Chapter 248 No one can occupy Hanoi before the French surrender!

Hou Xifan never thought that his companions would one day fly fighter planes, tanks, and warships.

Isn't this a joke?
As a result, Cun Yunsheng's words made him silent.

"Can you read?"

I just want to ask you whether you can read or not.

As long as you can read, you can open it.

There is indeed nothing wrong with this.

Compared to those soldiers who can't read a single word, these literate mechanics have no problem flying planes and tanks.

Especially for those who drive tanks, the operating principles of both sides are not difficult.

Even if you can drive a tractor, you can drive a tank.

As for warships, they may require some technology, but they are much better than illiterate soldiers, right?

And there are many people doing maintenance here.

How strong are the US military's damage control troops?
The U.S. military’s damage control level can be said to be the best in the world, and is jokingly called “pay-to-win damage control.”

Many times, damage control is even the key factor - in the early days of the Pacific War, if it weren't for the incredible damage control, the US fleet would have been wiped out.

For example, in the previous Battle of the Coral Sea, a bomb hit the USS Yorktown, penetrated four decks and exploded, causing the hull to rupture, oil to leak and catch fire, the boiler to malfunction, and the keel to be damaged... Japanese planes directly judged it as "sunk."

However, the crew quickly put out the fire, repaired the deck, and returned to Pearl Harbor with a 10-nautical-mile oil trail.

The technicians determined that it would take 90 days to repair the Yorktown, but the Japanese were about to attack, so Nimitz ordered - repair it in 3 days!
So, when Honolulu lost power, headlights were erected around York City, and repairs were carried out day and night…and it was actually fixed in three days!

In the subsequent Battle of Midway, the Yorktown was hit by three bombs, lost power, and had its communications interrupted. The damage control team quickly restored power to 3 knots.

But at this time, Japanese torpedo planes attacked, and the Yorktown was hit by two torpedoes. All power was lost, the steering gear was stuck, and it tilted 26 degrees to the left. The captain ordered to abandon the ship, but it drifted all night and did not sink!

So Fletcher ordered the crew to return to the Yorktown to continue rescue operations, with the destroyer providing electricity, pumping water and extinguishing the fire.

Just when it was about to succeed, it was hit by two torpedoes from the I-168 submarine - this time it was really hopeless, and the captain ordered to abandon ship for the second time.

Although Yorktown did not survive, the survival rate of the crew was over 90%!

The reason why so many crew members were able to survive was because of the damage control soldiers.

Otherwise, no matter how fast the US military builds warships, it will be useless without enough crew members.

Why did the Japanese army start to switch from offense to defense after the Battle of Midway? Wasn't it because of the heavy casualties of crew members? Even if there were enough warships, it would be useless without enough crew members.

Therefore, Cun Yunsheng really values ​​these Nanyang Overseas Chinese mechanics.

Apart from that, we hope to be able to connect with overseas Chinese organizations in Malaysia.

Especially the person who was in charge of the Nanyang Chinese Relief Association for Refugees in the Motherland.

This person's influence is huge.

One of his telegrams attracted three or four thousand aspiring young people to respond.

If the Sichuan Army could catch up with the other side, its development would probably be smoother.

You should know that there are more than eight million overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia.

More importantly, many of these eight million overseas Chinese are literate.

This is very scary.

However, Cun Yunsheng did not express his thoughts immediately. After all, this would make the other party doubt his true purpose.

More importantly, his current strength is still a bit weak.

Once we take over Annan, we can discuss this matter again and everything will fall into place naturally.

After Hou Xifan left, Meng Fanle asked in confusion.

"Captain, do we need so many drivers?"

Kang Ya’s motor vehicle battalion also has hundreds of drivers, which can fully meet the needs of the Sichuan Army.

result!

Now there are nearly two thousand more drivers and maintenance personnel, which is really too many.

Apart from anything else, the technical forces of the Allied Forces are paid very well.

And it is issued in US dollars.

This is another considerable expense.

"Why not? Didn't Zhao He always complain about the lack of tank soldiers in the tank regiment? Now that we have recruited so many drivers, wouldn't it solve his problem if we transferred 200 of them to him?"

"And the jeeps and so on that we got, don't they all need drivers?"

"It's too slow to train them on our own."

"The Air Force needs ground maintenance personnel, and we can also assign a group of maintenance personnel to go there."

"Not to mention that the arsenal still needs some workers to produce weapons and equipment, and they can all adapt."

