Episode 35 Second Airdrop

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Today has been a week since Zhu Yourong sang and confessed under the moon, but because Xiang Xiaoqiang did not understand English and did not respond, Zhu Yourong turned his face in shame.

Today it has been 5 days since the first airdrop to the Taihang Mountain column.

Today, it has been three days since the first batch of German volunteer officer corps arrived in Nanjing.

Originally, getting Zhu Yourong was the first priority for Xiang Xiaoqiang, but in the past few days, Xiang Xiaoqiang, like all the leaders of the People's Guard, has been very busy. Newly captured a northern armed force, a new department, three new old men, a new commander, a new deputy commander, by the way, established a relationship with her...... The most important thing is that there is a new "famous general through the ages" in Xiang Xiaoqiang's heart, as well as 1,300 military talents, original from Germany.

In the past few days, Zheng Yuxuan has come to Xiang Xiaoqiang twice and reported to him Zhu Yourong's situation in the palace. Zhu Yourong has been in a good mood these days, and for the time being, no minister has come to the palace to talk to her about marrying Siam. In addition to writing and painting every day, Zhu Yourong takes her full classes. Zheng Yuxuan, as before, also played the role of accompanying the maid and accompanied Zhu Yourong.

According to Zheng Yuxuan's intelligence, Zhu Yourong's other courses have not changed, except for military classes. Since Xiang Xiaoqiang left Daming, no one has been in military class. Mrs. Li strongly suggested several times to find another military teacher, or simply cancel the course, but Zhu Yourong always disagreed, so the military class was kept forever.

Xiang Xiaoqiang knew that Zhu Yourong was keeping it for himself. She had been waiting for herself.

"Now...... I guess it's withdrawn. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang asked worriedly.

"No," Zheng Yuxuan shook his head with a grin, "It's always been kept." ”

"Also...... Still in it? Didn't change people either? ”

Zheng Yuxuan shook his head again and smiled sourly:

"Let me tell you, now my cousin reads by herself every day. Those military books are so difficult to understand, she can't read them, she just reads them, and finally she understands them. …… My cousin is so infatuated, I don't think you will go back for the rest of your life, and she will keep the military class for the rest of her life. ”

"Oh......"

Zhu Yourong turned his face with himself that night, and he shouldn't have told Zheng Yuxuan. Moreover, with Zhu Yourong's temperament, it is impossible for her to tell Zheng Yuxuan that she likes herself. Xiang Xiaoqiang is now hesitant whether he should tell Zheng Yuxuan what happened between himself and Zhu Yourong, and then let Zhu Yourong know through Zheng Yuxuan that he does not understand English.

But in this case, the lies of the previous British intelligence officer will be exposed. That would lead to Zhu Yourong's complete doubts about his character and reliability, which would also be a devastating result. It's hard to say that the outcome is worse.

Xiang Xiaoqiang is very bored now. He decided to wait. Fortunately, Zhu Yourong is calmer now, and he is busy, and he has newly caught up with a superb girlfriend - Fourteen Gege.

"Let's consolidate this one first," he thought to himself, "there are too many girls to catch up." ”

……

The Taihang Mountain Column has been in the mountains for a week, and they have been hiding in the east. The first two days they consume the food they brought up the mountain, and the last five days they consume the food that was airdropped. It's basically depleted by now. Fortunately, in the first airdrop, there was a large proportion of compressed biscuits and military canned food in the grain. In addition to starch, there are also a lot of peanut oil, sugar, protein, cholesterol, fat, vitamins, carotene, dietary fiber, plus a long list of trace elements...... Basically, a compressed biscuit and a box of canned meat are enough for an adult to consume in a day.

However, in the past few days, they have been constantly moving in the mountains, crossing mountains and mountains, and their physical exertion is also very large. Although these supplies were very energy-intensive, they only lasted five days.

Today is the time for a second airdrop on them.

The first airdrop can be described as a mobilization and a high cost. However, it is also of great significance to support this armed force, and it is necessary to provide support. Therefore, the second bears decided at night. The possibility of being intercepted by Qing fighters at night is greatly reduced. Therefore, there is no need to send fighter escorts. As a result, there is no need to send an aircraft carrier fleet into the Bohai Sea to make a big move.

There is no doubt that the loss rate of supplies must be large for night airdrops. But now everyone has a basic understanding: no matter how large the loss rate of materials is, it is much more cost-effective than dropping them in the daytime, dispatching large fleets and large aircraft groups to escort them, and losing a few more planes.

In the past two days, Xiang Xiaoqiang has been studying this issue with relevant people in the headquarters. The biggest problem is how to let the people of the Taihang Mountain Column find as many packages as possible in the dark night.

