Chapter 561: Post‑War Issues

After the surviving islanders were counted, the Japanese Army's massacre killed over thirty thousand locals; the island that originally had more than forty thousand people now had just a little over ten thousand who survived by luck.

And these surviving ten‑plus thousand also did not escape the Japanese Army's clutches.

The Japanese Army did not kill them, but treated them as free labor, driving them daily to build defensive works, dig Trench, and construct makeshift airfields.

They were not given enough food or rest; any slight resistance would be met with beatings, even being killed on the spot.

Many people, under heavy labor and hunger, gradually collapsed and never rose again.

This is also a method commonly used by the Japanese; especially after completing the works, they would have prisoners of war dig a large pit near the works, then push all the civilians and POWs into it, either burying them alive or massacring them.

They do this to cover up their crimes.

"We can only eat a little bit of moldy food each day, do the most bitter and exhausting work, and any slip will get us beaten to death by the Japanese." A young islander said through clenched teeth, his face still bearing the bruises from beatings.

"We have wanted to resist for a long time, but we have no weapons, we are no match for the Japanese, we can only watch helplessly as our relatives are killed, as our compatriots are tortured."

Hu Dali immediately reported the island's situation via the communicator to Jiang Zhiyuan.

Jiang Zhiyuan rushed to the village, saw the tragic scene before him, and heard the surviving islanders' accounts, his eyes filled with fury.

Jiang Zhiyuan said righteously: "The Little Devil's heinous crimes, we will definitely avenge!"

This made the surviving inhabitants of the Andaman Islands feel as if God had arrived.

Then Jiang Zhiyuan gathered Hu Dali at the hastily erected command post to discuss a plan.

"Now, Inoue Nakamura has led the remaining Japanese into the mountains; sending people to hunt them down not only costs time and effort, but also makes us vulnerable to ambushes."

Jiang Zhiyuan said calmly, "Moreover, the island still has over ten thousand surviving islanders; they know the terrain like the back of their hand and harbor deep hatred toward the Japanese Army."

Hu Dali nodded and agreed, "Captain, I feel the same way."

The islanders, familiar with the mountain terrain and aware of where the Japanese might be hiding, were let to join the hunt; this both speeds up the elimination of the Japanese and lets them personally avenge their relatives, removing the island's security threats.

The most important point is that this not only reduces Expeditionary Force casualties.

It can also reduce the indigenous population of the entire Andaman Islands; such an island in the Indian Ocean, letting Indians inhabit it, is indeed a waste.

Jiang Zhiyuan's gaze was firm as he gave the order: "Fine! Let's do it that way! Hu Dali, immediately deploy soldiers to pacify the surviving islanders, distribute food and water to them, then organize all the island's men into several squads, each led by our soldiers, to go into the mountains and hunt down the remaining Japanese forces."

"Tell the islanders that as long as they help us eliminate the Japanese, Nanko will definitely protect them and let them live a peaceful life again."

"Yes! Commander!" Hu Dali immediately took the order, turned and went to arrange the matters.

Hu Dali's specialty is jungle warfare, so in this island jungle combat his experience is extensive.

At this moment, the surviving islanders learned they were to assist Nanko soldiers in the mountain hunt against the Japanese; each felt a flame of vengeance ignite, voluntarily signing up, and even without weapons they were willing to use their hands to avenge their fallen relatives.

Sunlight spilled over this weathered land, and the resolve for revenge quietly rose in every islander's heart.

Jiang Zhiyuan and Hu Dali also knew that this clearing operation was not only to capture the Andaman Islands, but also to deliver justice to the island's people.

All occupied areas on the island were studded with the flags of the Expeditionary Force and Nanko, so vivid.

The Japanese plaster patches were either thrown by Expeditionary Force soldiers into the smoke and burned, or collected by the soldiers as trophies.

Regarding the subsequent arrangements for the Andaman Islands.

Before the Nankai Fleet and Hu Dali's Second Regiment set out, Jiang Anguo had already made arrangements; had the Japanese stubbornly resisted, one regiment of Hu Dali, cooperating with the Navy fleet, could also have eliminated the Japanese on the island.

However, the Japanese perhaps did not anticipate the Nankai Fleet's sudden attack, causing many Little Devils to meet Amaterasu in their sleep.

News of the Andaman Islands landing operation was transmitted back to Yangon; Jiang Anguo sat before the map at the Yangon command post, clutching the battle report from the front, his face grimly dark, the atmosphere around him so heavy that no one dared approach.

His fingertips hammered the table, his tone full of displeasure and gravity, as he solemnly gave a post‑war summary to the staff around him, each sentence bearing unquestionable authority.

"Everyone, look at this battle report," Jiang Anguo threw the report onto the table, his gaze sweeping the group, "Just this landing operation exposed far too many of our flaws, especially our troops, whose problems are most evident in island landings. They're all landlubbers, utterly unsuited for island assaults!"

In his words, Jiang Anguo could barely conceal his fury; recalling the scenes described in the report, his tone grew heavier: "We hadn't even truly set foot on the island, hadn't engaged the Japanese head‑on, yet because of seasickness, we lost two‑thirds of our combat personnel! A regiment's strength, most of it lost combat effectiveness; the battle hadn't even begun and was nearly over before it started—utterly unacceptable!"

Jiang Anguo was very confident about the combat power of his st Division.

A regiment's strength, when coordinated with aircraft and Tank, can hold the ground steadily even against a Japanese Type‑B division, and even launch a counter‑attack.

But now? Just a single sea voyage has left them shattered.

"Seasickness may seem trivial, yet it directly affected the entire island‑landing deployment,"

Jiang Anguo's gaze fell on the Andaman Islands on the map, his tone tinged with regret, "Had Jiang Zhiyuan not deployed wisely, choosing a shallow‑water landing with fleet cover, this island‑landing operation would likely have ended in failure."

Staff officer Song Yu whispered, "Commander, our troops have always fought on land and have never experienced sea voyages; most soldiers come from inland, truly ill‑adapted to the rolling seas, which caused such severe Non‑combat Casualties."

Jiang Anguo nodded, his tone softened slightly yet still stern: "I know they have long fought on land, but the war situation has changed; we now face not only land battlefields but also sea and island battlefields."

"This lesson must be remembered; going forward we must strengthen sea‑adaptation training for the st Division and all Expeditionary Force units, so this 'pre‑battle loss' does not recur."

This issue was also something Jiang Anguo had not anticipated.

Mainly because before this operation, none of the ground forces had undergone sea training.

Even if they are tigers on land, they become sick tigers at sea.

His gaze was firm, his tone heavy: "The Andaman Islands are only the first step; we will still have to face more island operations. If we cannot solve soldiers' inability to adapt to sea voyages and their lack of island‑landing skill, we will only suffer greater losses."

Jiang Anguo issued an order: "Relay my command, immediately draft a sea‑adaptation training plan, ensuring every soldier can adapt to the maritime environment, preventing such mistakes from happening again."

It's truly shameful, to actually get seasick.