The so-called forward base is just a military airfield on the west side of Rocky Mountain, and the commander of the base is Zhan Pengfei, who has been promoted to major general of the Air Force.

This airport was originally the air station of the US Navy. During the invasion, U.S. naval aviation deployed hundreds of combat aircraft here to participate in counterattacks against the invaders. After the invaders retreated, the local garrison was quickly disbanded due to lack of supplies. After landing on the west coast of the United States, Chinese troops seized the air station and converted it into an advance base. According to the original plan, hundreds of combat planes would be deployed here when marching into the Midwest region of the United States. However, the operational plan was changed, and the combat operation into the Midwest of the United States was postponed indefinitely, and the importance of the base plummeted.

Chu Tianjiang and Zhan Pengfei are old acquaintances, and they can't help but greet each other after meeting.

To Chu Tianjiang's slight surprise, Zhan Pengfei married two American wives, the one who was already pregnant with a child was sent back to China by him, and the other lived with him in the base. In addition, most of the officers in the base have American wives, but all the soldiers and non-commissioned officers have only American women who are good friends.

Here, Chu Tianjiang learned about some changes within the army.

After the government introduced policies to encourage childbirth and amended the Marriage Law and other relevant laws, the military also made new regulations on the marriage of military personnel. All officers stationed abroad must meet two rigid requirements if they want to return to their home country or be transferred to other regions, one is to marry a foreign woman, and the other is to have children with a foreign woman. These two rigid indicators are linked to military ranks, with senior officers, i.e., generals, marrying at least three foreign women and having children with two of them in order to be eligible for repatriation or other regions, mid-ranking officers, i.e., colonels, who are married to two foreign women and have children with one of them, and junior officers, i.e., lieutenants, are married to one foreign woman. The policy towards soldiers is quite different, that only unmarried officers can marry foreign women first, non-commissioned officers must first marry foreign women, and soldiers must first have children before they can marry foreign women. Because most military personnel are unmarried, especially soldiers and non-commissioned officers, they have no right to marry American women for the time being.

These internal regulations of the army, without exception, are all for the sake of childbearing.

It is important to know that in China, the military is the place with the highest concentration of men. Although there are not too few male citizens in China, half of the young and middle-aged men serve in the military. In the long run, the marriage of these male soldiers who are in the best period of childbearing directly determines the future of the country and the nation.

As for raising the next generation, it has become an obligation of the state and society, and it is no longer just a matter for parents.

To put it bluntly, as long as you can give birth to a child, you don't need to worry about raising a child, and the government will pay a full amount of social support subsidies on a family-by-family basis according to the number of minors you are raising, so as to ensure that each family can raise enough children without increasing the burden. In addition, the education and medical security of minors are all free of charge, and the responsibility for raising future generations is borne by the whole society.

Zhan Pengfei is still here because the two indicators have not been completed.

When it came to this incident, Zhan Pengfei couldn't laugh or cry, and most of the officers in the base felt the same way. In their view, the purpose of coming to the United States is not to occupy American land, but to marry all the young and beautiful American women back home and give them offspring.

In this regard, Zhan Pengfei was also very helpless.

The big truth, Zhan Pengfei also understands. Although China has the largest population, with more women than men, in order to integrate human civilization, we cannot limit our attention to one country and one nation. Integration with other peoples is inevitable in the long run. Eventually, the entire human civilization will merge together, and there will be no longer any distinction between countries and nations, so we have to start from now.

The problem is that everyone understands the general truth, but when it comes to specific policies, it is difficult for people to accept them immediately.

In Zhan Pengfei's words, for this matter, many officers and soldiers chose to retire. Those who stayed didn't really accept the policy, they just couldn't find a better job. Of course, a senior officer like Zhan Pengfei is mainly not suitable for life outside the barracks.

Helpless, Zhan Pengfei had to work hard.

Fortunately, it is definitely not difficult to find a satisfactory American wife here.

In the vicinity of the base, a town of no small size has emerged, which had previously served as a makeshift camp for the evacuation of civilians. Because the base has sufficient living materials, and the officers and soldiers of the base often go out for activities, the town gathers civilians from all over the United States, and mainly young women. In Zhan Pengfei's words, as long as it is a Chinese soldier, especially an officer, he is especially popular in the town. Not to mention anything else, the two American wives Zhan Pengfei married met in a bar in the town, and they got married soon after they met.

In addition, the town is also a trade center within a few hundred kilometers of the vicinity.

