I think it would be a good idea to add dates to the video titles and maybe in the description as well. It would help keep track of the time period being covered in these videos. Also, maybe once you complete a year of the war, do a special video that lists and reviews your sources for those of us who are following. I am interested in seeing what you are utilizing for all of this amazing content.
At the battle of Toungoo, both sides struggled extremely hard there, as it was strategically important. it controlled access to the vast highland state (shan state) to the north (which bordering China), and to the east is Thailand border access (quite close proximity), to the south is major commercial center cities with seaports (including capital) and to the west it's connected to flatlands of upper burma. Rough terrain of mountain ranges covered with jungles making it very hard to transverse on all sides except west, so bypassing the town was almost impossible for military marching and of course, naturally its junction of both railways and roads. Fun facts: due to its unique location, it was, at one time in history, a capital of one of most powerful dynasties of Burma. There's still remnants of old "golden" palace sites and mentioned in diplomats "from the west" of their time. Sitting on important commercial crossroad, trade and tax revenue enabled kings of that dynasty to hire large contingent of Portuguese gunners. These very well paid professional mercenaries played important role in kingdom affairs of that dynasty and most prominent role being instrumental in successful conquest of Thailand by the most famous king of Taungoo (pronounce like "Tau - guu"). He was one of four giant "Kings stautes" erected by current military junta of Burma in their so called ghost town "capital" next to parade ground, for two reasons which the king being extremely successful in military campaigns (one of largest territory in Burmese history) including the siege of old capital of Thailand (the first one successfully subdued rival kingdom including modern Laos) and more importantly, of being from humble origin without royal bloodline and was chosen as king by council of Congress during succession crisis and his name (not official title) can be translated as "elder brother of the king". Former king of Thailand turned to Buddhist monk hood after the fall of his capital (both kingdoms being Buddhist as a way of maintaining dignity of former king) and brought back to Burma and later went back to Thailand with permission from Burmese king as monk. His son crown prince of Thai grew up in Tongoo palace as Thai prince and said to be adopted by famous Burmese king and after his death of old age, Thai prince went back to Thailand and he too became the one of very famous and well loved king of Thai people. Rare happy ending in history. Siege of old Thai capital itself was probably contest of fire exchange between Portuguese mercenaries as Thai kingdom too maintained mercenary gunners. Of course, apparently Burmese king had more cannons and more mercenaries than Thai king. Okiee, that town was strategically that important and during the time tarde routes as commercial wealth, it even went so far as being top power in the region, conquering everything within it's reach.
9:25 the 12 day battle of Toungoo was the longest defence of the allies in the entire burma campaign... Really tells us about how disastrous this campaign was.
@@lightfootpathfinder8218 that happened 2 years later when commanded by William slim, who in the words of historian Richard Frank, was the only allied general who bothered to actually sit down and talk to one of the Chinese generals and ask how they had achieved some of their few victories.
As heavy as it is, this part of the Pacific War is incredible to teach. Very few students are disengaged and even for their age, they seem to understand the weight of this part of the conflict.
And the CBI theater is even less well-known, and equally fascinating. At times both sides were fighting on a shoe-string budget, with lower logistical priority than the ETO/PTO/MTO.
The British was fighting for their control over the colonies; the Chinese was fighting for the lifeline of the country. The division commander of the 200th died on the way retreating to China, and many more died venturing through the jungle of Burma. Part of the 200th retreated to India and was rebuilt, and eventually led the counter strike to retake Burma Road in 1944.
This part of the war really showed how the Chinese had gotten a much better grasp on the Japanese capabilities than the rest of the allies by this point in the war. Its rather sad to think that Chiang had offered already in december 1941 to send two armies to burma to defend it. One can only speculate how this part of the war would have gone, had the Chinese had those extra months to dig in and prepare defences in Burma. Honestly, the British arrogance towards the Chinese is extremly frustrating in hindsight, and its no wonder that Chiang lashed out at Wavell at this time: (according to Owen Lattimore) “You and your people have no idea how to fight the Japanese. . . . Fighting against them for many years, we Chinese are the ones who know how to do it. For this kind of job, you British are incompetent, and you should learn from the Chinese how to fight against the Japanese.” Its also hard to blame the Chinese generals for refusing to take orders from Stillwell, a man who had basically no practical war experience, while they were all 4 year veterans from fighting Japan. Honestly, seeing how every single 'offensive' by the allies had failed spectacularly against the Japanese, Chiangs order to not attack dosnet seem so unreasonable in hindshight. To give an idea of how important Chiang considered Burma to be, 5th, 6th and 66th armies that China sent in were given almost all the trucks that Nationalist still had so that they could move as fast as possible, and all of Chinas remaining motorised artillery were sent to Burma to try and salvage the situation.
The British didnt want Chinese influence over their colonies. Chinese veterans often recalled how fast the British soldiers were retreating while they fought to the last round to cover their run.
@@NL-gn2dl 'They didnt want Chinese influence over their colonies' so much that they risked out right losing their colonies lol. Really how come people with that level of stupidity get to those high ranks?
Ah yes, white savior complex at it's finest. You would've thought there is no place for anything but pragmatism in a professional army of one of the biggest powers at the time but hey.
I would say that the refusal to relieve the 200th was a failure even if it was understandable. I would place blame for the command confusion squarely on Chang. it seemed like he just couldn't be bothered to clarify. The British were concerned about being able to supply the Chinese and then consequently forcing troops to live off the land. I think there is a lot of blame to go around. forces were inadequate and and commanders were substandard. crucial mistake made early on snow balled until the situation could no longer be salavaged
Let's also not forget it was the British fourteenth army consisting of Indian,British and African troops that played the biggest part in destroying the Japanese forces in Burma. Thousands of British and commonwealth soldiers died in some of the most brutal fighting of the war(battles of Imphal,Kohima,Mandalay) so show some respect. You must also remember Britain was fighting Germany, Italy and Japan at this time whereas China was solely fighting Japan
I’ve followed this channel for years now, and I can’t believe how the production quality, editing, graphics, and storytelling somehow just keeps getting better and better!! Keep it up K&G!!!
