Most of the Japanese forces in Burma were destroyed during the battles, allowing the Allies to later recapture the capital, Rangoon, and reoccupy most of the country with little organised opposition.

(In a reversal of roles in the aftermath of the Imphal disaster, the former Chief of Staff of the Burma Area Army, Lieutenant General Eitaro Naka, was transferred to command the 18th Division.

To face massed Allied armour, they would be forced to deploy their field artillery in the front line, which would affect their ability to give concentrated fire support to the infantry.

The Allied South East Asia Command had begun making plans to reconquer Burma as early as June 1944 (while the Battle of Imphal was still being fought, although its outcome was clear).

[9] The Fourteenth Army was supported by 221 Group RAF, which operated B-25 Mitchell bombers, Hawker Hurricane and P-47 Thunderbolt fighters and long-range Bristol Beaufighter fighter-bombers.

The most important aspect of air support was probably the Combat Cargo Task Force, which included both British and American squadrons of transport aircraft, in particular the ubiquitous C47.

[8] Most of Slim's divisions were on a mixed Animal and Mechanical Transport establishment, which allowed them to operate in difficult terrain but restricted their tactical speed of movement to that of marching men or mules.

[12] In the coming campaign, both the Allies and Japanese were to suffer from lack of intelligence about the enemy, and make incorrect assumptions about their opponent's intentions.

Japanese radio security was good; rather than cipher machines such as the Enigma machine, which the Ultra operation was able to decipher on a large scale, they used "code books and then extremely tough enciphering methods to conceal the coded text..."[13] Japanese formation headquarters also sent far less compromising radio traffic than their German (or Allied) counterparts.

They had very few aircraft with which to fly air reconnaissance missions, and they would receive little information from the Burmese population which was becoming disillusioned and restive under Japanese military control.

The 19th Division in particular, under Major General "Pete" Rees was approaching the vital rail centre of Indaw, 80 miles (130 km) east of Sittaung, after only five days.

Its task was now to advance down the Gangaw Valley west of the Chindwin, cross the Irrawaddy near Pakokku and seize the vital logistic and communication centre of Meiktila by a rapid armoured thrust.

Where these two lightly equipped formations met Japanese resistance at Pauk, the town was heavily bombed by Allied aircraft to soften up the defenders.

[19] In IV Corps's sector, it was vital for Slim's overall plan for 7th Division to seize the area around Pakokku and establish a firm bridgehead quickly.

The area was defended by the Japanese 72nd Mixed Brigade and units of the 2nd Division of the Indian National Army, under Shah Nawaz Khan.

To further distract Japanese attention from this area, the British 2nd Division began crossing the Irrawaddy only 10 miles (16 km) west of Mandalay on 23 February.

At the same time, on 24 February, a Japanese high-level staff meeting was taking place in Meiktila, to discuss the possibility of a counter-attack north of the Irrawaddy.

The 48th Indian Brigade attacked from the north down the main road from Thabutkon, although it was delayed by a strong position around a monastery on the edge of the town.

Slim later described watching two platoons from 1/7th Gurkha Rifles supported by a single M4 Sherman tank overrun several Japanese bunkers and eliminate their defenders in a few minutes, with only a few casualties to themselves.

[citation needed] As this was happening all around the town, the defence of Meiktila soon resembled a Neapolitan Ice-cream with concentric circles of opposing forces with the result that nowhere could the Japanese form up in sufficient strength to mount a successful attack.

[36] The strategic goal was achieved with the Japanese forces fighting in the north of the country cut off from any supplies and quickly withering on the vine.

Lieutenant Karamjeet Singh Judge of the 4th Battalion, 15th Punjab Regiment, British Indian Army was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross (VC) for his deeds on 18 March during the battle.

While Meiktila was besieged, the other major unit of British IV Corps, the Indian 7th Division, was engaged in several battles to maintain its own bridgehead, capture the important river port of Myingyan, and assist 28th (East African) Brigade against counter-attacks on the west bank of the Irrawaddy.

As Major General Tsunoru Yamamoto's 72nd Independent Mixed Brigade (reinforced by some units from the Japanese 54th Division from the Arakan), tried to retake the British foothold at Nyaungu, the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the Indian National Army under Prem Sahgal, reinforced by the remaining troops of the 4th Guerrilla regiment which had opposed the initial crossings of the Irrawaddy, were now tasked with protecting the exposed flank of Kimura's forces, as well as pin down British forces around Nyaungyu and Popa.

Lacking heavy arms or artillery support, Sahgal's forces used guerrilla tactics, working in conjunction with small units from the Kanjo Butai (a regiment detached from the Japanese 55th Division), and were successful for some time.

[38] Once contact was established with the defenders of Meiktila, the Indian 7th Division resumed the attack on Myingyan, which was captured after four days' fighting from 18 to 22 March.

Fighting its way further into the city, Rees's division was stopped by the thick walls of Fort Dufferin (as the ancient citadel was named by the British), surrounded by a moat.

By the end of March, the Japanese Fifteenth Army had been reduced to uncoordinated remnants trying to move southwards to regroup in the Shan States.

On 28 March, Lieutenant General Shinichi Tanaka, Kimura's Chief of Staff, conferred with Honda at Thirty-third Army HQ.

Tanaka accepted the responsibility of ordering Honda's army to break off the siege of Meiktila[44] and prepare to resist further Allied advances to the south.