Zhang Tao's Third Division has not had a chance to fight in the past year, and he has not had a single battle exploit to show off, which makes Zhang Tao hold his breath for a long time. Therefore, when Song Zhewu sent troops to Hubei, Zhang Tao, who was disgruntled, led his third division to ruthlessly wipe out the bandits in Taihang Mountain, and for a time beat the bandits in Taihang Mountain, and they all hid in Shanxi, and they still dare not return to Hebei.

Although the Fourth Route Army was reorganized several times, many backbone personnel with combat experience from other divisions were incorporated into his troops, and even the officers and men of the 19th Army and the Northwest Army were also assigned to him the most, which improved the combat effectiveness of his Third Division, but after all, the Third Division did not experience the test of a major war. Zhang Tao wanted to open his mouth to fight for the task several times, but he was glared back by Xiao Guodong's eyes, Zhang Tao knew that the order had been issued, and it was almost impossible to change it, so he had to sigh secretly.

There are two other people who have not won the task, but their mentality is relatively calm, that is, Liang Fang and Li Sichi. Although the two of them also wanted to go to the Northeast with Song Zhewu, they knew that it was impossible for them this time, Li Sichi had just joined the Fourth Route Army, although his division was the same as Zhang Yafei's first division in terms of staffing and weaponry, but Li Sichi understood that he was not yet qualified to compete with the generals under Song Zhewu; Liang Fang is also very self-aware, as the commander of the artillery brigade has just been promoted to the commander of the infantry division, not only does he need to be familiar with the troops, but he also needs to make a lot of effort to specialize in infantry tactics, especially since this is fighting against the Soviet army, and he will never allow the slightest mistake.

Song Zhewu saw the demeanor of the generals, although he also wanted to lead Zhang Tao's third division to the battle, so that the third division could also experience the test of war and accumulate valuable combat experience. Zhang Yafei's first division was reorganized in Xiaogan, and it was the first unit in the whole army to complete the reorganization, and the officers and soldiers already knew each other well, and the command was more satisfactory.

Next, Xiao Guodong announced that each division would send a number of outstanding officers to serve as deputies in the units at all levels of the First Division, and repeatedly promised that after this battle, these people would return to their respective units.

This was Song Zhewu's idea, he always believed that the Fourth Route Army was built for a short time, unlike the old powerhouses such as the Gui Department and the Northwest Army, their officers at all levels have experienced hundreds of battles and have rich actual combat experience, while the officers at all levels of the Fourth Route Army lack experience the most. The Soviet Army is one of the most powerful armies in the world, and fighting against them, whether they win or lose, is a very rare opportunity for the Fourth Route Army and a valuable wealth of experience. Although Song Zhewu could not lead more troops to the northeast to participate in the war due to various reasons, it would be of great benefit to them if more officers could participate in the war and feel the breath of modern warfare.

Tao Rong especially agreed with Song Zhewu's idea, although only the troops of the First Division and the Cavalry Corps participated in this operation, but in this way, all units of the Fourth Route Army can be said to have the experience of fighting with such a strong army as the Soviet Army, which is of great benefit to rapidly improving the combat effectiveness of the young unit of the Fourth Route Army.

Several division commanders understood and supported this point, and after confirming to Song Zhewu that they must release people back after the battle, they all vied to send more people to the first division. Li Sichi and Liang Fang, who had the deepest understanding of Song Zhewu's thoughts, even took the initiative to request that the principal officers of their own units be sent to the First Division to temporarily serve as deputies.

The rest of the personnel composition of the reinforcement headquarters, the logistics organization of the troops, the deployment of materials, etc., do not need Song Zhewu to worry about it, these tasks are arranged by Xiao Guodong, Tao Rong, and Li Wentian.

Song Zhewu estimated that Zhang Xueliang would not reply to him until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest, and if Zhang Xueliang agreed to his plan, he would call Chiang Kai-shek again, and wait for Chiang Kai-shek to agree, it would basically take one day, that is, he still had two days to make preparations for the expedition.

Song Zhewu planned to seize the time of these two days to go to the Weapons Research Institute and the Medical Research Institute to arrange the work. In particular, he needs Molotov cocktails, which may work against Soviet tanks, and he remembers the famous "Molotov cocktail" in later generations, but he only remembers that it seems to be gasoline and rubber dust, and some magnesium powder is added. It seems that it is okay to mix white sugar and gasoline. It's just that no matter which method it is, he doesn't know the proportion of the various raw materials that are specifically configured, and he has to get the experts of the weapons institute to figure it out.

But before he could go out, he was dragged by an anxious Mike and Wu Jin to block him in the house. These two men are here to ask for war.

Originally, Mike was assigned a translator, but because the meeting needed to be kept secret, his interpreter could not enter the venue. Therefore, Mike didn't know anything about the content of the meeting, but Mike could clearly feel that there was going to be a war from the warm atmosphere of the meeting and the different attitudes of the generals. I wanted to ask Wu Jin, but Wu Jin didn't understand English, and he couldn't understand the content of the meeting by just relying on sign language. However, Mike's anxious expression also made Wu Jin's eyes shine, that is, his air force may be able to participate in the war? He is not a baggage brigade commander now, he is the commander of the air force, and it seems that this thinking needs to be changed as soon as possible.

