afterglow

Chapter 614 Girls, Daughters, Soldiers; Offensive Mines!
Lin Xi was stunned for a moment, looking at a loss. After a few seconds, he stood at attention and raised his hand to salute.

"General, we are ready."

"Too depressed and listless." Zhou Changfeng waved his hand.

Lin Xi raised his voice again and replied, "Report! We're ready!"

Zhou Changfeng smiled knowingly, then patted her on the shoulder and said seriously: "Work hard after returning to China. The overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia are also descendants of Yan and Huang. Don't let me down."

"Yes."

"Xiaoxi, after the war, you can come again if you have time." Xia Xiaoshi said with a forced smile, looking quite regretful.

There is still some affection between them after being together for several years. Now that Lin Xi is leaving, Xia Xiaoshi feels really lonely and sad.

"Madam..." Lin Xi's eyes were a little moist, and she nodded gently: "Well, I will come again if I have the chance."

A rare atmosphere of loss and separation appeared in the hall, and everyone was silent.

Suddenly, Xia Xiaoshi remembered something and asked, "The deadline for this conscription order has exceeded by so many days. What should we do when we report?"

Wouldn't being late for the appointment result in severe punishment under military law?
Zhou Changfeng also considered this. He looked at Lin Xi and said, "It's okay. Special matters will be handled specially. I'll have someone write you a note explaining the situation. If anyone wants to hold you accountable, you can show it to them."

The Lan Fang had already carried out preliminary mobilization over the past year, but as they expanded their armaments again, a more extensive call-up became inevitable.

However, Lan Fang's core population was too small, and even if it occupied most of Borneo, it was still stretched thin.

Because of this, the Lan Fang National Defense Force became a rare armed force in that era that allowed women to serve in combat units.

Except for the infantry and engineers who rely too much on strong strength, women can be seen everywhere in the combat units that are slightly further back, such as anti-aircraft artillery, communications troops, military police, etc.

This situation is very similar to that of Russia during the same period in history - there was a shortage of male manpower and a large number of women had to join the army.

Fortunately, the situation remains good and the US-Australian coalition forces cannot threaten Borneo except for strategic bombing.

Lin Xi signed up for communications sergeant training in middle school and had a second identity as a reserve corporal. According to the custom of the Lan Fang National Defense Army, after being called up for service, he would be promoted one level, but it was unclear whether he would be assigned to a field unit or a garrison unit.

Today's dinner was not very enjoyable.

Even after the sex ended at night, Xia Xiaoshi was still a little sad. Lin Xi's impending departure made her feel lost.

She leaned close to Zhou Changfeng and sighed softly, "Zhou Kexing, since you've already written a note to explain, why don't you just leave Xiaoxi behind?"

"Stay? You can't." Zhou Changfeng touched her long black hair and said calmly: "She has her own life to go on. She can't stay here forever, right?"

"Xiaoxi is a good girl. I hope she can find a good home in the future." Xia Xiaoshi stared at the ceiling. "I hope the war will end soon."

“Now is the most intense time for the showdown.”

"Alas, sir, the British and American leaders are really ignorant. It would be a happy ending if they gave in earlier."

"They are not the ones who will die in the war, so of course they won't give in. They should eat, drink and have fun. They should have Iranian caviar, French foie gras, Cuban cigars, what do they want?"

"Ah."

"Just look at what you can see. Which of the noble ladies at the banquets is not dignified and gorgeous? The sale of stockings has long been banned, but will they be short of them?"

"If you don't experience suffering, you won't be afraid of war." Xia Xiaoshi reasoned naturally: "If the powerful and wealthy can be threatened by war, perhaps there will be no war."

Zhou Changfeng smiled and said, "It's not that absolute, but...it will definitely work."

The ordinary night passed quietly.

Lin Xi's departure seemed a little hasty, because there happened to be a ship to Pontianak tomorrow afternoon, with the departure port in Shanghai, and she had to hurry there.

Before leaving, Zhou Changfeng gave her a Bibo brand watch - a watch issued only to school-level officers in the Ming Dynasty Navy.

The things Xia Xiaoshi gave as a gift were more diverse, with a small suitcase filled with all kinds of items.

Guarded by motorcycles in front and behind, a car with the license plate "京甲-1106" in white on a red background was driving on the streets of Yingtian Prefecture, with a cylindrical gas generator standing upright at the rear of the car.

Was the Ming Dynasty really so poor that it needed to save just a little bit of gasoline?
Obviously not, but court officials need to set an example, even if they are only frugal on the surface and extravagant in secret.

Looking at the houses and people passing by outside the car window, Lin Xi was in a trance.

It has been four years since I had the courage to cross the sea to go abroad and came here rashly to venture out. Then I had such a smooth experience.

