The sunset drags the shadows of things for a long time, and the cicadas chirp one after another, and it is still very hot at this time, and it will not cool down until after sunset.

At first, Zhou Changfeng was very unaccustomed to having a group of attendants around him, and he wondered if leaders, rich people, and big families would not feel uncomfortable being taken care of like this?

However, as a high-ranking general, no matter what, he is also a second-class member of the imperial court, and the attendants can be less, but not unworthy. Drivers, secretaries, and guards are all top priorities, and families also need reliable nannies to take care of them.

If something goes wrong with a general, trivial accidents aside, the biggest risk is assassination, if so, the court will lose its lordship, lose face, and lose all its inside and face.

In this regard, the Ming monarchs and ministers all stood on a unified position, criticizing Zhou for hating the attendants as irresponsible, and the latter did not take long to slip away under the pretext of busy military affairs.

"It's all checked."

"Okay."

A black sedan with a white license plate on a red background stopped at the entrance of Zhou's house for a moment, then took off and turned right and disappeared at the intersection.

The red license plate indicated that the car belonged to the army, and the Metropolitan Governor's Office sent a car to deliver hundreds of letters.

Seeing that there were two more boxes of letters, Xia Xiaoshi couldn't help complaining: "There are so many letters today, endlessly." ”

Lin Xi opened the box and flipped through it roughly, "There are six boxes in the past three days...... Seven boxes up. ”

Xia Xiaoshi took two steps forward, bent down and took out a few of the various envelopes, because the letters had been opened and checked, and she easily browsed them continuously, "These words can be described as true feelings, he Zhou Kexing is really sought after by the girls." ”

Lin Xi felt that she had selectively ignored other kinds of letters, "Madam, in fact, there are not many letters from women......"

"Not much? Obviously a lot. ”

"Then put these together in the middle of the shoots, ma'am, the dishes for dinner should be served."

At this moment, the sound of engines and tires rolling over the road came from far and near, and finally stopped at the door of the house.

Familiar footsteps, familiar knocks...... In fact, at this moment, Xia Xiaoshi has already realized who is coming - listening to the sound and distinguishing people.

Zhou Changfeng has always gone home without prior notice, it can be said that he is a different kind of lover of sudden attacks, and he himself likes to see his wife's expression change from surprise to joy at the same time.

As soon as she entered the door, Xia Xiaoshi looked him up and down a few times before speaking, and the first sentence was, "Zhou Kexing, why are you tanned?"

"That's not it, it's hard to bask in the sun in Hawaii at this time, and it's hard not to be dark." Zhou Changfeng said disappreciatively, and then reached out and hugged her into his arms.

The long-lost touch, the long-lost breath, only then did his mood finally relax.

"Now... It's all right now, right? Xia Xiaoshi, who was full of expectations, raised her eyes and asked, "Is there still a battle to fight in the future?" ”

Zhou Changfeng pinched his face and pinched her cheeks, stared into her eyes, and said with a smile after two seconds: "What can I say accurately in the future, but it will be my business within half a year." ”

"Isn't it possible to continue fighting? Obviously, they all said that this battle was coming to an end. Xia Xiaoshi said with some resentment.

"Just listen to this kind of argument, don't take it seriously."

"Huh? Do you really want to continue fighting? ”

Zhou Changfeng restrained his smile, pointed to her chest and said slowly: "There are no suitable islands and reefs in the adjacent waters of the West Coast of the United States, and the fleet cannot transfer, support, and rest, and Hawaii is the place they rely on the most and the only place they can rely on. Without Hawaii, the Pacific Fleet must fight from the doorstep of that what... Starting from San Diego, it was strategically on the defensive, and the situation was very passive. ”

He continued: "Something of this nature can really be related to the fortunes of the country, and no one will be willing to give up, not to mention that the Americans are quite confident in their own national strength." ”

Although people today can't imagine the future mode of war, the perimeter wind is different—if it can hold Hawaii on its own, it will be the United States that will be blocked by all kinds of long-range firepower in a few decades.

In a sense, the loss of Hawaii is worse than the loss of Europe, because for the first time, the United States itself will face immediate risks.

It may be a more appropriate decision to abandon illusions, simply and decisively withdraw troops from Europe, and go all out to deal with the Ming Dynasty, but it is clear that the upper echelons of the United States still cannot abandon the strategy of Europe first and then Asia.

At this time, Lin Xi walked slowly and saluted slightly, "From four days ago to today, there have been letters sent from all over the country, and they are all placed in the west of the river." ”

"Huh? Letter? What's going on? ”

Seeing that he was puzzled, Xia Xiaoshi next to him said seriously: "Our General Zhou is famous, and naturally it is indispensable to be sought after by thousands of women in the Ming Dynasty. ”

Zhou Changfeng, who suddenly realized, smiled dumbly, "I smelled the sourness, someone's vinegar bottle turned over." ”

Xia Xiaoshi tilted her head slightly to the side, "Is there one?" I don't. ”

"None? Who believes. Zhou Changfeng pretended to be indifferent and said: "This kind of woman who writes letters must be divided into two categories, one is the kind of little girl and female student who is not deeply involved in the world, and the other is a celebrity and a courtesan, obviously I am not interested at all." ”

Then he went to the west and picked up a stack of letters, and picked one at random.

Sure enough, this handwriting is Juan Li's small letters, writing: "General Zhou Chongjian: Knowing that Wang Shi broke the enemy and won, the little girl hesitated for many days, specially written......