I had NO idea just how important General Chiang Kai-Shek 🇹🇼 and his armies were to the Allied war cause in WW2 until this channel featured the War in the Pacific. History classes never covered their roles. We usually only get USA's 🇺🇸, Britain's 🇬🇧, and USSR's roles in history classes. Also, the Japanese seemed to be an unstoppable juggernaut steamrolling everybody and everything in its way.
The 200th division was back in 1938 the first mechanized division of the NRA. It was, in 1942 the last german-equipped division and even if the German didn't take part in the formation and training of the division, most of the soldiers were trained by the German before the departure of General von Falkenhausen, and before him by general von Seeckt. It was considered the best Chinese division at the time (1942) and the fierce resistance at Toungoo was proof of its value.
Along with the 88th, 87th, 100th, they were supposed to be the "template" division for rest of the NRA. All trained to the standard of late 1918 German tactics. Most were decimated in the first two years of war by 1942.
Because of 200th division was the first mechanized division of the NRA and was considered the best division at the time, the 200th was still an active mechanized infantry brigade in Taiwan until not long ago (currently changed to 234th brigade).
seriously thank you KAG for this series i look forward to it each week, it helps me think about my own time now and where i'll be once this series concludes. wish you all good health and luck!
Thanks for brilliant movie, also this time! Many people forget or just don't know Japanese, Western and KMT armies fought on Burma in the beginning of "The Pacific Theatre". When Japanese says "Heaven In Java, Hell in Burma, and even your bones couldn't back home from New Guinea", they say about Battle of Imphal. Appreciate for help to recall the historical fact!
@@theawesomeman9821 they were pushover, they've never wona single war or proper battle and are now some of the most ill experienced soldiers on the planet
that ancient Chinese fighting spirit.. my grandmother's brother was a translator on the Burmese road during WW2. he showed me photos taken on the day it was officially opened. my grandfather's (dad's side) whole village was gunned down and he became a bandit at age 15 until he enlisted formally years later. he took a bullet to the face charging uphill which ended his fight finally but he survived that and also a stroke years later to keep living. all of China was involved during these times. please do a series just on Chinese campaigns !
I had an uncle that served under General Frank Merrill in Burma. Did not fully understand the significance at my age at the time but I am certainly proud now. First hand accounts are priceless. Thank you for your outstanding series.
The 38th division was developed from the “tax police”, and so they were trained and equipped by the Chinese ministry of finance, and therefore had the money to become one of the best trained and equipped units in China at the time
@@kokila_modi_ In 1934 General Hans von Seeckt, acting as advisor to Chiang, proposed a "80 Division Plan" for reforming the entire Chinese army into 80 divisions of highly trained, well-equipped troops organised along German lines. The plan was never fully realised. By July 1937 only 8 infantry divisions had completed reorganisation and training. These were the 3rd, 6th, 9th, 14th, 36th, 87th, 88th, and the Training Division. Another 12 divisions equipped with Chinese arms on the reorganized model with German advisors had some training by the time the Second Sino-Japanese War started in July 1937. These Divisions were the 2nd, 4th, 10th, 11th, 25th, 27th, 57th, 67th, 80th, 83rd, 89th Infantry Divisions.
In its guise as the “tax police” units, they were German armed (and I think German trained), but they were not formally part of the army as they belonged to the finance Ministry. The 38th was reconstituted after the original unit was devastated in the battle of shanghai. Interestingly (and spoiler alert), the 38th would retreat into India instead of returning to China, and was re-equipped there by the USA, becoming the again the best equipped and trained unit in the Chinese army.
Most Chinese divisions lack artillery and transport, and lack experience in mechanized combat. Even if some elite divisions are well-equipped, it is difficult to carry out follow-up equipment replenishment. If you lose a truck, artillery or armor, you lose one almost forever. Also, these units are not very capable of attacking or maneuvering, and have weak anti-armor capabilities. Defense usually relies on terrain, trenches, mortars, machine guns, adequate reserves and limited artillery support. The attack of these forces also relies more on the rapid mountain mobility of light infantry and the covert March at the company level, and attacking a division usually requires the mobilization of multiple divisions' firepower and troops to make up for the lack of firepower and equipment of a single division
@@2mac_mini952 I see it as a cyclical thing. Qing, warlord, and KMT era China suffered from Beiyang fleet syndrome. 1. A faction would modernize a section of their army (foreign equipment and foreign trained personnel) in response to a percieved foreign threat 2. Powerful people in the faction would become afraid of the internal threat posed by an elite force led by foreign educated officers. 3. The new force would be hamstrung or the competent foreign trained officers would be removed. 4. The new army would be annihilated by a foreign force, prompting the creation of a new modern Army. Examples: The Beiyang fleet in the first Sino-Chinese war, the the German trained divisions in the second Sino-Chinese war, and the American trained divisions in the Chinese Civil War. (The Beiyang army is probably a good example of why rulers should have been afraid of their modernized army.) This video shows stage 4 of the process, which is the annihilation of the last of the NRA's elite German trained mechanized units. Then it goes back to stage 1. The NRA forces that fled into India were retrained and equipped by Americans who put American educated Chinese officers in charge (edit: Making sure that people like VMI educated Sun Li-jen had upwards trajectories and through putting promising candidates in American Schools), creating the next generation of elite forces for the KMT to screw over... edit: For a concrete example of stage 3, look at the career of Sun Li-Jet who would control the First New Army. American educated, a total badass, and exactly who you would want in charge of a division (which should be obvious from his appearance in this video at 14:50). Did the KMT like having an American educated badass around? No, they did not.
