The army is about to depart, and before that seems to be the default should be to write a letter or make a phone call to relatives and friends?

The regiment's field post office issued uniform letterheads and envelopes to the officers and men, two copies for each person, one for writing a letter to his family and one for writing a suicide note.

This is all voluntary, and if you have a big heart, you can choose not to write it; On the contrary, the suicide note will be kept on file and kept in the garrison of each unit, and after the death, wounded death, or disappearance are confirmed, it will be mailed to the family members.

Zhou Changfeng is a big heart, or he feels that the risk of this special military operation is very small, not much greater than the probability of being stoned to death by a flower pot while walking on the road.

In this case, it is a bit unlucky to write a suicide note in advance? Now he just wants to talk to his wife.

After dinner that day, he dialed the phone to Xia's house.

The newlywed wife is a little lonely to stay alone in the empty house, but fortunately, Xia Xiaoshi will take a few trams to her parents' home, so Zhou Changfeng let her temporarily go back to her parents' house to live for a few days before leaving.

Although today's telephones are not high-end gadgets, most of the ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty do not have them.

The telephone itself is not expensive, and the price of the affordable model is about 20 yuan, but the problem is that it costs an additional amount of money to ask the telephone company to install the wiring at home, and it has to wait a long time, so many families do not give priority to it.

Throughout the country, ordinary household items are just two out of four - sewing machines, bicycles, pocket watches/watches, radios, two pieces are enough, three pieces are good, and if you can collect four pieces, you are at least a little rich.

The standards of the more prosperous places will be higher, for example, in Shuntian, Yingtian, Shanghai, and Hangzhou, you have to add a telephone to be worthy of the name of Xiaofu.

After layers of transfers, it took a while to hear Gao Linglu's voice coming from the microphone.

"Who?"

"Mom, it's me."

Obviously, Gao Linglu on the other end of the phone was taken aback, and it took a full two seconds before he asked, "Sudden call, is this something serious?" ”

Given that the operation was almost semi-public, and that much of the rest of the information had been published in various newspapers in turn, except for the military details, Zhou Changfeng did not hide it.

"Uh... We're getting ready to leave recently, so it's safer to make a phone call and say a few words. ”

"Well, I'll call her. Hey, Xiaoshi, come here, listen to the phone. ”

A moment later, there was a sound of footsteps in the microphone, followed by the familiar voice.

"Sir? What's wrong? ”

The corners of Zhou Changfeng's mouth involuntarily rose a little, "How is it?" You're comfortable these days, aren't you? ”

Looking back at the official reports of the past two days, Xia Xiaoshi had already expected it in her heart, but she was not sure, "I'm naturally very good, when will you come back?" ”

"Hmm......" Zhou Changfeng, who was holding the microphone, was silent, and after a while, he said calmly: "I can't come back for the time being." I probably have to wait until the Dragon Boat Festival, and when I see that the time is not smooth, it should not be later than July. ”

After finishing speaking, he added with a smile: "I don't want to miss this year's Qixi Festival." ”

Although I had been a little mentally prepared before, this situation was still quite unexpected, and I didn't know what to say for a long time, and finally thousands of words were condensed into one sentence, "Then you must pay attention to your own safety." ”

Gao Linglu on the side left very interestingly, and the young couple had to say some ambiguous words on the phone, so it was better to go farther.

"Don't worry, I'm very hard."

The two of them laughed a few words on the phone, and Xia Xiaoshi suddenly thought of some news - when the Ming army stationed in Nagasaki rotated every year, some people brought women who hooked up locally to return to China, and most of them were pregnant.

According to folk legend, the young women there were eager to escape from the local misery, and without considering the riskier smuggling, the main way to get to their paradise was to hook up with the Ming officers and soldiers stationed there.

Ordinary soldiers are often very young, mostly in their twenties, which is the time when they are full of energy, but it is too easy to serve in the Nagasaki Xuanwei Division, and the emperor is far away, and there is also a lack of supervision for strict training, so the actual situation is to fish for three days and dry the nets for two days.

But the energy must find a place to vent, and you have to pay for the local fireworks and willow lane. In contrast, if a girl takes the initiative to come over and post upside down, it is undoubtedly very attractive.

Officers are relatively second-class choices, because most of them have families, and they tend to kick them away and turn their faces with their pants lifted after prostitution.

However, with high risk and high return, being a concubine for an officer is actually quite nourishing, at least better than the original life in the local area, so there are many women who are trying endlessly.

