Chapter 147: Hu Dali

Du Yuming was stunned. In this god‑forsaken spot with no village ahead and no shop behind, at the moment when the Expeditionary Force's main body was retreating in disarray, how could a convoy come forward on its own?

Sure enough, when the door of the Jeep at the front opened, a burly officer leapt out. He showed no hint of timidity in the face of the organized main force of the Expeditionary Force; instead he strode forward briskly.

It was Hu Dali. He personally led a team, driving a transport vehicle to rendezvous with these Expeditionary Force comrades.

All the trucks found a slightly level spot by the road, turned around skillfully, their beds facing the Expeditionary Force's direction.

The marching Expeditionary Force soldiers stared dumbfounded and actually halted. They were exhausted; seeing a vehicle, they instinctively thought supplies had arrived or a new retreat order had been given.

Hu Dali looked at those soldiers standing like wooden posts and his anger flared. Though he was a rough man, he knew every second then meant life or death.

The Japanese pursuers, though weary, were like wolves—once they latched onto a tail they would not let go.

Japanese Army snipers, just as when they pursued the th Division at Dongzhi, periodically fired Cold Guns at the Expeditionary Force's rear, but Du Yuming could do nothing.

If luck is on our side, we can catch up.

But the enemy usually shoots from three to four hundred meters away, making it easy to slip into Myanmar's mountains.

"Move forward! Why are you all standing still! Want to die?"

Hu Dali's shout was like a thunderclap on flat ground.

"Do you all not care about your lives? Still dare to stop! Move! The Japanese Devil is right behind your backs! Anyone who dares to pause another step, I'll kill them on the spot!"

The rd Battalion commander Hu Dali, whose voice was as mighty as his name, let out a roar that instantly snapped the exhausted, numb soldiers awake.

The retreating column moved again, and its speed clearly increased. The soldiers, looking at this ferocious battalion commander, felt a chill but also knew he acted for everyone's sake.

Du Yuming looked at the imposing major, a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes. He brushed the rain from his face and strode forward.

"Which unit are you from?" Du Yuming's voice was not loud, yet carried an officer's authority.

Hu Dali turned, and the star insignia on his shoulder epaulet still glinted in the rain. He immediately shed his fierce expression, brought his feet together, and with a "snap" stood upright, hands placed on either side of his trousers.

"Officer Du, greetings! I am the rd Battalion of the Independent Regiment, battalion commander Hu Dali!"

"Independent Regiment?"

Du Yuming furrowed his brows, his face full of doubt.

"Independent Regiment… does our order of battle even have such a formation?"

As the deputy commander of the Expeditionary Force, Du Yuming could say he knew it inside out. He clearly remembered that in the Burma campaign order, the Quinary Army, Senary Army, th Army, and all division, brigade, regiment‑level structures were ingrained in his mind. Before departure, the Expeditionary Force's organization chart contained absolutely no "Independent Regiment".

Could it be a temporary formation? Or perhaps a local unit slipped it in on its own?

Du Yuming's mind began to go on guard. In this chaotic battlefield, any kind of weirdness could arise.

"I recall the Expeditionary Force has no Independent Regiment, right?" Du Yuming stared into Hu Dali's eyes, his tone turning stern.

The Guard Company behind him already had its hand on the gun holster. If it weren't for the fact that the other side wore Nationalist Army uniforms, drove Nationalist Army trucks, and even flew the Blue Sky with a White Sun flag, Du Yuming would have ordered Hu Dali arrested long ago.

Fortunately both sides remained calm. Hu Dali, seeing Du Yuming's gaze, immediately understood the officer's concerns.

"Report, sir! I—" Hu Dali explained loudly, "We were originally the th Division Supplementary Battalion, later, after outstanding performance in combat, restructured into an Independent Battalion. Just… just a short while ago, we were formally upgraded to an Independent Regiment!"

So they were from the th Division.

Hearing Hu Dali say that, Du Yuming's furrowed brows relaxed, the wariness in his eyes faded. For this unit that grew from the th Division Supplementary Battalion, the news had been ringing in his ears for the past two days.

Because Bamo had been seized by the Japanese Army, Du Yuming could only alter the retreat route.

Later he received a telegram from the National Government and the Independent Battalion, stating that Bamo had been captured.

Not long after, Myitkyina was also retaken.

Although it boosted the retreating troops' morale, the rainy season in Myanmar still left a sense of helplessness.

Even though the chaotic battlefield delayed the detailed battle report from reaching Du Yuming's desk, he had received an urgent telegram from Chongqing yesterday. Its contents left Du Yuming, after shock, feeling a faint daze.

The telegram said the unit's enemy kills had already exceeded two thousand!

Two thousand! What does that mean? On the Myanmar battlefield, against the well‑equipped, well‑trained Japanese Army, wiping out two thousand usually costs several times that. Yet this unit is said to have taken out two Japanese battalions outright!

This battle report only tallied the Bamo and Myitkyina sectors, not other fronts. In fact, adding the Lashu rear‑guard action and the precise bombing of the Japanese 146th Regiment stationed at Xibu, the kill count is verifiable.

Even Jiang Anguo, on the Myanmar battlefield, his troops had already killed over two thousand; the Eighth Company's entire unit also accounted for many kills.

Du Yuming was a sensible man; he knew there must be propaganda exaggeration. Wartime propaganda often inflates achievements, and to boost morale there's no need to scrutinize.

Even Chongqing thought Jiang Anguo was exaggerating, but in fact Jiang Anguo's figures were the most accurate; as they were layered upward, they became the two‑thousand‑kill claim.

Nevertheless, successfully taking Bamo and even counter‑attacking Myitkyina is a tremendous piece of good news for the current Expeditionary Force.

The feeling is like a drowning person clutching a floating log.

Just as when Du Yuming first learned that Myitkyina and Bamo had fallen to the Japanese, that sky‑crushing despair. That stretch of the Burma‑China road was the throat, the lifeline to the interior. Losing it meant the road home was cut.

But now, someone has wrested it back for him.

"Your combat was extremely brave," Du Yuming sighed, his tone adding a note of approval.

Hu Dali gave a simple, hearty smile.

"All thanks to our Commander, whose guidance was apt," Hu Dali said at the right moment, a trace of pride on his face, "Our Commander is truly a beast, leading a few hundred of us, slipping right under the Japanese Devil's eyelids, and stubbornly reclaimed Bamo."

Du Yuming became interested; this major before him, though rough, had a gleam in his eyes—a reverence for a commander.

"Oh? What is your Commander's name?"

"Report, sir! Our Commander is Jiang Anguo!" Hu Dali puffed out his chest and shouted.