When he came, the Ming Dynasty had not yet sent troops to Southeast Asia, and Zhou was only a colonel; now it is time to leave, the influence of Western powers in Southeast Asia has been wiped out, and Zhou is now a major general.

Although she had kept in touch with her family through letters during the past four years and knew about the general changes in her hometown, she couldn't help but imagine what it was like now.

Outside Yingtian South Station, several people got off the train, and Zhou Changfeng personally carried the suitcase down for her.

Now, it's time to say goodbye.

"Xiaoxi, take care and take good care of yourself." Xia Xiaoshi said with concern and worry.

Lin Xi bowed solemnly and replied, "Thank you and your husband for your care over the years. I am very grateful."

Then, she turned to Zhou Changfeng and wanted to bow again, but the latter waved his hand to stop her.

"After the contract is terminated, you will become a member of the Lan Fang National Defense Force. Now there are only soldiers and generals here. The future is uncertain. If there is a day when you have to participate in the war... save yourself and destroy the enemy."

Hearing this, Lin Xi stood at attention, raised his hand and saluted in a standard military salute, and said seriously: "Yes, I will follow your instructions!"

At this time, an attendant reminded: "Sir, the train will leave in a quarter of an hour."

Just like that, no one spoke anymore. After a brief eye contact, Lin Xi turned around and walked towards the train station with his suitcase.

Not long after, her figure disappeared in the crowd.

Zhou Changfeng and Xia Xiaoshi stayed there and waited for a while until the train blew its whistle and drove out of Yingtian South Station, trailing black smoke, and then they got back into the car.

A girl set out on her journey back home, a daughter set out on her journey back home, and a soldier set out on his journey back to the team... in the afternoon.

The Grand Marshal's Office continued to operate as usual, with staff and civil servants coming and going in a hurry.

Compared to court departments like the Ministry of War, there are fewer women working here.

A cup of tea dispelled his afternoon sleepiness, and Zhou Changfeng came to the No. 3 meeting room of the General Staff Office to listen to today's report.

"…Last month, our army shot down 314 enemy planes in air combat, 39 enemy planes were shot down by ground anti-aircraft guns, and 40 enemy planes on the ground were destroyed; our navy lost 22 bombers of various types, and our air force lost 390 fighters, 38 bombers, and 4 reconnaissance planes."

The endless Hawaiian Air War of Attrition has made the Ming Air Force quite depressed. It has never been interrupted for more than ten months from last year to now.

Although it was not to the point of serious damage, the permanent losses (death and capture) of more than 8,000 aircraft of various types and more than 10,000 crew members were considerable.

Moreover, in addition to Hawaii on the eastern front, the Ming Air Force was also engaged in a war of attrition with the British, British India, and Royal Australian Air Forces in the South Asian subcontinent and Australia, but the intensity was lower.

The Ming Air Force still uses the training standards established before the war, which require a total flight time of 250 hours. For a large-scale total war, this number seems too large, and the reduced training standard currently implemented by the US military is only 200 hours.

It can be said that the late Crown Prince Zhu Liqie's actions have left a legacy to this day. In the 2.4th year of Emperor Changzhi, with his strong support, the Advisory Council allocated 6000 million yen to build large pilot training bases in Jinan and Xi'an, and another million yen was used to subsidize the establishment of flight clubs in major universities across the country.

All major aviation schools and training bases are doing their best to train pilots, but the rate of loss is faster than the rate of training.

The Military Training Department of the Ministry of War once again issued a warning, saying: If the training time is not shortened, then at the current rate of loss, there may be a shortage of pilots in four months.

In fact, this suggestion was put forward a long time ago, but the Air Force has always rejected it, believing that it is not advisable to lower the quality of pilots in this way.

"It's not good to pursue quality too much. We kill thousands of American pilots every year, but they can train new ones in just one month." Zhou Changfeng asked, "What does the Military Training Department think? How can we shorten the time?"

"The flight time for primary and intermediate trainer aircraft will be reduced by 20 hours each, and the flight time will be shortened to 210 hours," replied a civilian major.

"I think it's okay. Let's talk to the Air Force seriously. The war has come to this point, why are you still thinking of a quick victory?"

"Yes!"

What makes the Ming Air Force depressed and helpless is that, due to the limitation that not many airports can be built on a few islands, the US military actually only maintains a "very small" air force at the only five remaining airports in Hawaii - about 1000 to 1100 aircraft.

In fact, it was the German Air Force on the other side of the world that took on most of the responsibility.

此时此刻，美國陸軍航空队在英国（第8）、葡萄牙（第9）、意大利（第15）总共部署了1.03万架各型飞机，其中轰炸机约4000架、战斗机约4700架、运输机和侦察机约2300架，还在不断增多中。

In addition, the Royal Air Force is equally large.