"There are some problems," Li Guoliang muttered, "but it shouldn't be a big problem...... We've had night airdrops before as well. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang was a little surprised, raised his head and said:

"Before, there was a night airdrop?"

"Yes," Li Guoliang said with a smile, "but it's all small-scale, just an airplane." ”

"Where to cast?"

Li Guoliang pointed to the map of North China with a pen and drew a circle:

"It's better to clear the hinterland to the north. The main thing is that our army aviation airdropped equipment and weapons to their agents in the East Factory. The agent carried the radio on his back at night, ran to the empty area and waited, and used the radio to send signals to navigate the plane when it approached. When the plane approached, it used a flashlight to send a signal to the sky to indicate the specific location. That's when the planes began to be airdropped. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang frowned and asked the key question:

"If he throws it far away, inside a cloud of darkness, how can he find it?"

Li Guoliang smiled:

"My lord, that's right, generally only one package is delivered, and it won't be too far. In addition, the parachute is white, and it is so white that it falls on the ground, which is relatively easy to see in the moonlight. If the moon is bad, we will put a circle of glow sticks on the package. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiangqi said: "What is a circle? ”

"A circle of glowsticks. My lord, it's the kind of ...... of the Navy."

Xiang Xiaoqiang turned his face to look at Xiuxiu. Xiuxiu immediately took it and said:

"Yes, sir. It is a light stick used on an aircraft carrier to guide an aircraft to land at night. The deck commander holds a glow stick to signal the aircraft. It's a small flag during the day, and a glow stick at night. …… However, aircraft carriers rarely take off and land aircraft at night, so they are not used much. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang was very interested, and asked again:

"How's the brightness?"

Xiuxiu smiled:

"I haven't been on an aircraft carrier, I haven't tried...... However, in the past, I heard from a classmate of Hainan Airlines that it was no problem to see it clearly from a few hundred meters away in a dark night. ”

Li Guoliang also nodded to support Xiuxiu's statement.

"Very good," Xiang Xiaoqiang closed the folder, patted it, and spoke, "Lord Li, you arrange it immediately, and do the test tonight, if the effect is really good, the materials are ready, and they will be airdropped tomorrow night." ”

……

That night, 15 Junkers-52s flew in formation over the eastern suburbs of Nanjing, over the Tangshan Mountains. The following is the mountainous area to which the Tangshan Sniper School belongs, hilly areas and shrubs, although there are no lofty mountains and mountains like the Taihang Mountains, but they are also imitated to the maximum.

A valley one kilometre wide and three kilometres long was marked with 10 bonfires. Soldiers of a regiment of the People's Guard were scattered in the valley, waiting to find packages in the dark. The group would drop 300 packages, and the soldiers had been promised that if 100 packages could be found, the regiment would have a day off from now until dawn at six o'clock. If 150 packages can be found, the whole group will be off for three days.

Of course, the holiday can only be taken after the actual airdrop. Otherwise, more than 1,000 soldiers will disperse into the city, and within half an hour, the news of the airdrop will reach Beijing tomorrow night.

More than a thousand soldiers looked up at the sky with their heads straight, and in the moonlight, the large group of planes roared and swept by. A white parachute appeared in the sky, and the packages hanging below were glowing green, and hundreds of green lights fluttered in the sky, like fireflies.

The results are satisfying. Because the airdrop area is not large, and there are many people waiting to receive the package, many packages are carried away by the surrounding soldiers as soon as they land. And the parcel that fell in the more remote area was also seen by the soldiers from afar because of the huge white parachute cloth in the moonlight and the glow sticks that glowed green, and they were quickly found and carried away.

Two hours in the dark. More than a thousand soldiers found a total of 122 packages in an area of three square kilometers.

In this way, tomorrow night's Taihang Mountain airdrop will not be too pessimistic. In this experiment, only more than 1,000 people were dispatched to pick up packages, while the Taihang Mountain column had 6,000 people. Even if half of the people were sent to pick up the package, there would be 3,000 people, and the density of people was three times that of the experiment. And according to the weather forecast, the weather in Hebei and Shaanxi will be sunny tomorrow night, and there will be no clouds.

Moreover, tomorrow night, in addition to supplies, 30 officers will be airdropped. These thirty officers and the rest of the packages will not be too far away, and will be of great use when the time comes.

The most important thing is that the timing of this night airdrop should be said to be good: it took off from the Dongjiang Fleet at two o'clock in the morning, arrived at about four o'clock above the Taihang Mountain airdrop area, and began the airdrop. In this way, it will be dawn in an hour and a half, and the members of the Taihang Mountain Column can continue to search for packages after dawn and within a safe time of one or two hours. In this way, the reception rate will be much higher.