Thinking of this, after Wu Jin dismissed the meeting, he immediately led the anxious Mike to Wang Xu, who knew that Wang Xu could speak English.

Through Wang Xu's translation, Mike knew the content of the meeting. Fight the Soviets! Not only was Mike anxious, but an indescribable excitement rose in his heart, the feeling he had only felt when he first put on his military uniform and joined the aviation battalion. Immediately pulled Wu in to find Song Zhewu.

After Song Zhewu understood the intention of the two, he said with a smile: "First of all, I really want you to let my air force participate in the war, otherwise why do I need such planes?" But where are our pilots? Now, you are the only pilot of our Fourth Route Army, and you can also be called a real commander of the light pole. I can't let our Air Force Deputy Commander go to the battlefield alone in an old World War I plane to fight the Soviet fighters. ”

Mike shook his head again and again and said, "No, no." Dear Commander, I would like to correct your mistake, the air force of our Fourth Route Army is not just one qualified and excellent pilot, but four; Secondly, our DH-10 is not old, I have seen the planes of the Soviets, many of their planes are also from the First World War, and their surnames can be much worse than our DH-10, not to mention that our DH-10 has been significantly improved after your far-sighted advice, it has been rejuvenated, and it needs to stand the test of practice. If you agree, I will go into battle with four planes, and ours will surely give the commander a huge surprise. ”

"Four pilots?" Song Zhewu was surprised by the sudden appearance of the pilot, and he was a little puzzled.

Wu Jin told Song Zhewu that under Mike's persuasion, three more instructors asked to join the Fourth Route Army's air force, and before he could say it, Mike said that they had all participated in World War I.

If there were pilots, Song Zhewu would really want to take the plane with him, he would not be stupid enough to let his DH-10 go to the air battle with the Soviet army. His planes were to be used in the most critical places, at least to create a lot of trouble for the Soviet artillery and tanks.

It's just that Song Zhewu still decided not to take the plane with him, and Song Zhewu comforted Mike and said: "Your task now is to seize the time to train our pilots, and you don't want to go to the Northeast this time for your Air Force." ”

Seeing that Mike was about to be anxious again, Song Zhewu explained: "There are more than 3,000 kilometers from us to Manchuria, and the range of the DH-10 is only 965 kilometers, and there need to be four or five airfields along the way. The most important thing is that although you have added three more pilots, if you want to fight, you can only take two planes to the Northeast at most, and the role is limited. ”

Seeing that Song Zhewu's tone was a little relaxed, Mike hurriedly said: "Commander, what you said is very right, although the maximum range of the DH-10 is nearly 1,000 kilometers, considering that there is no obvious reference on the weather and the grassland to constantly correct the course, the distance between the two airports should not exceed 700 kilometers." I think that the first 3 airfields are 700 kilometers apart, and when approaching the battlefield, because it is necessary to reserve enough time for the DH-10, the two airfields in the back are closer to each other. As for the airport, it is very simple, just find a flat place in the grassland at random and build a 200-meter-long runway. ”

"Just need a 200-metre runway? But why is our airport runway so long? Song Zhewu asked suspiciously.

To Song Zhewu's layman's doubts, Mike shrugged his shoulders and said: "This is our base, our airport naturally has to build a longer runway, the current development trend of aircraft not only emphasizes speed, but also requires a large take-off weight, especially for bombers, for our future needs of new aircraft, the runway must be built as long as possible." However, our DH-10 can actually take off and land very well, only need to be less than 200 meters, which is not difficult in the grassland. ”

After figuring out the problem at the airport, Song Zhewu made up his mind and said with a smile: "Okay! I agree that you will lead two planes to the war, and you will be under the direct command of my command. ”

Mark hugged Wu Jin excitedly, Wu Jin couldn't understand the conversation between the two in English, but he knew from Mike's excited appearance that Song Zhewu must have agreed to Mike's request to go on the expedition, and said happily: "Commander, I'll go back to prepare fuel supplies and ground staff." ”

McKee said excitedly: "Commander, I can take four planes into battle instead of two. ”

Mike explained to Song Zhewu: "We have modified two training aircraft, both of which are equipped with sliding pilot's cockpit guards and 12.7mm caliber machine guns, and the nose, belly, and fuel tank are equipped with protective steel plates. Although because of the increased take-off weight, they can no longer carry bombs. However, the 12.7mm gun was very effective, and there was no problem at all against the upper armor of the tank, which was the thinnest. Each of us can fly an airplane, the rest of the crew can be selected from among the cadets, and we will have almost two months to get to the battlefield, and it will be no problem if we just train them to drop bombs and shoot. It is also possible to install a radio on our trainer aircraft, and it is also possible to provide the ground forces with intelligence on the Soviet army. ”

"Good!" Mike's words made Song Zhewu very happy, since there are planes to help in the war, then it is necessary to prepare ammunition for the planes, the current aerial bombs are not powerful, but he has already developed several high-explosive charges. And Molotov cocktails, can you make them bigger and throw them off the plane......

Seeing off Wu Jin and Mike, the excited Song Zhewu went straight to the weapons research institute.

(To be continued)