Chapter 165: Special Forces Unit! Bite the Little Devil to Death!

Looking at the almost pant‑less Sanmu Ichiro before him, Jiang Anguo felt the scene was both absurd and funny. The Japanese Army Lieutenant Colonel was now in a sorry state, with no trace of Imperial Japanese Army dignity left.

"What is your name?" Jiang Anguo asked casually.

As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized the Little Devil probably couldn't understand Chinese. Yet, to his surprise, the other side actually spoke, albeit in a very stiff tone.

"Hi, I am Sanmu Ichiro."

The clumsy Chinese, thick with a Japanese accent, sounded rather comical.

As for why Sanmu Ichiro was dressed like this, with not even a decent uniform left, it was mainly for Jiang Anguo's safety.

During the body search, Jiang Anguo was extremely uneasy about the Japanese; after all, they could even use Poison Gas Shells as underhanded tactics, and who knows if they hide grenades or bayonets on them. Therefore, Jiang Anguo constantly emphasized in the troops that only dead Japanese were the safest.

Just this time, they not only found a Poison Gas Shell; if such a device were hidden and detonated, it would be truly lethal.

Jiang Anguo nodded, his gaze scrutinizing the other: "You are the one left behind."

"Hi, yes," Sanmu Ichiro replied, lowering his head.

He was not aware of Jiang Anguo's exact rank; looking at the young Chinese officer before him, he truly did not know how to address him properly. Jiang Anguo, for the sake of concealment and command, rarely wore rank insignia in the troops.

"Why is your counterattack so weak?" Jiang Anguo asked, frowning.

He still did not grasp the specifics; logically, the Japanese's stubborn style would make a rear‑guard unit fight fiercely, even to the point of mutual destruction, in order to buy the main force enough withdrawal time. Yet the scattered gunfire just now hardly resembled the caliber of an elite 56th Division.

Sanmu Ichiro, hearing this, showed a bitter smile on his face and helplessly said, "Most of my troops have contracted malaria and cold‑heat disease; there are few left who can pick up a rifle and fight."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Anguo suddenly understood. It turned out the Myanmar rainforest was beginning to assert its power.

Not to mention the 56th Division, which was already in retreat and lacking medicine; even a well‑equipped, systematically supplied pursuit force would be hard for Jiang Anguo to endure. For the past three days, the troops had been fighting almost nonstop, marching without pause. As Commander, Jiang Anguo's rest was pitifully scarce, never getting more than three hours of sleep at a time. Moreover, the rest was fragmented, often just a nap on a jolting Transport Vehicle. Despite the terrible road conditions and violent shaking, the exhausted Jiang Anguo could still fall asleep.

He had to admit that war had made Jiang Anguo forget the taste of sleep. Yet he knew that as Commander, any mental laxity or misjudgment would be fatal to the whole unit. Precisely because he feared mistakes, he was overly cautious and conservative in directing combat, allowing a portion of the 56th Division to slip away under his very eyes.

Of course, looking back, if he had truly been determined to seal the 56th Division completely within this encirclement, perhaps those Japanese would have been driven to desperate measures, choosing to fight to the death. In that case, even if the 56th Division were eventually annihilated, the Independent Regiment would likely suffer enormous losses.

Jiang Anguo stared at the limp Sanmu Ichiro on the ground, calculating in his mind. He knew that blindly pursuing to the death was not a solution; the troops' fatigue was nearing a critical point.

"Take him down," Jiang Anguo waved his hand, then added, "Also, pick a few of those surviving Japanese, let the soldiers practice bayonet work; it's been a long time since they've seen blood."

The guard obeyed the order and dragged Sanmu Ichiro away.

Jiang Anguo's action was not a sudden softening of heart; keeping the Lieutenant Colonel was simply to obtain some vital intelligence from his mouth.

Rather, at that moment he had grasped a principle.

War issues, at their core, are political issues!

Jiang Anguo kept these Little Devil staff officers, first for the stars on his shoulders, and second hoping to exchange some personnel from the Little Devils.

