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

The radio waves traveled thousands of miles and returned from the territory of Sindhu, carrying the judgment of fate.

Bai Minghui's fingertips slid rapidly across the code book, and his heart beat faster, because every dot and line symbol on this small piece of paper carried their fate.

As soon as the pencil in his hand paused, everyone in the room would fall into silence.

Everyone held their breath, only the faint sound of pen strokes on paper could be heard, waiting for the unpredictable future.

When he translated the first sentence of the call back, his hands trembled and his whole body froze.

"I have received your notification that, in the name of General Stevenson, Supreme Commander of the Allied Theater Command, Zhang Chi is being promoted to Colonel effective immediately."

"I got a promotion?" Zhang Chi was standing behind Qi Quan. After seeing the English sentence he wrote word by word, he asked directly.

"Yes, sir, please don't interrupt me. I need to translate the whole text as soon as possible."

Zhang Chi put his hands behind his back and wanted to complain when he heard this - you are not a beautiful female spy from the Military Control Commission, why should I butt in.

But he still touched his nose, remained silent, and stood quietly by the side waiting patiently for Bai Minghui's work.

A few minutes later, Bai Minghui handed the translation to Zhang Chi. "It's all translated, sir."

Zhang Chi took the telegram, quickly scanned its contents, a hint of joy in his eyes, and then he read the telegram aloud to everyone:

"The Allied Theater Command has ordered Colonel Zhang Chi to establish an independent regimental-level battle group in the mountainous area north of the Kingdom of Pegu. This regimental-level battle group will be under the direct leadership of General Stevenson, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Theater Command. Specific officer appointments can be drafted by Colonel Zhang Chi and sent to the headquarters for approval."

This order was very much to Zhang Chi's liking. Being directly under Stevenson meant that he was no longer subject to the constraints of his White Party superiors. The generous Stevenson also gave him the right to promote junior officers on his own, which was exactly the situation he had dreamed of.

The message continued: "Colonel Zhang Chi has the right to unconditionally demand that all Allied officers and soldiers below the rank of colonel scattered in the Kingdom of Pegu join his battle group and continue to fight against the Fuso Army."

Zhang Chi couldn't help but chuckle inwardly. The soldiers scattered across the Pegu Kingdom's rainforest weren't just the expeditionary forces; they also included Allied pilots, John colonial troops, colonial civil servants, and American military observers. This order gave Zhang Chi the authority to command them all. Of course, whether they obeyed the order depended on Zhang Chi's tactics.

"Please send the specific location of your unit to the Allied Theater Command and establish a field airfield as soon as possible. A special envoy from the command and supplies will be sent to your unit by air."

After reading this sentence, Zhang Chi thought to himself that although the terrain of the northern mountainous area is rugged, if he can make full use of the tactics behind enemy lines, he can indeed turn defense into offense.

"Field airport, air supply, and using supply to control this army, is this Stevenson's idea?" Zhang Chi raised the corners of his mouth slightly. If his independent regiment was really just an ordinary army, then Stevenson's plan was indeed good.

Unfortunately, he is a systematic man, and Stevenson cannot truly control him and his independent regiment by relying solely on card supply.

The benefits were mentioned at the beginning of the telegram, and it was time to make demands at the end. After all, the rank of colonel cannot be given for free, right?

"In the near future, your unit will need to gather the defeated soldiers and prepare for battle. Other specific combat instructions will be conveyed by the special envoy of the headquarters."

General Stevenson's reply was generally what Zhang Chi had expected. As a time traveler, he knew very well what Stevenson was thinking at that time. The other party was in urgent need of victory to get rid of the impact of the fall of Pegu on his reputation.

So he catered to the other party's needs and indeed received a good reward.

The current four-star general also wants to make progress. He needs to make some achievements in Southeast Asia in order to climb to the fifth star he has been dreaming of.

If the battle group behind enemy lines under his direct command could inflict heavy damage on the Fuso people in this darkest hour when all the troops were silent, then he would undoubtedly be featured in Time magazine and even become the cover character.

