The War of Resistance: My Expedition, My Country

On July 7th, at the 5th Division's headquarters in Ramgarh, Division Commander Huang Wei and Deputy Division Commander Kuang Zhengqi sat together, discussing the new reorganization of the Indian Army. After replenishment, the 200th Division had reached and even exceeded its pre-deployment strength. Not only were its three regiments fully staffed, but the divisional headquarters had also added an American tank battalion and an American howitzer battalion. The 200th Regiment was reorganized into the only mechanized regiment of the Indian Army. Under the covert manipulation of Huang Wei and Yang Hong, Luo Bing was transferred back to the 600th Regiment and appointed Lieutenant Colonel Deputy Commander. Kuang Zhengqi, Deputy Division Commander, continued to hold the reins concurrently. Clearly, this was partly due to Luo Bing's lack of military experience and credentials, and partly due to the 600th Regiment's prominent position and fierce competition for the position. To maintain control of the troops, Huang Wei and Kuang Zhengqi had no choice but to forgo further opportunities for higher positions in the expansion and cling to the core of the 600th Division.

Chief of Staff Zhou Zhizai is extremely busy right now. This may be his last job for the 200th Division. According to rumors, Zhou Zhizai will be promoted to Chief of Staff of the newly formed New Sixth Army. This position was originally given to Huang Wei. According to the Nationalist government's plan, Zhou Zhizai will take over Huang Wei's position as the commander of the 200th Division. Huang Wei declined his promotion on the pretext of seniority and other reasons, leaving the opportunity to Zhou Zhizai. After Zhou Zhizai learned about this, he was deeply grateful to Huang Wei. Therefore, during the political training period of the 200th Division, Zhou Zhizai almost took charge of all matters, big and small. He secretly made up his mind that before he left the 200th Division, he must hand over a combat-ready 200th Division to Huang Wei!

Kuang Zhengqi said to Huang Wei, "Boss, you gave up your position to Chief of Staff Huang this time. It may seem like you lost a promotion, but in reality, you have firmly controlled the 200th Division. This deal is worth it!"

Huang Wei laughed heartily. "It's a pity that Commander Zhou is assigned to the New 5th Army, not the New 1st Army. Otherwise, with Commander Zhou there, our lives would be much better!"

Kuang Zhengqi nodded in agreement, then said melancholy, "I heard that Deputy Commander Zheng Dongguo will concurrently serve as the commander of the New First Army. The deputy commander and chief of staff will be transferred from the National Government. Although we control the 200th Division, the days ahead may not be easy."

Huang Wei secretly praised Kuang Zhengqi's analysis. At this moment, there was no better solution, so he changed the subject and said, "Huang Xiang of the Guerrilla Detachment may be having a harder time than us. The new 71st Division was expanded from the Guerrilla Detachment, and I didn't even get the rank of Major General Division Commander, only Deputy Major General. The new division commander, Pan Yukun, is said to be Commander Zheng's right-hand man. Old Huang is having a hard time!"

Kuang Zhengqi smiled and said, "Boss, you always change the subject at critical moments. Honestly, I'm a little worried that Chiang Kai-shek might do something to us who aren't Whampoa direct descendants. After all, the 200th Division is Chiang Kai-shek's most direct descendants. He might not do anything to us for now out of courtesy, but what about the future? Just look at the mid- and low-level officers added this time, none of them are from the Whampoa Jiangsu and Zhejiang direct descendants!"

Huang Wei nodded, "Looks like it's time for us to show our loyalty to President Jiang!"

Not long after, General Gu Zhutong came to Ramgarh on behalf of President Chiang and summoned officers of the Indian Army at the division level and above. At the same time, the organization of the Chinese Army in India and the appointment of generals at all levels were announced.

Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army: Stilwell (Lieutenant General of the US Army), Deputy Commander-in-Chief: Zheng Dongguo (Lieutenant General), Chief of Staff: Stilwell concurrently, Deputy Chief of Staff: Merrill (Brigadier General of the US Army)

New First Army:

Army Commander: Zheng Dongguo, Deputy Army Commander: Huang Wei (Major General), Chief of Staff: Hu Su (Major General)

200th Division: Commander: Huang Wei (concurrently), Deputy Commander: Kuang Zhengqi (Colonel + Major General), Chief of Staff: Liu Shaofeng (Colonel)

598th Regiment: Li Desheng (Colonel)

