On the third day after Major General Wu Peifu and Political Commissar Senior Colonel Yu Cen arrived at the POW camp, Lieutenant Colonel Ma received the transfer order as he wished. Reading the content 'Report to the Myanmar Theater Command in Kunming,' Lieutenant Colonel Ma Yuteng thought for a moment and immediately sat down to write a report.

It was already afternoon; even if he started to act immediately, he would have to wait until tomorrow to set off. Moreover, Lieutenant Colonel Ma Yuteng had almost no luggage, so packing was very easy. The summary report was supposed to be written after arriving at the command, but writing it now and preparing for the handover tomorrow was also in time. And reporting to the command would allow the report submission time to be advanced.

The pen tip slid across the paper, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. After changing frequency a few times, it finally stopped. Lieutenant Colonel Ma looked at the comments he wrote and hesitated in his heart, '...Comrade Commissar Yu Cen has a firm stance and clear thinking, and gets started with the POW camp work very quickly. Major General Wu Peifu has a very thorough understanding of the psychology of the British Indian Army...'

Lieutenant Colonel Ma didn't think there was anything wrong with his description of Commissar Yu Cen. Since he was a 'comrade,' he was naturally a member of the Civilization Party and belonged to the same political organization. Although 'Major General Wu Peifu' was a major general recognized by the National Defense Force, Lieutenant Colonel Ma Yuteng felt his description seemed inappropriate.

Recalling the experience of these three days, Lieutenant Colonel Ma felt that Major General Wu Peifu himself indeed had feelings for the family and country, and put forward many useful suggestions and views on management, but this person could not be called a 'comrade' yet. After deliberation, Lieutenant Colonel Ma crossed out the sentence commenting on Wu Peifu above and continued to write, 'Major General Wu Peifu comes from the old Chinese army and has a profound understanding of the composition characteristics and internal relations of the old army. Although the British Indian Army is very different from the organizational model of the old Chinese army, its internal interest relations are similar to the old Chinese army. Major General Wu Peifu can feel the similarities and differences, and has put forward many suggestions...'

After commenting on the two most important people, the rest were descriptions of routine work. Lieutenant Colonel Ma wrote like the wind, and by past 9 PM, he had finished writing several reports. Early the next morning, Lieutenant Colonel Ma gave the transfer order to Senior Colonel Yu Cen. The political commissar was in charge of personnel; Yu Cen had long known that he would take over Lieutenant Colonel Ma's work and began to prepare for the handover.

After 3 PM, Major General Wu Peifu, Director of the POW Camp Management Office, and Senior Colonel Yu Cen, Political Commissar, sent off the former director Lieutenant Colonel Ma Yuteng and officially took over the POW camp. Lieutenant Colonel Ma hurried to the command. At this time, the war was going on, and the command operated 24 hours a day. Past 7 PM, before it got dark, Lieutenant Colonel Ma arrived at the command and submitted the order. At 10 PM that night, the procedures were basically completed, and Lieutenant Colonel Ma Yuteng officially returned to the combat troops he missed day and night.

There were also old comrades in the command. One of them happened to be on night shift. Seeing Ma Yuteng and hearing that he had returned, he was also quite happy. The two chatted for a while, and Ma Yuteng asked if he could apply to go to the combat troops. The old comrade whispered, "Don't worry; the offensive has paused temporarily now. The troops will adjust their deployment."

"What situation did the front line encounter?" Ma Yuteng asked hurriedly.

The old comrade thought for a moment and didn't answer immediately. Ma Yuteng was worrying that his old comrade wouldn't explain, but he heard the old comrade answer, "Burma has entered the rainy season. Traffic is not smooth, and rivers over there are likely to flood due to heavy rain."

As the former director of the POW Camp Management Office, Ma Yuteng actually understood the progress of the war quite timely through interrogating prisoners, one of his daily tasks. He knew quite a lot. He thought the British army had launched a massive counterattack, but he didn't expect it to be the rainy season. Ma Yuteng was stunned, but a moment later felt it was completely reasonable.

The temperature in Burma does not change much throughout the year. The average temperature in the coldest month (January) is 20°C-25°C; the average temperature in the hottest month (April and May) is 25°C-30°C. The annual temperature range in various places is also small.

Due to the influence of the monsoon, Burma does not divide the seasons by 'spring, summer, autumn, and winter,' but divides the year into the hot season (March to mid-May), rainy season (mid-May to October), and cool season (November to February of the following year).

It was now June, and Burma had entered the rainy season. The terrain in southern Burma is relatively flat, while the mountains in the north are high and forests are dense. Although both are rainy seasons, the southern rainy season is from April to September, and the northern rainy season is from June to September. There is a difference of 2 or 3 months. The end of the rainy season is earlier in the north and later in the south, generally with a difference of only about 20 days.

Recalling this knowledge, Lieutenant Colonel Ma Yuteng quickly judged a possibility: from now, June 24, to September 1, there are about 70 days to prepare for the 'Cool Season Operation' in Burma.

Seeing Lieutenant Colonel Ma Yuteng's expression become calm, the old comrade advised Ma Yuteng to rest first. Ma Yuteng calmed down at this time. Not launching a large-scale war when mountain torrents might erupt at any time is basic common sense for modern armies. However, making full use of the 70-day preparation period to prepare for the subsequent large-scale war is also basic common sense for modern armies. Since there were battles for him to fight, thinking of this, Lieutenant Colonel Ma became even more calm and went to the dormitory to rest with the expectation of beating the British in the future.

