At noon on April 20th, the Liberation Army's kitchen truck began to prepare horse-meat based food. The Liberation Army attached great importance to technical training, and the cooks were required to receive chef training every year. There were many horse-related dishes in Guangxi and Yungui. The Liberation Army had a deep understanding of Guangxi and Yungui, so the horse-meat was not cooked immediately. Instead, it was hung up to dry first. Like rabbits, horses mainly ate grass. If they were cooked directly without air-drying, the smell of grass in the meat would turn into a bitter taste.
In terms of food alone, the Liberation Army's commanders and soldiers were not dissatisfied. The canned food was complete with chicken, duck, fish, and fruits, and they tasted good. Whether it was to replenish hunger or to provide happiness from eating, these meals could satisfy all of them. Even so, the pressure brought by the battlefield was too great. Occasionally, adding some food that was rarely eaten was also a good way to ease the mood.
This was a small point of view from the headquarters. The US cavalry regiment that was annihilated the day before had provided these ingredients, so the headquarters' main focus was on reflecting on the battle. When the air force found a cavalry unit heading straight for St. Paul, the result of the battle was almost decided. The US cavalry walked along the main road, and the Liberation Army followed the path on the map to complete the encirclement.
The snipers eliminated the enemy's sentries, the artillery launched a surprise attack, and the machine guns quickly arrived at the ambush position with the help of the motorcycles. Under the transparent one-sided battlefield of knowing oneself and the enemy, all the tactics were completed neatly and neatly. When the group of Americans, who had been beaten senselessly, wanted to escape into the woods, the Liberation Army's trucks arrived first, followed a small path into the woods, and annihilated the remnants of the Americans there.
The motorcycles were driven by the original cavalry unit. They were familiar with the mentality and tactics of the cavalry, so they were extremely efficient in pursuing the scattered American cavalry. In the end, the US cavalry regiment was completely wiped out. Even if there were a few that escaped, they were originally stragglers.
Fighting against the enemy's regular army instead of the American people, the morale of the troops was high, and they were naturally very satisfied with the results. During the discussion, everyone generally agreed that with the cooperation of the reconnaissance aircraft, the mobility, reaction speed, and intelligence accuracy of the motorized infantry were superior to that of the traditional army. The motorized infantry on the battlefield was most suitable to engage in field battles with the enemy. In other words, the traditional infantry and the enemy would engage in a mobile confrontation, while the motorized infantry would wipe out the enemy's stronghold in the wilderness and use them to deal with the enemy's mobile troops in the wilderness. To achieve the battle objective of completely besieging the enemy's heavy forces.
The comrades were full of satisfaction and confidence in themselves. Until Qi Rui said, "That's when the weather is good. What if the weather is bad?"
This bucket of cold water had a slight effect, but the officers who participated in the West Coast sweep quickly showed their confidence. "As long as we don't get hit by a flood, it's not a big deal even if it rains heavily. Our trucks are good mobile tents in the field. What's the difference between a conventional army? It's the same marching, but our troops are always able to maintain a better combat state. "
Qi Rui actually thought so too. He was just worried that everyone would be overly optimistic. So he continued, "Our motorized infantry is actually more reliant on roads than infantry."
"As long as we don't expect the trucks to climb high mountains, even in hilly areas, the trucks' cross-country ability is higher than humans. If the enemy is willing to hide in the deep mountains and forests, we might as well fulfill their wish. "Ma Xiaoming was one of the more confident ones, and what he said really hit the nail on the head. The plains were the most important areas, and the motorized infantry was best at galloping on the plains. If the Americans were willing to hide in the mountains, then let them hide in the mountains. There was no supply of weapons and ammunition, not even enough food supplies. Throwing the troops into the mountains was equivalent to letting the Liberation Army occupy the plains as much as they wanted.
The battle was too exciting, and it was not easy to find fault in it. In the end, Qi Rui also gave up on this useless task. As the chief of staff, he still had an important task, and that was to urge the follow-up troops to catch up.
The 24th Division officially started their attack on St. Paul on the morning of April 16th. It was April 20th now, and it would be the morning of the 21st, which was exactly five full days. Everyone thought that the Americans' main force would pounce like mad dogs and try to take back St. Paul and Minneapolis. They didn't expect the Americans' reaction to be so slow after five days. Other than sending a cavalry division to die, there were no enemy movements in other areas.
If the Liberation Army was faced with such a situation, even if there wasn't an all-out battle, there would at least be troops coming from all directions to restrain the enemy. Or more accurately, with the Liberation Army's current detection methods, the enemy wouldn't be able to go more than a hundred kilometers into China's border without being discovered. According to Li Shaokang, the Air Force had reconnaissance planes patrolling along the border every day. Of course, there were frequent accidents where planes fell.
