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10 episodes with American Chinese
10 episodes with American Chinese
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4 episodes with American Chinese
2 episodes with American Chinese
2 episodes with American Chinese
2 episodes with American Chinese
2 episodes with American Chinese
2 episodes with American Chinese
Tariff levels reset after American / Chinese accord; Poland blames Russia for arson with arrests made in Warsaw; the Taliban bans world’s favourite game. Adam Gilchrist shares details on these stories with Lester Kiewit. Good Morning Cape Town with Lester Kiewit is a podcast of the CapeTalk breakfast show. This programme is your authentic Cape Town wake-up call. Good Morning Cape Town with Lester Kiewit is informative, enlightening and accessible. The team’s ability to spot & share relevant and unusual stories make the programme inclusive and thought-provoking. Don’t miss the popular World View feature at 7:45am daily. Listen out for #LesterInYourLounge which is an outside broadcast – from the home of a listener in a different part of Cape Town - on the first Wednesday of every month. This show introduces you to interesting Capetonians as well as their favourite communities, habits, local personalities and neighbourhood news. Thank you for listening to a podcast from Good Morning Cape Town with Lester Kiewit. Listen live on Primedia+ weekdays between 06:00 and 09:00 (SA Time) to Good Morning CapeTalk with Lester Kiewit broadcast on CapeTalk https://buff.ly/NnFM3Nk For more from the show go to https://buff.ly/xGkqLbT or find all the catch-up podcasts here https://buff.ly/f9Eeb7i Subscribe to the CapeTalk Daily and Weekly Newsletters https://buff.ly/sbvVZD5 Follow us on social media CapeTalk on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@capetalk CapeTalk on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ CapeTalk on X: https://x.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CapeTalk567 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Tariff levels reset after American / Chinese accord; Poland blames Russia for arson with arrests made in Warsaw; the Taliban bans world’s favourite game. Adam Gilchrist shares details on these stories with Lester Kiewit. Good Morning Cape Town with Lester Kiewit is a podcast of the CapeTalk breakfast show. This programme is your authentic Cape Town wake-up call. Good Morning Cape Town with Lester Kiewit is informative, enlightening and accessible. The team’s ability to spot & share relevant and unusual stories make the programme inclusive and thought-provoking. Don’t miss the popular World View feature at 7:45am daily. Listen out for #LesterInYourLounge which is an outside broadcast – from the home of a listener in a different part of Cape Town - on the first Wednesday of every month. This show introduces you to interesting Capetonians as well as their favourite communities, habits, local personalities and neighbourhood news. Thank you for listening to a podcast from Good Morning Cape Town with Lester Kiewit. Listen live on Primedia+ weekdays between 06:00 and 09:00 (SA Time) to Good Morning CapeTalk with Lester Kiewit broadcast on CapeTalk https://buff.ly/NnFM3Nk For more from the show go to https://buff.ly/xGkqLbT or find all the catch-up podcasts here https://buff.ly/f9Eeb7i Subscribe to the CapeTalk Daily and Weekly Newsletters https://buff.ly/sbvVZD5 Follow us on social media CapeTalk on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@capetalk CapeTalk on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ CapeTalk on X: https://x.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CapeTalk567 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Welcome to The Blathering LIVE on The Napzok Network. Part ramble, part rant, part joy, part anger -- but all done in the fashion of an old school radio show with segments and live listener calls. The on-air sign goes on and the show goes from there. The live episodes are recorded on Ken's YouTube, Twitch, and Facebook channels.Get Ken's Comedy Album IN MY DAYPurchase Ken's book Why We Love Stars: The Great Moments That Built A Galaxy Far, Far Away.Enjoy The Moonagerskennapzok.com
Happy Friday Pod Fam! We got thru a rainy week but you know what it cant rain forever. Fun episode today. The topics are below. Enjoy!- What are Tariffs?- Liquid Assets- Whom Transplant Sisters & Miracle Baby- Multilingual God- Cloned Food-Imported Goods - What is dancing?- One Universal QuestionIn Music News - Lofi Study Girl , Pink Pantheress - TonightFollow @degreescouchchronicles on all podcast platforms.Tune into our social for all updates.Click the link here for fitness by Phoenix fit workouts, meals, and more https://www.etsy.com/shop/FitnesswithphoenixGlow Nude @Glow.nude on IG
On the show this week, I'm talking to Aube Rey Lescure, author of the mesmerising, sweeping novel, River East, River West. If you've been listening to the podcast for a while, you will probably know I love a family drama, inter-generational novel, especially one that has a dual timeline. River East, River West is exactly that as we follow teenager, Alva, navigating her American-Chinese dual heritage identity in modern china while living with her American mother, Sloane, who is adamant she wants to stay. We also meet her step father, Lu Fang who is a man of secrets, complexities and a deep pain and trauma he hides from the world.Aube Rey Lescure is a French-Chinese-American writer. She grew up between France, northern China, and Shanghai, and graduated from Yale University in 2015. She is the co-author and translator of two books on Chinese politics and economics. Aube's debut novel, River East, River West has been shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction, the Maya Angelou Book Award, and the Stanfords' Fiction with a Sense of Place Award----I hope you loved listening to this episode and found things that will stay with you. I'd love to hear from you, so please do reach out on social media and don't forget to like, subscribe and leave a review as it can really help. If you're feeling extra generous, please consider buying me a "coffee" so I can keep putting great conversations like this out into the world:https://ko-fi.com/readwithsamiaSupport the show
Today's Sponsor: Hostage Tapehttp://thisistheconversationproject.com/hostagetape Today's Rundown:Veterans slam Trump team's altercation at Arlington National Cemeteryhttps://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/08/28/trump-arlington-cemetery-veterans/74980080007/ Shedeur Sanders Becomes The First College Football Player To Sign An NIL Deal With Nike, Following In His Father's Footstepshttps://afrotech.com/shedeur-sanders-nil-deal-nike/ AME Church announces retirement settlement agreement during General Conferencehttps://religionnews.com/2024/08/26/ame-church-announces-retirement-settlement-agreement-during-general-conference/ Lady Gaga Branded an 'A--hole' by Animal Rights Activists for 'Buying' New Dog Instead of Adopting the Puphttps://radaronline.com/p/lady-gaga-slammed-by-animal-rights-activists-for-buying-new-dog/ Hawaii residents carry battle-axes, samurai swords, celebrating a change in weapon lawshttps://apnews.com/article/hawaii-gun-rights-weapons-second-amendment-f61c972ebbb28fb21baa28385fa069cdMore than 200 former Bush, McCain and Romney staffers endorse Harrishttps://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/200-former-bush-mccain-romney-staffers-endorse-harris-rcna168363 US Supreme Court declines to revive Biden's student debt relief planhttps://www.marketwatch.com/story/supreme-court-declines-to-revive-biden-student-debt-relief-plan-heres-what-borrowers-should-know-7af5fbd5 Armie Hammer forced to sell truck because he ‘can't afford' gas after career-ending cannibalism scandalhttps://nypost.com/2024/08/27/entertainment/armie-hammer-is-selling-his-truck-because-he-cant-afford-gas/?utm_source=smartnews&utm_campaign=nypost&utm_medium=referral Website: http://thisistheconversationproject.com Facebook: http://facebook.com/thisistheconversationproject Twitter: http://twitter.com/th_conversation TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@theconversationproject YouTube: http://thisistheconversationproject.com/youtube Podcast: http://thisistheconversationproject.com/podcasts ONE DAY OLDER ON AUGUST 29:Rebecca DeMornay (65)Lea Michele (38)Liam Payne (31) WHAT HAPPENED TODAY:1898: The Goodyear Tire Company was founded.1966: The last Beatles concert played, in San Francisco, California.2005: Hurricane Katrina devastated much of the U.S. Gulf Coast from Louisiana (especially the Mississippi Gulf Coast) to the Florida Panhandle, killing more than 1,800 and costing over $125 billion in damage. WORD OF THE DAY: gravity [ grav-i-tee ]https://www.dictionary.com/browse/gravityheaviness or weightThe gravity of the marble statue made it difficult to move without the help of specialized equipment. DAILY AFFIRMATION: I Deserve The Best And I Accept It Now.Enhances Self-Worth: Repeating the affirmation "I deserve the best and I accept it now" reinforces a belief in one's own value and worthiness, promoting a positive self-image and increasing self-esteem.https://www.amazon.com/100-Daily-Affirmations-Positivity-Confidence/dp/B0D2D6SS2D?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER PLUS, TODAY WE CELEBRATE: Chop Suey Dayhttps://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-day/national-chop-suey-day-august-29#:~:text=NATIONAL%20CHOP%20SUEY%20DAY%20%7C%20August%2029%20%2D%20National%20Day%20CalendarGet your chopsticks ready! August 29 is National Chop Suey Day ane we are recognizing an American Chinese culinary cuisine each year on August 29. Chop suey, which means assorted pieces, is a dish in American Chinese cuisine. The main ingredients include meat (chicken, fish, beef, prawns or pork) and eggs. As the meat cooks over high heat, add vegetables (usually bean sprouts, cabbage, and celery). The dish is bound in a starch-thickened sauce. Typically, rice accompanies the flavorful dish, too.
This week, we're thrilled to welcome a culinary powerhouse, Milwaukee's Chef Dan Jacobs, to the show. Known for his bold flavors and inventive takes on American-Chinese cuisine, Dan co-owns Milwaukee's renowned restaurants DanDan and EsterEv. After a career working throughout Chicago and Wisconsin, he recently made waves on the 21st season of Top Chef, where he earned a top-three finish, showcasing the heart and soul of Midwestern hospitality. Despite living with Kennedy's disease, a rare neuromuscular disorder, Dan's journey through the competition was a testament to his resilience and creativity, which he continues to showcase every day at DanDan. We dive into his approach to menu development, Bayview hotspots, the lessons learned from cooking under the intense pressure of the Top Chef kitchen, and so much more.
Last time we spoke about the fall of Guam and actions in New Guinea. General Shepherd's Marines had secured the Orote Peninsula, while General Turnage's Marines pushed the Japanese northwards. General Bruce's 77th Division prepared for an eastward assault, and engineers attempted, but failed, to build a supply road to Yona. Geiger's offensive began on July 31, with Marines quickly capturing Agaña and advancing despite dense jungle and resistance. The 77th Division faced tough terrain but liberated 2,000 Guamanians. The push north continued, facing logistical challenges and mined roads. By August 7th, coordinated attacks cleared key areas, culminating in the defeat of remaining Japanese forces by August 11. Guam was back in American hands although scattered Japanese forces continued guerrilla warfare until the war's conclusion. Thus the Marianas campaign had finally come to a conclusion, and now the allies were adding more bass of operation to hit the Japanese home islands. This episode is the Fall of Myitkyina Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945. This week we are diving back over to the northern Burma front. Despite holding Myitkyina through a rainy, muddy summer-long siege, by late July, the Japanese had been gradually cornered into a small perimeter, cut off from all supply lines and running short on ammunition. The situation worsened due to a leadership crisis, between the two Japanese leaders was a matter of semantics. Colonel Maruyama of the 114th Regiment who was in charge of the defense of the city, interpreted his orders to “facilitate the future operations of 33rd Army ‘by securing the vital areas in the vicinity of Myitkyina',” as a call to defend the city street-by-street, house-by-house. When General Minakami of the 56th Division arrived, he pointed out that all Maruyama had to do to satisfy his orders was simply to continue to deny the Allies access to the Ledo-Kamaing road. Minakami thus found himself in a rather difficult position in regard to the command of the Myitkyina Garrison. Maruyama had conducted an excellent defense, was fully familiar with the situation and, because of his position as former commander, exercised considerable authority. Shortly after Minakami's assumption of command, General Honda asked how long Myitkyina could stand. Minakami replied that the garrison might be able to hold out for as long as two months. A few days later, Honda was surprised to receive a second message stating, "The Myitkyina Garrison finds it difficult to hold with the poor defense facilities and meager supplies of ammunition." The Army staff concluded that the first message was undoubtedly Minakami's personal opinion as it reflected his determined character and that the second message incorporated the views of Maruyama who was more cognizant of the actual situation. In order that there should be no doubt as to the importance of holding Myitkyina, Honda sent the following message, "Maj. Gen. Minakami will defend Myitkyina to the death” — a message sent with deep regret and sadness according to the staff officers who wrote and dispatched the order. Heavy casualties had reduced the Japanese forces from around 3,000 to fewer than 1,500, further weakening the garrison's defensive capabilities. This number included the heavily wounded and hospital patients, who could only be evacuated by drifting down the Irrawaddy River on rafts, often intercepted by the unforgiving Kachin Levies. On July 24, eight rafts and a boat laden with Japanese were attacked on the Irrawaddy by Kachins of the OSS Detachment 101. Twenty-four Japanese were killed, two captured, and then it was learned these were hospital patients fleeing Myitkyina. Three more Japanese seized by friendly Burmans revealed that hospital patients were being evacuated by the simple expedient of letting them drift down the river on rafts. As these fierce defenders began to falter, General Wessels felt ready to launch his final push. Reinforced by the 149th and 90th Regiments, the American-Chinese forces made daily gains of several hundred yards during the last days of July, though at a significant cost. As the Japanese-held area shrank, counterattacks became less dynamic, captured positions were less fortified, and many Japanese dead were found to be severely wounded men returned to the line. Unbeknownst to the Americans, the desperate defenders had requested a withdrawal to the east by the end of the month. Though Minakami had intended to fight to the last, he ultimately agreed to preserve his men's lives. On the night of August 1, the Japanese began their escape, crossing the Irrawaddy east of the town. Weighing the many evidences that control of the situation was rapidly passing into their hands, Wessels and his colleagues drafted a new plan of attack. It included an ingenious device, credited to General Pan Yu-kun of the 50th Division. A raiding party, formed into fifteen heavily armed sections, was organized and briefed on infiltrating Japanese lines facing the 50th Division. Having made its way through the Japanese lines in darkness, it was to remain hidden until 0430 when the 50th would assault while the raiders spread confusion behind the Japanese lines. Meanwhile, air reconnaissance revealed many rafts moored against the Irrawaddy within the Japanese lines. "At 0300 hours (3 August), when the moon went down and rain and thunder set in, the raiding party of the 50th Division moved out. The approach was detected only once and some shots were fired at the raiders, who hit the ground. The Chinese did not return fire however, and after laying low for a while, moved out again quietly and cautiously." While the raiders created confusion behind Japanese lines, the 50th Division launched a full attack, quickly overwhelming the remaining enemy positions and capturing 187 prisoners, thus securing Myitkyina for the Chinese. However, about 800 Japanese managed to escape eastward and later rejoined their allies. Minakami was not among them. As the 3rd of August meandered on in a haze of gunfire, blood and rain, Minakami went to sit with his back against a tree. There came the sound of a pistol shot. Japanese officers nearby sprinted to the scene. The general's orderly was in tears. They found Minakami's body erect against the tree trunk, facing northeast, towards Japan. The ten-week siege resulted in approximately 3,000 Japanese killed or captured; 972 Chinese killed, 3,184 wounded, and 188 evacuated due to illness; and 272 Americans killed, 955 wounded, and 980 evacuated sick. Overall, the total American-Chinese casualties in 1944 amounted to 13,618 Chinese and 1,327 American casualties. A week later, the Galahad Unit, reduced to only 130 combat-effective men from the original 2,997, was disbanded. The fall of Myitkyina was General Stilwell's greatest victory, earning him a promotion to full general on August 1, two days before the city fell. The attack was costly in terms of suffering and losses, but the Mogaung-Myitkyina area was a significant prize. It allowed Ledo Road builders and American transport planes to move to Myitkyina and enabled ground forces to link up with other Chinese forces in neighboring Yunnan. As the fighting moved further south down the Hukawng and Mogaung valleys, it became safer for transports to use the lower, more southerly routes to China. This, in turn, increased Hump deliveries to China from 13,686 tons in May to 18,235 tons in June and 25,454 tons in July. While the Allies celebrated victories in northern Burma, the situation in China was dire as the Ichi-Go offensive resulted in many Chinese casualties. By August 1, General Yokoyama had amassed 110,000 troops around Hengyang, equipped with five heavy artillery pieces, fifty mountain artillery pieces, and 40,000 shells. Conversely, General Fang's resilient defenders had dwindled to 3,000 exhausted troops, with their defenses largely destroyed. General Xue Yue's reinforcements had failed to reach Hengyang, leaving the Chinese forces to rely on the 46th Army to launch an attack along the railway. On August 4, Yokoyama initiated his main offensive. The 68th and 116th Divisions launched a significant assault from the south and southwest, while the 58th Division quietly positioned itself near the enemy's northern defenses. Initially, progress was slow. However, by August 5, Yokoyama's forces had captured Yoping and School Hill. The next day, the 116th Division secured part of the city's defenses. On August 6, the 58th Division breached the city walls from the north, forcing Fang to redeploy troops to counter this new threat. Intense street fighting broke out on August 7 as the defenders valiantly tried to repel the Japanese attacks. By nightfall, the 68th Division had overrun the southern defenses and entered part of the Walled City. Gradually, enemy troops began to surrender, and before dawn on August 8, after 48 days of fierce resistance, Fang was compelled to surrender. Following the capture of Hengyang, Yokoyama declared the successful completion of the initial phase of Operation Togo and promptly began preparations for the subsequent offensive. In this phase, the Japanese reported casualties of over 3860 killed, 8327 wounded, and 7099 sick, with an estimated Chinese casualty count exceeding 100,000, including 8400 killed and 5000 captured in Hengyang alone. To spearhead the next stage of Operation Togo targeting Guilin and Liuzhou, General Okamura Yasuji's 6th Area Army was established on August 25, comprising the 11th, 23rd, and 34th Armies, along with the 27th, 40th, 64th, and 68th Divisions, alongside additional support units. This allowed General Hata to focus on countering potential American landings on the Chinese coast while Okamura directed the offensives in eastern China. Ahead of this operation, Lieutenant-General Tanaka Hisakazu of the 23rd Army initiated a preliminary offensive in late June, positioning the 23rd Independent Mixed Brigade in the northeastern sector of the Luichow Peninsula, advancing the 22nd Independent Mixed Brigade to the Tanjiang River, securing the Jiangmen area with the 22nd Division, and capturing the Qingyuan sector with the 104th Division. By late August, Yokoyama had deployed six divisions along the Shuangfeng-Leiyang line, poised to eliminate the enemy in the district west of Hengyang. On August 29, he launched the offensive, with over 100,000 troops advancing southwest amidst heavy artillery bombardment. Intense ground and aerial combat ensued, resulting in the loss of 10 Japanese planes and 15 enemy aircraft. Despite fierce resistance from Chinese defenders over three days, their entire line collapsed on September 1, prompting a retreat towards Shaoyang, Qiyang, and Jiahe. However, the Japanese advanced relentlessly, covering nearly 100 kilometers in the following days without pause. By September 5, both Qiyang and Huochangpingzhen had fallen, followed by the seizure of Lingling Airdrome on September 8 by the 3rd Division. Progressing along a north-south axis, Japanese forces secured Shaoyang and Changning, while the 58th Division captured Dongan on the same day. With initial objectives achieved, Yokoyama ordered further pursuit, with the 3rd and 54th Divisions converging in the Quanzhou area by September 14. Meanwhile, Tanaka prepared for his offensive, with the bulk of the 104th Division moving towards Taipingzhen, and a raiding unit conducting a wide envelopment maneuver along the Zhukeng-Huaiji road towards Wuzhou by September 6. Subsequently, the 23rd Brigade began its northward march from Suixi. However, Tanaka's offensive wouldn't commence for a couple of weeks. Turning to the broader context of the Pacific War, General Stilwell celebrated a major victory with the fall of Myitkyina, while General Slim's successful defense against Operation U-Go further bolstered Allied morale in the CBI Theater. In Thailand, Prime Minister Phibun's regime faced a significant crisis as Japan struggled to meet the country's essential import needs, leading to inflation, rationing, shortages, black markets, smuggling, corruption, and profiteering. The anti-Japanese Free Thai underground movement, spearheaded by Regent Pridi Banomyong, infiltrated the government, stoking public discontent against both the Japanese occupiers and Phibun's administration. As a result, following the downfall of the Tojo government, Phibun found himself compelled to step down in late July. For his part, Phibun also was thinking of ways, he claims, to prepare to turn against the Japanese. Part of these preparations included proposals to move the capital to remote Phetchabun, north of Bangkok, and construct a “Buddhist City,” a sort of center for world Buddhism, near Saraburi—both grandiose projects in typically extravagant Phibun style. Moving to the isolated, mountain-ringed Phetchabun, Phibun later argued, would facilitate a Thai uprising against the Japanese. Yet on July 18, the Tojo government in Japan resigned, and only six days later the Thai National Assembly turned down both government bills and forced the resignation of Phibun as prime minister. The deputies in the assembly voted against these plans motivated in part by the fall of Tojo, who was closely associated in their minds with Phibun, in part by their feeling that the war was turning against Japan, and in part by their feeling that Phibun was too closely identified with an authoritarian past that must now be buried for the sake of improving relations with the Allies. Politician Khuang Aphaiwong then assumed his position as Prime Minister on August 1. Serving as a compromise candidate, he navigated between Phibun's supporters and the opposition while maintaining cooperation with the Japanese and safeguarding Free Thai members who had collaborated with the Allies. Meanwhile, in China, the success of Operation Ichi-Go led to another leadership crisis. Despite the initial rejection of Stilwell commanding troops in China in 1942, the effective Japanese offensive posed a threat of defeat to the Chinese Government, reigniting the debate over command authority. This was especially significant as Chinese troops under Stilwell's command were achieving significant victories in northern Burma. However, Stilwell's vocal criticism of Chiang Kai-Shek's corrupt regime and incompetent generals strained their relationship. Chiang favored General Chennault, who proposed that with a monthly allocation of 10,000 tons for operations in northern China, his 14th Air Force could halt the Japanese offensive. Despite his strained relationship with Chennault, Stilwell redirected Hump allocations to increase the 14th Air Force's allocation to 8,425 tons, although he couldn't secure an additional 1,500 tons from the Matterhorn allocation. Chennault's aircraft managed to disrupt the Japanese advance, but failed to halt it completely. In late June, Stilwell faced criticism when Vice-President Henry Wallace visited Chongqing. While Wallace persuaded Chiang to allow a small American observer mission into Communist territory, he also recommended Stilwell's recall due to his perceived lack of diplomacy and strained relations with the Chinese leadership. Nonetheless, Stilwell maintained the backing of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and President Roosevelt eventually nominated him to lead the China Theater, on the condition that he make every effort to avoid upsetting the Generalissimo. In July, the President attempted to persuade Chiang to accept this arrangement, but the Generalissimo employed various diplomatic maneuvers to reject the proposal, agreeing "in principle" only after an unspecified period for his forces to adjust. He also requested the presence of a presidential representative to facilitate smooth relations between himself and Stilwell. Major-General Patrick Hurley was appointed to this role and arrived in China in August. Concurrently, the Dixie Mission arrived in Yan'an, where over the following months, American observers assessed Communist society, military tactics, and guerrilla operations, issuing reports that commended them and suggested increased collaboration. Following the fall of Hengyang, tensions escalated in China, with rumors swirling about potential coup plans involving Marshall Li Zhongren and General Xue Yue against the Generalissimo. Meanwhile, Chennault urged Stilwell to divert Hump airlift capacity to supply ground forces in eastern China, a move opposed by Chiang, who feared supporting potential insurgents with lend-lease equipment. Stilwell, anticipating his imminent assumption of leadership in the China Theater, refrained from challenging Chiang's stance. With significant developments looming, the intensifying rift between Stilwell and Chiang foreshadowed the downfall of one of them. Elsewhere in the South Pacific, General MacArthur's troops had finished their final offensive in New Guinea and were preparing to return to the Philippines by way of an intermediate stop at Halmahera Island. To the east, Rabaul was completely surrounded, enduring heavy bombardment from Allied air forces. Meanwhile, on Bougainville, the remaining forces of the 17th Army had retreated to the island's southern region, unable to launch further counterattacks. The living conditions of the Japanese soldiers, never good under the best of circumstances, became increasingly desperate. Added to the dangers that forward troops always faced, such as contact with large American combat patrols, was the growing specter of starvation. Sealed off from regular supplies from New Ireland or New Britain, General Hyakutake's army had to depend entirely on its own laborers to acquire food. The normal rice ration of 750 grams of rice for each soldier was cut in April 1944 to 250 grams, and beginning in September there was no rice ration. A large portion of the available army and naval personnel had to be put to work growing food. Allied pilots took delight in dropping napalm on these garden plots whenever possible. The native workers who had been impressed into service were the first to defect, but soon many soldiers also just walked away from their units, taking the chance of surviving in the jungle on what could be gathered. After the failure of the March attack, morale in most units became deplorably low. There were instances, normally unimagined in the Japanese army, of open insubordination and even mutiny. Although General Hyakutake dreamed of a midsummer offensive, it became obvious that no operations as large as that smashed in March could be undertaken for months, if ever. Thus, almost as if by agreement, both sides adopted a defensive posture that minimized the conflict in the no-man's-land between them. In the Central Pacific, significant progress had been made over the past year, marked by the complete capture of the Gilbert, Marshall, and Mariana Islands, strengthening the Allied presence and providing a launching point for future offensives into the heart of the Japanese Empire. The next target for Admiral Nimitz was the Palaus, to be invaded concurrently with Halmahera. However, the architect of this southwestern advance was not Admiral Spruance, who had been overseeing operations with the 5th Fleet. Instead, it was Admiral Halsey's 3rd Fleet, known as the "Department of Dirty Tricks," that had been strategizing the next moves from Hawaii. Now, Admiral Halsey was set to assume command of the Pacific Fleet, leading the charge to the Palaus and the Philippines. This rotation in leadership between Halsey's 3rd Fleet and Spruance's 5th Fleet was orchestrated by Nimitz to maintain operational tempo and confuse the Japanese. The alternating command structure allowed for continuous planning of future operations while the active fleet conducted current ones. However, Tokyo was apprehensive about a potential invasion of the Philippines and sought to bolster its defenses. Following the surrender of the US Army Forces in the Philippines, the 14th Army, led by Lieutenant-General Tanaka Shizuichi, worked to establish military administration, secure cooperation from civilian institutions, and quell guerrilla groups across the countryside. Despite their endeavors, their control over certain regions, particularly in the Visayas and Mindanao, remained fragile. Allied submarines and aircraft from Australia and New Guinea also delivered supplies like signal equipment, weapons, explosives, propaganda materials, and counterfeit currency to support the guerrilla forces, further impeding Japanese efforts. Additionally, with the deteriorating situation in the South and Central Pacific, more troops were redirected from the Philippines' garrison to other areas, weakening the 14th Army, now commanded by Lieutenant-General Kuroda Shigenori since May 19, 1943. Undermanned and stretched thin, the Japanese halted their suppression operations in August, hoping that the imminent declaration of independence by the Second Philippine Republic would lead guerrillas to surrender. However, this strategy backfired, as the guerrillas only grew stronger during the pause. Consequently, Kuroda restarted intensive suppression operations in 1944, but guerrilla activities escalated in anticipation of the imminent liberation by American forces. As a result, the guerrillas gained strength in the following months, providing valuable intelligence to MacArthur's forces in preparation for their eventual return. Given this context, it was evident that the 14th Army would be ill-equipped to withstand an American invasion under the current circumstances. Due to its crucial strategic location bridging Japan and the southern region rich in natural resources, Japan couldn't risk losing the Philippines. It served as their primary rear base supporting the main defense perimeter. The Philippines were also to play the role of a rear base of operations–an assembly and staging area for troops and supplies and a concentration area for air reserves, to support operations at any threatened point on the main defense perimeter from the Marianas south to Western New Guinea and the Banda Sea area. To implement these plans, IGHQ in October 1943 directed the 14th Army to complete the establishment of the necessary base facilities by the spring of 1944. Major emphasis in this program was laid upon the construction of air bases. The Army alone planned to build or improve 30 fields in addition to 13 already in operational use or partially completed. The Navy projected 21 fields and seaplane bases to be ready for operational use by the end of 1944, expanding its total number of Philippine bases to 33. Line of communications and other rear area base installations were also to be expanded and improved. Of the 30 Army airfields projected in October 1943, six had been generally completed by May 1944, and 24 under construction. Of the 21 projected Navy fields, 15 were still incomplete by then. Consequently, in early 1944, the decision was made to strengthen the garrison in the Philippines. Initially, this involved reorganizing and expanding existing garrison units to establish four new independent mixed brigades. These brigades were primarily tasked with suppressing guerrilla activity, while infantry divisions were assigned to defend against potential enemy landings. However, despite the estimation that at least seven divisions were necessary for the defense of Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao, only the 16th Division was available. Additionally, it was deemed crucial to bolster air strength with at least two air divisions, anticipating Allied invasions in Halmahera and Palau before advancing to the Philippines. Plans were formulated in March to deploy reinforcements within eight months. In mid-May, General Terauchi relocated his headquarters to Manila to oversee operations more closely. Concurrently, efforts were made to transport the 30th Division to Mindanao and bring the 4th Air Army to Manila. Furthermore, the Philippines were reinforced with the 2nd and 4th Air Divisions, the latter being tasked with constructing 30 new airfields. In June, approximately 20,000 inexperienced replacements were transported to the Philippines to bolster the recently-formed independent mixed brigades, filling them up to division strength. Subsequently, in July, the 100th, 102nd, 103rd, and 105th Divisions were activated, along with the establishment of the 54th and 55th Independent Mixed Brigades. It's ironic that despite this reinforcement, the main Japanese forces were as inexperienced as the Philippine Army during MacArthur's defense. Nonetheless, Terauchi was resolute in further fortifying the Philippines to prevent its fall, unlike MacArthur's situation. By mid-July, the reinforced 58th Independent Mixed Brigade arrived at Lingayen. Later that month, the 14th Army underwent reorganization into the 14th Area Army, with units directly under its command tasked with defending the northern Philippines. Meanwhile, the 35th Army, led by Lieutenant-General Suzuki Sosaki, was established under the 14th Area Army to defend Mindanao and the Visayas. Additionally, Tokyo finalized plans for decisive battle operations, codenamed Sho-Go, covering the Philippines-Formosa-Ryukyus-Japan-Kuriles area. This determined the disposition of Army and Navy air forces across the Pacific, with the Philippines receiving the reorganized 1st and 2nd Air Fleets and the 4th Air Army. The Philippine garrison was strengthened to a total of nine divisions and four brigades, with the 1st Division at Shanghai and the 68th Independent Brigade at Formosa designated as general reserves. Defenses and fortifications were constructed at Luzon in preparation for the decisive battle there. Known as the Combined Fleet Top Secret Operations Order No. 84, issued on 1 August, this fixed the new tactical grouping of naval forces for the Sho-Go Operations. Almost the entire surface combat strength of the Fleet was included in a Task Force placed under the overall command of the First Mobile Fleet Commander, ViceAdm. Ozawa Jisaburo. This force was broken down into three tactical groups: (1) the Task Force Main Body, directly commanded by ViceAdm. Ozawa and consisting of most of the Third Fleet (carrier forces): (2) the First Striking Force, commanded by Vice Adm. Kurita Takeo and made up of the Second Fleet with part of the 10th Destroyer Squadron attached: (3) the Second Striking Force, commanded by Vice Adm. Shima Kiyohide and composed of the Fifth Fleet plus two destroyer divisions and the battleships Fuso and Yamashiro. The First Striking Force would be stationed at Lingga Anchorage, while the Task Force Main Body and the Second Striking Force would be stationed in the western part of the Inland Sea. However, if an enemy attack was expected, the First Striking Force would advance from Lingga Anchorage to Brunei, Coron or Guimaras while the Task Force Main Body and the Second Striking Force remained in the Inland Sea and prepared to attack the north flank of the enemy task force. During August, the Navy Section of Imperial General Headquarters also took action to give the Combined Fleet more unified operational control of naval forces in order to facilitate the execution of the Sho-Go plans. On 9 August the General Escort Command and units assigned to naval stations were placed under operational command of the Combined Fleet, and on 21 August the China Area Fleet was similarly placed under Combined Fleet command. On 10 August the 1st Carrier Division, reorganized around two newly-commissioned regular carriers, was added to the Task Force Main Body. Vice Adm. Ozawa, Task Force Commander, meanwhile set 15 October as the target date for completion of the reorganization and training of the 3d and 4th Carrier Division air groups. Concurrently with these preparations, steps were taken to strengthen the antiaircraft armament of combat units. Accordingly, the Japanese sought to deploy the 8th and 26th Divisions, the 2nd Tank Division, and the 61st Independent Mixed Brigade to the Luzon region for a decisive battle. However, enemy submarines posed a constant threat. Since February, they had been patrolling the South China Sea, targeting the Hi Convoys supplying Japanese territories in Southeast Asia and Japan itself. During these engagements, Admiral Ijuin was killed aboard the patrol boat Iki. Between August 18 and 25, Admiral Kajioka's Hi-71 convoy, carrying the 26th Division, was attacked by six American submarines. The escort carrier Taiyo, destroyers Yunagi and Asakaze, two oilers, four transports, and three kaibokans were sunk, with 7420 soldiers of the 26th Division lost. The submarine Harder was the only American vessel sunk in retaliation. Kajioka's Hi-72 convoy, returning from Luzon, was also attacked, resulting in the sinking of his flagship, the kaibokan Hirato, and the loss of the destroyer Shikinami, three transports, and one oiler. Despite these setbacks, advance units of the 8th Division, 2nd Tank Division, and 61st Independent Mixed Brigade successfully reached the Philippines in September. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. After months the siege of Myitkyina had finally ended. The Japanese had held out as long as they could, but lack of supplies and rather terrible leadership lost them the fight. Meanwhile, in China, Japanese offensives intensified, challenging Chinese defenses and leadership. It seemed war was coming to the Philippines, where the Japanese prepared to fight to the death.