@@diddlypoop It's ok. You know the Sino-Chinese war hasn't finished technically (ROC vs PRC). and the civil war in China was almost like a never-ending story during 1911 to 1949. LOL
fighting the Japanese on mainland Asia where it's tropical must be like a humid nightmare that wouldn't end. The Chinese & everyone else that put up valiant resistance must've been something else, to be surely said.
You should do more series like this on the different theatres of the war. While I agree that the pacific theatre is neglected a lot, people only ever talk about large battles like Kursk and Stalingrad - and even then a lot of the time the description is just “Kursk was the largest tank battle - end of”. I think it’d be really cool to see a week by week documentary on the eastern front, just like this one.
Tbh Kursk wasn't even the largest tank battle. Brody was the largest tank battle but it isn't mentioned because Soviets lost the one. :))) Despite having 4100 tanks in this battle. :))) The loss was so for the Soviets that they decreased amount of tanks in own sources to ~3400 and amount of modern tanks from 750 to 450. :)))
It's nice to see what was going on in Burma around this time. Not many video's are done about little known theaters of WWII. And this one is little known at this time. My compliments to all those who made this video a reality.
Read a lot about WWll but mostly the European front. This is fascinating. I'm amazed that Japan even had the men and materiel to fight and pretty much conquer all SE Asia.
Chinese forces: resisted heavily and valiantly British and commonwealth forces: Reinforced the positions and made tactical moves Colonial forces: Panicked and retreated
I've been watching this episodes since its first release and as a filipino wanting to know and understand the events in Pacific War because this event had been less taught to us. Maraming Salamat
Man the Chinese just keep taking these hard, bloody suckerpunches to the face by a more well trained, more heavily armed, better organized army. But they just WONT. FALL. OVER. Their determination is almost spooky if it wasn't so badass.
But there is a problem. The heavy weapons of these few elite divisions are obtained through the arms trade and can hardly be replenished, so once they suffer losses, their combat effectiveness will suffer a serious decline. Before participating in the Burmese battle, this unit had already participated in other areas and suffered equipment attrition. and, in fact, the 200th is only constantly suffering attacks and passively defending, but not rout or morale collapse.
In the Battle of Yenangyaung the Chinese army routed the Japanese with a regiment of troops, rescuing 7,000 British soldiers, missionaries and journalists, and Thatcher met with commanders of the battle of the Yenangyaung until the 1970s when she visited china
This campaign is so disastrous . Yet more disastrous fighting is to come in the Marshy and Mountainous land of Arakan and Deep and Condensed Hukaung Vally Jungle of Burma Campaign.
Ahhhh, good old 'Vinegar' Joe Stillwell. The wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. The guy was one hell of a general but he famously got on with Chiang Kai Chek - like a house on fire that is.
Fun fact, General Stilwell' reputation in China was horrible. Both CCP and KMT hate him. Even Hans Von Seeckt and Von Falkenhausen had way better reputation than him. Claire Lee Chennault however was considered as a hero in China. TBH this is the first time for me to see something about him in English. The relationship between him and Chiang was quite a drama. But it also shows that modernized nationalism has been forged into modern Chinese. And I think this is why China can hold Japan for such a long time.
Much like MacArthur, really. It is startling how, in WW2, US generals and admirals tended to be either consummate professionals and exceptional officers, or they tended to be egotistical idiots and horrendously incompetent.
one of my great grandads served in colonail burma as a seargent in the british army. he would live through the war and served until 1947. im pretty sure he started service in 1940 though im not sure. another thing im not sure about is what brigade he served in though is most likley the burmese brigades
Only the capital Rangoon was spared from heavy bombardments, the rest of Burma's major cities/towns and rural infrastructure were flattened by the end of WWII.
The mounted infantry under Capt Sandeman (Central India Horse), his Sikh officers, and the Burmese conscripts of the Burma Frontier Force charged the Japanese 55th Division on 18th March (some sources state the 24th). Allegedly, it was the last cavalry charge of the British Empire.
My maternal veteran grandfather fought against the Japanese during Japan Lan(Japan's war) during the advancing stages of the Axis in Manipur(AD 1944). Pls do a video about the Battle of Imphal or about the Red Hill disaster where the Japanese were forced to retreat back to Burma.
I could notice some considerable informations are missing in videos. There is no coverage for Indian national army who participated in Japanese side and fought against British for Indian freedom
People of Anglosphere, especially Americans, should no longer took Barbara W. Tuchman's "Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45" as The Canon.
Technically, no. The Japanese would only lose four (Kaga, Akagi, Hiryu, Soryu). Post Midway, the IJN would still have: CV Shokaku CV Zuikaku CV Junyo CVL Hosho CVL Ryujo CVL Zuiho CVE Taiyo CVE Akitsu Maru (technically under Army control) Coming into service during this period would be... CV Hiyo CVE Un'yo
@@dclark142002 You can replace equipment, you can't replace the thousands of sailors, airmen, mechanics, and Officers that took years to train in a short time. The Kido Butai never fully recovered from Midway.
At last they are at the border of India..... 🔥🔥Please cover The stalengred of the east...." The battle of kohima".. And imphal... Waiting with anticipation..
Can you do the history of 1511 when the Portugal warship attack the kingdom of Melaka in South East Asia.Also,in 1405 ,the Chinese Admiral Cheng Ho of Ming Dynasty came to Melaka for friendship if I am not mistaken. Tq
Japanese were droping thousands of leaflets over Bengal describing their ' good intention '. And my grandparents ( who knew little about japanese) became very glad by thinking that at last a nation is found who could defeat the British Raj.
