he Sittang River created a challenging chokepoint as the only crossing point for miles was an imposing 500-yard-long steel bridge over a raging torrent. The British hoped to hold the bridgehead open for as long as possible and cover the retreating stream of ragtag units and refugees desperate to escape the Japanese offensive. There was little time for the British forces to catch their breath. The vanguard of the Japanese attack was the 214th Japanese Infantry Regiment under the command of Colonel Sakuma. Reaching just three miles south of the bridge at Mokpalin they were primed to launch a full assault. Realizing the British forces to his front were collapsing, Sakuma sent a Japanese infantry company forward to probe the thinly spread defences with the aim to find a way through and to cut off the