Dan Jacobs has received numerous accolades as a chef in Milwaukee, including as a James Beard Award semifinalist. He’s cofounder of the American-Chinese restaurant DanDan and fine dining spot EsterEv. Jacobs became the hometown hero on the most recent season of “Top Chef: Wisconsin.” He talked with Steve Gotcher of WPR’s “BETA” about representing the city of Milwaukee on the show, while also bringing awareness to Kennedy’s Disease, which he’s had since 2016.
Last time we spoke about the battle of Wakde. Operation Tornado, the amphibious assault of Wakde island faced many logistical challenges, but not as much Japanese resistance. The landing at Arare was a large success, seeing the allies secure a beachhead before advancing inland. Through a combination of air, naval and ground attacks, the smaller Japanese force was pushed back. Likewise the islands of Liki and Niroemoar were taken with relative ease as well. Over in the Burma-India theater, the battle for Kohima was gradually seeing the Japanese fail to meet their objectives. Without ammunition or provision supplies flowing to them, the Japanese at Kohima had no hope of holding back the allies. Thus the Japanese were beginning to fall back and now were setting up a defense to stop the allies from entering central Burma. Meanwhile a siege was being erected against Myitkyina. This episode is the Siege of Myitkyina Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945. Last time we saw General Stilwell had managed to seize the Myitkyina airstrip. Now allied forces were gradually securing northern Burma, pushing further towards Mogaung. The Japanese 18th Division were absolutely battered and barely holding on around Kamaing. However when the American-Chinese forces seized Myitkyina's airstrip, they had failed to quickly attack the main town, which the Japanese were reinforcing heavily. Now they were being attacked from both ends. This prompted General Stilwell to dispatch General Boatner with the task force to try and turn things around. Simultaneously, Stilwell had just received word of the Chindits abandonment of the Blackpool stronghold, outraged by this he ordered them to advance northwards to support the attack on Mogaung. Three brigades, the 111th, 14th and the 3rd West Africans were to advance north to support Calvert's 77th Brigade to take Mogaung. The Chindits were incredulous. Nonetheless, Lentaigne, pressed by Stilwell, sought to have his 3rd West Africans, the 14th and 111th Brigades squeeze the Japanese along the western flanks of the Mogaung valley, in which Mogaung occupied the lowest point of an inverted triangle, with the other two points being Kamaing on the top left and Myitkyina on the top right. With any luck, his three brigades could capture Kamaing, which occupied an enviable place on the Mogaung River. The 111th Brigade was to move north-east and operate in the Pahok-Sahmaw area, destroying dumps and blocking enemy movement. Thebattered men of the 111th Brigade struggled to cope with the march north, to the hills east of Lakhren and west of Mogaung. Conditions were appalling on the three-day march to Lakhren village. From there, the best approach to Mogaung would be identified. They were making for a waterlogged, mosquito-infested area north east of the Lake. This area was also alive with Japanese units. They were required to support 77th Brigade's attack on Mogaung, by pushing from the west as Calvert's command advanced from the south-east. However, 111th Brigade was spent after Blackpool and many men were forced to return to Lakhren village. There was also a new task for 14th Brigade – the capture of Taungni. With the casualties evacuated, 14th Brigade abandoned the Kyunsalai Pass and headed north towards Mogaung. The steamy swamps continued to take their toll within the ranks of the York and Lancaster columns. Dysentery was rife. Animals collapsed and were shot where they dropped. They reached Mokso on June 25. This much-used rallying point, consisting of four huts, was a sea of mud and detritus, decorated with black clouds of flies. Rations were being consumed rapidly in an area devoid of drop zones. Brigadier Brodie, 14th Brigade's Commander, responded to the extreme circumstances. His men, despite their dangerously poor condition, were still expected to harass the Japanese along the railway and support 77th Brigade's assault on Mogaung. He formed his columns into “Light Battle Groups”, free of heavy weapons and the wounded and sick, now lying together in the mud. Meanwhile, some Nigerian units were now struggling on the road to Lakhren along the reailway, as were the York and Lancaster sick – around 300 in all, 200 of whom were dangerously ill. On May 25th, the same day the Chindits had quit Blackpool, Stilwell ordered the Morris Force to seize Waingmaw, across the river from Myitkyina. Unfortunately, the Japanese had entrenched themselves at the town and enjoyed the luxury of a natural moat after heavy rains flooded the fields on the approaches to the town. Morrisforce was not a proper brigade, having only two columns of troops, to which a third from the 111th Brigade had been added 1,500 troops in total. It had been conceived to harass the Japanese on jungle areas. Now, they were up against fortified positions. The result was a bloodbath. Morrisforce then began to rapidly deplete in strength. By July 14th, it was to consist of exactly three platoons, roughly 120 men. On May 31st, Boatner then launched his first coordinated attack against Myitkyina seeing the 42nd regiment reach the Waingmaw ferry road. Built up twelve feet above the neighboring paddy fields, the road gave the Japanese a magnificent defensive position, which they exploited cleverly. The Chinese recoiled from this natural fortification but were able to beat off a Japanese counterattack. The 150th Regiment reached the riverbank and drew up in an arc about a sawmill in which the Japanese had a strongpoint. Meanwhile Colonel Hunter's 2nd battalion reinforced with engineers advanced to Radhapur where they were heavily counterattacked by the 114th Regiment. The next day, the inexperienced 236th Engineer Battalion was sent against Namkwi. The motive behind the 236th's attack was to contain the Japanese in the Namkwi area and introduce the battalion to combat under relatively easy conditions. One company of the 236th did succeed in entering Namkwi but instead of promptly consolidating to meet the inevitable Japanese counterattack fell out for a break. The Japanese counterattacked and drove the unwary engineers right back out of the village. Both the engineers and the 2600 replacements of the Galahad Unit that had recently arrived lacked adequate experience fighting the Japanese and as such suffered badly when fighting against them. Colonel Hunter's veteran Marauders, however, had suffered ample casualties and thus needed these green replacements in order to continue existing as a fighting force. Boatner tossed a last ditch effort on June 3rd, but his Chinese forces had suffered 320 casualties and their ammunition was running low. While he waited for supplies to build up, he used his green american troops to give them some experience, the Chinese meanwhile tunneled towards the Japanese still suffering heavy casualties. This allowed more Japanese troops to break through and reinforce Myitkyina, with a huge relief force of the 52rd Division soon on its way. Meanwhile, Lieutenant-General Matsuyama Yuzo of the depleted 56th Division was facing a deadly offensive of his own on the Yunnan front. After a series of negotiations between Chiang Kai-Shek and the Americans, it had been agreed, General Wei Lihuang's Y Force would cross the Salween River to attack the Tengchong and Longling areas. This would effectively allow the allies to link the Ledo Road with China, bypassing the heavy Japanese concentration along the Burma Road. Although the Americans had supplied the Y Force with artillery and ammunition, the Chinese had failed to bring the Y Force divisions up to strength, and many questioned their training. Regardless, General Wei planned to have elements of the 20th army group cross the Salween at several points before initiating a full assault against Tengchong once reinforcements had been ferried through. Further south, elements of the 11th Army Group would also cross the Salween to launch attacks on Pingda and Longling. On the night of May 11th, the Chinese forces began to cross the Salween River against little Japanese resistance, since Matsuyama had decided not to defend the crossing sites, instead placing his main line of resistance along the ridge line some 10 miles west. The 198th Division was able to assemble in front of the Mamien Pass; the 36th division was successfully ferried through Mengka; the brand new 39th Division managed to secure the Hueijen bridge and the 76th and 88th Divisions were converging on Pingda for the attack. On May 12th, the 198th were making good progress against the Mamien Pass as the 36th had surrounded the Japanese outposts in the eastern end of the Tiantouzhai pass. However Colonel Kurashige Yasuyoshi had his 148th regiment launched two surprise night counterattacks. All that night, the Japanese quietly filtered down from a nearby ridge and assembled near the Chinese position. Attacking at dawn, they surprised the Chinese and almost wiped them out before aid came. When darkness came, the 36th were at their bivouac. That night, the Japanese attacked vigorously, overrunning the division command post and causing the flustered 36th Division to fall back to the Salween. At dawn, the 53rd Army commander, Maj. Gen. Chou Fu-cheng, pushed a regiment across the Salween and restored the situation by attacking the Japanese flank. General Chou was an aggressive and tenacious fighter, whom his Manchurian soldiers had nicknamed Old Board-Back, and who had the reputation of never having yielded an inch to the Japanese. But even Chou could not immediately restore the morale of the 36th Division, which for some weeks took no further part in the Ta-tang-tzu fighting, and the rest of the 53rd Army had to bear the burden of clearing the pass. In response to this, Lt General Zhou Fucheng of the 53rd Army pushed the 116th and 130th Divisions across the river to resume the advance towards Tiantouzhai. At the Mamien pass, the 592nd and 594th Regiments began clearing out the Japanese strongpoints while the 593rd Regiment moved west over mountain byways to emerge into the Shweli valley by the 16th, securing the western end of the pass and forcing Kurashige's men to withdraw into the fortified village of Shangzhaigongfang. To the south, the New 39th would be able to secure Hemushu by the 17th. Yet the Japanese under Colonel Matsui Hideji soon recovered from the initial surprise of the Chinese offensive and the 1st battalion, 113th regiment drove the Chinese from Hung-mu-shu. The Japanese exploited their success and pushed the entire New 39th Division back against the Salween. Further south, the 76th Division met outposts of the 1st battalion, 146th regiment and forced them back to the heights overlooking Ping-ka. Meanwhile the 88th Division from the north was fighting through a series of fortified villages as it headed south to join the 76th Division. By the 16th, thirteen villages were occupied in the area northeast of Ping-ka, but the Japanese, as they withdrew, received reinforcements. Strengthened by the 2nd battalion, 113th regiment, the Japanese did not attack the Chinese who were pursuing them, but moved south and hit the Chinese 228th Regiment south and west of Ping-ka. Sensing the imminent danger from the north, Matsuyama redirected the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 113th Regiment to reinforce Shangzhaigongfang, where Kurashige would continue to resist staunchly. Reports from the American liaison teams were not cheerful. Americans observing the Kaolikung Range actions found that Japanese fire was accurate and economical, and that the enemy's use of camouflage and concealment approached perfection. The Japanese revealed no disposition to surrender though they were heavily outnumbered, often surrounded, and had neither air support nor air supply. On the other hand, the Americans reported that the Chinese endlessly wasted manpower and ammunition in costly frontal attacks. They reported that relations with the Chinese were not always as friendly as had been hoped, and they believed there would have to be better cooperation between Chinese and Americans if the Japanese were to be defeated. The Chinese were described as merely tolerating the Americans' presence and as paying little attention to their advice. The liaison personnel freely admitted their own shortcomings, and by their reports suggested that patience was the most important quality for a liaison officer to cultivate when dealing with the Chinese. Matsuyama ha spread his forces widely, over a near 60 mile sector, thus he would be unable to perform mobile operations and was gradually shifting to a defense of the Kaolikung mountain range by the 20th. This allowed the 53rd Army to continue their advance and the New 39th to retake Hemushu. By late May, with the 198th Division apparently contained on the north, Kurashige then rushed with the 113th Regiment to reinforce the Tiantouzhai front, where they successfully stopped the 53rd Army on its tracks. Yet on June 1st, the 54th Army, emerged in the Shweli valley from Ta-tang-tzu pass to join the 593rd Regiment from the Ma-mien pass. Next day the Chinese occupied Chieh-tou village and began patrolling the Shweli valley. They took the advice of Y Force officers and donned Burmese clothes. So disguised, they found it easy to enter Japanese-held villages. When taken by surprise, the Japanese were willing to abandon many of their outer defenses. With TNT charges dropped by the 27th Troop Carrier's C-47's when the weather cleared, the 198th Division also blew up the last pillboxes at Chai-kung-tang on June 13th. When the last shots had been fired and the Chinese farmer boys of the 54th Army reported the area secure, there was bewilderment at finding only 75 Japanese bodies in defenses that must have been manned by at least 300 men, and shock and nausea when the Japanese kitchens revealed how the defenders had been able to prolong their stay. Pitiful and ghastly evidence showed that the Japanese had resorted to cannibalism when their rations failed. On June 14th the Japanese further quit Chiao-tou-chieh, leaving many stores to the 2nd Reserve and 36th Divisions. In the end, the Kurashige Detachment would pull back to Watien while the Inose Battalion retreated towards Kutungchieh. General Wei then ordered the 71st Army to cross the Salween, just below the Huitung Bridge to attack Longling while a containing force attacked the strong Japanese harrison at Lameng. 20,000 troops of the 71st would cross the river by June 5th. At this time the 76th division left a regiment to besiege Pinga while the bulk pushed on to attack Matsuyama's HQ at Mangshi, while the 9th Division crossed the Salween, cutting off Pingda's line of communication. On June 4th, the new 28th Division attacked Lameng and forced Major Kanemitsu Keijirous garrison to retreat into the Mount Song fortress where they would hold out for several months. While the New 28th held down Kanemitsu, the 87th Division continued towards Longling, joining up with the 88th on June 8th to begin a siege of the main Japanese position on the Yunnan front. The Japanese still held onto the Burma Road east of Lung-ling, but as of June 7th the 87th Division had covered about two thirds of the distance along the Burma Road from the river to Lung-ling. The Chinese had to deal with small Japanese tanks, which had some moral effect but failed to halt the Chinese advance. Indeed, the latter had been fairly swift, for the Chinese had surprised the Japanese, and had been able to ease their supply problems by the capture of some Japanese rice depots. To meet the new crisis, Matsuyama dispatched the 1st battalion, 119th regiment to stop the 2nd army at Xiangdaxiang and then attack Longling from the south. Matsuyama ordered Colonel Matsui Hideji to immediately relieve Longling from the north; and for the Yamazaki Composite Group to keep the Mangshi-Longling road open. Meanwhile, Lieutenant-General Song Xilian, had been making some progress against Longling's two outer heights, the stout defenders would manage to repel the uncoordinated Chinese assaults for about a week. Four days of un-coordinated infantry attacks, with little artillery support, failed to carry the three mountains inside Lung-ling, and there was nothing to show for the heavy drain on the 71st Army's ammunition stocks. This gave more time for Matsuyama's reinforcements to arrive by June 14th. On the 15th Matsui launched a heavy attack, in coordination with the besieged defenders, successfully defeating the 71st Army and consequently driving the Chinese from the vicinity of Longling. The Japanese had thus been able to drive back 10000 Chinese effectives by an attack with only 1500. Repeated attempts by American liaison personnel with the 71st Army to learn how a small Japanese garrison could drive back a Chinese army group only brought embarrassed smiles from Chinese officers. The Chinese finally related on June 25th that the 261st Regiment had bolted, and that the commanding general of the 87th Division had attempted suicide. When fuller details of the fighting around Longling were available, anger and annoyance spread from Y Force to the Generalissimo himself. Y Force personnel considered the Chinese decision to withdraw from Longling inexcusable because the 11th Army Group had sent forward no reinforcements to meet the initial Japanese counterattacks. Of 21 battalions in the Longling vicinity on June 14th, only 9 took part in the fighting. In describing the defensive attitude of the 259th Regiment, as an example of the conduct that had cost the chance of a speedy breakthrough into Burma, one American liaison officer wrote: "From the time that we crossed the river until we reached Longling, the regimental commander continually had his troops in the rear digging emplacements and trenches in the fear that they would have to retreat." Yet that is it for the Yunnan battle for now as we need to head over to the Kamaing area. General Tanaka's 18th Division were withdrawing with the 22nd and 38th division in hot pursuit. To the south the Seton Roadblock was being held by 112th Regiment, threatening to thwart Tanaka's plans. Coming to their aid, General Sun sent his 113th and 114th Regiments to descend upon Lawa, where General Aida began an unauthorized retreat on June 4th. The abandonment of Lawa severely affected the defense of Kamaing, thus General Aida was relieved of command and replaced with Colonel Imaoka Soshiro. Colonel Shoshiro immediately began to dig in at Lagawng. Meanwhile the bulk of the 55th and 56th regiments were holding onto the Nanyaseik area as General Liao's 65th regiment cut their withdrawal route off on June 1st. While the rest of the 22nd Division were applying pressure from the north, the heavily outnumbered Japanese had no choice but to quickly cut a trail southeast, finally withdrawing on june 7th. Their retreat was chaotic, both regiments lost contact with each other and with their subordinate units as they made separate ways towards Kamaing. It would only be the 3rd battalion, 56th regiment who would arrive at Kamaing by June 10th, most of the others would reach Lakatkawng in late june. While retreating, their artillery units were intercepted by the pursuing Chinese and the artillerymen chose to die with their guns. While the 22nd Division and 149th Regiment thus pushed towards Kamaing, General Sun had also sent the 113th Regiment to take Zigyun and the 114th Regiment to advance southwards and support the Chindit assault on Mogaung. The Chinese were able to encircle Kamaing from the west, north and east as the 149th Regiment then moving across the fields and into Kamaing to take the settlement on June 16th, pushing Tanaka's battle-weary troops to the hills south and west of Kamaing. Meanwhile Brigadier Calbert was able to reach the Mogaung area by the start of June. 12 miles from Mogaung, Calvert's forward troops began to run into Japanese patrols and snipers. Despite taking losses, the 3/6th Gurkhas led by Colonel Claude Rome, who in his previous incarnation had been overlord of “Broadway,” pushed on, seizing the western heights overlooking Mogaung on May 31. On June 1st, Calvert's South Staffords linked up with Rome and the Gurkhas at the village of Loihinche. Other elements of the brigade reached the southern foothills of the heights, three miles south of the town, on June 2 and went straight into the fray. That same day, the Lancashire Fusiliers and the South Staffords also attacked Lakum (held by some ordnance troops and a field hospital). The leading force of Fusiliers was soon pinned down by heavy fire, the impasse only broken when a Bren gunner in the leading rifle section went wild, and ran “straight up the hill, firing from the hip and screaming curses at the Japanese.” Softening up the Japanese with airstrikes from Air Commando Mustangs, troops of the 1st Lancashire Fusiliers and 1st South Staffordshires attacked and wrested Lakum village away from Japanese and occupied the summit of the range of hills overlooking the city, to the northwest. Calvert decided he would need to build a base akin to White City, where he could collect supplies and build an airstrip to take out the wounded. Calvert fixed his eye on the village of Lakum, occupying a strategic spot on the eastern foothills of the heights overlooking the Mogaung plain. Upon capturing the village, the Chindits would also find substantial ammunition, a field hospital and buildings which had obviously hosted several Japanese headquarters. The country leading up to Lakum, however, was hard stuff. It was in the midst of thick jungle intersected by deep ravines. The path proved difficult to follow as it sometimes wound along a ridge and sometimes went straight up or straight down. The place was a defender's paradise. “A handful of resolute men could hold successive hill-tops for hours against a large force such as ours overburdened with mules and heavy stores,”. In response to the new threat, Colonel Okada Hakuji rushed over with some units of his 128th Regiment to protect Mogaung, leaving his 1st Battalion to face the rapidly-approaching 114th Regiment and immediately recalling his 3rd Battalion from Seton. Alongside this General Honda ordered General Takeda to turn back from Myitkyina and instead secure the Moguang-Kameing area. Thus the chance to lift the siege of Myitkyina was lost. By June 3rd, the Chindits had built a new airstrip near the Tapaw Ferry, allowing airdrops of supplies and equipment to spill in. Calvert was now ready to launch his attack. Early on June 8th, the 1st South Staffords set off to secure the Pinhmi. The village was defended by elements of 3rd battalion, 128th regiment who were also protecting some ammunition dumps in the area. The Staffords routed the Japanese and destroyed the dumps, clearing the way to the bridge. By now it was afternoon, and they stepped aside to let the 1st Lancashire Fusiliers move on to capture the 150-foot-long bridge. All seemed well until a hail of gunfire shattered the silence, tearing into the Fusiliers. Two companies were pinned down in the ditch while another was in the jungle further down. At about 6 pm, Calvert arrived at the front to confer with Major David Monteith of the attacking company. It was decided that two platoons, under the cover of a mortar barrage would dash across the bridge and secure the other bank. Calvert's mind went to the 4.2” mortars. He intended to use them to deadly effect now. Two platoons of Fusiliers moved in on the bridge, with one platoon attempting to move along the ditch, only to struggle against the thick, waist-high grass, as the second slipped off the road into the jungle. The mortars, about 60 yards behind them, began firing, slowly at first, but then as fast as the men could drop bombs into the tubes. The men, with fixed bayonets, charged across the bridge. The Japanese waited until the British were halfway across before opening fire. Tracers filled that little space, bullets tearing into flesh. The Chindits toppled left and right. Some crawled in their bellies, trying to get just far enough to throw their grenades upon the enemy positions. By 6.15, it was all over, the retreat was called. Calvert summoned US airstrikes. Mustangs swooped in, bombing and machine-gunning the enemy emplacements, but one Mustang mistakenly bombed a group of