Chapter Nineteen Starting from Western Australia
The subsequent battle became devoid of any suspense, and the rout became unstoppable. As the cavalrymen who had narrowly escaped with their lives under the machine gun fire galloped back to the base gate, they were met with six machine guns spewing out deadly snakes of flame from their muzzles. Those who ran fast died fast, while those who ran slow turned their horses around and frantically galloped along the wall in both directions. Qian Zhihao ignored them, as three infantry fighting vehicles with machine guns locked down the only escape route.
The walls built on the defensive interface were three meters high and half a meter thick. The steel-reinforced concrete structure made them look incredibly solid, but it brought nothing but despair to the fleeing soldiers. Even if they abandoned their warhorses, they couldn't climb over such a high wall. When Holuo commanded a row of two-wheeled war chariots to search for fleeing soldiers everywhere, he saw an incomprehensible scene at the northeast corner of the wall: more than 100 Australian soldiers, who voluntarily gathered their warhorses together, leaned their guns against each other, and held their wide-brimmed fur hats in their hands. When the infantry chariot appeared in sight, they excitedly waved the fur hats in their hands, and the lively scene left the Red Alert soldiers stunned. Holuo pinched a nearby soldier, who let out a pained cry, "What the fuck, are these guys here to attack our base or welcome the liberation army's civilians?"
At the gate of the base, Colonel Hebal took off his white shirt wisely in the midst of the "creaking" sound of the tank turret, and then held it up with a spear gun. This move won cheers from all the cavalrymen around him. As long as they didn't have to face that devilish green killing machine again, surrendering or becoming prisoners of war was worth celebrating, as long as they were still alive!
This is also the biggest difference in worldview between Eastern and Western people. In the eyes of Australians, or rather all Westerners, admitting defeat is not shameful, but rather gentlemanly. Being trapped in a desperate situation and fighting to the death is not worth mentioning; what they value is making a dignified surrender after doing their best, and even being able to return to the military and serve again after surrendering. During World War II, the German army, known for its invincibility on land, also had an entire corps surrender in North Africa. Even the SS troops once surrendered as a whole unit when surrounded by Cossack cavalry at the Don River. US General Wainwright and British General Percival were even invited by MacArthur to attend the Japanese surrender ceremony on board the USS Missouri, and both of them were prisoners of war.
Qian Zhihao was deeply ashamed of their soft behavior, and also dissatisfied with Jiang Yunzhi's order to let the guards take charge of watching the prisoners of war. "Damn it, letting us ten people guard hundreds of people, and hundreds of horses." However, the Australian military captives were quite cooperative, and the higher-ranking officers took the initiative to help maintain order. The soldiers in the guard squad didn't even need to get off the truck, they just sat inside and kept a close eye on them.
Zhong Yi made an exception and entertained Colonel Hebal, the commander of the cavalry regiment, in the grand hall on the first floor of the main building. Of course, all the refreshments came from the cavalry regiment's logistics carts, as the base lacked daily necessities, but not guns or cannons. The logistics factory did not produce these things, such as this bottle of red wine on the table. Although Zhong Yi repeatedly offered it to him, Hebal felt somewhat uneasy due to his status as a prisoner of war. Although the young enemy commander in front of him was quite a gentleman, the Baron's gaze was mostly focused on the large holographic map of Western Australia on the wall of the grand hall.
"Baron, relax, we are all gentlemen. Although you and your troops were defeated, I must say that this defeat was not due to a lack of bravery on your part! You and your knights were extremely courageous, but your failure lies with the outdated Australian government, whose equipment is far inferior to ours." Zhong Yi raised his red wine cup, gesturing for a toast, and downed it in one gulp. This gathering had already seen him drink half a bottle.
"Thank you for your words, Commander. Your views have allowed us to preserve the honor of our soldiers. I swear on my family's honor that I will cooperate fully with all your requirements and request that you provide necessary living guarantees for my soldiers. They are soldiers who came to attack you only because they followed orders from their superiors; they can die in battle, but they cannot be humiliated."
Jiang Yunzhi felt quite indignant, these white people are all like this, they got defeated but still make demands as if they had won!
Zhong Yi nodded and stopped Jiang Lianzhang, who was about to curse. "Alright, Baron, as long as you cooperate with Commissar Jiang's subsequent inquiry, I guarantee that you and your soldiers will receive the treatment they deserve."
He downed the remaining red wine in his cup, and then picked up the bottle. Zhong Yi stood up and said in English, "Captain Jiang, ah, no, you're now Major Jiang, please treat Lord Hebal well, he's sworn on his family's honor to cooperate with your inquiries." Then he winked at him, seeing Jiang Yunzhi nodding understandingly, before swaying back upstairs. After belching, he sat down in front of the control panel, "Bird, ah... how can we increase the recruitment speed of the military camp?"
"Report... sir, there are two options. The first is to build a separate base, which we cannot currently achieve. The second is to continue building barracks within the main base. Although multiple barracks cannot recruit personnel at the same time, it can speed up the recruitment of barracks." The female anchor also felt a bit uncomfortable with the increasingly drunk commander.
"Alright, you take control. Build five military camps and place them all outside the valley. Max out the speed of recruiting Liberation Army soldiers. At the same time, send out all mining carts to dig out the Ares Rock."
Zhong Yi was not drunk, but rather quite sober, according to Hebal. The Australian government is still focusing on the Aboriginal people regarding the Super Pit robbery incident. Additionally, Western Australia had just held a referendum last year to secede from the Australian Federation and seek autonomy, so no troops were dispatched this time. They came to inspect the damage to Ayers Rock and also to assimilate the Aboriginal people along the way, of course, this assimilation was "friendly" armed assimilation.
The Australian government has not yet noticed itself, which is good news. However, Zhong Yi also noticed that Western Australia had applied for autonomy last year, meaning that not only the indigenous people but also the white people of Western Australia are dissatisfied with the Canberra government. What does this mean? Zhong Yi thinks this is an opportunity, a chance to quickly establish himself in Australia. Western Australia has over 2 million square kilometers, similar to the entire western Europe, but most of it is desert and barren land. The population of Western Australia is mostly concentrated in the capital city of Perth, with some small cities like Kalgoorlie having tens of thousands of people. Occupying Western Europe is not something Zhong Yi dares to think about for now, but occupying Western Australia... might be possible with an armored division of 59-style tanks. The key consideration is how to make the white people accept his rule. Although the Red Alert warriors have extraordinary combat power, the bottle of red wine in their hands reveals a weakness - the lack of civilian facilities. Therefore, Zhong Yi treated the defeated general Herbert kindly, as he was a baron from the influential Smargon family in Western Australia, whose main industries were wineries and mines.
He gently swayed the red wine in his hand, not the kind of elegant rotation with the stem pinched between his fingers, but an unconscious sway with his palm tightly grasped. Zhong Yi didn't know if the temperature of his palm would change the flavor of the wine, but he knew that the opportunity to control Western Australia, or even the entire Australia... had arrived!
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