And so begins, Lieutenant General William Slim's journey through the jungles of Burma to the hills of India, where he will prove his worth and forge a weapon, unimaginable to the Japanese, from the clutches of defeat to eventual victory...
20 years from now, all history students will be using Kings and Generals as a reference point, I can only imagine how kings and generals will capture and broadcast the current happening in ukrain.
I have been interested in WW II for over 50 years and all I knew of this campaign was that quote about getting kicked out of Burma. Seemed that the Brits just took off for the Indian border, as far as I could tell. Fighting? What fighting? Once again thanks for all of this.
When I was in high school I remember my best friends Grandfather (who was British Indian) would tell me stories about Burma. They pretty much all amounted to "We Set some oil fields on fire and then fled from the Japanese"). The weird disconnect was he was so proud. He'd puff his chest out and talk about how they did such a good job burning the oil wells and fleeing... Obviously I was respectful towards him but I kept thinking he was crazy, he was so proud of how thoroughly his side got beaten.
British and Indian troops eventually defeated the Japanese tho and got halfway to Singapore by the time Japan surrendered. You've got to remember Britain was fighting Germany,Italy and Japan at that time and the best troops were in Europe,Africa and the middle East and like the video said a lot of the troops available in the far east theatre were sent to guard India and Ceylon which were more important than Burma(as was the Suez canal,Malta, the east African colonies,the British isles and the oil fields of the middle East). In hindsight the withdrawal to the Indian border was the correct dicision as when the Japanese did eventually try and invade India the British fourteenth army inflicted one of the biggest defeats in Japanese history on them paving the way for the successful 1944/45 liberation of Burma and the destruction of the Japanese forces
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Kings and generals can u please make a video on the Indo pak war of 1971?
Please continue the series on crime syndicates
Please make a video about the history of the Russian mafia and Jewish mafia
I think it would be a good idea to add dates to the video titles and maybe in the description as well. It would help keep track of the time period being covered in these videos.
Also, maybe once you complete a year of the war, do a special video that lists and reviews your sources for those of us who are following. I am interested in seeing what you are utilizing for all of this amazing content.
can u make one on india pak war of 1971
At the battle of Toungoo, both sides struggled extremely hard there, as it was strategically important. it controlled access to the vast highland state (shan state) to the north (which bordering China), and to the east is Thailand border access (quite close proximity), to the south is major commercial center cities with seaports (including capital) and to the west it's connected to flatlands of upper burma. Rough terrain of mountain ranges covered with jungles making it very hard to transverse on all sides except west, so bypassing the town was almost impossible for military marching and of course, naturally its junction of both railways and roads.
Fun facts: due to its unique location, it was, at one time in history, a capital of one of most powerful dynasties of Burma. There's still remnants of old "golden" palace sites and mentioned in diplomats "from the west" of their time. Sitting on important commercial crossroad, trade and tax revenue enabled kings of that dynasty to hire large contingent of Portuguese gunners.
These very well paid professional mercenaries played important role in kingdom affairs of that dynasty and most prominent role being instrumental in successful conquest of Thailand by the most famous king of Taungoo (pronounce like "Tau - guu").
He was one of four giant "Kings stautes" erected by current military junta of Burma in their so called ghost town "capital" next to parade ground, for two reasons which the king being extremely successful in military campaigns (one of largest territory in Burmese history) including the siege of old capital of Thailand (the first one successfully subdued rival kingdom including modern Laos) and more importantly, of being from humble origin without royal bloodline and was chosen as king by council of Congress during succession crisis and his name (not official title) can be translated as "elder brother of the king".
Former king of Thailand turned to Buddhist monk hood after the fall of his capital (both kingdoms being Buddhist as a way of maintaining dignity of former king) and brought back to Burma and later went back to Thailand with permission from Burmese king as monk. His son crown prince of Thai grew up in Tongoo palace as Thai prince and said to be adopted by famous Burmese king and after his death of old age, Thai prince went back to Thailand and he too became the one of very famous and well loved king of Thai people. Rare happy ending in history.
Siege of old Thai capital itself was probably contest of fire exchange between Portuguese mercenaries as Thai kingdom too maintained mercenary gunners. Of course, apparently Burmese king had more cannons and more mercenaries than Thai king.
Okiee, that town was strategically that important and during the time tarde routes as commercial wealth, it even went so far as being top power in the region, conquering everything within it's reach.
9:25 the 12 day battle of Toungoo was the longest defence of the allies in the entire burma campaign... Really tells us about how disastrous this campaign was.
And how much the Chinese should have been deferred to when it came to actually fighting Japan
@@porksterbob General Dai later died in the battle. A brave man.
"I am Japan I not China" Japanese tourist in my village
But the British and Indian forces successfully held off the Japanese at Kohima for 14 days?
@@lightfootpathfinder8218 that happened 2 years later when commanded by William slim, who in the words of historian Richard Frank, was the only allied general who bothered to actually sit down and talk to one of the Chinese generals and ask how they had achieved some of their few victories.
As heavy as it is, this part of the Pacific War is incredible to teach. Very few students are disengaged and even for their age, they seem to understand the weight of this part of the conflict.
I'm sure the family of "Vinegar Joe" appreciate it very much
Im 16 and i love this
@@ComPare_ Same Im 15
And the CBI theater is even less well-known, and equally fascinating. At times both sides were fighting on a shoe-string budget, with lower logistical priority than the ETO/PTO/MTO.