But there are also disadvantages: the topography of the Taihang Mountains is incomparable to the hills in the suburbs of Nanjing. The mountains there are real mountains, and even if they are selected as gentle areas, the terrain is much larger than that of Yuyama.

"Whatever," Xiang Xiaoqiang stood next to the military vehicle, watching 15 Junkers 52s fly east with a full load of supplies, patting the driver on the shoulder, "I will be satisfied if I can receive a third of the goods." When I receive half of the goods, I'll open the champagne. Anyway, we have done what we can do, and we will see how lucky the Taihang Mountain Column is. ”

……

At 2:00 a.m. on May 15, 15 Junkers 52s, loaded with 45 tons of supplies and 30 officers, took off from the Dongjiang Fleet airfield and flew west into the Bohai Sea.

The 30 personnel included officers of the People's Guard Corps and officers of the Army Parachute Commando. These people are all veterans of activities behind enemy lines and military command and training, and they have been carefully selected and entered the Taihang Mountain Column as the first batch of officers. Their task was to ensure that this armed force was firmly in the hands of the Ming army, to give them basic training, both physical and mental, and to instill in them the idea of fighting for the liberation of the people and the restoration of China.

At a minimum, they must be guaranteed to become a guerrilla, and not a bandit.

After almost two hours of flight, at 3:55, the transport group appeared over the previously agreed airdrop area.

This is another valley, and on both sides of the ridge, and at both ends, the whole area has been marked with a string of bonfires. In the dark night, the bonfire below is more conspicuous, much easier to find than the bonfire during the last day, and it has been seen more than ten kilometers away. There is almost no need for the following radio signal navigation.

Just like last time, the fleet lined up, slowly flying over the campfire area, dropping package after package at a rapid pace.

Because this time there were not only packages, but also 30 officers. So the fleet flew back and forth three times before all the packages and people were dropped. When I turned around and flew away, I could already see the green fluorescence scattered below.

It was really safe at night, and it was not disturbed until the group flew out of the North China mainland and into the Bohai Sea.

At this time, it was already five o'clock in the morning, half of the sky had turned from inky black to dark blue, and the first light of dawn appeared due east in front of us.

A few black dots gradually appeared on the background of the dark blue sky in front of them. Soon there were a few more.

"Hey, brethren," the transport group leader broke the radio silence and smiled relaxedly, "to speak." Have you seen them all? Our kingfisher came to pick it up. ”

In the laughter in the headphones, everyone understood that this night mission was successfully completed. Ahead appeared a squadron of Kingfisher fighters, taking off from the East River Fleet. Because the second half of the return trip was already dawn, there was a certain danger, so a squadron of fighters came to meet halfway.

At 6:10 a.m., all aircraft landed on the airfield of the Dongjiang Fleet. The second airdrop mission, the night airdrop, was successfully completed.

……

At half past seven in the morning, the sunlight penetrated into the bedroom through the cracks in the curtains and sprinkled onto Xiang Xiaoqiang's face. Xiang Xiaoqiang opened his eyes dimly and stretched his waist. Then he put his hand to the side, and the quilt next to it was empty.

He rubbed his eyes and looked under the bed, Xiuxiu was sitting on the dresser in her pajamas and combing her hair.

Xiuxiu saw Xiang Xiaoqiang from the mirror and smiled gently:

"Your Excellency, are you awake?"

"Hmm......" Xiang Xiaoqiang yawned, sat up with his arms propped up on the bed, grabbed his hair, suddenly remembered, and immediately asked, "How is it?" ”

Xiuxiu had already understood what he was asking, and said to him with a smile in the mirror:

"I told the maid to keep an eye on the phone. The headquarters had just called and said that the Taihang Mountain Column had sent a telegram that 30 officers had joined the column. As of 7 o'clock in the morning, 98 of the 300 packages had been found. Just now, Dongchang sent information that a division of the Qing army stationed in Shunping County was moving in their direction, only 15 kilometers away from them. Ziteng had already ordered the Taihang Mountain Column to abandon the remaining packages and move deeper into the mountains. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang got off the bed, got dressed, and said in his mouth:

"Great, wonderful."

He was satisfied. 300 parcels, dropped at night, and now in the morning, nearly a third of them have been found. At this rate, this kind of nighttime airdrop can continue in the future until this team really makes a difference.

Xiang Xiaoqiang also noticed that Xiuxiu directly called the stomach ache "Ziteng" just now. This little girl is usually respectfully called "Master Du" in person. Now in the bedroom with himself, he calls others "Ziteng" in all directions. It seems that although Xiao Nizi is still very humble, she has subconsciously begun to regard herself as the main mother of the People's Guard. At least one of the main mothers.

Xiang Xiaoqiang pinched his chin, looked at her from behind, and frowned slightly.