The French Far East Fleet docked in Hainan Island for a total of two days, and set sail back to Vietnam on the morning of the third day. During these two days, Li Weidong introduced Henri Jacques to the customs, customs, and special cuisine of Hainan Island.
Before leaving, Li Weidong gave Jacques a beautifully made Chinese-style long sword as a souvenir. Henri Jacques returned the silver-patterned revolver he carried with him to Li Weidong.
Standing in front of the window, playing with the revolver that Jacques gave him, Li Weidong looked at the French fleet that gradually left the harbor and disappeared into the sky.
Li Weidong still has a good impression of Henri Jacques, a Frenchman who is full of humor. If Hainan had not had to engage in an expansion war, maybe they would have become true friends!
Li Weidong felt a little disappointed, but he soon adjusted his mood and became the iron-blooded warlord again.
There was a sound of footsteps outside the door, and then Chief of General Staff Ge Changming walked in.
"Changming, the French fleet has left! Look at this!" Li Weidong sat on a chair and handed Ge Changming a document.
"This is...!?" Chief of General Staff Ge Changming took it and opened it in confusion.
The document in Ge Changming's hand was the intelligence about the French fleet collected by Zero. It mainly collected the three main battleships in the French Far East Fleet, the flagship France, Provence, and Dunkirk.
The French Far East Fleet is the biggest obstacle for the Hainan Army to attack Vietnam. It may not only cut off the Hainan Army's logistics line, but even threaten Hainan Island. Therefore, the Far East Fleet must be completely sunk or lose its combat capability, otherwise Li Weidong will not be able to have any worries at all.
The attack on Vietnam.
"You see! The French Far East Fleet has a very strong military strength. Although several of them are old warships from more than ten years ago, they are still a very powerful fleet in Southeast Asia." Li Weidong sighed.
These reports made Li Weidong understand that he still underestimated the French navy. France is indeed an old military empire, and its navy is strong. Although in the real history of World War II, the French navy did not play any role on the battlefield and was eventually destroyed in a tragic way.
.But it is undeniable that the French Navy still has the fourth most powerful navy in the world.
"Commander! The French Far East Fleet is very strong. Do you think we should postpone the attack plan?" Ge Changming asked. Based on the French intelligence information currently obtained, it would be very risky to attack according to the original plan.
"No! Our biggest enemy is Japan! Now facing the stalemate in the Songlu Battle, the Japanese base camp has sent a group of reinforcements. The National Army can hold on for a long time! We must capture Vietnam before the Japanese navy can free up its hands.
"Li Weidong rejected Ge Changming's proposal. In the historical battle in Shanghai, the Nationalist Army of 700,000 people persisted for three months before the Japanese army broke through the defense line.
Now with Li Weidong's arms support, the fight has now reached the beginning of September, and the National Army is still fighting vigorously with the Japanese army. But Li Weidong understands that the gap between China and Japan is not only economic, but also industrial. Even Li Weidong
If the fight continues, Chiang, who is sitting far away in Nanjing, will definitely not be able to bear it. If the direct troops of the central government are gone, what will be left to deter the various internal warlords?
Therefore, Li Weidong was eager to expand externally. Hainan Island's war potential was too weak. External expansion was necessary to meet the Hainan Army's increasing resource needs.
"We must use all our forces to carry out this military operation! In joint sea, land and air operations, the navy and air force attack the French Far East Fleet. The army must mow down the enemy forces as quickly as possible and not allow them time to assemble their forces." A rough summary.
The plan formed in Li Weidong's mind.
"Commander! We don't have an aircraft carrier! Based on the maximum range of the air force, it is impossible to air attack the opponent's military port." Ge Changming was puzzled. The Hainan Army's air force is very powerful, but it is not capable of long-distance operations.
"If there are no conditions, create conditions! Who said that planes must be transported by aircraft carriers." Li Weidong also felt the trouble of not having an aircraft carrier for the first time.
It's not that Li Weidong doesn't want to build it, but that the technology laboratory has insufficient technology accumulation. The low-level base engineers lack innovation ability and are weak in design drawings. Li Weidong has been worried about this for a long time.
Then Li Weidong went to the shipbuilding factory and ordered to stop building submarines and rebuild heavy cruisers. Li Weidong also understood that it was very necessary for the navy to have a kind of military ship that could fight head-on.
Standing in the shipyard, looking at the busy technical workers who had removed the half-built submarine skeleton and started laying the hull keel of the heavy cruiser again, Li Weidong sighed in his heart, there was not much time left for him.
The Japanese fleet is under pressure southward at any time, the French Far East Fleet, and the Philippines are controlled by the Americans. These forces are like a pair of palms, covering the surroundings of Hainan Island. If you want to develop, you must break this cage. And the success or failure of the Hainan Army depends on
In one fell swoop!
Northern Philippines, rebel base.