Fusiliers unloading mules. Because of the unexpected opposition, Calvert would instead direct his forces to ford the Wettauk Chaung and take Mahaung and Ywathitgale, which successfully fell on June 9. The following morning, a Gurkha company attacked towards Kyaingyi and the railway to create the impression that the main attack would come from this direction while the bulk of the 3/6th Gurkhas made a wide right flank advance to attack the bridge from the rear. At dawn on the 10th, Shaw's Gurkhas moved forward, waist deep in marsh water and mud. The bridge assault party was under the command of Captain Michael Allmand, a one-time cavalryman commissioned into the Indian Army in 1942 after escaping from Singapore. Allmand moved his men forward warily. The approaches to the bridge were narrow with the road up on a high embankment with swampy, tree-heavy low-ground flanking both sides. Coming in from the marsh, the Gurkhas set upon the bunkers at the bridge with grenades and small-arms fire, but the Japanese held their ground. At 10 am, they tried again, shooting and hurling grenades from amid waist-deep mud of the Wettauk. Allmand, who was close to shore charged. Throwing grenades to scatter the enemy, he closed in to kill three with his kukri. Rallied by his heroism, the Gurkhas rushed the remaining defenders, capturing the bridge. About 35 Japanese were killed at the bridge and the Gurkhas captured one medium machinegun and two light machineguns. In return, Chindit casualties in the encirclement and capture of the Pinhmi Bridge came to about 130 killed and wounded. By mid-afternoon, Calvert had deployed two battalions up on the Mogaung-Pinhmi Road, while a third occupied the bridge area. Conquering the brigade saw the Chindits suffer 130 casualties, while Okada's troops had also suffered heavy casualties, yet they had successfully delayed the Chindit advance for four days, which allowed Takeda to bring the bulk of his forces back into Mogaung. Knowing full well that the Japanese had been able to reinforce Mogaung, Calvert decided to wait for the arrival of the Chinese troops that Stilwell had sent to reinforce him; but in the meantime, he launched a successful attack against the courthouse on June 11, followed by a failed advance towards the river. To secure his right flank, Calvert had decided to send a company of South Staffords under a new replacement officer, Major “Archie” Wavell Jr, son of the venerable Viceroy, to secure the area between the road and the Mogaung River. The Staffords made good headway, but near the river, they came under heavy fire from entrenched Japanese. Wavell was hit in the wrist, the bullet almost taking the hand off; and he was then pulled out of the line and walked back to the field hospital near Gurkha village, clutching onto his hand, which was now hanging on by a sinew. That night, the surgeons at Gurkha Village were to remove the hand entirely. Wavell Jr's war was over. In the end, the Staffords also had to pull back towards the road after the loss of their commanding officer. By June 15th, the Chinese had still not appeared, thus the Chindits ultimately had to withdraw to Pinhmi. Back over at Myitkyina artillery was arriving by air. Two batteries plus one platoon of 75-mm. howitzers; two 105-mm., and two 155-mm. howitzers, were landed. All except two pieces with GALAHAD were kept under headquarters control. During the siege they fired 600 tons of ammunition, very rarely with massed fire. Boatner renewed his offensive on June 13th, sending almost all his forces to attack the town from all directions. The American-Chinese forces would struggle to make much progress against General Minakami's defenses. Utilizing a system of night attack and daylight defense, heavy casualties were consequently inflicted on the enemy and large supplies of weapons and ammunition were captured and used in the defense of the city. On June 12th the Japanese hit a platoon of K Company, New GALAHAD, so hard that the company broke and re-formed on the L Company line. The portion of the Japanese thrust that hit the perimeter next to the river made most of the men "take off," but two stayed in place and repelled the Japanese with an automatic rifle and a machine gun. To the west of this little break the Japanese worked their way in close but were stopped by grenades and small arms fire. As a result of the attacks, however, the 3rd Galahad Battalion had cut the Maingna ferry road and reached the Irrawaddy north of Myitkyina by June 17th, with the 150th and 88th Regiments also gaining up to 200 yards. The allies needed to capture the Myitkyina-Mogaung-Sumprabum road junction; but for such few gains, Boatner had lost many men and thus had to stop his attacks on June 18th. Stilwell ordered the end of all infantry attacks. Boatner replied that he would stop attacking Japanese positions until ". . . our troops are steadied and a favorable opportunity presents itself." There was reason for the troops to need steadying. A and B companies, 209th Engineers, were cut off from their main body by infiltrating Japanese. Trying to close in on them, Company C and Headquarters and Service Companies were in turn halted by Japanese. The condition of A and B Companies became critical during June 14th, for they had only one meal with them. Two of their men managed to work their way back to the block on the Sumprabum Road with news of their plight, but enemy small arms fire prevented airdrops. The isolated companies finally made their way back in small groups to the rest of the battalion over 15 and 16 June. The 3rd Battalion of GALAHAD reported trouble in effecting reorganization and enforcing orders. The Americans were not alone in their problems. Two companies of the Chinese 2/42nd which had made a small penetration into the Japanese lines on 14 June were wiped out by counterattack that night. These setbacks emphasized the nature of the Myitkyina fighting. The Allies held a ring of battalion and regimental strongpoints enclosing a similar Japanese system. Though the Allied strongpoints were close enough for the troops in one to sortie to the aid of another should that be needed, they were not so close that interlocking fire could be put down to close the gaps. Consequently, there was plenty of room for maneuver and ambush, and the inexperienced engineers and New GALAHAD troops often suffered at the hands of General Minakami's veterans. On the other hand, the Myitkyina Garrison did not emerge entirely unscathed, as they too suffered heavily, losing approximately 1000 men during the month of June alone. But that is all for today with the CBI theater as we now need to head over to New Guinea to start the Battle of Lone Tree Hill. After the fall of Wakde, General Tagami had sent Colonel Yoshino Naoyasu's 223rd Regiment to cross the Tor River inland to attack Arare while Colonel Matsuyama Soemon's 224th Regiment attacked the Toem area from the other side. In the meantime, General Doe's 163rd Regiment patrolled across Tementoe Creek and the Tor River, encountering heavy Japanese resistance at Maffin but successfully repelling some enemy counterattacks. While the 163rd strengthened its defenses on the Tor and at Arare, Doe would also see the arrival of Colonel Prugh Herndon's 158th Regiment on May 21. General Krueger's plan was to use this regiment in a vigorous overland drive toward Sarmi, aimed at throwing the enemy into the defensive and therefore securing the Wakde area. This decision was based upon scanty and incomplete information concerning Japanese strength and dispositions. The Japanese had no intention of abandoning Sarmi and the two airstrips between the town and the Tor without a desperate struggle. The Americans were also finalizing their plans for an operation against Biak, codenamed Hurricane. General Fuller's plan was to land the 186th Regiment in the Bosnek area at 7:45 on May 27th to secure the Green Beaches and its two jetties. Once the two jetties were secured, LCI's bearing the 162nd Infantry, supporting troops, and the task force reserve were to move inshore and unload. LST's were also to move to the jetties when the beach area surrounding them had been cleared by the 186th Infantry. LCM's bearing artillery, tanks, and engineering equipment were to move to the beaches as soon as channels through the coral were found or made, or to the jetties in waves following the 186th Infantry's assault companies. As soon as it reorganized ashore, the 162nd Infantry was to advance rapidly west along the coast from Bosnek to seize the three airdromes. This drive was to be supported by eight tanks of the 603rd Tank Company and the 146th Field Artillery Battalion. The fields were to be repaired quickly to accommodate one fighter group and then expanded to receive an additional fighter group, a heavy bomber group, a reconnaissance group, a night fighter squadron, and one photo reconnaissance squadron. Mokmer Drome was to be the first field developed. Brigadier-General Edwin Patrick would also replace Doe in command of the Tornado Task Force, as the latter would resume its duties as assistant commander of the 41st Division. Admiral Fechteler's Task Force 77 was to provide naval support and cover the assault shipping. Naval fire support was to begin at H minus 45 minutes, 6:30. From that time until H Hour, cruisers and destroyers were to expend 400 rounds of 8-inch, 1,000 rounds of 6-inch, 3,740 rounds of 5-inch, and 1,000 rounds of 4.7-inch ammunition on targets in the airfield area west of the landing beaches. After H Hour the cruisers were to continue intermittent fire on the airfields, bombard targets of opportunity, and respond to calls for support from the forces ashore. Because there were many known or suspected Japanese gun emplacements along the south shore of Biak, counterbattery fire was to take precedence over all other types of fire. Bombardment of the landing beaches was also to begin at H minus 45 minutes. Five destroyers were to bombard the beaches and adjacent areas until H minus 30 minutes, when they were to move westward to join the cruisers firing on the airfield area. Then four other destroyers were to continue beach bombardment until H minus 3 minutes. Total ammunition allowance for beach bombardment was 4,900 rounds of 5-inch and 4.7-inch shells, while 40-mm. and 20-mm. ammunition was to be expended at the discretion of individual ship commanders. Rocket and automatic weapons fire from three rocket-equipped LCI's and two SC's was to provide close support for the assault waves. This fire was to begin at H minus 5 minutes and was to last until H Hour or until the initial wave was safely ashore. Meanwhile General Kenney would toss 52 B-24's to bomb the beaches just before the landings. Additionally, medium bombers and fighters from 5th Air Force would cover the force from the air; and from May 17th onwards, the bombings on Biak's airfields would increase sharply in violence to soften up its defenses. As elsewhere along the absolute defense zone perimeter, primary emphasis was laid upon the construction of airfields. Between December 1943 and the enemy invasion of Hollandia in April 1944, two of three projected fields on southern Biak were completed and put into operational use by planes of the Navy's 23rd Air Flotilla. Their usefulness ended almost immediately, however, when the enemy's vastly superior air forces began operating from Hollandia bases. As in the Wakde-Sarmi sector, the concentration of effort on airfield construction until the Hollandia invasion resulted in dangerously delaying the preparation of ground defenses against enemy amphibious attack. In the five weeks which elapsed between the Hollandia and Biak invasions, the Biak garrison forces, under able leadership and by dint of desperate effort, succeeded in organizing a system of strong cave positions, which proved highly effective after the enemy landing. However, time, equipment and manpower were so short that defensive preparations could not entirely be completed. Some 15-cm naval guns, brought to Biak immediately after the Hollandia invasion to strengthen the coast defenses, were still unmounted when the island was attacked. On May 23rd, the 158th advanced west from the Tor River Bridgehead. The advance of Company L met increasingly strong resistance. Japanese defenses were centered around three small, brush-bordered lakes near the beach about 1,800 yards west of the Tor. The rest of the 3rd Battalion, 158th Infantry, across the Tor before 1130, quickly moved forward to assist Company L, which had been pinned down along the main coastal track west of the lakes by Japanese machine gun and rifle fire. Company K pushed up to the left flank of Company L, while Company I moved toward L's rear. With the aid of mortar fire from the 81-mm. weapons of Company M, Companies K and L were able to push gradually forward during the afternoon, advancing on a front about 400 yards wide. Finding that the attack was not progressing as rapidly as he had expected, Colonel Herndon ordered his 1st Battalion across the Tor. The 1st Battalion did not start moving until 1400 and could not get far enough forward to join the attack before dark. Tanks would probably have been of great help to the 3rd Battalion, but by the time the mediums of the 1st Platoon, 603rd Tank Company, moved across the Tor, the forward infantry troops had already halted for the night. In the end, Companies L and K would dig in for the night across the main coastal track about 400 yards east of Maffin. The following morning, after an ineffective mortar and artillery bombardment, Herndon resumed the attack. Despite the lack of extended artillery support, Companies K and L moved out as planned at 7:30. Company L, on the right, advanced along the beach encountering only scattered rifle fire but Company K, on the main road, had hardly started when Japanese machine gun and rifle fire from concealed positions in a wooded area on the left front halted its advance. Unable to gain any ground, Company K called for tank support. Two tanks, together with a flamethrower detachment from Company B of the 27th Engineers, arrived at Company K's lines about 1000. With the flamethrowers and tanks blasting the way, the infantrymen overran the Japanese defenses, killing ten of the enemy and capturing two machine guns. The remainder of the Japanese force, probably originally some forty men strong, disappeared into the jungle south of the road, whence scattered rifle fire continued to harass Company K. Company L reached the outskirts of Maffin No. 1 about 1400. The movement had been slow, not as a result of Japanese opposition but because the battalion commander did not believe it prudent for Company L to advance far beyond Company K. Despite the return of two companies, most of Colonel Kato's engineers would have to withdraw behind the Tirfoam River against such heavy firepower. Captain Saito's reconnaissance unit, meanwhile, retreated to the jungles south of Maffin alongside one engineer company, which was under Kato himself. Over the Tirfoam River, however, the Americans were again stopped by the tenacious engineers, which again forced Herndon to request tank support. As the tanks moved into position elements of the Right Sector Force, comprising Captain Saito's men of the 1st Battalion, 224th Infantry and an engineer company, charged out of the jungle. The Japanese were under Colonel Kato, Right Sector Force commander, who was killed as he personally led a small detachment against the American tanks. The enemy was quickly thrown back with heavy losses by the combined fire of the four tanks and Company L's riflemen and machine gunners. However, under cover of their infantry attack, the Japanese had dragged a 37-mm. anti-tank gun forward out of the jungle. As the enemy infantrymen withdrew to the southwest after the death of Colonel Kato, the anti-tank gun opened fire. It was soon destroyed and its crew killed, but not before three of the American tanks had been so damaged that they had to be withdrawn for repairs. Facing such heavy resistance, Herndon then sent his 1st Battalion to carry out a deep envelopment to the south across the Tirfoam, yet these troops would similarly be unable to break through by nightfall. After killing 28 men and wounded 75 others, Kato's force allowed Tagami to dispatch the 2nd Battalion, 223rd Regiment to reinforce the Ilier Mountains line. On the morning of May 25, Major Matsuoka Yasake also arrived there with an infantry company to assume command of the remainder of Kato's forces. Meanwnhile Yoshino had crossed the Tor River, 3 days behind schedule and to the east, Matsyuama was assembling on the right bank of the Tementoe River. Herndon relieved his 1st Battalion with the 3rd and then pushed west with the 2nd Battalion following behind them. The next objective for the 158th was Long Tree Hill. Lone Tree Hill, known to the Japanese as Mt. Ilier, had been named for a single tree which was depicted on its crest by the map then employed by the Americans. Actually, the hill's coral mass was covered with dense rainforest and jungle undergrowth. Lone Tree Hill was about 175 feet high, 1200 yards long north to south, and 1100 yards wide east to west. The north side dropped steeply to a rocky shore on Maffin Bay. The hill's eastern slope was fronted by a short, violently twisting stream which was promptly dubbed the "Snaky River" by the 158th Regiment. The main road curved away from the beach to pass south of the Snaky River and Lone Tree Hill through a narrow defile. The southern side of this defile was formed by two noses of Mt. Saksin , a terrain feature about 100 feet higher than Lone Tree Hill. The more westerly of these noses was named "Hill 225", known to the Japanese as Mt. Sento after its height in feet. No name was given to the eastern ridge line, which pointed toward Lone Tree Hill from the southeast. There was a small native village at the eastern entrance to the defile and another at the pass's western outlet. Mt. Saksin was a name given to an indefinitely outlined hill mass which forms the northern extremity of the Irier Mountains, extending inland from the coast at Lone Tree Hill. The name Saksin was specifically applied to a prominent peak about 2,000 yards due south of Lone Tree. On or about May 23rd General Tagami had moved his headquarters into the Mt. Saksin area, apparently on the southwest side of the central peak. Herndon forces continued the advance through the abandoned enemy positions, albeit without tank support, for they could not cross the fragile Tirfoam bridge. In the afternoon, the Americans were finally halted below the southernmost bend of the Snaky River, subjected to heavy machine-gun fire and an intermittent artillery bombardment. General Patrick, who had succeeded to the command of the TORNADO Task Force during the morning, was informed of the opposition encountered by the 1st Battalion. He ordered the advance stopped for the night and instructed the 158th Infantry to remain well east of the Snaky River so that American artillery could register on the native village and the defile without endangering the forward troops. Harassed by a few artillery shells, which by now had been recognized as originating from Japanese 70-mm. or 75-mm. weapons, the 1st Battalion pulled back about 500 yards east of the Snaky. A perimeter was set up with the battalion's left resting on the road and its right on the beach. The 2nd Battalion established a series of company perimeters back along the road to the east. Casualties for the day had been 22 men killed and 26 wounded, almost all in the 1st Battalion, while about 50 Japanese had been killed. When the attack orders for the day had been issued, it had been hoped that the 1st Battalion could reach the top of Lone Tree Hill before nightfall. Since the unexpectedly strong enemy opposition had prevented the realization of this hope, plans were made to continue the advance westward on the 26th. The ultimate objective was the east bank of the Woske River, 2,000 yards west of Lone Tree Hill, and the intermediate objective was the native village at the eastern entrance to the defile. The advance was to be preceded by naval shelling of the northern slopes of Lone Tree Hill from 6:30 to 7:00. A fifteen-minute artillery preparation was also to precede the advance, and the infantry was to start moving at 8:45. The next morning, naval fire started ten minutes late. Two destroyers lying offshore shelled the northern slopes of Lone Tree Hill and the Maffin Bay area, firing on known or suspected enemy defensive positions and assembly points. After a twenty-minute bombardment the two support vessels withdrew. Artillery fire did not begin until 8:30. The time lag gave the Japanese ample opportunity to prepare for the infantry attack which had been heralded by the destroyer fire. The artillery, aiming its shells into the defile and against the eastern slopes of Lone Tree Hill, ceased firing about 8:45. A few moments later the 1st Battalion, 158th Infantry, Company B again leading, started moving westward. The infantry's line of departure was nearly 1,000 yards east of the village at the southeast foot of Lone Tree Hill, and the advance had to be slow because the road ran through heavily jungled terrain. The enemy therefore had sufficient time to reoccupy positions in the defile and on Lone Tree Hill which might have been vacated during the American artillery barrage. The value of both the naval and artillery bombardment had been lost. Herndon's 1st Battalion moved once again against Lone Tree Hill. Company B moved forward to the point at which it had been held up the previous afternoon and was again stopped--this time by fire from the southeastern corner of Lone Tree Hill. Company D's heavy machine guns were brought up to spray a densely wooded area in front of the point rifle platoon. The fire dispersed the Japanese riflemen, and Company B moved forward again. Less than 100 yards of ground had been gained when the company again encountered machine gun and mortar fire originating in the native village. Company A, initially off the road to the right rear of Company B, turned north to the mouth of the Snaky River. One platoon crossed at the river mouth at 1030 but was quickly forced back to the east bank by Japanese machine gun fire from the rocky beach below the north face of Lone Tree Hill. Artillery support was called for, supplied, and proved successful in stopping the enemy fire, and about 1:50 all Company A crossed the Snaky. Orders were to move down the west side of that stream to establish contact with Company B and to send one platoon up the eastern slope of Lone Tree Hill to probe enemy positions. Other efforts were meanwhile being made to scatter the Japanese opposing Company B. Company E moved up to the left flank of Company B and on the south side of the main road. The combined efforts of the two rifle companies proved insufficient to dislodge the Japanese from their positions at the eastern entrance to the defile, and the enemy fire forced the American units to seek cover. Company F was therefore ordered to pass through B's left flank and proceed to Hill 225 to take the Japanese positions from the rear. Company F's attack could not be started before dark and Company A, moving up the west side of the Snaky, was unable to relieve much of the pressure on Company B. Finally, Company A was forced for a second time to withdraw to the east bank of the river as a result of enemy fire from Lone Tree Hill. Tanks would have been of great help to Company B, but the bridge over the Tirfoam could not bear their weight, and the road west of the stream was in such disrepair that tanks probably could not have negotiated it. Only Company A would manage to cross the Snaky River through much effort, yet it would be unable to relieve the pressure from Company B's front and would have to retreat by the end of the day. To prevent further casualties from being inflicted by Japanese patrols, which were expected to roam around the flanks of the forward elements during the night, a semicircular perimeter was ultimately established. Although Herndon's attacks on May 26th had been completely unsuccessful, the 158th Regiment had located and probed some of the principal Japanese defenses in the area and could now be ready to launch a more effective assault. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. General Vinegar Joe was experiencing some major setbacks, but it looked like Myitkyina was as good as his. However the American officers' reports of how difficult the going was for the Chinese was quite disheartening. Over in New Guinea, the allies were yet again faced with a great obstacle, now in the form of One Tree Hill.
