Chapter 8 At Sea

  Early in the morning, I was driven out of bed by a burst of frantic knocking on the door.

  "What a beautiful girl I see when I open the door, fall in love with my bed..." I hummed drowsily.

  "You're going to die! How dare you flirt with me, take this punch!"

  Facing Yunyan with a "martial value" that was a whole section higher than mine, I had no choice but to yield and be dragged along.

  "Where are you going so early?" I asked, looking at the sky which was just around 7 o'clock.

  "Mr. Jiang and Mr. Chen came by this morning, but you weren't up yet, so they've already gone to the shooting range."

  "Unbelievable! One is a noble with an air of elegance, the other is a standard British gentleman, how can they get up so early?"

  "You won't? Dream on!"

  As expected, Jiang Baili and others on the hillside were enthusiastically examining various field fortifications and checking the lethality of heavy howitzers against fortifications.

  Watching me with my clothes in disarray being dragged up the slope by Yunyan, I couldn't help but burst out laughing.

  Chen Shaokuan said: "Sorry, I just wanted to leave today, so I came as soon as it dawned; Good brother, you've come at the right time, come and explain."

  The main trench is wavy, avoiding direct hits from shells or bombs that form overlapping kills; the outer edge of the trench is vertically cut to hinder the climbing of the attacking side; the inner wall of the trench has staggered two- or three-person gun holes, with intervals between them, unless hit by a heavy shell, it is difficult to kill people in the hole; and communication with the rear uses multiple diagonal communication trenches.

  "Where are the heavy machine guns and mortars deployed?"

  "Heavy machine guns are all deployed on the second and third lines, the first line is all light machine guns, each with more than three firing positions for easy transfer; 82mm mortar positions are on the reverse slope."

  Observed a heavily camouflaged machine gun emplacement covered with half a meter of mud and grass on a wooden structure.

  "Are these craters made by 120mm mortars?"

  "Yes, anyway we have to test fire it, and at the same time test whether the construction is solid."

  "Chiang asked, pointing at this collapsed bunker: 'How many rounds did you fire from this bunker?'"

  "At a distance of 500 meters, three consecutive shots were fired at this bunker, and the third shot hit it."

  "Awesome! This simple earth-sheltered structure can withstand two consecutive heavy artillery hits without collapsing, it seems the enemy's field guns won't be able to destroy it with a single shot."

  We climbed up to the top of the slope, where there was also a trench on the top, built along the ridge line, with a traditional structure.

  "What does it mean?" Jiang Baili asked?

  "This is the earliest construction of the engineer troops. I'm thinking, if the troops put their main position on the top of the mountain, what would be the gains and losses?"

  "Are you thinking of how to avoid the enemy's heavy artillery fire? Indeed, our main position is on the mountain top, and if the enemy shells are slightly higher, they will pass over and fall behind the mountain, which can reduce the effective hits by half. However, from a military perspective, defending a mountain should start at the bottom, not the top; once the top is lost, the entire army will collapse; taking the mountain top as the main position is unwise."

  On the other side of the hill was an artillery position. Jiang Baili took one look and laughed, saying: "Younger brother has taken mobility to its extreme!"

  "What did you say?" Chen Shaokuan asked.

  "Hou Fu, take a look, each position can only accommodate 2 artillery positions, and there are shelters and passages between each position. This is not the way to fight by firing a few shots and then changing positions?"

  "Brother, with such frequent changes in artillery positions, how can we maintain accuracy?"

  "Pre-war pre-estimation, classification by zone, wartime observation of troops using telephone contact to command artillery fire."

  "Wired telephone? I'm afraid it's still difficult to popularize even in the artillery company. The requirements for artillery observers are also too high, and most of our army's artillery observers are probably unable to report the strike position in real-time... Otherwise, it would be a very good method."

  Jiang Baili asked: "Hou Fu, how does this fortification compare with what you built during last year's land warfare exercise?"

  "Hehe, can't compare, how can heaven and earth be compared."

