Chapter 209: Post‑War Conference

This South campaign, aside from dealing a heavy loss to Japan in Myanmar, saw the Japanese Army follow the set objectives on every other battlefield and execute them perfectly.

The Expeditionary Force in Myanmar caused the Imperial elite of the Japanese Army to lose over twenty thousand troops.

These losses were all concentrated on the 200th Division, and the Japanese always thought they were fighting the 200th Division.

Of course, in the Japanese Army's decryption of Chinese telegrams, this Independent Regiment was mentioned repeatedly.

However, according to Japanese intelligence, this Independent Regiment also belonged to the 200th Division.

Thus, everything seemed to make sense: the 200th Division is just that good at fighting.

In fact, it was not the 200th Division that directly crushed Watanabe Masao, but Jiang Anguo's Independent Regiment, which the Japanese do not know.

Nevertheless, if you say it was the 200th Division, there's no problem.

Because Jiang Anguo's Independent Regiment is attached to Dai Anlan's 200th Division.

In other words, a single 200th Division eliminated twenty thousand Japanese and also earned Jiang Anguo a large amount of points.

The only thing Jiang Anguo cares about is his rank; the second is points.

However, after the System Upgrade, he seems less concerned with his position and more with territorial issues.

Unfortunately, this time, because the 200th Division disobeyed orders, it's uncertain whether they'll be punished, making promotion somewhat difficult.

Just a single Tonggu caused Imperial Japan to lose over ten thousand troops in two incidents, including Watanabe Masao's disobedient order to press on Lashu, which was not Iida Shojiro's plan.

Thus, aside from a small part of the 56th Division staying in Thailand, the 113th Regiment retreated south to Yangon, the 148th Regiment withdrew west to Mandalay. The 56th Division lost over ten thousand in Myanmar and was essentially annihilated.

The 15th Army Commander Iida Shojiro also feared that the Imperial Headquarters would punish him for this, and had already discussed with several division commanders under him; this plan was originally Watanabe Masao's insistence to go in alone, his own problem, and had nothing to do with Iida Shojiro.

The credit belongs to the commander, but if it fails, they will try to push the blame outward, even the Japanese Army is no exception.

The victory of Tonggu is crucial to the Pacific Theater because it fully solidified Huaxia's strategic position.

The Roosevelt administration can more confidently tell Congress and the public: aiding Huaxia is defending the United States. Every ton of supplies shipped to China can, in Myanmar's jungles, hold up one or even several divisions of the Japanese Army, preventing them from appearing before the American forces in the Pacific.

It also reinforced Roosevelt's resolve to increase material aid to Huaxia, even though the British repeatedly resisted and even tried to meddle, but Roosevelt rejected them.

Once discovered, Roosevelt will cut back the material supply shipments to the British Army.

This is unacceptable to the British, because they know that without American help they might lose the war.

This victory paved the way for the new "Hump Route" and for massive American aid to China, smoothing all political and public‑opinion paths.

It was like a precisely dropped bomb, destroying not only the Japanese 144th Regiment but also the lie that "China is indefensible" and the high wall of "despair" in the Allied minds.

In the first half of this year, the blow to the Allied forces was enormous.

May 20, 1942, 9 p. m.

Jiang Anguo, with Xiao Si and fifty transport vehicles, rushed from the rear base at Lashu to Xibu.

"This busted road, we'll have the Engineer Battalion fix it and pave it all with cement," Jiang Anguo complained to the rattling Jeep.

"Young Master, what's a cement road?" Xiao Si asked, utterly puzzled.

Jiang Anguo laughed, "It's the kind of road you see on the Lashu Airport runway."

Xiao Si nodded; with that explanation, he understood.

Speaking of it, the temporary bridge at Xibu has also been erected.

The bridge at Xibu wasn't destroyed by the Expeditionary Force themselves; it was the demolition order personally issued by the Japanese 148th Regiment commander Aihara.

At that time, the Japanese aimed to cut off the Expeditionary Force's retreat route, so they ordered the 148th Regiment to block the east side of the Xibu River.

This was also the only route for the Expeditionary Force to retreat into Lashu.

Had Jiang Anguo not appeared, Dai Anlan might have perished here; after being wounded, lacking medicine, he contracted an infection in the forest during the northward retreat and died.

Now the bridge has been completed under the engineers' hurried and uneven efforts.

Jiang Anguo entered Xibu too late; inside Xibu were only the patrolling soldiers, most of whom had already rested after the high‑intensity march, taking the chance to relax, because no one can guarantee when the next battle will arrive.

He soon located Dai Anlan's headquarters in Xibu, but did not go inside.

Xibu, a small town just awakened from the flames of war.

In a locally commandeered school classroom temporarily taken by the 200th Division, smoke curled, and the atmosphere was far from relaxed.

It was already the second day since arriving at Xibu, but this post‑war summary meeting had already begun the moment they stepped in on the first day.

Dai Anlan convened all officers above battalion level; he needed to understand, and make everyone understand, what kind of miracle they had just experienced.

"I'll repeat the results," Dai Anlan's hoarse voice said, each word like a nail hammered into everyone's mind, "Our unit confirmed killing nearly four thousand enemies and slaying the enemy 144th Regiment commander Nansei Masao. Our side suffered fewer than five hundred killed, seriously or lightly wounded combined."

The classroom was dead silent, save for the sizzle of a burning cigarette.

This figure, they had replayed countless times along the way, yet each hearing felt like a dream.

"Commander, I still can't understand," the smoke‑soaked 599th Regiment commander Liu Shuren finally blurted, taking a hard drag and pressing the cigarette butt on the table, "Our firepower is fierce, we have tanks, we have 150‑mm heavy artillery. But the Little Devils… those are Little Devils! They're the elite of the 55th Division! How could they be… so untested?"

"When did the Little Devil become so weak!"

The moment he finished speaking, it immediately drew agreement.

"Exactly! Logically, a single regiment with its attached units, even though their manpower is only a third of ours, would need at least ten times our forces to bite them. Even in a head‑on clash, it should be a crushing victory for us."

"Even if it were a night raid, we have conducted night attacks before, but the results—"

"Indeed, everyone couldn't understand why the Japanese troops, who had marched triumphantly all the way, suddenly became so fragile."

It seemed as if their 200th Division had become the Japanese's nemesis!