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

After Hao Yi brought back nearly 2000 defeated soldiers of the Fifth Army from the Wild Man Mountain, Zhang Chi's independent regiment now had more than 3000 soldiers, and he was finally worthy of the title of regimental commander.

With sufficient manpower, Xinwangping Village, originally an ordinary Qian country overseas Chinese village, has been completely transformed into a well-organized large-scale military camp by large-scale civil engineering.

The wilderness and jungle outside the village have long been replaced by densely packed buildings and defense facilities.

Under the careful planning of the new chief of staff of the regiment, Tan Zhijie, the plain in the river valley has been transformed into an impregnable military fortress.

The layout of the entire military camp is well-organized, and the functional areas are clearly divided.

In the central area is the soldiers' accommodation area, where large wooden dormitories on stilts are neatly arranged, each of which can accommodate at least 30 soldiers.

Even the most ordinary soldiers of the independent regiment can enjoy the rare cleanliness and comfort.

Next to the accommodation area, there are also special bathhouses and laundry rooms. The abundant water supply from the tributaries of the Mailikai River allows soldiers to enjoy a moment of cleanliness and comfort after their intense training.

To the east of the accommodation area is the spacious canteen area and field hospital area.

On the west side of the military camp is the office area and command center, which is the heart of the entire military camp.

Zhang Chi's regimental headquarters moved into several small cement buildings that were urgently poured. These buildings were heavy and low-key.

In order to prevent the Japanese air raids, Zhang Chi also had people dig an underground shelter under the regiment headquarters.

As the regiment's chief of staff, Tan Zhijie leads Qi Quan's staff cadet class to the newly established war situation room almost every day to study the latest battle situation and adjust strategic plans.

Along the perimeter of the camp, Zhang Chi also set up numerous defensive fortifications.

Barbed wire, trenches, roadblocks, bunkers, a defense node can be seen almost every ten meters or so.

Semi-underground permanent machine gun bunkers and 2-pound gun shelters made of poured cement were scattered around the perimeter of the camp.

There are tall wooden sentry towers and searchlights in every corner outside the military camp.

In the sentry tower, soldiers stand guard with guns day and night, always keeping a high level of vigilance.

The entire military camp has a guard post every five steps and a sentry every ten steps. The sentries have sharp eyes and are always on guard against possible raids.

The rainforest southeast of the military camp has been completely transformed into a vast training ground, where soldiers without combat missions sweat profusely every day.

On the infantry training ground, you can see neat formations and hear the officers' stern commands every day.

Zhang Chi, Tan Zhijie and Qi Quan specially developed a new training outline for the soldiers of the independent regiment based on their own memories and the military academy curriculum.

Many veterans who had been drafted into the military in their own country and had been fighting in the war learned for the first time that military service also required training.

Here they practiced techniques and tactics such as assassination, shooting, crawling, and attacking formations.

After experiencing previous failures, the new chief of staff, Tan Zhijie, finally made up his mind to focus on training and demanded that every move of the soldiers be precise.

Next to the infantry training ground is the mobile vehicle training ground. LVT-A1 amphibious tanks and other vehicles shuttle back and forth on the muddy ground, and new drivers continue to practice how to control these steel behemoths in complex terrain.

The cross-country training ground is located in the mountainous area in the northwest corner of the military camp. The rugged terrain and complex obstacle settings provide excellent physical training conditions for the soldiers.

Each soldier must complete several kilometers of cross-country running while crossing trenches, climbing high walls, and passing through narrow spaces under barbed wire. All of this is done under extreme pressure to ensure that they can maintain calmness and endurance on the battlefield.

In addition, there is a small airport next to the military camp.

At the airport, a newly poured two-story concrete tower overlooks the runway.

Although this runway is not long, it is enough to provide takeoff and landing support for front-line fighter jets.

As soon as Bai Minghui gets the gold in the temple, Zhang Chi will immediately use the gold to exchange for pilots and gold planes to form his own air force to provide protection for the base after the rainy season and intercept the Japanese bombers.

Zhang Chi also deployed 16 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns throughout the military camp to deal with the Japanese air threat and prevent any enemy planes attempting to bomb the camp at low altitude from approaching.

Fortunately, it is still the rainy season in the Kingdom of Pegu, with strong winds and heavy rains coming from time to time, and the Japanese planes have no chance to take off.

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When Zhang Guangsong of the Pegu Detachment of the Nanyang Young Overseas Chinese Volunteer Army saw this huge and busy military camp, he found it hard to imagine that this place was a quiet village not long ago.

He was arranged by the soldiers of the independent regiment in the reception area outside the barracks and could only vaguely see the scene inside the barracks through the barbed wire.

However, even when he heard the faint chants of "one, two, one" coming from afar, he could imagine the scene of these soldiers training hard.

Being able to persist in training in a foreign country must mean that they are a strong army with high morale, right?

As Zhang Guangsong was thinking this, he saw a colonel in a green military uniform with three stars on his collar badge walk in.

He immediately went up to him and spoke without hesitation: "Colonel, to make a long story short, our Southeast Asian Youth Overseas Chinese Volunteer Army's Pegu Detachment Captain Zhang Guangjun has been captured by the Japanese. I request your assistance in rescuing him from the prisoner-of-war camp in Naupi Town."

Zhang Chi was stunned for a moment, frowning slightly, and replied in a rather unfriendly tone: "Why? I'm not your servant. If you ask me to go, I have to go?"

He muttered to himself, this kid in front of him looked young, why was he so rude when asking for help?

It can't be that he thinks that as a soldier of Qian Country, he has an obligation to rescue them, right?

Zhang Guangsong didn't flinch and responded bluntly, "Because you need us. I went to the nearby villages to inquire about your actions and roughly understood your plans, so I believe you need the help of us local tyrants."

This immediately piqued Zhang Chi's interest. His expression eased slightly, and he nodded calmly, motioning Zhang Guangsong to continue.

"You established a large military camp here instead of returning home. You also distributed Fuso rifles to the Qianguo expatriates in the surrounding villages, asking them to form a self-defense force to protect themselves."

He paused briefly, observing Zhang Chi's reaction, and then continued:

"You also forced the landlords to reduce rent and interest, and used force to demand that the local leaders not interfere with the land reclamation work of the Qian country immigrants. I guess you want to put down roots here, right?"

Zhang Chi nodded slightly, although he had no intention of hiding his thoughts.

But the young man could guess directly that he already had a little more appreciation for the young man in his heart.

"And then?" he responded briefly.

Zhang Guangsong calmly continued his analysis: "You have guns and military force, but in this foreign country, other than the guerrillas and local villagers, you probably don't have many reliable sources of intelligence, right?"

He leaned forward slightly and lowered his voice. "As for us, the Nanyang Zhang family, from Singapore to Malaysia to Mandalay, we have people and businesses everywhere. As long as we provide money, intelligence, and high-quality talents, whether they are the current Fuso people or the future John people, you can kick them out and establish yourself here."