Unable to view program output when running debugger from Windows -> WLS

I am building the program in WLS and Launching it from Windows natively. Everything works fine, I can step through the program except that I cannot view any stdout because there is no console opening upon the start of a debug session

here is my launch.json file:

{
// Use IntelliSense to learn about possible attributes.
// Hover to view descriptions of existing attributes.
// For more information, visit: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=830387
"version": "0.2.0",
"configurations": [
{
"name": "C++ Launch",
"type": "cppdbg",
"request": "launch",
"program": "/mnt/c/Shared/x/program",
"args": [""],
"stopAtEntry": true,
"cwd": "/mnt/c/Shared/x/program/",
"environment": [],
"externalConsole": false,
"windows": {
"MIMode": "gdb",
"setupCommands": [
{
"description": "Enable pretty-printing for gdb",
"text": "-enable-pretty-printing",
"ignoreFailures": true
}
]
},
"pipeTransport": {
"pipeCwd": "",
"pipeProgram": "c:\windows\sysnative\bash.exe",
"pipeArgs": ["-c"],
"debuggerPath": "/usr/bin/gdb"
},
"sourceFileMap": {
"/mnt/c": "c:\"
}
}
]
}

Start by reproducing the debug session described in launch.json, focusing on pipeTransport, externalConsole, and the Windows-to-WSL paths. Check how stdout is expected to appear when launching the C++ program through bash.exe and gdb. Done means program output is visible during the debug session without breaking stepping.