Considering the "glorious" deeds of "Zhou Changfeng" in the past, it would definitely be a lie to say that Xia Xiaoshi was not worried.

After hesitating for more than ten seconds, she said very seriously: "Sir, don't be deceived by local women, I heard that they can do everything they can to get in touch with you." ”

Zhou Changfeng on the other end of the phone couldn't help laughing, and then replied with a deliberate smile: "What? So worried? ”

"Heh, I'm just reminding you of one or two... That's all. ”

"Is it really just a reminder? Hahaha-"

Xia Xiaoshi clenched the microphone, gritted her teeth and said, "Zhou Kexing, if you really want to do that, I will definitely be angry!" ”

Zhou Changfeng smiled and coughed dryly: "Anyway, don't worry about this, I'm not interested in short Japanese women with radish legs." Not... I've wronged you for living alone for the past few months. ”

"Sir's words are serious, I can be at home now."

"Well, that's it, hang up."

After talking on the phone, Zhou Changfeng breathed a sigh of relief, but he had one thing, and then it was time to prepare for business wholeheartedly.

The battlefield is the best testing ground for weapons, and the Ordnance Bureau has organized a team dedicated to this matter, which is subdivided into several teams.

Group A is responsible for infantry weapons, including: trial production of Type 37 rocket launchers, trial production of Type 37 anti-infantry directional mines, trial production of Type 38 anti-infantry jumping mines, and trial production of Type 37 heavy machine guns.

Group B is responsible for artillery weapons, including: trial production of Type 38 144mm long-range field guns, trial production of Type 37 80mm anti-aircraft guns.

Group C is responsible for technical weapons, including: trial production of Type 36 A radio transceiver, trial production of Type 37 radio direction finder, trial production of Type 38 electromagnetic wave detector.

Group D is responsible for service equipment, including: new first-aid kits, antibacterial, tents, gas masks, field food, and other things.

When he saw those dozens of boxes of jumping mines and directional mines, Zhou Changfeng's mood was undoubtedly quite excited.

How much of a tactical advantage could these precipitous things bring to the Ming infantry detachments?

They may not have much of an impact strategically, but tactically they are likely to make the difference between victory and defeat in a battle.

As for his proud work - the bazooka with the principle of recoilless gun, Yingtian Arsenal has already declared to the Ordnance Bureau to complete the finalization work, and then after the actual combat assessment, it can be put into production in large quantities after a slight modification according to the feedback.

This time, the Second Army received 200 trial-made Type 37 rocket launchers and 3,000 rounds of ammunition, the 1st Marine Regiment allocated 30 and 500 rounds, and the rest were allocated to the other three divisions.

In fact, the Guards Division and the 1st Division did not have many armored vehicles at all, only a few dozen in total - more than two dozen Wix Crosley and Wosley armored vehicles, and a dozen Carden-Lloyd MkV and Vickers MkE tanks.

Zhou Changfeng estimates that if it really comes in handy, these bazookas may be used to hit enemy fire points, and the probability of encountering armored vehicles is not very high anyway.

The days before departure seemed to be particularly difficult, a few days as long as half a month.

Because the Fourth Infantry Division and the 20th Light Bombardment Detachment were under the banner of the Second Army, Zhou Changfeng could be regarded as fighting side by side with his old friend He Cheng, and Mu Yu was also dragged over by him to join in the fun.

On a pile of supply crates not far from Pier 6 at the naval base, three people sat side by side, the light of cigarettes flickering on and off with their breath.

"The military intelligence report said that the Japanese still haven't made up their minds." He Cheng flicked the cigarette ash, "It's hard to say." ”

"Do you have to be in the city to give in?" Mu Yu, who was very disdainful, snorted, "It's really unreasonable." ”

Zhou Changfeng stretched his waist and sneered: "Although I thought it would be best to take over smoothly before, but now that they are hesitant, they should still have illusions, so I think it's better to fight, don't fight or be obedient, break unrealistic illusions, so that you can be well-behaved." ”

As he said, the Japanese did still have a trace of illusion and could not make up their minds.

In other words, the capitulation faction and the resistance faction have not yet reached a consensus, and the quarrel is inexorable.

The Japanese Imperial Court is now in a relatively independent state, which is equivalent to a large feudal town that is nominally central, but the feudal towns in various regions do not obey orders. Both the imperial court and the feudal towns wanted to reunite the islands, but the Western powers certainly refused to allow them.

