At 5: 00 p.m. on April 25, 1889, the 24th Army launched an attack on Duluth. At 3: 17 a.m. on April 26, Shen Xin, the political commissar of the North American Theater of Operations, who had fallen asleep in a small room next to the headquarters, was woken up. He rubbed his eyes and picked up the telegram draft.
The first half of the telegram was forwarded by the North American Theater of Operations' frontline command to the 24th Army's message. At 2: 05 a.m. on April 26, the frontline command received a telegram from the 24th Army's commander, Zheng Minglun. The telegram requested the frontline command to provide at least 50 kilometers of barbed wire from Lake Superior to the frontline as soon as possible.
The second half of the telegram was the frontline command's opinion. The frontline command did not lack barbed wire, but providing water supplies through Lake Superior involved the issue of whether or not to carry out a campaign. The frontline command felt that with the Liberation Army's current advantage in Lake Superior, providing 50 kilometers of barbed wire to the 24th Army was not a difficult task. However, the frontline command first told the headquarters about this situation so that if they encountered an unexpected situation, the headquarters would not blame them.
Shen Xin replied, "Agree to supply, headquarters understands." Then he asked his secretary to file the telegram. Although he wanted to continue sleeping, Shen Xin was not sleepy anymore. Qi Rui's identity was too sensitive. No matter how open-minded Shen Xin was, he would not turn a blind eye to it. Also, if Qi Rui was an incompetent person, with Shen Xin's understanding and trust of Vézé, he believed that Vézé would not lose his composure because of an incompetent son. Therefore, the more outstanding Qi Rui's performance, the more pressure Shen Xin would be under.
Thinking of this, Shen Xin got up and washed his face. Then, he sat behind his desk and asked his secretary to find the document for the 1889 training class of the Xinxiang Military Academy. Shen Xin had not seen this document, but he had indeed participated in the discussion of this work. According to the North American battle plan, after the first stage, the Liberation Army would undergo a large-scale training in the North American Theater of Operations. Of course, this training could not send those soldiers back to Asia. They had to be trained in North America. Shen Xin had already decided that once the first phase of the war was over, or even when the situation had become less tense, he would get Qi Rui to be the dean of the military academy. In terms of work, it was only natural that someone like Qi Rui, who had frontline experience, became the department head. From a personal point of view, as long as nothing happened to Qi Rui under Shen Xin's command, Shen Xin would not have to worry.
If Qi Rui insisted on going to the frontline, Qi Rui would have to convince his father Vézé first. If something were to happen when Vézé ordered Shen Xin to go to the frontline, with the wisdom of the Military Governor Vaize, he would not make things difficult for everyone.
At four o 'clock in the morning, the North American Theater of Operations' frontline command received an order from the North American Theater of Operations. Seeing that the headquarters had agreed to the request for surface operations, the frontline command center immediately began to prepare. At dawn, the frontline command center sent a message back to the 24th Division, telling them that they would send the supplies to the frontline on the night of the 26th or the day of the 27th.
The message was sent out at 6: 20 a.m. on the 26th. By 9 a.m. on the 26th, the Air Force reconnaissance aircraft on the south side of Lake Superior had sent out the message, and the United States Army troops on the south side of Lake Superior had begun to advance in the direction of Duluth.
At 9: 30 am on the 26th. The 88th Division at the westernmost part of the western front sent a telegram to the frontline command center. The telegram said that the US Federal Army opposite the 88th Division had given up their positions and some of their supplies. The entire army had started to head east with only their weapons.
Then, throughout the morning, the troops in the western encirclement all sent reports to the frontline command center. The US Federal Army in front of them was showing signs of retreating.
The frontline command center was not too surprised at first. Right now, the Liberation Army had formed a large encirclement in the northern part of Minnesota and nearby areas. There were about 80,000 to 90,000 US Federal Army soldiers in the encirclement. These US troops had immediately set up a defense line in these areas after the snow stopped blocking the roads in the winter. Just by looking at this speed, one could roughly determine that many of them should be the regular soldiers of the US Federal Army. They were the elites of the US Federal Army. Therefore, it was not strange for these people to run away when they saw that something was wrong. If the Liberation Army encountered such a situation, they would probably have no other choice but to run away.
However, on the afternoon of the 26th, new news reached the frontline command center. When these elite US troops fled, they displayed actions that left the pursuing Liberation Army dumbfounded. They implemented the three policies of burning everything, robbing everything, and blowing everything up. The Liberation Army's telegrams had a clear format. These requirements were not rigid. They only stipulated that the telegrams had to be honest. Since it was the truth, the troops rarely wrote emotional statements.
Therefore, when the frontline command center saw the emotional expression in the telegram, "Faced with the US Army's destruction of the railways and bridges, our troops were speechless", they were completely speechless. Combined with the previous paragraph, "The US Army destroyed the railroads at the stations, and the retreating troops blew up all the bridges they passed," the frontline command center could roughly imagine why the leading personnel of the pursuing troops were "speechless."
The bad news was not only from the troops in the western encirclement. The troops in the southern part of Duluth also sent a telegram in the afternoon. The railways along the way were destroyed by the US Army, and the three armies that planned to go north as reinforcements were forcibly blocked at the gap. Also, the air force discovered that the US Federal Army in St. Paul and south of Minneapolis was ready to make a move. If the three armies could not temporarily defend these two cities, there was even the possibility of being attacked from both sides by the US Army.
At four o 'clock on the 26th, the transport fleet that was already near the Duluth port suddenly received an order to overcome all difficulties and deliver the supplies to the 24th Army. The fleet had a smooth journey, and they also contacted the 24th Army. They originally wanted to find a safer way to unload, but the telegram order was so serious that the fleet did not dare to relax at all.
Fortunately, the Mississippi River was quite wide. Although the 24th Army could not completely occupy the port of Duluth, they at least occupied a few ports on the Mississippi River. As soon as the ships approached the port, they immediately began to unload the goods. The barbed wire was tied tightly, and the 24th Army was also prepared, so the handover was considered smooth.
The barbed wire was not the only thing being transported. The ships also carried a lot of food and ammunition. After the supplies were unloaded, the 24th Army sent the wounded onto the ships and quickly sent them to the hospital for further treatment. The fleet quickly left the port and began to return. When they arrived at the intersection of the Mississippi River and Lake Superior, the fleet could see from afar that the troops were using the afterglow of the setting sun to set up the barbed wire on the wide shore of the lake. Compared to the shore of the lake, the comrades of the troops seemed insignificant, and the barbed wire was even more inconspicuous except for a faint outline.
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