Southeast Asia has all fallen under the Little Devils' iron hooves; the Chinese in Southeast Asia can survive on this land, showing they have some wits. Using one or two staff officers to exchange a few people back is not a difficult task.

"Jiang Fei."

Jiang Anguo turned, his gaze landing on the Guard Company Commander.

"Present, Commander," Jiang Fei stepped forward immediately, standing at attention in reply.

"Lead the Special Forces Unit ahead," Jiang Anguo issued the operation order swiftly, "Each person is equipped with three days of supplies. Place a Cold Gun behind the Little Devil's rear; remember, during the action form squads of three or five. The jungle terrain is complex; small‑unit operations allow mutual support. If the Japanese become enraged and turn to pursue, do not engage; retreat directly into the deep mountains and forest."

Jiang Fei nodded, a flash of keen light flickering in his eyes.

As Guard Company Commander and also the overall commander of the Special Forces Unit, he had 51 special soldiers under his command.

These soldiers were all Jiang Anguo's 100‑point elite, purchased through the System Exchange, truly elite troops. Each was a sniper and, in the true sense, a warrior capable of carrying out decapitation missions.

Given the current pursuit situation, dispatching this Special Forces Unit was undoubtedly the best choice.

The smaller the pursuit force's composition, the greater its mobility; speed naturally increases, allowing it to bite the retreating Japanese main force.

At the same time, the main force would not stand idle; it would steadily advance behind Jiang Fei, echoing front and rear, to ensure the pursuit's effectiveness is maximized, both inflicting damage on the enemy and preventing the Special Forces Unit from being back‑fired upon.

As for why only three days of supplies were carried, it was the result of precise calculation.

Carrying any more would simply be impossible.

First, each person's weapon gear was already heavy, and with continuous rain, the Special Forces members also needed to wear specially made raincoats. These were custom‑designed for jungle conditions, a deep‑green camouflage with spots that provided excellent concealment in the lush forests of northern Myanmar.

This series of equipment already burdened them, and they still had to carry a minimum of three jin of food per day.

It seems a lot, but surviving in such an extreme rainforest environment is not easy.

High‑intensity exertion, combined with the damp, cold air from the rain, multiplies bodily consumption. Without sufficient caloric intake, not only fighting but even marching becomes impossible.

To ensure the pursuit speed wouldn't be hampered by logistics, Jiang Anguo made a special deployment.

Jiang Fei had already set out early with the Special Forces Unit.

About half a day's march behind him, Jiang Anguo dispatched a thirty‑person support unit to follow closely. This unit did not engage directly in combat; each person led a horse laden with the Special Forces' urgently needed food, ammunition, and medicine.

These warhorses were not ordinary pack horses but premium military horses Jiang Anguo obtained through the System Exchange, costing 7.5 points each.

In this season of harsh terrain, they are more effective than any Transport Vehicle. Now the priority is pursuing the Japanese; where vehicles cannot go, warhorses can.

If possible, water buffaloes in Myanmar's jungle are even more useful than Transport Vehicles.

Jiang Anguo considered this arrangement highly reasonable. If Jiang Fei's Special Forces were to march with the warhorses themselves, during combat they'd have to allocate several men to tend the horses. Consequently, the already limited manpower of the Special Forces would see its combat power severely weakened.

As for Jiang Anguo himself, he deliberately slowed his pace, staying about a day's march behind Jiang Fei.

These past few days he was truly weary, so he took advantage of the time lag to get a proper sleep. It was not only physiological rest but, more importantly, a chance to calm his mind and contemplate how to fight the next phase of the battle.

The Front reported that Song Yunfei's air strike mission had been completed. However, the weather turned sour, a sudden thunderstorm reduced visibility and flight safety, forcing the aircraft to return the same way.

But before turning back, none of the bombers or pilots held back ammunition; they unleashed all the bullets and shells mounted under the fuselage onto the retreating Japanese forces.

That relentless bombardment shattered the Japanese into disarray.

In panic, many Japanese, trying to evade the air raid, plunged into the cannibalistic primitive jungle of northern Myanmar. Lost there, the only thing awaiting them was to become nourishment for the jungle's vegetation.