afterglow

Chapter 357 Penicillin Test; Marston Pad
The next day, March [-]th.

Although some private newspapers had rushed to print and distribute the notice as early as last night, the official did not officially announce the news until this morning.

"... Our imperial army is in full force and is very powerful. The local people and foreigners are eating pots of wine and welcoming the royal master to congratulate the end of the absurd rule of the British..."

"...In this battle, a total of [-] enemy troops were wiped out, and more than [-] were captured. Countless seizures were made, including tens of thousands of cars... We had only [-] killed and more than [-] wounded in battle, which is really rare. A great victory."

"...The so-called 'one of the four major fortresses' is nothing more than a joke. This shows the declining military power of the Western countries..."

The official news agency of the Ming Dynasty did a good job in wordplay. The actual number of enemies annihilated should be twelve thousand, and the extra eight thousand were a small number of troops that were hastily evacuated by ship.

The writer believed that these defeated soldiers who had lost their armor and armor had no fighting power at all, so they were also included in the number of enemy annihilations.

Among the casualties of the Ming army, they omitted non-combat casualties and limited "killed in action" and "battle wounded". Therefore, the number of their own deaths increased from 2000 to more than [-], and the number of injured also increased from [-] to [-]. six thousand.

With every increase and decrease, the record looks even more brilliant.

Is it filled with water?Did you really register?As noted!

Celebrations of victory appeared in almost every state and county in the north and south of the Yangtze River. In some places, fireworks and firecrackers were even set off.

Schools in various places also announced a one-day holiday in accordance with the instructions of the imperial court.

I don’t know which store was the first to openly offer limited-time discounts, so a large number of stores could only compete with each other.

The factory did not stop working. After all, the men were reluctant to part with the profits created by this whole day's production. Instead, they mercifully distributed some daily necessities such as toothpaste, matches, kerosene, or a few banknotes.

Originally, after many deductions by the Metropolitan Government Staff Office, it was estimated that it would take two to two and a half months to deal with the British Commonwealth forces in Malaya, with casualties ranging from [-] to [-].

But the actual result was far less than the original estimate, which can be regarded as an unexpected surprise.

After winning the battle, everyone in the government and the public was rejoicing, and the same was true for Zhu Lingjing.

Last night she happily wrote a poem and wrote an imperial edict.

"The Emperor issued an order to all the civil and military ministers: I have inherited the great cause for a short period of time, and I will work hard to manage it. I dare not slack off, for fear of betraying the country and the people. The war started out of desperation..."

"...The troops of the Malay Army marching south today, the soldiers used their lives, were brave and fearless, marched straight in, and wiped out the British fleet and army. The so-called fortress was broken overnight, and I am really happy. I commend all the soldiers, bury those who died for the country, and punish them severely. For those who are lazy and incompetent, this means that rewards and punishments should not be biased..."

"... Our officers and soldiers must be bold and avoid cowardice, be humble and avoid arrogance, be honest and upright, fulfill their duties loyally, be diligent and unremitting, and live up to my expectations. Your Majesty. Send a telegram to the north and south to deal with it as soon as possible."

In fact, she originally wanted to use more unusual and high-definition classical Chinese words, but she gave up in the end. Anyway, this thing is for people to see, as long as the meaning is fulfilled.

Zhu Lingjing, who was in a good mood, told Su Yiyi to refuse all government affairs the next day, and then slept until midnight today.

The dreamless, deep, and restful sleep was really soothing. She turned over lazily, and suddenly felt the back of her hand was wet and itchy, so she subconsciously touched the furry mass.

"Okay, stop licking."

Ta Mo sat on the edge of the bed like a little lion, staring at her with one blue and one green eyes.

Okay, it's already time, it's time to get up.

After tidying up for a while, she went to wash up and eat.

"Your Majesty, Zhou Daizhao has arrived. Let's ask him to wait outside for a while."

"No, just tell him to come over."

Although Xia Xiaoshi's due date is almost within these days, Zhou Changfeng, who is on the front line, actually has a lot of things to be busy with, such as the allocation of supplies, the allocation of additional troops, etc.

The most speechless thing is that yesterday afternoon, the division deputy of the 22nd Division returned to the station by car after attending the celebration banquet. As a result, he was hit by a truck from the [-]st Marine Brigade while crossing the bridge.

The unfortunate colonel broke several bones, choked on a lot of water, and almost drowned.

This is probably the result of extreme happiness leading to sadness.

With tens of thousands of troops gathered here, there are naturally no shortage of similar chores, and often the commander of the army must personally come forward to handle them, which makes Zhou Changfeng extremely troubled.

