afterglow

Chapter 454 Chapter Hot Bonds; Zhou’s paper

It is true that the Ming Navy is not familiar with turbine electric propulsion systems, but similar technology exists in thermal power plants.

Only the flexible and cross-application of technologies from various disciplines is the right way.

If a Ming aircraft carrier suffered the same degree of damage, such as the Taiweiyuan-class aircraft carrier, Chuting Shipyard would be confident that it would be repaired as before within two and a half months.

But after all, the Lexington is someone else's ship, and the internal structure is unfamiliar. The shipyard can only estimate that it will take three to four months.

The Lexington class retains four twin-mounted 4mm naval guns on the right side of the hull. Historically, they were not dismantled until 203. These turrets not only shift the center of gravity of the ship to the right, but the muzzle blast from their firing will also cause damage to the flight deck and aircraft on the deck.

Because the artillery shells and propellant packs seized with the ship were limited, they were not suitable for installation on Ming warships. The Ming Navy would not set up a special production line for this purpose.

While being towed through the Torres Strait, the Lexington was attacked by several B-17 fleets. The B turret was hit by a 500-pound aerial bomb, causing the barrel to deform.

Therefore, Zhou Changfeng proposed to dismantle the remaining three turrets, melt them, and use them to make steel. The artillery inside could be reused and transported to islands that needed garrisoning as coastal defense artillery.

As for the damaged B turret, it has little use value and is simply moved to a park or museum for public display.

The sun is setting in the west and it's getting late.

But at this moment, fireworks soared into the sky one after another, blooming into fleeting colorful galaxies in the bright starry sky.

"Dear citizens, gentlemen and ladies, this time's public bonds will be publicly issued from now on, divided into two categories, one is issued by the Imperial Ministry of War, and the other is issued by the Navy."

The cunning officials of the Ming Dynasty will not miss any good opportunity to make profits - the big head belongs to the court, and the small head...of course belongs to them.

While publicizing his illustrious martial arts skills, he publicly sold bonds. This operation worked smoothly.

A large screen has been set up outside the West Street of Chuting Shipyard, showing videos taken by war reporters, including but not limited to our carrier-based aircraft taking off from the aircraft carrier, our own aircraft fleet dropping bombs, and our own fleet shelling enemy positions...

Ten small tables have also been set up, with volumes of books and stacks of bonds placed beside them, and the issuance of war bonds began.

Many people came here with the intention of watching the excitement at first, but it soon became so crowded that the local inspection department hurriedly deployed additional patrol officers to maintain order.

Looking at the dazzling pictures on the big screen, many people were stunned, and their minds could not help but think of the scene of a fierce battle thousands of miles away.

There was a long queue in front of the small platform for issuing bonds, and the ten spots originally prepared were simply not enough.

Officials far underestimated the enthusiasm of the people, or the captured Lexington really had extraordinary propaganda value.

Such a huge ship was too late to be scuttled. Does it matter whether it is true or false? Our army will definitely attack victoriously, and the enemy will retreat in embarrassment!

Of course Zhou Changfeng and his party would not stay in the factory area, so when they drove away, they saw this long queue that stretched for half a block.

Out of curiosity, he stopped the car on the side of the road, then walked over and took a look around.

As a result, he heard some news that surprised him.

"Did you make a mistake? Spend money to buy bond qualifications? Scalpers are everywhere."

He thought that his Cantonese listening skills had improved, but he still felt that he heard something wrong, so he even checked with several female students who passed by while shopping together.

In order to grab oil and water, some officials sold bonds with larger denominations to Erdao dealers, and then these guys sold them to the public at a slightly higher price. As a result, the business was actually very good.

The main reason for queuing up is that there is a purchase limit for large bonds and they may not be available.

Therefore, some people chose to come to Erdao Dealer to make additional purchases. Zhou Changfeng saw a young couple buying five 200-yuan Australian Raider bonds with his own eyes, and they were very pleased with themselves.

God! How could he be carrying such a huge sum of money so late at night? How impatient it is!

The dumbfounded Zhou Changfeng still didn't calm down after arriving at the hotel where he was staying.

Without vomiting, he simply went to the phone booth in the hotel lobby and made an inter-provincial call to his home.

"...Isn't this a good thing? It shows that the people's support can be used. By the way, Zhou Kexing, when the application was announced, someone sent a letter to the door. Lin Xi said that it was from a confidential department of the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, so we did not open it."

"Huh? Where do you come from? The staff office?"

"seems like it."

"So soon? Okay, I understand. I'll return to Beijing the day after tomorrow."