Last time we spoke about the battle for Kohima and the mop up of the Admiralty islands. The battle for Kohima led to battles raging over the Kohima Ridge. At one point only 2500 allied defenders were facing nearly 15,000 Japanese. Numerous features fell to the Japanese top Kohima ridge. The Japanese were taking heavy casualties while pushing the defenders close to Kohima. A decisive moment presented itself, the Japanese had an open shot against Dimapur. However, mostly because of animosity towards General Mutaguchi the chance to deliver a kill blow was lost. If Dimapur had been taken, it may have changed the entire Burma War. Over in the Admiralty Islands, Los Negros and Manus were finally all mopped up and now the allies had forward airfields to further smash the inner Japanese perimeter. General MacArthurs triumphant return to the Philippines was on its way. This episode is the Defense of India Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945. Last we spoke, General Mutaguchi had initiated a grand offensive against Kohima. General Slim, knew the seizure of Kohima would be attempted only in conjunction with the seizure of the much more important target, Dimapur. It was at Dimapur where an enormous allied supply dump lied over the Ledo-Imphal line, it was the hub for which all allied activity in the region revolved. If Dimapur fell, the province of Manipur would be impossible to defend and the Brahmaputra valley would be interdicted thus cutting off all overland supply to China. To everyone's shock the Japanese instead invested an entire division to attack Kohima. Slim thought this was a enormous blunder on the part of General Sato Kotoku, going as far as to ask the RAF not to bomb the Generals HQ as “it never struck him that he could inflict terrible damage on us without taking Kohima at all”. In truth it was not really Sato at fault, it was more so upon his superior General Kawabe Mazakazu who did not trust nor like Mutaguchi and rightly suspected the man's megalomaniac plan to invade India. Thus Mutaguchi's Operation U-Go, the intended invasion of India saw the 33rd and 15th divisions closing in on Imphal by the end of March as the 31st Division attacked Kohima. General Cowan's 17th Division was able to effectively retreat to Imphal by April 4th, with the 49th Brigade acting as rearguard. Meanwhile General Yanagida had just replenished ammunition and provisions after the battle at Tonzang and now ordered the 214th and 215th Regiments to resume their advance. Colonel Sasahara Masahiko's 215th regiment departed Singgel on March 27th and crossed the India-Burma border by April 3rd. They advanced to Churachandpur by the 7th as the 214th followed closely behind them. Meanwhile, the Right Assault Unit, the Yamamoto unit had been in hot pursuit of General Gracey's 20th division since the start of April, and the 3rd battalion, 213th regiment of the Mitsui Unit had just captured the town Chamol. Additionally the 1st battalion, 60th regiment attempted, but failed to break through Laiching Hill in late March. Afterwords the unit was ordered to turn back and attempt a development of Gravey's left flank by Moving through Lamlong and then Kampang in early April. To the north, General Yamauchi's Divisional Headquarters advanced to Kasom on March 28. Yamauchi ordered two companies of the 1st Battalion, 67th Infantry to attack and occupy Kameng, which presented an easy approach route to Imphal. The 123rd Indian Brigade, 5th Indian Division had closed the gap with barbed wire and set up defensive positions in the hills to the immediate north and south of the road. The attack was made on the night of April 3 against the positions held by the 1/17th Dogras of the 123rd Indian Brigade on a hill off the Ukhrul Road, south of the village of Kameng, but failed to achieve its objective. They were then furiously counter-attacked by the guns of the 28th Field Regiment and by the Dogras themselves. A troop of tanks each of the 3rd Carabiniers and 7th Cavalry were also positioned on either side of the hill and fired on what were easy targets. By the next morning, almost 100 Japanese bodies were found; the few survivors had withdrawn. It is believed that the ultimate objective of this attack had been the fair-weather Kangla Airfield farther south. It was now felt the 15th Division's strength was spreed too thinly, thus the Japanese believed their detachments holding along the Imphal-Ukhrul road were badly in need of reinforcement. As such, Yamauchi ordered the 60th and 51st regiments to get into closer contact and by the 4th of April they were moving into positions north of Imphal. On that same day, Colonel Matsumura started moving down the road to seize the supply depot known as the 221 Advance Ordnance Depot, the largest in the Imphal Area justnorth of Kanglatongbi. As Japanese pressure on the road increased, its men and some of the most valuable supplies, including ammunition and explosives, were moved into a defensive area at Kanglatongbi known as Lion Box. The 2nd battalion managed to take Hill 3813 by April 6th, the 3rd battalion was less fortunate facing the Lion Box. The Lion Box had very few fighting troops among the several thousand men within its perimeter. The box was defended against mounting Japanese assaults from 4 to 7 April, while the evacuation of the supplies to Imphal continued apace. Its defense was assisted by units of the 9th Indian Brigade and tanks of the 3rd Carabiniers, who would travel up from Sekmai in the south during the day. On the 5th while the 9th Indian BRigade and tanks of the 3rd Carabiniers were patrolling forward to help out the Lion Box, Cowan's 63rd Brigade arrived to Sekmai to reinforce the northern defenses, and this in turn allowed the 9th Brigade to take up a position to defend Nungshigum. On the 6th, Colonel Omoto's 3rd battalion attacked Nungshigum's northern Hill, known as Hill 3833, successfully overrunning the hastily developed Indian defenses there, while the 1st battalion marched upon Hill 4057. There was a heroic counter attack by a platoon led by 18 year old Jemadar Abdul Hafiz serving as Naib Subedar, Junior Commissioned Officer in the 9th Jat Regiment, British Indian Army. His platoon managed to recover Hill 3833 by the end of the day. Jemadar Abdul Hafiz was tasked with recovering it with two sections of his platoon. He fearlessly led the way and recovered the feature in the face of a hail of machine-gun fire and grenade attacks, killing several Japanese in the process. Injured by now, Hafiz continued the attack, fought to his death and was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. The hill became known as Runaway Hill because of the way the Japanese had fled from Hafiz's brave actions. April the 7th saw a follow-up charge with Omoto's 3rd battalion re-seizing the hills around Nungshigum. In the four days that followed, Nungshigum exchanged hands a couple of times: the 3/9th Jats recovered it, only to lose it again to the Japanese of the 3/51st Battalion by 11 April who dug in well on the northern and southern bumps around Nungshigum. Meanwhile Matsumura was continuing to exert heavy pressure upon the Lion Box, finally forcing the battle weary defenders to evacuate the box as the position became impossible to defend. The valiant efforts of the Lion Box defenders had earned the British-Indian troops valuable time to evacuate a large amount of critical supplies back to Imphal, preventing their use to the Japanese. Do remember Mutaguchi literally planned the entire offensive on the basis their logistical supply line was simply seizing the allies supply depots. That is what we call a bold strategy. Matsumura's troops had suffered heavy casualties in their efforts against the Lion Box. Now he ordered the 60th regiment east to reassemble around the villages of Tingsat, Molvom and their surrounding heights by April 8th. They would be reinforced by the honda raiding units coming from the north. On the 9th, Omoto's 1st battalion assaulted Hill 4057 taking it from elements of the 123rd Indian Brigade, as the 3rd battalion secured Nungshigum. This breakthrough posed an unacceptable threat to the British, leaving the 4th Corps HQ, the Imphal Main and Kangla airfield vulnerable to further Japanese attacks. This prompted General Brigg's to get forces together to evict the Japanese from their recently gained heights. Brigg's was reinforced with the 254th Indian Tank Brigades armor for the job. An unrelenting artillery and aerial bombardment began against the 51st regiment, greatly reducing the strength of Omoto's companies. Suffering such horrific losses, Omoto was forced to retreat over to the eastern side of the Iril River. At around dusk on the 12th, Omoto's 3rd battalion withdrew from Nungshigum to take up better positions in the hills north of Hill 4057. From this position the 3rd battalion was able to cover the 1st battalion's withdrawal from Hill 4057 during the night. Simultaneously, Briggs launched his main counteroffensive, tossing two companies of the 1/17th Dogras and B Squadron of the 3rd Carabiniers. That morning, the infantry and tanks began climbing up via two spurs on the south-eastern side of Nungshigum. On each spur was a troop of M3 Lee-Grant tanks, together with a company of Dogras. The division's artillery, together with another troop of tanks, had been placed to the east and west of Nungshigum on the plain. As the infantry and armor climbed, the Vengeance dive-bombers and Hurricanes bombed and strafed the peaks. Soon thereafter, the 88 pieces of artillery and tanks on the plain plastered the same area. The two groups of infantry and tanks joined up at the peak named Pyramid and proceeded in a single file up a narrow ridge towards the Japanese on Southern Bump. As they approached the Japanese defenses, fierce fighting erupted. The tanks were sprayed with machine-gun and rifle fire, and grenades were thrown at them. But there was only so much the Japanese could do. The use of armor on Nungshigum, which rose over 1,000ft above the valley floor, was a masterstroke. The Japanese had never expected to encounter tanks and they had nothing to counter them effectively. The British had to pay a high price, too. All of the British tank officers were killed and the infantry officers wounded later that day. The former had been shot as they stuck their heads out of their tanks' turrets to guide them safely on the narrow and steep ridgeline. It was finally left to the VCO of the Dogras, Subadar Ranbir Singh, and Squadron Sergeant-Major Craddock of the 3rd Carabiniers to complete the battle. They rose to the occasion; the tanks finally destroyed the main bunkers and the infantry charged at and killed any survivors. There were casualties on both sides, but Japanese losses were especially heavy, leaving 250 bodies. This was the closest the Japanese would come to Imphal as a large, organized force in 1944. Yamauchi's 15th Division would never be able to pose such an urgent threat from the north again. On April 13th, the Honda unit and 2nd battalion, 60th infantry launched an unsuccessful attack against Sengmai. In another attack on the 18th, the 2nd battalion gained a foothold in the enemy positions on the eastern hill of Sengmai, but would be forced off it quickly losing 150 men. The failure to breach the defenders at Sengmai marked a turning point in the operation, forcing the Right Assault Unit onto the defensive. Meanwhile Omoto's withdrawal had opened a gap between his units and Matsumura's, leaving Matsumura isolated around the Imphal-Kohima road and the Mapao-Molvom range. This also left Matsumura's supply lines increasingly vulnerable to attacks by Brigg's 5th Division. General Scoones ordered the 23rd Indian Division to push back on the Ukhrul Road to regain control over the area, while Briggs cleared the Japanese out of the Imphal-Kohima and Mapao-Molvom Range. For this Major-General Ouvry Roberts dispatched the 37th Brigade up the Ukhrul Road while the 1st Brigade made a wide flanking maneuver to the right to swing north in an attempt to capture Yamauchi's HQ. A composite unite of the 51st regiment known as the Suzuta unit formed out of two companies and Suzuta's HQ managed to resist the Indian attacks at Yaingangpokpi. Their mission was to hold the pass near Hill 3524 and they were met by numerous enemy counterattacking groups. The Suzuta Unit was faced with a serious crisis when it was attacked by a strong enemy tank force on 18 April. Meanwhile back on the 15th, the sudden appearance of the 1st Brigade at Hill 5515.. With his headquarters threatened by this new enemy maneuver, Yamauchi decided to move 15th Division headquarters and the Suzuta Unit to the rear of the Right and Center Assault Units. This move was complicated in that it entailed the evacuation of large numbers of casualties, among whom was General Yamanouchi himself. Upon arriving in the vicinity of Nungga intense enemy activity was encountered. It was found impossible to move west, to the desired destination and the headquarters was forced to move toward Lungshong via Ukhrul. The Suzuta Unit troops reverted to their parent organizations. The command post of the Division was finally established at a point about three miles southwest of Lungshong on 29 April. By april 22nd, Robert's Brigades made contact over the Ukhrul Road near Litan and began hunting down Yamauchi's HQ. They searched for it around Shongphel to the north. They converged on the spot, only to find Yamauchi was not there. To the east the 9th Brigade attacked the Mapao-Molvom Range on the 23rd, making some initial gains at Mapao. Their field guns with Hurricane bombers smashed Mapao, allowing the Jats and Punjabis to fight their way up and capture it in two days. But farther north, the heights around Molvom were better defended and the Japanese defied attempts to infiltrate these positions. The brigade soon got bogged down. Further east the 123rd Brigade advanced up the Iril River Valley facing some of Omoto's retreating men and would reach Sengmai by mid-may. The Japanese at this point were also preparing to continue their offensive further south. General Yanagida received reports on the progress of the 15th Division and that Kohima had already fallen. So he decided to bypass the expected resistance in the Moirang vicinity and advance directly upon Imphal. This prompted Colonel Sasagara to send his 2nd battalions of the 215th and 213th regiment to attack the Torbung positions on the 9th. They managed to successfully outflank the 49th brigade and exerted so much pressure in the area, the 49th brigade were forced to withdraw over the next few days. With the Japanese in hot pursuit, Cowan dispatched the 32nd Indian Brigade to defend the Tiddim Road with Brigadier David MacKenzie shifting his main position further back to Bishenpur. The Bishenpur village was well located: it was where the hills touched the Tiddim Road to its west; to the east lay the upper reaches of the Loktak Lake. Bishenpur was considered the best place to position a defense of the southwestern approach to Imphal. It was also important because from here a track wriggled west over the mountains to Silchar in Assam. Besides the Imphal–Kohima Road, the Bishenpur–Silchar Track was the only other navigable route back out to the rest of India. Unsurprisingly then, it was also of interest to the Japanese. On April 12th the Japanese attacked Potsangbam, but the 2nd battalion, 213th regiment was held up by heavy artillery and aerial bombardment from Bishenpur. The Japanese forayed into the villages of Kwa Siphai and Khoijuman to the northeast, but they were rebuffed. To counter them, aerial bombardments were called in on Potsangbam and the next large village, Ningthoukhong. Strategic Air Force Liberators pattern-bombed the two villages with 1,000lb bombs. The British sent tanks, together with infantry units, across the paddy fields towards Potsangbam, but their advance was held up by fierce opposition. Unlike at Nungshigum, the Japanese here were armed with anti-tank guns. Evicting them would require that much more effort. The 4th Independent Engineer Regiment was brought up to reinforce the 2nd Battalion, 213th Infantry at Potsangbam about 20 April, but it would be unable to break through nonetheless. To the west Sasahara's men tried to break through Kokadan on the 14th. They made repeated attacks for over a month, but would be unable to penetrate Mackenzie's defenses. The 214th regiment tossed three attacks against Hill 5846 from their position on Ingourok by April 24th. Hand-to-hand fighting ensued as each side sought to gain possession of these hills. The British had brought up a troop of Lee-Grant tanks of the 150th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps from Bishenpur and these were pressed into battle, firing in close support of the infantry. By 26 April, Point 5846 and Wooded Ridge were under their firm control, while the Japanese had Wireless Hill. Meanwhile the 2nd battalion reinforced the 214th regiment to skirt around Hill 5846 from the west, going just due north of the track. This endeavor ultimately failed in the end, and the men would have to turn back by the end of the month. Due to his failures and disagreements, General Mutaguchi consequently lost faith in Yanagida, who was ignored from this point onwards while his chief-of-staff, Colonel Tanaka Tetsujiro, effectively commanded the 33rd Division. Meanwhile over on the hill of the Shenam Saddle, the battle for Nippon Hill had been raging since early April. Gracey's initial piecemeal attempts to retake the feature only saw his men fail. On the other side, the Yamamoto Detachment launched a general attack from Chamol on the 8th, trying to make a breakthrough to Nippon Hill, to relieve the outnumbered 11th company, 213th regiment. While the Japanese were held up by crossfire from Tengnoupal, the 80th Brigade sent three companies of the 1st Devon's to recapture Nippon Hill on the 11th. Following heavy artillery and aerial bombardment, the British troops stormed the hill with a fierce lobing of grenades and machine gun fire, seizing the feature by the end of the day. Nonetheless the Japanese, General Yamamoto kept committing troops to continuous attacks over the next few days. What was witnessed on Nippon Hill was to be repeated on many occasions around Imphal. Japanese defensive positions would be subjected to intense bombardments, which it was hard to imagine anyone surviving. And yet, time and again, the Japanese would emerge out of the targeted positions and counter-attack. In fact, Nippon Hill was one such place where, even days after it had been recaptured by the British, a lone Japanese soldier would emerge from the rubble and attack. This after being buried for hours, or even days, usually without recourse to food or water. This behavior was a measure of the extraordinary capabilities of the Japanese, as defenders in particular, and of their dedication to their cause in general. It was also a testament to the strength of their defenses. On features like Nippon Hill, the Japanese had shown themselves to be adept at digging an extensive, deep network of underground tunnels and holes within their positions. These allowed them to withstand bombardments, while the small openings allowed for a sustained fire to be kept up on anyone who approached. After a week of fighting, the 3rd Battalion, 213th Regiment finally recaptured Nippon Hill on April 16, and this time it was to stay with the Japanese until the end of July. The hill would allow the Japanese to observe allied movements over the Shenam Saddle and the road below, so accurate firing from well-sited guns on this hill and the adjacent ridge would cause many casualties among the defenders. Yamamoto ramped up his efforts trying to break through towards Imphal. With additional tank and artillery support the 3rd battalion, 213th regiment managed to overrun Crete East on the 22nd as the 80th Brigade evacuated to the isolated Cyprus. Pressing onwards, Yamamoto attacked Crete West, tossing multiple attacks at the feature over the next two weeks. Despite the ferocity of the invaders, the defenders would manage to hold on until the end of April. Meanwhile the 1st battalion, 60th regiment was unable to break through Hill 5240 near Kampang, so on the 20th they were redirected to hit the northern sector of Palel. The battalion had suffered 300 casualties, unable to pose much of a threat any longer to Gracey's men. To their left was the 1st INA Division's 2nd Gandhi Brigade, deployed on the left flank of Yamamoto Force and an initial group that had rushed through the hills towards Palel. They were targeting the airfield from the south in coordination with the Japanese closing in via Langgol from the east. They clashed with Indian and Gurkha defenders at Purum Chumban on May 2nd. There are differing accounts of what happened during the battle of Purum Chumbang. One has the INA group reaching very close to the airfield, while another has it reach some 8km short of it. What is common to both, however, is the reaction of the Fourteenth Army units (Indian and Gurkha) to the INA's effort. A parley between the two is supposed to have taken place at some point, where the latter tried to convince their brethren on the British side not to fight. This being rejected, the INA attacked and was repulsed. At least 50 INA men were killed in the retaliatory response. It has been argued that these attacks by their fellow Indians affected INA morale. They had not expected to be considered traitors by their former comrades of the Indian Army. Several hundred INA men deserted before the end of the battle, although the majority of the force remained in the hills around the Tamu–Palel Road, wracked by disease and hunger. In the meantime, the Kohima Garrison received relief on their ridge positions, now General Grover was formulating a plan to recapture lost territory in the Kohima area and to annhilate the 31st division. His plan was to hold Zubza and Periphema in the rear while Brigadier John Shapland's 6th Brigade would launch an attack against the Japanese center and gradually push them towards the southern and southwestern flanks of the Kohima Ridge. Brigadier Victor Hawkins 5th Brigade would would perform a flanking maneuver to the north while Brigadier William Goshcens 4th Brigade did the same in the south. On April 18, Hawkins thus dispatched his first units across the deep Zubza nullah to the Merema Ridge to cut the Kohima-Merema-Bokajan road, with the rest of the brigade following in an excruciating march and finally assembling at the Merema Ridge by April 27. Further to the north, in parallel with the 2nd Divisions advance, Brigadier Perowne's men have been performing an extremely difficult march into the Naga Hills. Their task was to prevent the Japanese from escaping the Brahmaputra Valley, taking a track leading from Merema to Bokajan. For weeks the Chindit Brigade had conducted an effective operation, ambushing Japanese supply routes, denying them territory, encouraging local Naga resistance efforts and causing general havoc. General Mutaguchi and ordered Sato to send his 124th Infantry Regiment to support the struggling 15th Division in the south. Sato decided to occupy Garrison Hill prior to complying with Mutaguchi's directive, immediately sending the 1st Battalion, 138th Regiment to support the attacks of the 58th Regiment. The assault failed on the 23rd and this further convinced Sato he would be unable to hold Kohima if he sent the reinforcements Mutaguchi requested. His decision was also heavily influenced by his increasing anger at his superior as Mutaguchi was completely failing to supply his men. He had been promised at least 250 tons of resupplies would arrive by April 8, Sato testily demanded food and ammunition. In fact, very few supplies ever reached the 31st Division from Burma, the men having to survive on what they had brought with them, what they could beg or steal from Naga villages, or what 'Churchill Rations' they could capture from British stockpiles. Sato's fury at the lack of promised supplies reaching Kohima was fuelled by his belief that the 31st Division was being let down by Mutaguchi's abject failure to break into Imphal. In response to Mutaguchi's demand that he send troops to assist in the Imphal battle, on April 20 Sato sent the first of a number of increasingly tetchy signals to the army commander: 'We captured Kohima in three weeks as promised. How about Imphal?' Mutaguchi replied: 'Probable date for capture of Imphal April 29', which was the Emperor's birthday. Sato plainly did not believe him. On April 30, Sato signaled again: '31st Division at the limit of its endurance. When are you going to destroy Imphal?' To this he received no reply. The relationship between Sato and Mutaguchi had never been good, but now it was really bad. Over the next two weeks, the battles on Kohima Ridge were not seeing results. Repeated attacks were made against Garrison Hill as Shapland's men tossed desperate attacks at the extreme northern edge of the ridge allowing for a troop of Lee/Grant tanks to lumber up the western end of Naga Hill in order to provide armored support for the 5th Brigade. The plan to get tanks onto the back of Naga Hill by driving through the Japanese positions overlooking the TCP finally succeeded on April 27, the Lee/Grants trundling along the track, wary of mines, but taking the Japanese entirely by surprise at this stroke of legerdemain. Peppered on all sides futilely by bullets, they joined 5th Brigade on Naga Hill, albeit at the cost of 28 Dorset dead, who had kept intense pressure on the TCP end of the Kohima Ridge to distract the Japanese during the operation. In the fighting for control of the tennis court no means of overcoming Japanese bunkers could be discovered using infantry alone, and attempts were made to bulldoze a path up to the remains of the Deputy Commissioner's bungalow to allow a Lee/Grant tank to move onto the tennis court and engage the bunkers directly with its 75mm gun. Unhappily the first effort failed when the Lee/Grant went into reverse, pulling the bulldozer to which it was attached back down the steep slope in a heap of crashing, twisted metal. Four days later a similar attempt with a Stuart Light tank of the 45th Indian Light Cavalry also failed, as the Japanese had brought up a 3.7in. anti-tank gun that put the tank out of action, fortunately with no loss to the crew.By the 27th, the tanks made a break through to the Naga Hill. The Japanese suffered terrible casualties causing them to suspend operations against Garrison Hill. The 31st división was not fully adopting a defensive stance. Meanwhile, Goschen's men had set out on a long march to cut the Imphal Road below the Aradura Spur on the night of April 25. They were advancing through some of the worst terrain of the entire region, it was deep, nearly vertical jungle-covered gullies falling between Mount Pulebadze and the face of Mount Japfu. The 4th Brigade would reach the valley between Pulebadze and Japfu in three days. One there, General Stopford ordered Goschen to climb over Pulebadze Ridge then come down into Kohima to hit the Japanese position on the GPT ridge, which were giving serious problems to Shaplands men. The brigade accordingly turned left, climbing up and over the Pulebadze Ridge and beginning the slow descent through the jungle down onto the Kohima side. A prominent pimple above the GPT Ridge known as Oaks Hill, sitting at 6,000ft, was occupied by the Norfolks and the 143rd Company on 1 May, the presence of British troops 1,500ft above the Japanese positions becoming known to them for the first time. But that is all for today for India, as there is something else cooking up in the CBI theater. Since early 1943, the United States had steadily increased its air force in China. By the beginning of 1944 there were more than 500 US planes in this area, whereas, in spite of the organization of the 5th Air Army,the Japanese Air Force had less than half this number of planes in China. Furthermore, with the war situation rapidly growing worse in the Pacific, the Japanese Air Force in China could not hope for any replenishment. Enemy planes not only interfered with Japanese ground operations, but also harassed the lines of communication and attacked the occupied areas. General Chennault's 14th Air Force had been causing such problems, the Japanese were forced to act. The catalyst for their future action was because of a raid against Formosa carried out by 14 B-25s, 8 P-38s and 8 P-51s on November 25, 1943, which caught the Japanese by surprise as the Chinese-American aircraft strafed and dropped bombs over Shinchiku airfield, successfully destroying its installations along with 42 planes on the ground at the cost of three fighters lost. This prompted the Japanese commanders to target strategic points along the Hunan-Guangxi, Guangzhou-Hankou and Southern Beijing-Hankou Railways. Thus the infamous Operation Ichi-Go was born. Ichi-Go's primary targets were Guilin and Liuzhou's airfields where the US was developing bases for B-29's to launch strikes against the Japanese home islands. If you are interested in a in-depth talk about this by the way, over on the Pacific War Channel on Youtube or Spotify, I did an interview with Dave from the Coldwar about the bombing of Japan and we talked about this very subject. Pretty neat episode I recommend it! Now in general the main objectives were to link railways in Beijing and Hankou in northern China to the southern Chinese coast at Guangzhou. This would spare shipping and avoid the pesky American submarine force who were now ruining havoc; it was also to take out airfields in Sichuan and Guangxi to thwart further US bombing of Formosa and the Japanese home islands. This also in turn would open a land route to Indochina and hopefully would destroy enough NRA units to collapse Chiang Kai-Sheks government, finally solving the China Problem. Ichi-Go would start in late April with an offensive by the 12th Army of Lt General Kita Seiichi, later replaced by Lt General Uchiyama Eitaro. This was codenamed Operation Kogo, tasked with capturing the areas along the South Beijing-Hankou railway, centered around Zhengzhou and Luoyang, and destroying the main strength of the 1st War Area. Then, early in June, the 11th Army of General Yokoyama would launch Operation Togo, with the objective of capturing Changsha and Hengyang and destroying the main force of the 6th and 9th War Areas. Following the conclusion of the first phase, late in July, the 11th Army would be assisted by the 23rd Army of Lt General Tanaka Hisaichi and the Indochina Garrison Army of Lt General Viscount Machiiji Kazumoto would capture Guilin and Liuzhou and the destruction of the 4th War Area. Finally, the third phase of Operation Togo would see the 23rd Army capture the strategic areas along the south Canton-Hankou railway, centered around Nanning, by destroying the 7th War Area in September while the 11th Army continued the advance south towards Suichwan Arfield to link with the Indochina forces. For the entire operation, the 5th Air Army of Lt General Shimoyama Takuma would support the offensives from the skies, tasked with annihilating the American-Chinese air force and attaining air supremacy over China. The logistics of Operation Ichi-Go constituted was one of the most notable examples of the IJA's offensive preparations. Between some of the measures taken was the emplacement of dozens of anti-air batteries throughout the Yangtze River to limit the Chinese-American air activity against troop concentrations at its southern channel; the transfer of dozens of thousands of troops by railway without interference from Chinese guerrillas because security at the railway lines was increased; the monthly river transport of 40000 tons of supplies; the secret storage of 600 pontoons; and the constructions of hideouts for a munitions arsenal that should last for two years and of hundreds of deposits that harbored 50 million liters of gasoline that should last for eight months: 40 million for land vehicles and 10 million for planes.By early April General Hata had amassed 62,000 men, 52,000 Japanese and 10,000 collaborationist units alongside 800 tanks, 1550 artillery pieces, 250 aircraft, 15550 motorized vehicles and 100000 horses. Meanwhile the British Eastern Fleet had been receiving more naval resources due to the successes in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe and could now carry out more aggressive actions in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Agreement had been reached, after objections from Admiral Ernest King, but new procedures would need to be learnt by naval crews and Fleet Air Arm aircrew. To this end, Operation Diplomat, a training exercise, took place in late March 1944. The objective was for the fleet to rendezvous with a group of tankers, escorted by the Dutch cruiser HNLMS Tromp and practice refueling at sea procedures. The ships then rendezvoused with USN Task Group 58.5 built around aircraft carrier USS Saratoga and three destroyers. To further support the coming Hollandia and Aitape landings, Admiral King requested that, during April, the Eastern Fleet should engage Japanese forces in their area and hold them there to reduce the opposition that could be encountered by the Americans at Western New Guinea. In response, Admiral Somerville launched Operation Cockpit on April 16, an air attack against Sabang off Sumatra. The fleet sailed from Trincomalee on 16 April, and two days later the Gambia and Ceylon were detached from Force 69 to strengthen the anti-aircraft defense of the carrier force. On the morning of April 19, 17 Barracudas and 13 Corsairs from the carrier Illustrious and 29 Dauntless and Avenger bombers and 24 Hellcats from Saratoga took off towards Sumatra and subsequently caught the Japanese completely by surprise, finding no opposition there. Thirty Japanese aircraft were destroyed on the airfield and a direct hit by a 1000-pound bomb set a large oil tank on fire. The power-station, barracks and wireless station were badly damaged. The submarine HMS Tactician reported large fires in the dockyard burning fiercely hours after the fleet had left the area. The raid was a clear success, with Somerville later saying that the Japanese "had been caught with their kimonos up". I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The invaders it seems bit off more than they could chew when they attacked India. General Mutaguchi was facing a determined enemy and very pissed off and somewhat insubordinate colleagues. Operation Ichi-Go was being prepared and the Royal Navy was sending forces into the Indian and Pacific Oceans adding to the IJN's misery.
This time the crew discusses top travel plans, Point Defiance AAZK Pet Pageant - Silly Edition, past episodes that have stood out over the years, and being a part of the gym rat family. 00:00 – This episode kicks off discussing if they would take DNA tests, Jeff opens a beer to cheer St. Patrick's Day, and Justin talks about his past vendetta against Oregon. Jeff expresses his want to visit Ireland, his tropical preference over cold areas, and Justin talks about his family lineage in Ireland. He talks about the cheese exchange with his Irish friend and Scott ponders on American Chinese dishes not having cheese in them. 17:45 – Justin talks about the different pets you can vote for with the Point Defiance AAZK Pet Pageant - Silly Edition, the other people in their crew that have also added their pets to the pageant, and the top pet that's currently in the lead. Jeff shares that Lemmy is also an amazing pet up for votes, Justin talks about the new owners of Off Day, and seeing Craig Ferguson at the Tacoma Comedy Club. 36:31 – Jeff reflects on taking a box full of pennies to concerts, past concert incidents, and Justin expresses his frustrations with getting yelled at during a Snoop Dog concert. Scott talks about rappers tossing out joints at concerts, Justin talks about Girl Trouble tossing out toys during theirs, and Scott expresses his love of artist and GCP friend Ken Carlson. 53:04 – They reflect on their tour back in the day of the Pythian Temple, the great night GCP attended the screening of Penny Palabras, and GCP's future plans. Justin talks about attending a red-carpet event at Organically Grown Muscle. He talks about him and Michelle going as Barbie and Ken, Jeff congrats Justin for officially being a part of the gym rat family, and Justin promotes Michelle to official defender of the house.
