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

Chapter 290: Quit while you're ahead?

After the conference, General Stevenson and his entourage attended a sumptuous dinner accompanied by officers of all levels of the People's Army.

The dinner was held at the newly built Friendship Hotel in Myitkyina, which was specially used to receive foreign guests.

This newly built hotel is particularly dazzling even in this city that has been reborn after the war. It is like a beacon, symbolizing some kind of hope for new life.

The hotel's banquet hall was brightly lit, and the long table was filled with sumptuous dishes, including local delicacies from Pegu, as well as dishes carefully prepared by Cantonese and Sichuan chefs. Of course, Western dishes familiar to the White Eagle people were also indispensable.

The air was filled with the aroma of food and wine. Led by General Zhang Chi and General Stevenson, officers from the White Eagle Army and the People's Army toasted together to celebrate.

"I wish General Zhang and General Stevenson continued health and victory!"

"Everyone, drink this cup to the full, victory!"

"victory!"

Although the two sides appeared to be communicating in a friendly manner, there were actually undercurrents beneath the table.

Both sides were testing each other, trying to capture some useful information from each other's eyes and words.

At the dinner party, laughter and conversation were intertwined, but behind these sounds, there were more intriguing details.

Zhang Chi, who was standing on a high place, was not intoxicated by the alcohol. While he was being polite with everyone, he was secretly observing everything.

By the time General Stevenson and his party went to their guest rooms to rest, it was almost late at night.

However, for Zhang Chi and his core team, the real battle has just begun.

A big meeting is held for small matters, and a small meeting is held for big matters.

Zhang Chi once again summoned all the important leaders to discuss in a small conference room. This conference room was unremarkable, even a little shabby, but at this moment, it carried the future of the entire Anmin Army.

"As for our Anmin Army continuing to fight outside, what are your thoughts?" Zhang Chi pulled out a pack of cigarettes and began passing them around. "Tell us what you think. Let's talk freely tonight."

His voice now was steady and powerful, as if it had a magical power that could dispel everyone's inner fatigue and confusion.

Zhang Guangsong, the secretary in charge of civil affairs, took out his lighter and lit Zhang Chi's cigarette first, then lit his own. The flame danced on his face, illuminating his tired and complex eyes.

He took a deep breath, thought for a moment, and spoke directly:

"Let me start by saying that last year's three harvest seasons were all bumper harvests. Overall, Bago enjoyed favorable weather, with no droughts or major floods, and abundant grain reserves. But..."

Everyone present knew that in Chinese culture, the first words in the sentence were just polite talk; the words after the "but" were the real deal. The conference room was completely silent, and everyone held their breath, waiting for Zhang Guangsong's next words.

"As we have gradually liberated almost the entire territory, Ayeyarwady Province, Taninthayi Province, Karen State, Mon State and other places have also been brought under our control. It can be said that after the Japanese Pegu Front Army was completely wiped out, these 7 provinces and 7 states, an area of ​​more than 60 square kilometers are all ours." Zhang Guangsong's voice was not loud, but everyone was excited to hear his words.

"Although we are temporarily implementing martial law in these newly liberated areas, the local systems of civil servants, teachers, patrol police, etc. will have to be established sooner or later. Whether we are reforming the system left by the John people and the devils or simply starting anew, we need enough talent and money." There was a hint of worry in Zhang Guangsong's words, and his eyes swept across everyone's faces, as if looking for resonance.

As Zhang Chi's chief secretary, Zhang Guangsong had access to data on all aspects of Pegu. This massive amount of data naturally brought him both joy and worry. He knew clearly that although the An Min Army had achieved certain military victories, it faced huge challenges in civil administration.

"We had some logistical problems when we crossed the border into the Tanintharyi Mountains to attack Siam. Fortunately, we only crossed the border and didn't advance further into Bangkok. Otherwise, if we had captured a large area, we wouldn't have had enough people to take over."

When Zhang Guangsong said this, there was a hint of helplessness in his tone. He kept silent and smoked a cigarette. The smoke slowly came out of his mouth and spread in the air, as if it was the embodiment of his inner anxiety and confusion.

Zhang Chi sighed when he heard this. Since he traveled through time in 1942, the Anmin Army took about two years to finally take over the entire territory of Pegu, but the new Anmin Army had too shallow a foundation after all.

He knew very well that military victory was only the first step. The real challenge was how to consolidate these victories and how to establish an effective management system in the newly liberated areas.

If we really continue to expand outward on a large scale, the military aspect will be easier to deal with, but there will be real difficulties in civil affairs, and it will be difficult to find enough management personnel.

Zhang Chi's brows were furrowed, and his eyes wandered on the wall of the conference room, as if looking for some answer.

Are we going to work without putting in any effort and stop moving forward?

However, the years during World War II were the last chance to legally use force to change national borders on a large scale, or even create a whole new country.

Once they missed the opportunity, after the end of World War II, the White Eagle and the Russian Bear would shift their focus back to the South Pacific. It would be easy for them to create minor border frictions and seize a few small islands in the ocean with the capabilities of the People's Army.

If things got out of hand, it could turn into the Annan War 2.0, or even a full-scale NATO-China-Vietnam War, and a direct start of World War III was not impossible. So Zhang Chi really didn't want to miss this opportunity.

In his plan, he had to take over at least the Lan Fang Republic, the first Chinese republic in Southeast Asia, and the Pontianak and Sankouyang regions of Borneo. If possible, he would ideally take over the entirety of Borneo.

During the heyday of the Lan Fang Republic, there were about 400 people. Even after being oppressed by Dutch colonists and local natives, there are now at least millions of Chinese descendants in the area. Zhang Chi naturally could not leave them there to be bullied.

There are also millions of Chinese in Malay areas, especially in Penang, where the Nanyang Zhang family is located, as well as in Johor and Perak. When the Malay UMNO came to power, even Chinese schools in these areas were attacked, and the thousands of years of Chinese civilization were abruptly interrupted, and the Chinese were reduced to second-class citizens.

Even the Chinese-owned universities that millions of Malaysian Chinese had been looking forward to were eventually wiped out by UMNO.

Zhang Chi felt that he had traveled through time and space and came to this special place, Nanyang. Naturally, he had to do something for the Chinese in Nanyang.

He could not bear to see his compatriots being bullied in a foreign country. He wanted to provide them with a safe space so that they could breathe freely and inherit their culture freely.

The conference room fell into silence for a moment.