The British was fighting for their control over the colonies; the Chinese was fighting for the lifeline of the country. The division commander of the 200th died on the way retreating to China, and many more died venturing through the jungle of Burma. Part of the 200th retreated to India and was rebuilt, and eventually led the counter strike to retake Burma Road in 1944.
And some Burmese were fought a long with Japanese to gain independence
This part of the war really showed how the Chinese had gotten a much better grasp on the Japanese capabilities than the rest of the allies by this point in the war. Its rather sad to think that Chiang had offered already in december 1941 to send two armies to burma to defend it. One can only speculate how this part of the war would have gone, had the Chinese had those extra months to dig in and prepare defences in Burma.
Honestly, the British arrogance towards the Chinese is extremly frustrating in hindsight, and its no wonder that Chiang lashed out at Wavell at this time: (according to Owen Lattimore) “You and your people have no idea how to fight the Japanese. . . . Fighting against them for many years, we Chinese are the ones who know how to do it. For this kind of job, you British are incompetent, and you should learn from the Chinese how to fight against the Japanese.”
Its also hard to blame the Chinese generals for refusing to take orders from Stillwell, a man who had basically no practical war experience, while they were all 4 year veterans from fighting Japan. Honestly, seeing how every single 'offensive' by the allies had failed spectacularly against the Japanese, Chiangs order to not attack dosnet seem so unreasonable in hindshight.
To give an idea of how important Chiang considered Burma to be, 5th, 6th and 66th armies that China sent in were given almost all the trucks that Nationalist still had so that they could move as fast as possible, and all of Chinas remaining motorised artillery were sent to Burma to try and salvage the situation.
The British didnt want Chinese influence over their colonies. Chinese veterans often recalled how fast the British soldiers were retreating while they fought to the last round to cover their run.
@@NL-gn2dl 'They didnt want Chinese influence over their colonies' so much that they risked out right losing their colonies lol. Really how come people with that level of stupidity get to those high ranks?
Ah yes, white savior complex at it's finest. You would've thought there is no place for anything but pragmatism in a professional army of one of the biggest powers at the time but hey.
I would say that the refusal to relieve the 200th was a failure even if it was understandable. I would place blame for the command confusion squarely on Chang. it seemed like he just couldn't be bothered to clarify. The British were concerned about being able to supply the Chinese and then consequently forcing troops to live off the land. I think there is a lot of blame to go around. forces were inadequate and and commanders were substandard. crucial mistake made early on snow balled until the situation could no longer be salavaged
Let's also not forget it was the British fourteenth army consisting of Indian,British and African troops that played the biggest part in destroying the Japanese forces in Burma. Thousands of British and commonwealth soldiers died in some of the most brutal fighting of the war(battles of Imphal,Kohima,Mandalay) so show some respect. You must also remember Britain was fighting Germany, Italy and Japan at this time whereas China was solely fighting Japan
I’ve followed this channel for years now, and I can’t believe how the production quality, editing, graphics, and storytelling somehow just keeps getting better and better!! Keep it up K&G!!!
I had NO idea just how important General Chiang Kai-Shek 🇹🇼 and his armies were to the Allied war cause in WW2 until this channel featured the War in the Pacific. History classes never covered their roles. We usually only get USA's 🇺🇸, Britain's 🇬🇧, and USSR's roles in history classes. Also, the Japanese seemed to be an unstoppable juggernaut steamrolling everybody and everything in its way.
Because the representative of China was stolen by PRC ........
China should get credit for fighting against the IJAs best while the US should get credit for fighting the IJNS best.
@@newdogmodel3893 Precisely.
china account 70% of japanese casualties in WII.
@@flyingbears5635 actually china accounts for 30% japanese military death
Such detailed maps showing terrain, troop movements is what appeals to viewers. Great work on the Pacific war series
The 200th division was back in 1938 the first mechanized division of the NRA. It was, in 1942 the last german-equipped division and even if the German didn't take part in the formation and training of the division, most of the soldiers were trained by the German before the departure of General von Falkenhausen, and before him by general von Seeckt. It was considered the best Chinese division at the time (1942) and the fierce resistance at Toungoo was proof of its value.
Along with the 88th, 87th, 100th, they were supposed to be the "template" division for rest of the NRA. All trained to the standard of late 1918 German tactics. Most were decimated in the first two years of war by 1942.
Because of 200th division was the first mechanized division of the NRA and was considered the best division at the time, the 200th was still an active mechanized infantry brigade in Taiwan until not long ago (currently changed to 234th brigade).
200th division proven their heroism in the battle of kunlun pass, where they beat the japanese 5th division, the best japanese were defeated by them.
the 200th was actually soviet equipped
seriously thank you KAG for this series i look forward to it each week, it helps me think about my own time now and where i'll be once this series concludes. wish you all good health and luck!
Thanks for brilliant movie, also this time!
Many people forget or just don't know Japanese, Western and KMT armies fought on Burma in the beginning of "The Pacific Theatre".
When Japanese says "Heaven In Java, Hell in Burma, and even your bones couldn't back home from New Guinea", they say about Battle of Imphal.
Appreciate for help to recall the historical fact!
Great to see this. I didn't know that the Chinese had a much greater participation in this theater of war until now.
Glad the Chinese are recieving credit these days in academia for their actions during WWII. People used to just say that they were push overs
yup, our history is obscured by our nations of origin. That's why TH-cam is so great bc we get a real window into history
@@theawesomeman9821 Japan thought so as well in 1937. And if they invaded China 10 years earlier, it would be a fact.
@@lishiping84 good point!
@@theawesomeman9821 they were pushover, they've never wona single war or proper battle and are now some of the most ill experienced soldiers on the planet
you're my favorite military/history channel.
Military strategy and tactics has always been a interest of mine.