Last time we spoke about Operation HA-GO, U-GO and some action brewing up on New Britain and Bougainville. Mutaguchi basically tricked his superiors at Tokyo into allowing him to attempt an invasion of India. Operations HA-GO and U-GO were simultaneously unleashed, the only problem was the allies were very ready to meet them. General Slim's men captured documents indicating the true nature of the operations and he acted accordingly. The new box defense systems were employed as the allies lured the Japanese into major traps thwarting their designs against Imphal. The Japanese were fighting tenaciously, but time and supplies would not be on their side. Over on New Britain the allies advanced and managed to seize Talasea. Meanwhile on Bougainville the Japanese were preparing a large counteroffensive, attempting to breach the American defensive perimeter. The operation had just kicked off last episode and today we will continue the story. This episode is the Bougainville Counteroffensive Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945. The Marines departed Bougainville and were relieved by the Americal Division by the end of January 1944. Sporadic fighting emerged and through it Major General Griswold obtained intelligence indicating the Japanese would launch a major counter attack, most likely slated for early March. At the time Lt General Hyakutake was under extreme pressure to reduce the bombing against Rabaul. Rabaul as we know was smashed daily, suffering heavy losses. Admiral Koga had responded by taking away air units from Truk, but all this achieved was even more losses. Rabaul was neutralized, and Truk became vulnerable. The Americans had pummeled both so much, they were able to unleash a dramatic thrust into the central pacific aimed at the Gilberts, Marshalls and later the Carolines. Now it seems Hyakutake had been operating under some very bad intelligence, indicating to him the Americans were defending their perimeter with just a single division around the airfield. With the objective of destroying said airfield, Hyakutake did not know the actual number of defenders and would not enjoy movement by sea. The Americans had full control of the sea lanes, thus any IJN destroyers trying to move troops would run a risky gauntlet. By the first quarter of 1944, Rabaul had tossed meager attacks against the Americans, for example on January 23rd two bombers scored a direct hit over the living quarters of Brigadier General John Hodge and his senior staff officers. What Hyakutake had to work with was 4300 men of the 45th regiment led by Colonel Isashi Magata. These men were considered the crack troops on Bougainville and they included artillery, mortar and engineering battalions. They were further supported by 4125 men of the 23rd regiment led by Major General Shun Iwara and 1350 men of the 13th regiment led by Colonel Toyo Horei Muda. All three units would be led by Major General Masatane Kanda. The 3 units made an arduous trek through the jungles to reach their jump off points by the evening of March 7th. Hyakutake then sent them a resounding message “time has come to manifest our knighthood with the pure brilliance of the sword. It is our duty to erase the mortification of our brothers at Guadalcanal. Attack! Assault! Destroy everything! Cut, slash, and mow them down. May the color of the red emblem of our arms be deepened with the blood of American rascals.” Major General Kanda also added his own message “The cry of our victory at Torokina Bay shall resound to the shores of our beloved Nippon. We are invincible.” All of these troops received a large morale boost from such message, but on top of that there was something else incentivising them all. They had adequate food to last them until April 1st, they literally needed to overrun the Americans to steal their provisions. Such was the reality of the Japanese island hopping campaigns. Hyakutakes forces proved themselves far from invincible. Their artillery bombarded on the morning of the 8th, targeting the airfield at Piva Yoke. Their bombardment destroyed a bomber, 3 fighters, killed a single man, and forced a temporary evacuation of aircraft to New Georgia. It was now exactly the greatest of results. Artilleryman Stan Coleman vividly described the Japanese artillery attack “All of a sudden we heard a very different kind of ‘whoosh.' It was made by a shell at the end of its flight, not the beginning. It was ‘incoming mail.' All hell broke loose. In the rear some fuel dumps went up. Every American artillery piece in the perimeter went into action.” The American artillery counter-attack proved far more effective. The Japanese artillery units were forced to move positions constantly and then they were met by a new type of weapon. As Coleman recalled “Four blue Marine Corsairs came in with rockets. Rockets were a new ground-support weapon and I had never seen them … The rockets in flight made a fearful display. There was a tremendous concussion when they struck their target.” That same night the Iwasa Unit attacked Hill 700 during a heavy downpour. Yet by 2:30am the first attacks were beaten off. It seems the experience persuaded the Japanese not to attempt another night attack on March 9th. Instead, they used occasional machine gun and mortar fire to disrupt the fitful sleep of the Americans. Then at 6:45am on the 10th, Iwasa launched another attack in coordination with Colonel Muda's assault against Hill 260. Iwasa's men clambered up the steep 70 degree slopes screaming maniacally. They would shout confused threats in English. A prolific slaughter occurred against one group of Japanese soldiers who seized out a pillbox and set up a machine gun post on the saddle of the hill. It was dearly bought. General Griswold had brought up more reinforcements for the 145th that same morning. Engineers put together a bangalore torpedo 72 feet long by connecting sticks of dynamite like a long pipe. The object was to climb the hill and then snake the charge down the opposite side into one of the pillboxes. Unfortunately the Japanese spotted them and fired a knee mortar, hitting the torpedo and killing the engineers. Another ruse was attempted shortly after noon with the object of getting the Japanese on the saddle to surrender. A public address system was set up with speakers aimed at Hill 700, and one of the division's Japanese interpreters spoke to the defenders. He informed them of the odds against their success and told them that they could not be reinforced. If they surrendered, it would be considered honorable. To die needlessly was foolish. For the short time he spoke all was quiet, but seconds after he had finished the Japanese directed a mortar barrage on the section of the hill from whence he was broadcasting. The day ended in victory for the riflemen of the 37th Division. At 11:15 an air strike by 26 planes and continuous artillery fire had devastated the Japanese. The day's assault cost the lives of some 500 or more Japanese soldiers. Meanwhile further south, the 1st battalion, 13th regiment was knocked out by heavy artillery fire. Colonel Muda sent his 3rd battalion, 13th regiment to attack the southern positions of the 182nd regiment around Hill 260. Hill 260, a twin-peaked rise close to the west bank of the Torokina River approximately four miles north of its mouth, was covered with heavy vegetation. The hill itself measured only 850 yards along its north-south axis and at its widest a mere 450 yards, and it was shaped roughly like an hourglass, with the highest elevations to the north and south connected by a narrow saddle. The eastern slope of the hill was precipitous, steepest along the South Knob, where it was almost perpendicular. The South Knob, which was considered the most important part of Hill 260, had been occupied by men of 2nd battalion, 182th regiment since early January, and vigorous patrolling had also been carried on regularly along the saddle and on the unoccupied North Knob. The hill was about half a mile east of the 182nd's main line of resistance. Between Hill 260 and the main line of the Americal was a small stream named Eagle Creek, which provided a natural defensive barrier. There was but a single trail leading from the main perimeter to South Knob. A small bridge over the creek could take vehicular traffic. The last hundred yards to the top of South Knob was a steep stairway cut into the sides of the hill. Possession of this portion of the hill was important for both sides. The Americans had built a platform near the top of a 150-foot banyan tree from which forward observers could see any enemy-activity along the Torokina River or along the highlands to the northeast. Conversely, if the Japanese could seize the hill they could have good observation of the American-held Hills 608 and 309 and the area behind them. Under the cover of intense machine-gun and mortar fire, the Japanese managed to climb the steep slope of the South Knob and then burst in among the outnumbered Americans. The position was held by a reinforced platoon of Company G of the 182nd and a forward observer team of the 246th Field Artillery Battalion. The Americans were rapidly wiped out and dispersed as Muda's men established a defensive perimeter over the crest of South Knob. Hearing the dire news, General Griswold ordered General Hodge to hold Hill 260 at all costs, an order that surprised many of the Americal's staff since they had not expected to try to hold the hill in the face of a concerted Japanese attack. Companies E and F immediately advanced to occupy the North Knob and then attempted an encircling maneuver to counterattack the newly-established Japanese perimeter. Company E at 8:45 attacked South Knob from the southwest while Company F moved south. The company began its attack at 10:45 but halted after the troops had advanced a few yards into the cleared zone. The men took whatever cover was available and waited for flame throwers before trying to advance farther. At approximately 2:45 the commander, Lieutenant Colonel Dexter Lowry, ordered the attack resumed; Company E split and attempted an envelopment. The northern prong of the envelopment was halted but the infantrymen of the southern prong, using grenades and flame throwers, managed to gain a lodgment within earshot of the men of Company G who were still holding out in the pillbox. Meanwhile, the 1st and 2nd Battalions, 145th Regiment had been reorganized and launched a counterattack against Hill 700 at 5:00. The Japanese unleashed intense mortar and artillery ied, but gradually were dislodge from the crest of the hill, leaving just 4 pillboxes remaining under their control. After the reestablishment of the original resistance line, Iwasa prepared his men to storm Pat's Nose during the night. The Japanese had lost heavily during these attacks, which also cost the 145th three dead and 121 wounded. During the night, after a failed bayonet charge, the Japanese would reinforce their position on Hill 260. They then struck at Company E early in the morning of March 11th and although this attack was beaten off, the American situation in the lodgment had become desperate. Thus, after another Japanese flanking attack, the defenders would have to pull back towards North Knob. Company G was sent to relieve the beleaguered Company E but was halted by yet another Japanese flanking attack on Company E. General Hodge, fearful of reducing his main defense line, felt that he could send no more reserves to the hill and therefore decided to break off the action and pull Company G and what was left of Company E off South Knob. They retired, unimpeded by the Japanese, behind Eagle Creek. There they joined Company B and then proceeded to cut a new trail up to the crest of North Knob. At daybreak on 11 March, Iwasa launched another attack against the promontory called ‘Pat's Nose,' some 150 yards to the west of ‘Hill 700.' Flanking 37 mm guns cut the Japanese charge to shreds. Iwasa's rear echelons kept advancing over the dead bodies of those who had been leading the charge and eventually managed to break through the barbed wire, though they too were ultimately destroyed. After an hour of suicidal attack Iwasa's troops receded leaving some 84 dead behind them. The 37th Division's historian described this attack: "Brandishing their prized sabers, screeching 'Chusuto' (Damn them!), the Jap officers climbed up the slope and rushed forward in an admirable display of blind courage. The men screamed in reply 'Yaruzo' (Let's do it!) and then 'Yarimosu' (We will do it!). As they closed with the American doughboys, the leaders cried' San nen Kire!' (Cut a thousand men!). General Beightler, concerned over the inability of the 145th to reduce the Japanese positions on Hill 700, decided to send the 2nd Battalion, 148th Regiment to finally wipe out the enemy opposition. After a heavy mortar and artillery bombardment, two platoons of Company E advanced east from Pat's Nose trying to flank the saddle while a third attacked west from Hill 700. Thirteen men were killed before the momentum of the attack waned and the battalion dug in on the ground it had gained. Meanwhile, Companies F and B, now under the command of Brigadier-General William McCulloch, began a two-pronged attempt to drive the Japanese off South Knob. Supported by flamethrowers units from the 132nd, men of Company B got across the saddle and onto the knob, but were ultimately pulled because of the enemy's numerical superiority. Meanwhile, Colonel Magata Isashi's 45th Regiment had limited its actions to heavy patrol activity while the Iwasa Unit was attacking Hill 700. The terrain fronting the 129th Regiment, which was holding the center of the 37th Division line, was much more favorable for the Japanese than that encountered by either the Iwasa or Muda forces. The land was relatively flat, although cut by many gullies. The 129th's line, defended by two battalions, extended over two miles, curving slightly from just east of the Numa Numa Trail southwest to the right flank of the 148th Regiment. The Japanese had easy access to the 37th's lines, first via the Numa Numa Trail and then following the lowlands and gullies adjacent to the creeks. Colonel John Frederick, the regimental commander of the 129th, had recognized the potential vulnerability of this position and had organized a defense in depth during the two months prior to the attack. The position was anchored by a large number of mutually supporting earthen and log pillboxes and protected by a double apron of barbed wire, in front of which antipersonnel mines had been laid. Machine-guns had been sited to provide interlocking fire and additional barbed wire had been placed to channel potential attackers into the main machine-gun fire lanes. The 129th's cannon company of 75-mm pack howitzers, and its mortar sections had been augmented by 37-mm and 40-mm anti-tank guns, which could fire canisters in flat-trajectory direct fire. Thus although Colonel Magata's men did not have to climb up steep cliffs to get at the American positions, they would find the 129th's defenses near impregnable to relatively lightly supported infantry attacks, no matter how fanatically delivered. While patrolling, some documents were taken from dead Japanese bodies detailing Magata's plan, so Colonel John Frederick's 129th Regiment was expecting his thrust. On the 11th, the contact between Japanese and American patrols increased, as did the amount of incoming mortar fire, so the American supporting artillery was directed to fire intermittently into the areas where the Japanese were located.Colonel Frederick at 4:00pm ordered all his outposts back into the main perimeter and division artillery fired a ten-minute concentration along the 2nd Battalion front. At dusk, a heavy firefight then broke out as the Japanese opened up with machine-guns and mortars on Company G's area. During the exchange of fire, which lasted until 7:20pm, men in the pillboxes did not fire their machine guns, since they did not want to reveal their positions. The firing died down to only a few exchanges during the night, generally directed at Japanese infiltrators, who were attempting to cut through the barbed wire. Finally, at dawn on the 12th, Magata sent his 1st and 3rd battalions in column to strike Company G. Although the attacking Japanese suffered very heavy casualties from machine-gun fire, they penetrated the first line of defense by sheer weight of numbers. Moving up the streambed running into the sector, they captured one pillbox after another until they held a total of seven. Frederick then sent his reserve 1st Battalion to support Company G, while also launching a counterattack that managed to contain the enemy expansion and that also retook two pillboxes by late afternoon. Meanwhile, Companies E and F of the 148th were converging against Iwasa's remaining strongpoints. Using grenades, rifles, and flamethrowers, they finally reduced the pillboxes one by one, leaving the Japanese in possession of only one pillbox by 1:00pm. An historian of the 145th Regiment described the fight for this last strongpoint: “On the second day, the last held enemy pillbox was subjected to everything an infantryman has at his command. Hand grenades by the dozen were thrown at the emplacement. Still there was responding fire. Flamethrowers scorched the hidden Nip into silence. The searching parties entered the charred remains of the emplacement only to hear the click of a Japanese grenade being detonated. In the far corner they made out the dim outline of a Jap, eyes bloodshot, mouth bleeding, face seared, clothing burned. His clenched fist held a grenade. Even as the men dove for cover outside the pillbox, the Jap threw the grenade at them as in a dying gesture.” Despite a heroic resistance, this was cleared in the afternoon at last, thus completely restoring the original 145th's line. While this was going on, after a heavy artillery bombardment, McCulloch sent Companies B and F once again to storm the South Knob. Company B in a column of platoons with six flamethrowers attempted to storm the height from the northwest. The leading platoon was halted by machine gun fire from pillboxes dug in on the west slope. Once these were spotted a concentration of mortar and machine gun fire was directed against these Japanese positions, enabling the following platoon to reach the top of the knob. There, it was pinned down by heavy fire from machine guns sited east of the observation post banyan tree. American mortar fire, together with the work of the flamethrower operators, who were covered by BAR men of the 3rd Platoon, soon negated these positions. Although it appeared that the South Knob would soon be in American hands, ammunition for the attacking platoons was running low, there had been numerous casualties, there were no more reserves, and it was already late in the day. Despite this, Hodge sent Company A of the 132nd Regiment to reinforce the gained position. Company A of the 132nd tried to scale the height from the southwest to join Company B of the 182nd on the crest. A burst of machine gun fire killed the company commander, however, and disorganized the attack so much that under the best of conditions the men could not reach the top before dark. Hodge then reluctantly recalled his forces and, sensing the futility of further attacks, he requested permission to pull off South Knob. Yet Griswold refused the request and a new attack was ordered for the next day using two companies of the 1st Battalion, 132nd Regiment. After another heavy artillery bombardment, Company A attacked southward along the narrow saddle while Company B attacked up the southwest slope. Surprisingly, the two companies of the 182nd that had led the attack the day before had not been kept in immediate reserve but had been pulled back within the perimeter. Therefore there were no reserve troops available to help exploit the minor gains made during the afternoon. As night fell, Major Raymond Daehler, the battalion commander, reluctantly pulled his men off the knob and retreated to safer ground. Despite repeated attacks from 12 -16th, Magata had made no headway and finally withdrew his forces. After Iwasa's retreat, the men of the 145th had the dubious honor of policing the slopes of Hill 700 and burying the corpses left behind. In an area roughly 50 yards square, corpses that could be identified were counted. This count included only those within the barbed wire lines in front of the pillboxes. As one observer noted, the carnage was a sight to turn even the most cast-iron stomach: “Enemy dead were strewn in piles of mutilated bodies, so badly dismembered in most cases that a physical count was impossible. Here and there was a leg or an arm or a blown-off hand, all to show for the vanished and vanquished enemy. At one point, Japanese bodies formed a human stairway over the barbed wire. Five enemy were piled one on top of the other, as each had successively approached the location to use a predecessor as a barricade and then fall on top of him as he in turn was killed. Farther out from the perimeter, where a little stream wound its way parallel to it, Japs killed by the concussion of thousands of mortar shells lay with their heads, ostrich fashion, stuck under the least protection they could find”. What was left of Iwasa's shattered command to the relative safety of the Blue Ridge, Approximately two miles east of the American perimeter. During the day, as the Japanese were retreating, American planes dropped 123 tons of bombs on the intermediate areas, and destroyers off shore lobbed their five-inch shells into the high ground to the north and east of the perimeter. Further east, Magata launched a night attack at 4:00am, managing to gain another pillbox, so Griswold would decide to reinforce Frederick with a tank platoon. General Griswold agreed to send the 1st Platoon of Company C, tank battalion, forward, with the stipulation that they be used only to augment the infantry as they took back the lost pillboxes. 4 tanks supported a midmorning assault, which successfully retook two pillboxes. Another tank-infantry attack began at 1:15pm but was halted since the tanks were low on fuel and ammunition. They were replaced by tanks of another platoon, which assisted the infantry of the 129th in destroying all the other pillboxes held by the Japanese and in restoring the front line roughly to the positions held before the Japanese attack of the previous day. Alongside this, Griswold ordered the reconnaissance troop forward to occupy the right sector of the threatened area, with the 131st Engineer Regiment taking over the extreme left. General Hodge requested to be reinforced with tanks; but as they could not cross Eagle Creek, McCulloch and him reluctantly decided to cease any further attempt to drive the Japanese off South Knob. He thought that the three-day action against the Muda Unit had obviously so weakened it that it no longer posed a danger to the perimeter proper. Thus, it could be contained and continually harassed by combat patrols and neutralization fire. On the 14th, the fighting fell into just intermittent small-arms and mortar fire from the Japanese as Colonel Magata shifted some of his troops to more favorable positions and as he brought his reserve 2nd Battalion, 45th Regiment and 2nd Battalion, 13th Regiment to reinforce further attacks. Magata also received the 1st Battalion, 81st Regiment and the 3rd Battalion, 53rd Regiment from the north, tossing them into his new reserve. At 4:00am on 15th, the Japanese launched a heavy local attack against the right of Company F. By dawn, they had captured one pillbox and penetrated approximately 100 yards into the perimeter, where they were ultimately checked. A coordinated counterattack by Companies F and C in conjunction with a 36-plane strike against the Japanese positions, managed to retake the pillbox. Further tank-infantry attacks finally drove the entrenched Japanese out of the salient and successfully restored the line. Losses for the day were 10 dead and 53 wounded, while 190 Japanese were counted dead. The Japanese then repeated the attack the next morning at 4:00am on the high ground east of Cox Creek with a larger force of elements from three battalions. They penetrated approximately 75 yards before their momentum was halted. Then, Company B, supported by a platoon of tanks, counterattacked and restored the original line by midmorning. Finally, shortly after noon, the tanks moved beyond the wire and shelled the draws and ravines in front of Company F until their ammunition was exhausted. Once again the Japanese had paid heavily for no gain. 194 dead were counted and 1 prisoner taken, while the Americans only lost 2 dead and 63 wounded. Though the counter offensive is nowhere near done, that is all for this week as we now have to jump over to the CBI theater. General Merrill's Marauders had been given the task of cutting the Japanese supply line over the Kamaing road. At Merrill's disposal were the three battalions of GALAHAD, each in turn broken down into two combat teams. The teams bore the code names Red and White for the 1st Battalion; Blue and Green for the 2nd Battalion and Khaki and Orange for the 3rd Battalion. Each team included a rifle company, heavy weapons platoon, pioneer and demolition platoon, reconnaissance platoon, and medical detachment, with a combined strength of sixteen officers and 456 enlisted men. The marauders had been recruited from units in the south-west pacific and from Trinidad in the Caribbean. Many of the volunteers were notably seen as pure psychopaths. Their training in India was quite painful, a lot so for the military police nearby. 10 percent of the Marauders went AWOL, many of them amused themselves by shooting at catte, chickens and other birds, apparently even at the feet of locals to make them dance. One incident apparently had some of them aboard a train to Ledo firing out of the windows. They were seen as arrogant, psychopathic, gung-ho and they had many colorful catchphrases such as ‘My pack is on my back, my gun is oiled and loaded, and as I walk in the shadow of death I fear no sonofabitch.' The baptism of the Marauders did not impress their commander who was obsessed with speed and efficiency. The Galahad unit had departed on February 24th and on receiving orders to move to his forward assembly area, Merrill sent his three intelligence and reconnaissance (I & R) platoons to check trails as far as the Tawang Hka, the first of the three considerable streams that crossed the line of march. At 6:00am on the 24th, the 5307th moved out, screened by the I & R platoons. Next day two of them clashed with Japanese patrols and the point of one platoon, Pvt. Robert W. Landis of Youngstown, Ohio, was killed. Luckily radio communication between the 2nd Battalion, 56th Regiment and the 18th Division's headquarters broke down at this time, so General Tanaka was unaware that a semi-detached American unit was operating off to his flank. Stilwell fretted at the time it took them to cross the 130 miles over the Naga range to the battlefront. Part of the problem was that 5307th Composite was mule-based and had to bring 700 animals with them but none of them knew anything about muleteering. Whatever misgivings Stilwell had when he saw his reinforcements, he kept them to himself and addressed them simply and quietly, explaining that their new mission was to hit Walawbum. On the afternoon of the 28th, Merill received the new orders, calling for cutting the road on either side of Walawbum, the 2nd Battalion led by Colonel McGee to the west, the 3rd Battalion led by Colonel Beach to the south, and the 1st Battalion led by Colonel Osborne to patrol along the Nambyu Hka north of the Kamaing Road. Positions near Walawbum would be held until the 38th Division relieved the 5307th. Unfortunately the freak rains already experienced by Stilwell and his men continued, so that the Marauders' eight-day, 60-mile trek to Walawbum turned into something of a nightmare. On March 2nd, the Marauders crossed the Tanai Hka and arrived at their assembly area. With the last elements at hand, General Stillwell initiated his offensive. On the 3rd, Colonel Brown's tankers, with the support of a battalion from the 65th regiment advanced against Maingkwan. Facing light opposition, they managed to advance 5000 yards northeast of Maingkwan by 3pm when they were halted by heavy Japanese fire. Meanwhile, Merrill's marauders were clashing with Japanese at various places throughout the day. The 3rd Battalion had a sharp fight at Lagang Ga, killing 30 Japanese and seized the area needed for the building of a drop field. One of the battalion's two combat teams, Khaki, stayed at Lagang Ga to build and protect the dropping zone. Orange Combat Team kept on to the high ground east of Walawbum and dug in, its heavy weapons commanding the Kamaing Road. This saw them securing high ground east of Walawbum. The 22d Division, was also moving ahead, and so far was in step with the tanks and GALAHAD. On the 3rd, the 64th Regiment was near Ngam Ga, east of the Kamaing Road. The 66th to the west was in contact with the third regiment, the 65th, as it emerged from the Taro Plain. Tanaka's intelligence indicated the Americans were at Walawbum. The Chinese 22nd and 38th divisions were advancing slowly, so he believed his rearguard could hold them back so he could take the bulk of his strength to attack the americans. On the 3rd, the 55th and 56th regiment began retreating in order to launch an enveloping maneuver against Merrill's marauders. The next day, Brown found the enemy gone and his men were able to advance 3 miles southeast, getting his tanks in line with Maingkwan. Over at Walawbum, Merrills 3rd battalion were resisting against ferocious attacks from the Japanese. The drop field at Lagang Ga was attacked at dawn on the 4th but the garrison held. Orange Combat Team opened the battle in its sector with mortar fire on Walawbum, drawing mortar and 75-mm. fire in return from the 56th Infantry Regiment, which had been Tanaka's left flank, as it assembled for attack. When it moved, the 56th tried to cross the river and work around the Americans' flanks, where it met booby traps and ambushes thoughtfully prepared for just such a contingency. Some Japanese did cross to the east, but this failed to affect the course of the action, and 75 dead Japanese were counted, as against one American dead and seven wounded. These latter were evacuated by air the same evening. The 2nd battalion managed to get across the Kamaing road west of Wesu Ga where they established a roadblock. Finding out about the roadblock, Tanaka dispatched his forces to clear them out. On the 5th the Japanese appeared to be forming for an attack, but mortar fire seemed to be successful in breaking up such attempts. To the south, Allied aircraft could be seen bombing and machine-gunning what Orange Combat Team took to be Japanese reinforcements. One indication that the Japanese were increasing their strength in the immediate area lay in their being able to force Orange Combat Team's I & R Platoon back across the river about noon. Simultaneously, the 66th regiment liberated the abandoned Maingkwan and began advancing south over the Kamaing road. Brown's reconnaissance had found a good trail running south from Tsamat Ga, and on the morning of the 5th the tanks moved out through the jungle. After the engineers had prepared a small stream for crossing, the tanks broke into a freshly evacuated Japanese bivouac area. Jungle vines looping across the trail from either side, and connecting masses of vegetation and trees, made effective obstacles as they slowed down the tanks by catching their turrets; not until late afternoon did the armor break out on the trail running east and west between Maingkwan and Wesu Ga. Almost immediately the tanks encountered what seemed to be a company of Japanese defending a small but marshy stream. The stream did not seem fordable, so Brown attacked by fire alone. Unknown to him, his tanks were firing on Tanaka's division headquarters, and now lay squarely between the 18th's headquarters and its 56th Regiment. This understandably threw Tanaka's plan into chaos, as his forces who were unsuccessfully attacking Merrills marauders were becoming encircled. Tanaka decided to swing his force around the American roadblock, using a Japanese built trail that the Americans did not know about.The bypass road over which the 18th was to withdraw had been built by the Japanese engineers some days before and quote “The Engineer Regiment commander, Colonel Fukayama, had considered the possibility of reversals in our position and, in order to facilitate the withdrawal of the division, he had previously cleared a secret jungle trail about 20 kilometers long leading from the vicinity of Lalawng Ga to Jambu Hkintang on his own initiative. This trail was used in the withdrawal of the main body of the division.” By nightfall, Merrill's 2nd battalion had pulled out to Wesu Ga and were trying to link up with the 3rd battalion south of Walawbum. On the 6th after heavy artillery bombardment, at 5:15pm an estimated two companies of Japanese in line of skirmishers, with heavy supporting fire, crossed the river. The American mortars continued their work; the automatic weapons held back until the Japanese were within fifty yards. Two heavy machine guns, which had a clear field of fire along the river bank, were especially effective. The Japanese failed, leaving many dead on the open ground east of the river and on the river banks. Orange Combat Team found its ammunition low, and so sent a request for more to Khaki Combat Team, which was about one hundred yards downstream. This was however just a diversionary attack, as most of the 18th division were escaping unmolested. Meanwhile elements of the 113th regiment were beginning to arrive to Lagang Ga and unfortunately an incident of friendly fire would occur. The remainder of the 38th Division and an American patrol met near Walawbum on March 7th. The recognition signal had been arranged as three bursts of three rounds each. This necessarily meant there would be firing when the Chinese and Americans met. When the tops of the American helmets, which looked not unlike the Japanese pot helmet when their brims were invisible, appeared through and over the brush, there was a brief exchange of fire in which three Chinese were wounded before identity was established. Such is the nature of coordinating multiple nations' armies during actions. General Sun and Merrill's marauders made a withdrawal beginning on the 7th in order to circle south and cut the Kamaing road again, this time even further south than before. Brown in the meantime had advanced to Ninghku Ga where he secured support from a battalion of the 64th regiment and launched a coordinated tank-infantry attack against Kumnyen. At around 3pm, the tanks and infantry assembled across the Kamaing road in two places, establishing a roadblock while the tanks moved out aggressively along the road to east and west. On the 8th, Brown's tanks then moved along the Kamaing Road and onto a trail that showed signs of heavy traffic. This allowed them to discover Tanaka's evacuation route, finally occupying Walawbum by the end of the day. Brown later recalled, "swarming with people from the 64th Infantry and the 113th Infantry who, to the tankers' great disgust, disputed the latter's claim to have taken Walawbum”. Though the 18th division had managed to escape Stilwells traps, the American-Chinese forces had still scored a well-earned victory. The road to Myitkyina was not open. The cost for this first series of victories in the North Burma Campaign were 802 Chinese dead and 1479 wounded, plus 530 undifferentiated casualties from the fall of 1943 to March 18, 1944. But the temporary American-Chinese collaboration did not presage a wider Sino-American synergy, and the Marauders found operating with their allies a major problem. One issue was that of disease: the Americans caught dysentery in large numbers and attributed this to the insanitary habits of the Chinese, especially their refusal to boil their water, or to wash their hands after using the latrines. The American K-rations also proved unsatisfactory and unsuitable for jungle warfare, as the Chindits soon discovered. Yet that is all for burma as we now have to jump over to New Guinea. The advance and pursuit upon Madang resumed on March 12th as the 2/12th Battalion found Ward's Village unoccupied while the 57th/60th Battalion secured the abandoned Saipa 2. The 57th/60th Battalion advanced swiftly by night and finally concentrated at Yokopi two days later. On the 16th, Brigadier Hammer then received a rather ambiguous order. Chilton had redefined the division's role "in the light of the present situation". While the 18th Brigade was to watch the 15th Brigade's immediate left flank from the high ground between the lower Evapia and Mene Rivers, and the commando troop at Faita the far left flank, the 15th Brigade would garrison Kankiryo Saddle, keep contact with the enemy along the Bogadjim Road and patrol along the Kabenau River towards Astrolabe Bay to join the Americans. Finally, the 15th Brigade would "provide a firm base for patrolling, by employing at the discretion of the commander, a force not exceeding one battalion forward of Kankiryo up to and inclusive of Yokopi". The order was ambiguous as far as the local commanders were concerned, and managed to overcome the ban placed by higher authority on any advance across the Finisterres to the coast: Hammer could not go beyond Yokopi but, at the same time, he was to maintain contact with the enemy along the Bogadjim Road—and they were already farther back than Yokopi. At this point Hammer decided that the supply route from the Saddle to the 57th/60th had to be developed. While the battalion patrolled and the enemy positions were bombarded, Saipa, Yokopi and Daumoina were built into staging areas. In the meantime, patrols from the 2/2nd Commando Squadron were harrying the Japanese from the left flank, successfully establishing a new patrol base at Jappa by March 17th. From there, the Commandos patrolled towards Aminik, Oromuge and Mataloi, which they finally found abandoned. Further east, the 58th/59th Battalion patrolled from the Nangapo and Yangalum areas towards Arawum and Kul 2 as they searched for the Americans at the Kabenau and Kambara Rivers. An accidental meeting had already taken place between the patrols of the two Allies. An American reconnaissance patrol was being towed in a rubber boat by a PT boat with the object of landing at Male and seeing if the Japanese were at Bogadjim. Off Garagassi Point, the tow rope broke and the Americans rowed to shore in their rubber boat which they deflated and hid in the bush near Melamu. Moving inland for about a mile they turned west and nearing the Kaliko Track met Lieutenant Norrie's patrol of the 58th/59th Battalion and accompanied the Australians to Barum, where the Americans were given supplies and a guide; moving via Wenga, they reached Jamjam on the 18th and found no signs of the enemy. On this day at noon about 30 Japanese with three machine-guns and a mortar attacked Norrie's position at Barum. The situation would have been serious had it not been for Sergeant Matheson and his two men who had remained behind at Kaliko and managed to bear the first brunt of the attack and warn those at Barum. The Americans moved on the 20th to Yangalum and next day set out for Kul 2, along almost exactly the same route as that taken by Brewster, who had departed on March 20. Brewster reached Kul 2 on March 21, where he joined the Americans from Saidor and remained with them until the 26th. In this period he went to Saidor where he met General Gill, giving him information about the area east of the Kabenau River and learning of the American intentions and dispositions. Brewster then returned to Yangalum having carried out an important and lengthy linking patrol—35 miles each way. On the other side, General Adachi ordered his 51st division to continue withdrawing towards Wewak and for the 20th division towards Hansa. There he sought for them to reorganize and receive around 5000 replacements from Palau each. By the 9th, both divisions had reached Bogia and the 20th division had established a new defense of the Hansa area. By mid March the 51st reached Wewak and would be able to assemble at Hansa. On March 20th, the bulk of the 41st division was ordered to withdraw towards Hansa as well. As a result of the invasion of the Admiralty Islands, the 18th army and 4th air army were now cut off from Rabaul. Thus they were reassigned to the 2nd Area Army under the command of General Anami Korechika with his HQ at Ambon. They would be responsible for the defense of the eastern part of the Dutch East Indies and the western portion of New Guinea. General Teramoto would also have to move his command from Wewak to Hollandia. Back at Yokopi, Hammer anticipated that the constant patrolling and bombardment had forced the Japanese to withdraw from their positions. On March 28th, patrols of the 57th/60th moved past Daumoina and effectively found the enemy gone. The reality, however, was that General Nakai and Colonel Matsumoto had been ordered to pull back and follow its parent unit towards Hansa. The remainder of the 41st Division were following suit over the next few days. Only a 5000-men detachment, deemed the Madang detachment formed around the 239th Regiment, under the command of General Shoge, was left behind to hold Madang and cover the Japanese withdrawal. Hammer ordered the 57th/60th to move forward with speed towards Yaula, yet the Australians would be stopped at the Kofebi River on March 30. In response, a company would be sent in an enveloping maneuver across the river, successfully getting through to Mabelebu although they would be unable to draw away the defenders. During the night, the surrounded company would then have to resist a number of enemy counterattacks, though these weren't really counterattacks but the Japanese trying to retreat towards Madang. The following day, with the enemy gone, the Australian patrols would rapidly set out north towards Yaula. Meanwhile, the 2/2nd Squadron's patrols, after securing Mataloi 1, were also advancing towards Yaula with speed. Finally, the commandos would successfully enter Yaula on April 4, with the 57th/60th's vanguard arriving soon after and then occupying Kwato by nightfall. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The Bougainville counteroffensive proved the Japanese could still unleash brutal offensives and meet some success. However the level of success was not going to win the war let alone the fight over Bougainville. Within Burma the mixed national armies of the allies were finding some difficult working together, but they were gradually pushing the Japanese back.
