afterglow

Chapter 151 Going to Wuxi for a Spring Outing
"There are so many difficulties in the world. I don't care about your so-called difficulties. I only know that the banditry in western Hubei has not been calmed down. It has been more than ten years. I have won many times, but it only takes ten months to commit again. Again and again. And three, is this concealment or dereliction of duty?"

Elevating the nature of this matter to the level of bullying and dereliction of duty, the emperor's attitude is already obvious.

Lin Xi, who was indirectly related to this matter, received a lot of criticism. Although he didn't know it at all, he had to bear the responsibility in his position, so there was nothing to complain about.

The other cabinet ministers had their own affairs to be busy, so he made a call to the staff office of the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion.

"Zhizao, what's going on here? It's only three things. I'm afraid the report from the Hubei Governor's Mansion is false."

The person who answered the phone was Cheng Han, a member of the staff office. Hearing Lin Xi's helpless words, he looked helpless and smiled wryly: "Your time in the cabinet is very short, and it's normal not to know the real situation. The banditry in these two places It's like this every time, they can't be caught, and if they are caught, they will often slip away. It takes a lot of effort to suppress them, and every time most of them are wiped out, and the rest escape..."

"And then it resurfaced?" Lin Xi, who had been criticized, was in a bad mood at the moment. He "tsk" and said in a deep voice, "This incident shocked the government and the public. It should not be underestimated. It must be eradicated!"

"Cut the weeds and eradicate the roots? My old Lin Ge, you said it was easy, but how many people and things would be wasted to do it?"

"No, it's about the court's prestige. It's a political issue, regardless of cost and expense."

In fact, in Cheng Han's view, it is not worth the loss to take the initiative to attack these stubborn bandits.

It is not without precedent in the past, the army is dispatched, and the daily cost is quite a lot. In the end, it often takes a few months to achieve certain results, and eventually some remnants will slip away.Especially after the defeat, it is even more difficult for the bandits in twos and threes to track down their tracks.

For the same cost, it is better to strengthen the defense and garrison of the surrounding counties.

But since the order is so, it can only be followed.

Since it was "shocking the government and the public", Zhou Changfeng naturally knew about this matter.

But after being surprised, he just complained a bit, and then continued to get busy with business.

The "cross-region parade" he applied to the Ministry of War a few years ago was finally approved, so the entire Marine Regiment was intensively preparing for it.

The so-called "parade" is actually a joint exercise. This time the application process is to start from Yingtianfu, go to Wuxi Prefecture by field march, and then conduct landing training in Taihu Lake.

The middle distance was more than 370 miles, and the reason why they did not transport by railway was because Zhou Changfeng felt that it would be beneficial and harmless to conduct a long-distance field marching training by the way.

In the early morning of the [-]th day of the first lunar month, more than [-] officers and soldiers of the whole regiment set off immediately after finishing their preparations by the river.

Since it is known as the place where the elite of the whole army gathers, all the soldiers of the Marine Regiment can be regarded as well-trained.Even the so-called "new recruits" have undergone a complete three-month recruit training.

At that time, when selecting soldiers, the navy was very strict—at most one soldier was allowed to be good in the military assessment, and everything else had to be excellent, so that he was eligible to be transferred to the Marine Corps.

The unit composed of such a group of officers and soldiers has quickly formed a certain combat effectiveness after a few months of running-in, but Zhou Changfeng thinks that this is just a pass.

"You have to pay attention to this road. If there is a disturbance to the people, I will be embarrassing if someone gins up a book."

Yao Liangchuan took off his square half-rim glasses and blew on them, then put them back on.

Zhou Changfeng raised his hand and looked at his watch, and replied casually: "It must be avoided as much as possible, but any situation may happen, [-]% prevention is not as good as [-]% prevention and [-]% recovery."

In early spring, everything will start to recover, and the desolation of autumn and winter has not yet completely faded away.

Unlike the mixed third brigade, which is fully motorized, the first marine regiment can only be said to be half-horse and half-motorized-artillery units and regiment-affiliated supply units are equipped with trucks for towing and transporting goods, while the subordinate battalions are still It is mainly carried by mules and horses, with only a few motorcycles and off-road vehicles.

The long procession is marching on the wide concrete official road, the dust is flying, the trees on both sides of the road are still bare, and the buds of new branches and leaves are just emerging.

Sunrise and moonset, sunset and moonrise.

The Marine Corps' codes and regulations are copied from the Army in many respects, at least in terms of marching regulations.

The Marine Regiment marched along the official road to the destination according to the marching norms in wartime, passing through Jurong County, Danyang County, and Wujin County. The marching speed was maintained at about 40㎞ per day, which was the standard speed for regular marching.

It can be said that the whole team is a little elated. After all, after so long of boring training, it is so refreshing to be able to "go out for a long trip".

However, things turned out to be contrary to expectations. Zhou Changfeng did a lot of tossing everyone along the way.

For a while, it was "encountering enemy landmines, organize to eliminate them immediately", for a while, it was "discovering the delayed aerial bombs dropped by the enemy, and organizing the detonation", and for a while, it was "suddenly encountering a part of the enemy, and turning to a fighting stance on the spot".

All these things, coming up every now and then, made the officers and soldiers less excited than before.

"There are still five miles left before the planned resting place, Commander, we will arrive in about two quarters of an hour."

"Oh, so fast, this way, send an order, find the enemy's reconnaissance plane, all the staff will hide on the spot, and prepare for air defense."

With a bitter face, Zhao Hanfeng hesitated and said, "I just practiced yesterday afternoon, do I still need it today? Then I'm afraid I won't be able to make it to the campsite tonight."

"Hey, you are a staff officer, how can you not consider this kind of thing?" Zhou Changfeng waved his hand, "The actual combat situation changes rapidly, if there is a war, maybe you have to rush on time against the enemy's air attack. "

"Yes. Then after the air defense posture ends later, the whole army will switch to a rapid march and speed up for two hours, so that they can reach Wuxi before sunset."

"No problem, you organize and adjust."

Soon, the sharp air defense sirens sounded.

Several communication soldiers shook the hand-cranked alarm in their hands vigorously, and the shrill and piercing sound startled the tired soldiers.

"Quick! Air defense posture!"

"Get out of the way!"

"Damn it, how did you stack the camouflage net yesterday? It's a mess!"

"Deal with the ruts! Get the shovel!"

Although there were some fragmentary mistakes, the entire team still completed the initial concealment in just half a quarter of an hour.

Soldiers were lying on both sides of the road, artillery, trucks, and tanks were all parked under the trees, and covered with camouflage nets; more than a dozen anti-aircraft machine guns belonging to the battalion and regiment were also deployed, with their slender barrels pointing obliquely at the sky .

"Look, the progress is still very obvious, every time getting better."

From the initial procrastination and confusion to the current rapidity, it can be said that the First Marine Regiment has made considerable progress, and Zhou Changfeng is very satisfied with this.

He put down the binoculars, put his hands on his hips and ordered: "Later, the big rest will be turned into a small rest, and then speed up. If you arrive in Wuxi before dark, the marching exercise will be successfully concluded. Send a report to the local county government and ask them to prepare Some ingredients, have a good meal tonight."

(End of this chapter)