"With their joining, our strength will develop rapidly." Cun Yunsheng said with a smile.

"No, my intuition tells me that it is definitely not that simple." Meng shook his head in frustration.

He felt that this matter was definitely more complicated than that.

After all, our group leader doesn't like to do business at a loss.

"Hahaha, I can't hide it from you." Cun Yunsheng knew that he couldn't hide it from Meng Fan, so he smiled and pointed at the map.

“This is Borneo, and further down is Malaysia.”

"Further south is the Strait of Malacca. If we can get the support of the overseas Chinese in Malaysia, our next move will be very smooth, as long as we occupy the Strait of Malacca."

Cun Yunsheng didn’t say anything else, but his meaning was very clear.

"So you want Hou Xi to act as a bridge? Then why didn't you say it just now?" Meng Fanle asked in confusion.

"We have to give them some time to get to know us, right? We don't know each other very well, and it would be too abrupt to bring this up rashly. Besides, our primary goal right now is to take down Annan."

"It will take some time to go south." Cun Yunsheng shook his head and explained.

Hearing this, Meng Fan nodded.

At this time, another staff officer came in and handed over a telegram.

"What's the matter?" Cun Yunsheng did not answer the call, but asked.

"General Stilwell sent a telegram to Rangoon and Bangkok respectively, asking them to send a batch of food." Meng Fanle opened the telegram, took a look, and said quickly.

Hearing this, Cun Yunsheng was stunned, with a look of surprise on his face.

What is this operation?
Let Yangon and Bangkok deliver food?
When did Imphal run short of food?
This is the US military!

When have they ever worried about food?
Do not!
and many more!

Now that the Suez Canal is gone, it seems that Imphal is having trouble getting supplies?
In addition, there are more than 300,000 expeditionary troops to support on the front line.

The food that people eat and horses feed every day is a huge amount of material.

I heard that the expeditionary force now stops right where they are and grows vegetables.

It is said that hundreds of acres of land have been reclaimed.

The soil there is fertile, water resources are abundant, and the yield is indeed quite good.

For a moment, Cun Yunsheng couldn't help but feel a little confused.

Is this an expedition or a farm?
But this is a good reason for delay.

"Commander, what have you thought of?" Meng Fanle asked puzzledly.

"No..." Cun Yunsheng denied it, but Meng Fanle kept asking. "I just couldn't help laughing when I thought of Yu Xiaoqing directing the troops to go to the fields to farm." Cun Yunsheng said with a smile.

"A son of a general, farming, this is definitely a great scene."

"Really farming?" Meng Fan asked in confusion.

Hearing this, Cun Yunsheng said with a smile.

"I didn't believe it at first, but now I have this telegram, which proves that there is a problem with the logistics supply of the expeditionary army. They are indeed farming. I thought Sun Liren was joking with me."

"Ah? You can still laugh?" Meng Fanle was even more confused.

"If they don't have logistical supplies, won't there be big problems?"

Who knows that Cun Yunsheng said calmly.

"What's the problem? Du Yuming has 200,000 natives under his command. If they find it inconvenient, he can let these natives take action. If there is any problem, can't he just push it onto the natives?"

"If it really doesn't work, why not just find a few trainee native officers to take the blame? Can Stilwell still remove Du Yuming?"

Meng Fanle was speechless for a while because he felt that what he said made sense.

"Don't worry, Du Yuming will definitely be able to handle it. If he is really stupid and doesn't know how to adapt, then everything I said would be in vain." Cun Yunsheng shook his head and said.

"What about this telegram?" Meng Fanle asked hesitantly.

"Let them collect food. Now it's the rainy season, and it will take some time for the food to mature. It also takes time to transport it. Just find a reason to deal with it." Cun Yunsheng didn't think about transporting the food immediately.

If we can control Stilwell at this time, shouldn't we do so?
"By the way, let Bangkok and Rangoon come up with some bad ideas to control Stilwell, such as recognizing their legitimacy, etc. In short, they must get benefits." Cun Yunsheng emphasized again.

"Yes."

…………

"Your Excellency Governor, the Sichuan Army has mobilized more than 50 fighter planes to carry out successive bombings on our front-line troops. The troops responsible for support, in particular, have been attacked and suffered heavy losses." A French officer at the Hanoi Governor's Office said in a serious tone, holding a telegram.