After contacting the frontline command, the frontline command told the 24th Division that the troops heading south had already been dispatched, and they had finally taken down the northern city of Minnesota, Fargo, on the 20th. Fargo was on the northwestern border of Minnesota, and St. Paul and Minneapolis were near the southeastern border of Minnesota. The two were connected by a railway. From what the frontline command said, they really wanted to open up this railway line. Of course, if this railway line could be opened up, it would also mean that the Liberation Army could move freely in Minnesota.
"What do they mean by this? They said they would arrive in five days, but now they want to delay it for a few more days? "Deputy Chief of Staff Zhu Jiyun looked a little uneasy.
Commander Zheng Minglun was calm. "From the looks of it, it doesn't matter if they come two days earlier or two days later. It'll be better if they can use the railway. At least they can transport fuel to us through the railway. "
This sentence silenced all those who objected to it. The motorized infantry was indeed very effective, but the fuel consumption was also quite scary. A truck would use sixty to seventy liters of fuel to run a hundred kilometers, which was more than fifty kilograms. If the railway could solve this problem of transporting coal, it wouldn't matter if it was two days earlier or two days later.
Since he didn't want to comment on the speed of the follow-up troops, Qi Rui made a suggestion. "Should we send a telegram to ask if the follow-up troops need support?"
This suggestion was immediately approved, and the telegram received a quick response. The frontline command felt that if the 24th Division was willing to provide support, that would be the best.
On the 22nd, the troops that went along the railway to provide support sent a telegram that they had already received the frontline support troops. It was estimated that on the 23rd, part of the support troops would arrive. As expected, on the afternoon of the 23rd, a train arrived in St. Paul with a load of people.
However, Qi Rui and the others didn't come to receive them. It wasn't because the 24th Division was putting on airs, but because there wasn't any Tokyo on the northern front of Merika. Instead, there was a troop from the direction of Chicago. This traditional army troop got off the train about forty kilometers south of St. Paul. It wasn't a station, but a barren mountain where the Liberation Army destroyed the railway tracks.
Not long after they got off the train, the Liberation Army launched a fierce attack. The cavalry troops could still rely on their horses to escape, but the infantrymen were dizzy and couldn't run fast at all. After half a day of battle, thirty percent of the Federal Army in Virginia were killed, and seventy percent were captured. The train from St. Paul stopped at the other end of the destroyed railway tracks. The group of captives were tied up with ropes and sent onto the train to meet up with the cavalry troops that were captured earlier.
Qi Rui followed the troops back to St. Paul and finally saw the vanguard of the reinforcements. This time, there was a regiment of troops. Judging from their uniforms, one battalion was the Liberation Army, and the other two battalions were the servants wearing different uniforms. Qi Rui had stayed in Japan for a few months. Looking at their appearances and listening to their words, they were obviously Japanese soldiers.
The leader of the two battalions was actually someone he knew, Yuan Weiting. When they arrived at the headquarters, Qi Rui gave a simple introduction of the situation. Yuan Weiting stood up and said, "I brought all Japanese this time. The mission we received is to help the troops with some clean-up work. If there's anything we need to do, please give the orders. "
Everyone looked at each other. Everyone was well aware of what this clean-up job entailed. The commander couldn't say anything, and the political commissar couldn't say anything either. Therefore, everyone's gaze fell on Qi Rui. Qi Rui rubbed his nose. He didn't want to say anything either. But there were thousands of captives there. It would be inconvenient if they didn't get rid of them.
What's more, the purpose of this battle was to eliminate as many federal troops as possible. The proportion of people killed on the battlefield was actually relatively low. The captives couldn't eat and drink well. The purpose of spending hundreds of millions of dollars to hire the Japanese was to get rid of these people. The proportion of young adults in a country wasn't high, and the proportion of young adults that a federal country could mobilize was even lower. Even though it was unpleasant, it was something that he had to face.
Looking at Qi Rui's expression, Yuan Shikai smiled heartily. "Leaders, the Japanese have performed very well along the way. Give me half a day to prepare. When the time comes, you can hand over the people to us in small batches. "
"You started on the way?" Qi Rui was quite surprised.
Yuan Shikai smiled indifferently. "There can't be any mistakes in railway transportation, and the Americans are so barbaric. We were actually fighting and advancing along the way. This time, two divisions of Japanese followed the troops. The main force is at the back to ensure the safety of the railway. The two battalions came first because we were worried that there would be too much pressure on our side. Find us a relatively secure place, and we can get ready in half a day. "
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
