Chapter 199: The Troops Keep Growing as They Fight

Churchill personally took the microphone, and with his dramatically expressive voice, expressed his warmest congratulations to the Principal on the other end of the phone.

"Dear General, I represent the British Empire government and people, and extend our highest respect to you and your brave army! Tonggu's victory is a great triumph of justice over evil, a dawn for the Allied Forces on the Asian front!"

The Principal's face, under the praise of this transoceanic call, felt a heightened sense of glory.

They straightened their back, as if they could see Churchill's sincere and excited face through the radio waves.

They didn't even think much about why Churchill, after the congratulations, shifted tone and immediately made a request.

"... We hope your unit can continue forward to the Garriva region to rescue our brave British Army troops who were captured after defeat. They fell into an encirclement while covering the allied main force's retreat."

Churchill didn't even have the face to reveal the whole truth: that the fully staffed, well‑equipped mechanized unit was chased by the Japanese until they were out of breath, unable to mount any decent resistance, and was pursued to Garriva. Moreover, they lingered in Garriva for five days, without searching for ships or considering any river‑crossing methods.

Then, their commander General Yalishanda, to save the lives of those officers, directly issued a surrender order. Thirty to forty thousand British soldiers thus became captives in a bewildered manner.

Even knowing his own unit had failed, Churchill still did not want to state that truth.

The Principal's vanity was greatly satisfied.

A formal request from the British Empire, a rescue operation for the "brave allies", was enough for him to showcase the Chinese Army's value and standing to the world.

"Rest assured, Prime Minister Churchill!" he replied without hesitation, "I will immediately order the troops to prepare for the Mandalay Battle and organize elite forces to rescue your army!"

The call was hung up.

In London, Churchill let out a sigh of relief, satisfied with his superb diplomatic skill and crisis‑handling ability.

In Chongqing, the Principal, full of vigor, began to deploy the operation that would make his name known worldwide—the "Mandalay Grand Victory"—fantasizing about replicating the Tonggu Campaign again, to secure more benefits for him in the international arena.

However, neither of them expected that.

While they were, miles apart, solemnly planning the Mandalay Battle and a grand rescue operation,

as the actual "participants" in all this, Jiang Anguo and Dai Anlan had already taken the Independent Regiment and the th Division's main force, silently slipping into the humid jungles of Myanmar.

The Mandalay Battle, having failed the first time, could not have a second battle.

Tonggu had long become an empty city.

Now in Tonggu, the most common sight is crows, carving the heads of Japanese soldiers and corpses.

Dai Anlan, following the soldiers of the 600th Regiment, walked at the front of the column. This retreat was different; in previous withdrawals, he would be the last to leave and also serve as the rear guard.

This time, Dai Anlan only needed to lead the th Division to blaze a trail through mountains and build bridges over water at the front.

Beside Jiang Anguo, where the chatter was deafening, Jiang Anguo directly exchanged for 1,000 air force personnel, 1,000 artillery, 1,000 tank soldiers, and 9,000 infantry.

He used up all his allotted slots in one go.

As for the Navy, never mind; Jiang Anguo currently has no ports, so there's no need to purchase Navy personnel within the WarSystem; the focus remains on army and air force personnel.

This also stems from having learned the lesson before: exchange early, enjoy early.

Of course, this later caused him some regret, because lacking personnel, he could only pile human lives forward until victory.

Now each soldier can provide 4 points; Jiang Anguo is now earning 96,000 points per day, even if the bullets are fired wildly, it's still acceptable.

"Regiment Commander, what's up with these soldiers? They don't seem to be the ones we brought out from Lashu," Meng Fanle said, watching an increasing number of troops dressed in German Uniform; if not for their Chinese faces, Meng Fanle would even suspect they were Germans who had made it to Myanmar.

In the Myanmar jungle, another German unit appeared.

Jiang Anguo smiled and said, "These are the Southeast Asian Chinese units I contacted; after seeing us defeat the Little Devils, they also wish to join our ranks and fight the devils together."

So that was the excuse; naturally, after reaching Lashu, Jiang Anguo didn't intend for these people to immediately all enter the army; they could remain as Chinese in Myanmar, living in Lashu.

When war demands it, they can become soldiers again, thus avoiding unnecessary trouble.

After all, Jiang Anguo himself is only a Regiment Commander; even if he leads many troops, he cannot command over twenty thousand men, which is nearly at the level of a General.

"Is that so?" Meng Fanle said, though still doubtful, he didn't press further.

The reason Jiang Anguo placed the th Division at the front was also to avoid exposing his Independent Regiment, whose numbers kept increasing.

The Japanese probably wouldn't think of it.

Just as the Expeditionary Force's Vanguard Unit silently arrived at Dongzhi, preparing a brief rest, at the same latitude of Mitirola, the Japanese 18th Division, an elite praised as the "King of the Jungle", had also arrived.

Clearly relying on the railway, the 18th Division moved very quickly.

Of course, the th Division and the Independent Regiment did not linger long in Tonggu.

The two hostile armies were only sixty kilometers apart in a straight line.

But those sixty kilometers were filled with endless mountains and towering primeval jungle.

This terrifying primeval forest blocked both sides' sight and sound.

Both sides were like blind people groping in the dark, completely unaware that the other was just within reach.

Scouts, don't even think about it; once you enter the northern Myanmar jungle, the first concern is whether you can survive safely, so neither side placed scouts into the mountains.

The Japanese were intent on finding the Expeditionary Force, while the Expeditionary Force aimed to avoid the Japanese.

The th Division's soldiers, including Dai Anlan, did not want to encounter the Japanese.

Since the troops were marching on a main road, there were few losses; although occasionally someone was injured, there was no shortage of medical supplies.

Dai Anlan never imagined he could become so prosperous.

Because the Japanese needed to encircle Tonggu, they withdrew all garrison troops from the Jiaomei direction all the way to Meimiao, which is also the gateway east of Mandalay.

Earlier, the 148th Regiment under Aihara Wuwei, which had been defeated by the th Division at Xibu, also, under the retreat order of the 15th Army commander Iida Shojirou, returned to Mandalay.

Clearly, the Japanese were contracting their occupied territory; the rainy season had a huge impact on both the Expeditionary Force and the Japanese.

ps: the campaign in Myanmar's big cargo succeeded, won't change it, haha, everyone wants to change it to two updates.