  "Minister Chen was being modest."

  "Not at all."

  "Colonel Zhou Xieyan of the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Engineer Regiment of the Army has arrived for reporting!"

  "Engineer Monitor Adviser Wu Jishan has arrived to report!"

  "How was it? How's the harvest these few months?"

  "Great harvest! Already made records, this is a copy of the record."

  I suddenly realized: "Mr. Bai Li, you have been planning this all along!"

  "Haha, you've fallen into my trap! You said 'those who know me are Mr. Bai Li', how could I let you down? From the moment you asked Da Wei to help keep the engineering camp, I had a plan!"

  After everyone finished laughing, Minister Chen said to me: "I'm going to leave and head back to Nanjing. I'll be traveling along the coast and rivers, I don't know if Brother Bai Li and Xian Di have time to go with me?"

  "How?"

  "Okay. I was just thinking of going to Nanjing to see San Jie."

  I took a deep breath and said, "Yan, I'm going to Nanjing this time, and I won't be able to invite you along."

  "It doesn't matter, next time then!" Yunyan blinked her eyes and smiled in response.

  "So let's say goodbye for now! Can I have a hug?"

  "Okay."

  The cloud goose suddenly gave me a gentle hug and a slight smile, then ran away before I could even react.

  After a brief handover, I boarded the Wori No. with Mr. Bai and Minister Chen, and the ship slowly left the dock and headed east into the sea.

  I suddenly thought of Wild Goose, every time after that she would always stir up some trouble, could she have snuck onto the boat? I looked up to see Cloudy Wild Goose waving at me from the shore, and couldn't help but smile.

  The train gradually accelerated, turned over Lacquer Board Mountain, and went far away.

  "The machine gun anti-aircraft mount design you discussed with Falkenhausen last time and handed over to the Ordnance Department has been manufactured, tested and proven to be very effective. The heavy hand grenade is also being trial-produced."

  "It seems the Director is urging us on tightly."

  "A formidable enemy is pressing in on us step by step, we have already retreated to the point of no return, and now our only plan is to fight one battle. Everyone has seen this situation, even the Chairman of the Committee who usually wants to drag things out has started to get anxious."

  What a heroic gesture! Aren't you afraid I'll go and expose you? I glanced at Jiang Baili, but he just smiled at me.

  "You're not afraid of me, what am I afraid of? Afraid that Chairman will either not dare to fight or fight and then want to negotiate..."

  "This war must be fought to the end, and we cannot compromise halfway; as long as we persevere, changes in the international situation will be beneficial to us."

  "Not bad, China has never been afraid of being swallowed by a whale." I thought to myself: What I'm afraid of is being nibbled away.

  "When war breaks out, most of our coastal areas will fall, and below Jiujang is not a safe zone; in order to sustain the war of resistance, the general headquarters should be set up west of Zhijiang in Hunan."

  Your action is more like crossing over than mine!

  "Yes, relying on the world's three strongest navies, apart from the concessions of powerful countries, as long as the Japanese army attacks, we cannot defend any place along the coast, and a protracted war can only be fought in the interior."

  "But with space for time, coastal areas also need to be prepared."

  "Besides, we have submarines."

  Chen Shaokuan, who came from the driver's cabin, interjected: "During World War I, the German Navy had hundreds of submarines and still couldn't defeat Britain. Although the Japanese Navy is not as good as Britain's, it's probably not something that can be broken by just a hundred submarines."

  "That's for sure, and these six submarines are enough to give Japan a few heavy blows! After all, in terms of anti-submarine technology, Japan is quite poor."

  Hahaha.

  After laughing, I asked directly: "Does the Military Commission have a plan to take the initiative to launch an attack in Shanghai?"

  Jiang Baili fell silent for a moment. "Not bad, how did you think of it, younger brother?"

  "Last night, the master mentioned that the Japanese army might march: 'From Shanxi to Tongguan, crossing Qinling Mountains, occupying Hanzhong, and then attacking Sichuan and Hubei'; The way to solve the Central Plains should be to provoke a war in the southeastern coastal areas. As long as the Japanese army suffers losses, with Ri's personality and strategic direction, they will naturally shift their focus to the east."

