you think I'm stupid? How many days will it take to move troops from Taunggyi? By the time they arrive, my body will be rotting away!"

"What do we do, Commander?" The deputy was equally anxious, his forehead covered in sweat.

"I fucking..." Chin Nyu took a deep breath, "I told them that two large camps were preparing to provide relief, and that we would work together from the inside to defeat Luo Xinghan's rebel army. I told those bastards to go out and dig trenches for me, ready to deal with the rebels' artillery fire at any time!"

"We're really, really waiting for rescue?" The deputy was dumbfounded.

"Wait your mother's head!" Chin Nyu kicked his adjutant in the leg. "Hold the hell out for now, we'll break out tonight."

"No, not today. Luo Xinghan will definitely be on guard. We'll wait until tomorrow night to break through." (End of Chapter)