The battle situation in northern Burma at the L Headquarters of the Xinpingyang Expeditionary Force was no longer the stage of stalemate between the expeditionary force and the Japanese army, and after the 38th and 22nd divisions were pressed by the army, Yubang and Daluo had been conquered one after another. The 18th Division, the main force of the Japanese army in northern Burma, was already shrinking its strength, relying on Mengguan and Waruban, which were only 12 miles apart, and arranging the 55th and 56th infantry wings into a formation of layers of resistance, and putting on a posture of stubbornly defending the Hukang Valley. In fact, this is all an illusion posed by the 18th Division, and their real intention is to take advantage of the short distance between Mengguan and Waruban, open the middle gate to lure the expeditionary force to attack the fortified Mengguan, and then gather the main force to go around the flank and rear of the expeditionary force, in an attempt to annihilate the expeditionary force at Mengguan, which is in dangerous terrain.

Naturally, the bigwigs in the headquarters are not so easy to coax, and they have been fighting with the Japanese army for many years, so this little trick can still be seen. Therefore, the headquarters sent a newly formed tank battalion and a heavy artillery regiment that had completed training to cooperate with the 22nd Division to attack Mengguan, while the 38th Division took out two regiments and placed them on the outside of the 22nd Division to provide flank protection for the attacking 22nd Division. Since the battle situation ahead was already extremely favorable to the expeditionary force, the bigwigs decided to move the headquarters forward to Xinpingyang, which not only boosted morale but also facilitated command.

Edward, who had just been transferred back to the headquarters, was a little unaccustomed to the life of the headquarters, and when he was in the company, he spent every day thinking about how to take advantage of the Japanese in the firefight and reduce his own casualties. However, in the report of the headquarters, those casualties became simple figures, and the bigwigs just glanced at them casually for a few moments, and then put the report aside and ignored it. This is completely different from what Edward experienced in the direct company, after the casualties in the direct company, everyone will be silent, will scold their mother, will get drunk, will cry, everyone will regard the people who died in the battle as their own brothers, they will never be as indifferent as the big guys.

"Okay, that's it here, in a few days, you'll get used to it, I was the same as you are now" Wallace, who was already a colonel, patted Edward's back comfortingly. You can only be very careful when you talk in the headquarters, there are too many staff officers here, everyone is climbing up with their heads sharpened, as long as you don't pay attention to it, you will become a stepping stone for others to move up. But Edward is different, he is a guy who has experienced life and death in battle with Wallace, so Wallace does not need to wear a mask for the time being when facing him.

"I knew that this was the case, I would have stayed in the direct company, at least I could fight with Zhao and them every day" Edward threw Wallace a cigar and lit one himself, influenced by Zhao Zhi, Edward also loved cigars.

"I'm afraid it's not right now" Wallace looked at his friend's depressed face with a grin, "You're about to become a lieutenant colonel, but Zhao is still only a major, you go back to the company, who cares about the two of you?" Those guys under Zhao only listen to him, can you guarantee to control them? Wallace's words made Edward even more depressed. In order to better contain the directly subordinate company, the bigwigs of the headquarters actually transferred themselves back to the headquarters and promoted their military rank to lieutenant colonel, which blocked their way back to the direct company in disguise. And in order to promote himself, he actually attributed the achievements of his direct company to himself, fortunately, Zhao Zhi sent a telegram saying that he didn't mind the matter, but Edward was still ashamed.

"Don't worry, Zhao won't blame you" Wallace turned his head to look at the busy soldiers in the distance, "You still don't really know Zhao, he's a very interesting guy." How can a guy who can value the lives of soldiers so much be a stingy person? Don't forget, he gave us a lot of gold bars, enough money for him to go to any country and live comfortably for the rest of his life. He did this for the sake of his subordinates who have been following him, which is why I am willing to help him, if you really regard Zhao as a friend, you should gain a foothold here, so that you can better help him."

Wallace left, leaving Edward alone on the corridor in contemplation, at this time Edward was a little confused. This was not the case with Wallace in the past, at that time he was a money-loving speculator in Edward's eyes, and every time his direct company gained another harvest, this guy would pester Zhao Zhi to share a share. How come it's only been more than half a year since they were separated, and this guy has become so fast, almost to the point that he almost doesn't even know each other. However, Wallace is very right in what he said, if you want to better help Zhao Zhihe's direct company, you must make yourself strong and firmly rooted in the headquarters.

