Chapter 208: The World Looks Eastward

Xiao Si also rushed over from behind in a hurry; when he woke up, he found that the Young Master was gone.

"Young Master, why didn't you shout to wake me!" Xiao Si said, his face full of drowsiness, dark circles under his eyes much heavier, but still far better than yesterday.

Jiang Anguo laughed and shook his head, "You're already this tired, just go back to sleep. Here, you're hungry, have something first; later, if you want something else, go to the mess hall yourself and order."

Xiao Si took the item Jiang Anguo tossed over, looked down and saw it was an energy bar; he was indeed hungry, tore open the wrapper, and in a few bites it was in his stomach, yet he was still very hungry.

Jiang Anguo tossed a backpack; this backpack had been used earlier in Chanda and Xiao Si had been carrying it all along.

"There's more inside; eat slowly, don't choke," Jiang Anguo said.

This time he returned, bringing Xiao Si and a few soldiers; the remaining troops all followed the th Division's retreat route straight north, while Jiang Anguo's unit, under Meng Fanle's leadership, also fell back to Xibu.

Jiang Anguo actually didn't want to go through the northern Myanmar rainforest again.

"Song Yunfei, go prepare fifty large trucks and load all these supplies onto them; I want to take them away," Jiang Anguo said to Captain Song Yunfei.

At this moment Lin Yi was also not at Lashu Airport, so Jiang Anguo could only command Song Yunfei.

"Yes, Commander."

The Flight Brigade here was also very strong; it had 58 fighter aircraft and 36 bombers.

It had 77 pilots and 160 ground crew.

The flight personnel were sufficient, but the ground crew were still too few; when manpower was lacking, they transferred Army soldiers to help.

However, among the distinguished soldiers Jiang Anguo conscripted this time, there were 1,000 pilots, which was incomparable.

Just imagine, 1,000 fighter planes flying toward the Little Devil's positions; how spectacular that scene would be.

If they could fly to the Japanese mainland, bomb directly from Kyushu to Hokkaido.

【8】 May 20, 7 p. m.

May 20, 7 p. m.

Jiang Anguo personally led the team, ordering the Transport Vehicle Brigade to move supplies to Xibu; the transport vehicles were loaded entirely with food to reward the soldiers, including various canned meats, fruit cans beloved by the troops, sugar, chocolate, and so on.

The system is good, but unfortunately it can't be let others know, so some things still have to go through the proper procedures.

The victory in the Tonggu Defense Battle was like a lightning bolt that ripped through the summer gloom of 1942, instantly illuminating the Allied Forces' war reports worldwide.

During those days, bad news came like an unstoppable gray tide.

Singapore fell, the Dutch East Indies of Indochina fell, the US–Philippines Allied Forces suffered defeat on Batan Island, and on the Pacific Ocean the Combined Fleet of Japan was unstoppable.

The morale of the Allied Forces had already dropped to the ice point.

However, amid this desperate tone, a war report from Myanmar burst forth the brightest flame.

"Chinese Army Tonggu great victory crushed the elite Japanese Army, killing enemy 144th Regiment Commander Nanase Masao!"

This news spread across the globe via radio waves and newspapers at an unprecedented speed.

The whole world also saw Nanase Masao's appearance, but the photo showing his decapitated head was not displayed; Jiang Anguo was also afraid public opinion would pour water on his own head.

Jiang Anguo also knew that some things should be released, while others were better kept to himself.

In Huashengdun, inside the Oval Office of the White House, President Roosevelt set down the New York Times, removed his glasses, and rubbed his forehead; the front-page headline was huge and striking: "The Eastern Lion Has Awakened!".

He said to the secretary beside him, "Tell Stilwell that we will give him everything he needs. The value of this victory is no less than an aircraft carrier battle group. It proves to the whole world that the Huaxia Expeditionary Force can fight, and can win!"

Roosevelt could not accept another defeat; the fact that the Battle of the Coral Sea caused the United States Navy to lose two aircraft carriers was never even reported, because it was such a blow to morale.

Reporting only good news and not the bad applies not only to Huaxia; in fact the whole world is the same.

For the Pacific Theater, this is truly crucial.

It is not only a tactical victory, but also a booster shot injected into the entire anti-Fascist Alliance.

It proved that the heavily armed Japanese Army was not unbeatable.

Especially against the backdrop of the Allied Forces' continual retreat, this clean and decisive counterattack achieved by the Huaxia people has incalculable propaganda value and psychological impact.

In London, despite Churchill's complicated mood, The Times still reported the matter prominently, with the headline: "Myanmar's Miracle, Our Allies in Action".

This at least can temporarily divert domestic attention from the Indochina disaster, giving the British public a glimmer of hope.

What angered Churchill was why that Expeditionary Force hadn't rescued its own British troops, even after so many days.

And in Chongqing, the city was boiling over.

Newspapers were bought out, the newsboys' shouts were hoarse. In tea houses, people gathered around a newspaper, pointing excitedly. On the radio, the announcer's trembling yet proud voice repeatedly broadcast the war reports.

Everyone wondered, hadn't the Tonggu Defense Battle just recently also achieved victory, why another victory now?

Anyway, winning is a cause for happiness!

The Huaxia Battlefield desperately needs victory.

Although many people don't know where Tonggu is!

Myanmar, no idea, what place is that?

Anyway, we won!

The name Nanase Masao, together with "Tonggu," became the most resonant phrase on every street and alley.

The long‑suppressed humiliation and anger in the hearts of the Chinese people were, at this moment, released in a cathartic outburst. It tells every Chinese person that we can not only hold our ground, but also counter‑attack!

In Tokyo, the news was like a loud slap that struck the headquarters' face hard.

Officials of the Army Department were furious; they could not accept that a "miscellaneous army" in their eyes could annihilate an entire regiment and kill an Imperial Regiment Commander. Under strict censorship, the newspaper could only lightly mention "localized fluctuations on the Myanmar front," yet Nanase Masao's death could not be concealed.

The most critical issue is that after the Navy won the Coral Sea battle, the Army surprisingly lost, and an entire regiment's forces were annihilated by the Expeditionary Force.

Perhaps there is a practice of reporting only good news, but when the war reaches this point, one truly cannot report the bad any more; the impact on morale is already huge.

Retreat, retreat to, there is nowhere left to retreat!

This is public opinion.

They probably would never have thought that a Division Commander was also captured alive by Jiang Anguo.

In fact, the 15th Army commander Iida Shojirou actually hoped Watanabe Masao was dead, which also angered the two commanders and the Southern Army commander Terauchi Hisaichi.