Originally, the emperor was not able to regain some power until after the Boshin War, and before that, during the Kamakura, Muromachi, and Edo shogunates, the emperor's status was declining and decreasing. Among them, the imperial court during the Warring States period was even reduced to selling officials and concubines and maids to barely make ends meet.

After the victory of the Boshin War, the Edo shogunate collapsed, and the emperor's court immediately implemented a series of reform reforms, vigorously developing capitalism, and committed to enriching the country and strengthening the army.

Because of this war, and looking back on the failure of the previous British and French invasions of the Ming Dynasty, the Western powers invariably gave up the Ming Dynasty and carefully chose to pick a soft persimmon.

After the partition of Japan, the feudal domains were controlled by the great powers in many respects, but the actions of the different powers also differed, for example, the Italians and Americans were less in charge, and the British and French were more in charge.

As for the emperor, most of the powers he managed to establish in the Meiji Constitution have been lost, and he is now only a mascot.

On the surface, the current Wakoku Chuo (Shizuoka, Kanagawa, Tokyo, Nagano, Chiba) is a dual structure of military and civilian government, but it is essentially a chaebol group that has long been dominated by the British.

For some of them, there is no essential difference between the British and the Ming, when whose dogs are not all the same? They will continue to enjoy the privileges.

But there are also many people who are resolutely opposed, believing that the British at least respect customs and culture, but if the Ming people come, I am afraid that there will be a complete reshuffle, burning books and destroying words, and completely erasing the Yamato people from the culture, and they are just slaves who have used and discarded.

For two months from the beginning of the year to the present, the two sides have been arguing.

As the British began to withdraw their assets and garrisons one after another, these chaebol tycoons became more and more panicked and worried.

In the past half month, the rice flags have been lowered, and groups of British soldiers wearing Tommy helmets and carrying Lee-Enfield rifles on their shoulders have marched to the docks to board the boats.

The Ming side reported the movements of the army almost semi-openly, which was obviously deliberate.

The North Route Army set out from Korea, and the South Route Army crossed the sea and landed directly in Tokyo.

As the seat of the ancient Shogun Shogun and the "capital" of the Koshi period, Tokyo can be described as a heart-like existence. After taking Tokyo, the Japanese imperial court will no longer exist, or it will be completely under the control of the Ming people, and how can the rest of the feudal towns resist?

In the early morning of the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, the Second Army, which had been reorganized, officially set off for Haizhou, and it took several hours for a huge fleet of more than 60 large and small warships and dozens of cargo ships to be assembled and march toward Tokyo Bay.

It was also on this day that Tokyo's magnates convened their fourteenth cabinet meeting on the matter, the previous thirteen which had ended in nothing.

The sky was grayish-black, as gloomy and gloomy as the mood of the crowd.

Many of the powerful have no masters, or they don't care.

Of all the people, only the Secretary of War advocated holding on to resistance, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer generally agreed, feeling that it was possible to win the support of the Americans. In addition, the rest of the people advocated obediently obeying and welcoming the king.

"I reiterate once again that resistance is pointless, Gulf of Tonkin is like a lotus pond for the Akito to come and go at will, and all our warships combined are less than one of their battleships." Foreign Minister Yoshida Nagamasa said in a deep voice.

"Such a defense, which has no hope of victory, is useless except to provoke the Akito." Minister of Internal Affairs Nakamura Yorimoto stared sharply at the people opposite him and said solemnly, "Whether it is for the sake of the people or for ourselves, it is the right thing to do to greet them obediently." ”

"Resistance proves that we are not at the mercy of others, but for better treatment. Not resisting? The Ming people will think that we are weak and can be bullied, and treat us as slaves and manipulate us at will, and that will completely bury Japan! War Minister Keigo Kano said loudly.

Hearing this, Yoshida Nagamasa sneered: "I heard that there is a flat land and a warehouse behind your mansion, and a small plane is prepared in it, and if the situation is not good, you will flee to Osaka, right?" ”

He Ye Keigo was exposed in public, but he still remained calm and did not lose his temper, but ridiculed: "Aren't you ready to retreat?" In your hearts, which is more important, your own fate or the fate of the Yamato clan? ”

And just like that, the atmosphere was tense again.

Seeing that this cabinet meeting was about to end in vain like the previous thirteen times, suddenly, a secretary knocked on the door and broke in, and said in horror and eagerness: "Oh no, the first division has mutinied, and rebels are coming!" ”

(End of chapter)