Sun Li-jen
The Japanese advance cut off many of the Chinese troops from China. Many of them also retreated via the Hukawng Valley route and subsisted largely by looting, further increasing the misery of the refugees. The Chinese 38th Division however, commanded by Sun Li-jen, fought its way westward across the Chindwin, arriving in India substantially intact although with heavy casualties. The 23,000 Chinese soldiers who had retreated into India were put under the command of the American General Joseph Stilwell, who had also made his way to India on foot, and were concentrated in camps at Ramgarh in Bihar. After recuperating they were re-equipped and retrained by American instructors. The remaining Chinese troops tried to return to Yunnan through remote mountainous forests but many died on the way.