Chapter 142: Floating Bridge on the Mi Jie River

On the banks of the Mi Jie River, the night was as black as ink.

"Quick, quick, quick—move faster! Everyone, hurry to cross the river!"

Jiang Anguo stood on the east bank, urging the th Division's soldiers to cross the river as quickly as possible.

By the light of flashlights, the Engineer Battalion's soldiers worked methodically. Several wooden boats that had been requisitioned earlier were linked together with cables, and atop the hulls the engineers swiftly laid thick planks, constructing a simple yet sturdy floating bridge.

To prevent any soldier from falling into the water, ropes were stretched across both banks, and the troops crossed the river by following the ropes.

On the opposite bank, a sea of dark figures gathered—that was the th Division, exhausted after two months of fierce fighting.

Deputy Division Commander Gao Jiren was standing on the beachhead on the far side, genuinely surprised that a sudden telegram had enabled the th Division to cross the Mi Jie River smoothly and retreat into Lashu.

Earlier, he had consulted Quanzong and learned the situation on the east bank in detail. Upon discovering that Independent Regiment Jiang Anguo had dispatched men overnight to build the bridge, his lingering anxiety finally eased.

"Relay my order: the entire division must immediately abandon the Xibu position, use the night as cover, and withdraw to the east bank via the floating bridge!" Gao Jiren whispered.

The Messenger immediately passed the order down.

Xibu no longer held any defensive value; it was now a ruin, backed by the great river and surrounded on all sides, holding it any longer would be suicide. Coordinating the th Division's withdrawal to Lashu for rest was the only way to preserve this ace spark.

The th Division was, after all, the elite of the Nationalist Army's elite; although the troops were exhausted to the limit, discipline remained strict. Upon receiving the retreat order, there was no panic at all.

Wounded first.

Stretcher after stretcher was carefully carried onto the floating bridge by the soldiers; the planks beneath creaked softly, unsettling everyone. Then whole companies followed in formation, the troops silent, only the heavy footfalls and clanking gear merging into a torrent in the night.

The east bank had already prepared transport vehicles, each one receiving the th Division's soldiers after they withdrew into the Zai An Defensive Line.

Jiang Anguo remained at the bridgehead, watching every face that crossed the floating bridge. The young men's faces bore the marks of smoke, yet their eyes still held a fierce resolve; elite troops are different—these were all battle‑hardened veterans who had entered Myanmar with the Expeditionary Force, fought through the Myanmar Campaign, and still retained combat effectiveness.

"Quanzong, Changshan, you've both worked hard,"

When Quanzong and Changshan arrived at the bridgehead with the surviving soldiers of the Sixth and Eighth Companies, Jiang Anguo met them, patting both shoulders.

Quanzong's uniform was already tattered, smeared with mud and blood, and a bandage was wrapped around his arm, clearly showing he had gone into battle wounded.

"Commander!" Quanzong and Changshan looked at Jiang Anguo and said.

In truth, Quanzong felt an indescribable sorrow; the Eighth Company was at full strength of 160, and now not even half a company remained able to cross the river.

Seeing these familiar faces pass before him, Jiang Anguo felt a surge of emotion. When he left, he was still a commander of an Independent Battalion, yet after less than a month in Myanmar he had become a colonel and regiment commander.

In the meantime he had gone through several minor battles, which could not be compared with the Eighth Company's Quanzong.

"Quanzong, your Eighth Company performed excellently at Taunggyi, directly killing Japanese Army Lieutenant Colonel DaSuJiaShi of the 113th Regiment; that's a colonel," Jiang Anguo said excitedly.

"Commander, how did you know that!" Quanzong was surprised that his rear ambush at Taunggyi had directly killed a Little Devil regiment commander.

Jiang Anguo pointed to Lashu and said, "Lin Yi deciphered the Little Devil's telegram."

He also didn't understand why the soldiers he had exchanged would come to ask him like this.

Jiang Anguo listened carefully to Quanzong's report, his brows tightening and relaxing intermittently.