It can be said that there was a bloody battle in the sky over Europe. The German Air Force was not having an easy time at all, and its situation was even more difficult than that of the Ming Air Force.

The British successfully installed the Merlin engine into the Mustang, making the already well-designed P-51A even more powerful and its performance had a qualitative leap. This model was called P-51B, and Rolls-Royce had authorized the Americans to mass-produce this engine for free during the war.

之前对P-51A嗤之以鼻的德国人付出了惨痛的代价——3月1日发生在塞利维亚的空战中他们被新锐的P-51B剃了个光头，损失8架Bf-109G却一无所获。

The US military was very satisfied with this and decided to speed up the production of such an outstanding fighter.

However, they have no plans to deploy P-51B to the Pacific battlefield for the time being, because the air battles there mainly take place at medium and low altitudes, and the P-51A is enough to deal with the Ming army.

"… The mine laying in the waters around the Big Island of Hawaii was as effective as usual. Our naval and air force aviation forces laid more than 1,100 mines. It is estimated that six or seven ships were sunk or damaged by mines. The effect of preventing enemy ships from unloading cargo was also quite significant."

"…The enemy's air-dropped mines did not stop, and showed signs of intensifying. It is estimated that more than 1,000 mines were laid. Our navy cleared more than 800 mines. The destroyer Linzi hit a mine and sank. The minelayer Jiaozhou hit a mine and was seriously damaged. Two merchant ships also sank."

In recent months, both the Ming and American armies have been conducting offensive minelaying operations at the same time, racking their brains to cause trouble for each other.

Offensive minelaying can effectively block the waterway, forcing the opponent to spend a lot of time on minesweeping, and perhaps even get unexpected surprises.

Mines are a cost-effective treasure for poor countries, and conversely, they are also useful weapons for rich countries.

Historically, it was these humble, deadly aquatic explosives that were key to breaking down Japan's resistance.

In 1944 or 1955, the U.S. military made an assessment and decided to conduct offensive minelaying. The Japanese archipelago relied heavily on sea transportation, both for internal transportation and for transporting resources from overseas to the mainland.

Therefore, the U.S. military dispatched 29 B-1528 heavy bombers in about five months to carry out offensive mine laying on all ports and waterways along the coast of the Japanese archipelago, laying a total of 1.2 mines of various types. These mines were very effective, damaging or sinking a total of 670 warships and merchant ships, with a tonnage of 140 million tons. Later generations called it the "Hunger War."

This basically interrupted Japan's maritime transport lines, paralyzed traffic, and caused an extreme shortage of all kinds of supplies, with the connections between the major islands on the mainland almost cut off.

The Ming Air Force is now making such an attempt, hoping to plan a large-scale offensive minelaying to hinder and block the US military's continuous logistical supply and create favorable conditions for the ground forces to land on Maui later.

"I saw this idea was approved last month. How's the progress?" Zhou Changfeng asked.

"Sir, the structure of this aerial mine is different from ordinary mines. It is specially made. In response to the Air Force's idea, the military industry department is trying to expand production to meet demand." The colonel staff officer who made the report replied.

"How many does the Air Force want? Five thousand, I think?"

"Yes, we expect to complete the construction next month, but we will start the offensive at the end of this month and build while we fight."

Zhou Changfeng thought for a while and nodded, "This is good. It will do both."

The day to capture Maui was drawing near, and he had a feeling that it would be a fierce battle like never before.

After the routine report was completed, the atmosphere in the conference room suddenly became much more relaxed. After all, the serious business was over.

Some people were talking about the funny things that happened in the past few days with a smile. The battle line was so long that all kinds of oolong incidents emerged one after another.

Last month on the Western Front, the Chief of Staff of the 119th Army Division lost his way in his plane and landed on the runway of an airport controlled by the British and Indian Army, where he was captured in confusion.

As a result, the day before yesterday, a liaison plane of the Royal Air Force inexplicably landed at the temporary airport of the Royal Annan Army. Both sides stared at each other for a moment before they reacted, and the Southern Army easily captured a British brigadier general.

Everyone was chatting like this, and as they were talking, the colonel staff officer seemed to suddenly think of something.

He suddenly said, "By the way, the Intelligence Department has also made some progress. They tried to persuade the enemy pilot to defect, and it actually worked. An Australian pilot flew a plane to Mo City. It was said that it was a new model of Spitfire fighter plane."

[Today's illustration - Some US aircraft carriers install catapults on the side openings of the hangar to launch carrier-based aircraft when the deck is damaged, but the efficiency is very low. ]

(End of this chapter)