The early winter rain finally stopped, and the sun peeked out from the clouds, shining brightly on the earth. Although the wind was still cold, at least it warmed people's hearts. Even with the bright sunlight, the dense forest in North America still blocked a lot of the sunlight. Of course, the advantage of the forest was that it was very convenient for the troops to obtain firewood. The motorized unit temporarily stopped by the side of the forest. Everyone gathered around the military kitchen and started eating.
The food was very simple, and it was all canned food. Commander Ma Xiaoming had a small round face. He was already quite fair, and after arriving in North America, he became even fairer. Eating the canned luncheon meat, which was mainly pork, Political Commissar Qi Rui saw that his face finally had the color of a meal. There was no ethnic division in China, but the political censorship was much stricter. Qi Rui actually knew that Ma Xiaoming's parents were both Hui people. Ma Xiaoming, on the other hand, swallowed a mouthful of hot luncheon meat, and said while chewing, "The marching speed has increased from 30 kilometers per hour to 40 kilometers per hour."
If it was in the Asian part of the Min dynasty, the motorized infantry could run at least 100 kilometers per day on the road, and even 200 kilometers could be achieved. However, this was North America, and it was already good enough that the roads were made by humans and animals. Marching every day while fighting, the distance increased from 30 kilometers to 40 kilometers, and the combat efficiency increased by more than 30%. In terms of numbers, the improvement was quite significant. Judging from the reaction of the soldiers, everyone's mood had changed in a better direction after getting rid of the disgusting dirty work.
"A thousand Koreans is not enough. At least forty or fifty thousand, "Qi Rui said slowly.
"Do you want to fight to the Mexican border?" Ma Xiaoming immediately responded to Qi Rui's statement.
"Do you think we have the ability to fight to the Mexican border?" Qi Rui asked in return.
"Why not?" Before Ma Xiaoming could speak, the cavalry battalion commander Major Wu Chaoyang came over and asked. There was no lack of children of high-ranking soldiers in the North American theater of operations. Wu Chaoyang was Wu Liao's nephew, and the cavalry battalion commander was generally considered to have a higher status than the infantry battalion commander. Looking at the son of a high-ranking official, Ma Xiaoming temporarily shut his mouth.
Ma Xiaoming didn't say anything, and Qi Rui didn't really want to talk either. The motorized regiment was a new thing, and it was the representative of a new force in the army. The trucks, which were originally thought to be the logistics team, became the spearhead of the attack when they were grouped together. Every branch of the army had their own opinions on this. On the whole, the infantrymen had more opinions than the cavalry. Wu Chaoyang himself was the commander of the cavalry battalion. His attitude was highly consistent with the cavalry faction.
Wu Chaoyang roughly knew what the two officers were thinking when he saw their expressions. Wu Chaoyang laughed awkwardly, "Regiment Commander, Political Commissar. I apologize to the two chiefs for what I said a few days ago. After running for the past few days, I have to admit that the motorized infantry isn't inferior to the cavalry most of the time. "
"Hmph!" Ma Xiaoming snorted. Major Wu Chaoyang's words had a hidden meaning. What he meant by "most of the time" was that there were a small number of times when cavalry was stronger than motorized infantry. Ma Xiaoming was too lazy to refute. After all, he had heard the Military Governor Vaize's speech at the Nanjing report conference. The commander in chief's thought process had reached a level that people like Wu Chaoyang couldn't understand. It was just that the three-wheeled motorcycles hadn't been sent to the battlefield yet, so the cavalry still had a lot of room to play.
Seeing that Ma Xiaoming didn't really accept his "apology", Wu Chaoyang's attitude softened even more. He said with a little embarrassment, "Regiment Commander Ma, the cavalry can still hold on, but the horses can't. Can you let the horses sit in the vehicles? "
"Of course they can't hold on if you let the horses run like that." Ma Xiaoming replied with some dissatisfaction. The cavalry wanted to show off their prestige as the strongest mobility unit. Actions that overexposed their mobility happened from time to time, especially in the first few days. Compared to the cavalry, the motorized infantry seemed to be conservative and relied heavily on the main road in this unfamiliar land. The motorized infantry initially marched 30 kilometers a day, and the horses generally ran more than this distance. When the motorized infantry marched 40 kilometers, the horses started to show signs of fatigue. The energy they had in the first few days could no longer be seen. They could only obediently follow the motorized infantry forward.
"I think we should rest for a few days." Qi Rui wasn't as unhappy as Ma Xiaoming. Even though he wasn't as unhappy as Ma Xiaoming from being looked down on. However, Qi Rui realized that he was much more patient than before. The way he looked at problems also started to change. Since everyone was tired, they should rest.
"I agree with the political commissar's opinion," Wu Chaoyang immediately said.
Ma Xiaoming frowned slightly. He didn't object to a day or two of rest, but he couldn't get over the arrogance of the cavalry. Before he could get over this uncomfortable feeling, he heard Qi Rui say, "Let's talk to Commander Wu about this."
