| Battle of Yenangyaung | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theBurma campaign, theSouth-East Asian theatre of World War II, theSecond Sino-Japanese War and thePacific Theater ofWorld War II | |||||||
 The Japanese conquest of Burma (the left red arrow represents Japanese movements to Yenangyaung) | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Japan | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Sun LirenLiu Fangwu James ScottJohn Anstice | Shozo Sakurai | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
1st Burma Division7th Armoured Brigade | 33rd Division | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| [1]: 113th regiment : 1,121 112th regiment : 1,703 : 7,000 | 10,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| [1]: 113th regiment : 204 killed 318 wounded 20 missing 112th regiment : 33 killed 15 wounded | Chinese claim : 700 killed | ||||||
TheBattle of Yenangyaung (Chinese:仁安羌大捷;pinyin:Rén'ānqiāng Dàjié;lit. 'Great Victory at Yenangyaung') was fought inBurma (nowMyanmar) from 16 to 19 April 1942. As part of theBurma Campaign ofWorld War II, the battle was fought betweenChinese andBritish allied forces on one side andJapanese forces on the other. The battle took place in the vicinity ofYenangyaung and its oil fields.
The Japanese 55th Divisioninvaded Burma on 22 December 1941. Following the capture of Rangoon in March 1942, the Allies regrouped in Central Burma. The newly formedBurma Corps, which consisted of British, Indian, and locally raised Burmese troops, was commanded by Lieutenant GeneralWilliam Slim. This force aimed to defend theIrrawaddy River valley; meanwhile, theChinese Expeditionary Force in Burma protected theSittaung River valley to the east. After Japanese forcescaptured Singapore and theDutch East Indies, they were able to use divisions released due to their conquest. They also captured trucks to reinforce their army in Burma and launch attacks into Central Burma.
One objective for the Japanese forces in the Irrawaddy River valley was to capture theYenangyaung oil fields. The battle for these oil fields began on 10 April[2] and lasted a week. The Japanese attacked the1st Burma Division on the Allied right and the48th Indian Infantry Brigade at Kokkogwa at night during a storm; however, casualties stopped them.[2] On the next day, the2nd Royal Tank Regiment (2nd RTR) was engaged nearMagwe at Thadodan and Alebo. From April 13 to 17, the British forces retreated under Japanese assaults. On several occasions, Japanese roadblocks split theBurma Frontier Force (an internal security force acting as infantry), the1st Burma Division, the British7th Armoured Brigade HQ and the 2nd RTR into three forces.
On April 15, Lieutenant General Slim gave orders for the oil fields and refinery to be demolished.[3] GeneralHarold Alexander, who commanded the Burma Army, asked Lieutenant GeneralJoseph Stilwell, the American commander of theChina Burma India Theater and Chief of Staff toChiang Kai-shek, to move the New 38th Division into the Yenangyaung area immediately.
On 16 April, almost 7,000 British soldiers, along with 500 prisoners and civilians, were encircled by an equal number of Japanese soldiers from theIJA 33rd Division at Yenangyaung and its oil field.
The 33rd Division was able to advance between Slim's 17th Division at Taungdwingyi and the 1st Burma Division south of Yenangyaung. Fearing that theBurma Corps may become trapped, Slim called uponSun Liren's Chinese New 38th Division for help.[4]
General Sun requested to lead his entire division to help the 1st Burma Division, but GeneralLuo Zhuoying, the commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Burma, refused. On 17 April, General Sun led his 113th Regiment, which consisted of 1,121 men, 800 of whom were combat personnel, on the mission instead. Because the Chinese forces had no artillery or tanks, Lieutenant General Slim assigned the 7th Armoured Brigade, which was commanded byBrigadierJohn Anstice, to General Sun. The brigade consisted of two regiments (battalions) ofM3 Stuart light tanks and a battery of25-pounder guns.[5]
For the next three days, the Chinese forces attacked southwards. The temperatures reached 114 °F (46 °C) and smoke from the demolished oil wells and refineries hung over the battlefield.[6]
Meanwhile, the 1st Burma Division fought its way to and across the Pin Chaung river, where they met with the relief column on 19 April. On the next day, the Chinese forces attacked southwards toward Yenangyaung and Pin Chaung. The attack caused the Japanese to suffer casualties, but the Allied forces could not keep the oil fields and had to retreat to the north.[7] The retreat was covered by the newly-arrived 112th Regiment of the New 38th Division which engaged with Japanese forces until the following day when it joined its sister regiment in retreating from the battlefield.[1]
According to historian Louis Allen, the British were "deprived of a supply port at Rangoon, [and] then of [their] source of fuel at Yenangyaung[;] the question was no longer whether to retreat, but where to?"[4]: 70
In 2013, theMonument to the Great Victory of Yenangyaung was erected to commemorate the battle. It was promoted by Liu Weimin, the son ofLiu Fangwu, the commander of the 113th Regiment.[8]
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)20°29′41.7″N94°54′09.1″E / 20.494917°N 94.902528°E /20.494917; 94.902528
