The pencil was scribbling on the notebook. It was a battle map formed from the latest intelligence. In the center was naturally the 24th Army that was besieging Duluth. The city of Duluth and its defenders were firmly trapped, but the enemy was familiar with the terrain and had a strong will to fight. Facing the siege of the Liberation Army, they resisted tenaciously. They didn't collapse on their own.
On the other hand, the 24th Army adopted the tactic of completely surrounding the enemy when they besieged an enemy of similar strength. And outside this thin encirclement, from the west, north, and southeast, there were several Merika Army units that were charging over because of different reasons. Behind the Merika Army coming from the west and north was the Liberation Army. Further south of the Liberation Army in the south, the Merika Army was gathering its forces and was ready to move.
Qi Rui held the pencil in his left hand and drew the basic content on the notebook. After marking the corresponding time on the positions of the enemy and his troops, Qi Rui put down his pen and placed the notebook one meter away from him. He leaned back on the chair and looked at the map.
Commander Zheng Minglun walked in from outside. He saw Qi Rui holding the pencil in his left hand and tapping his head. He then looked at the map in the notebook. Zheng Minglun couldn't help but laugh. "Chief of staff, you can't use your left hand well enough. Why are you always showing off?"
Hearing this criticism, Qi Rui immediately had the thought of retorting … This map isn't for you to see. He could think about it, but he obviously couldn't say it out loud. Also, Qi Rui suspected that Zheng Minglun was actually a little jealous. When he was 14 or 15 years old, he realized that his dad Vézé could write beautiful words with both hands. Qi Rui was impressed. But after he tried writing with his left hand, he realized that he couldn't write with his left hand at all. This made Qi Rui full of jealousy towards his dad Vézé. This was how people were. When they saw someone else could do something they couldn't, they would naturally feel jealous.
This little analysis of the commander was quickly driven out of Qi Rui's mind. He stood up and said, "Commander, our army is in a good situation. Our 24th Division's situation is especially good. "
For the past two days, Qi Rui had been frowning unconsciously, but now he suddenly said such optimistic words with confidence. From his expression, it was impossible to tell if Zheng Minglun was a little jealous, but it was definitely possible to tell that Zheng Minglun was very surprised.
Of course, Qi Rui had no intention of keeping him in suspense. He took the poorly drawn map and laid it out in front of the commander. He held a pencil in his left hand and pointed at the map. "I've always felt that something wasn't quite right. Now, I feel that I've confused the troop's combat efficiency with their marching efficiency. Therefore, they either felt that the battle efficiency was high or that the marching efficiency was low. After getting rid of these feelings, our army was now in a situation where we were besieging the enemy and attacking their reinforcements. If we can keep up the pressure on the enemy at Duluth with a small number of troops, we will arrange some new defensive positions to insure that our positions are not under unexpected pressure. After that, we can make full use of our army's mobility to deal the enemy a heavy blow. "
Zheng Minglun listened calmly and continued to look at the lousy picture. He raised his head and looked at Qi Rui. "You, get to the point!"
"I think the point is that our defense is not thorough enough, and our attack is not thorough enough. Once the battle plan is not thorough enough, there will naturally be problems during the execution. If we had included the barbed wire plan in the beginning, we would have completed the mission much better by now. "Qi Rui told his thoughts on the practical part to Commander Zheng Minglun.
"Hmph!" Zheng Minglun sneered. "As the chief of staff, do you have the ability to do the pre-battle work of the entire army well? Do you have the ability to deal with the situation during the battle? We are a new army. If we can't do this, there will naturally be all kinds of problems. "
"Yes." Qi Rui agreed with the commander's criticism. These days, he always felt that he was unable to complete the duties that he had known for a long time. Now, Qi Rui finally realized what the problem was. For the new motorized infantry, he had no way to determine the combat effectiveness of each unit, and he had no understanding of each unit. Therefore, when the battle began, Qi Rui could only rely on the battle plan he made and the information he received from the frontline.
Zheng Minglun saw that Qi Rui seemed to have really understood, and he could not help but carefully look at the young man. To be honest, through some people, Zheng Minglun knew that Qi Rui was probably the eldest son of Military Governor Vaize. This knowledge did not really make Zheng Minglun think highly of Qi Rui. Like those old soldiers who had gone through fire and water, they could tolerate nepotism, but they could not tolerate the nepotism of other people's children being incompetent. Not only did Qi Rui's identity as the Crown Prince not lower Zheng Minglun's standards for Qi Rui, but because Qi Rui's father was too powerful, Zheng Minglun's standards were raised by several levels.
Qi Rui was the same as his father, Vézé, who dared to go through fire and water on the frontline, which satisfied Zheng Minglun's most basic test. As for Qi Rui's performance after quickly climbing to the position of chief of staff, if it was purely a chief of staff, it could not be said that he fell below the passing line, but it was still quite far from being an excellent chief of staff.
