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

In order to cultivate sufficient military talents, the aggressive Fuso Kingdom established military academies such as the Army Junior School (elementary school), Army Officer School (middle school), and Army University (university) according to different age groups.

At this time, most of the Japanese generals and lieutenants had come through the ranks of small, medium and large.

The same was true of Lieutenant General Mutaguchi Ren'ya, commander of the 15th Division stationed on the border of Pegu, a typical product of the Fuso militarist education system.

Like many senior Fuso officers at the time, he underwent rigorous and systematic military training, and was instilled with blind militarism and the concept of aggression and expansion at a young age, and eventually was admitted to the Army University.

Since the Army Officers University only admitted a dozen people each year, Mutaguchi, who successfully passed the entrance exam, often touted himself as the elite among the elite.

Speaking of the Japanese Army University, this is a very famous war criminal training institution during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. Almost all the Japanese generals and high-ranking officials of the Army Headquarters graduated from this school.

Students at the Army University enter the university with the rank of second lieutenant, and generally graduate with the rank of captain after three years of study. After internship in the army, they can easily be promoted to major, and generally can be promoted to colonel within 10 years after graduation.

Officers who did not graduate from the Army University would have to wait for more than five years to be promoted to colonel.

In addition, mainland Chinese students can be awarded a "Chrysanthemum and Star" graduation badge upon graduation, which they will wear on their chest at all times.

Because this emblem resembles the coins issued during the Tenpo period of the Edo period in Japan, graduates of the Army University call themselves the "Tenpo Minami-gumi".

Since Army University graduates have priority in future promotions to colonel and general, elite "Tenpo-zen-gumi" members like Mutaguchi have great contempt for "non-Ten-gumi". (Abe Nobuhide was a non-Ten-gumi member who rose to general without ever attending Army University.)

However, recently the elite "Tenpo Qian Group", Mutaguchi, a graduate of the 29th class of the Army University, is very anxious.

After all, although he graduated from the Army University, whether he would eventually become one of the three highest-ranking officers in the Army, such as 'Minister of the Army, Chief of the General Staff and Director of Education', or retire with the rank of General, or be hastily sent to the reserve to sit on the bench with the current rank of Lieutenant General, all depends on his personal talent and luck.

Look at the geniuses of the same period.

Yamashita Tomoyuki, who graduated from the 28th class, and Ishiwara Kanji, who graduated from the 30th class, both made outstanding military achievements and were well-known. They were awarded the rank of general early on.

However, Mutaguchi himself was sent to Pegu to serve as a division commander stationed there when the fighting in Qianguo and South Pacific battlefields was at its most intense.

Failure, it’s a failure no matter what!

Mutaguchi, who considers himself an elite, looks at his colleagues who are rising rapidly, just like those students who can only rank in the top ten in exams every year but can never make it into the top three.

He was an elite but not so elite, and he began to feel extremely anxious inside.

He, Mutaguchi, can also make great contributions to the Locust Country, and he, Mutaguchi, also wants to make progress.

When Terauchi Hisaichi's combat order arrived, Mutaguchi was full of anticipation, thinking that he finally had the opportunity to make a contribution.

However, when the expectant Mutaguchi saw the battle plan of "encircling and annihilating Zhang Chi's troops from three directions", he was disappointed.

Go deep into the mountains to wipe out a guerrilla force?

Mutaguchi said that this achievement was too small. No matter how well-equipped the guerrillas were, the military merit of annihilating a small-scale force could not satisfy his appetite.

He did not think that this mission of suppressing guerrillas would bring him enough honor to be promoted to Army General and join the Army Department.

If Mutaguchi wanted to do something, he would do it on a big scale - he would squeeze out the current commander of the 15th Army, Shojiro Iida, through manipulation, and after becoming the commander of the 15th Army himself, he would directly lead his troops westward to the Imphal Plain.

He was going to launch a major campaign that would shock the world, to win the unparalleled honor of conquering Delhi for Tiannaohekal. (It was truly shocking, but it was only because of that famous quote about eating grass that it shocked people.)

So when nearly three months passed and it was December 42, winter had arrived in most countries in the northern hemisphere.

Mutaguchi, who was busy accumulating strength to attack Sindhu, only sent one regiment and one artillery battalion to join the three-way siege in a "very perfunctory" manner.

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As Bago enters the 'cool season' in December, rainfall decreases significantly and the average temperature drops to 27 degrees.

The sweltering heat and humidity common in tropical rainforests have disappeared, making it a great time for travel or launching large-scale campaigns.

More than 3500 people, including the Takamoto Takuma Regiment of the 15th Division under Mutaguchi Ren'ya and an artillery battalion equipped with 12 75mm Type 38 field guns, first took a train from Mandalay to Indo along the railway left by the colonist John.

Then they set out on foot and marched into the northern mountains.

Although the road was no longer muddy, the team was not moving very fast.

Night soon fell, and the squad where the new recruit Jiro Furui was located also set up tents under the command of the sergeant and gathered around the campfire to prepare for dinner.

"December 13, 1949. The weather was fine, a perfect day for fishing."

Before dinner, Jiro Furui took out a pencil and wrote in his diary.

Although serious people don't write diaries, after all, diaries are obviously written for oneself, but the owner of a diary always expects that his or her inner thoughts will be seen by others, and is therefore ridiculed as "lowly".

However, Jiro Furui, a new recruit who has just been in the army for two months, still enjoys writing his diary because he has someone to confide in.

"Yoko-san, you wouldn't believe it, but in this country close to the equator, all the trees and vegetation are still green in December. The temperature is also very comfortable, without any sense of winter cold at all."

Jiro Furui, 18 years old, is a student. (The age is not quite right, please don't mind)

You can tell from his name that he is the second son in the family.

As the child of an ordinary fisherman, he entered middle school thanks to the compulsory education implemented by Fuso, but was bullied due to his thin body and fell into darkness.

Fortunately, his classmate Yoko's care and concern for him rekindled his life. (The Japanese had coeducational schools during the Taisho era.)

However, Jiro Furui did not enjoy his happy campus life for long.

Due to the continuous blood loss on the battlefield of Qianguo, the Japanese army's conscription standards were lowered again and again in 42. A skinny and bespectacled boy like Furui Jiro actually received a conscription letter after school one day.

"Although I'm being bullied by the veterans here and being called a 'useless four-eyed old well,' I'm reassured that I can keep going as long as I think about the monthly salary I'll receive going into my savings." (The Japanese infantry only receive a small monthly salary, and the rest is forced into savings, which is only paid upon retirement. But what about retirement...)

"When I retire, I will withdraw all my savings, go to Kyoto or Osaka to find a job, and then marry..."

Having written this, Furui Jiro increased the force of his pen, but accidentally broke the pencil tip.

Jiro Furui quickly put down his diary, took out a knife and prepared to sharpen his pencil, but was interrupted by the squad leader (equivalent to the class monitor).

"Hey, useless Four Eyes, come here and have your meal." Sergeant Shima Qi (equivalent to a sergeant), the squad leader who had served three years beyond his term, yelled at him viciously.

Jiro Furui had no choice but to put away his diary and pencil, take out his Type 92 lunch box (picture at the end of the chapter, author said) and go to get his meal.