As a Burmese , I can’t thank you enough 😭💗 this side of story is always untold and ignored
I must say this series is teaching me what tactics and strategies I must enact in battle
Just wait until my french friends see my blitzkreig
Crazy! Watching history like this is like watching a chess game this shows how important historians are to military strategy
that ancient Chinese fighting spirit.. my grandmother's brother was a translator on the Burmese road during WW2. he showed me photos taken on the day it was officially opened. my grandfather's (dad's side) whole village was gunned down and he became a bandit at age 15 until he enlisted formally years later. he took a bullet to the face charging uphill which ended his fight finally but he survived that and also a stroke years later to keep living. all of China was involved during these times. please do a series just on Chinese campaigns !
I had an uncle that served under General Frank Merrill in Burma. Did not fully understand the significance at my age at the time but I am certainly proud now. First hand accounts are priceless. Thank you for your outstanding series.
How much did he share with you and your family about his experiences in Burma?
The 38th division was developed from the “tax police”, and so they were trained and equipped by the Chinese ministry of finance, and therefore had the money to become one of the best trained and equipped units in China at the time
i heared they were trained by germany before war
@@kokila_modi_ that was the 3rd, 6th, 9th, 14th, 36th, 87th, 88th, and the Training Division. were German-trained divisions
@@kokila_modi_ In 1934 General Hans von Seeckt, acting as advisor to Chiang, proposed a "80 Division Plan" for reforming the entire Chinese army into 80 divisions of highly trained, well-equipped troops organised along German lines. The plan was never fully realised. By July 1937 only 8 infantry divisions had completed reorganisation and training. These were the 3rd, 6th, 9th, 14th, 36th, 87th, 88th, and the Training Division. Another 12 divisions equipped with Chinese arms on the reorganized model with German advisors had some training by the time the Second Sino-Japanese War started in July 1937. These Divisions were the 2nd, 4th, 10th, 11th, 25th, 27th, 57th, 67th, 80th, 83rd, 89th Infantry Divisions.
In its guise as the “tax police” units, they were German armed (and I think German trained), but they were not formally part of the army as they belonged to the finance Ministry. The 38th was reconstituted after the original unit was devastated in the battle of shanghai. Interestingly (and spoiler alert), the 38th would retreat into India instead of returning to China, and was re-equipped there by the USA, becoming the again the best equipped and trained unit in the Chinese army.
@@kokila_modi_ yes, China had German instructors and some German equipment, including the iconic helmet.
Most Chinese divisions lack artillery and transport, and lack experience in mechanized combat. Even if some elite divisions are well-equipped, it is difficult to carry out follow-up equipment replenishment. If you lose a truck, artillery or armor, you lose one almost forever. Also, these units are not very capable of attacking or maneuvering, and have weak anti-armor capabilities. Defense usually relies on terrain, trenches, mortars, machine guns, adequate reserves and limited artillery support.
The attack of these forces also relies more on the rapid mountain mobility of light infantry and the covert March at the company level, and attacking a division usually requires the mobilization of multiple divisions' firepower and troops to make up for the lack of firepower and equipment of a single division
Is this from memory or do you have any source for this info? In any case, thanks for the added input, very interesting.
@@2mac_mini952 I see it as a cyclical thing. Qing, warlord, and KMT era China suffered from Beiyang fleet syndrome.
1. A faction would modernize a section of their army (foreign equipment and foreign trained personnel) in response to a percieved foreign threat
2. Powerful people in the faction would become afraid of the internal threat posed by an elite force led by foreign educated officers.
3. The new force would be hamstrung or the competent foreign trained officers would be removed.
4. The new army would be annihilated by a foreign force, prompting the creation of a new modern Army.
Examples: The Beiyang fleet in the first Sino-Chinese war, the the German trained divisions in the second Sino-Chinese war, and the American trained divisions in the Chinese Civil War. (The Beiyang army is probably a good example of why rulers should have been afraid of their modernized army.)
This video shows stage 4 of the process, which is the annihilation of the last of the NRA's elite German trained mechanized units. Then it goes back to stage 1. The NRA forces that fled into India were retrained and equipped by Americans who put American educated Chinese officers in charge (edit: Making sure that people like VMI educated Sun Li-jen had upwards trajectories and through putting promising candidates in American Schools), creating the next generation of elite forces for the KMT to screw over...
edit: For a concrete example of stage 3, look at the career of Sun Li-Jet who would control the First New Army. American educated, a total badass, and exactly who you would want in charge of a division (which should be obvious from his appearance in this video at 14:50). Did the KMT like having an American educated badass around? No, they did not.
@@hypothalapotamus5293 uhhh, Sino already means Chinese. You just said Chinese-Chinese War twice.
@@diddlypoop Keystroke error, Sino-Japanese war... Bad stuff happens when I type too fast.
@@diddlypoop It's ok. You know the Sino-Chinese war hasn't finished technically (ROC vs PRC). and the civil war in China was almost like a never-ending story during 1911 to 1949. LOL
Great video! Good to see lesser known stories covered.
This series makes my Tuesdays. Thank you.
fighting the Japanese on mainland Asia where it's tropical must be like a humid nightmare that wouldn't end. The Chinese & everyone else that put up valiant resistance must've been something else, to be surely said.
Heroes all
you should also mention that in the battle of toungoo, chinese losses were less than half of the japanese losses, despite being outnumbered almost 3:1
Totally badass
@@aaronmarks9366 yeah, and this was all done while chinese 200th division was on budgeted time to build fortifications at toungoo.
@@longlost247 China's contribution to the victory over the Axis in World War II is probably the least appreciated of any country in the war.