The armies of the great powers in the world were not only the Republic National Defense Force. Britain as a belligerent, Japan as a semi-quasi-ally of Britain, France wanting to see Britain's joke, the Netherlands worried about chain attacks on Southeast Asian colonies, and the United States dissatisfied with the current British order. Germany, happy to see Britain suffer losses, and the Soviet Union, happy to see Britain and China at war, all knew that after this not-so-long truce, the flames of war would surely burn again with doubled intensity.

The Plum Rain season in most parts of Japan is from mid-June to mid-July. Because the weather was not suitable, the Japanese Army New Technology Training Bureau also suspended training during this month. Training Bureau Director Ishiwara Kanji finally had some time of his own.

Ishiwara originally wanted to promote the activities of the Japan Future Society at this time, but unexpectedly he was first invited by Saionji Kinmochi to provide strategic judgment to this *Genrō*, and then called to the General Staff Headquarters for strategic deduction.

Saionji had limited understanding of modern warfare, and Ishiwara could explain patiently. Facing the group of guys at the General Staff Headquarters, Ishiwara was too lazy to speak. The staff officers of the General Staff Headquarters didn't look good, but they still had to say something everyone knew clearly, "The Shina National Defense Force chose a very suitable combat time, using the two months before the rainy season to advance rapidly and seized most of the original Burma..."

Ishiwara felt that this bunch of trash in the General Staff Headquarters didn't understand strategy at all, so he simply thought about the Japan Future Society. In one year, almost all middle and lower-ranking officers of the Japanese Army participated in the new technology training. The so-called 'new technology' was the counter-operational thinking against the army tactics of the Chinese National Defense Force. As the Director of the Training Bureau, in addition to explaining this part of knowledge, Ishiwara also taught his ideas on new army tactics to middle and lower-ranking Japanese officers.

Due to the stubborn and conservative atmosphere in the Japanese army, many middle and lower-ranking Japanese officers believed that infantry squad and platoon tactics were the squad interspersed outflanking tactics adopted by Japan in the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War. After being criticized by Ishiwara, quite a few middle and lower-ranking Japanese officers were actually unconvinced. It was only because of the strict hierarchy in the Japanese army that they did not refute directly.

But who was Ishiwara? A guy considered a thorn since his youth military academy days, how could he not see through the thoughts of this group of guys. So Ishiwara organized targeted exercises and used the infantry squad and platoon tactics of the Chinese army learned in the war to severely teach those elm wood heads in the Japanese army.

Although most of these elm wood heads failed to truly master infantry squad and platoon tactics, at least after failing completely many times, they had to understand that tremendous changes had occurred in infantry tactics, and the Japanese army was defeated by such changes. This gained Ishiwara Kanji great prestige among middle and lower-ranking officers.

Ishiwara didn't care about such fame; what he cared about was that after training, young officers willing to reform were found in various troops. Although the Japanese government did its best to alleviate Japan's economic destitution, and the Japanese army also tried to improve combat effectiveness by promoting new military technologies, none of these could save Japan.

The young officers who newly joined the Japan Future Society might not have fully learned the new army tactics, but they all fully felt the pain brought by economic destitution. Urban workers were unemployed in large numbers, rural land rents increased, and the interest rates of usurers also increased. However, to maintain production operations, or just to maintain grain for subsistence, the poor had to borrow. To borrow, they had to mortgage their last property. Some officers' sisters were sold to brothels, and even to brothels in Nanyang.

Since Japan did not cede territory or pay indemnities after the Sino-Japanese armistice, such a tragic situation was definitely not caused by China's exploitation. The painful young officers had the same thought: there must be bad people in Japan, and it was these bad people who caused the current economic misery.

Some forces already wanted to use this idea. To win over precious young officers, the Future Society also did its best to educate young officers, trying to make them understand the status quo of Japan. Such a tug-of-war was going on in secret. For the victory of the next restoration, many members of the Japan Future Society did not hesitate to expose themselves and went to the Imperial Way Faction to propagate and explain the reasons leading to the current situation.

The complete severance of Sino-Japanese trade made Japan lose a huge market. To make up for the purchasing power of this market, Japan must obtain more sales shares in other countries' markets. The simplest way to grab the market is undoubtedly price reduction competition.

However, the severance of Sino-Japanese trade not only made Japan lose China's market share but also lost China as a source of raw materials. The price of overseas raw material transportation increased rapidly due to the increase in transportation distance. The increase in overseas raw material prices increased the cost of goods, making it impossible for Japanese exporters to sell at reduced prices.

Whether it was Future Society members who wanted restoration or those who considered themselves Imperial Way Faction, after hearing such an explanation, they indeed increased their understanding of the current economic status quo.

Some people also asked why this problem could not be alleviated by increasing Japan's domestic raw material output. Members of the Future Society told these people, "Increasing output requires increasing input, and production increase cannot be completed in a short time. Moreover, Japan's domestic raw material output is limited; even increasing production will not play a greater role."

People who understood this suddenly realized that Japan's previous unwritten national policy was indeed correct. A considerable number of people believed that if the He Rui government could be defeated and China returned to its previous status, Japan's problems could be solved.

However, less than two years after the end of the Sino-Japanese War, those people also knew that with China restoring complete sovereignty and rebuilding a reliable national defense system, such an opportunity had been lost.

But...

"Ishiwara-kun." Someone called Ishiwara Kanji. Ishiwara Kanji woke up from his contemplation and looked up; it turned out to be the current Chief of General Staff.

Ishiwara Kanji responded immediately, "Your Excellency, what are your instructions?"