The expeditionary force began to dominate Southeast Asia by recruiting defeated soldiers

Inside the ASA headquarters in Myitkyina, the lights were bright and battle maps covered the long table. Several staff officers were discussing in low voices in the corner, occasionally pointing their fingers at the map.

At the main seat at the conference table, Chief of General Staff Tan Zhijie was standing at attention, seriously reporting the latest battle results to Zhang Chi.

"On November 8, at 14:11, the main force of the 4th Infantry Division approached Hill 2599 north of Bamao Town." Tan Zhijie straightened his body and spoke in a firm tone.

Zhang Chi nodded slightly, his eyes fixed on the high ground marked near Bamao Town on the map.

"On the same day, at 15:33, the pontoon bridge over the Irrawaddy River was completed. The main force of the 2nd Infantry Division, with its light armored units as the vanguard, was the first to cross the river and put pressure on the west of Bhamo Town."

Zhang Chi's fingers tapped lightly on the table, accompanied by a short "hmm", showing his inner approval of the progress of this operation.

"At 07:00 on the 9th, our army officially launched a general offensive against Bamao Town." Tan Zhijie's tone rose slightly, a hint of excitement in his voice. "By 11:30, the entire town was basically cleared. The remaining Japanese invaders either fled south or hid in the Gaoligong Mountains, no longer able to put up an effective resistance."

Hearing this, Zhang Chi's face lit up with unconcealable joy, and he burst into laughter: "Hahahaha! I told Lao Bai to give him seven days, but he patted his chest and said it would only take 72 hours. In the end, he took down Bhamo in less than 61 hours. What a relief!"

"Good! Good! Good!" Zhang Chi said "good" three times in a row, slapped the table with his right hand, and there was a hint of heroism in his smile.

He raised his head slightly, as if thinking about how to reward Bai Minghui for his meritorious service.

Military ranks and positions definitely cannot be raised any further, and issuing bonuses or something like that can easily breed malpractices.

Well, it looks like we need to set up our medal system as soon as possible.

Thinking of this, Zhang Chi suddenly looked up at Tan Zhijie: "Chief of Staff Tan, have you done any research on the military medals and honor systems of various countries?"

Tan Zhijie was stunned when he heard this, and his eyes showed a little confusion.

We were just talking about the war, why did this boss suddenly turn to military medals?

However, as a subordinate, he had to answer when his leader asked him questions. He quickly adjusted his expression and replied seriously, "I understand a little bit, I understand a little bit."

Zhang Chi slapped his thigh upon hearing this, his tone revealing a hint of relief: "Alright, I'll leave this to you. When you have time, design a medal system suitable for our army, navy, and air force. When this war is over, I will reward the three armed forces!"

"Yes!" Tan Zhijie stood up straight and immediately accepted the responsibility for the accident, but he couldn't help but complain in his heart: This commander really does what he wants.

"By the way, what are the results and casualties of this battle?" After talking about it, Zhang Chi turned his attention back to the war.

Tan Zhijie first summarized the current situation with a high-level statement:

"Bhamo is now completely under our control. The 2nd and 3rd Construction Regiments are urgently repairing the roads in preparation for the subsequent advance. The passage to Longling in the east and Lashio and Mandalay in the south has been opened."

Then, he spoke in detail about the results of this battle:

"After the Battle of Bhamo, our troops collected a total of 2196 Japanese corpses, including the body of Colonel Kogenzawa Yukizo, commander of the 112th Regiment of the 55th Division. Since many of the Japanese bodies fell off cliffs, into the river, or were burned to ashes, we estimate that over 2800 enemies were killed."

"That means the Japanese 112th Regiment is basically gone?" Zhang Chi raised his eyebrows and looked at Tan Zhijie.

"That's right," Tan Zhijie confirmed with a nod. "Not only that, dozens of field and mountain guns assigned to the 112th Regiment were also destroyed. Furthermore, our army also captured one Type 1 105mm field gun, three Type 3 75mm mountain guns, and two Type 2 75mm field guns. Although these guns have varying degrees of damage, the logistics department has stated that they can be repaired."

Zhang Chi rubbed his fingers lightly, as if thinking about something, and said casually: "Repair it and sell it to General Wei. He must still be short of artillery."

He suddenly smiled at this point, his eyes meaningful: "A regiment, hey, a regiment, just like that."

He didn't think the results were too small.

In fact, Zhang Chi himself knew that it would be difficult to replicate the result of the last time where an entire division of the Japanese army was surrounded and annihilated in a big city.

Historical experience has long told him that although it is not as spectacular as swallowing up an entire division at once by consuming the Japanese one battalion (battalion level) or one regiment (regiment level) piecemeal each time, the accumulation of small amounts can also slowly erode the Japanese's strength.

He stared intently at the densely packed markings on the map, his fingertips tapping involuntarily on the tabletop, as if silently calculating the next move in a chess game. "We'll weaken them bit by bit, like pulling a thread," he muttered, a sneer curling his lips. "Once we've exhausted all their mobility, the remaining Japanese will be nothing more than a bunch of wandering ghosts, unable to defend themselves or fight back, and will only be waiting to die."

Zhang Chi even felt that the Japanese were in this state now. As he thought about it, a panoramic view of the Nanyang battlefield emerged in his mind.

He seemed to be able to see the devil's current predicament:

Like pepper sprinkled on a surface, each puppet state in Southeast Asia deployed a few divisions, each isolated from the others and unable to reinforce each other. This deployment, while ostensibly a "comprehensive defense," was in reality nothing more than "comprehensive defense." Their defense was only temporary; sooner or later, they would be defeated one by one.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but laugh out loud. He looked up at Tan Zhijie and changed the subject: "By the way, how are our casualties? Are there any major losses?"

Tan Zhijie briefly sorted through the battle report in his hand and replied calmly, "The casualties were not significant. Our army suffered fewer than 800 casualties in this operation, and more than half of them were able to return to the battlefield after treatment."

Zhang Chi nodded with satisfaction after hearing this, his eyes filled with relief. "Well, these soldiers who have recovered from their injuries have fought hard battles and seen blood. As long as their spirits are still there, they will return as the ironclad main force and the future veteran NCOs."

Tan Zhijie took over and continued his report, "Although our army has expanded rapidly and the proportion of new recruits has increased significantly, fortunately, we have sufficient food and wages, and everyone knows that some of the conquered land will be allocated to the soldiers. Our troops' morale is very high, and there has been no sign of any large-scale fear or withdrawal from the battle."

As the Chief of the General Staff, Tan Zhijie naturally had to pay attention to all aspects of the army. In the Anmin Army, he saw a morale atmosphere that was completely different from that of the original White Party, and naturally felt more motivated.

This allowed him to proudly say that he had no regrets about leaving the White Party and joining the Anmin Army.

"On the contrary, the Japanese had almost no ability to fight back under our fierce firepower. In particular, the 404th Independent Special Operations Battalion played an outstanding role, taking out the Japanese heavy artillery in advance, which significantly reduced our casualties."

"Okay, let's also give credit to the brothers of the Independent Special Operations Battalion." Zhang Chi made the final decision.

-----

On November 14, Bai Minghui commanded his troops to break through Nankan Town on the border. The Eastern Route Army officially entered the territory of Yunnan Province and began to attack the Japanese from behind.

On the same day, Wei Junru ordered the expeditionary force to attack the Japanese in Tengchong.