Vitamin C is a cure for the common cold. Bats are blind. Sugar makes children hyperactive.All of these statements are false. So why are they so pervasive? And why do they feel so true?In this episode of Choiceology with Katy Milkman, we look at a phenomenon that can cause us to believe inaccurate information more than we should, and also lead us to trust reliable information less than we should.If you're over a certain age, you might remember friends or family panicking about MSG, or monosodium glutamate, particularly in American Chinese food. But those health concerns stemmed from a single letter to the editor in The New England Journal of Medicine—and a media storm that repeated false information. Jennifer LeMesurier learned about this letter and set off on a journey to trace the origins of the MSG scare and find out why the myths about this ingredient are so persistent. Jennifer LeMesurier is an associate professor of writing and rhetoric at Colgate University and the author of Inscrutable Eating: Asian Appetites and the Rhetorics of Racial Consumption.Next, Katy speaks with Tali Sharot about her research on the illusory truth effect—the idea that people are more likely to believe and share repeated information, whether or not the information is accurate.You can learn more in the paper Tali co-authored, titled "The Illusory Truth Effect Leads to the Spread of Misinformation."Tali Sharot is a professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London and an affiliated professor in MIT's Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. Her most recent book, co-authored with Cass R. Sunstein, isLook Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There.Choiceology is an original podcast from Charles Schwab. If you enjoy the show, please leave a rating or review on Apple Podcasts. Important DisclosuresThe comments, views, and opinions expressed in the presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily represent the views of Charles Schwab.Data contained herein from third party providers is obtained from what are considered reliable source. However, its accuracy, completeness or reliability cannot be guaranteed and Charles Schwab & Co. expressly disclaims any liability, including incidental or consequential damages, arising from errors or omissions in this publication.All corporate names and market data shown above are for illustrative purposes only and are not a recommendation, offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. Supporting documentation for any claims or statistical information is available upon request. Investing involves risk including loss of principal.The book How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (CS&Co.). Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (CS&Co.) has not reviewed the book and makes no representations about its content.Apple, the Apple logo, iPad, iPhone, and Apple Podcasts are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.Google Podcasts and the Google Podcasts logo are trademarks of Google LLC.Spotify and the Spotify logo are registered trademarks of Spotify AB.(0324-HG17)
American/Chinese fashion designer YuChen Han invited me to his Union Square showroom in order to see his most recent collection. Most celebrated for his Yu award collaboration with UGGs and groundbreaking design aesthetic. YuChen holds the future in his hands.
Tim tries his best not to offend a lot of people.
In conversation with Ellen Yin A New York Times bestselling children's author and illustrator, Grace Lin earned the Newbery Honor for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, the Theodor Geisel Honor for Ling and Ting, and the Caldecott Honor for A Big Mooncake for Little Star. Her novel When the Sea Turned to Silver was a National Book Award Finalist. Recognized by former President Obama's administration as a Champion of Change for Asian American and Pacific Islander Art and Storytelling, Lin was awarded the Children's Literature Legacy Award from the American Library Association. She also provides commentary for New England Public Radio, book reviews for The New York Times, and she hosts the podcasts kidlitwomen* and Kids Ask Authors. In Chinese Menu, she serves up insights on the history, legends, and myths behind favorite American Chinese dishes. High Street Hospitality Group founder and co-owner Ellen Yin operates some of the country's most acclaimed eateries, including a.kitchen + bar, Fork, High Street Restaurant & Bakery, The Wonton Project, and High Street Hoagies. In 2023 she was named ''Outstanding Restaurateur'' by the James Beard Foundation Awards. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, she is involved with several community-centric organizations, including the Sisterly Love Collective and the Independent Restaurant Coalition, and she sits on the Board of ''The Philadelphia Award.'' Because you love Author Events, please make a donation to keep our podcasts free for everyone. THANK YOU! The views expressed by the authors and moderators are strictly their own and do not represent the opinions of the Free Library of Philadelphia or its employees. (recorded 2/12/2024)
Newbery and Caldecott honoree and New York Times bestselling author Grace Lin joins New Books Network to talk about her new, groundbreaking, lushly illustrated, book that explores the whimsical myths and stories behind your favorite American Chinese food. From fried dumplings to fortune cookies, she shares the magical tales and historical roots of these well-loved dishes in Chinese Menu: The History, Myths, and Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods (Little, Brown Books, 2023). From the fun connection between scallion pancakes and pizza to a look at how wonton soup represents the creation of the world, Grace Lin offers up a mix of insights and folklore. Separated into courses like a Chinese menu, these tales are filled with squabbling dragons, magical fruits, and hungry monks. Her book brings you to far-off times and marvelous places, all while making your mouth water. And, along the way, you might just discover a deeper understanding of the resilience and triumph behind this food, and what makes it undeniably American. Interview by Laura Goldberg, longtime food blogger at Vittlesvamp.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
Newbery and Caldecott honoree and New York Times bestselling author Grace Lin joins New Books Network to talk about her new, groundbreaking, lushly illustrated, book that explores the whimsical myths and stories behind your favorite American Chinese food. From fried dumplings to fortune cookies, she shares the magical tales and historical roots of these well-loved dishes in Chinese Menu: The History, Myths, and Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods (Little, Brown Books, 2023). From the fun connection between scallion pancakes and pizza to a look at how wonton soup represents the creation of the world, Grace Lin offers up a mix of insights and folklore. Separated into courses like a Chinese menu, these tales are filled with squabbling dragons, magical fruits, and hungry monks. Her book brings you to far-off times and marvelous places, all while making your mouth water. And, along the way, you might just discover a deeper understanding of the resilience and triumph behind this food, and what makes it undeniably American. Interview by Laura Goldberg, longtime food blogger at Vittlesvamp.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/asian-american-studies
Newbery and Caldecott honoree and New York Times bestselling author Grace Lin joins New Books Network to talk about her new, groundbreaking, lushly illustrated, book that explores the whimsical myths and stories behind your favorite American Chinese food. From fried dumplings to fortune cookies, she shares the magical tales and historical roots of these well-loved dishes in Chinese Menu: The History, Myths, and Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods (Little, Brown Books, 2023). From the fun connection between scallion pancakes and pizza to a look at how wonton soup represents the creation of the world, Grace Lin offers up a mix of insights and folklore. Separated into courses like a Chinese menu, these tales are filled with squabbling dragons, magical fruits, and hungry monks. Her book brings you to far-off times and marvelous places, all while making your mouth water. And, along the way, you might just discover a deeper understanding of the resilience and triumph behind this food, and what makes it undeniably American. Interview by Laura Goldberg, longtime food blogger at Vittlesvamp.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/food
Newbery and Caldecott honoree and New York Times bestselling author Grace Lin joins New Books Network to talk about her new, groundbreaking, lushly illustrated, book that explores the whimsical myths and stories behind your favorite American Chinese food. From fried dumplings to fortune cookies, she shares the magical tales and historical roots of these well-loved dishes in Chinese Menu: The History, Myths, and Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods (Little, Brown Books, 2023). From the fun connection between scallion pancakes and pizza to a look at how wonton soup represents the creation of the world, Grace Lin offers up a mix of insights and folklore. Separated into courses like a Chinese menu, these tales are filled with squabbling dragons, magical fruits, and hungry monks. Her book brings you to far-off times and marvelous places, all while making your mouth water. And, along the way, you might just discover a deeper understanding of the resilience and triumph behind this food, and what makes it undeniably American. Interview by Laura Goldberg, longtime food blogger at Vittlesvamp.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/chinese-studies
Newbery and Caldecott honoree and New York Times bestselling author Grace Lin joins New Books Network to talk about her new, groundbreaking, lushly illustrated, book that explores the whimsical myths and stories behind your favorite American Chinese food. From fried dumplings to fortune cookies, she shares the magical tales and historical roots of these well-loved dishes in Chinese Menu: The History, Myths, and Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods (Little, Brown Books, 2023). From the fun connection between scallion pancakes and pizza to a look at how wonton soup represents the creation of the world, Grace Lin offers up a mix of insights and folklore. Separated into courses like a Chinese menu, these tales are filled with squabbling dragons, magical fruits, and hungry monks. Her book brings you to far-off times and marvelous places, all while making your mouth water. And, along the way, you might just discover a deeper understanding of the resilience and triumph behind this food, and what makes it undeniably American. Interview by Laura Goldberg, longtime food blogger at Vittlesvamp.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies
Newbery and Caldecott honoree and New York Times bestselling author Grace Lin joins New Books Network to talk about her new, groundbreaking, lushly illustrated, book that explores the whimsical myths and stories behind your favorite American Chinese food. From fried dumplings to fortune cookies, she shares the magical tales and historical roots of these well-loved dishes in Chinese Menu: The History, Myths, and Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods (Little, Brown Books, 2023). From the fun connection between scallion pancakes and pizza to a look at how wonton soup represents the creation of the world, Grace Lin offers up a mix of insights and folklore. Separated into courses like a Chinese menu, these tales are filled with squabbling dragons, magical fruits, and hungry monks. Her book brings you to far-off times and marvelous places, all while making your mouth water. And, along the way, you might just discover a deeper understanding of the resilience and triumph behind this food, and what makes it undeniably American. Interview by Laura Goldberg, longtime food blogger at Vittlesvamp.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/popular-culture
Today, I'm talking to Grace Lin, author of Chinese Menu: The History, Myths, and Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods. In her book, Lin explores the fascinating stories behind some of the most common and delectable favorites of Chinese cuisine paired with vivid illustrations. You'll hear how she came up with the idea for this unique book, and the important roles the fortune cookie and the pandemic played in its conceptualization. You'll learn interesting myths. and legends about some of your favorite Chinese dishes. And you'll hear how Chinese food in America has become a flavorful bridge of understanding between two cultures. What you'll learn from Author Grace Lin The inspiration behind the book 4:33Why Grace Lin relates to the reputation of the fortune cookie 5:30The story of the fortune cookie 7:44How folk tales helped shape her cultural identity 9:26When Grace Lin began to embrace her heritage 10:05The real reason she writes about Chinese cuisine 11:11How early Chinese immigrants adapted to the American palate 12:15One example of a Chinese-American creation 13:55Misconceptions about Chinese food 14:58How Chinese food creates a bridge with American culture 16:35Two origin stories about chopsticks 18:18The birth of Chop Suey 21:39Why Wonton Soup is the perfect gateway food 24:39Dumplings and the Taoist creation myth 26:16The story of spring rolls 29:09Grace Lin's goals for the book 31:54Why Chinese American food is really American food 33:03Why pandemic stigma encouraged her to write this book 33:19Grace Lin's process of putting stories together to create a book 35:02Separating historical myths from dinner-table fiction 35:46Her favorite Chinese comfort food 36:29Describing Chinese food in American culture 36:59Her favorite myths in the book 37:39Her favorite food that isn't Chinese food 38:20When she knew she wanted to become an author 38:49Her process as a writer 40:42How she finds the right environment to work 42:00What she wishes she knew before becoming an author 42:40Why she wouldn't want to live in ancient China 44:27 I'd like to share a potential educational resource, "Conversations Behind the Kitchen Door", my new book that features dialogues with accomplished culinary leaders from various backgrounds and cultures. It delves into the future of culinary creativity and the hospitality industry, drawing from insights of a restaurant-industry-focused podcast, ‘flavors unknown”. It includes perspectives from renowned chefs and local professionals, making it a valuable resource for those interested in building a career in the culinary industry.Get the book here! Links to other episodes with other Authors CConversations with Will Guidara - Unreasonable Hospitality Links to most downloaded episodes (click on any picture to listen to the episode) Chef Sheldon Simeon Chef Andy Doubrava Chef Chris Kajioka Chef Suzanne Goin Click to tweet We should be proud of the Fortune Cookie because it's like one of the first truly Asian American foods. Click To Tweet People think of Chinese food as cheap food, and they don't realize that it has this rich, beautiful history and mythology behind it. Click To Tweet Most people do not create books for the money. They create books for love. So create the books that you love. Click To Tweet Social media Author Grace Lin Instagram Facebook Links mentioned in this episode Website Author Grace Lin
Lisa Ling delivers Grace Lin's delectable food-based tales drawn from Chinese Culture. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile's Emily Connelly discuss this fun and fascinating children's audiobook all about the foods you'll discover on menus in American Chinese restaurants, delving into the history and mythology behind everything from the importance of tea to the delightfully named Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. In a conversational tone, Ling describes an iconic dish, offers historical context and etymology, and transitions into tales about dragons, monks, emperors, and many creative chefs. Grace Lin herself reads a moving author's note. This audiobook will fill listeners up with wonder and knowledge. Read the full review of the audiobook on AudioFile's website. Published by Hachette Audio. Find more audiobook recommendations at audiofilemagazine.com Support for this podcast comes from #1 New York Times bestselling author Harlan Coben's explosively fast thriller Shelter is now an Amazon Prime Original Series. Listen to the series that started it all at Audible.com/Shelter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Hello! This is a part of Grace's “One Minute Myth” series, where she tries to recap one of the stories from her upcoming book “Chinese Menu” in as close to a minute as possible! "Chinese Menu" is a collection of about 40 stories about the myths, legends and histories behind your favorite American Chinese food and will be out Sept 12, 2023. Hopefully, this gives you a small taste of the book and makes you want more! If you are listening before Sept 12, 2023, please preorder the book! There are lots of giveaways: •NEW & LIMITED TIME: Just want to save some money (and who doesn't?): Preorder from Barnes & Noble with the discount code CHINESEMENU25 and you'll get 25% off!! You must use the code, exclusive only for Chinese Menu and only until 9/2/2023: https://tinyurl.com/ChineseMenuBN with code CHINESEMENU25 • Educators! Pre-order Chinese Menu for the Carle Museum and receive a FREE virtual classroom visit with Grace: https://tinyurl.com/GraceLinVisit •Want something different? Pre-order Chinese Menu from Porter Square Book and receive an enamel dragon pin: https://tinyurl.com/ChineseMenuPin Otherwise, please purchase "Chinese Menu" from wherever books are sold!
A SHOW SO BIG IT IS 3 HOURS LONG WITH SOME THE BIGGEST NAMES IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY!!!! D and L Coffee Service Inc. presents Small Bites Radio the #1 listed “Food Radio show Philadelphia” and #1 listed “Food Radio show South Jersey”. Stay tuned for the link of our newest episode with a fantastic lineup! #SmallBitesRadio has been named #14 out of the Top 30 Best Hospitality Shows on the planet for 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023, #23 Top Philadelphia Lifestyle Influencer in 2021, 2022, and 2023 and nominated by Metro Philly Newspaper as 2022's Best of Philly Arts & Entertainment. Show started with a slight technical difficulty and audio finally kicked in at minute and thirty seconds of episode and talk about Starbolt Philadelphia, Cleo Bagels Philadelphia, Jim's Steaks, Center City Restaurant Week, Atlantic City Restaurant Week, Red Lion Diner Southhampton, Red Lion Inn Southhampton, and Sophie Restaurant opening on Locust St in Center City Philadelphia. We had a fantastic conversation with Colleen Worthington at 43:10 of episode to talk about her new cookbook that you can preorder NOW being released on October 3rd ‘Kneaders Bakery & Café: A Celebration of Our Best Recipes and Memories' published by Shadow Mountain. What began in Colleen Worthington's kitchen twenty-five years ago has grown into a successful family-owned bakery and café business with time-tested, delicious recipes in this one-of-a-kind anniversary cookbook. For the first time, home cooks have access to popular recipes such as Overnight Chunky Cinnamon French Toast, Artichoke Portobello Soup, and Blueberry Sour Cream Pie. Beautiful and appetizing photos accompany each recipe. Thrilled to talk to Scotland's National Chef Gary Maclean and winner of MasterChef at 58:25 of episode about his new cookbook ‘The Scottish Kitchen: More than 100 Timeless Traditional and Contemporary Recipes from Scotland' published by Appetite by Random House. A stunning showcase of Scottish cooking, with over 100 recipes celebrating this book is the very best of bonnie Scotland with the foreword by Sam Heughan the star of Outlander. We even talked about rugby for a while regarding Rugby World Cup and Scotland national rugby union team VS Springboks. From bustling cities to idyllic isles, this engrossing cookbook evokes one of the world's most beautiful countries and its cuisines on every page. Wherever you may roam, The Scottish Kitchen brings you home, planting your kitchen firmly on the shores of Scotland. Also joining us is Newbery and Caldecott honoree, award-winning, and New York Times bestselling author Grace Lin at 19:40 of episode provides a visual and storytelling feast as she delivers a groundbreaking, lushly illustrated, and beautifully written full-color book that explores the whimsical myths and stories behind your favorite American Chinese food in her new book ‘Chinese Menu: The History, Myths, and Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods' published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Do you know the stories behind delectable dishes—like the fun connection between scallion pancakes and pizza? Or how dumplings cured a village's frostbitten ears? Or how wonton soup tells about the creation of the world? Chinese Menu makes the perfect gift book for anyone who loves good food—and an even better story. Had fun talking with Chef George Duran, Polylingual chef and comedian, renowned for Food Network's Ham on the Street and TLC's The Ultimate Cake Off at 02:05:20 of episode. Celebrated culinary artist Chef George Duran, renowned for his inventive approach to healthy gourmet cuisine, is concluding the summer and kicking off the Back To School Season, with a delectable 'Labor of Love' recipe collection. This year's tantalizing repertoire features mouthwatering dishes like Grilled Vegetables with Mighty Sesame Tahini, succulent Absolutely Gluten Free Fried Chicken Breasts, and a refreshing Watermelon Mocktail or Cocktail – each infused with Chef Duran's personal touch and incorporating his favorite products such as Mighty Sesame Co.®, Absolutely! Gluten Free®, and Wonder Melon™. Celebrating ‘The Vermont Farm Table Cookbook: 10th Anniversary Edition - 150 Homegrown Recipes from the Green Mountain State' published by Countryman Press we had on author Tracey Medeiros at 05:25 of episode. Now, after 10 years, author Tracey Medeiros has revised and fully updated this culinary tome to highlight the dedication of Vermont's farmers, with brand-new recipes, photos, and local farm profiles. Including feel-good dishes like Vermont Cheddar Soup, Maple-Glazed Sweet Potatoes, Apple-Stuffed Chicken Breasts, homemade Vermont Maple Ice Cream, and so much more, readers can indulge in the comforting, farm-fresh flavors of all this beautiful state has to offer. Loved catching up with Charisse R. McGill Owner/Producer of Lokal Artisan Foods/ French Toast Bites and new Executive Director of Farmers Market Coalition at 01:47:40 of the episode. McGill was hired by the Board of Directors after a nationwide search. McGill now leads the national non-profit that is dedicated to strengthening and supporting 8,000+ farmers markets across the United States, while providing real income opportunities for farmers and expanding access in local communities. Now in its 24th year, NFMW is an annual celebration that highlights the vital role farmers markets play in the nation's food system, showcasing their value to customers, communities, local leaders and legislators. Leading up to and throughout NFMW, McGill will connect with farmers market operators through online town halls and in-person visits, including an in-person visit to the USDA Farmers Market in Washington DC. Fall festival season is here and we talked to Chris Endrikat the Owner/Head Brewer of New Ridge Brewing Company at 01:27:24 of the episode. New Ridge Brewing Co. announces Roxborough's first beer festival with the debut of Taps Under the Towers with a pig roast from Green Meadow Farm on Saturday, September 23, 2023, from 1:00pm to 5:00pm and on the same day they celebrate their return as the official beer vendor for Lincoln Mill Haunted House for the Halloween season. This brand new beer festival will benefit Friends of the Wissahickon, and take place outside the brewery, in the Roxborough Pocket Park. The event will feature unlimited beer samples from 20 local breweries such as Attic Brewing Company • Boardroom Spirits • Brewery ARS • Brewery Techne • Carbon Copy • Chestnut Hill Brewing Company • Dock Street Brewery • Human Robot • Iron Hill Brewery • Kings Road Brewing • Love City Brewing • New Ridge Brewing Co. • Other Half • Punch Buggy Brewing • Sacred Vice Brewing Company • Twisted Gingers Brewing • Two Locals Brewing • Wissahickon Brewing Company • Wrong Crowd Beer. Taps Under The Towers tickets are on sale now for $60 each, which includes unlimited sampling of all beers and a souvenir tasting cup. Food is pay as you go. Reopening on October 4th we talk with Scott Smith the business partner of The Soup Bar in Palmyra, NJ at 02:18:05 of episode. With over 40 years of experience cooking in the finest restaurants, Chef Ed is ready and eager to deliver the best soup and food. That's why they source their fresh ingredients from local farmers' markets. No matter what time of year, you can be sure you're eating the best of the season. Last, but certainly not least we chatted with Dan Schulz and Jennifer Davis at 02:31:55 of the episode. They are part of Banned Camp and winner of the recently announced award of Best Comedy Banned Book Podcast :) a comedy podcast where they read banned books and find out why they were banned in the first place. In each episode, they read a chapter of a banned book and offer our take on why it was banned in the first place. So grab a drink, sit back, and join us as we explore why some folks seem to be in such a rush to take us back to the dark ages, one banned book at a time. You say you STILL NEED MORE!!! The Small Bites team consists of many segment producers and correspondents. Expect culinary tips and events from celebrity Chef Barbie Marshall who was awarded the title of Pennsylvania's most influential chef by Cooking Light Magazine, Season 10 Hell's Kitchen Finalist and appeared on Season 17 Hell's Kitchen All Stars. You'll be provided with latest food news and happenings from John Howard-Fusco who has been featured in the Courier-Post South Jersey (a Gannett newspaper), as a contributor for NJ Monthly Magazine, and a New York Times recognized blogger for Eating in South Jersey. The latest trends and food concepts from Chef Beth Esposito the Chef/Owner of Pink Garlic Private Events and Butcher's Pantry in the Reading Terminal Market and has been spotlighted on The Rachael Ray Show, The Food Network programming, multiple appearances on Fox 29 Good Day, and many more television and radio outlets. Enjoy a funny joke from legendary joke teller Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling, the former head writer for “The Howard Stern Show”. Last but not least we also have freelance writer William Knowles, the personality behind “Around Town” for Bluejeanfood.com doing coverage and blog posts about events. Listen to Small Bites Radio worldwide on Simplecast, iHeartRadio,TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, PodOmatic, Player FM, iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, Audible, Amazon Music, and many more distribution partners. To see a list of everyone who has appeared on the show click below: https://bluejeanfood.com/smallbitesradio/ D & L Coffee Services has an expert staff of highly qualified, certified, and experienced office, technical, and sales personnel. D & L Coffee Services are able to provide your business, home, or special event the absolute best from the beans they sell, vendors they work with, Italian delicacies available for delivery, catering on-site for any sized affair, hands-on barista training, equipment available for purchase, and maintenance/repair services for your espresso and coffee machines. You can stop by their warehouse at 7000 HOLSTEIN AVE, SUITE 3, Philadelphia, PA 19153 during business hours or call the office at 215-365-5521 for an appointment, consultation, or any questions. #FoodRadioShowPhiladelphia #FoodRadioShowSouthJersey #TopPhiladelphiaLifestyle #FoodRadioShow #TopHospitalityShow #FoodShow #TopListed #BestFood #BestPod
Hello! This is a part of Grace's “One Minute Myth” series, where she tries to recap one of the stories from her upcoming book “Chinese Menu” in as close to a minute as possible! "Chinese Menu" is a collection of about 40 stories about the myths, legends and histories behind your favorite American Chinese food and will be out Sept 12, 2023. Hopefully, this gives you a small taste of the book and makes you want more! If you are listening before Sept 12, 2023, please preorder the book! There are lots of giveaways: •NEW & LIMITED TIME: Just want to save some money (and who doesn't?): Preorder from Barnes & Noble with the discount code CHINESEMENU25 and you'll get 25% off!! You must use the code, exclusive only for Chinese Menu and only until 9/2/2023: https://tinyurl.com/ChineseMenuBN with code CHINESEMENU25 • Educators! Pre-order Chinese Menu for the Carle Museum and receive a FREE virtual classroom visit with Grace: https://tinyurl.com/GraceLinVisit •Want something different? Pre-order Chinese Menu from Porter Square Book and receive an enamel dragon pin: https://tinyurl.com/ChineseMenuPin Otherwise, please purchase "Chinese Menu" from wherever books are sold!