The tangle is all tangle, I'm afraid I won't be able to go home in time.

Fortunately, the emperor's summons came at just the right time, and now he could finally escape from this mess.

So after boarding the plane and going up and down several times, he returned to Yingtian Mansion in the capital this morning.

The festive atmosphere in the streets heightened his good mood so much that he even had a smile on his face when he met the emperor.

"You are quite shrewd. You give up your false reputation to others, but your real achievements are not lost either."

"Your Majesty, I didn't expect the opponent to be so vulnerable. He penetrated him without paying attention." Zhou Changfeng replied sincerely.

"I'd like to remind you, don't strive for credit, and just be in the limelight occasionally."

Zhu Lingjing was somewhat conflicted about this aspect, and hoped that he could have a good relationship with the other generals. After all, it was her who helped him step by step in the army. It would be too embarrassing if he was isolated.

However, it should not be too close and should be maintained at a moderate position that is neither far nor near.

In response to her reminder, Zhou Changfeng replied nonchalantly: "Don't worry, I'm still a bit thoughtful, and I still get along very well with them."

"It would be great if you are not short-sighted."

Then, the two discussed a series of matters regarding the follow-up strategy and the diplomatic situation.

The war in Malaya has ended, and the Southeast Asia region is wide open. Although the Americans are still entrenched in the Philippines, the strategic situation is relatively good.

Now the Ming Dynasty's navy can march into the Indo Ocean via the Strait of Malacca to the west and threaten the pearl of the empire on which the sun never sets. It can follow the trend and seize the resource-rich Dutch East Indo in the south.

The Netherlands, known as the "Sea Coachman", was extremely prosperous in its heyday, and the Dutch Eastindu Company's trade volume accounted for more than half of the global trade volume at that time.However, with the successive failures in naval and land battles, the glorious history of the Netherlands has turned into a thing of the past.The Netherlands has had a poor relationship with the Ming Dynasty since ancient times. In the dark days after the Jiashen Incident, the Dutch were beaten and abandoned their stronghold in Xiaoliuqiu.

Later, because they wanted to do business, they tried every possible means, such as bribing officials of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, the court always felt that this group of red barbarians was very cunning.

In modern times, in view of its brutal acts against overseas Chinese in the colonies, the Ming Dynasty, which became nationalistic after the constitutional government, has long been eyeing the Dutch East Indies.

The Dutch apologized and paid compensation, which can only be said to have temporarily delayed the arrival of that day.

Anyway, Nanyang is rich in resources, so we can rely on it for a while.

Relying on the support of the British, the Dutch dared to categorically reject the Ming Dynasty's proposal to voluntarily abandon the colony and withdraw with dignity.

Now, with the disastrous defeat of the British fleet and ground forces, the Dutch had to face the approaching huge fleet with fear.

The safety of the mainland is still unknown. God knows when Deshe will take action. How can the colonial army in the Far East alone resist the mighty Ming army?
The only hope now is to get a promise of asylum from the Americans. However, Washington is vague and the answers given are ambiguous and even inconsistent.

"The military department's answer is [-]% certain. What do you think?"

Although the Metropolitan Government General Staff Office, the Army, and the Navy have detailed plans for seizing oil extraction and refining facilities, no one can guarantee 100% success.

"This is the best that can be done from a military perspective, but we can also try to apply diplomatic pressure?" Zhou Changfeng pondered for a few seconds and enumerated: "No one is supporting the Dutch now, maybe they will be intimidated."

"The price they offered is too high. They are not sincere and talking about it is useless." Zhu Lingjing said calmly.

The Dutch embassy actually received a secret message from Rotterdam these days, and had two secret meetings with the Ming Dynasty, indicating that it could voluntarily give up the colony and withdraw from Nanyang.

However, the Dutch demanded a sky-high price and offered a sky-high price of 870 tons of gold.

The representative of the Foreign Affairs Department of the Ministry of Rites who attended the meeting thought that the translator had made a mistake, so he asked three times in a row before confirming it.

One ton of gold is now worth approximately US$120 million, equivalent to 480 million yuan. The price offered by the Dutch is the result of calculating their profits over the next few decades.

"Hiss..." Zhou Changfeng thought about it in his mind and hesitated: "Actually, if the price is lower, we can definitely consider this deal."

Military operations cost money, material consumption costs money, death compensation costs money... all these things add up to a huge sum of money, and the oil fields may also be blown up by the Dutch.