Although Zhang Xiaogang asked Zhan Pengfei to arrange a helicopter for Chu Tianjiang and them, the helicopter's range is limited, and it needs to pass through several large separatist forces, and these separatist forces have anti-aircraft weapons in their hands, so it may not be safe to take a helicopter to Denver.

For this reason, Zhan Pengfei suggested that Chu Tianjiang and them go to the town to live for a few days, and then go to Denver with a caravan.

Although the Chinese army did not participate in the powerful trade activities, the Chinese soldiers spent a lot in the town, not in currency or precious metals, but in the hands of each officer and soldier, so the town has become the most important local material export center.

Among these materials, various daily chemical products are the most valuable.

The reason is that some large chemical plants in China have resumed production, while the United States has been affected by the war and there are not many large chemical factories in the country, so daily chemical products, such as soap, dish soap, shampoo, plastic utensils, paper, etc., are valuable materials.

In Zhan Pengfei's words, roll paper can be used as a banknote in a small town.

This made Chu Tianjiang feel incredible, but it was reasonable. Before the catastrophe, the local industry of the United States had a tendency to hollow out, that is, the policy of the US authorities, so that many industries that will cause serious pollution to the environment and labor-intensive industries have been transferred abroad, leaving behind high-value-added high-tech industries, and the United States is through the export of high-end industrial products such as electronic chips, large aircraft, munitions, precision instruments, etc., and buys low-end industrial products such as daily chemical products, clothing, shoes, and bedding from other countries. Obviously, after the cataclysm, everyone is fighting for survival, and what people need is precisely the industrial products that are not produced in the United States.

Because of the availability of goods that could not be found elsewhere, the town attracted caravans from all over the United States.

What made Chu Tianjiang a little puzzled was that Zhan Pengfei did not send troops to occupy the town, but only arranged a military police force to maintain order in the town.

It's not that Zhan Pengfei doesn't want to do this, but the above doesn't let him do it.

That is, after Yang Fanglie decided to temporarily suspend military operations in the United States, all the troops stationed in the United States retreated to military bases. The garrison's primary duty was to maintain the military base and then to ensure the safety of officers and soldiers, so it could only send military police to nearby towns to maintain order. In order to avoid unnecessary troubles, especially casualties, Yang Fanglie had already ordered that the garrison should not participate in local affairs.

To put it bluntly, as long as the garrison is not provoked, the garrison will not launch military operations against local separatist forces.

After several vicious incidents against the garrison and the harsh retaliatory action launched by the garrison, the separatist forces in various parts of the United States immediately realized that provoking the Chinese garrison was the most irrational act, especially in the West Coast region, where the local separatist forces formed a tacit understanding with the garrison, that is, as long as the officers and men of the garrison were ensured to be physically safe when they went out to carry out activities and did not make trouble in the garrison's controlled patrol areas, the garrison would not intervene in the struggle between the local separatist forces, nor would they directly intervene in local affairs, and everyone would be in peace.

In a sense, the Chinese garrison has become a special separatist force.

After talking to Zhan Pengfei, Chu Tianjiang became interested and decided to go to the town to have a look. What's more, find a caravan heading to Denver.

The point is, caravans from or near Denver often come to the town to sell goods and buy goods.

Just half a month ago, a caravan escorted by the Rose Legion came to the town and exchanged wool and leather for a large number of daily chemical products.

Although the garrison was not directly involved in the trade, it had been closely monitoring the trade in the town.

According to Zhan Pengfei's introduction, he has to report to the General Staff once a month on the supervision situation to determine the supply list for the next month.

Although Zhan Pengfei did not say it explicitly, the garrison has indeed been exchanging cheap daily chemical products for food and other materials.

When Chu Tianjiang and the others arrived, thousands of tons of grain were hoarded in the base, ready to be sent to the port in a few days, and the cargo ships that transported the supplies were sent back to China.

It is important to know that grain is a relatively cheap general material in the United States, but it is a strategic material in China.

Chu Tianjiang had to admire the person who came up with this method, because through barter, he could obtain valuable grain at the lowest cost, which was much more cost-effective than military occupation. More importantly, this method of turning the enemy into an invisible one will not arouse the American people to resist and greatly reduce the pressure on the garrison. In addition, by providing some goods that are in short supply in the United States, it can also win the favor of some American people, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

After understanding the situation, Chu Tianjiang declined Zhan Pengfei's invitation and decided to go to the town immediately.