You should do more series like this on the different theatres of the war. While I agree that the pacific theatre is neglected a lot, people only ever talk about large battles like Kursk and Stalingrad - and even then a lot of the time the description is just “Kursk was the largest tank battle - end of”. I think it’d be really cool to see a week by week documentary on the eastern front, just like this one.
TimeGhost History on YT
Tbh Kursk wasn't even the largest tank battle. Brody was the largest tank battle but it isn't mentioned because Soviets lost the one. :))) Despite having 4100 tanks in this battle. :))) The loss was so for the Soviets that they decreased amount of tanks in own sources to ~3400 and amount of modern tanks from 750 to 450. :)))
Kings and Generals, I am learning a lot of history from you and some battles in ww2 pacific theatre that I am not familiar with.
It's nice to see what was going on in Burma around this time. Not many video's are done about little known theaters of WWII. And this one is little known at this time. My compliments to all those who made this video a reality.
Read a lot about WWll but mostly the European front. This is fascinating. I'm amazed that Japan even had the men and materiel to fight and pretty much conquer all SE Asia.
Stilwell now in charge. Oh my now you are truly "saved"....
Chinese forces: resisted heavily and valiantly
British and commonwealth forces: Reinforced the positions and made tactical moves
Colonial forces: Panicked and retreated
I mean you could also tell which party needed Burma road more by looking at how willingly they were to fight
@@hwasiaqhan8923 I think it relates more to the experience and training. The commonwealth troops doesn't give a shit about the road
Little you know that Burmese troops under the British are secretly allied with the Japanese empire.
Another excellent video as always Kings and Generals. By far one of our favorite series!
What an incredible series!
I've been watching this episodes since its first release and as a filipino wanting to know and understand the events in Pacific War because this event had been less taught to us. Maraming Salamat
Another good video thanks for the information
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Man the Chinese just keep taking these hard, bloody suckerpunches to the face by a more well trained, more heavily armed, better organized army. But they just WONT. FALL. OVER. Their determination is almost spooky if it wasn't so badass.
But there is a problem. The heavy weapons of these few elite divisions are obtained through the arms trade and can hardly be replenished, so once they suffer losses, their combat effectiveness will suffer a serious decline. Before participating in the Burmese battle, this unit had already participated in other areas and suffered equipment attrition.
and, in fact, the 200th is only constantly suffering attacks and passively defending, but not rout or morale collapse.
In the Battle of Yenangyaung the Chinese army routed the Japanese with a regiment of troops, rescuing 7,000 British soldiers, missionaries and journalists, and Thatcher met with commanders of the battle of the Yenangyaung until the 1970s when she visited china
Fantastic video keep it up your doing amazing job
Keep em coming! Love it!!!!
This campaign is so disastrous . Yet more disastrous fighting is to come in the Marshy and Mountainous land of Arakan and Deep and Condensed Hukaung Vally Jungle of Burma Campaign.
Ahhhh, good old 'Vinegar' Joe Stillwell. The wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. The guy was one hell of a general but he famously got on with Chiang Kai Chek - like a house on fire that is.
I read that Stillwell despised chinese peanuts.
@@kirbyculp3449 and later Chinese rattlesnakes. He absolutely loathed Chiang, and he wasn't completely wrong.
Fun fact, General Stilwell' reputation in China was horrible. Both CCP and KMT hate him. Even Hans Von Seeckt and Von Falkenhausen had way better reputation than him. Claire Lee Chennault however was considered as a hero in China.
TBH this is the first time for me to see something about him in English. The relationship between him and Chiang was quite a drama.
But it also shows that modernized nationalism has been forged into modern Chinese. And I think this is why China can hold Japan for such a long time.
I love your channel your the best
I’d love to hear stories of deserters during the Pacific War from all sides.
That would make an interesting video in itself
Stillwell was an utter fool, most of his account of his time in China was self congratulatory and exceedingly exaggerated.
Much like MacArthur, really. It is startling how, in WW2, US generals and admirals tended to be either consummate professionals and exceptional officers, or they tended to be egotistical idiots and horrendously incompetent.
great video series! really enjoying them. Can't wait for Coral Sea & then Midway!
My man Slim have entered the game
Can’t wait for the Battle of the Coral Sea video. Gonna be epic
My Late Great Uncle Fought in Burma, Tom Werner.. He Said Out of 25 Men He was the Only One to Survive In the Jungles of Burma..
Respect.
I hope that he was not eaten up by survivor's guilt.
RIP to his comrades
one of my great grandads served in colonail burma as a seargent in the british army. he would live through the war and served until 1947. im pretty sure he started service in 1940 though im not sure. another thing im not sure about is what brigade he served in though is most likley the burmese brigades
things starting to heat up now great stuff
Only the capital Rangoon was spared from heavy bombardments, the rest of Burma's major cities/towns and rural infrastructure were flattened by the end of WWII.
Excellent work! Thank you.
the allies were too disorganized. the command confusion and lack of a central commander doomed this defense
The mounted infantry under Capt Sandeman (Central India Horse), his Sikh officers, and the Burmese conscripts of the Burma Frontier Force charged the Japanese 55th Division on 18th March (some sources state the 24th). Allegedly, it was the last cavalry charge of the British Empire.
Great information 👍
Insane vidéo as always , keep Going on Kings and general you are the best !!
I hope king and generals does a Eastern Front week by week someday
Simply splendid content
This would be a good point in the series to make a dedicated video to Merrill's Marauders
Even to this day, the Chinese still carrying us in online shooting games. Incredible
Beautiful history class
Finally ma boi Sun Lijen!
My maternal veteran grandfather fought against the Japanese during Japan Lan(Japan's war) during the advancing stages of the Axis in Manipur(AD 1944).
Pls do a video about the Battle of Imphal or about the Red Hill disaster where the Japanese were forced to retreat back to Burma.