If you spend a large sum of money to completely take over the entire Dutch East Indies, including the oil extraction and refining facilities that everyone is thinking about, it's really not a loss.

Anyway, you can secretly search for it in Myanmar, Borneo, Java and other places. It is not impossible to produce hundreds or thousands of tons of gold in a few years.

"Innocent! This is not about money." Zhu Lingjing glanced at him, "The majesty of the kingdom cannot be measured in gold and silver."

"Your Majesty, I was just saying casually. After all, the price offered by the Dutch is indeed too high."

"The outcome will eventually be seen on the battlefield. The National Oil and Gas Company is already making preparations. Even if it is damaged, it must be repaired as soon as possible."

Zhou Changfeng nodded and said: "Overall, we are still very optimistic. After all, there are several oil fields. Even if we only complete one of them, we will have a production of millions of tons, which is enough for a year and a half."

"Yes." Zhu Lingjing, who looked calm, waved her hand gently, "Your wife is here for a few days, so go back and keep her company. If you are lucky, you can make it in time."

The Governor's Staff Office plans to start implementing the plan to attack Borneo and Sumudara on February 22, codenamed "Blood Paralysis". The [-]st Marine Brigade will be responsible for the task of attacking the old port.

As the chief officer, Zhou Changfeng had to return to the army on the [-]th at the latest.

No one can tell whether the delivery date will be a few days earlier or later. Maybe it really depends on God’s will.

Before leaving, Zhu Lingjing also told him some exciting good news, that is, the research on penicillin has made remarkable progress, so much so that the Ministry of War actually obtained a sum of 18 yuan from the tax inspector who had always withheld the money. A huge sum of money is used as special research and development funds.

A research team from Seremban University extracted and purified Penicillium culture and found that even if the extract was diluted 100 million times, it could still effectively prevent the growth of Streptococcus or Staphylococcus aureus on the surface of experimental mice.

Next, according to common sense, we should continue to improve animal experiments, and then start clinical trials as appropriate after sufficient and complete data are recorded.

However, the excited officials of the Ministry of War couldn't wait any longer. They were initially dubious about the new antibacterial drug advocated by Zhou, but they didn't expect that it actually had extraordinary potential?
Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures!

So the Ministry of War got involved in the research and development of penicillin and demanded that clinical trials be carried out as soon as possible. It would be a great benefit if such a wonderful drug was put into use as early as possible. I don’t know how many lives it could save.

In the inaccessible and lofty mountains of the Qilian Mountains, a secret unit code-named Unit [-] received instructions from the Ministry of War to fully cooperate with the penicillin research and development team of Furong University.

Everything is developing for the better, and this situation makes Zhou Changfeng feel very good. Although the weather in the capital today is a bit gloomy, in his eyes, it is like a clear sky.

However, he did not go home directly. Instead, he went to the Air Force Office of the Ministry of War first, intending to hand-deliver a proposal and give a few instructions.

Although the fighting time in Malaya was not long, Zhou Changfeng felt that this efficiency was too low when he watched the engineering troops repairing and building the airport.

Over the past few days, he recalled the old photos in his mind, and accidentally thought of an unnamed, inconspicuous little thing, and soon realized that the Ming Dynasty Air Force would definitely use it.

Historically, with the development of aviation, the air forces of major powers have gradually realized that the construction of field airports is relatively inefficient - as aircraft become heavier and heavier, land runways must be carefully flattened and compacted.

In order to quickly build runways, the British came up with rolls of steel net chains. The disadvantage was that they were difficult to replace and repair after being attacked; while the Americans came up with a modular perforated steel plate and used it widely.

This kind of prefabricated paved runway is also called "Marston mat". Each piece is 3m long, 0.38m wide and 30kg in weight. It can be quickly laid after simply leveling the land.

This inconspicuous little thing can help the engineering troops quickly build runways, allowing the aviation force to be put into use faster.Even if it is damaged, that piece can be easily replaced.

Soldiers are valuable and fast, and the same is true for aviation.

And it has a wide range of uses. For example, it can also be laid on the landing beach to facilitate subsequent landing troops to unload cargo without getting stuck in the sand, which is definitely of great benefit.

Historically, although Japan later imitated similar products, they did not have the energy to apply them on a large scale, but the Ming Dynasty was different.

At the Air Force Department, someone quickly served hot tea. The officer on duty looked at the sketch and said, "This is a good idea, but drilling seems a bit cumbersome? I need to see the factory's opinion."

Zhou Changfeng shook the teacup and said, "The battle is about to start again. Let's see if we can hurry up and make a batch. Give it a try."

(End of this chapter)