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

Chapter 255: The Final Battle of Mandalay (10) My blood type is written on the cuff of my uniform

The 12-strong Anmin Army surrounded the 5-strong enemy reinforcement group heading north.

Of the remaining nearly 8 security forces, more than 3 troops are stationed in important nodes such as Yenangyaung, Taunggyi, Lashio, and Meiktila.

Although Zhang Chi was certain that the Japanese had no additional troops, he still steadily built defense lines in these areas and protected his logistical routes.

After all, in the history of Chinese wars and world wars, there are many examples of countries being suddenly overwhelmed by surprise attacks when they had a great advantage, resulting in sudden defeats before complete victory. As a time traveler, Zhang Chi naturally understands this.

The closer you are to victory, the more cautious you should be.

This meant that the remaining less than 5 troops had to join the encirclement of the last less than 2 Japanese soldiers in Mandalay City, and the troops in Zhang Chi's hands were stretched to the limit.

So when the enemy commander Hao Yi reported to him that the Japanese were attacking southwards like crazy, intending to break the encirclement, Zhang Chi got angry for the first time:

"Difficult? Is it difficult to fight the Japanese? Did you, General Hao, become weak because the battle went so smoothly before?"

Inside the command center, Zhang Chi held the radio receiver and raised his voice.

"Are you backing down because of a few casualties?" Zhang Chi gripped the microphone tightly, his knuckles turning white. "I'm telling you, Hao Yi, I don't want any casualty figures."

Casualty figures? I don't want casualty figures. I just want you to hold this position and completely wipe out these devils. The liberation of Pegu is just around the corner. If you let these devils escape, you will be court-martialed!

After hanging up the phone angrily, Zhang Chi looked at the stunned staff members in the command center, realized that he had lost his composure, and quickly turned around and left, running out of the command center alone.

Looking up at the bright sun in the sky, Zhang Chi casually put a cigarette in his mouth.

The orderly Xiao Qi came out at some point and took out a lighter to light a cigarette for Zhang Chi at the right time.

Zhang Chi took a deep breath, swallowed all the smoke into his chest, then slowly exhaled and started coughing.

Zhang Chi naturally knew how capable the Japanese soldiers were when they went crazy and wanted to die together with their enemies.

Even the powerful White Eagle was afraid that the Japanese would fight to the death after landing on the island, so he chose to drop an atomic bomb to solve the problem.

Zhang Chi naturally understood how difficult it was for those troops who had gone to block the gap with a small group of people and how many casualties they had suffered. Those soldiers were simply using their flesh and blood to buy time for other friendly forces to encircle them.

However, as the old saying goes, 'Love your soldiers like sons and use them like mud'.

A truly strong army can only be forged in blood and fire.

As the first person in the Anmin Army and the real supreme leader who has the final say, Zhang Chi had to harden his heart and muster the courage to burn his boats and give a death order to Hao Yi to wrap the dumpling skin tightly.

Zhang Chi felt uncomfortable when he thought of the soldiers who shed blood on the battlefield because of his orders.

The battle on the front line will ultimately depend on the front-line commander Hao Yi and the brave soldiers themselves. Zhang Chi can only support them to the best of his ability.

After taking a few deep puffs of the cigarette in his hand, Zhang Chi adjusted his mentality. He threw away the cigarette butt in his hand, turned around and returned to the headquarters again.

Behind him, Xiao Qi picked up the cigarette butt on the ground, wrapped it with a handkerchief, and jogged to catch up with Zhang Chi.

Zhang Chi walked decisively to the map, took out a compass and ruler, and made a few strokes on the map. Then he suddenly pulled over a communicator and spoke a series of words:

"Connect me to Xinwangping Base, the Third Aviation School, and the 19th Maritime Search and Rescue Brigade."

The operator immediately ran to shake the magnetic telephone handle and asked the operator on the other side of the telephone line to connect the line.

"Did it work?"