During this period of time, not only did Qi Rui and the others get promoted, but Qi Rui's division commander Wu also became Commander Wu. In theory, Qi Rui would return to the 23rd division after he finished his intermediate class training. The motorized infantry appeared and North America quickly formed a motorized infantry unit. Just from the perspective of Qi Rui's regiment, they received a cavalry battalion from the 23rd division and became a reinforced regiment. From the perspective of the 23rd division, Qi Rui's regiment didn't belong to the 23rd division. It was an independent regiment. Hence, the 23rd Division became an independent division that was strengthened by an independent regiment.
There were at least nine regimental units in a division, so the motorized infantry's position was slightly awkward. Although the commander could completely ignore the regiment commander, the division commanders and the motorized infantry regiment that was designated as the vanguard were still directly under the command of the military. Seeing the two young lieutenant colonels sitting on the same level as the division commanders, the three division commanders had rich expressions on their faces.
Hearing Qi Rui's request for the entire army to rest and reorganize, Commander Wu's expression turned solemn. The division commanders didn't dare to speak immediately. They all knew that Commander Wu was Wu Liao's old subordinate and would always take care of Wu Liao's family. The cavalry battalion had been marching continuously for eight to nine days in the winter drizzle. Although the division commanders were unhappy that they started to complain now, they didn't think there was anything wrong with it. The cavalry battalion was complaining endlessly and the infantry division was also having a hard time. Even if they didn't have to fight, marching more than 30 kilometers a day wasn't an easy task. Also, this wasn't the Min dynasty's territory. They were in the enemy's territory.
"We're almost at the border of Florida, right?" Commander Wu saw that the division commanders didn't speak so he could only ask.
"With this speed, we'll arrive the day after tomorrow latest," Qi Rui answered.
"The order we received was to prepare for a defensive battle when we reach the border of Florida. Can't the cavalry unit hold on a little longer? "Commander Wu took out a more common solution.
"Put a lot of troops at the border?" Qi Rui had been thinking about it for the past few days. If there was a motorized unit, there was no need to put a lot of troops at the frontline. If they really put a lot of troops, it would be better to just cooperate with the navy to take down San Francisco. If they could completely seal off the west coast of the United States, the direction of China's march would become very simple, from west to east, and the entire strategic situation would also change dramatically.
"What do you think, Political Commissar Qi?" Commander Wu asked.
"I …" Qi Rui didn't think it was necessary to use the so-called state border as the border. If possible, he even thought it would be good not to be too close to the state border. At this time, there were two choices. Either destroy the effective forces of the United States as soon as possible, or quickly complete control of the plains and sweep all the American villages and towns in the controlled areas. With China's troops to control these areas, they would prepare for a long-term war in the future. But he was just a political commissar, and it was obviously very inappropriate for him to give such a long and messy speech to the commander. Soldiers had to obey discipline and orders first. This was not a good time for Qi Rui to speak. So many division commanders were looking at this political commissar with hostility.
Seeing that Qi Rui wanted to say something, Commander Wu smiled and said, "Of course you have to carry out the orders. But I want to hear what the comrades on the frontline think about the future strategic situation. There's no harm in speaking frankly, the decision is made by the military anyway. The military won't push the blame onto a regiment. "
When the division commanders heard this, they couldn't help but laugh a few times. It was also a good warning for a political commissar who was in the limelight to understand that it was not up to him to make the decision. Moreover, the division commanders really wanted to see what this young officer was capable of.
Since the commander had already delineated the scope, Qi Rui had no more worries. He said frankly, "The current problem of the United States is that they haven't been able to mobilize quickly. We haven't faced the regular American army. Those American state militias also haven't been able to gather to fight with us. But in the coming days, we will face more and more enemies. How to control these areas and how to completely wipe out the American natives will be the important task in the future. When I was in the military academy, I studied the Battle of Foshan, and the key to that battle was indeed the fierce battle outside Foshan. But in the overall layout of the battle, even if the British defeated one of our troops head-on, I'm afraid the consequences will be even worse. They will be harassed and ambushed by our troops at all times. They might even completely cut off the British army's water route. At that time, the British might seem to have won a victory, but in fact, they will only lose everything. If they can't win a battle, they will turn around and leave, which proves that the British have good foresight. "
A political commissar actually raised the war to the level of strategy. The division commanders couldn't help but frown. They were not in a good mood, and the reason for this unhappiness was that Qi Rui had spoken the truth. The troops drove straight in and occupied many farms and other strongholds along the road. It was obvious that the situation was favorable. However, the huge figure of the enemy did not show. The United States had a population of more than 50 million, and it was not difficult to defeat the United States once or twice. The difficult thing was to destroy the United States. If they wanted to destroy the United States, they had to destroy the American population. Just like the example of the Battle of Foshan that Qi Rui cited, even if the British defeated Wu Liao's troops head-on and stopped their troops at the city of Foshan. What awaited them was more Liberation Army and the gradually mobilized people of Guangdong. The moment the offensive and defensive situation changed, it was difficult for the side with inferior forces to turn the tables.
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