Blood-Red Front

Ren Huasheng acted quickly; the 6th Regiment headquarters had just been moved when two local officials came looking for him.

The man in his forties, who was leading the way, introduced himself as soon as he entered:

"Commander Lin, I am Zhang Chi, the head of Huaqiao District, and this is Xu Cheng, the mayor of Lujia Town."

"Following orders from higher authorities, the local government has established the Lujia Town Logistics Command, with me serving as the Logistics Commander and Mayor Xu as the Deputy Commander. We will fully cooperate with the 6th Regiment's work."

"How many men do you have on hand right now?" Lin Zhiyuan asked urgently.

The 6th Regiment is currently in dire need of manpower.

"We have mobilized more than 3,000 local militia members, and the number is still increasing. We expect to reach 5,000 within two hours."

"Commander Lin, just assign the task directly."

"Alright, you two, come with me."

Time was of the essence, so Lin Zhiyuan didn't waste any words and directly led the two to the map.

"The strength of the newly promoted army is unknown. In order to block the newly promoted army's attack as much as possible, the 6th Regiment plans to set up two lines of defense this time, among which the circular position south of Wusong River is the most urgent."

"I need two-thirds of the people to participate in the construction of the circular position, and the other one-third to assist in building fortifications inside Lujia Town."

The circular position was the first to engage the Rising Army, and time was of the essence there. Lujia Town, on the other hand, had relatively more time.

Zhang Chi nodded. "No problem, we will definitely dig the necessary trenches for your troops before the Rising Army arrives."

"Besides able-bodied men who were responsible for digging trenches, the militia also had many women, children, and other children who were responsible for building essential stations such as food supply stations, hot water supply stations, and wounded transfer stations."

Lin Zhiyuan stood up straight, saluted, and said, "On behalf of the 6th Regiment, I would like to thank everyone for their great help!"

"You fight the enemy on the front lines, and we provide logistical support. There's no need for thanks." Zhang Chi and Xu Cheng clasped their hands in a fist salute and hurriedly left the regimental headquarters.

Soon, stretcher teams and transport teams composed of able-bodied men gradually entered the front line and began to assist in the excavation of fortifications.

……

To Lin Zhiyuan's surprise, in addition to the local government's militia and more than 300 armed personnel, a battalion and a priestly corps also arrived in Lujia Town, and a battalion of imitation Khrushchev mountain artillery followed behind them.

Lin Zhiyuan's eyes lit up as he looked at the 12 imitation 75mm mountain guns being pulled by mules and horses.

Although the copy of the Kremlin mountain gun was an artillery piece from over thirty years ago, and its performance was outdated, with a maximum range of only 4300 meters, it was still enough to bring about a dramatic change in the combat effectiveness of the 6th Regiment.

In war, having cannons and not having cannons are two completely different situations.

Seeing Mu Ya approaching, Lin Zhiyuan asked, "How did the Priestess Corps end up with the Mountain Artillery Battalion?"

"The priesthood has psychics who received the broadcast order," Mu Ya said.

"This mountain artillery battalion is part of the 35th Artillery Regiment. They were also preparing to withdraw back to Wuxian along the railway. I conscripted them in your name."

"Great! Great! Great! I absolutely love you!" Lin Zhiyuan grinned from ear to ear.

When things were settled, it wasn't difficult for Lin Zhiyuan to get mortars and heavy machine guns, but he couldn't get a single mountain gun no matter what he tried. Now, 12 of them have arrived.

Lin Zhiyuan spoke casually, but Mu Ya stiffened upon hearing it.

She didn't hear a word Lin Zhiyuan said after that.

Seeing Mu Ya in a daze, Lin Zhiyuan kept waving his hand in front of her eyes.

"Mu Ya, Mu Ya?"

"Huh? What's wrong?" Mu Ya came back to her senses.

"It's that...that Divine Fire Crow..."

