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

Zhang Chi stood up from his LVT-A1 amphibious tank commander's seat and opened the turret hatch. He leaned out halfway as a fine drizzle fell, running down his forehead and blurring his vision.

Looking around, the sky was gloomy, with leaden clouds hanging low in the sky above, and countless rain lines seemed to connect the sky and the earth together.

My nostrils twitched, the air was filled with dampness and dullness. I looked down to my left and right, and saw raindrops falling on the river surface, stirring up countless tiny ripples.

Zhang Chi had been a northerner in his previous life, and was particularly unaccustomed to this kind of heat and humidity. He had no idea what the difference was between the rainy season in Pegu and the plum rain season in the south of his homeland. He simply felt as if every pore in his body was clogged.

The LVT-A1 amphibious tank under him was sailing in the middle of the river. The rainforests on both sides were shrouded in a gray fog, looking mysterious and deep, which made him feel a little uneasy, as if there was some unspeakable threat hidden there.

He raised his telescope and looked forward. In the river ahead was a series of heavy cement ships, and in the front was his newly exchanged PT torpedo boat, dragging the tow rope and struggling upstream like an old ox pulling a plow.

His LVT-A1 amphibious tank was positioned at the rear of the fleet, guarding the rear of the group. Behind him, two synthetic crewmen in the rear combat positions of the tanks gripped their heavy machine guns tightly, their cold barrels constantly pointed toward the jungle on either side of the riverbank and behind the tanks. They constantly and vigilantly surveyed their surroundings, ready to respond to any sudden enemy attack.

Zhang Chi sighed. He felt helpless as the envisioned speedboat fleet and amphibious marines turned into a super-downsized cement fleet.

In the series of battles at the airport, especially the one where rockets covered the large Japanese army, the high returns from the gold car and the advanced account allowed him to earn a lot of Silver Lions. He now has more than 9000 Silver Lions left, and the initial LVT-A1 amphibious tank and PT-6 torpedo boat only cost 700 Silver Lions each.

In fact, he could have bought 10 amphibious tanks or 10 torpedo boats. The problem was that there were few soldiers in the team who could drive tanks and speedboats. If he asked landlubbers to drive a boat, the best result would be that it would be stranded, or even turn into a bumper boat.

Zhang Chi encouraged himself in his heart: It would be great once we establish our own base. With a stable territory, we can train tank soldiers, speedboat soldiers and so on.

He now planned to take his team to the Langbunao Mountains in the north to establish a base. John's map showed that there was a small village built by immigrants from the Qian Kingdom.

The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and the raindrops hitting the sides of the ships and tanks made a low knocking sound, which, along with the gurgling sound of the river, created an inexplicable sense of oppression.

Zhang Chi wiped the rain off his face and looked at the soldiers in the cement boat.

Each simple cement boat carried dozens of soldiers. Zhang Chi saw fatigue and anxiety about the future in their eyes.

They wrapped themselves tightly in their soaked uniforms, or leaned against the side of the ship, silently using the cans in their hands, or stared blankly at the gloomy outline of the rainforest, their eyes blurred, as if all their thoughts had been washed away by the rain.

More soldiers were busy working silently, using their helmets to scoop out the rainwater accumulated in the cement boat one spoonful at a time.

"Not bad, they're all still energetic." Zhang Chi muttered to himself. After all, he didn't expect all of his soldiers to be as energetic as the older brothers on Etajima.

At this moment, several bloated corpses slowly floated down the river from upstream. The current pushed their bodies, making them appear and disappear on the water surface.

Hao Yi frowned and carefully pulled a corpse into the cement boat with a wooden paddle and examined it carefully.

The face of the corpse had long been swollen and deformed, and the skin had taken on a sickly purple bluish color, but the military uniform on his body was so familiar that it made Hao Yi feel distressed.

With rain pounding on his head, Hao Yi's face was grave. He picked up the radio and reported to Zhang Chi, "Your Excellency, those floating on the river are the bodies of our men. They appear to have been stabbed to death by the Japanese after their hands were tied behind their backs. Judging by the military insignia sewn on their clothes, they must be brothers from the 96th Division."

Hearing these words through the headphones on his head, Zhang Chi suddenly felt a sharp pain in his heart, and anger surged in his chest.

He clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white from the effort, and his teeth chattered.

He slowly squeezed out a few words from his throat: "Beast, a beast worse than pigs and dogs...", his voice filled with uncontrollable anger and grief.

He knew very well that these were probably soldiers of the 96th Division who had been captured by the Japanese on their retreat. The Japanese not only brutally executed these prisoners but also threw their bodies into the river.

It shouldn't be like this.

It shouldn't be like this. They shouldn't have died like this, far away from home, in this strange land, without even a place to be buried.

Poor Wuding Riverside Bone is still a spring boudoir dream.

These warriors who fought for their country were far away from their families and were even deprived of the right to rest. Their bodies could only drift miserably in this ruthless river.

At this moment, Zhang Chi only wanted to salvage these sacrificed soldiers, find a place to bury them, and let them rest in peace.

However, reason overcame emotion at this moment. These corpses had been soaked in the river for too long, carrying countless dangerous bacteria and viruses. Any careless contact could bring devastating damage to his troops. His team had just had a chance to survive. If they were wiped out by the plague, wouldn't those dead soldiers feel even more wronged?

"Keep moving forward and ignore these corpses." Zhang Chi ordered with a cruel heart, but he was in great pain inside.

He used a telescope to observe the countless corpses floating on the river. A few tears silently slid down from the corners of his eyes and mixed with the rain on his face.

The soldiers of the independent battalion were all in tears at this moment. Every soldier who died was their compatriot, but they could only watch the bodies drift with the waves and disappear on the water in the distance.

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The vegetation on both sides of the river was so dense that it seemed to swallow them up. The dense rainforest was like a huge silent witness, silently watching the team heading north.

The fleet sailed upstream for more than three hours.

Half of Zhang Chi's body was always outside the turret. He squinted his eyes and observed his surroundings through the rain.

Suddenly, his heart tightened - a lot of shadowy figures appeared vaguely in the rainforest on the west side of the river bank ahead.

He quickly raised his telescope to take a closer look.

The yellow tweed military uniforms and the iconic butt curtains reflected in Zhang Chi's eyes were particularly dazzling in the wet jungle. The outlines of rifles, machine guns, and grenade launchers were faintly visible in the dim light. There was no doubt that this was a group of Japanese soldiers.

The Japanese on the opposite side also seemed to see the fleet in the river here.

The two sides met on a narrow road, as if fate had pushed the two teams together.