Chapter 42: The Sky of Liberated Zone

  Chong Yee was in no hurry to take over the prisoners of the Second Division, for these soldiers from eastern Australia were different from Hans' 17th Brigade - they were truly loyal to the Commonwealth of Australia.

  The armored division was still facing the 3rd Division across the Swan River, and several biplanes took off from Perth's dual-use airport and circled above the armored division for a while without dropping any bombs. Nationwide Lin followed the commander's instructions to remain restrained and did not use anti-aircraft guns to counterattack. The atmosphere on both sides of the Swan River was still very calm, almost suffocatingly so, especially among the aristocratic class within Perth City.

  The Red Alert army is pressing in, but not rushing to attack the city. The main force of the Australian Army's 2nd Division from New Wales has been annihilated in Kalgoorlie. Western Australia Governor Wilson has been trying to meet with State Parliament leaders Sandra and Luke for several days, but they have not been seen. This makes Wilson feel like the wild grasslands of Australia, growing wildly. As the Governor of this state, he was a compromise between several families in Perth. Now that Perth is facing disaster, the heads of the two major families are avoiding him, what does this mean? Even Colonel Cole, the commander of the 3rd Division, is from the Burleyman family. Without the tacit consent of these family leaders, even the military cannot be commanded by the state government!

  Telegram after telegram was sent to Canberra, but there was no news at all. It is estimated that the members of Congress were also panicked. The main force of an army was completely annihilated, which had never happened in the more than 30 years since the founding of the Federation. This has exceeded the capacity of the Australian government, and seeking rescue from the Empire may be the only choice for Governor-General Excess Sir.

  Of course, Wilson did not put all his hopes on the Government House in Canberra. As the saying goes, "a cunning rabbit has three burrows". Apart from the winery and mine in Western Australia, Wilson also had a considerable estate in Queensland, enough to maintain his noble life, just without the power. At Perth Airport, there was a small plane prepared by Wilson for himself, which could fly to Adelaide in the south. This was the way out left by Wilson for himself.

  Perth Airport has been very busy these days, Australian airlines have suspended other routes, and the most advanced Boeing 247 airliners are all flying back and forth between Perth, Melbourne and Sydney. Although ticket prices have risen five times higher than usual, the latest Boeing aircraft, which can only carry ten passengers, still cannot meet the demand of Perth's wealthy people fleeing the war. As a result, the airport ticket office is crowded with people every day.

  It was just this day that a Boeing 247 with the number OH370 had just taken off and suddenly lost contact with the airport. No matter how the ground staff at the airport tower shouted, there was only silence on the dedicated channel of OH370. The news of the loss of contact with the passenger plane quickly reached Governor Wilson's office, and Wilson did not feel particularly surprised when he learned of this news, but instead picked up a telegram paper with a serious face, "Send this to the airport manager."

  This telegram is from the Red Alert Corps of Karl Guli, and it reads: As of today, Western Australia will be under aerial control. All unauthorized aircraft will be shot down. Signed by the highest commander of the Red Alert Base, Zhong Yi.

  This open telegram immediately plunged Perth into silence. After the armored division approached Perth, there were no passenger ships that dared to dock at Perth Port, and now even expensive flights could not escape, what else could be done? The Boeing airliner with a cruising speed of over 200 kilometers per hour encountered the J-5 fighter jet with a top speed of 900 kilometers per hour, and had no chance to escape.

  The front of the state government building was packed with protesters every day, protesting the inaction of the state government and the lack of rescue from the federal government. Wilson could only smile wryly, trapped and helpless. The phone on his desk suddenly rang, and Wilson grabbed it like a lifeline. The office had stopped answering external calls since the protests began, so this call must be from the legislative side.

  Sandra's slightly hoarse voice was like heavenly music to Wilson now, but after a brief conversation, the Governor lost his initial excitement and leaned back weakly in the huge leather chair that symbolized power. Sandra only said one sentence on the phone: Two hours later, there would be a plane flying to Kalgoorlie, taking the Governor with it.

  The Boeing airliner, which was allowed to take off, carried only four passengers in addition to the two pilots and a flight attendant: Sandra Smorgon, matriarch of the Smorgon family; Lukas and Hardie, patriarch and heir of the Lieberman family; and a disconsolate Sir Laurence Wilson, Governor of Western Australia. Although there were few passengers, the presence of two viscounts, one baronet and a future Viscount made this Boeing 247 a noble aircraft for a time.

  The Boeing passenger plane had just taken off from Perth, and two J-5 fighter jets immediately came to escort or monitor the old propeller-driven airliner, forcing the J-5s to slow down. Two hours later, the Kalgoorlie Air Force Command received a report from the J-5s that the passenger plane from Perth was requesting permission to land.

  Two fire engine red rabbits had been waiting at the airport, and for these few white guests from Perth, Zhong Yi still gave a high reception standard. The City Hall of Kalgoorlie was also rebuilt, with a simple and clear layout that was different from the solemn and majestic Chinese government building style, but more close to the Western European castle style. What surprised the guests was that the guards at the gate not only had red police officers wearing camouflage uniforms standing guard, but also a team of soldiers in dark green uniforms patrolling outside. What made Wilson exclaim in surprise was not those military dogs that looked very fierce, but the soldiers on patrol included both whites and aborigines, when did the noble whites fall to the point where they were patrolling with those upright animals?

  Sandra and Luke, who had been there several times before, gave Wilson a withering look. This greedy guy from the East was too embarrassing, did he still think this was Perth? In Kalgoorlie, disrespecting the locals would also be punished.

  Sitting in the spacious office of the City Hall, Zhong Yi's mood was not bad. After annihilating the Australian Army's Second Division, the external threat to the Red Alert base had been temporarily cleared. The Air Force Command Center had already been put into use, and a squadron of fighter jets and bombers had been deployed at the airport. Due to funding issues, the remaining troops of the Flying Corps would be formed in succession. Colonel Mu Yu's work was also very effective, and the armored second regiment of the Army Brigade had been fully established and could be put into battle at any time. The planned third regiment would be a mechanized infantry regiment, including an infantry fighting vehicle battalion and two self-propelled artillery battalions to supplement the troops' lack of long-range firepower. The artillery battalions would be equipped with the 122mm and 155mm self-propelled howitzers newly developed by the War Laboratory, which Zhong Yi had named Huo Shen (Fire God) and Lei Shen (Thunder God).

  It is said that the naming of domestic weapons in ancient China was really... powerless, so Zhong Yi decided to rename all self-developed weapons at the Red Alert base, with artillery named after the "Shen" series.

  The war lab has been performing well recently, and dozens of scientists have been recruited to stay at the main base. Among them is a physicist named Qian Sanmu, who specializes in nuclear fusion research, which shocked Zhong Yi greatly. When did the Manhattan Project start? Never mind, let's get started first, set aside a laboratory specifically for him, and take it slow. Another scientist named Wang Dali also caught Zhong Yi's attention, with a common name but an expert in thermodynamics, specializing in turbine jet engines. What a great talent! In the future, building better planes and rockets will rely on him, of course, also building an independent laboratory for him. Dozens of scientists built ten laboratories, each with only a few scientists and assistants, fortunately, the weapons produced by the base are currently leading the world, so there is no rush to update and replace them for now.

  In short, the construction of the base gradually became regularized, and the scale and combat effectiveness of the troops also expanded and improved step by step. The commander's mood was like that famous song of later generations: "The sky in the liberated zone is..."