Chapter 431: Myanmar

In Mandalay city interior, the air in the Japanese Army 18th Division headquarters had solidified to the extreme.

Mukoda Koya stared at the tightening encirclement lines on the map, hearing the staff repeatedly report the bad news: the Eastern Front had fallen, China's 200th Division mechanized forces surged straight in, and every outpost along the way collapsed at the first touch.

In the direction of the Mijie River, the 201st Division's 1st Regiment Iron Fist and 2nd Regiment Yang Zhi formed two defenses as solid as rock; the division's main force found no breach, and Mukoda Koya did not dare to cross the river lightly.

Crossing halfway and striking, Mukoda Koya also understood this principle.

In the Songhu Campaign, the Japanese Army, relying on superior aircraft and naval gun support, inflicted damage on Shanghai's Huaxia forces.

Meanwhile, the Expeditionary Force opposite the Mijie River clearly possessed firepower stronger than his 18th Division, and Mukoda Koya did not dare to cross the river lightly.

He had already lost the chance to cross the Mijie River to the south.

In the Southern Theater, Lieutenant Colonel Wosho Jiro's 124th Battalion was held fast, unable to move north for support.

From all directions, the muzzles of the Chinese Expeditionary Force were pointed.

The 18th Division, once a Class A Division that swept across Southeast Asia, had truly become a turtle in a jar.

The division commander's complexion shifted from green to white, from white to gray, and finally a near‑mad ferocity surged violently from his eyes.

Mukoda Koya slammed the table hard, his voice hoarse and chilling: "Relay my order—immediately seize all the civilians inside Mandalay and drive them to the front of the Eastern Front positions!"

The officers in the headquarters froze in shock, then understood his meaning; some faces changed slightly, but no one dared to object.

In Mukoda Koya's eyes, everything could be sacrificed for the division's breakout; civilian lives were merely a meat shield on his path.

"Division Commander… could this…?" a staff officer hesitated.

"Silence!" Mukoda Koya barked, his eyes flashing ferociously, "Now is the division's life‑or‑death moment! The Chinese value lives above all; as long as we push Myanmar civilians to the front, their tanks and artillery won't fire! Their infantry won't charge! This is our only chance!"

"Ha!"

All the officers bowed their heads together and accepted this inhuman order.

In fact, most Japanese Army officers felt no disgust, because the Japanese 18th Division from top to bottom was stained with Huaxia blood.

A moment later, chaos erupted inside Mandalay.

The Japanese Army surged like hungry wolves into streets, homes, and temples, beating with rifle stocks and bayonets, driving out elders, women, and children who had no time to flee.

Cries, shouts, and gunfire mingled, and the whole city trembled.

"Run fast! Run fast!"

"Dare to stop, and you'll be executed on the spot!"

Japanese soldiers brandished bayoneted rifles, fiercely driving the crowd.

The ragged civilians wore faces of terror; children wailed, women clutched their children trembling, elders hunched and shivered, each step forced by bayonets toward the Eastern Front battlefield.

No one dared to resist. To resist meant dying on the spot.

The long stream of people, like a desperate serpent, was herded by the Japanese Army, slowly pushed toward the 200th Division's attack direction.

Mandalay's Eastern Front outer perimeter.

The Expeditionary Force's steel torrent had reached the battlefield.

Hu Xianqun's tank regiment, together with Division 201's Zhang Bing's tank battalion, lined up dozens of tanks and armored vehicles into a steel line; their tracks rolled over the ground, Boom—, and the gun muzzles pointed at the Japanese Eastern Front defensive positions.

The 200th Division, as the Expeditionary Force's main unit, received Jiang Anguo's weapons aid, was well‑equipped and high‑spirited, originally ready to charge in one go, break through the Japanese lines, and storm beneath Mandalay.

But at the moment the attack was about to launch.

The forward observation post's voice suddenly tightened: "Division Commander! In front of the Japanese positions… a massive crowd of civilians! They're the civilians the Japanese drove here!"

Division Commander Dai Anlan of the 200th Division raised his binoculars, and his pupils snapped shut.

"The Japanese are not human; they use civilians as shields." Stilwell, who was fighting alongside the 200th Division, stared in disbelief at the scene.

Dai Anlan could not think of a better solution at that moment.

In front of the Japanese positions, a dense crowd of driven Myanmar civilians—elderly, women, children—pressed together, trembling, tears streaming, eyes full of despair.

Not far behind the civilians were the Japanese Machine Gun Position and Artillery positions; Japanese soldiers hid behind the civilians, weapons ready, coldly watching the Expeditionary Force.

Using civilians as a meat shield.

A tactic that is the lowest, most insidious, most genocidal.

The 200th Division's charge froze instantly.

Tanks dared not fire, infantry dared not charge, heavy machine guns dared not sweep. If they opened fire, the first to fall would be these innocent civilians.

The steel‑clad might was blocked by a group of unarmed civilians right before the positions.

The news quickly reached Jiang Anguo's command post.

After hearing the report, Jiang Anguo was first stunned, then a cold sneer appeared on his face.

"Ha… I thought Mukoda Koya had some clever trick, but it's the same old thing."

Jiang Anguo had long witnessed the Japanese Army's shamelessness on the battlefield; for victory they would employ any filthy means. He never expected that a proud Class A Division, when cornered, would have to rely on driving civilians to survive.

The adjacent adjutant Wang Fei's face flushed red with anger: "How despicable! Little Devil is literally not human!"

Jiang Anguo's expression darkened, his tone icy: "Immediately issue orders to the 1st Regiment Iron Fist, the 2nd Regiment Yang Zhi, and Hu Dali, and have all units ready their gas masks at once, no delay."

Wang Fei was startled: "Division Commander, you mean…"

"Mukoda Koya daring to push civilians forward as a meat shield shows he's already mad," Jiang Anguo said coldly. "Someone like that can do anything. Civilians can block our guns, but not his poison gas. Since he dares to use civilians as a shield, the next step is to unleash poison gas shells, burying both civilians and us together."

He paused, then continued: "Also, immediately report the situation to the 200th Division, have them stay alert and guard against Japanese poison gas."

"Understood!"

When Jiang Anguo equipped himself, he also issued a gas mask to every soldier of the 200th Division.

Jiang Anguo walked to the map, his gaze fixed on Mandalay, without a hint of hesitation.

Dai Anlan hesitated because this army held a bottom line at its core, unwilling to harm the innocent. But Jiang Anguo had never been one to cling rigidly to rules.

More importantly, this was not within Huaxia territory; the people driven by the Japanese were not his compatriots.

The Japanese thought this tactic would trap the 201st Division, but miscalculated.

He inhaled deeply, then barked to the communications man: "Send another report to Jiang Sanpao behind us, have him ready all the special bombs."

The communications soldier was startled: "Division Commander, you are saying…"

Jiang Anguo's mouth corner lifted with a fierce edge, each word spoken through clenched teeth: "Since Mukoda Koya also dares to use civilians as human shields, daring to treat poison gas as a killing weapon, don't blame me for being uncourteous."

"Muta Kugou Lian is unkind, then don't blame me for being unjust."

"If I am truly driven to desperation, I'll let him know what real despair is."

Silence fell over the command post. Everyone understood that Jiang Anguo was genuinely angry.

On the opposite front, the Japanese Army still swaggered, believing that a single civilian human shield could trap the Expeditionary Force's steel torrent. They did not know that what they had provoked was a ferocious tiger fully enraged.

Muta Kugou Lian also thought that using civilians could extend his life. Yet he did not know that his inhuman poisonous scheme exactly ignited the cruelest string in Jiang Anguo's heart.