The two briefly chatted for a few more words. Xia Xiaoshi asked Zhou Changfeng to bring back some local specialties. The latter agreed and then hung up the phone.

While we are making great progress all the way, is there anyone who has any plans to go against the odds? The answer is yes.

Even in later generations, there are a large number of survival maniacs, or doomsday preparers, around the world.

Zhou Changfeng used his authority to conduct patient screenings from the middle of the year to the end of the year and discovered some "doomsday preparers" among the army, navy and air force, the Ministry of War, and the Metropolitan Governor's Office.

They differ greatly. Some are pessimistic about this war, some firmly believe that temporary victory will eventually come to an end, and some simply like to leave a way out.

Some people expressed concerns about the future war situation, and as a result they were ostracized, criticized, and ridiculed. After hearing about this, Prime Minister Gao Qingkui even publicly emphasized:

"Being prepared for a rainy day and being alarmist are two different things. You have to make two plans at all times. The more things go smoothly, the more vigilant you have to be."

Unlike most military personnel who were dazzled by the victory, civilian governments like the Ming Dynasty maintained their sanity.

After weighing the situation, Zhou Changfeng wrote a hastily written paper a few days ago and took it to Cheng Han, his colleague in the staff office.

The latter was surprised that a victorious general like Zhou would consider the worst.

Cheng Han, who looked strange, said with a smile: "This is abnormal. Zhou Kexing, you don't seem like a defeatist. How come you are thinking about such a thing?" "Indeed, I am confident in general, but..." Zhou Changfeng shrugged and replied with the same smile: "The Prime Minister is right, take precautions for a rainy day."

Taking into account the innate advantages of the time travellers, and the fact that a later Zhou person had learned systematic and complete anti-landing operations.

From the operational level to the tactical level, he believed that he should indeed stand on the commanding heights of history to guide the direction.

No matter what, as a pioneer, I have roughly summarized the strategy of strategic defense and clarified the ideas. Whether it will be used in the future is another matter.

Cheng Han has always praised Zhou's theoretical level, especially the contract tactics of various arms, which are top-notch in the world, but are inferior to the battle level.

"When the superiority in sea and air is lost and there is no external aid, select necessary islands and slightly less important islands, select key points and defend them... This is much smarter than the millions of soldiers boasted by some mediocre people. I have taken the time to comment these days. Just take a moment."

Cheng Han, who shoulders the responsibility of chief of general staff, has a lot of documents to review and is a very busy man.

But even so, his efficiency far exceeded Zhou Changfeng's expectations.

After submitting the draft of the paper to him, Zhou rushed to Guangzhou to watch the excitement. Only two days later, when he returned to the capital, he learned that his dozen drafts had been reviewed and annotated.

After verification, the paper was published in the Ming Army's internal newspapers.

The paper titled "My Opinions on Defense Tactics and Coordination of Southeast Oceanic Islands and Reefs" was published in the "Army Division's Half-Moon Talk", "Navy Division's Half-Moon Talk", and "Air Force Ten-day Journal".

The Ming Dynasty Air Force was established only a short time ago and is quite unique in all aspects, including its internal newspapers and periodicals.

In view of Zhou's status as a military aircraft awaiting imperial edict, Zhu Lingjing was initially reluctant to let him publicly sign because such a paper that was associated with defeatism might cause misunderstandings.

But Zhou tried hard to argue a few words and finally got her to agree.

What is being published in these newspapers and periodicals today?

This issue of "Army Division Half-Moon Talk" contains "A Summary of the Australian Army's Tactics from Darwin to Meucheng", "The Beginning and End of the Attack over the Mountains on the Kekeda Trail", "A Brief Discussion on the Flexible Use of War Defense Artillery in Urban Areas" >etc.

This issue of "Navy Half-Moon Talk" contains "A brief analysis of the naval battle in the Torres Strait", "Common omissions in the water reconnaissance aircraft search mission", "Night battle essentials: Experience in the correction of the Qiantang River ship" and so on.

This issue of the "Air Force Ten-day Bulletin" contains "It is not advisable to rely on the triangle probability bombing method", "A brief discussion on feigning engine failure during combat", "A review of experience in intercepting enemy large bombers", etc.

Among them, a paper appeared unexpectedly that talked about how to defend when one's own side lacks sea and air superiority?

And after reading it from beginning to end, I discovered that the last signature was "First Marine Brigade Brigade Zheng Zhou Changfeng"?

From the very beginning, this paper stated with unmistakable certainty that without sea and air control, it was impossible to successfully defend any island. All attempts were made to delay as much time as possible and kill the enemy.

