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

After successfully conquering the entire territory of the Kingdom of Pegu, the entire South Seas region - including the Indochina Peninsula, the Malay Peninsula, the Dutch East Indies, Siam and Pegu - has completely fallen under the control of the Fuso Kingdom.

In this vast land, abundant resources such as rubber, oil, zinc, copper, silver, gold, and rice provide a steady supply of material support for Fuso to continue expanding their war machine.

Despite this, Fuso's aggressive ambitions did not stop.

The Battle of Pegu had just ended when the southern army of Fuso began to plot a larger action - to invade the Sindhu Kingdom in the South Asian continent to the west.

They had heard that the land contained more gold, richer food reserves, and a large, compliant local population, and seemed easier to conquer.

Such rich spoils made the top leaders of the Fuso army salivate.

At this moment, the spearhead of the Southern Army, the 33rd Division under the Japanese 15th Army was stationed in Xinpingyang (a city built by immigrants from Yunnan Province, later assigned to John's Pegu) northwest of Pegu, confronting the colonial army of John's Sindhu across the Arakan Mountains.

It was not that the arrogant commander of the 33rd Division, Lieutenant General Sakurai Shozo, became uncharacteristically cautious and unwilling to take the initiative to attack.

Rather, the 33rd Division was in an awkward situation of lack of supplies.

It is the rainy season now, and the border area between Bago and Sindhu is rugged and covered with dense jungles, making transportation extremely inconvenient.

Although the Fuso army was victorious in Burma, they were now in deep logistical trouble, with supply lines fragile and frequently harassed.

Zhang Chi naturally knew all this.

He had intelligence from the Allied forces and the guerrillas in his hands, and knew clearly that the Japanese supply routes in the northern mountains were riddled with holes.

The railways and roads from Mandalay to Myitkyina were often destroyed by the remaining John agents, making the transportation of supplies by land extremely difficult.

Especially with the rainy season, the muddy roads almost paralyzed all transportation. The Japanese had to slow down and stop in Xinpingyang to collect supplies and stockpile weapons again, waiting for the rainy season to pass before preparing to continue advancing to the northeast of Shentu.

The 33rd Division's goal was clear: to capture the Assam region of John's Sindhu region and seize Imphal and Kohima, two strategic fulcrums northeast of Sindhu. (Historically, due to the outbreak of the Guadalcanal Campaign, seaborne supplies were concentrated on the Battle of Imphal, and the Japanese did not launch the Battle of Imphal until 42.)

As long as the 33rd Division can cross the Arakan Mountains, it will enter the plains south of the southern Himalayas.

Therefore, the control of these two cities will determine whether the Japanese can open the door to the Sindhu Plain and then capture the prosperous central Sindhu.

At present, General Stevenson is coordinating the deployment of the Sindhu Division of the John people on the border while accelerating the reorganization and retraining of the remnants of the expeditionary force.

Both the Allied Forces and the Fuso Army are racing against time, and the balance of war will depend on which side is ready for battle first.

So, Stevenson issued the first order to Zhang Chi through special envoy James - to delay the offensive preparations of the Japanese 33rd Division.

Essentially, Stevenson wanted Zhang Chi to launch a larger attack on the 33rd Division's supply lines. However, Zhang Chi was planning to make a big news—he had his eyes on the Japanese airfield.

According to intelligence, he learned that in a hidden valley southeast of Xinpingyang, far away from the front line, the Japanese were secretly building a front-line airport to provide air support for the subsequent Sindhu Campaign.

A fighter squadron of the Fuso Army's 5th Aviation Division is currently stationed in this newly built airport. Once the airport facilities are fully completed and more fighter jets and bombers are stationed there, Fuso's air power north of Pegu will be greatly enhanced.

On the map, Xinpingyang is less than 100 kilometers away from Zhang Chi's independent regiment's headquarters. Although there are the long Wild Man Mountain Range and Kumen Ridge between the two sides, how can one tolerate others snoring next to one's bed?

Zhang Chi decided to strike preemptively before the Japanese were fully prepared.

Taking advantage of the fact that the Japanese planes were unable to engage in combat in the rain and the airport defense facilities were still under construction, he wanted to destroy the airport in one fell swoop, destroy all the Japanese fighter planes parked on the ground, and weaken their air power.

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January 7st

Late at night, the sky was covered with thick clouds and raindrops fell on the ground.

Zhang Chi stood in the rain, gazing at the valley in the distance.

At this time, he already knew the terrain and defense situation of the Japanese new airport.

An "unknown" kind-hearted person, who was a senior spy lurking in the Japanese army, provided him with key intelligence.

This enables him to launch targeted operations.

He quickly assembled the independent regiment and decided to take the water route directly to the east of Xinpingyang.

Although the rainy season brings many difficulties to transportation, it is a natural cover for Zhang Chi's independent regiment.

No matter how clever the Japanese were, they could not have predicted that in this stormy weather, Zhang Chi would lead his troops in amphibious tanks and torpedo boats to quietly pass through the Mailikai River and Tanai River, bypass the Kumen Ridge, and approach their hinterland.

尤其是在购买了20辆LVT-A1两栖坦克和10艘PT-6鱼雷艇并简单培训了足够的驾驶员后，张弛的单次水路投送能力已经达到了近500人，这对于接下来的战斗至关重要。

Everything was ready, and Zhang Chi personally gave the order: "Everyone, let's go!"

Battalion Commander Hao Yi followed closely behind, bringing a group of elite veterans carefully selected from the first battalion and carrying a full set of John-type light weapons, and boarded the amphibious tank in the rain.

Next came the artillery company of the "Mountain Cannon". They carried four captured Japanese 90 mortars and four John 3-inch mortars and boarded the torpedo boat happily.

This was the first time their artillery company participated in actual combat after nearly a month of training, and they all had a vague sense of anticipation for the upcoming battle.

Finally, it was Xiaoqi and the guard platoon's turn. They boarded the last few torpedo boats with vacant space.

Zhang Chi boarded the familiar "Mallard No. 1" amphibious tank, a vehicle operated by a synthetic human driver that had accompanied him through countless life and death situations.

In fact, although the independent regiment now has 24 LVT-A1 amphibious tanks and has formed two amphibious armored companies, the only vehicles that can truly undertake combat missions are still the Mallard No. 1-4 vehicles operated by the old crew.

The new 20 LVT-A1 amphibious tanks are only equipped with urgently trained drivers and mechanics, and can actually only perform transport tasks.

Soon, the leading torpedo boats went down the river to the south and quickly disappeared in the night and jungle.

Then the amphibious tanks slid into the river one after another. The roar of their engines was drowned out by the sound of rain, and the huge steel torrent advanced silently towards its predetermined target.