Chapter 37: The Air Force Rises

  The Australian troops were not prepared for night fighting, and after the disastrous day, the 2nd Division did not even send troops within ten kilometers of the Red Alert unit's defense zone. Jiang Yunzhi was also happy to take this opportunity to let the newly formed 102nd Regiment rest well, especially since the primary task of this battle was to hold the position for two days.

  Inside the control room, Zhong Yi was also very anxious. The base's available funds had reached 4.7 million, just short of 300,000 to successfully upgrade. However, during the daytime battle, eleven Red Guards soldiers were sacrificed in the enemy's artillery fire, and more than two hundred native soldiers were killed, with nearly the same number sent to the hospital. For the 102nd Regiment, which had a total strength of only over 1,200 people, the casualties from one day's battle were nearly 500, and "injury" was no longer enough to describe this number, it was simply shocking. Although there were Red Guards soldiers' command and restraint, the fact that the natives could hold on without collapsing was a miracle.

  Hebal's cavalry regiment also suffered more than 70 casualties in the battle of raiding the Australian artillery position. Not only did he help a lot on the battlefield, but Hebal also proved himself with his own actions, and it seemed that Zhong Yi didn't hate Old Sanders' cunning so much anymore.

  The 2nd Division of the Royal Australian Army, this somewhat cumbersome designation, has already been struck off by Comrade Zhong Yida. Just now, Commander Comrade rejected the suggestion of nationwide Lin Huiyuan, not only did he not need armored troops to return, but also shouted loudly, "Nail me on the Swan River, do not allow any advance, wait for my support."

  On the other end of the wireless radio, Lin Bantian was still in a daze, "Commander, are you sleep-talking? The armored division is already here, and just that one native division defending Kargulya is enough to make me choke. What can support me? Are you saying it backwards?"

  Zhong Yi didn't faint, nor did he say anything contradictory. Just as he put down the phone, the available funds on the holographic screen grew rapidly and stopped at 4.9 million in an instant. Zhong Yi shook his head, "Still not enough, after this batch of mining vehicles returns, it will be just about enough, unfortunately, I really can't find any gold."

  The base's funding came from mining, metal was a mine, and oil was also a mine. In the branch base of Kalgoorlie, Zhong Yi couldn't find gold or other precious mines that could quickly increase funds, but there was oil. Although Sandra, the old fox, had secretly sold out Zhong Yi, she had indeed helped him in this regard. Before launching the Perth campaign, a large batch of fuel was stored in the branch base through the Smorgon family's channels. Of course, it wasn't free; it was exchanged for gold, using the gold collected from the mines to trade. Zhong Yi didn't have any Australian dollars or British pounds. Half of this batch of fuel had already been transported away with the armored division's logistics battalion, and a large part remained in the oil storage tanks at the branch base. Just now, Zhong Yi ordered the oil storage tanks to be connected to the refinery, and indeed, the fuel could also be converted into funds. The conversion amount was not large, but fortunately, the task difference wasn't big either. Half of the stored fuel had been released, and now they were just waiting for this batch of mining trucks to return.

  "Bird's eye view of the technical drilling oil well and refinery."

  "Alright, sir."

  Landtech Drilling Oil Wells:

  Logistics building, building area 100*100, construction requires 10,000 funds, can explore and extract oil from underground 2,500 meters deep, and directly convert the oil into usable funds or transport it to a refinery.

  Offshore oil platform:

  Logistics building, building area 500*500, construction requires 100,000 funds, can explore and extract oil from 5,000 meters below the sea surface, and directly convert the oil into usable funds or transport it to a refinery.

  Oil Refinery:

  Logistics building, building area 1000*1000, construction requires 100000 funds, can refine the extracted oil into various oils and other by-products.

  Looking at the three paragraphs of instructions on the holographic screen, Zhong Yi nodded repeatedly, "Not bad, very powerful, not only can be used for land-based mining, but also for offshore oil drilling platforms." The previous life's China was precisely because of the seabed resources and the surrounding small countries in the East China Sea and South China Sea that things became unmanageable. Because there was no long-range naval fleet, because of various concerns, some tiny countries dared to come out and bully us. The holographic screen's map switched to a map of the waters around Australia, Australia is surrounded by sea on all sides, if we were to establish a country in Australia, we would definitely encounter similar problems as the previous life's China, "Navy... aircraft carrier... armed protection of overseas Chinese..." A few disjointed words took Zhong Yi's thoughts far, far away.

  "Sir, the funds have reached 50 million. Congratulations, sir, on your promotion to Senior Colonel." The female anchor's voice brought back the commander of the Divine Flying Nine Heavens to reality. Looking at the available funds on the holographic screen: 50,013,200. Zhong Yi smiled wryly, "Thinking too much, going through so much trouble, just for a Senior Colonel, what's the point of thinking about the Navy..."

  "Bird, open infinite recruitment mode for the Liberation Army, prioritize strengthening third-class skills, and have the tank factory build infantry vehicles first... fifty of them." After giving the order, Zhong Yi quickly switched the control interface back to the building interface.

  Air Force Command Building

  Construction funds: 100,000

  Power demand: 400

  Construction area: 5000 * 5000

  Construction time: 24 hours

  Congratulations, Commander! You are about to own a second troop type - Air Force. Each base can only build one air force command center, and each air force command center can only accommodate the aircraft of one flight group. If you want to build more aircraft, you must build more airports.

  "Hmm, not expensive, each empty plot is only 1 million funds. Although it's a unique building in the base, making a few more sub-bases will solve the problem. What about the airport? There's no airport in the construction interface. Switch to the logistics construction interface... Ah, here it is."

  Building Name: Military Airport

  Construction funds: 50,000

  Power demand: 800

  Construction area: 3000 * 3000

  Construction time: 24 hours

  Description: Can lift off all air force planes produced by each base, and each airport can only accommodate one flight squadron.

  After seeing this, I finally understood that the Air Force Command also has the function of an aircraft manufacturing plant, while the military airport is simply a pure airport. I don't know how the air force's organization is calculated, whether it is counted together with the army or listed separately? Asked Tianyanniao, and he came up with another sentence "No permission to answer."

  I've gotten used to it, no energy to compete with the intelligent system, can only explore on my own. Clicking on the icon, I selected a large area of land next to the military camp, confirmed, and started building the air force command center. Right, I paused the Liberation Army's land-based recruitment that was in full swing, opened up the air force, and the air force-type soldiers in the military camp should be activated too?

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, a new icon appeared on the character interface, but it was gray.

  People's Liberation Army Air Force

  Recruitment conditions: Chinese base camp, Air Force Command

  Funds: 10,000

  Zhong Yi licked his lips, and the price increased tenfold. It's worth it! In our previous life, training a pilot in our country was said to be as expensive as piling up gold. The conscription time is also good, similar to that of the army. Due to the expansion of the troops and the formation of two battalions of the National Guard, some military camps were built, and the personnel conscription time was shortened to ten minutes. I believe that in the future, as more bases are divided and more military camps are built, the conscription time will be even shorter.

  Before the construction of the air force department is completed, the air force logo cannot be activated. Continue to recruit the army. After dawn, first deal with this crap Royal Australian Army 2nd Division.