Zhou expounded his ideas in terms of pre-war preparations, campaign deployment, infantry tactics, artillery tactics, anti-tank tactics, and air defense tactics.

First, hoard as many artillery shells as possible before the war. Once the bullets reach the standard amount of ammunition for a battle, they no longer need to be transported. The more artillery shells, the better, among which 80mm mortars and 112mm grenades are the most important.

Second, it must be deployed with defense in depth. The entire system must be dense and complex to ensure mutual communication and support. Any strong support point should have the ability to persist for a period of time alone after being divided and surrounded.

Third, the tactics of those arms are actually discussed around how to counter the enemy's advance. Zhou Changfeng pointed out that the enemy relies heavily on powerful sea and air firepower and the accompanying cover of armored vehicles. In the absence of both, , the propulsion efficiency is quite low.

Therefore, the core method is to rely on strong fortifications to protect yourself from fire damage, then concentrate direct firepower to destroy enemy tanks, and then use conventional tactics to attack enemy infantry units step by step.

During this period, you must not passively defend and be beaten passively. You must use small groups of infantry to reverse infiltration, surprise attacks, and ambush the enemy. You can even invest a small number of tanks at the right time to implement a short and powerful counterattack, but you must not carry out a large-scale counterattack to avoid being attacked. The enemy's naval and air firepower dealt heavy losses.

At the same time, he also complained about the lack of foresight of the Ordnance Bureau of the Ministry of War, because the Ming army's tanks were temporarily considered to be excellent but they did not pay attention to the research and development of new tanks and anti-tank guns.

Fourth, troops trapped on an isolated island will eventually run out of troops and ammunition, and can surrender after achieving their desired goals. After excluding the wounded, sick and demoralized officers and soldiers, a few hundred determined people were selected to retreat into the jungle to fight guerrillas. They used secret material points stockpiled in advance to maintain long-term resistance and made surprise attacks on enemy airports every now and then.

This paper soon caused an uproar within the Ming army... It was not that exaggerated in reality, but the response was indeed considerable.

Some people sneered at this, but most people expressed their incomprehension——

The army of the Ming Dynasty has been victorious in many battles so far. The Celestial Empire has abundant manpower and abundant products. It is already in an invincible position. How can it be said that "the sea and the air are in ruins, and they are huddled and guarding the island"?

Some conspiracy theorists claimed that this was a signal sent by the emperor and the emperor to the outside world with the help of someone from Zhou, reminding everyone that this war cannot continue uncontrollably, and those who are warlike will perish.

This is the situation in the Ming Dynasty, but the war in the southern hemisphere has not stopped.

In the end, the military was no match for politics, and the Ming army finally settled for the second best in terms of strategic deployment - it was also necessary to attack the enemy, and they did not choose Wake Island or Midway Island, but Australia.

In view of the fact that the Battle of Moresby had not ended long ago, the 1st Marine Brigade had many vacancies, and many sick and wounded soldiers had not yet recovered and were not suitable for combat at the moment. Therefore, they were still stationed in Moresby to rest and recuperate.

The 10th Infantry Division and the 2nd Guards Infantry Division were responsible for the offensive mission, concentrating their efforts on attacking Cairns and not considering Townsville for the time being.

Cairns, a small city in northern Queensland, is known in later generations for its rich natural beauty and is the main departure point for trips to the Great Barrier Reef. There are also lush tropical rainforests and the tourism industry is quite developed.

【Picture】

Historically, Cairns also played an important role during the war and was the forward base for the Allied counterattack in Papua.

Now, the Ming army has assembled all available ships to transport troops. Dozens of cargo ships of different sizes are fully loaded with personnel and equipment of the 2nd Guards Infantry Division and the 1st Field Heavy Artillery Brigade. In the D-39 Squadron They came in a mighty manner under the escort.

Although the fleet lost the battleship Yuanfeng in the Battle of Torres Strait, it has now been replenished to a certain extent.

Three destroyers and a light cruiser came from Xingzhou to join the fleet, and the heavy cruiser Yanshan, which was damaged by an air attack in Darwin, has also been repaired.

The 2nd Guards Division is the only Forbidden Army unit in the Australian Corps sequence. Previously, the Marines and other army units have always won military exploits. This time they finally got the opportunity.

In order to get rid of the ridicule of the watchdogs like the Third Guards Brigade did back then, the Second Guards Division can be said to be gearing up and waiting for danger.

Division Commander Ren Zhiquan assured the Division Supervisor that those who came here were not cowards, because those who were waiting to die did not leave with the army at all, and are still in Shuntian.

(End of this chapter)