Seeing the communicator nod, Zhang Chi immediately took the microphone and said, "Captain Bai, is this you? I'm Zhang Chi. How is your training going? How many crews can complete the landing and takeoff exercises on the inland river?"

"Seventeen groups?" Zhang Chi raised his eyebrows upon hearing this news, a hint of joy on his face. "Great, that's enough. Then you should immediately organize qualified crews and arrange enough PBM-1 seaplanes to fly to Mandalay."

"Yes, that's right. Just land on the Irrawaddy River." Zhang Chi nodded uncontrollably, microphone in hand. "I need you to carry out the mission of transporting the wounded."

As a rank I vehicle in the White Eagle tech tree in the War Thunder system, the PBM-1 'Sailor' seaplane (pictured at the end of the chapter, author's note) is located on the bomber line. It requires only 5900 research points and can be purchased for 6300 Silver Lions.

In the process of developing the navy, Zhang Chi naturally did not forget to develop ocean search and rescue forces. Whether a ship accidentally sank or a carrier-based aircraft crashed in the sea, a long-range seaplane was needed to search and rescue survivors.

Not to mention that large seaplanes can also be used as maritime patrol aircraft.

Since World War II submarines need to use diesel engines to sail on the sea surface to charge their batteries, whether it is Hans' Sea Wolf or the Japanese and White Eagle submarines, they all need to float on the sea surface half of the time.

而航程达 4,800 公里，又能携带4发1600磅（726kg）穿甲炸弹或6发500磅通常炸弹的PBM-1型‘水手’水上飞机自然完美符合执行这些任务的要求。

During the development of the III-level B-17 bomber, Zhang Chi developed the PBM-1. However, since the operating logic of seaplanes is different from that of landplanes, and Zhang Chi's control area is not along the coast, the 19th Water Search and Rescue Brigade had been in training before.

Zhang Chi knew that the fierce fighting on the front line of the Yangmiding encirclement was resulting in a large number of casualties every moment.

Many seriously injured soldiers could not receive effective treatment on the front line, and the field hospital led by Hao Xichuan was near Mandalay, 200 km away from Yangmyin, and it was definitely too late to transport them by land.

As for air transport, there is no available airport on the Yangmi Ding front line.

So in the end, Zhang Chi decided to send out seaplanes and let Hao Yi classify the wounded on the front line, and then concentrate the seriously injured who could not be treated by the front-line military doctors on the tributaries of the Madaya River near the front line. The PBM-1 seaplanes would take them back to the large field hospital in Mandalay for treatment.

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More than ten hours later, the roar of engines in the sky gradually became louder, and several huge seaplanes, as big as flying boats, circled and landed on the Irrawaddy River one after another. The ground support personnel who had been prepared long ago rushed forward bravely, and countless seriously injured people and stretchers were carried ashore.

Although Hao Xichuan, the leading military doctor of the Anmin Army with the rank of major general, has a gray beard, he is still fighting on the front line and coordinating and commanding in times of crisis.

Thanks to the experience brought by the time traveler Zhang Chi, all the soldiers of the Anmin Army have important information such as the soldier's code and blood type sewn on the chest and cuffs of their uniforms.

After being classified by frontline military doctors, each wounded soldier has a colored card, the color of which represents the soldier's criticality level, and the specific injury is written in small print on it.

"Move the red ones first. The red ones are the most urgent and must be treated first!" Hao Xichuan shouted loudly. The entire field hospital was in chaos yet in order, and the level identification on the colored cards was clear at a glance.

Suddenly, a nurse came running over: "Director Hao, the blood bank is in urgent need of blood. We don't have enough whole blood."

Zhang Chi, who happened to be inspecting the situation, heard about this and first pulled Xiao Qi, who was accompanying him, over and instructed him, "Go find Zhang Guangsong and ask him to immediately organize blood donations from various government agencies, schools, and factories. Don't leave out the military logistics personnel either."

After saying that, Zhang Chi pulled the nurse over and rolled up his sleeves: "Take mine first, I'm type A."