The six colors are heavy, and the sea breeze is rolling against the shore with thin waves, under the cold moonlight. Sigh "not calm."

This is Dengzhou, from the geographical location, Dengzhou is the northernmost city on the entire Shandong Peninsula, located in the southernmost part of the Bohai Strait, and the northern end of the Bohai Strait Liaodong Peninsula is far away, and the southern end of the Liaodong Peninsula Lushun jointly guards the Bohai Sea estuary, the strategic position is very important, and for this reason, from the Ming Dynasty, Dengzhou is a military town, to the Qing Dynasty, Dengzhou still plays an important role in military defense, the Qing court set up a naval division in Dengzhou, and has jurisdiction over land defense, in the Sino-Japanese War, Several of the backbone forces of the Qing army participating in the war set out from Dengzhou and went to the battlefields of Korea and Liaodong, such as Wu Changqing's Qing Army and Zhang Gaoyuan's Songwu Army.

In the First Sino-Japanese War, after the Beiyang Naval Division stationed in Weihaiwei was wiped out, the Japanese Navy completely mastered the control of the Bohai Sea, and the Qing army that went to aid Liaodong had to venture from Dengzhou to cross the sea to aid Lushun, and the reason why Dengzhou was chosen as the point of crossing the sea was not only because Dengzhou was the shortest distance from Lushun at the northern end of the Bohai Strait, but also because there was a series of islands on the sea surface from Dengzhou to Lushun, and once the troops crossing the sea were attacked by enemy ships, they could land on the islands nearby.

The series of islands distributed between Dengzhou and Lushun are collectively known as the "Miaodao Islands", which occupy almost two-thirds of the total width of the entire Bohai Strait, and the strategic position of the Miaodao Islands is very important for the defense of Lushun and Dengzhou, as well as for the security of the entire coastal area of the Bohai Sea. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, in the early war against the Later Jin. The Miaodao archipelago played an important role in the logistical supply of the Ming army in Liaodong.

When the Qing court formed the Beiyang Attack Division, some people also suggested that the Beiyang Naval Division base should be placed in Dengzhou, but after careful consideration, the Qing Court still decided to choose Weihaiwei and Lushun as the Beiyang Naval Division station, the reason is also very simple, although the geographical location of Dengzhou is good, but the lack of a suitable military port, due to the protrusion in the northern end of the entire Shandong Peninsula, and the lack of Lushun, Weihaiwei such a favorable terrain, Dengzhou is very vulnerable to attack from the sea, and it is not suitable for use as a naval base, Another secondary reason is technical, steam engine warships do not need to rely on island supply and navigation, in the face of modern military technology, the ancient experience of war is indeed outdated

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Although it can be said that the selection of the Beiyang Naval Division is lonely, the final facts show. As far as the navy is concerned, it is far from enough to have terrain advantages, and the navy, as a technical service, is not something that can be supported by an agricultural country, and unless initial industrialization is completed, it is impossible for China's navy to undertake the heavy task of defending the country's maritime frontiers.

At present, Dengzhou not only has an army garrison command, but also has a large air base, this air base has a total of four airports, the army aviation and the naval aviation each have two of them, in peacetime, the army aviation and naval aviation are under the command of the army department and the navy department respectively, but in the war period, they will be combined according to the central order. It is under the command of an "Air Force Task Force Command," which is located in the city of Dengzhou.

In fact, the "Air Task Force Command" was created just five days ago. Under the jurisdiction of a staff department, an operational department and a logistics department, the members of the base staff are from the army aviation and naval aviation, the chief of staff is currently served by Su Shiyu, Su Shiyu is a native of Shenyang, Liaoning, Xiucai was born, after the Russo-Japanese War of that year, he resolutely abandoned the military service, went to Japan to study military at his own expense, and studied in Zhenwu School. But did not graduate because of the anti-Qing activities and was expelled from the school, and then has been following the League, after the outbreak of the "Xushen Revolution", he returned to China for the first time, went to Jiujiang to participate in the Wu Zhenhan Republican Army, and later transferred to various places, because of the courage in combat, and long in wit, was soon promoted to brigade commander, two years ago, the president ordered from the army outstanding commanders to select a group of people to enrich the air force, so Su Shiyu from the army officer became an air force officer, The center later sent a group of air force students to Germany. Su Shiyu was also among them, after returning to China, he was stationed at the Dengzhou Air Base, and later the air and air base was renamed the "Air Force Base" and he served as the commander of the base, five days ago, under the president's order, Su Shiyu became the chief of staff of the Air Force Task Force, assisting the commander of the Air Force Task Force in directing the Air Force operations.

As for the commander of the Air Force Task Force. Zhao Bei originally planned to let the air force veteran Meng Fei take the position, but later changed his mind, which was due to two reasons: first, Lan Tianwei, Jiang Fangzhen and others opposed this appointment, because in their opinion, although Meng Fei was very talented, but it was difficult for him to take on the big responsibility "frivolously", and the air force would play a very important role in the war against Japan, so it was necessary to select an air force officer with a serious personality to serve as the commander; Second, Meng Fei himself also opposed this appointment, because he preferred the sky to the map of the headquarters, and he did not want to sit in the headquarters and listen to the reports of the pilots, but preferred to lead his pilots to soar between the blue sky and the white clouds, at ease.

Combining the above two reasons. Zhao Bei finally decided to choose another person to serve as the commander of the Air Force Task Force, and this person was Jiang Dengxuan.