Hello! This is a part of Grace's “One Minute Myth” series, where she tries to recap one of the stories from her upcoming book “Chinese Menu” in as close to a minute as possible! "Chinese Menu" is a collection of about 40 stories about the myths, legends and histories behind your favorite American Chinese food and will be out Sept 12, 2023. Hopefully, this gives you a small taste of the book and makes you want more! If you are listening before Sept 12, 2023, please preorder the book! There are lots of giveaways: •NEW & LIMITED TIME: Just want to save some money (and who doesn't?): Preorder from Barnes & Noble with the discount code CHINESEMENU25 and you'll get 25% off!! You must use the code, exclusive only for Chinese Menu and only until 9/2/2023: https://tinyurl.com/ChineseMenuBN with code CHINESEMENU25 • Educators! Pre-order Chinese Menu for the Carle Museum and receive a FREE virtual classroom visit with Grace: https://tinyurl.com/GraceLinVisit •Want something different? Pre-order Chinese Menu from Porter Square Book and receive an enamel dragon pin: https://tinyurl.com/ChineseMenuPin Otherwise, please purchase "Chinese Menu" from wherever books are sold!
Hello! This is a part of Grace's “One Minute Myth” series, where she tries to recap one of the stories from her upcoming book “Chinese Menu” in as close to a minute as possible! "Chinese Menu" is a collection of about 40 stories about the myths, legends and histories behind your favorite American Chinese food and will be out Sept 12, 2023. Hopefully, this gives you a small taste of the book and makes you want more! If you are listening before Sept 12, 2023, please preorder the book! There are lots of giveaways: •NEW & LIMITED TIME: Just want to save some money (and who doesn't?): Preorder from Barnes & Noble with the discount code CHINESEMENU25 and you'll get 25% off!! You must use the code, exclusive only for Chinese Menu and only until 9/2/2023: https://tinyurl.com/ChineseMenuBN with code CHINESEMENU25 • Educators! Pre-order Chinese Menu for the Carle Museum and receive a FREE virtual classroom visit with Grace: https://tinyurl.com/GraceLinVisit •Want something different? Pre-order Chinese Menu from Porter Square Book and receive an enamel dragon pin: https://tinyurl.com/ChineseMenuPin Otherwise, please purchase "Chinese Menu" from wherever books are sold!
Hello! This is a part of Grace's “One Minute Myth” series, where she tries to recap one of the stories from her upcoming book “Chinese Menu” in as close to a minute as possible! "Chinese Menu" is a collection of about 40 stories about the myths, legends and histories behind your favorite American Chinese food and will be out Sept 12, 2023. Hopefully, this gives you a small taste of the book and makes you want more! If you are listening before Sept 12, 2023, please preorder the book! There are lots of giveaways: •NEW & LIMITED TIME: Just want to save some money (and who doesn't?): Preorder from Barnes & Noble with the discount code CHINESEMENU25 and you'll get 25% off!! You must use the code, exclusive only for Chinese Menu and only until 9/2/2023: https://tinyurl.com/ChineseMenuBN with code CHINESEMENU25 • Educators! Pre-order Chinese Menu for the Carle Museum and receive a FREE virtual classroom visit with Grace: https://tinyurl.com/GraceLinVisit •Want something different? Pre-order Chinese Menu from Porter Square Book and receive an enamel dragon pin: https://tinyurl.com/ChineseMenuPin Otherwise, please purchase "Chinese Menu" from wherever books are sold!
I read Grace Lin's The Ugly Vegetables to my kids when they were little, and it quickly became one of our favorites, for so many reasons. It was an honor to speak with her over Zoom last week and I'm happy to bring you this episode! Her latest book, available September 12, 2023, is called Chinese Menu, and it is fantastic! It is a collection of about 40 American Chinese dishes. Classics like Chop Suey, General Tso's Chicken, Broccoli Beef, etc. Grace weaves the history behind the dishes, with legends, stories, and amazing art. It's NOT just for kids, I'm thoroughly enjoying it! You can meet Grace in person if you live in Seattle (9/11), San Francisco (9/12), Oakland (9/13), Berkeley (9/14), or Pasadena (9/15). Details are here: https://gracelin.com/news-events/ You can also get details and lots more stories from Grace at her Instagram account @pacylin Thank you so much to Grace for speaking with me! Thanks to Little Brown Books for sending me a preview pack, and to publicist Carrie Bachman for making the arrangements for me to connect with Grace! As I always mention, you can write to us at: infatuasianpodcast@gmail.com, and please follow us on Instagram and Facebook @infatuasianpodcast Please listen and follow us wherever you get your podcasts. We would really appreciate your ratings and reviews over at Apple Podcasts and Spotify! Our Theme: “Super Happy J-Pop Fun-Time” by Prismic Studios was arranged and performed by All Arms Around #chinesemenu #chinesefood #asianauthor #childrensbooks #asianpodcast #asian #asianamerican #infatuasian #infatuasianpodcast #aapi #veryasian #asianamericanpodcaster #asianauthor #representationmatters#asianpodcast #asian #asianamerican #infatuasian #infatuasianpodcast #aapi #veryasian #asianamericanpodcaster #representationmatters
And so the exodus began. American factories, by the droves, moved across the Pacific. The elites were happy, as profit margins, driven chiefly by this low-cost Chinese production, continued to increase. The overall effect on the American economy was profound. Consider this: the most profitable companies, the ones with the most significant incomes, all follow this business model, American marketing with offshore (principally Chinese) production. Almost the entire US Tech Industry now has its manufacturing facilities in Asia.
And so the exodus began. American factories, by the droves, moved across the Pacific. The elites were happy, as profit margins, driven chiefly by this low-cost Chinese production, continued to increase. The overall effect on the American economy was profound. Consider this: the most profitable companies, the ones with the most significant incomes, all follow this business model, American marketing with offshore (principally Chinese) production. Almost the entire US Tech Industry now has its manufacturing facilities in Asia.
Hello! This is a part of Grace's “One Minute Myth” series, where she tries to recap one of the stories from her upcoming book “Chinese Menu” in as close to a minute as possible! "Chinese Menu" is a collection of about 40 stories about the myths, legends and histories behind your favorite American Chinese food and will be out Sept 12, 2023. Hopefully, this gives you a small taste of the book and makes you want more! If you are listening before Sept 12, 2023, please preorder the book! There are lots of giveaways: •NEW & LIMITED TIME: Just want to save some money (and who doesn't?): Preorder from Barnes & Noble with the discount code CHINESEMENU25 and you'll get 25% off!! You must use the code, exclusive only for Chinese Menu and only until 9/2/2023: https://tinyurl.com/ChineseMenuBN with code CHINESEMENU25 • Educators! Pre-order Chinese Menu for the Carle Museum and receive a FREE virtual classroom visit with Grace: https://tinyurl.com/GraceLinVisit •Want something different? Pre-order Chinese Menu from Porter Square Book and receive an enamel dragon pin: https://tinyurl.com/ChineseMenuPin Otherwise, please purchase "Chinese Menu" from wherever books are sold!
Hello! This is a part of Grace's “One Minute Myth” series, where she tries to recap one of the stories from her upcoming book “Chinese Menu” in as close to a minute as possible! "Chinese Menu" is a collection of about 40 stories about the myths, legends and histories behind your favorite American Chinese food and will be out Sept 12, 2023. Hopefully, this gives you a small taste of the book and makes you want more! If you are listening before Sept 12, 2023, please preorder the book! There are lots of giveaways: •NEW & LIMITED TIME: Just want to save some money (and who doesn't?): Preorder from Barnes & Noble with the discount code CHINESEMENU25 and you'll get 25% off!! You must use the code, exclusive only for Chinese Menu and only until 9/2/2023: https://tinyurl.com/ChineseMenuBN with code CHINESEMENU25 • Educators! Pre-order Chinese Menu for the Carle Museum and receive a FREE virtual classroom visit with Grace: https://tinyurl.com/GraceLinVisit •Want something different? Pre-order Chinese Menu from Porter Square Book and receive an enamel dragon pin: https://tinyurl.com/ChineseMenuPin Otherwise, please purchase "Chinese Menu" from wherever books are sold!
Hello! This is a part of Grace's “One Minute Myth” series, where she tries to recap one of the stories from her upcoming book “Chinese Menu” in as close to a minute as possible! "Chinese Menu" is a collection of about 40 stories about the myths, legends and histories behind your favorite American Chinese food and will be out Sept 12, 2023. Hopefully, this gives you a small taste of the book and makes you want more! If you are listening before Sept 12, 2023, please preorder the book! There are lots of giveaways: •NEW & LIMITED TIME: Just want to save some money (and who doesn't?): Preorder from Barnes & Noble with the discount code CHINESEMENU25 and you'll get 25% off!! You must use the code, exclusive only for Chinese Menu and only until 9/2/2023: https://tinyurl.com/ChineseMenuBN with code CHINESEMENU25 • Educators! Pre-order Chinese Menu for the Carle Museum and receive a FREE virtual classroom visit with Grace: https://tinyurl.com/GraceLinVisit •Want something different? Pre-order Chinese Menu from Porter Square Book and receive an enamel dragon pin: https://tinyurl.com/ChineseMenuPin Otherwise, please purchase "Chinese Menu" from wherever books are sold!
Hello! This is a part of Grace's “One Minute Myth” series, where she tries to recap one of the stories from her upcoming book “Chinese Menu” in as close to a minute as possible! "Chinese Menu" is a collection of about 40 stories about the myths, legends and histories behind your favorite American Chinese food and will be out Sept 12, 2023. Hopefully, this gives you a small taste of the book and makes you want more! If you are listening before Sept 12, 2023, please preorder the book! There are lots of giveaways: •NEW & LIMITED TIME: Just want to save some money (and who doesn't?): Preorder from Barnes & Noble with the discount code CHINESEMENU25 and you'll get 25% off!! You must use the code, exclusive only for Chinese Menu and only until 9/2/2023: https://tinyurl.com/ChineseMenuBN with code CHINESEMENU25 • Educators! Pre-order Chinese Menu for the Carle Museum and receive a FREE virtual classroom visit with Grace: https://tinyurl.com/GraceLinVisit •Want something different? Pre-order Chinese Menu from Porter Square Book and receive an enamel dragon pin: https://tinyurl.com/ChineseMenuPin Otherwise, please purchase "Chinese Menu" from wherever books are sold!
Hello! This is a part of Grace's “One Minute Myth” series, where she tries to recap one of the stories from her upcoming book “Chinese Menu” in as close to a minute as possible! "Chinese Menu" is a collection of about 40 stories about the myths, legends and histories behind your favorite American Chinese food and will be out Sept 12, 2023. Hopefully, this gives you a small taste of the book and makes you want more! If you are listening before Sept 12, 2023, please preorder the book! There are lots of giveaways: •NEW & LIMITED TIME: Just want to save some money (and who doesn't?): Preorder from Barnes & Noble with the discount code CHINESEMENU25 and you'll get 25% off!! You must use the code, exclusive only for Chinese Menu and only until 9/2/2023: https://tinyurl.com/ChineseMenuBN with code CHINESEMENU25 • Educators! Pre-order Chinese Menu for the Carle Museum and receive a FREE virtual classroom visit with Grace: https://tinyurl.com/GraceLinVisit •Want something different? Pre-order Chinese Menu from Porter Square Book and receive an enamel dragon pin: https://tinyurl.com/ChineseMenuPin Otherwise, please purchase "Chinese Menu" from wherever books are sold!
Chris, Zack, and Melanie sit down to talk about a new article by Eric Schmidt on whether the United States can win an innovation race with China. Where is the United States ahead and where is it behind in the tech competition? How should the U.S. government work with private enterprise to maximize defense innovation and procurement? Can the United States overcome obstacles, many self-imposed, to accelerate and sharpen innovative enterprises? Chris congratulates Dr. Elizabeth Samet for a book well done, Zack is unhappy about possible leaks of American intelligence assessments about the Ukraine war, and Melanie congratulates Congress for doing its job. Episode Reading: https://warontherocks.com/2023/04/technology-defense-and-the-american-chinese-competition
#5. In this episode of The meez Podcast, host Josh Sharkey interviews Tim Ma, an accomplished chef, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.Washington D.C. based chef Tim Ma is the founder and CEO of Lucky Danger, the Culinary Director of Laoban Dumplings, co-founder of the nonprofit Chefs Stopping AAPI Hate, and a culinary consultant for several major projects across the US. In this episode, Tim talks about his non-traditional path to cooking, his experiences scaling restaurants, what it was like cooking for the Vice President, and how his family's heirlooms ended up being featured in an exhibit at the Smithsonian American History Museum. Plus, the challenge of systemizing Chinese cooking, which is known for its artistry and complexity. Throughout the episode, Tim shares his passion for food and how his non-profit, Chefs Stopping AAPI Hate, has continued to raise funds not just for the Asian American community, but in response to all allies in need. Get involved and discover events in your area at www.chefsstoppingaapihate.com/.Where to find Tim Ma: LinkedInInstagramWhere to find host Josh Sharkey:InstagramLinkedInIn this episode, we cover:(3:03) Tim Ma's background(4:29) Opening a sandwich shop(7:40) Cooking for the Vice President(10:12) Tim's Smithsonian Exhibit (15:54) Being Chinese in Arkansas (18:39) Tim's Early Business Lessons(22:22) How Tim maintains consistency(25:15) How to operationalize American Chinese food(28:59) What is American-Chinese Food?(33:08) Is iterating ever done?(36:17) Why Tim loves to open new concepts and restaurants(38:45) What it's like starting a CPG business(48:14) What inspired Chefs Stopping AAPI Hate?(53:48) Helping people chase dreams(55:50) Tim's biggest influences
Welcome to the daily304 – your window into Wonderful, Almost Heaven, West Virginia. Today is Thursday, March 23 Ramp season is nearly upon us, and fortunately, for fans of this Appalachian delicacy, ramp dinners are increasing in popularity…Appalachian Botanical Co. repurposes coal fields -- and provides jobs--with its lavender and honey farm--#YesWV…and take a culinary road trip through Almost Heaven…on today's daily304. #1 – From WV EXPLORER – Ramp dinners in West Virginia are growing in popularity, and their non-profit hosts are benefitting from the burgeoning interest in all things West Virginian, says the publisher of West Virginia Explorer Magazine. “I was worried about them at one point because their volunteer hosts were growing older, but after COVID ran its course, the festivals boomed along with the popularity of so much about West Virginia,” says David Sibray, whose online guide to the Mountain State has been the state's chief promoter of the events for over a decade. Sibray says that the events that celebrate the return of spring in Appalachia—and the appearance of the leafy wild vegetable, a kind of wild leek—are growing in number and capacity. Check out WV Explorer for a 2023 schedule of ramp dinners in West Virginia. Read more: https://wvexplorer.com/2023/03/19/ramp-dinners-in-west-virginia-growing-wv/ #2 – From CENTER FOR COALFIELD JUSTICE – Appalachian Botanical Co. is growing lavender and raising bees on post-use mine land in Boone County. So far, it's going well, according to Jocelyn Sheppard, founder and president. “We have about 50 acres under cultivation. We have a 15-year agricultural lease with the landowner, and we have the cooperation of the coal operator that holds the mining reclamation permit with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection,” Sheppard said. In a region where coal mining was once a major employer, it's a way of giving back to the community. “Besides giving the land a second chance, we're committed to providing second chance jobs to local residents: over 90% of our hires are from Boone County. We pay above minimum wages to workers who often struggle to secure employment due to a variety of reasons,” she said. “For many of our workers, these jobs mean a chance to learn new skills, have steady employment, and take good care of themselves and their families.” Learn more at appalachianbotanical.com. Read more: https://centerforcoalfieldjustice.org/2023/02/from-abandoned-mine-land-to-lavender-farm-and-second-chance-jobs-in-west-virginia/?_kx=ZzBqonnkAtEjB-qeApi-sAtx2okh4UNcTCfZXXM3vHzfy49qMD25S6GNDqVaai9X.SDWSKJ #3 – From BON APPETIT – Crystal Good is publisher of “Black by God,” a storytelling organization that centers Black stories and experiences in West Virginia. She shares her itinerary for a dream road trip through the Mountain State. “As a sixth-generation West Virginian, home to me is in the landscape, among the trees and 200-million-year-old rocks. There's plenty to see and even more to taste, and this scenic route will take you north to south,” she said. Her Appalachian cuisine road trip starts with Lost Creek Farm, a unique traveling kitchen based out of Harrison County. Follow along as she samples barbecue at Phat Daddy's on Da Tracks in Charleston, American Chinese at The Rice Bowl in Cross Lanes, soul food at Southern Kitchen WV in Elkins, and more. Read more: https://www.bonappetit.com/story/appalachian-west-virginia-culinary-road-trip Find these stories and more at wv.gov/daily304. The daily304 curated news and information is brought to you by the West Virginia Department of Commerce: Sharing the wealth, beauty and opportunity in West Virginia with the world. Follow the daily304 on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @daily304. Or find us online at wv.gov and just click the daily304 logo. That's all for now. Take care. Be safe. Get outside and enjoy all the opportunity West Virginia has to offer.
Jimmy Wang oversees the culinary operations for more than 2300 Panda Express restaurants around the world. From creating and implementing recipes, to training across the globe, he is responsible for the infamous and innovative ‘American Chinese' food served daily. In 2021, Wang was honored in Nation's Restaurant News ‘Chef Power List.” In this episode, Jimmy shares how moments from his childhood in Taiwan helped shape his journey to becoming Executive Director of Culinary and Product Innovation at Panda Restaurant Group. Chef Jimmy shares some of the extraordinary work the Panda team does with Panda Cares, the philanthropic arm of Panda Restaurant Group whose purpose is to serve the health and education needs of underserved youth and to foster the spirit of giving (DO NOT MISS THIS PART). Enjoy this episode as we go Beyond the Plate… with Chef Jimmy Wang.This episode is brought to you by Martin's Famous Potato Rolls.Check out our #BtPlatePodcast Merch at www.BeyondthePlateMerch.com Follow Beyond the Plate on Facebook and TwitterFollow Kappy on Instagram and TwitterMentioned in this episode:Martin's Famous Potato RollsFollow @potatorolls on ig for recipe inspiration.
Our first guest on Season 3 of My Favourite Takeaway is chef, restaurateur and broadcaster, Simon Rimmer. Simon joined Tom and Cim from his home in the northwest, and opted for a delicious selection of dishes from the family-run Masala Lounge in Sale. As well as learning why one of these dishes would enrage future guest on the podcast, Atul Kochhar, we also discuss Simon's unconventional approach to leftover pizza, the cinematic appeal of the American Chinese takeaway box, a bizarre melange of tinned food he threw together and fell in love with during lockdown, and plenty more besides.Thanks for listening. Please rate, review and subscribe.Cheers, Tom and Cimran.Get in touch with the show:Email: HELLO@MYFAVOURITETAKEAWAYPODCAST.COMTwitter: @FavtakeawaypodInstagram: myfavouritetakeawaypodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Charles Zeng owns the Charlie's Burger restaurant chain. As a Shanghai-based restauranteur, he recounts stories about operating during the strict 2022 lockdown. We talk pizza in China, debate over American-Chinese food and rising violence in the US. We also talk about dealing with anxiety, the "Art of being Stupid" and the "Art of War". We discuss the AI program Chat GPT, the fear of Artificial Intelligence taking over soon and we are reminded that we're the last generation to have known a world before the internet. ____________________ If you enjoy this show don't forget to leave a rating! Follow Us On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehonestdrink_/ Join Us On WeChat: THD_Official Find us on: Spotify, Apple, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Ximalaya, 小宇宙, 网易云音乐, Bilibili or anywhere else you get your podcasts.