However, the attitude that Qi Rui showed now was most likely the delusion of a self-righteous young man, but it could also be that he really understood. Zheng Minglun looked at Qi Rui, and he was a little uncertain about which type Qi Rui belonged to. After all, the motorized infantry was a new type of soldier. Not to mention that Qi Rui, who was less than 30 years old, could not accurately command a battle, an old soldier like Zheng Minglun also found it difficult to accurately understand the combat level of the troops.
Looking at Qi Rui's bright eyes, Zheng Minglun suddenly gave up on the idea of making a clear judgment. He said to Qi Rui, "Chief of Staff Qi, I want to commend the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment of the 1st Division, especially the 3rd Battalion's current Deputy Battalion Commander, Wei Jianjun. He led the troops and dared to fight. The 3rd Battalion's Deputy Battalion Commander also died, so he can be officially appointed as the Deputy Battalion Commander. "
At the mention of this unit, the first person that came to Qi Rui's mind was the regiment commander, Hu Xingzhi. Commander Zheng Minglun did not mention anything related to Hu Xingzhi at all, which made Qi Rui feel a little strange. Since the 3rd Battalion's battle had received such high praise from Commander Zheng Minglun, Qi Rui felt that it was a little strange that he did not give any comments about the regiment commander.
"Yes!" Qi Rui chose to be taciturn.
Commander Zheng Minglun continued, "Also, you should go to the troops more often. I went to the frontline for a walk, and it was that 3rd Battalion Commander who suggested for the troops to quickly modify the kitchen rods to be used to set up the barbed wire. I think our motorized infantry should be equipped with this kind of tool, there is no lack of space in the vehicle to store these things. "
"Yes! I'll arrange it immediately! " Although Qi Rui did not know what Zheng Minglun had seen, it was not hard to imagine the relationship between the rods and the barbed wire. However, he was more worried about Hu Xingzhi. If the commander was satisfied with Hu Xingzhi, he would at least say "this regiment commander is leading the troops well".
"Should I immediately notify the entire army about the modification of the rods?" Qi Rui still placed his duty as the first priority.
"I've already called the division commanders, they should have already started executing it. What about encircling the enemy and attacking the reinforcements? Tell me more about it. "Zheng Minglun said as he sat on the chair.
"The enemy does not know about our mobility and reconnaissance ability. We should fully utilize our mobility and give them a head-on blow in the area that they feel is safe. They have troops chasing after them, and if they are attacked head-on, they will not have the courage to continue attacking. By then, the follow-up troops will catch up, and we won't have to worry about those Americans anymore. "Qi Rui seemed very confident about this.
"But we do not have enough troops." In the military education that Zheng Minglun received, "ten encirclements" was a basic concept. In actual combat, they would need at least three times the number of troops to carry out a full-scale encirclement. There were only 30,000 troops in the 24th Division, and to surround and count 100,000 troops with 30,000 troops was indeed beyond the previous concept of war.
"The motorized infantry is strong because they can be deployed to the frontline and have overwhelming power over the enemy. The result of my reflection over the past few days is that our use of the motorized infantry was too harsh, and we did not utilize the full strength of the motorized infantry. Speed can allow us to quickly face problems, but we cannot rely on speed alone to solve the problem. If we agreed to let the water troops from Lake Superior cooperate with us, once we arrive in Duluth, we will immediately seize the ferry with a large force and start to set up the barbed wire as a support position. Who knows, we might have already separated and surrounded the enemy. At least after we completely seize the port, the troops on the north shore of Lake Superior will be able to continuously reinforce us here. The reason why we are in such a state now is because the troops did not dare to believe that we could go this far without caring about anything else. "Qi Rui's eyes were almost glowing when he said the last part.
Zheng Minglun smiled. "Even if we could really start over, would we be able to take the port?"
"That would be a test of the 24th Division's ability to attack. If we couldn't take the port even if we focused on it, would we be able to take it even if we were half-hearted? "Qi Rui was not as relaxed as Zheng Minglun, and he answered very seriously.
Zheng Minglun kept his smile when he saw the young chief of staff's ferocity that only a young soldier had on his face. This was not because Zheng Minglun thought that Qi Rui could or could not do it, but because Zheng Minglun believed that there was nothing that could not be done in a war. What Zheng Minglun had to face was Chief of Staff Qi Rui's attitude. Young people had to go through enough hardships and reflect before they could grow up. Those who were outstanding would definitely achieve more than others, but at the same time, they would also experience more failures than others. Drive, reflection, and perseverance were the common traits of these outstanding people.
There was no doubt that Qi Rui was showing these traits. Therefore, Zheng Minglun said, "Chief of Staff Qi, since you think this way, then prepare to have a meeting with the division and regiment officers. Let them understand and accept your thoughts."
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