Chapter 45: Peaceful Liberation of Perth

  Mighty and majestic, with spirits high,

  Crossing the Swan River, for peace we cry.

  Aeolus, our love, is to protect our homeland true,

  Children of all ethnic groups unite as one crew.

  Brave and fearless, we conquer every wolf's might,

  Mighty and majestic...

  A week after the negotiations at City Hall ended, Red Guardsmen from Armored Regiment One appeared on Swan Street, their loud marching songs even drowning out the rumble of tank engines.

  The City Hall meeting was a friendly negotiation, a successful exchange that laid the foundation for Western Australia's future prosperity and set an example for communication and cooperation between different ethnic groups in building a multicultural society.

  The peaceful liberation of Perth opened up a good opportunity for Zhong Yi and the Red Guard troops to integrate into Australia. The commander of the 3rd Division, Colonel Kor Liberman, also led his entire division in laying down their arms and accepting peaceful reorganization. The reorganization work was being organized by Colonel Hebal, the chief of staff of the National Guard.

  Former Governor of Western Australia Wilson was allowed to continue serving due to his good performance in the negotiations at City Hall, but his title was changed from Governor to Mayor of Perth. Under the command of General Hans, the 1st Regiment of the Red Guard took control of the small cities surrounding Perth, with the basic principle being that as long as the local governments obeyed the orders of the Perth city government, they would be left unchanged.

  The Red Guard military unit, which was mainly composed of soldiers, did not have many administrative talents. Zhong Yi also did not have much time to truly appoint and select officials. The administrative affairs of Perth were fully entrusted to Smorgon and Luk, who used people without suspicion and suspected those who were not used.

  As for Wilson, the first task assigned to him by Zhong Yi was to visit China as Mayor. Didn't you want to build a textile factory? Didn't you want to recruit a large number of female textile workers? Go to China to recruit them, not just female workers, but also families with children, and those who are not foolish or disabled.

  Industrial development requires people, and an automobile city needs many workers. Coincidentally, China was experiencing a grain shortage and internal war, resulting in many unemployed workers and fleeing farmers. Mayor Wilson, as the full representative of the Perth government, went to China to execute the task of immigration under the guise of recruiting workers.

  For this purpose, Zhong Yi handed over all the Australian dollars and British pounds in the Perth Treasury to Wilson to exchange for Chinese currency or silver dollars. As long as they could recruit people, they were not afraid to spend money. There was also an unspoken sentence: even if the money was not spent, it would be useless anyway, as it would eventually become worthless.

  As for this, Zhong Yi has not a shred of guilt, just like he shamelessly plagiarized the volunteer army song of later generations. Anyway, since this world has Zhong Yi and the Red Alert Army, who cares if there will be another Korean War or not?

  The 2nd Armored Regiment and the 3rd Mechanized Infantry Regiment have been formed, with regimental commanders Jiang Yunzhi and Xiao Guoxing respectively. The commander of the 3rd Regiment, Xiao Guoxing, is also one of the surprises in this large-scale recruitment, as he possesses a special skill that is not growth-oriented but absolutely suitable for artillery, and he is also one of the only two officers above the rank of lieutenant colonel in this recruitment, the other being Mu Yu, who has been defined by the commander as a candidate for special operations.

  In contrast to the orderly handover in Perth, the base in Kalgoorlie was a bit chaotic. The excitement of liberating Perth had gradually dissipated, replaced by a multitude of worries that suddenly surfaced. The rapid expansion of the territory left Zhong Yi somewhat at a loss, and he even felt some confusion about the future development direction of the Red Alert troops. Previously, actions were more like rushing to meet targets, with each objective determined by the base's promotion tasks. Comrade Supreme Commander rose from junior lieutenant to colonel in just over two months, breaking world military history records, but it was these promotion tasks that left Zhong Yi no time to consider future development paths. The plan for civilian industry development handed over to Sandra was, in fact, a plagiarized urban construction plan from later eras.

  Looking at the holographic screen's promotion task, Zhong Yi pinched his nose and sighed with a bitter smile, "It's time to get promoted!"

  Yes, the time has come to January 17, 1935, which is also the end of the Zunyi Conference during the Red Army's Long March. It was on this day that the leadership position of Taizu was established.

  And on this day, Comrade Supreme Commander also activated the promotion of Major General rank mission.

  Promotion to Major General Rank Mission

  Task duration: 6 months

  Mission Activated: Occupy a state (province) capital city with an air force command building.

  Mission objective: Territory area reaches one million square kilometers, population within territory reaches five million people.

  Mission Success Rewards: Commander promotion to Senior Colonel, unlock Nuclear Power Plant building, unlock Naval Dockyard building.

  Penalty for mission failure: prohibition of promotion within one year

  Mission countdown has begun.

  Two conditions for the task goal, the first one is free and it's a buy-one-get-one-free type, Western Australia alone has more than 2 million square kilometers. The only difference is the second condition, population! Ah, damn this is Australia, if it were in China, not to mention 5 million yuan, even 10 million can be easily done, but in this godforsaken place of Australia, finding 5 million sheep is easy, finding 5 million people?

  Zhong Yi slumped back in his chair, looking like he was about to take on a task. He rubbed his hands together and said, "Immigration! The most populous places in the world are India and China. And then there's that little devil Japan." He waved his hand dismissively at the thought of the Japanese. "Forget about those guys, living in the same city as them is no better than herding sheep on a farm. At least the smell of the sheep is consistent." As for the Japanese, he didn't need to think about it now. After they were dealt with, Japan's girls could still be brought in, and his comrades from the Red Alert army would also want to marry them after the war. However, it seemed that finding a real girl in Japan was difficult. He had heard that after finishing middle school, there were hardly any girls left. Was he supposed to go to elementary school and grab some, then raise them himself? Hmm, this idea wasn't bad. It would be more reassuring to watch them grow up himself.

  "Ah, never mind, there's no choice anyway. Whether objectively or subjectively, it's necessary for Chinese immigrants to set off. 'Let Wilson set off, huh? Wait till the new base car is built and then we'll set off!'"

  ……

  A month later, in the port town of Fremantle, nineteen kilometers from Perth, named after Captain Fremantle of the HMS Challenger, which was the first British colonial ship to land on Western Australia in the early 19th century, Zhong Yi led a group of high-ranking officials from the Perth government to host a farewell party for Wilson, who was about to leave for China. Unlike the Chinese, who prefer grand banquets, Westerners like to achieve their goals through seemingly casual conversations at cocktail parties.

  Zhong Yi didn't quite like this way, drinking and eating in big mouthfuls, trying all the world's delicacies was the king's way. However, when in Rome do as the Romans do, secretly on the balcony, he finished off the two large lobsters Vivian had brought, at this moment the commander-in-chief was elegantly holding a high-footed cup, exchanging with Wilson the things to pay attention to after the visit, and the tricks for dealing with Chinese officials, these were golden words, also the key to winning. In this aspect, Zhong Yi wasn't particularly proficient, but in later generations just flipping through a few web pages would be okay. Nothing else, only beauty and money.