Chapter 58: Lashu Rest and Refit

Jiang Anguo was very pleased with the system's generosity!

Jiang Anguo immediately inspected the Light Artillery Battalion: six 105 mm howitzers, fully staffed with 198 men, equipped with Transport Vehicles, a Trailer, motorcycles, Jeeps, war horses, a number of ammunition, and most importantly 3,000 shells.

Tank Company, ten T-34 tanks, fuel trucks, Transport Vehicles, a number of ammunition, fully staffed with 168 men.

The T-34 tanks are equipped with 76 mm gun barrels; their firepower is sufficiently fierce, and the only drawback is that they weigh 32 tons, which to the Japanese counts as a heavy tank.

If it were a plain region, heavier tonnage would naturally be better, but this is Myanmar, and it's already April; even now Jiang Anguo can feel the stifling, humid air.

"Fortunately, we're only on the defensive here," Jiang Anguo thought, not needing to send troops out; the tanks are to be used at the rear, and the Japanese still retain air superiority.

If we were to deploy our ace units directly, the tanks would be far too obvious a target.

Tank deployment requires air superiority; otherwise tank and artillery units become the primary targets of fighter‑bombers.

Because neither has any anti‑air defenses, tanks are slightly better, having a 7.92 mm machine gun that can barely serve for anti‑air.

"Reminder to the Host: this model T-34 is equipped with a Soviet DShK anti‑aircraft machine gun, caliber 12.7 mm."

The system voice came through.

"That fierce?" The caliber is the truth; a 12.7 mm round hitting your arm will say goodbye to it, and a hit to the torso will split it in two.

A larger caliber is good, but it also means a heavier weapon; for example, the gun body exceeds sixty pounds, and the mount adds another forty pounds, so a heavy machine gun requires three to five people to operate, since the ammunition also must be carried.

Jiang Anguo suddenly thought of something and asked, "System, can I drop these soldiers behind the enemy?"

Indeed, Jiang Anguo meant to insert soldiers directly behind the enemy, which would inevitably cause panic; placing five thousand soldiers behind them would likely terrify the Japanese army, forming an encirclement to annihilate them.

"Bug fix in progress, thank you Host; to reward you, we grant 500,000 rounds of ammunition."

The system's deployment range for soldiers is five kilometers, which can even reach the enemy's artillery camp; if a unit suddenly appears there, it will certainly be enough to give them a drink.

What else could Jiang Anguo say? He could only spread his hands, but receiving 500,000 rounds as a reward was already decent; after all, he wasn't a true military enthusiast and only knew a little.

Previously, he thought the German army was strong, its soldiers strong, its weapons strong, and that true strength lay in its industry; yet even so, logistics became problematic in the later stages of the war.

Jiang Anguo's forces have no industrial system and no logistics; all logistics rest on Jiang Anguo himself.

If Jiang Anguo gets into trouble, the unit's power will plummet.

The Tank Company and Artillery Company have not been deployed to the battlefield, and it's hard to say now; in fact, Lashu isn't lacking tanks, only tank crews and maintenance personnel.

The Expeditionary Force's tank units traveled all the way from Kunming to Lashu, so it's understandable that such delicate tanks suffered damage.

Nevertheless, Jiang Anguo has already deployed personnel from both units.

A camp of three thousand men adds to the troop count; Jiang Anguo ordered the Tank Company and Five Company to a hill on Lashu's west side to construct fortifications.

That spot was seen yesterday during the day; the terrain is rugged, and to enter Lashu one must fight along the railway from the southwest.

That hill happens to be at the western crossroads, a perfect place to hide our tank units.

Until a large enemy force appears, Jiang Anguo's tank units remain in reserve and cannot move.

Jiang Anguo shook his head; after only half an hour of strolling around Lashu, he spotted many problems: chaotic supply transport and terribly low efficiency.

If a Japanese air raid occurs, that would be trouble.

Another issue is the excessive unit numbering; it's not just Jiang Anguo's Supplement Battalion, or rather, it's called a Supplement Battalion.

Various other units also remain stationed at Lashu, which functions as a logistical supply hub; losing Lashu would be disastrous.

Lashu's defenses are weak; its defensive personnel likely number no more than eight thousand.

Sun Liren's New 38th Division, the vanguard, reached Lashu; the following troops came from Yunnan, meaning the subsequent forces are behind Jiang Anguo.

He instantly understood why Lin Wei hadn't contacted him nor reported the numbers of his unit, because it's just a Supplement Battalion; nominally a Supplement Battalion of the th Division can't have many men—still fewer than the tank regiment of the th Division left at Lashu.

Lin Yi estimated a Supplement Battalion to be only three to five hundred people, while the th Division's tank regiment stationed at Lashu exceeds two thousand.

Behind them are the New 28th and New 29th Divisions, whose units have not yet reached Lashu.

The 38th Division is still at Lashu; if Sun Liren's troops also move to the front, Jiang Anguo can't even imagine the defensive strength remaining at Lashu.

No wonder the Japanese Army's single division broke through directly.

Lashu lies on the Shanbang Plateau, meaning the terrain is extremely complex; even if key positions like Dongzhi fall, Lashu can still defend using its geographic advantage.

The Japanese didn't need a full day; within a few hours they seized Lashu without pausing, then pressed on to Bamo, Myitkyina, Wandian, Longling, Mangshi, and Tengchong.

Marching north, they nearly pierced the entire Defensive Line.

"She Pigu, the beef stew smells great today!" Jiang Anguo stopped overthinking, taking it step by step.

Following the scent, he arrived at the center of the camp, where She Pigu was stationed; wartime rules forbid firing or open flames at night, but today is an exception because the main force has arrived at Lashu, and only for today.

At night, rations remain the main sustenance.

The reason open flames are prohibited is simple: Jiang Anguo worries that if enemies appear, any night fire becomes a beacon, making the camp the prime target; a single enemy shell could hit you.

"Company commander, this beef is excellent, top‑notch. Here, commander, let me serve you a bowl first," She Pigu said with a grin.