Chapter 195: Execution of Japanese Prisoners

North is still planning to encircle Mandalay.

Jiang Anguo and Dai Anlan, along with a group of commanders, have already begun discussing a retreat.

In the end, the two of them together still chose to retreat, otherwise Tonggu would be caught in a north‑south pincer by the Japanese Army.

The Expeditionary Force's losses in this battle were not large; the final count was 486 dead, showing that under overwhelming firepower Expeditionary Force soldiers can make the Japanese Army pay ten times the price.

The place where the death rate rose was still the cleanup work inside Tonggu City, and the Japanese Army's resistance was, as can be imagined, extremely fierce.

"Meng Fanle, order: cut off the heads of all Japanese Army corpses in the city; I will use their heads to honor the soldiers who fell in Myanmar," Jiang Anguo said in an unquestionable tone.

Meng Fanle's expression turned solemn, "Yes."

Dai Anlan wanted to step forward to dissuade, but looking at Jiang Anguo, thought it would be of no use.

"Anguo, what about the Japanese Army we captured!" Dai Anlan asked.

In this Tonggu counter‑offensive, 632 Japanese soldiers were captured, and over three thousand Japanese were killed.

Among them were soldiers from the 144th Regiment and soldiers from the Japanese 56th Division.

But the captives also revealed a unit: the Japanese 56th Division's 113th Regiment, whose commander Matsui Shuji, seeing the battle unclear, turned southward.

Jiang Anguo looked into the distance, where Expeditionary Force soldiers were escorting Japanese prisoners, his voice unusually cold, "Kill them all, let the warriors toughen their nerves."

"Anguo, isn't this wrong?" It should be noted that it was rare in the past to have so many Japanese prisoners.

The main reason was to use the Japanese prisoners for trade.

Jiang Anguo shook his head and said, "The Myanmar forest is fraught with danger; we cannot stay stationed in Tonggu forever. We would face encirclement by Japanese forces from two directions. Carrying so many Japanese soldiers on the retreat route would clearly be a bad idea and would slow the main force's march. Kill them."

Jiang Anguo could have used transport aircraft to send them all to Lashu for mining; killing them outright was indeed a waste, but this time he did not want prisoners—he simply wanted to kill.

He closed his eyes, recalling Jiang Fei, his Guard Company Commander, and the more than fifty Special Forces Unit soldiers.

All because of one Watanabe Masao, they were all sacrificed.

Was it worth it?

Worth it.

But Jiang Anguo truly felt heartache; even though the system could purchase elite soldiers again, he still felt immense sorrow.

Dai Anlan, hearing Jiang Anguo's words, understood: carrying over six hundred prisoners through this jungle, if Japanese forces followed from behind, it would be too troublesome.

"Since that's the case, let's order the main force to prepare for retreat," Jiang Anguo said.

Transport aircraft have few take‑off opportunities, and recent thunderstorm weather makes take‑offs even harder.

Otherwise, Jiang Anguo planned to have transport aircraft ferry the more than 15,000 troops here back to Lashu.

The Japanese prisoners in Tonggu stood in neat rows before the Expeditionary Force soldiers, ten per group, with a hundred Expeditionary Force soldiers opposite the Little Devils.

"Hold your rifles." the execution officer shouted loudly.

Swish swish swish, Expeditionary Force soldiers lifted their Mauser rifles.

Click, click.

The sound of cameras recording, not just still cameras but also video cameras, captured many valuable images during this Tonggu counter‑attack.

Of course, before the battle, as per custom, all soldiers, organized by squad and platoon, had their photos taken.

The Japanese soldiers' faces were full of terror; they seemed to already know what would happen next. They wanted to resist, but bound to the pillars on their bodies, they had no chance to do so.

The more terrified they were, the more they urinated and defecated.

Before the Expeditionary Force soldiers fired, the Little Devils were already terrified.

In the eyes of the Expeditionary Force soldiers, this was not a massacre but the best chance for revenge; many soldiers had red eyes, fingers on the triggers.

Many warriors could kill the Japanese with just a glance.

"Release."

Bang, bang, bang.

One hundred bullets struck the live targets; the lucky ones died instantly, the unlucky ones took a few hits, could howl for a while, then bled to death.

After the first experience, the Expeditionary Force soldiers understood they could not be merciful.

This muzzle!

You must not aim too precisely; anyone who aims at a Little Devil's head or heart will even be scolded by the commanding officer.

Well, now this execution can become a slow death.

The Expeditionary Force soldiers shoot the Little Devils' arms, thighs, even stomachs, but avoid lethal wounds, resulting in a chorus of wails and pleas for mercy.

The Japanese prisoners amount to about half the number of Expeditionary Force soldiers; they can have a meat feast, and those without that chance must resort to cutting the Japanese heads off.

I originally thought everyone would feel fear.

Well, each person who heard the order ran faster than a rabbit, fearing they would miss the chance to act.

It shows how much everyone hates the Japanese Army.

Expeditionary Force soldiers began gathering loot: rifles, pistols, grenade launchers, water canteens, belts, and so on, all collected by the soldiers.

"Headquarters orders: destroy everything that has been collected."

The order was issued instantly; everyone took whatever they could carry away. Pistols and bayonets were the soldiers' favorites because they are compact and easy to carry.

As for the water canteens, some soldiers also took them.

These small items are extremely valuable; everyone thinks about getting some, so Tonggu becomes as clean as a scraped floor.

Mainly so they can brag to their children later.

Look, this is what your father seized decades ago when he killed the devils.

The seized items were not turned in; they were all let the troops keep, and they were all worthless things.

As for the Little Devils' Type 38 rifle, those that could be carried were kept; the unwanted ones were piled together, then directly stuffed with hand grenades and destroyed.

For Jiang Anguo and Dai Anlan, the most valuable were the Japanese paper documents, which have all been collected, placed into file bags, and guarded by soldiers.

Unfortunately, the Japanese regiment flag was not found.

This Tonggu counterattack battle had an incomplete encirclement of Tonggu; aside from the northern Tonggu Airport where Jiang Anguo deployed troops, in fact on the southern side Jiang Anguo did not station any soldiers for defense.

Some Japanese Army troops inside Tonggu also fled into the big mountains west of Tonggu, or escaped southward.

Matsui Shuji of the 113th Regiment broke out through the southern gap, but the Japanese soldiers who fled were few.

To annihilate a force of four to five thousand, at least forty thousand are needed to encircle Tonggu.

Obviously Jiang Anguo does not have that many troops to use; being able to defeat the Japanese Army head‑on with minimal own losses is already good.

If he had forty thousand troops, he would now dare to lead them to Mandalay and cut off the head of Southern Army commander Terauchi Hisaichi.