Chapter 47 No Trees No Water
The forward base was chosen on the Nara Bor Plain because this desolate limestone plain is half within the reconnaissance range of the main base in the Maregis Foothills, and it is also the farthest distance that a sub-base can be established at the current level.
On the Oodnadatta Track, there is a small town with only hundreds of people called Urida. Narlaby in Latin means "no trees", and Urida is the only place on the Narlaby Plain where underground water can be drunk. In the early 20th century, two railway construction teams started building the Oodnadatta Railway from Kalgoorlie and Port Augusta respectively, and they finally met at Urida. This small town was found by Zhong Yi on a holographic map after almost missing it, because Narlaby Plain is not only "treeless", but also once called "waterless" by miners. An explorer who rode a camel across the Narlaby Plain described this place as "a stain on the face of nature, a place that would only appear in nightmares."
I used to think that the red earth and desert in Western Australia were the ugliest places in Australia, but after watching the holographic screen for half a day, Zhong Yi only said one sentence: "This will be the future nuclear test site."
When it comes to nuclear bombs, Zhong Yi suddenly remembered that there should be a weather control device in the Red Alert base. The 7 million square kilometers of land in Australia are said to be suitable for human habitation only six percent of the time. If they could get their hands on that magical weather control device and improve this camel-infested, kangaroo-ridden, uninhabited wasteland... just thinking about it is enough to make one die from beauty. However, this matter seems a bit far-fetched; what's important now is to focus on the battle in South Australia. One task, two preparations: the first is to send Wilson and Mu Yu to China to recruit workers and solve the population problem in Western Australia; while the second is this battle in South Australia - if the immigration plan doesn't go smoothly, they need to occupy more cities in the shortest amount of time to reach that 5 million.
With the increase in branch bases, Western Australia's rich mineral resources have made Zhong Yi temporarily worry-free about funding, and it has also become a main source of income with tens of millions of stars in one second... hundreds of millions of funds per day.
Another base vehicle has been built in the main base and is being towed to Kars for loading. The logistics factory and arsenal at the Karl Guli sub-base are working day and night, with large quantities of military equipment and supplies piled up like small mountains.
The first troops to depart were the 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Brigade and engineer troops. The base camp had a limit on the number of engineers that could not exceed the number of combat troops, meaning for every Red Army combat troop, there was an engineer. So in the sub-bases outside Kalguly, two army engineer brigades and one airfield maintenance brigade were gathered. One of the army engineer brigades followed the 2nd Brigade to Urdy, equipped with only a small number of rifles and other light weapons, but more importantly, heavy trucks and various engineering vehicles.
Zhong Yi was on the same armored train as Jiang Yunzhi's second team, but in fact everyone disagreed with him going to war, and Guo Lin was strongly demanding that the commander stay in Perth, but Zhong Yi refused. Professional work should be left to professionals, doing politics and economics is not his expertise, as a soldier, the battlefield is where he should be. Of course, not being on the front line, following the arrangements of the guard troops and other guarantees were also concessions that the commander had to make.
Hebal was sent to Shak Bay to be in charge of the survey and site selection for the refinery, the experiment with the offshore drilling platform was very successful, but this part of the oil clock did not intend to convert directly into funds. The Red Alert army is a highly mechanized force, and its dependence on fuel replenishment is equivalent to a lifeline. In Shak Bay, a large refinery was built using the seabed oil, which was a gift from Zhong Yi to the Smorgon family in return for their great contribution during the peaceful liberation of Perth. This gift made Old Sandra very excited, since the global economic downturn in the 1930s, it is easy to buy all the equipment needed for the refinery in America, and many mature technical workers can be hired at not too high a salary. Zhong Yi's suggestion was to take the stone industry as the leader and build an oil city directly near Shak Bay.
Similar to this industrial adjustment, Zhong Yidu did not interfere too much, but played the role of a traverser, putting forward some more insightful suggestions for them, and then using the leading technology summarized by Tian Tang Niao that is suitable for civilian industries to support those powerful families and ambitious young people starting businesses in Western Australia.
Taking advantage of the global economic crisis since the 1930s to poach companies from various countries is Zhong Yi's favorite idea. Moreover, Harding has already set out for the United States to acquire those companies on the verge of bankruptcy, and on the list opened by Zhong Yi for him, steel companies, airlines, shipping companies, medical equipment companies, etc. are all included. Zhong Yi has prepared enough hard currency - gold, believing that the temptation of using gold to complete the acquisition contract is something even the US government cannot resist. In this acquisition list, Zhong Yi also specially marked out a Quincy Compressor Company, not for anything else, but because this company is researching climate control technology, although their air compressors and vacuum pumps are also world-class products.
With these capable generals, plus the interests of several major white families in Perth tied up, and most importantly, with the strong presence of the Armored First Regiment, Zhong Yi felt that he didn't need to worry about the Western Australian base. Taking down South Australia, advancing into Victoria and New South Wales, and maximizing his own strength before the arrival of the British expeditionary force was the top priority.
Seier did a great job, before Zhong Yi and the armored second team arrived at Urdi, he had already built barracks and warehouses for storing materials, waiting for the time when the base vehicle would be unloaded from the train. Zhong Yi enjoyed a good roasted kangaroo tail. This train trip was really suffocating, the Nara Prairie on both sides of the railway was just camels, ostriches, occasionally a few pink-headed parrots, and kangaroos jumping around in the low scrub bushes. At first, it felt very novel, but the endless, seemingly unchanged scenery not only made people drowsy, but also easily produced a sense of depression. Zhong Yi vowed that he would never take the train across Naberu again, unless... the base could build a weather controller, or that legendary Quince company from later times could really change the climate here.