Hearing this, the gloom on Governor Degu's face became increasingly obvious.

damn it!
Weren’t the fighter planes of the Sichuan Army transferred away?
Why are there still so many fighter planes?
In response to Governor Degou's doubts, the French officer explained that the bombing planes were all Japanese planes.

"Your Excellency Governor, we must find a way. Otherwise, we will not be able to stop the attack of the Sichuan Army. Their tanks are rushing towards Hanoi with great momentum." said the French officer.

"Why is it so strong?" Governor Degu asked in disbelief.

"We underestimated the number of tanks of the Sichuan Army. There are not more than 20 tanks as our intelligence showed, but nearly 100 tanks." The words of the French officer stunned Governor Degu.

Hundreds of tanks?
How is this played?
The news sent back from the front line before was that there were twenty or thirty tanks. Although the combat effectiveness was very strong, there were still ways to deal with it.

As a result, in just a few days, there are hundreds of tanks. Isn’t this too much?

In fact, the tank regiment has no shortage of tanks.

Especially after Fettig arrived, all the tanks that were destroyed and unable to move were towed back to the arsenal, and then they began to repair these damaged tanks.

In addition to the British tanks, there are also Japanese tanks and some damaged American tanks.

There were even destroyed French Renault tanks.

It can be said that the tank regiment at this time was a veritable ragtag tank regiment.

But the advantage is the large number.

Originally there were not so many tank soldiers available to control.

After all, gunners are easy to deal with.

The driver is a very troublesome problem.

The automobile company has accelerated the training of drivers.

But the efficiency is still too slow.

The problem was completely solved when the Nanyang Overseas Chinese Mechanics joined.

Cun Yunsheng even directly dispatched trucks and transferred drivers who met the requirements to Cambodia.

Then the tanks that had been repaired and stored in the warehouse were pulled out one after another.

According to Zhao He's request, it is not necessary to hit the target every time. As long as it can be started and followed behind to show off its power, it will be enough.

This is too simple for these Nanyang Overseas Chinese mechanics.

As a result, hundreds of tanks rushed towards the French positions.

Faced with such a terrifying torrent of steel, the indigenous troops on the position simply fled.

"Your Excellency Governor, I suggest we ask for peace. As long as Stilwell agrees to our peace request, we still have a chance and we can join the Allied forces." The French officer next to him spoke again.

"Yes, Your Excellency the Governor, I think this suggestion is very pertinent."

"I agree."

"Seconded."

Seeing that all the officers agreed with this suggestion, Governor Degu weighed the pros and cons and finally compromised.

Hundreds of tanks, this number is really terrifying.

If he had tens of thousands of French troops and one or two hundred tanks.

You can consider a decisive battle with the Sichuan Army.

But the gap between the two sides is really too big.

There is no point in continuing to fight, except wasting the lives of the soldiers.

It’s better to surrender early!
"Then send someone to negotiate peace." Governor Degu finally spoke.

"Yes!"

Seeing this, the other French officers couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

There was no shame in surrendering; they suddenly became allies.

On the other hand, in order to quickly take over the northern part of Annan, Duan Zhenguo called Cun Yunsheng, hoping to send air force support.

Cun Yunsheng agreed to the other party's request without hesitation.

As the black masses of fighter planes appeared in the sky, the tank regiments that had been assembled on the ground for many days also began to show their sharpest claws.

"Go forward, target Hanoi, take down the Governor's Office, and chop off Governor De Gu's head." This was the slogan that Cun Yunsheng gave to Duan Zhenguo.

Because Cun Yunsheng, who was familiar with the French army, knew very well that he had to speed up at this time, otherwise if the French army chose to surrender, there would be no such good opportunity.

and so!
Hanoi must be captured before the French surrender.

By the way, chop off the head of that bastard Governor Degu.

In fact, when the French officers learned that Governor Degou was willing to negotiate, the resistance was greatly weakened.

After all, we are about to surrender, and it would be too unprofitable to lose our lives at this time.

Therefore, he was so skilled in paddling that Duan Zhenguo became seriously suspicious.

This French army is a fake.

But when Stilwell received the surrender telegram from Governor-General Deguin, he rejected it without hesitation.

"Huh? Surrender? Wishful thinking. These damn French troops cannot be trusted at all."

You know, in Alexandria Port, several American warships were urged!

As a result, Stilwell did not have a good impression of Governor Degu.

"Tell that bastard Deguzin that the only way is unconditional surrender," Stilwell said proudly.

(End of this chapter)