  "Good job, little brother!"

  "It's Mr. who is right!"

  "Two of you don't need to flatter each other! Let's talk about what I should do instead!"

  "Brother Bai Li?" Chen Shaokuan asked in confusion, seeing that Jiang Baili didn't seem to be saying anything.

  "Hou Fu, don't worry for now. I think that once we launch an attack in Shanghai, the Japanese army will definitely come to reinforce; brother Xian, tell me, is it better for our army to quickly eliminate the enemy in Shanghai or leave some remaining enemies to deal with the Japanese reinforcements?"

  "It's better to solve it first, otherwise we'll be attacked from both inside and outside. Anyway, based on the character of the Japanese army, even if our army wipes out the enemy in Shanghai, the Japanese army will still send in heavy troops to take revenge in Shanghai." I thought to myself: Can it really be solved or not?

  "Are you so confident, younger brother? Aren't you afraid of the Japanese army counterattacking from Northern China?"

  "On the basis that the Japanese army had no war preparations, it would take the Japanese army more than one or two months to gather enough troops and material reserves to break through Northern China's tens of millions; on the contrary, transporting troops from the sea was very easy for Japan, and directly counter-attacking Shanghai would also make it easier to control the war within a limited scope, after all, the Japanese government and high-level military leaders should not have had plans for an all-out war."

  "Haha, well said! But it's still not comprehensive. I think the Japanese army will take action simultaneously, one route as you said, and another route will follow slightly later from northern China to launch a southward attack."

  Actual combat! This is the trend in actual combat! After being shocked, I couldn't help but seriously question again: Is Jiang Baili also a transmigrator? Should we ask 'Tian Wang Gai Di Hu'?

  "What's going on?" Chen Shaokuan asked first.

  "The Imperial Japanese Army has internal factions just like us, in Shanghai they are fighting the domestic faction of the Navy and the Army, as well as the Taiwanese military; in North China it is the Kwantung Army, the Korean Army, and also the Expeditionary Force to China."

  "You're absolutely right!"

  "Haha, you're not bad either! Bring me the map."

  The attendant unfolded the map.

  "Hou Fu, the navy's task is to prepare for mining first. The Yangtze River and its tributaries, along the Yangtze River Delta coastline, Hangzhou Bay, and further south, need to speed up the survey work along the coast to prepare for the deployment of sea mines produced by the Zi'an factory. After all, most waters are only suitable for anchor mine deployment."

  "I understand."

  "Next is your baby submarine, actually the Type II submarine was internally called 'North Sea Duck' by the German military, and it's not suitable for long-range operations. It can only be used with great difficulty in coastal areas. Defensively at the Yangtze River mouth, offensively at various ports in Taiwan. The Type III submarine has only two boats but its role is greater, Zian, what do you think should be deployed?"

  "Raid on the homeland, direct attack on Tokyo Bay! Submarines are special attack weapons, not suited and should not be used for defensive deployment."

  "Good! You have guts!"

  "The Chairman ordered that all national maritime forces be placed under the command of the Navy Department during wartime, and the torpedo boats of the Torpedo School and the Fourth Fleet also played a certain role in the lower reaches of the Yangtze and Pearl rivers. Especially at night and under poor weather conditions."

  "As for those old warships, it's probably more suitable to scuttle them to protect the people and cannons! The people and cannons on land can still be of some use, but on the water they're just targets for enemy ships and planes!"

  "What about those newer warships?"

  "Probably the Japanese army won't give them a fair chance of fighting back either, being bombed and sunk by the Japanese planes is their fate."

  "20 years of struggle, 40 years of shouldering..." Chen Shaokuan shed two lines of hot tears.

  I suddenly woke up, today is September 17th, 41 years ago...

  Against the gradually dimming background, everyone silently gazed at the setting sun, unable to calm down for a long time...