In the scorching sun, Niu Meng, the commander of the special forces, stood in front of the special forces and lectured, "You did a good job in this mission and brought out a group of elite soldiers for the resistance! The general was very satisfied with our first mission. All the wolves
The Ya special forces received an award from the headquarters!"
Standing quietly, a smile of joy appeared on the faces of the special forces soldiers. They stayed in this place far away from the mainland for more than two months, enduring mosquito bites and fighting hard against the government forces.
It means getting approval from the headquarters.
Looking at the soldiers he led in front of him, Niu Meng's dark face that never smiled turned slightly red. As the military commander of the special forces, no one could understand better than him the level of training these people undergo every day.
.
Of the more than 120 people who set out from Hainan, nine died in battle and three were disabled. They sacrificed their young lives in order to complete the order to the summit.
After calming down slightly, Niu Meng opened the folder in his hand and read out the contents of the commendation order. He would commend soldiers with outstanding performance.
"Wu Qiang!" "Song San!" "Chu Daming!"......
"Here! Here!" After hearing the command, the soldier who was called stepped out of the queue and answered loudly. Wu Qiang's face turned red with excitement, making the hideous scar on his forehead more prominent. This was a life-and-death fight with the enemy.
The products left behind.
Among these people, there was a soldier who lived on crutches and was missing his left leg. His left leg was hit by a stray bullet in another firefight. The limited conditions caused the wound to become infected. At that time, because of the blockade of the Japanese navy, there was no anti-inflammatory medicine.
In the end, amputation was the only option.
Although he was missing a leg, he still stood upright, saluting with his right hand and his eyebrows, with tears in his eyes. Because he knew that after this time, he might have to leave the army forever and leave his comrades who lived and died together.
They are.
Looking at the excited faces of everyone, Niu Meng nodded happily, and then said: "Congratulations on winning the first-class military merit. You will be promoted to military rank after you return!"
Soon, Niu Meng read out the contents of the commendation order and continued, "I will give you half a day off today to relax. We will gather in the evening to prepare to return on the submarine! Disband!"
……………
At dusk, a ray of sunset shines in the distant sky. In a small hidden harbor in the northern Philippines, five shark-tooth submarines float quietly on the water, their dark bodies coinciding with the night.
This is a relatively hidden harbor discovered by the rebels in the northern Philippines. Because the water depth in the bay is insufficient, it is not suitable for development and construction into a deep-water port, but it is very suitable for submarines to berth. Therefore, this became a trading place for Li Weidong to transport supplies to the rebels.
.
The internal space of the submarine is limited, and there is not a lot of materials loaded at one time. The transportation volume of five submarines at one time is the same as that of a medium-sized transport boat. Although this method is troublesome, it is more valuable in safety and concealment.
On the sea to the north of Hainan Island, the Japanese Navy is still conducting a blockade. Their purpose is to prevent the Hainan Army and the French in Vietnam. Every time supplies are transported to the Philippines, they must pass through a blockade of the Japanese Navy.
On the shore, the resistance soldiers carried bags of supplies and lined up in a long queue to go into the mountains and forests. For safety and concealment, there were no roads built in the mountains and forests, and there was only a small mountain road leading to the resistance base. Therefore, transportation
The supplies were carried into the mountains and forests by the rebel soldiers in bags.
All the Langya special soldiers were fully armed and gathered neatly nearby, and the two sons of the Lin family, Lin Fuqing and Lin Yanran, came to see them off on behalf of the Lin family.
Looking at the submarine on the water in the distance, Lin Fuqing said to Lin Yanran beside him, "Second sister, do you really plan to follow them to Hainan?"
"Well! I haven't seen Xiao You for a long time, let's go see her!" Lin Yanran was looking into the distance, her thoughts wandering to nowhere.
Looking at the appearance of the second sister, Lin Fuqing looked worried. The second sister Lin Yanran can be said to be the shrewdest in the Lin family, otherwise the second sister would not have been allowed to come forward last time when selling arms. But since the last time the second sister came back from Hainan, one day
I don’t know what I was thinking about at night, and I was very preoccupied all day long.
All the supplies transported this time were ashore, and soldiers from the special forces also boarded the submarine one after another.
"It's time for me to go! Fu Qing remember to take good care of my father for me!" After bidding farewell to Lin Fuqing, Lin Yanran walked towards the team that was about to board the submarine.
"Ms. Lin! The conditions in the submarine are limited, please be considerate." The submarine formation commander said apologetically when he saw Lin Yanran walking over. It was the only thing he could do to make room for Lin Yanran alone inside the submarine.
After arriving and sailing for a long time, they knew very well how turbid the air inside the submarine was.
Soon after, the special forces soldiers boarded the ship in small groups, and then the submarine slowly left the harbor, deep in the sea under the night.
[End of this chapter]
————We haven’t fought in a long time. Next chapter there will be a light naval battle.————