Chapter 966

The north shore of Lake Superior was similar to the normal areas of the Great Lakes, with high mountains and dense forests. Several wide roads were opened up in the forest, and a long line of trucks drove along the roads to the dock.

A motorized regiment required about 200 trucks, and a motorized army had three divisions and nine regiments, plus two artillery regiments from the artillery brigade. Eleven regiments had about 2,000 vehicles. A truck occupied a length of 10 meters on the road. If an army's trucks were all in a long snake formation, the entire length would be 20 kilometers.

Nearly a hundred large ships were docked on the lake. Compared to these large ships with a square shape, the warships patrolling around the lake seemed quite slender. It was already afternoon, and some of the more square and large hulls were already driven south by tugs. Huge water marks split the surface of the lake, causing the beautiful Lake Superior birds to flock to follow them, trying to find the fish and prawns that were brought to the surface by the water. Even with the fully armed soldiers, the scene really had a pleasant and leisurely idyllic atmosphere.

"I won't be going to the front line with everyone this time," Qi Rui said to Ma Xiaoming.

The officers and soldiers of the Liberation Army were one, and all the soldiers wore the same military uniform. Only by looking at the insignia and badge up close could one tell the level of military rank. Among the busy soldiers, the two colonels did not stand out at all. Even if the two stood by the lake, it was difficult to tell them apart from the busy crowd.

However, in Ma Xiaoming's eyes, Qi Rui was someone who could be distinguished from the crowd at a glance. It was not because of Qi Rui's appearance, but because of what Qi Rui unconsciously revealed. In the past month, Qi Rui lost some weight, and the cheerful and straightforward feeling he gave people in the past had faded a lot. The heavy pressure in his heart even made Qi Rui look a little melancholic.

Of course, this change was not something that happened to Qi Rui alone. Most of the motorized infantry, including Ma Xiaoming, were the same. A regiment was fine, but an army or a division had too much work to worry about. The soldiers could rest, but the backbone had to work around the clock. The heavy workload made it difficult for these young people to breathe.

Ma Xiaoming forced a smile and said, "Even if you are not at the front line, you are at the five point five line. It's not that far. "

Qi Rui also forced a smile. He actually wanted to personally lead the vanguard troops at the front line, and a few days ago, he clearly expressed his thoughts to Commander Zheng Minglun. "Commander, I want to go to the front line."

"No." Zheng Minglun decisively rejected Qi Rui's request.

"Why?" Qi Rui didn't expect Zheng Minglun to refuse so decisively. He didn't even want to hear the reason.

"You are the acting chief of staff, and the chief of staff is the commander of the headquarters. If you go to the frontlines, who will be in charge of the headquarters? "Zheng Minglun replied coldly.

Perhaps it was because of his age, but the muscles on Zheng Minglun's face showed signs of loosening. His eyes, which weren't big to begin with, drooped and looked a little triangular. The triangular eyes were still bright, and with his unwavering attitude, Qi Rui couldn't find a reason to refute.

Qi Rui didn't plan to retreat because of this. The battle on the West Coast proved the shortcomings of the young infantry officers, including Qi Rui. It wasn't that Qi Rui and the others lost the battle. In the war on the West Coast, the Liberation Army was invincible, and the enemy was completely wiped out. Qi Rui and a considerable number of officers felt that the victory was not satisfactory. Their mobility, firepower, and equipment were all above the enemy, but they couldn't fight to their heart's content. Qi Rui knew that he didn't have enough experience in commanding at the grassroots level, but the war itself didn't advance according to Qi Rui's ideas. As the chief of staff, he didn't have time to go to the grassroots to strengthen his commanding ability.

"Commander, I can help the troops to better complete the battle plan if I go to the front line." Qi Rui still tried to persuade the commander.

Zheng Minglun's triangular eyes flashed, and he said mockingly, "You're joking. Shouldn't the chief of staff be in charge of the staff department and go to the front line to be an infantry? If you're willing to be an infantry, no problem! Write a report, and I'll let you go right away. "

Qi Rui wasn't satisfied with this high-pressure attitude, but he didn't misunderstand Zheng Minglun's attitude. Without waiting for Qi Rui to say anything, Zheng Minglun continued, "I was young once, and I also felt that it was fun to be on the front line. But my situation was different from yours. Think for yourself why you feel so restless. If you can understand this problem, you'll be able to improve a lot. "

Zheng Minglun gave this order three days ago. Qi Rui had been thinking hard for three days, but he couldn't solve this problem. He couldn't help but ask Ma Xiaoming, "Old Ma, I feel very restless. Why do you think I feel restless? "

"Lack of experience. If we fight a dozen battles like this, we'll probably feel much better, "Ma Xiaoming answered.

Qi Rui agreed with this idea, but if Ma Xiaoming could think of this, Qi Rui could naturally think of it too. Qi Rui had also told Zheng Minglun this answer before, and Zheng Minglun snorted, then replied, "You're missing the point."

