Early in the morning, the people of Chanda saw dozens of trucks with white wreaths slowly driving past. On them stood many soldiers in formal attire. They were neatly dressed and held rifles with bayonet in their hands. They stood on the trucks with solemn expressions.
More soldiers followed behind, following the truck slowly. Everyone looked on solemnly. They all knew that the most important thing on the truck was not the soldiers with guns, but the coffins inside. They were all dead soldiers. Their homes were in the occupied areas and could not be sent back.
The car arrived at a barren mountain. Zhou Heng had already asked Lin Yi to find migrant workers to clean up the barren mountain. There were 267 graves dug on the mountain, and a three-meter-high monument was erected at the entrance of the mountain road. Monument to the fallen soldiers of the expeditionary army.
The coffins were personally carried up the mountain by the soldiers. Someone threw paper money behind them. When the coffins were all sent into the graves and buried, Zhou Heng solemnly shouted," Everyone, observe a three-minute silence. The soldiers will fire their guns!”
Sixty-four ceremonial soldiers raised their guns and fired at the Nu River. They used blank bullets mainly to hear the sound and send off the fallen soldiers.
The soldiers had never participated in such a funeral before. In the past, when their comrades died, they would just casually find a place to bury them. The commander would not care about their deaths. It was already good enough that they were given a coffin. There would not be such a grand ceremony. Everyone felt that if they died with such etiquette, it would be worth it.
"The moment of silence is over. Those who know each other, go send your comrades on their last journey. The dead rest in peace. We will inherit their will and defeat the Japanese.”
This was a vow in front of the dead. It was also a promise that they would definitely defeat the Japanese.
Those who knew him would go to the tombstones and say a few words. Those who didn't know him would look at them one by one. Zhou Heng stood not far away and looked at the mountain. He didn't know how many more soldiers 'ashes would be buried here.
"The ashes of the soldiers that can be sent home must be delivered accurately. If you can't find them, bring them back and bury them here. By the way, the 30 transport planes promised by Stilwell will be delivered today. Lin Yi, go inform He Jinming.”Zhou Heng instructed Lin Yi beside him.
Stilwell and Zhou Heng reached a deal. At the cost of 30 C47 transport planes and two regiments of Army equipment, he obtained the command of the Nu Jiang victory. Zhou Heng would be the deputy commander. Stilwell was overjoyed by this deal. He had the right to distribute the equipment for the aid to China. This was a small matter, and this meritorious service could completely stabilize his position and even promote him to general.
"Yes, I'll do it immediately." After saying that, Lin Yi saluted and left.
Zhou Heng turned to Meng Fan." How many soldiers are willing to stay?"”
Meng Fan, who was in charge of this matter, quickly reported," There are more than 6,740 people who are willing to stay, and more than 1,700 people want to leave. Oh right, some of the refugees want to join us, and there are also students who have heard about our deeds. There may be hundreds of them."”
With so many people willing to stay, Zhou Heng was very satisfied. This way, the structure of his team was confirmed. It was just that there was still a gap in his expected 30,000 people. However, this was also simple. He just needed to recruit soldiers. At this time, as long as you were willing to pay, you could have as many soldiers as you had.
"Train them as soon as possible. Divide out the artillery, tank, engineer, and infantry and add them in. The tank company will be expanded into a tank regiment, the howitzer company will be expanded into an artillery regiment, and the engineer company will be expanded into an engineer regiment. There will also be reconnaissance, communications, and so on.”Zhou Heng felt a headache coming on.
With the development of military technology, the army became more and more complicated. It was not easy to build a complete army.
"Alright, I'll do it immediately after the funeral.”Meng Fan replied.
Zhou Heng nodded. Meng Fan was a very organized person, except his mouth was a little poisonous.
At this time, Yu City received a battle report from the allied command. It was announced that General Stilwell led the Third Independent Regiment of the Expeditionary Force to block two Japanese regiments at the Nantian Gate of the Nujiang River and killed more than 4,000 enemies. At the same time, they sent photos of General Stilwell on the battlefield, collected the corpses of the Japanese soldiers, and the spoils of war.
The presidential palace in Yucheng soon received the battle report and photos. When he saw the photo of Stilwell and the soldiers of the Third Regiment, and the many Japanese corpses and spoils of war, the bald man immediately cursed," Motherf * cker, what's going on? What's going on with the Third Regiment? Why did Stilwell take the credit for such a great victory?"”
The conflict between Baldy and Stilwell was very big, mainly because of the command of the expeditionary force and the distribution of materials. Stilwell hoped that he could command the Chinese, American and British troops, while Baldy hoped to hold the command of the expeditionary force tightly in his hands. His desire for power was very big.
Then, there was the distribution of supplies. Baldy hoped that Milijian would give China a large amount of aid on account of the fact that China had fought against the Japanese for many years. However, almost all the sea and land transportation routes to China had been cut off, and no matter how much aid they sent, they could not send it.
Stilwell wanted to concentrate his forces on attacking the Japanese army in Nanyang, while Baldy wanted to send the supplies to China and let him distribute them. It was impossible for there to be no conflict. Both sides were fighting for leadership.
The presidential palace sent a telegram to question the 3rd Regiment, and the 3rd Regiment replied that they had sent a battle report a few days ago. At that time, they replied that they had falsely reported their military achievements, so they could only send the battle report to the alliance command.
This time, the bald man broke through his defense and cursed in the mansion. Such a big victory could have been a good bargaining chip for him to ask the US military to strengthen assistance. Now, it was given to Stilwell for nothing. It was impossible for him not to be angry. The officer on duty in the telegram room at that time was beaten to the end.
At the same time, he called back to the 3rd Regiment, asking Zhou Heng to go to Yu City to receive the honor. He had to promote Zhou Heng to a general, and at the same time, the 3rd Regiment would be expanded to the 3rd Division of the expeditionary army. However, their commanding rights had to be given to Du Yuming, and they couldn't be under the command of the Alliance Army Headquarters.
When Zhou Heng received the telegram, he was still inspecting the construction works at the Southern Heavenly Gate. When he saw that the telegram said that he was going to Yu City to be awarded a medal, he shook his head. He would not go to Yu City. He did not know what would happen if he went. However, he could accept the expansion and the medal.
So he called back and said that the Japanese army had regrouped by the Nu River. The war was tight and they could not go to Yu City. The medal could be sent over. At the same time, he asked the government to publicize this victory and let the 3rd Regiment show their face.
If they agreed and the Japanese came again, they would have to fight. If they won again, they had to get the credit. Therefore, as long as Zhou Heng's request was not too excessive, the government of the People's Party would agree.
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