Roads to Delhi 281of the Subhas Brigade were based in Budalin, the Gandhi Brigade in
Mandalay, and the Azad Brigade in Choungoo.^86
Netaji publicly acknowledged the failure of the Imphal offensive in a
radio address from Rangoon on August 21, 1944. He blamed the set-
back on the early monsoon, which compounded defects in transport
and supply. Until the rains began, the INA had held the enemy in Ara-
kan and Haka and had advanced in Kaladan, Tiddim, Palel, and Ko-
hima. His soldiers and of fi cers had received a “baptism of fire” and
hoped to regroup to fight the next round. In September he traveled up
to Yeu and Mandalay to meet his retreating forces, the majority of
whom had to be hospitalized. Women of the Rani of Jhansi Regiment
who had trained in nursing took care of the sick and wounded veterans
of the battle of Imphal.^87
Bose was deeply affected by the suf fering of his soldiers, though
many showed great stoicism in adversity. Abid Hasan has described
how, when Netaji came to see the retreating men from Imphal at Man-
dalay, the “Sikhs oiled their beards, the Punjabi Muslims, Dogras and
Rajputs twirled their moustaches and we the indiscriminates put on as
good a face as we could manage.”^88 Bose met all the of fi cers individually
and embraced them. He pleaded with Abid Hasan to give him a candid
de scrip tion of the terrible hardships they had faced. Hasan simply
quoted a Japanese of fi cer who had told him at the front that the situa-
tion was “slightly not so very good.” Yet the pride of this civilian-
turned- soldier, who had trained in Germany and come all the way to
Asia with his leader, was undiminished even after the catastrophe in
Imphal:
What a group we were, and ours was but a unit among many of its kind
in our army. I felt proud and I feel more proud today that I belonged to
it. Baluchis were there among us, and Assamese, Kashmiris and Malay-
alis, Pathans and Sikhs and Gujeratis, proud members of classes called
the martial and those till then denied reputation for martial valor but
who proved in battle that they could by their deeds claim equal honor.
Every region in India was represented and ev ery religion and ev ery
caste, mixed inseparably together not only in bigger formations but
even in small platoons and sections, each unit being a living tribute to