"The battle for the city of St. Paul began." After Shen Xin saw Qi Rui's telegram, he felt a little uneasy in his heart. Perhaps with such thoughts, Shen Xin also felt a certain uneasiness from Qi Rui from the telegram.

More than 20 years ago, during the Civil War, China sold a large number of "liberation shoes" to the United States. Since then, China has also been collecting intelligence from the United States. The essence of the country is on the east coast near the Atlantic Ocean, and the Mississippi River is considered by Americans to be the west. The west coast of the Pacific Ocean, which the Liberation Army has been attacking for several months, is the "Far West" of the United States.

The difficulty of conquering cities in the Far West is limited, there is no decent industry there, and there are no special traditions. Most of the guys with the "I'm part of the United States" cognition are on the East Coast, and Minnesota, which is now attacking, is also considered a relatively high awareness area in the United States. Therefore, as long as some people are eliminated on the west coast, there will be a situation where a large number of people are waiting for the wind to fall. In the pre-war period, however, the North American theater was not optimistic that the same would happen in Minnesota.

"When will the southbound troops be able to break through the American lines and reach São Paulo?" Shen Xin asked the chief of staff.

The chief of staff's face was full of excitement, and the speed of the motorized infantry's attack was indeed very satisfying. It's not that they ran hundreds of kilometers in two days to get to the city of São Paulo. The elite of the Liberation Army carried out a forced march and marched lightly, which may not have been impossible to achieve. The Theater Command is confident enough in the military training of the Liberation Army.

The satisfaction of the motorized infantry is that they can travel hundreds of kilometers in two days with equipment similar to that of a standard infantry division, and carry out the storm. Compared with ordinary infantry divisions and infantry corps, motorized units belong to the level of "relatively light equipment". The infantry corps was already equipped with 150, 180, and 200 mm heavy guns, which were overwhelmingly superior to the current North American defense system. With a frontal hit from 200-mm heavy artillery, any kind of fortification will be crushed.

In comparison, the maximum caliber of the artillery carried by the motorized infantry was only 105 mm. The 75 guns are the main artillery force of the Liberation Army. This thing is effective against field targets and wooden houses, but not against reinforced concrete. More importantly, infantry divisions and infantry corps could set up transport stations one by one, and it was easier to supply shells for heavy artillery.

The motorized infantry, who could not carry too many shells, ran like sharp knives through enemy lines, fighting on their own with weapons and ammunition until the follow-up troops followed.

"It will take at least five days for the infantry units to break through the American lines and reach São Paulo." The chief of staff gave an answer that did not seem to him conservative.

Shen Xin is also an old soldier, and he is a little unconvinced, "Can it be completed in five days?" ”

The chief of staff was not very optimistic about this, he shook his head slightly, "Our troops are insufficient. There are now only 900,000 regular troops in North America. Including the militia that was urgently recruited, it was less than 1.2 million. It's a question of when the reinforcements from the country will arrive. ”

The population of the United States is about 50 million to 60 million. At present, the troops that can be sent to the front line are about 600,000, and in a sense, the Chinese army really needs to fight against one hundred. Since the number of front-line troops is limited, the number of reinforcements cannot be sent very much. The battle is not just in São Paulo, there is a whole front to be maintained.

The total number of Chinese regular troops is around 2 million, which is already a sensational number in the eyes of the industrial powers on the entire planet. However, it is also quite stretched to launch a war of annihilation while maintaining the security of a huge territory with such a force. China's North America is the easternmost part of China, and from China's territorial point of view, the distance between the two is not 10,000 miles, but 100,000 miles. The closest thing between the two sides is probably from Madagascar straight to the eastern United States.

"It would be nice if the Navy could have a base in Europe." The chief of staff made a rare remark that he couldn't quite manage.

Shen Xin could also feel some kind of uneasiness from this. From a military point of view, there is nothing wrong with this view. If there is a Chinese naval base in Europe, the powerful navy of the Liberation Army will be able to cross the Atlantic and attack the east coast of the United States. China is a vast country with a huge land area, and the United States is not a big country. In the event of an attack from the sea, the United States would have to deploy a large number of troops to maintain the security of the east coast. The population of the United States is only 5,000 to 60 million, and once it is caught in a two-front war, the Yankees will also fall into an extreme shortage of troops.

However, this kind of thinking that there is no problem with military affairs is also a kind of utopian, not to mention the fact that there are naval bases in Europe. In southern Africa, which is in a powder keg, China has a number of bases in Madagascar, and the British are a laborer expedition. However, once it entered the North Atlantic operation, the Chinese Grand Fleet, which was isolated at sea, would first have to face the British Grand Fleet before fighting on the east coast of the United States.

Without waiting for the chief of staff to say anything, Shen Xin preemptively said: "At the moment, the governor is not ready to carry out the general mobilization, so we will fight with the troops in our hands first. ”

"It's been a few months since we submitted our proposal to apply for general mobilization, so why doesn't the governor still refuse to agree?" The chief of staff couldn't help but complain about Weese. The tradition of the Liberation Army has always been to fight more and fight less, and to dominate the outnumbered. Now in the face of the United States, Governor Visé has given up his traditional strategic preparations, which is really a little puzzling.

"We have to have faith in ourselves." Shen Xin looked very confident in this war, at least he didn't let the chief of staff see anything unconfident. This is also something that can't be helped, if he complains to Wei Ze first, the entire North American theater will probably be fluctuating. If you encounter setbacks, you will be even more unable to hold back.