"The Divine Fire Flying Crow is probably already at Huaqiao. They will return to Wu County as planned. Only half of the priesthood actually arrived at Lujia Town."

"Among the priests who came to Lujia Town, besides me, the war priest, there was only one anti-aircraft company with four 20mm anti-aircraft guns."

Actually, if Mu Ya hadn't been worried about Lin Zhiyuan, she wouldn't have needed to come to Lujia Town.

All of Xia Jun's priestly corps are directly under the General Staff Headquarters. Not to mention a colonel like Lin Zhiyuan, even a general like Chen Xiu couldn't control them.

Even the artillery battalion we encountered on the road was something Mu Ya had tricked into coming here.

"All right."

Lin Zhiyuan knew he was being a bit greedy; it was unlikely that such high-end weapons would be given to a mere regimental commander like himself.

After putting down the Divine Fire Flying Crow, Lin Zhiyuan looked at Kang Liang, the artillery battalion commander.

"The artillery regiments of the newly promoted army all have shrine maidens, making them extremely strong in counter-battery operations. Mountain guns must be dispersed and deployed in different positions."

"Whether you can hold off the rising army at Lujia Town and buy time for the main force to retreat depends on your artillery battalion."

"Don't worry, Commander Lin, we have experience fighting against newly formed artillery." Kang Liang nodded. "However, we don't have many shells left; each cannon has less than 30 rounds."

Lin Zhiyuan sighed, "For now, we can only use it sparingly."

The main force is currently making a full-scale retreat, and coordinating artillery shells will be extremely difficult.

The 6th Regiment cannot rely on supplies; it must fight using the resources it already has.

After getting acquainted with each other, Kang Liang quickly took his leave, as he still had a lot of work to do.

After Kang Liang left, Mu Ya also prepared to leave. The war priests couldn't just sit in the house to provide air defense warnings; they had to hold a ceremony.

Just as all departments were making preparations, Lin Zhiyuan suddenly heard the roar of airplanes in the sky.

The information about the first-launch aircraft has been updated on the minimap.

[A newly promoted Ki-4 reconnaissance aircraft.]

【乘员：2，最大航程1200公里，装备7.7毫米机枪4挺，50公斤航弹4枚……】

Just as Lin Zhiyuan was observing the trajectory of the newly launched aircraft, the phone next to him rang.

After answering the phone, the communications officer reported, "Commander, the Priests are calling. The Priestess Mu has detected the trajectory of the Rising Sun's aircraft and is asking if we should launch an air defense strike."

Lin Zhiyuan didn't answer, but instead asked, "Have the local people retreated?"

Guan Jianchu, who was standing nearby, reported: "We are gradually retreating, but the retreat is relatively slow in order to avoid being bombed by enemy reconnaissance planes."

"Get the heavy machine guns at each position ready for air defense. If a helicopter dives down to attack, open fire immediately."

All of Xia's heavy machine guns are equipped with anti-aircraft sights. They can be used for anti-aircraft operations simply by installing a converter on the gun mount and attaching the ring-shaped anti-aircraft sight.

Although heavy machine guns are generally not very effective at preventing air attacks, if the enemy conducts low-altitude reconnaissance, a fire network composed of several heavy machine guns can still pose a considerable threat.

"Also, is the artillery battalion properly camouflaged?"

"We have confirmed with the artillery battalion that all the mountain guns have been dispersed and camouflaged. As long as they are not fired, the reconnaissance planes will not be able to detect them."

At this time, the reconnaissance plane was flying at an altitude of several thousand meters. Even if the pilots were using binoculars, they could not clearly distinguish the specific situation on the ground. At most, they could observe the general situation of the position.

"Since there's no immediate risk of being exposed, let's ignore the enemy's reconnaissance planes for now," Lin Zhiyuan said.

"As long as the enemy aircraft do not descend, the anti-aircraft guns will remain hidden and stationary. But if the aircraft descend, there is no need to make phone calls; just open fire and shoot them down."

"yes!"

……