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

"Report to the battalion commander, a group of fleeing refugees suddenly appeared in the north of the village. They are all our compatriots. Please come and take a look." The sentry hurriedly ran to Zhang Chi.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chi immediately took the village chief Liu Lesheng and followed the sentry to the north of the village.

Xinwangping Village is nestled between mountains and water, with mountains surrounding it to the east and north, a winding river to the west, and a dense tropical rainforest to the south. For safety reasons, Zhang Chi deployed several groups of visible and concealed sentries on the northeast, south, and northeast sides of the village.

When Zhang Chi ran to the north of the village and looked at the mountain pass in the distance, he saw a group of poor people emerging from the mountains one after another.

They were dressed in rags, with their families and wearing worn-out bags on their backs. It was obvious that they had fled from far away.

The several sentries stationed on the north slope of the mountain also seemed at a loss, not knowing whether to step forward to stop them or to help their compatriots.

Zhang Chi ordered in a deep voice, "Go find some more people to guard the north of the village. Don't let those fleeing into the village yet. Maintain order."

After saying that, he and the village chief walked towards the refugees.

After getting closer, Zhang Chi saw the condition of this group of people clearly.

Most of these refugees are the elderly, the weak, women and children. Many of them have pale and haggard faces, and the children are so thin that they seem like they will fall down with a gust of wind.

The children's clothes were already tattered, revealing their skin eroded by wind and rain.

Some women held their crying babies and kept comforting them with soft words; some old people leaned against tree trunks, groaning dejectedly.

Looking at their miserable condition, Zhang Chi felt that the scenes from the movie he had seen in his previous life, which depicted the escape from famine in Henan Province, suddenly flashed into reality. The cruel reality made him feel much more sad than the scenes in the movie.

"Where are you from?" he hurried forward and asked, his tone full of concern.

An elderly man stood out from the crowd. His eyes were bloodshot, and his voice was hoarse as he spoke haltingly, "Boss, we are from the village of Zokabang in the northwest... In the past... the Qian people and the Saka people always got along well and peacefully... But then the Japanese invaders came, and everything changed."

When he said this, his voice was full of helplessness and sadness.

Liu Lesheng, the village chief beside Zhang Chi, frowned and asked, "What did they do?"

The old man sighed, as if trying to control his emotions, and continued, "Several young Saka people in our village were bewitched by the Fuso devils and defected to them. They returned to the village with weapons and stole our houses, fields, and even our fishing boats... They forced us to leave and took over the entire village."

His voice became more and more trembling, and the refugees behind him also cried softly.

"We have nowhere to go, so we have to flee here...but we can't walk anymore." An elderly woman continued crying, her face full of wrinkles and her eyes full of despair.

Zhang Chi looked at these desperate villagers with a heavy heart. After the Japanese invaded Southeast Asia, all the Qian country immigrants who had lived and multiplied here suffered.

Many of the overseas Chinese here supported the domestic war of resistance, and therefore were hated by the Japanese. After the Japanese invaded, they persecuted these overseas Chinese madly.

He looked around and saw that these refugees had crossed mountains and rivers to get here. They had obviously reached their limit. If they didn't get any help, they might not be able to hold on for a few more days.

A sense of responsibility suddenly arose in his heart. 'With great ability comes great responsibility' was not just an empty saying to him.

Since he brought the system to the northern part of the Pegu Kingdom, in addition to driving away the Japanese invaders, he also has an obligation to do something for his compatriots here to make their lives better.

He looked at the village chief and said softly, "These people are so pitiful. We have to help them."

The village chief nodded and said, "Xinwangping Village will not stand by and watch someone die."

Zhang Chi turned to the old man and said, "Don't worry, you'll be safe here. Village Chief Liu Lesheng and I will arrange accommodation for you and provide you with food and water."

Hearing this, a glimmer of hope flashed in the eyes of the refugees who had been despairing. A young mother, holding her baby in her arms, said to Zhang Chi with tears in her eyes, "Thank you, thank you, Mr. President. You are truly a living Bodhisattva. You have given us hope to survive!"

Zhang Chi helped them not for their gratitude, but just to make himself feel better. Instead, he was more interested in eliminating the Japanese devils who entered Zokabang Village.

He pulled the old man over and asked, "Tell me in detail about the situation in Zokabang Village. Where are the young and strong men in your village? How many Japanese soldiers are stationed in your village? How many of the Saka people have defected to the Japanese? How many guns do they have in total? Do they have any artillery?"

"The devils...the devils have captured all the strong men in our village and forced them to help them clear a path through the rainforest. One devil with glasses said there's an ancient Saka temple on Mount Tapanji, further northwest of Zokabang Village. It was built a thousand years ago during the heyday of the Saka dynasty. It's said that the royal family and nobles of that time are buried there."

The young mother suddenly interrupted, "The Japanese leader said they wanted to do some archaeological research, so they took my man away and made him clear a path for them through the mountains. There were only about 40 of them, and there were seven or eight Saka relatives who had joined them. Boss, you have to make the decision for us."

As she said this, she was about to kneel down.

Zhang Chi hurriedly helped her up. He was determined to save his compatriots, but words like temple, archaeology, royal palace and nobles attracted his attention.

Although the Japanese talked about common prosperity, anyone with a discerning eye knew they were invading Southeast Asia to plunder its resources. The Japanese had suddenly set their sights on a temple deep in the mountains. Zhang Chi was certain they weren't after the temple's historical value, but rather the treasures buried inside.

Back then, the Saka dynasty was a minor power in Southeast Asia, and the treasures in the temple were likely quite substantial. Zhang Chi had previously collected a number of aircraft at the John airfield and was worried about lacking pilots. If he could acquire this batch of gold and silver, wouldn't he be able to exchange it for synthetic pilots from the system to fly the aircraft?

"Village Chief Liu, I'll leave these people to you. I'll have someone send some dry food and tents over later." Zhang Chi signaled Village Chief Liu to receive these refugees first.

He wants to focus on military affairs.

"Messenger, go and run to notify the three company commanders to come to the meeting."

After purchasing the M15 self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, as well as a lot of rations, waterproof canvas and tents, there were less than 6000 Silver Lion coins left in Zhang Chi's system. He felt that he needed to make some extra money, otherwise the landlord would have no surplus food.

However, before going out to fight, Zhang Chi planned to reorganize in Xinwangping Village first.

In this operation, Zhang Chi pulled back nearly a thousand defeated soldiers of the 96th Division. With the deterrent effect of the trial meeting, he believed that no one would dare to attack Ci in the short term.

The total strength of the independent battalion has now reached nearly 1300 people, and it is time to strengthen it into an independent regiment.