Of course, Shen Xin also doubted this question. With the current strength of the Minguo Dynasty, it is not a problem to pull up seven or eight million troops, and these seven or eight million troops do not need to be sent to North America, as long as five or six million troops come, it is not impossible for China to win a complete victory with one as ten. From a purely military point of view, Governor Weze's silence on this could not be justified.

600,000 troops are fighting on the front line, and failure is not necessarily possible, but the pressure is too great. In terms of weapons, the Asian component is transported in large quantities to North America. However, in terms of troops, the only number of troops sent by Governor Wei Ze was only 200,000 Japanese. It is said that 200,000 Koreans may also be sent in the future, but there has been no movement from the official base so far.

Thinking of this, Shen Xin finally made up his mind, "Send a telegram to the governor, the Battle of St. Paul has begun." ”

Qi Rui, as the chief of staff of the 24th Army, is fighting on the front line, whether it is to reassure Governor Wei Ze, or to implicitly remind the governor, this is a more appropriate way.

Wei Ze soon received the telegram, and he also knew about Shen Xin's tricks. Putting down the telegram, Weese lit a cigarette. There are some things that can't be helped. Wei Ze finally let the old brothers retire, and began to gradually weaken the influence of the old brothers in the army and the government. If there is a general mobilization, the development of things will immediately exceed Wei Ze's original plan.

Building an army is not just about pulling out millions of troops, these forces need a large number of officers, and the source of these officers is very problematic. It is not impossible to raise a simple army, but in the system of the Liberation Army, most of the soldiers work in the government and enterprises after they specialize. This is not only the military, but also represents the personnel problems of a government department that will be faced in the next ten or twenty years. We must not relax in this situation.

As for his son, Wei Ze was naturally very worried. But since Qi Rui is willing to take Wei Ze's successor as the goal, he has to work hard for this goal. Hundreds of millions of people died in China's civil war, and the current Min Dynasty was built on a sea of blood. Some things, no matter how cruel they are, have to be stepped over.

And it is not only Qi Rui who is fighting on the front line, many children of famous and famous people are also fighting on the front line. It makes no difference to anyone.

Captain Shi Qian didn't know what the upper echelons were thinking, even as the youngest son of Shi Dakai, a famous big man in the Chinese Civil War, he was just a soldier on the battlefield at this time. Calmly taking the rifle, he tilted his head slightly and glanced at the window on the wall of the opposite house from the corner of the street. At the same time, he shouted to the one behind: "Bullets." ”

The house opposite is a common wooden house in the western United States, and it seems that the owners of this house are relatively wealthy, and they did not directly use the wood cut out on both sides and built the wall in a row, and the outer side was also cut and nailed with a layer of planks. The boards were also painted with white paint, which is common in the United States.

Retracting his head, the captain glanced at the bullet that the soldier handed him.

"Give me an empty pack of ammunition." Shi Qian said calmly to the warrior who was still a little nervous in his expression. The soldier immediately understood, and hurriedly rummaged inside the bullet belt. Shi Qian was not in a hurry, he leaned against the wall of the wooden house where he was hidden, took out a metal cigarette case from his left breast pocket, and took out one of it and lit it for himself. This is a cigarette case made of stainless steel, which is not smooth on the surface, but presses out an undulating texture. It looks inconspicuous, and it has been available for several years without any change in appearance. Since the appearance is uneven, the tiny marks caused by friction and collision are not noticeable at all.

The captain smoked half a cigarette, and the soldier finally found the empty pack and handed it to Shi Qian. Shi Qian took the remaining half of the cigarette in his hand and asked the soldier, "Do you smoke it?" ”

The warrior was stunned for a moment, then took the cigarette and leaned against the wooden wall and took two puffs. The battle had been going on for almost four hours, with almost no pause during the entire period.

While his subordinates were temporarily relaxed, Captain Shi Qian loaded the empty cartridge and pulled out a grenade from the cartridge belt and mounted it on the muzzle of the rifle. Turning around from the corner again, Shi Qian picked up his rifle in a very standard shooting posture and aimed at the window.

At this time, an American began to shoot at Shi Qian, who was exposed, from the window across the street, but Shi Qian was not moved at all, allowing the bullets to fly by him. After aiming at the window, he also stabilized for two seconds to make sure his arm didn't mean to tremble, and then pulled the trigger.

The gunpowder gas pushed the grenade to fly out, spraying thick smoke, and in the blink of an eye, it flew over a distance of more than 20 meters and hit the wooden wall directly. Because there were metal spikes on the warhead, although it did not fly into the window accurately, it was nailed to the wooden board next to the window.

Shi Qian didn't see this, and after firing, he dodged back beyond the enemy's firing angle. This series of smooth movements made the soldiers behind them completely dumbfounded, and the company commander's smooth movements of ignoring the enemy's shooting and calmly completing the shooting were a representative of bravery and decisiveness.

At this moment, a loud bang was heard, and the streets were filled with smoke and dust, and debris flew everywhere. After the explosion dissipated, Shi Qian still said calmly: "Send me another bullet." ”

Hearing this calm voice and seeing the company commander's attitude as if nothing had happened, the soldier only felt that all his fear flew out of the clouds. He threw the cigarette butt to the ground and said loudly, "Company commander, let me come this time." ”

"Good!" Shi Qian still replied calmly. This was the fourth fighter who followed Shi Qian in the battle, and two of the three people in front were hit by bullets, one of whom was injured by a grenade because he misloaded his bullet. After seeing so many things, Shi Qian just wanted the brave warrior to continue fighting with him, and his heart was full of desire to kill at this time, and all other thoughts disappeared.