Jiang Dengxuan, the word super six, Hebei Yixian people, in the early years of the Japanese Chengcheng School, that is, the Zhenwu School to study in the military, after graduation, as a non-commissioned officer candidate in the Japanese Army 16th Division Regiment Engineer Brigade Trainee "Coffee year into the Japanese Army non-commissioned officer school for further study, mainly engineering technology, before the official graduation to catch up with the "Wushen Revolution" due to the slow action, the result did not catch up with Fu Yiyichao, after returning to China, the tip defected to the Beiyang Army, and was excluded. Later, when Huai was the commander of the Xiaoji garrison when Zhang Xiaoxiao won the victory, it was said that through Duan Qirui, he got a battalion commander's hat for Jiang Dengxuan, but within a few days of wearing this battalion commander's hat, the Beiyang Group collapsed, and the United Front immediately came to power, and quickly carried out a preliminary rectification and purge of the Beiyang Army, and those Beiyang officers who held senior positions through the back door were gradually dismissed. And middle and low-ranking officers like Jiang Dengxuan, who had studied in foreign military schools or attended military schools in their own country, were quickly promoted, after being a brigade commander for a period of time. Jiang Dengxuan was singled out by the War Department to supplement the army aviation as an air force officer, and was sent to Germany at public expense to study aviation technology and engine manufacturing technology.

After returning to China, Jiang Dengxuan has been serving in the Ministry of War, and he is very grateful to Zhang Xiaozhun for the reason that Zhang Xiaozhun promoted him exceptionally back then, for the same reason. He was also not as repulsive to Duan Qirui as other United Front officers. In the War Department, he was one of Duan Qirui's most respected United Front officers.

But it is precisely for this reason that Zhao Bei did not regard Jiang Dengxuan as the first choice for the commander of the Air Force Task Force, although Jiang Dengxuan is familiar with aviation theory, but Zhao Bei is not very relieved that such a person who is too close to Duan Qirui, but because Meng Fei is indeed not suitable for the post of commander, and Lan Tianwei, Jiang Fangzhen and others also strongly recommended Jiang Dengxuan, so, after careful consideration, Zhao Bei still decided to let Jiang Dengxuan take office and serve as the commander of the Air Force Task Force.

The air force will play an important role in this operation against Japan, and it is precisely with this in mind that the strength of the front-line units of the air force will be strengthened. At the same time, in order to unify command, the General Staff decided to form an "independent air force", and Jiang Dengxuan is now this "independent air force." The Supreme Commander, who is only in his thirties this year, also shows the staff's affirmation of his talents.

For the trust of the General Staff and the president, Jiang Dengxuan was grateful, and after being reminded by Lan Tianwei, he also began to keep his distance from Duan Qirui, and was ordered to take office this time; He didn't even resign to Duan Qirui, he knew very well that his current position as commander of the Empty Grass Task Force was not very secure, and if he lost the trust of the president, he would soon lose his position as commander.

It is with this in mind. Since Jiang Dengxuan arrived in Dengzhou, he has to send a telegram to the presidential palace almost every day, or ask for instructions, or report, in short, the president cannot be worried about Dengzhou's military affairs, for Jiang Dengxuan's small abacus, Zhao Bei knows it in his heart, but he has not broken it. Instead, he sent a telegram and praised Jiang Dengxuan, "Ding told him to stay at the headquarters so that he could accept the order of the chief player at any time."

Now that the president has given the order. Jiang Dengxuan naturally didn't dare to slack off, so he simply set up a marching bed in the headquarters, where he ate and lived. And next door to his bedroom was the telegraph room. The president's order can be handed over to Commander Jiang as soon as possible, and the execution of the order will never be delayed.

Now, Jiang Dengxuan is sleeping on the marching bed at the headquarters, and several staff officers are sitting outside the door, studying the map with a lantern. state, all the people dare not be sloppy, Jiang Dengxuan is especially cautious, and simply asked the staff officer on duty to sit at the door to work.

The Air Force Task Force is under direct command of the General Staff, which was reorganized from the former Army and Navy Joint Staff. There are two general staff departments under the General Staff, one is the Army General Staff, stationed in Jinzhou, and is in charge of Lan Tianwei, and the other is the Air Force and Navy Joint Staff, which is stationed in Beijing, and the nominal person in charge is Zhang Xiaozhun, but in fact, the person who took the idea is the president himself, so it started yesterday. Kang Deng-sang's orders came mainly from the president.

It's half past four in the morning. There was still a period of time before dawn, Jiang Dengxuan was sleeping soundly, from yesterday during the day until midnight, Jiang Dengxuan had just slept four hours ago. Beginning the morning before yesterday, flight squadrons and flight groups transferred from planes from all over the country arrived at Dengzhou Airport one after another. There is a real need to take a break in order to prepare for the coming war.

In order not to disturb the commander's rest, the staff officers on duty sat far away from the door, and their voices were also very low, the lantern was not very bright, and two alarm clocks were placed next to the lantern to check the time.

At this moment, there was a low roar in the sky, and another air force unit was turning over, and several staff officers stood up, looked at the sky, and saw some red lights, which were the night lights on the plane. Due to the president's personal intervention, China's aircraft industry is now at the leading level in the world, all Chinese-made aircraft are very particular in the preparation of equipment, this night navigation light is one of China's important contributions to the world's aviation industry, in order to produce qualified bulbs, the central government does not hesitate to spend money to purchase the most advanced production technology and production equipment from American companies.

One of the staff officers glanced at the flight watch on the table, then said to the others, "The Nighthawk has arrived. ”

At that moment, several staff officers discussed it and decided not to wake up Jiang Dengxuan, but to send two staff officers to drive to the airport to get in touch with the "Nighthawk" flying squadron.