Days were spent in Edward's idleness, and in the blink of an eye, more than half a month passed, and the 22nd Division, after suffering huge casualties, finally broke through the defense line of Meng Pass and used chariots and heavy artillery to conquer Meng Pass. The troops of the 38th Division also took Waluban with the cooperation of an American army, and the Japanese 18th Division fled out of the Hukang Valley in panic and retreated to the Menggong River Valley to rest and recuperate, preparing to fight again with the expeditionary force in the Menggong River Valley.

"Huh" Edward looked at a battle plan in his hand, very interested. The bold Edward gradually gained his own connections in the headquarters, and with Wallace's help, he can now talk to some headquarters bosses, and some things that are not too confidential can also be seen. The battle plan he was holding at the moment was not an ordinary thing, but the next stage of the battle plan formulated by the Expeditionary Force Command, and what interested Edward the most was the side of Gaoligong Mountain, where an expeditionary force had also been formed in China, and the biggest highlight of this plan was the upcoming forced crossing of the Nu River by the domestic expeditionary force.

Edward was not very clear about the establishment of the expeditionary force on the Nu River, but he knew that the Japanese army had an advantage in mountain warfare, especially the high mountains and hilly terrain on this side of the Nu River, which was the favorite of the Japanese army, and coupled with the Japanese army's many years of operation in these places, I am afraid that this operation was not so easy to handle. This time, the domestic expeditionary force will gather 20,000 soldiers to carry out the operation of forcibly crossing the Nu River from the front line of Huitong Bridge, Sanjiangkou and Bizhaidu, and the US sappers sent by the headquarters are currently looking for a suitable ferry.

It was not surprising that Edward had such a battle plan, as the war situation in China had intensified, and the Kuomintang troops lacked supplies, heavy weapons, and fuel, all of which were still far away in the Indian accumulation yards. It is not enough to rely on the planes of the Flying Tigers to transport them every day, so it is the most important thing to open up the Yunnan-Burma Highway as soon as possible, and only by opening up the Yunnan-Burma Highway will the materials from as far away as India continue to enter China, and can alleviate the embarrassment of the lack of materials that the Chinese army is now facing.

Keen observation allowed Edward to find a glimmer of hope to return to the direct company, the people in the headquarters were too hypocritical, and they were not as happy as in the direct company, and less than a month after leaving, Edward thought that he would be able to go to the direct company immediately. The plan to forcibly cross the Nu River is something that the command has come up with under tremendous pressure from Chongqing, and the most indispensable thing for this guy to be successfully implemented is the cooperation of US military aircraft. On the other side of the Nu River is the Japanese 33rd Army, which has long since rebuilt the mountains and forests on the other side of the Nu River and the dangerous terrain into fortresses, and without the cooperation of air power, the 11th Group Army of the Expeditionary Force would have crossed the Nu River, which is simply a fool's dream.

Edward didn't understand airplanes, but he knew infantry, and he was most familiar with direct companies. What Edward had to do was to try to impress the bigwigs in the headquarters, so that the bigwigs agreed that the direct company that was good at mountain warfare would climb the Gaoligong Mountain to attack the Japanese army from behind, and the battle plan of the 11th Army to force the Nu River was achieved. As long as the headquarters can agree to this plan, the liaison officer between the headquarters and the direct company is none other than himself, but this plan has to be discussed with Zhao Zhi first, and then go to Wallace to help operate.

It turned out that Wallace was more daring than Edward, and he suggested adding manpower to the direct company again, and re-attaching the establishment of the advance battalion, so that Zhao Zhi would have more than 600 soldiers in his hands, and the current 300 people in the direct company were really not enough for the Japanese army to see, and the strength of a battalion would make the Japanese army feel threatened, and Zhao Zhi would have stronger firepower, which would be safer and the battle would go smoothly.