Looking at Qi Rui's gloomy face, Ma Xiaoming forced a smile and said, "With you in the headquarters, everyone is very relieved. Those regiment commanders who used to be infantry have performed very well in land battles. Let's just do our jobs. "

Commander Zheng Minglun had also said something similar, and now that Ma Xiaoming had said the same thing, Qi Rui thought that it was right. This time, the military also moved together with the troops. Just as Ma Xiaoming had said, the first line troops were at the front, and the military was not even a second line. At most, it was a point five line. If they were to jinx it, with the tactical depth of the motorized troops, the enemy might be able to blow up the advancing military with one shot. From a commander to a soldier, there was no essential difference in the situation that everyone had to face.

The war was imminent, and Ma Xiaoming did not have time to chat with Qi Rui. He quickly went to the troops to deal with the problem, and Qi Rui returned to the military to deal with his own work. Along the way, he happened to meet the deputy commander of the 1st Cavalry Division, Wu Chaoyang. Although it was called a cavalry division, there was currently only one cavalry battalion left, and the other two were infantry battalions. The reason why they maintained the name of the cavalry division was that the two battalions had twice as many motorcycles as the other divisions.

The two were considered "old comrades", so they could not help but chat a little more. "How's the mood of the troops?" Qi Rui asked a very ordinary question.

Wu Chaoyang shook his head, "The troops are fine, but the comrades feel a little uneasy about going into the enemy's stomach and fighting with a few against many."

Hearing this equally ordinary answer, Qi Rui suddenly widened his eyes, and he subconsciously asked, "What?"

Wu Chaoyang felt that he had let the cat out of the bag, so he quickly corrected himself, "Although the comrades are uneasy, it does not affect their fighting spirit. Even if we have fewer people, we can still kill all the Americans. "

"Good! Come on! "Qi Rui encouraged loudly. Both of them were busy, so they hurriedly parted ways and went their separate ways.

Wu Chaoyang did not notice Qi Rui's emotional fluctuations. It would be strange if he did not feel emotional at this time. Qi Rui, on the other hand, went straight to the military headquarters. After seeing Zheng Minglun, he immediately said, "Commander-in-chief, I know why I'm uneasy."

Zheng Minglun did not have any reaction. He just raised his head and looked at Qi Rui. His calm attitude was a big contrast to Qi Rui's excitement.

Qi Rui did not pay attention to this. He continued, "Because we are fighting with a few against many, we can't make any mistakes. I originally thought that we could not make any mistakes, but I didn't think of this basic point. "

"It's not that you didn't think of it, you just think that it's better to fight with a few." Although Zheng Minglun agreed with Qi Rui's point of view, what he said was not polite. "When we followed the commander-in-chief, we also participated in many military reforms, but the Liberation Army has always been fighting with a large number of people. We have more people than the enemy, and our training is better than the enemy. Even if there is a problem, it will not affect the outcome at all. Although the motorized infantry is good, it is a situation where we are fighting with a few against many. Any problem can affect the outcome of the battle. So … "

Qi Rui did not care about Zheng Minglun's comments at all. Along the way, he had also figured out the key point. The motorized infantry had 30,000 people, and they were facing 100,000 enemies. In fact, it was not that everyone did not know this. The motorized infantry, which was at a disadvantage in terms of military strength, still took the offensive and carried out external operations. They had discussed all the difficulties that they had encountered. However, this did not make the young soldiers of the motorized infantry feel uneasy. Now that Qi Rui had figured out the problem, he found that he was only a little relieved and did not feel panic.

"It's good that you have this spirit." After talking about the difficulties encountered, Commander Zheng Minglun praised the young soldiers again. "If you are afraid of the slightest thing when you are young, then you will not have a future in the future. Do your best. "

"Yes!" Qi Rui stood at attention and saluted.

Before night fell, the entire motorized infantry army boarded the ship. There was no whistle, and the fleet only had signal lights on the tail of the blackout. It headed south in the darkness of the night.

This was the plan formulated by the General Staff Department, and Qi Rui had put a lot of effort into it. It was not impossible to let the motorized infantry bypass the UA's line of defense, but that would inevitably leak the news. The Great Lakes region was the elite area of the UA, and now there were millions of troops gathered. If the Yankees found out, they could use the railway to transport the troops quickly.

In the plan before the motorized infantry appeared, the Liberation Army was to form a force of more than 300,000 people to outflank the UA. During the outflank process, they would have to cross mountains and cross hundreds of rivers and lakes. They would also have to fight a lot with the Yankees.

Crossing the center of the lake seemed to be extremely laborious, but in terms of marching distance and difficulty, it was the easiest. After this seemingly whimsical plan was sent to the theater headquarters, they quickly received a reply. Qi Rui also discovered that the theater actually had such a plan for a long time, but it was not publicized. If the theater did not have such a plan, the various types of ships in Lake Superior would not suddenly appear in more than a month.

More importantly, Qi Rui felt that this was likely arranged by his father, Vézé. The transport ships that were suitable for motorized troops were proof of this.

Since his father thought that this was very feasible, Qi Rui was relieved. The other people in the cabin were so excited that they could not sleep, but Qi Rui did not feel this way. He lay down on the bunk and quickly fell asleep.