Chapter 69: Company Sortie

Independent Battalion, Eighth Company, Company Commander full complement, characteristic: mountain.

Specializes in mountain warfare!

The Eighth Company, taking all the supplies, headed to Mandalay.

From Lashu to Mandalay is about 289 km; Jiang Anguo set out for only half a day, covering thirty to forty kilometers, mainly because the road was just terrible.

The transport vehicle jolted all the way; I was about to vomit, feeling worse than walking.

The seven‑day supplies, nearly four thousand Military Rations, were all carried by the Eighth Company soldiers.

The Eighth Company took away twenty‑five Transport Vehicles, 200,000 rounds of ammunition, four Type 92 Infantry Cannons, four hundred shells, and various medical supplies.

Indeed, it's the Type 92 Infantry Cannon, a 70mm Infantry Cannon used by the Japanese Army, lightweight and perfectly suited to mountainous terrain, the standard fire‑support weapon of a Japanese Army battalion.

Or you could say it's to bully countries with underdeveloped industry.

One infantry cannon costs only 75 points, with an extra ten shells gifted; Jiang Anguo equipped each infantry cannon with one hundred shells.

He originally intended to go personally and disgust the Japanese Devil, but miscalculated; there is no railway from Lashu to Taunggyi, which is troublesome.

Then let the th Division handle this mission.

"The rest travel light and run back to Lashu." Jiang Anguo, watching the Eighth Company disappear, could only hope everything goes smoothly.

Jiang Anguo shook his head helplessly; it truly was a mistaken order.

While no one was watching, he pulled out his portable notebook, recorded it, noting his command blunder.

In fact, he made a typical Expeditionary Force mistake: exhausting himself by shuttling back and forth between the east and west fronts, covering four to five hundred kilometers, during which the Japanese Army had already seized the opportunity.

Fortunately, he returned before departure; otherwise, if he really went to Taunggyi, the 56th Regiment might have cut off the rear road, which would have been troublesome.

Buzz—

When Jiang Anguo's troops were still more than twenty kilometers from Lashu, his ears twitched as if he heard an aircraft.

"Lin Yi, did you hear the aircraft?" Jiang Anguo's ears twitched; he wasn't sure if he misheard.

Lin Yi looked up and said, "Battalion Commander, seems not."

Meng Fanle, standing behind the two, nodded and said, "Battalion Commander, I think I heard it."

Jiang Anguo didn't have time for more words and shouted, "Get off the vehicle, get off the vehicle, Machine Gunner, prepare anti‑air, everyone disperse into skirmish formation, move into the jungle for cover."

Of the transport vehicles sent to Mandalay, Jiang Anguo still had thirteen Transport Vehicles, but couldn't haul all personnel, so regular troops ran forward, the other half rode in the vehicles, and when those on foot got tired, they swapped with the other half.

The Machine Gunner moved swiftly, immediately setting up the Anti‑aircraft Mount; at the Lashu camp, Jiang Anguo conducted anti‑air training for the troops almost daily.

Thus they could load a round and fire at the air within twenty seconds.

The sound grew nearer, and indeed it was correct—the aircraft were coming from the south, which was all Japanese‑occupied territory, i. e., Japanese aircraft.

They didn't open fire; the planes were too high and far from the troops' marching route.

Jiang Anguo was puzzled about where the planes were heading, but he quickly reported the news to Lashu's Staff Corps. He had a radio, but no Code Book for the Staff Corps, so he transmitted in clear.

Lin Wei's Staff Corps also received the news immediately, and also saw Japanese fighter aircraft fly by, yet they did not bomb Lashu, which filled him with doubt—where were the Japanese fighters headed?

However, Lin Wei promptly sent a telegram homeward, or toward Kunming, alerting Chen Nade stationed in Kunming that the Japanese planes were heading toward Yunnan.

Little Japan was truly rampant, leaving Jiang Anguo both angry and helpless; if only we had our own air force.

"Just wait, Little Japan."

When they returned to Lashu it was already eight p. m., but it wasn't dark yet; the key point was they were drenched in sweat.

Jiang Anguo also received word from Lashu that the Japanese planes were flying into Yunnan, and Chen Nade's American Volunteer Corps launched all its fighters for interception.

They shot down nine Sunset aircraft; we suffered no losses, except a few P40 Fighter Aircraft were taken out, all others landed safely.

The American Volunteer Corps, also called the Flying Tigers, has the Flying Tiger emblem, and its aircraft are painted with Shark Heads; actually they also have Adam and Eve, but ordinary Chinese people wouldn't recognize that—it's downright vulgar; the tiger is different, a flying tiger, which is exactly the Flying Tigers.

In fact, the Americans painted sharks, which were taken to be tigers!

"Well done." After rinsing himself, Jiang Anguo changed into a clean uniform; hearing the news also boosted morale.

Soon, the news that the Flying Tigers had downed nine Japanese fighter aircraft spread.

Propaganda work must be done, so that soldiers' confidence can increase.

Not only the higher command needs propaganda; every unit, every company, every squad must also conduct propaganda, otherwise the army will still fear Japanese fighter aircraft.

"Look, the Little Devil isn't that scary; the American planes took them down in an instant."

"I really want to see our own planes."

"Don't worry, there will be. Didn't the Battalion Commander say we can call for air support in the future?"

This time the Japanese planes, having been detected early, caused only minor losses around Tengchong.

The Japanese this time aimed to threaten the rear of China's Expeditionary Force, even to bomb its retreat routes, because the Expeditionary Force also carried many transport vehicles and artillery; if the roads were destroyed, those assets would become a problem.

Another real reason was to block the reinforcement of the Expeditionary Force's 66th Army.

Indeed, Jiang Anguo just learned that the Expeditionary Force's new 28th Division had not yet entered Myanmar; the most important division, the new 29th Division, had no word at all. All he knew was that the new 29th Division was in Dali, over a thousand kilometers away; if they couldn't make it and reached the border, the Myanmar Campaign would be over.

The heat in Myanmar made Jiang Anguo somewhat unaccustomed; the sweat on his body never stopped.

After entering Myanmar, he added another set of green uniforms to the Expeditionary Force, mainly to suit the jungle environment; though a bit out of place, it didn't matter, as no one cared about Jiang Anguo's single company.

At the same time he required soldiers to keep their bodies clean, not for vanity but because the environment in Myanmar was extremely poor.

Mosquitoes and insects were the Expeditionary Force soldiers' greatest nuisance; therefore short‑sleeved uniforms were impractical—once worn, they were quickly bitten into a mess—so everyone preferred long sleeves.

Every day Li Qing and Lei Ao also led medical teams to examine the soldiers; if anyone felt unwell, they had to be sent to the medical team immediately or reported to superiors.

Within the camp, Jiang Anguo also tried to keep it clean and tidy, reducing mosquitoes and the like.

After entering Myanmar, all units were prohibited from drinking cold water; all water had to be boiled before consumption.

These measures Jiang Anguo took were mainly to avoid Non‑combat Casualties.