Since they're following the war in real time, they will release the video about the campaign in Manipur sometime in 2024
Hello Kings and Generals. You guys are awesome. Also, anyone know where I can stream the soundtracks that play in the background?
Poor Stillwell. Man was an under appreciated talent.
I could notice some considerable informations are missing in videos. There is no coverage for Indian national army who participated in Japanese side and fought against British for Indian freedom
Love the heavy artillery!
People of Anglosphere, especially Americans, should no longer took Barbara W. Tuchman's "Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45" as The Canon.
Very nice video
The Last date in this Video is 29th April. Only 39 Days later the japanese fleet lost all their Aircraft Carriors in the Battle of Midway.
Technically, no.
The Japanese would only lose four (Kaga, Akagi, Hiryu, Soryu).
Post Midway, the IJN would still have:
CV Shokaku
CV Zuikaku
CV Junyo
CVL Hosho
CVL Ryujo
CVL Zuiho
CVE Taiyo
CVE Akitsu Maru (technically under Army control)
Coming into service during this period would be...
CV Hiyo
CVE Un'yo
No spoilers
😁
@@dclark142002 You can replace equipment, you can't replace the thousands of sailors, airmen, mechanics, and Officers that took years to train in a short time.
The Kido Butai never fully recovered from Midway.
At last they are at the border of India..... 🔥🔥Please cover The stalengred of the east...." The battle of kohima".. And imphal... Waiting with anticipation..
You have to wait 2 years for it
Yeap of course it's only 1943...
Uh… I feel like if there was going to be a video on the Burma Road, no one wouldn’t go too far without talking about the Flying Tigers.
The flying tigers were a bit over hyped historic because Americans in early 1942 needed heroes.
@@porksterbob Well they were heroes to the Chinese as well.
Still a little early, but we will soon see the air supply over the Hump and the rebuild of the Chinese Division that escaped to India.
They aren't in action yet.
@@weirdofromhalo weird because they were fighting under the Chinese insignia before America entered the War.
The british laughed at us until they're crying to us to save them, this attitude really didn't change. says a lot about them.
thank you
Can you do the history of 1511 when the Portugal warship attack the kingdom of Melaka in South East Asia.Also,in 1405 ,the Chinese Admiral Cheng Ho of Ming Dynasty came to Melaka for friendship if I am not mistaken. Tq
2:54 my boy is here everyone get hyped
Japanese were droping thousands of leaflets over Bengal describing their ' good intention '. And my grandparents ( who knew little about japanese) became very glad by thinking that at last a nation is found who could defeat the British Raj.
14:35 General Sun Li-Jen
10:06 What logo is that on that lightening speed small circle speeding from the North there?
I think it's the logo from the British Burma flag. So maybe a small unit from the British Burma Army.
And so begins, Lieutenant General William Slim's journey through the jungles of Burma to the hills of India, where he will prove his worth and forge a weapon, unimaginable to the Japanese, from the clutches of defeat to eventual victory...
Please do a video on battle of imphal that's where the Japanese retreat
any video this week?
Great work as always. Still using the word 'gotten' when others would be better English though...
a great series
Please produce battle of coral sea
20 years from now, all history students will be using Kings and Generals as a reference point, I can only imagine how kings and generals will capture and broadcast the current happening in ukrain.
I want a report and video about the war between Bangladesh and Pakistan in 1971. Please keep my request. Thank you.
Another Great video 👍
Keep them coming.
Greetings from My beloved :
❤️TENEST❤️
Great video but you have a long time to make a video for the Greek independence war
That was great performance 🙂
Commented for the algorithm.
I have been interested in WW II for over 50 years and all I knew of this campaign was that quote about getting kicked out of Burma. Seemed that the Brits just took off for the Indian border, as far as I could tell. Fighting? What fighting?
Once again thanks for all of this.
When I was in high school I remember my best friends Grandfather (who was British Indian) would tell me stories about Burma. They pretty much all amounted to "We Set some oil fields on fire and then fled from the Japanese"). The weird disconnect was he was so proud. He'd puff his chest out and talk about how they did such a good job burning the oil wells and fleeing... Obviously I was respectful towards him but I kept thinking he was crazy, he was so proud of how thoroughly his side got beaten.
@@1norwood1 that’s a pretty common tactic when facing a superior foe. Scorched Earth and retreat until the enemy can be met with better terms.
@@1norwood1 He lived, and eventually won. That's the proudest you can really be in a war.
British and Indian troops eventually defeated the Japanese tho and got halfway to Singapore by the time Japan surrendered. You've got to remember Britain was fighting Germany,Italy and Japan at that time and the best troops were in Europe,Africa and the middle East and like the video said a lot of the troops available in the far east theatre were sent to guard India and Ceylon which were more important than Burma(as was the Suez canal,Malta, the east African colonies,the British isles and the oil fields of the middle East). In hindsight the withdrawal to the Indian border was the correct dicision as when the Japanese did eventually try and invade India the British fourteenth army inflicted one of the biggest defeats in Japanese history on them paving the way for the successful 1944/45 liberation of Burma and the destruction of the Japanese forces
@CKS1949 I agree and the troops paid the price! 6,904 British Pow's died in Japanese captivity
Please make a special on Indian Ocean raids on shrilanka and Culcutta, India
K&G already has an episode on the Indian Ocean raids
cant wait for coral sea and midway
Two weeks?!,!
I kept reading it as, "adventure" on Burma Road.
This playlist seems to be in reverse order
Kings and generals can u please make a video on Indo-Pak war of 1971
As I remember reading, stillwell never really got along with Generalissimo Jiang.
Is there part #23?
It was a special we planned, but a couple of team members got Covid, so we pushed it to another date.