JOURNEYS IN TIME 4

KyaemonAugust 31, 20105min780

Journeys in Time 2010-08-18 The Chinese Expeditionary Force (4)- Recuperating in Ramgarh

http://english.cntv.cn/program/journeysintime/20100818/103702.shtml

The soldiers in Ramgarh were relatively well provisioned, with uniforms, food and medicine. Along with the American supplies there also arrived a large contingent of American army officers. Stilwell had arranged for them to take command of the Chinese army from the battalion level up. But would the plan work?

Apart from bring well supplied with new weapons, the Chinese expeditionary force in India enjoyed another key advantage; the quality of its officers and men. A large proportion of the Chinese soldiers were school graduates. And once they had gone through training, the Chinese soldiers were reckoned to be as effective on the battlefield as any of their British or American counterparts.

Outro:
By the spring of 1943, the Yunnan-Burma Road had been blocked by the Japanese for almost a year. There was a desperate need for another route to be opened, along which international aid could be sent into China. This need made it imperative to launch a counter-attack into Burma and open up a road from India to China. Under the command of General Sun Liren, the Chinese expeditionary force, now fully armed and provisioned, left Ramgarh and headed for Ledo in India.