599th Regiment: Guo Qi (Colonel)

600th Regiment: Kuang Zhengqi (concurrently)

Directly under the Tank Battalion: Gao Siqi (Lieutenant Colonel)

Directly under the Howitzer Battalion: Luo Lie (Lieutenant Colonel)

Directly under the Special Operations Battalion: Wu Liu (Major)

New 71st Division: Commander: Pan Yukun (Major General), Deputy Commander: Huang Xiang (Major General), Chief of Staff: Liu Xiaoxian (Colonel)

New 101st Regiment: Zhu Jiande (Colonel)

New 102nd Regiment: Chen Zhi (Colonel)

Special Forces Regiment: Wang Kunyi (Lieutenant Colonel)

Supply Corps: Wu Debing (Lieutenant Colonel)

New 5th Army:

Army Commander: Liao Yaoxiang (Lieutenant General), Chief of Staff: Zhou Zhizai (Major General)

New 22nd Division: Commander: Li Tao (Major General), Deputy Commander: Zhou Kun (Major General), Chief of Staff: Liu Jianzhang (Major General)

64th Regiment: Xiong Jie (Colonel)

65th Regiment: Fu Zongliang (Colonel)

66th Regiment: Chen Zhenhua (Colonel)

Directly under the Howitzer Battalion: Chen Yifan (Lieutenant Colonel)

Directly under the Armored Battalion: Zhu Jieliang (Lieutenant Colonel)

New 14th Division: Commander: Long Tianwu (Major General), Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff: Xu Ying (Major General)

40th Regiment: Li Misheng (Colonel)

41st Regiment: Li Hong (Colonel)

42nd Regiment: Peng Keli (Colonel)

Among them, the new 14th Division was airlifted from the country. According to the instructions of General Gu, the new 33rd Division and the new 50th Division will be transported to India in the future, and finally form two armies and six divisions with a total strength of 2 people.

Before the appointments were announced, General Gu, on behalf of President Chiang, summoned Huang Wei and Kuang Zhengqi and heaped praise on them. Apparently, Huang Wei's pledge of loyalty to President Chiang through Luo Zhuoying was recognized, and along with it, two Zhongzheng swords were awarded. This also meant that Kuang Zhengqi would soon be promoted to Major General after a brief transition. Huang Wei also received the courtesy name "Guowei" from President Chiang, while Kuang Zhengqi received the courtesy name "Jizhong."

Almost on the same day, Qin Shi, still engaged in guerrilla warfare in northern Burma, received two unusual telegrams. One was the designation of the Burma Guerrilla Column, signed by General Stilwell of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in India. This meant that Qin Shi's guerrilla column was officially under the direct control of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in India. This was the result of a compromise between Stilwell and Chiang Kai-shek. Fortunately, due to the incident of rescuing William, the guerrilla detachment was upgraded to a guerrilla column (division-level). The other came from the Nationalist government, signed by the Ministry of National Defense. Colonel Qin Shi was promoted to the rank of Major General, and President Chiang Kai-shek gave Qin Shi the courtesy name "Tiger Roar." Thus, President Chiang Kai-shek bestowed courtesy names upon the four most powerful commanders of the 200th Regiment of the 600th Division of the Expeditionary Force, a move that caused a sensation throughout the Nationalist government. Some privately referred to them as Chiang Kai-shek's "Four Golden Warriors of Southeast Asia."

The Allied First Southeast Asian Army was recently formally established near Chittagong, Bangladesh. It directly commands two divisions and two brigades, all equipped to US military standards. The new 2st Division was formed by merging the former 2th and 1th Regiments, adding a mechanized infantry regiment, a howitzer battalion, and a tank battalion. The new 112nd Division was expanded from the former 113st Brigade and did not join the US or British forces. The 2th Regiment was reorganized as an all-US mechanized infantry regiment. The 1th Brigade (US) was expanded from the mechanized infantry regiment previously transferred from Africa, along with the 114th Tank Brigade (British). Furthermore, a heavy howitzer regiment (jointly built by China and the US) was added. The full strength of the army will reach over 5037 men.

As expected, Sun Liren was appointed Commander of the Group Army, with British Major General John Strang as Deputy Commander and American Major General Martin Hughes as Chief of Staff. Yang Hong was appointed Major General Commander of the new 1st Division, and Major General Liu Bolong as Commander of the new 2nd Division. Thus, the main forces for the Burmese counterattack were reorganized!