A Journey Through the Worlds of Film and Television.

Chapter 297: Overseas Chinese Engineers in Southeast Asia

In order to obtain more food and supplies for his troops, Lu Cheng tried every possible means.

On the one hand, Lu Cheng kept applying for supplies from the Sixth Army Headquarters, and sent over the Japanese collar badges, sabers, and other items seized from the previous crossing of the river, in exchange for some food and canned food.

On the other hand, Lu Cheng explained his current situation to the Allied Command and begged General Stilwell to send a batch of American canned food and Indian rice.

At the same time, Catherine, who stayed in India, also purchased food supplies from various parties through her own channels and requested the aviation department to transport them to western Yunnan.

At the same time, the special operations platoon sent to the west bank of the Nujiang River was also responsible for investigating the Japanese's material warehouses. If necessary, Lu Cheng did not mind going to the Japanese's warehouses to make some free purchases.

It is precisely because of these efforts that the entire brigade of six to seven thousand soldiers can eat enough and eat well while maintaining high-intensity training.

After the spring of 43, the second batch of trainees led by Long Wenjian and Meng Fanle successfully graduated from the Ramgarh training camp and returned to China.

The return of this group of soldiers has also improved the overall structure and daily training of Lu Cheng's brigade. The soldiers' basic skills are also constantly improving. Compared with the surrounding friendly forces, and even the vast majority of troops in China, the training and equipment of Lu Cheng's brigade are remarkable.

Afterwards, Lu Cheng selected a group of capable soldiers and sent them to the Ramgarh training camp for training again. During this period, Lu Cheng would occasionally go to Ramgarh and stay there for a few days to get in touch with the Chinese students who were training in the training camp, select some promising talents, and persuade them to join his team.

At the same time, the special operations platoon and the spearhead company led by Xia Chen also achieved good results on the other side of the Nujiang River, and defeated the Japanese patrol teams within dozens of miles around Nantianmen, making them dare not show up.

Whenever they encountered a Japanese patrol team of no more than a hundred people, the special operations team and the spearhead company would be able to quickly wipe them out in a short period of time, leaving no time for the Japanese large force to rescue them.

If the Japanese sent a large force to carry out a mopping-up operation, the special operations team and the spearhead company would break up into small groups and hide in the mountains and forests, or directly cross the Nujiang River and return to the east bank, leaving the Japanese completely confused.

The guerrillas on the other side of the Nujiang River have also continued to grow and develop with the help of the special operations platoon, from the initial eight or nine people to thirty or forty people, and their equipment and training are also greatly improved.

One day, Lu Cheng had just finished his work and was about to go to the Nujiang River to take a look when he heard a guard running over to report: "Commander, Platoon Leader Xia is back with two people. He said he has something important to report to you."

"Send them to the meeting room."

"Yes."

Not long after, when Lu Cheng arrived at the conference room, he saw Xia Chen standing there with two thin, pale-faced men in tattered clothes.

"Xia Chen, who are these two?"

"Commander, these two were originally overseas Chinese mechanics from Southeast Asia. They had been engaged in transportation on the Burma Road. Later, after the Burma Road was cut off by the Japanese, many overseas Chinese mechanics from Southeast Asia were stranded in Burma. Some were captured and killed by the Japanese, while others mixed with the scattered expeditionary soldiers and formed a guerrilla force to fight against the Japanese behind enemy lines..."

After listening to the two's origins, Lu Cheng was immediately in awe and raised his hand to salute them: "Overseas Chinese brothers from Nanyang, you have worked hard."

The Nanyang Chinese Mechanics are a group that made outstanding contributions to China's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and are also a heroic group that should not be forgotten.

Back then, the Japanese army began to blockade China and the Burma Road began to be built. Since most of the young and middle-aged men went to fight in the war, and China's industry was backward and lacked machinery, it was the elderly, women, children, and aunts in Yunnan who built the more than 1000-kilometer Burma Road with their own hands in nine months.

It can be said that the aunts and sisters in Yunnan are also great heroes who made outstanding contributions to the War of Resistance.

After the Burma Road was built, the Allied forces had already transported supplies to Burma, but the Chinese side did not have enough drivers and mechanics to drive the supplies from Burma back to China.

In this era of poverty, backwardness and lack of education, car drivers and mechanics are scarce professional talents.

Therefore, the government found Mr. Chen, a famous overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia. Mr. Chen immediately responded to the call and gathered more than 3400 talents from nine countries in Southeast Asia to form the Southeast Asian Overseas Chinese Mechanic Team, which was responsible for transporting supplies on the Burma Road.

Among these Nanyang Overseas Chinese mechanics, many were children of wealthy families, and there were even some rich girls disguised as men. There were also quite a few company owners and managers, and they were all willing to stand up and support the domestic war of resistance.

The Yunnan-Burma Highway is built with many twists and turns and the terrain is very complex. On one side there are mountains and on the other side there are cliffs, making driving on it very dangerous.

Moreover, the Japanese planes would bomb overhead from time to time, so the drivers had to drive their cars into the woods during the day and only dared to drive at night, which made the risk even higher.

In addition, there are a lot of mosquitoes in the tropical rainforest, and transport drivers have to endure the troubles of diseases such as malaria.

Due to the lack of medical care and medicine, many mechanics had to drive their cars into the woods after contracting malaria, and died of illness while guarding a truckload of supplies.

According to later statistics, from 39 to 42, the Nanyang Overseas Chinese Mechanics transported at least tons of anti-Japanese war materials into the country through the Burma Road, making a huge contribution to the war.

However, the Nanqiao mechanics who made such a great contribution to the War of Resistance did not receive fair treatment for a long time.

Since the Yunnan-Burma Highway was cut off, some Nanqiao mechanics were stranded in Burma, and many were stranded in China. The Southwest Transportation Office really did not care about these Nanqiao mechanics stranded in China.

Except for a small number of Nanqiao mechanics who were retained, most people were left to fend for themselves.

At this time, the entire Southeast Asia had been occupied by the Japanese devils. The Nanyang Overseas Chinese mechanics had lost their homes and had no way to survive in the country. Many of them starved to death or died of disease.

After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, more than one-third of the 3000 overseas Chinese mechanics died.

A piece of text in a history book may be the lives of hundreds or thousands of unsung heroes.

Seeing Lu Cheng saluting them, the two Nanyang Overseas Chinese mechanics were also a little excited. The younger one even had tears in his eyes, like an abandoned child who was recognized.

"My two overseas Chinese brothers, if you have any requests, please let me know. I will do my best to meet them."

"Commander Lu, we have many brothers stranded in Burma, and they are also fighting guerrilla warfare with the Japanese in the jungle. However, we lack training, equipment, and are not very good at fighting. Supplies and medicines are even more scarce. I hope Commander Lu can help us."

"No problem. I will dispatch some supplies and medicines and have Xia Chen deliver them to you. In addition, I will also let the soldiers from the special operations platoon serve as your instructors and teach you how to fight. At the same time, some weapons and equipment can also be distributed to you.

I will have someone set up a special training camp in Zenda. If the overseas Chinese brothers stranded in China are willing to come to me, I will take care of them. If you are willing, you can also send people to the training camp to participate in learning and training. I will not forget your contribution to the war of resistance, and neither will my fellow Chinese compatriots. "

Even though he is not very wealthy at the moment, Lu Cheng is willing to do his part for these heroes.

Moreover, these overseas Chinese mechanics are also talented in the automotive field, and many of them have received higher education...