In the democratic country of Bald Eagle, whether you can be promoted as a general does not only depend on your skills in fighting, but also on your ability in propaganda.

Thinking of this, Zhang Chi couldn't help but sneer.

He had seen the future—an independent battle group under his command, wreaking havoc on this war-torn land.

And Stevenson, far away in Sindhu, was probably already prepared to make another five-star general's confident declaration to history: "I left Pegu, but I will be back."

"Sir, in addition to the theater headquarters, should we also notify the country?" Qi Quan had already understood Zhang Chi's plan, and raised the final question as if he had done his best and left the rest to fate.

"In order to prevent the Japanese from eavesdropping on our intelligence, we will not contact the country until we obtain the code book that can be used to communicate with the country." Zhang Chi waved his hand and rejected this suggestion. How could he survive if he contacted the country? He was reluctant to send more than 1000 of his men back to be cannon fodder.

Qi Quan nodded and said nothing more.

He had no objection to staying in Pegu and accepting the command of General Bald Eagle. His home was in Chuncheng, and fighting the Japanese in Pegu was also a way to defend his hometown.

----

One day later, Zhang Chi stood at the entrance of the village and watched Hao Yi's first battalion and the logistics company, along with several ox carts and donkey carts borrowed from the village, line up to cross the river in the west and head towards the northwest.

Now is a window of development and time is fleeting. Zhang Chi has to race against time to divide the newly hastily reorganized independent regiment into four parts and assign tasks to them respectively.

His time is running out.

Previously, a large force of nearly 1.5 people from the 5th Army, led by the army commander, destroyed all heavy baggage and entered the primeval forest of the Savage Mountain carrying only 5 days of dry food and light weapons.

Historically, only more than 2000 troops who entered the Wild Man Mountains finally entered the territory of Sindhu with the support of the Sindhu Allied Forces.

Due to underestimation of the enemy's fear of the primeval forest, the 114-day retreat from the Savage Mountain became the biggest disaster the expeditionary force experienced during this overseas campaign.

In his previous life, Zhang Chi had seen many news reports about hikers who had accidents while crossing various primeval forests and mountainous areas. He knew that in the primeval forests during the rainy season, hypothermia, hunger, lack of sleep, falling off cliffs, dysentery, and poisonous snakes could all be fatal.

So, after gaining the power to recruit defeated soldiers at will, he set his sights on these wild troops who had lost their way in the mountains.

The 5th Army has just entered the Savage Mountains not long ago, and many of the rearguard troops should still be on the edge of the Savage Mountains.

If Hao Yi's first battalion sets out immediately, it will most likely bring back thousands of defeated soldiers, which will not only save the lives of these poor soldiers, but also enhance the combat effectiveness of his independent regiment.

As Zhang Chi was thinking this, he found Hao Yi walking in front of him.

He patted the Guangxi man on the shoulder, helped him straighten his camouflage raincoat, and said:

"From today on, Old Hao, you're the acting major battalion commander. When that damn special envoy arrives, you'll be the real major. Work hard, bring back a few more brothers, and don't embarrass me."

Hao Yi saluted with a red face, said nothing, turned around and ran towards his team.

Zhang Chi looked at his back and became worried for no reason.

Can a small force of more than 400 people really complete the mission successfully in the vast primeval forest of Savage Mountain?

Zhang Chi is a war game fan. In addition to "War Thunder", he has also played many war games with World War II backgrounds such as "Company of Heroes", "Men of War", "Hearts of Iron" and "Steel Division".

In the game, soldiers are just a string of numbers. He can command them to kill the enemy's army with just the movement of the mouse. Even if all of them are lost, he can just load the game and start over.

However, in reality, there is no chance to reload the file and start over.

Zhang Chi clearly realized that every soldier under his command was a living being with joys, sorrows, anger and happiness.

'Love your soldiers like your own sons' is easy for a modern college student like him, but what about 'use your soldiers like mud'?