The addition of supplementary troops was easily passed, but there was a disagreement on the plan proposed by Edward, and the headquarters had the idea of sending troops to support early on, but now was the critical juncture of the siege of the Menggong River Valley, and they really couldn't take out the extra troops to climb Gaoligong Mountain. And if they don't break through the Menggong River Valley, the support troops will not be able to reach Gaoligong Mountain at all, and the majestic mountains and steep mountains along the way and the difficult mountain roads and cliffs will exhaust the physical strength of the defeat, even if they cross the Gaoligong Mountain, they are just a group of guys who have no combat effectiveness, let alone face the Japanese army.

The Big Noses know that their direct company has a good combat power, and they have been paying attention to the mountain tactics of their direct company, and they need to firmly control this unit, summarize their mountain tactics and bring them back to the U.S. Army, so as to provide tactical guidance for the island operations that began in the Pacific Theater. Those bigwigs of the national army are trying their best to bring the direct company under their command, who would think that there are many troops under their command who can fight, especially the troops like the direct company that can feed and fight, so they are not discussing Edward's plan, but fighting for the ownership of the direct company.

Edward didn't know that the company would be so sought-after, which strengthened his desire to return to the company, so he blocked Stilwell in the office before lunch. "General, I ask to be transferred back to the company," Edward stood with his hands behind his back, standing up straight, his eyes looking directly at Stilwell with expectant eyes. His battle plan was now on Stilwell's desk, and Edward had done so to help Stilwell make up his mind.

"Oh, then tell me, why do you have to go back to the direct company? As long as you can convince me, I will agree to this plan," Stilwell sat in the large wicker chair and motioned to Edward to sit down with his cigar hand, the old man admired an officer like Edward, who had been tested by blood and fire, and his tone of voice could not help but take on a bit of kindness and ridicule. He had just finished reading Edward's plan, and unlike those guys who were close to politicians, Stilwell was the one who really hoped that the war would end early, and he was the first to agree to form an advance battalion, and it turned out that Zhao Zhi did not lose face.

"First, I have experienced many battles with my direct company, and I am very familiar with the mountain tactics of the Japanese army. Second, I was very familiar with all the officers in the direct company, including their commander Zhao Zhi, and when I first went to the direct company, I was a liaison officer. I'm the most familiar of the foreign officers with my company, my tactics, and what I can't do, and," Edward said, pausing slightly, stealthily glancing at Stilwell, who seemed to be napping with his eyes closed, and suddenly stood up and shouted loudly, "Moreover, they are my brothers, and I am willing to die for them, and so are them."

Seemingly startled by Edward's loud voice, Stilwell scolded Edward very dissatisfied, "Get out, get out of my office immediately, have you forgotten the politeness of an officer?" Edward, who looked a little lost, was kicked out of Stilwell's office, but he didn't notice a smile flashing in Stilwell's eyes, the old man was simply playing tricks on him.

Edward's plan was difficult to implement, but it didn't mean it couldn't be done, and if the company was really as tough as Edward's tactical manual, Stilwell wouldn't mind giving it a try. If he could really put a knife in the back of the Japanese 33rd Army, Stilwell, who hated the Japanese army so much, would definitely raise his hands in favor. It's just that Edward's plan came too suddenly, and Stilwell, as the commander of the expeditionary force, needs to be considered repeatedly to decide whether it is feasible.

Stilwell, who had had lunch, had stayed in his office all the time, with only a few of his trusted senior staff officers inside, and the rest of the people had no idea what was wrong with Stilwell, including Edward, who had been nervous. It wasn't until dinner that Stilwell's office opened the door, and the staff officers who came out had a solemn look on their faces, and before the results were announced, Wallace didn't reveal it to Edward, but just made a look at Edward from a distance, and whether he could understand it or not was to figure it out for himself.

A somewhat tired Stilwell finally walked out of the office, and when he saw Edward with a lost face, he didn't immediately tell the good news to the little guy who dared to yell at him. It wasn't until Edward, who was chewing wax, swallowed the last bite of mashed potatoes that Stilwell motioned to his adjutant to call Edward to his side, and told Edward that he had tentatively agreed to the direct company to participate in the forced crossing of the Nu River.

To Stilwell's surprise, Edward didn't seem to be as excited as he expected, but just answered lightly and left with his plate. The surprised Stilwell didn't know what Edward's excitement had become, and if he didn't leave the restaurant quickly, he would probably scream and overturn the table.