The Japanese Army truly was a hard, stubborn bone, and it did not retreat simply because the Eighth Company's firepower was strong.

The only regret Jiang Anguo had was that when the decision was made to send the Eighth Company to support Dai Anlan, the dispatched force was too small; had they prepared three companies' worth of troops, there might have been a great chance to bite off a piece of the Little Devil's flesh in these battles.

He knew clearly that the situation then did not allow him to act so. Although he possessed high‑quality gear through System Exchange, and the dispatched units indeed had strong firepower, ammunition reserves were not infinite; only by advancing with the troops could Jiang Anguo ensure unlimited ammunition.

The MG42 machine gun's ammunition was consumed far too quickly; even with controlled bursts, a single company's ammo might not last an entire engagement.

At that time, Jiang Anguo only knew that Watanabe Masao had broken through Lashu into Yunnan, but he did not know when the old Little Devil had seized Lashu.

Rescuing the th Division was indeed crucial, but if Lashu were lost, Jiang Anguo would find it hard to retake it. The chain reaction would be massive; Watanabe Masao, Jiu Mei Jingyi, and three retreat routes were all occupied by the Japanese Army, leaving Jiang Anguo alone—he could not save three columns of troops and horses.

Holding Lashu instead seemed the best decision.

If Lashu fell, it would be a total loss.

"Quanzong, Changshan, after you go down get some proper rest. You fought this battle well; regarding manpower, I'll have Lin Yi's side reinforce you immediately, and new equipment and ammunition will be prioritized," Jiang Anguo patted Quanzong's dust‑covered shoulder firmly; the Eighth Company's record was earned on the battlefield.

"Yes! Thank you, Commander!" A flash of excitement passed through both eyes.

Finally, the last batch of trailing troops stepped onto the east bank.

Gao Jiren, with several core commanders of the th Division, briskly approached Jiang Anguo.

Although this was their first formal meeting, within the Expeditionary Force's inner "familiar circle," Gao Jiren naturally knew Jiang Anguo's background.

This brother‑in‑law of Instructor Dai, once rumored to be a frivolous playboy, tonight, seen building a floating bridge on the Mi Jie River and calmly commanding the retreat, earned the respect of everyone.

Jiang Anguo might not have as much combat experience as others, but his logistics were certainly honed over this period.

In fact, since the Eighth Company repeatedly played crucial roles on the battlefield, everyone's view of Jiang Anguo had begun to shift.

"This time we owe it to you, brother Anguo," Gao Jiren said sincerely, shaking Jiang Anguo's hand, "If it weren't for the troops you sent to support and the bridge you built, we have no idea how many more brothers would have had to die for us to withdraw."

"Deputy Division Commander Gao, you're overstating it; we're all fighting for the resistance," Jiang Anguo said, though he couldn't quite match Gao Jiren's name to his face, after all they weren't familiar.

Even that cheap brother‑in‑law, he hadn't even thought what to say; when they met, he just asked, "Hello!"

"Let's skip the formalities; this place isn't fit for lingering," Jiang Anguo said, looking up at the eastern sky where a hint of dawn was breaking. "We should hurry back. In a little while it'll be daylight, and I reckon the Japanese Army's bombers will be coming again."

Jiang Anguo knew the Japanese Army's habits all too well.

The tactics were simple: infantry charge, then artillery bombard; artillery bombard, then infantry charge.

When infantry truly couldn't advance, they'd call for air‑strike tactical guidance; if that still failed, they'd resort to "special smoke."

Earlier, because of heavy rain, the Little Devil's aircraft were precious and wouldn't take off in the downpour; now that the rain had stopped, looking at the smoking ruins of Xibu, there was still a defeated Japanese 148th Regiment unit north of Xibu.

The th Division defeating the 148th Regiment with exhausted troops was already commendable; to annihilate an entire Japanese regiment would require at least five to ten times the manpower, a ten‑sided encirclement for any chance.

Xibu could not be lingered in for long, for now.

Gao Jiren nodded in agreement, turned immediately, and went to command the troops to withdraw swiftly.