Last time we spoke Hong Xiuquan attempted four times to pass the imperial examination, but was met each time with failure. The stress put upon him was too much, causing him to have multiple mental breakdowns and to see visions leading him to realize he was the brother of Jesus Christ. God and the elder brother Jesus taught Hong Xiuquan had to fight demons and gave him a magical sword to rid the world of them. Hong Xiuquan knew the Manchu were demons and it was he who could usher in a heavenly kingdom on earth. He began to preach to the masses gathering those he called god worshippers and this began to raise concerns with the Qing officials who sought to stamp out what looked like the White Lotus Rebellion 2.0. Now the Qing forces led by Xiang Rong were trying to surround the god worshippers to end the menace before it became an even larger problem. #25 This episode is The Taiping Rebellion part 2: The March to Nanjing Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. The Taiping had taken Jintai, but were being pursued constantly by multiple Qing armies always seeking to encircle and quell the rebellion. By this point the Taiping numbered around 60,000 men and they sought to seize the first major town, that of Yong'an, present day Mengshan town. Now before I get to this I just want to describe a bit the forces at play. The Taiping like I said were around 60,000 strong and were as you can imagine more of a peasantry type of group. They did not have much in the way of firearms, most were armed with spears ranging from 8-18feet long halberds, knives or swords such as the Liuyidao. There were those with bows and arrows, but archery in this time period was more specialized in northern china than southern china. For example the eight banner army had manchu and mongols who were extremely proficient in archery, but in the south it was simply not as great. There were some firearms, consisting of the usual suspects, firelock muskets and the every hilarious jingalls. Women took part in the initial battles, such as at Jintian, but there is pretty much no evidence of Taiping women fighting battles after 1853, it seems it was a necessity in the beginning but later on it was not employed. Later on in 1858 there would be an official women garrison under the Taiping, but they seem to be a ceremonial group. Now the Qing military is quite complex at this point and although I have described it a bit in the past I would like to refresh memories here because the Qing military will evolve during this conflict. In the 1850's, the Qing military was roughly 3.4 million strong, quelling the Taiping rebellion while simultaneously fighting the Europeans during the second opium war. The eight banner army consisted of Manchu's, Mongolians and Han Chinese, roughly 250,000 men strong. They were much more of an imperial guard and stationed around Beijing. Then there was the Green Standard army consisted pretty much exclusively of Han Chinese. They were around 600,000 strong and were the real military might of the empire. Their creation was mostly because of the lack of efficiency within the eight banner army and ironically another type of military force would be created later on in this story because of the Green Standard armies lack of efficiency. There would also be varying groups of Europeans involved in this conflict, but that all comes later. Now the last time we spoke, the Taiping were fleeing their stronghold in the Thistle Mountains, and sought to attack Yong'an. With their large force of 60,000 they took Yong'an easily on September 24th of 1851. A large reason Yong'an fell so easily was because there was an extreme lack of coordination on the part of the Qing forces. Meanwhile the Taiping had their 5 king system, the north,south,west,east and flank kings who were coordinating their military efforts quite well to fend off encirclement efforts by the Qing. It was at Yong'an that Hong Xiuquan enacted a lot of reforms. One of them was to replace the classic lunar calendar with a solar calendar. The lunar calendar is based on the monthly cycles of the moon's phases while the solar calendar's dates are based on the position of the sun, ie; seasons. Hong Xiuquan also began to develop many social reforms that we will talk about later. Now by 1852 the Taiping were gradually driven out of Yong'an by the Qing military who was encircling them and this led to them losing 20% of their forces. Now while this was a large loss, do remember anyone the Taiping go, they are increasing in number, because they are targeting the countryside, the peasants, all those who are dissatisfied with the Qing dynasty. Hong Xiuquan led the god worshipers out of the encirclement at Yong'an and then marched into Guangxi province. Now in the earliest days of the rebellion, while Hong Xiuquan was the leader, it was actually Feng Yunshan, the south king who was the military mastermind. It was also Feng Yunshan who was the first leader of the god worshippers who called for an open revolt. He was the chief military strategist and administrator amongst them. He was the man who came up with the military configuration, a formidable mind. Now on May 24th the Taiping marched near Quanzhou in Guangxi province, but they had no intention of invading the city. It seems Feng Yunshan made an egregious mistake as his sedan chair was close enough to the city whereupon a Qing gunner, or I guess better said sharpshooter fatally wounded him. Hong Xiuquan was outraged one of his closest comrades was hurt and he quickly rallied the Taiping forces to surround Quanzhou and within just 2 days they breached its walls and butchered all its citizens who did not flee or join the cause. The south king Feng Yunshan became the first high ranking leader of the Taiping to die when he succumbed to his wounds in June of 1852. Now in June the main bulk of the Taiping began to head north in Hunan province where they captured Jeonju and began traveling along the Xiang river planning to attack the hinterlands of Hunan by land and river. The idea behind this was to find paths that were quick, because at all times multiple Qing armies were trying to encircle them. While they traversed the Xiang River they came to the Suoyi ford where they were finally ambushed by a Qing army. The Qing army repelled their northern march and in the process killed approximately 10,000 taiping. After this large setback, the Taiping turned their attention to lesser targets seizing Daozhou, Yongming, Jianghua, Jiahe, Guiyang and Chenzhou. The Taiping faced another Qing encirclement by Qing forces led by Xiang rong in Guangxi but managed to thwart him and escape. At this point the Taiping were operating on a very large scale threatening Hunan, absolutely terrifying the Qing court who hastile mobilized a large army to gather in the area of Hengyang and Chenzhou. The Qing sought to block the march of the Taiping in Hunan. Xiang rong led the Qing the 2 Qing forces to make a northern and southern strike upon the Taiping completely annihilating a Taiping force in the Shonan region. The Taiping leaders were frustrated again and again by encirclement maneuvers by the Qing military. They were unable to break through the Qing blockades, but then they began to notice the Qing had distributed the majority of their forces in the Shonan region, leaving the hinterland of Hunan fairly open. The West king, Xiao Chaogui detached from the bulk of the Taiping forces and bypassed the Qing army holding the city of Chenzhou and made a direct march upon Changsha. When they reached Changsha, Xiao Chaogui ordered a siege of the city. The Taiping began to dig siege tunnels in order to blow up parts of its defensive walls using mines. Meanwhile the Taiping fanned out capturing the surrounding area to make sure the city could receive no provisions via land or river. The former governor of Hunan, Luo Bingzhang was about to leave that said post to receive a new appointment in Beijing when the situation erupted. He spoke to the deputy in charge of military affairs, Luo Huodian who was placed in charge of the city's defense. At this time the new governor of Hunan, Zhang Liangji had yet to arrive, thus Changsha was in quite a predicament, there was really no one to command its defenses since it was surrounded. Within the city were 8000 defenders, while Xiao Chaogui held 3000 light cavalry and a few thousand other infantry, some of whom were garrisoning at Yongxing. When Xiao Chaoguis forces arrived to Changsha on September 11th, they found a force of Green Standard army and militia forces led by Liuyang. The Taiping fought them out in the field exacting 900 Qing casualties and publicly beheaded the general Fu Cheng and the deputy general Yin Peili. This led the garrison commander Zhu Han to flee and abandon a ton of military equipment. From September 12th to the 18th, Xiao Chaogui continuously mounted attacks upon the city while the defenders inside desperately hurled burning oil, arrows and rocks at them. Now Xiao Chaogui only had roughly 4000 men with him, more were enroute but came in piecemeals. With only 4000 men he was unable to mount a powerful enough attack to breach the walls of the city. For example if he took all his men to the south of Changsha, the defenders would simply concentrate their 7000 or so men south. It seems in an effort to bolster morale, Xiao Chaogui decided to personally hoist some Taiping banners while wearing royal robes on the battlefield. Well he was easily spotted by a Qing sharpshooter or artillery shell shot him dead. Alongside this the Qing militia force led by Deng Shaoliang attacked the Taipings rear by surprise and this effectively stopped the siege, forcing the Taiping to withdraw further away from the city walls. Meanwhile the Qing court was freaking out over the reports Changsha, a significant city was under siege and they dispatched a force of up to 50,000 men to concentrate in the area. Upon hearing the news of the incoming Qing forces and the death of the west King, Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing led the bulk of the Taiping forces out of Chenzhou overnight, rushing over to Changsha by October 5th. The next day the Taiping made a large offensive out in the field near the tomb of Cai Gong against a Qing force led by Ren Dagui. The Taiping won the battle, killed General Ren Dagui and wounded his deputy general De'an. On October 11th Hong Xiuquan launched an assault on Changsha hitting 3 sides of its walls, but the Qing defenders managed to hold on. Then on October 15th a Qing army coming from the direction of Chenzhou managed to reinforce Changsha, fighting skirmishes with the Taiping along the way. Despite their numbers the Taiping were failing to make progress against the city and as time went by more and more of the dispatched Qing forces were arriving to its aid. In order to break the stalemate, the Taiping leaders decided to cross the Xiang River and open up an attack upon Changsha's western portion. On October 17th, Shi Dakai the flank king led thousands of Taiping to cross the river and attack Zhu Zhangdu, Nanjinggang, Hexi and the line of Monkey stone catching the Qing off guard. The infuriated General Xiang Rong who was commanding some of the Qing forces and at this point had become something of a rival to the Taiping launched an attack against Hexi, but was ambushed. This led the Qing to send more forces to retake Hexi, but Shi Dakai's men dug in and repelled them. Xiang Rong was humiliated and this led him on October 30th to personally lead 3000 Qing infantry and cavalry to attack the Taiping at Hexi with the intent of cutting them off from the rest of the Taiping army. Xiang Rong was ambushed yet again, suffered heavy casualties and was forced to flee. While the battle over Hexi was raging, the battle on the south of Changsha with the bulk of the Taiping continued. Throughout October and November large scale siege assaults were made. The Taiping tried to detonate mines in tunnels to breach the walls, but counter tunneling by the defenders thwarted their best efforts. At one point a breach was made in the wall, but the Qing commander Zuo Zongtang proclaimed to the defenders of the city that he would pay an enormous sum of money to anyone who helped hurl large stone and rock to close any gaps made by the Taiping and this proved to be highly effective. The citizens and defenders quickly hurled everything they could at the Taiping and the gap quickly closing the breach. Zuo Zongtang won quite a lot of fame for this, and would become an important player later on. If you did not know, Zuo Zongtang is quite famous for something else in our world, something I certainly am grateful for as I cook it now and then, General Tso Chicken. Haha I can't really get into the bizarre and long history of this one, but the American-Chinese dish introduced in the 1970's in New York city was inspired by another dish called Peng Chuang-kuei, by a Taiwanese chef who specialized in Hunanese cuisine. Peng named the dish in honour of Zuo Zongtang. Honestly people who know more about this history know what I just said is just one of many many stories as to how the dish came to be, its quite a rabbit hole. The Taiping's efforts were not working fast enough and soon the Qing reinforcements were arriving en masse, yet again threatening to encircle them. In view of the deteriorating situation, Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing both agreed the battle for Changsha was meaningless and that they should withdraw and take a much more important city. So the Taiping left in the middle of a rainstorm at night after fighting a bitter 3 month campaign over Changsha and its surrounding area. Despite the failure at Changsha, the Taiping were still in a great position and confident. The Qing had thrown countless armies at them, but they always managed to escape encirclements and were able to pick and choose when they fought. The Qing were slow to react and it was difficult to pinpoint where the Taiping would concentrate their forces. Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing chose the formidable city of Wuchang as the next target. The Qing it seems did believe the Taiping would march upon Wuchang, because they left the path to it quite empty. The Taiping took very deceptive maneuvers to try and hide their march on Wuchang. They went along the Xiang river only to abandon their boats and march over land to another unsuspecting rivertown where they stole boats and continued. They would destroy bridges as the moved and recruit countless boatmen to hinder Qing riverine units. Countless times they would cross rivers using pontoon bridges, leave them on the other side and simply find more boats to go down river. Its sort of like the old ploy of making multiple tracks in the snow when you are evading someone. The bitter Taiping rival Xiang Rong was leading many of the Qing forces pursing the Taiping and it seems he nor other Qing commanders figuring out what was going on nor where the Taiping ultimately were heading. After 600 miles of twists, turns and tricks the Taiping army ended up at Wuchang, and Xiang Rong was still in Yuezhou chasing a Taiping feint army. The Taipings last great deception had come at Dongting lake in December. The Taiping had captured Yueyang with little resistance and seized over 5000 boats. They took them to the banks of the Yangtze river were they moved east downstream, but instead of heading straight at Wuchang, they maneuvered to the north shore and seized the commercial towns of Hanyang and Hankou. After capturing these towns the Taiping constructed two enormous floating bridges by linking all the boats together across the Yangtze so they could attack Wuchang on its weaker northern face. The first attack came in the middle of the night when suddenly shouting could be heard waking the defenders of Wuchang from their sleep. Chang Dachun, the newly appointed inspector of Shanxi was in the city at the time taking refuge. The Taiping used cannons to try and breach the wall, but were unable to and by dawn they withdrew. The surprise attack shocked the city and Chang Dachun quickly ordered its gates closed. Before doing so he also sent word to Xiang Rongjun about the plight of Wuchang hoping he could rally the Qing forces to their aid in time. Meanwhile the Taiping began tunnel sieging prompting Chang Dachun to order counter measures. Basically this meant counter tunneling on the other side of the walls with the intent to cave in the attackers before they could properly detonate mines near the walls. Defenders would create sunken listening posts to try and pinpoint where the Taiping were digging. Chang Dachun also ordered the garrison to burn all the homes outside Wuchang's walls to provide clearer fields of fire pissing off the citizens. But he forsaw this ordeal and promised cash rewards to anyone who captured a Taiping soldier, 20 ounces of silver for any male with long enough hair indicating they were a veteran and 10 ounces for shorter hair men. Xiang Rong reached Wuchang and attacked a Taiping force in the eastern suburbs on the 7th of December, but Chang Dachun failed to get his forces outside the walls to help, apparently because he was too afraid to meet the enemy. Xiang Rong's forces were repelled and the Taiping continued their siege of Wuchang relatively unmolested. By January the 12th the Taiping tunnelers filled powder kegs of gunpowder in one tunnel under the Wenchang Gate and detonated it. Turns out despite the financial incentives, the citizens of Wuchang were really angry their homes were burnt and basically were doing nothing and some were literally aiding the Taiping siege. The Wenchang gate collapsed and the Taiping swarmed into the capital city catching Chang Dachun asleep. When Chang Dachun woke up to the reports the city was being captured he committed suicide. After 20 days of being besieged, Wuchang was in the hands of the Taiping on January 12th of 1853. At this point the Taiping had bolstered their ranks to a whopping 500,000 strong. It was after Wuchang where Hong Xiuquan and his fellow Taiping leaders made a serious strategic error. Instead of marching north to hit Beijing, which they could have taken, they decided instead to head down the Yangtze to Nanjing. This would have been their greatest chance at toppling the Manchu rule, but apparently the Taiping leaders were being given reports that the capital was protected by a large force, which was not the case. The Taiping burned their floatings bridges behind themselves to delay the Qing forces pursuing them. Parts of the army would march by land while the majority utilized over 20,000 stolen boats to traverse the riverways. En route to Nanjing they captured Jiujiang in western Jiangxi province and Anqing the capital of Anhui province. They plundered the storehouses and kept marching towards the second largest city in China. At this point the city had swelled to a population of over 750,000, and by the time the Taiping would reach the city their numbers would be around the same. When the Taiping began to take major cities, the Qing courts panicked and Emperor Xianfeng issued orders for civil officials to start mustering local militia forces to protect their respective jurisdictions. This was a similar situation that occurred during the White Lotus Rebellion. These militias were made up of hastily recruited soldiers who usually had little experience in combat and weapons were hard to come by. In the beginning they were worse than ineffective, because their leaders had their own interests at hand. When thes militia groups engaged the Taiping, which was rare, they often plundered where they went. In early January of 1853, the Qing statesman and general Zeng Guofan was ordered by the emperor to take charge of the haphazard militia units in Hunan province to try and use them and take charge of restoring order. Basically the Green standard army and Eight banner army were proving to be completely useless against the Taiping. The Qing were desperate and looking for strong men to pull things together. Zeng Guofan in a very unprecedented manner was granted power to take up broadbased military affairs in his region. Emperor Xianfang knew him to be loyal and Zeng Guofan was an effective military leader. As his teacher described him to the Qing court “he is good at recognizing talents and is capable of synthesizing people's good points. If he is willing to use the wisdom of others as his own…he might make a fine leader”. Zeng Guofan did not want to be a leader to such a thing, he has henceforth been called “the reluctant general”. Shepherding of the militias struck him as an impossible task, he even began writing a draft refusing the appointment which was a big deal, you did not say no to the emperor. But then came news on January 12th of 1853, the Taiping had taken Wuchang, the capital of Hubei province, just north of Hunan. The Taiping now held control over the middle reaches of the Yangtze river, the crisis was becoming larger than anyone ever thought possible. Zeng Guofan's brothers and father pleaded with him to take up the appointment so he could help save their province from destruction. In the end he tore up the draft and accepted the appointment. Now the Eight banner army made up mostly of Manchu and Mongols operated mostly in the north. These were the imperial guardsmen, they concentrated wherever the emperor was and around Manchuria. They did garrison a few cities scattered around the empire, but for the most part the south was protected by the Green standards. There were roughly 130,000 eight bannermen in the region around Beijing. The Green Standard army stood at around 600,000 in the early 1850s, but those numbers were illusionary as I mentioned corrupt commanders inflated them to pocket money. On Top of pocketing money for fake troops, there was wide scale embezzlement of materials and a huge lack of training. To be brutally honest, most men had not received proper military training since the White Lotus Rebellion over 50 years prior. To make matters even worse, the eight banner army commanded the lion share of the Qing military budget, leaving the Green Standards widely underfunded. By tradition, individual soldiers were responsible for purchasing and maintaining their own melee weapons. The state provided firearms, matchlocks mostly, useful in China but extremely outdated compared to that of the west. There was actually an edit made in 1816 decreeing weapons should not be replaced until they had been used for at least 30-40 years. Its not a joke to say, many of the guns were more than a century old. The Qing military was suffering from a fatal combination of too much peace time and economic collapse because of the opium wars. When the Taiping rebellion broke out the Green Standards were functioning more or less as a constabulary or police force, not a real military. They usually kept order protecting grain shipments and performed mundane tasks like transporting prisoners. Commands were purposely fragmented and distributed among local civil and military officials in jealous competition with another to thwart any potential mutinies against the Qing. This also meant there was a huge absence of any clear chain of command making it nearly impossible to mobilize against a large enemy like that of the Taiping. Now Zeng Guofan was well aware of all the problems with the Green Standard army. As early as 1851 he had advocated for reducing the number of Green Standard troops because they were bloated and doing nothing, a man after my own Ron Swanson libertarian heart. Many men got bored and they simply took up with bandit groups to make more money. This was also at the time countless were addicted to opium and it was literally breaking CHinese society down. As for the effectiveness of the Green standard troops against the Taiping, Guofan reported ““As soon as they spy the enemy, they run away,and when the enemy departs, they come back and murder the locals [to dress them up as rebels] and claim victory.”To a friend, he wrote that “even if Confucius himself came back to life, he could spend three years and still not manage to correct their evil ways.” After taking the appointment Zeng Guofan's criticisms of the Green standard army increased. He said they “just kept chasing the rebels tail, but never even attempted attacking head on. They used cannons and muskets to attack from a distance but he'd never heard of them fighting in close quarters with small arms”. The men lacked proper training, courage and martial skills. From the beginning he proposed starting from scratch with a new kind of force. His model was based on the Ming dynasty who had formed militia's to fight Japanese pirates along the eastern coast. It would be a smaller force, but efficient, carefully trained and the soldiers had to be courageous. The force began to form in 1853 built upon the Neo-Confucian sense of moral order, the same thing Zeng Guofan learned to discipline himself. Emperor Xianfeng worried he would not be able to do anything in time or have great numbers, but Zeng replied “we aim for excellence, not sheer numbers, and we want it to be truly effective, not just available quickly”. The recruits were to be young men from rural not urban backgrounds, as he put it “those who want a strong army use soldiers from the mountain villages, and they avoid the men of the cities and waterways.Those who live their lives in the mountains and rural areas are tough, while the ones from the river villages are slippery. The cities are full of lazy and carefree wanderers, while the rural villages have men who are simple and sincere.””. The recruits were to be selected only by a close cabal of his most trusted friends, family members and scholars. That process of keeping recruiters a close knit group would be passed down the ranks, providing a network of close connected people. Zeng encouraged loyalty by paying his men very well, a foot soldier under Zeng could earn over 4 taels of silver per month, triple that of the Green Standard. In addition the men could earn 10 taels for killing a bandit, 15 for capturing one alive and 20 for a Taiping with longhair. He indoctrinated the men to have a feeling they served the country and their emperor. He stressed it was kill or be killed, he often warned the men “If you do not hone your skills every morning, then when you encounter the bandits you will not be able to kill them, and they will kill you.” If soldiers ran from battle and were caught they were beheaded, if soldiers gave false reports they would not just lose their heads, they would have placards set alongside them as a warning to others. The structure of the military was as such, the Army of Zenf Guofan was the Ying “battalion” formed as 505 men including officers. Each battalion was made up of 4 shao “regular companies” designated as fore, aft, right and left of 108 men each plus a personal bodyguard of 72 men for the battalion commander making up 505 men. Each company was broken into 8 dui “squads”, 2 jingall squads, 2 matchlock muskets, 4 sword and spear. A normal squad had 10 soldiers, plus a squad officer and a cook. Since jingalls were so unwieldy, those squads received 2 extra men. Then there were porters, 180 support personnel for each battalion to carry supplies. Zeng also commissioned riverine navies to fight on lakes and riverways, which was novel to most in Hunan. And thus the Xiang Army was created, also referred to as the Hunan or Chu Army. This type of army was also known as “Yung-Ying” the “brave battalion” and Zeng Guofang was not alone, in Anhui there was the Huai army and another in Szechuan. These militia army groups as you may have guessed, were the building blocks to warlord armies. Now these armies have just begun to form and some of their units even took part in battles, but its not until 1853 where they make a real presence. Yet we will leave this for now to get back to the situation in Nanjing. Upon hearing reports the Taiping were marching towards Nanjing, the governor of Liangjiang, Lu Jianying grabbed over 300,000 taels of silver out of the city and fled to Nanjing where he planned to pretend to be mounting defenses. In truth the governor was trying to secure his pockets, if he lost at Liangjiang, Emperor Xianfeng would most certainly force him to settle up with the lost money. Thus the mess of actually mounting a defense fell onto the governor of Jiangsu, Yang Wending and the General Xiangzhou of Jiangning. Well Yang Wending was even more corrupt than Lu Jianying it seems because he simply fled to Zhenjiang and abandoned Lu Jianying and General Xiangzhou. This sort of gives you an idea why the Taiping were largely successful, the Qing were rampant with corruption. Nanjing's regular forces were 1200 green standards and 4000 eight banner, with 15,000 recruited militiamen. When the battle of Nanjing occurred it was defended by roughly 20,000 eight bannermen and possibly upto 40,000 Green standards. The Taiping arrived before Nanjing on march 6th of 1853. The next day Taiping General Li Kaifang was leading a vanguard of 1200 troops where he arrived at Yuhuatai south of Nanjing. The Qing General Cheng Lisan who had a force of 3000 soldiers there promptly fled to Nanjing, thus handing over Yuhuatai completely intact. Li Kaifang was unaware of how poorly defended Nanjing was so he stationed his men at Yuhuatai and awaited other Taiping forces. The next day, Lin Fengxiang leading a division showed up and both men directed their forces to attack Nanjing together. Li Kaifang sent 300 soldiers to prod the city finding none of the Qing defenders were willing to come fight out in the field. Instead the Qing fired wildly at the small group wasting a lot of valuable ammunition. While the Qing regulars dared not go out into the field to fight, a hastily improvise group of 1000 porters went out to face the Taiping. The porter group fought bravely and screamed to the city wall defenders to throw them guns and spears to help them win the battle. Lu Jianying however thought this might be a ploy and might I add he had good reason to believe so. Many cities that fell to the Taiping were aided heavily by the local populace. Lu Jianying instead ordered artillery to open fire, and while the more battle hardened Taiping saw the cannons and began to crawl away the poor ignorant porters were standing tall still as the artillery smashed them allegedly killing 500 people. On the 9th, Lin Fengxiang held a conference with the other commanders. It was decided Li Kaifang, Huang Yiyuan would attack Jubaomen from Yuhuatai while Lin Fengxiang would commence the main siege effort. It was to be the classic “cave siege” seen countless times before, dig a tunnel blow up a mine to breach the city walls. Alongside the sapper work with the tunnels, the Taiping also began a propaganda campaign. Lin Fengxiang had his men shoot written letters into the city with bows and arrows calling on the soldiers and civilians in Nanjing to rise up against the Qing demons. Lin Fengxiang announced to the people they would not disturb them as long as they wrote the words Shang, King, Heaven or Lord on the doors of their homes when the Taiping took the city. He vowed the army would not enter their homes and everyone could live. Lin Fengxiang also announced the general offensive would begin on the 19th, something the Qing did not believe. Well on March the 19th the Taiping brought hundreds of horses carrying effigies of soldiers bearing torches before the west wall of Nanjing. The Qing saw this expecting an attack and they all rushed to the west well and it was too late when they realized it was a ruse to draw them closer in as the Taiping exploded mines in the tunnels. The explosions within 2 tunnels breached the wall causing a gap almost 40 meters wide, unfortunately the 3rd tunnel explosion went off far too early killing quite a few Taiping as well. Now the Taiping had access to the city. Upon learning the Taiping were flooding into Nanjing, countless Qing high officials fled the city or commited suicide. General Xiangzhou allowed over 4000 eight bannermen and 4000 other manchu to retreat into Mancheng, that is the inner city where Manchu and no Han reside, but he refused Lu Jianying from entering. Lu Jianying it seems was abandoned by the manchu and as a result was hacked to pieces by Taiping soldiers who found him. Within Mancheng, General Xiangzhou and governor Huo Longwu chose to continue the resistance mobilizing women and children if its to be believed to assist in the defense. They fought a bloody battle and never surrendered, as was expected of Manchu. Despite the heroic pride of the manchu being at play, it should not be forgotten, the Taiping literally were telling the entire population of Nanjing they sought to kill all the Manchu. During the afternoon of the 19th, Yang Xiuqing personally commanded the front with Lin Fengxiang, Li Kaifang, Ji Wenyuan, Zhu Xikun and other Taiping generals to storm Mancheng from the west and south. It was a fierce fight with General Xiangzhou directing his men to fire artillery, guns and arrows while the women and children tossed bricks. The Taiping were forced to fight in 6 waves paying the price of 3000 men, yet they still could not breach Mancheng. To this end Yang Xiuqing decided to change strategy, he issued an order: those who surrendered, would not be killed. Many of the Manchu pleaded with General Xianzhou to surrender to save them, but Xiangzhou was unwilling. Yang Xiuqing was livid and had 8000 pounds of artillery brought up to blow Mancheng to pieces. As the walls were battered, the Taiping flooded the inner city and began to hack the Qing defenders to pieces. Upon seeing this General Xiangzhou drew his sword and killed himself, governor Huo Longwu was shot in the battle. As for those who fought, surrenders or tried to flee, Yang Xiuqing ordered military and civilians alike to be killed with a reward of 5 taels of silver each. Its said 4000 Taiping received payment. It is estimated 30,000 manchu family members were butchered upon the taking of the city. From March 7th to the 20th the Taiping carried the siege of Nanjing were they killed countless high officials and over 4000 eight bannermen. The ancient capital of 6 former dynasties, the land of dragons and tigers was taken in just 14 days, showcasing to the Qing they were on the verge of extinction. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Hong Xiuquan and the God Worshippers began as just a small rabble of peasants and rose to be multiple armies strong and seized all the major cities along their march to the secondary capital of China, Nanjing. With Nanjing under their thumb what would the Taiping do next?
We know about American Chinese, but there's also Israeli Chinese, Madagascan Chinese, Trinidadian Chinese ... Listen to Smart Mouth: iTunes • Google Podcasts • Stitcher • Spotify • RadioPublic • TuneIn • Libsyn Check out all our episodes so far here. If you like, pledge a buck or two on Patreon. Cheuk Kwan YouTube Have You Eaten Yet? Stories from Chinese Restaurants Around the World Smart Mouth newsletter Smart Mouth IG Links: American Chinese Food Music: Laufey - Above the Chinese Restaurant
Tonight on GeekNights, similar to our episode on Indian food, we consider Chinese food including American Chinese food. We're big fans, but we are not experts, so don't expect to learn anything from two white guys in New York. In the news, snow's a-comin', Democrats defied history, and Ticketmaster is as evil now as it was in the 90s.
Good Food revisits conversations with newly-minted James Beard Award winners and the podcast that took home the medal for Audio Programming. Alexis Nikole Nelson, aka The Black Forager, found her audience on TikTok but has grown her following as she forages for wild vegetation and her cultural roots. Ruth Tam and Patrick Fort explore American Chinese food delivery and how it shaped the takeaway model of dining. Adrian Miller chronicles how Black barbecuers, pitmasters, and restaurateurs developed American foodways. Kristina Cho shares recipes for sweet and savory pastries popular in Chinese bakeries. In his film "Gather," Sanjay Rawal documents the growing movement of Native Americans reclaiming their identity through food sovereignty.
Growing up as an American-Chinese daughter of a mail-order bride and a busboy working in San Francisco's Chinatown, Bonnie Gray has a story that will capture your attention and win your heart. In her Memoir, Sweet Like Jasmine, Bonnie shares her grown-up journey of revisiting her childhood memories, uncovering family secrets, and witnessing brokenness made beautiful. (She's such a good writer!) In today's interview, Bonnie and I talk about her amazing story, how she has shared the hard parts of her past with her sons, and how finding our identity in Christ is the key to peace and belonging for all of us. Bonnie is so much fun to talk to, and I appreciate her honesty, vulnerability, and strength. Bonnie's story is unique, but it is also our story! One of loneliness, longing for love, and ultimately finding the greatest love and security only in a relationship with God. I am so excited to share this interview with you! www.monicaswanson.com/episode-148 Podcast page (for all episodes) www.monicaswanson.com/podcast
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