However, Zhou Changfeng's focus must be very different from Xia Xiaoshi's, in addition to the worship of many girls, there are also a large number of folk people in the letters.

He was keenly aware of the signs that something was wrong—the letters contained fanatical and radical student vastly and generously preached his own ideas and ambitions; There are wealthy businessmen with thousands of dollars in their pockets to flatter and praise to celebrate the prosperity of the Nanyang region.

He was joined by Ouyang Zhanghua, Song Zhongkai and others, who had won a great victory in their expedition to Hawaii - at least as the imperial court officially reported, and they had inevitably become household names and heroes.

Zhou Changfeng received an invitation from Ouyang Zhanghua the next day, and immediately happily went to the appointment.

The location is still the most frequented and most suitable Tonghui Hotel, take the elevator straight to the eighth floor, and walk along the corridor to the single room at the end.

Ouyang Zhanghua's face showed a trace of worry, which was completely different from the ease and comfort when the fleet squad returned some time ago.

"Hey, here, sit down."

"Okay, I'll just sit here."

"The report of the imperial court is also too exaggerated." Ouyang Zhanghua shook his head while pouring wine and said: "The report should not come like this, and such an important news should not be carefully considered, it should be emphasized that the enemy still has plenty of spare strength and stamina." ”

"Yes, I also read the editorial of the Sun and Moon Society, and the editorial was not signed, who wrote it?" Zhou Changfeng became angry when he heard this, and complained: "After pulling and pulling Xila, he suddenly deduced a conclusion that he would win, sit and wait for others to make peace, it is really playing the piano randomly." ”

"It's just that the people are manic, but some soft-eared guys in the Advisory Council who have no opinions really believe it, and they are all making up their minds to cut next year's military spending." Ouyang Zhanghua said helplessly.

"Huh?" Zhou Changfeng, whose mouth had just touched the cup, immediately put down the wine cup when he heard this, and asked in surprise, "Is there any tendon in the head that is wrong?" ”

"The Advisory Yuan, not unusual."

"This is also true, but it is just a few people's nonsense that can't set off the wind and waves, and it only adds to the laughing stock."

These days, letters and condolence messages from all over the southeast and northwest are being sent, and Zhou Changfeng can receive hundreds of them every day, and Ouyang Zhanghua is about the same.

A large number of family members of the soldiers who had won the battle exploits wrote letters to express their gratitude, thanking the commanders for their wise and martial commands, allowing their sons, brothers, and husbands to achieve such supreme glory under their leadership, and to make meritorious contributions and glorify their ancestors.

Several students were extremely regretful because they were rejected to join the army, and collectively expressed their chagrin and anger, preferring to be pawns rather than scholars, and asked for special recruitment in this way.

There is also a highly respected professor who hopes that Ouyang Zhanghua will write a special inscription, which will be carefully framed and hung in the corridor on the first floor of the main building of Zhujiang University, so as to inspire him.

Ouyang Zhanghua stared at the fragrant elixir and jade liquid in the wine cup, and said worriedly: "There are too many words of compliment, it is obvious that all the soldiers are working together, but now it seems that they want to attribute the credit to one person or several people?" If you can't go on like this, not only will you be deserved, but you will also be easy to get caught on fire. ”

Zhou Changfeng, who looked calm, was silent for a long time, and finally said leisurely: "The soaring patriotic enthusiasm and proud national pride are double-edged swords, using it to suppress sharp contradictions, gather strength and unite with the outside world, but also bear its ...... Toxicity. ”

"Hey, there are fewer and fewer sober and rational people, and if this continues, it will be even more difficult for the DPRK and China to make some tortuous decisions in the future, and if you are not careful, you will be pointed at and poked in the backbone." Ouyang Zhanghua sighed.

Before the war, the strategy of the Ming Dynasty was relatively clear, and the expectations for this large-scale war were "quick victory" or "protracted" two situations.

The argument for a quick victory is based on the meaning that "mobile forces are essential" and "strategically indispensable," and that after a heavy blow to the Pacific Fleet or the capture of Oahu, the United States is likely to discourage the idea of competing for Asian interests, opt for peace talks, and go all out against Europe.

The persistent argument is based on the analysis that "the Ming and US militaries are on a par in strategy" and that "the US strategy of putting Europe first and then Asia" is constructed, and this argument holds that the Ming Dynasty has the ability to wage a tug-of-war with the United States that is inseparable, and that the United States, which has paid too much losses, will eventually choose peace talks because of strategic issues.

However, a series of successive victories greatly affected people's judgment, and not only the people, but even the court began to quickly spread the confidence that the victory was in hand.

They believe that their full confidence is justified, because from their point of view, the current situation has "met" the conditions for a quick victory.

First, mobile forces are of paramount importance, and now the US Pacific Fleet has suffered heavy losses, repeated defeats, and lost many aircraft carriers and battleships.

Second, strategic locations are indispensable, and now that the U.S. military has lost Oahu, Tarawa Atoll, and other important locations, the fleet's operations are greatly restricted.

Because of this, they believed that the United States had to give up its Asian interests and take the initiative to choose peace, so that the Ming could concentrate on dealing with Britain, dismember Britain's core colony Indu, and force the British Empire to bend its knees and sue for peace.

One night later.

In the early morning of the next day, the morning meeting of the Mandarin Hall was held as scheduled.

Because of the change in the war situation, some high-ranking generals also attended the meeting, but the regular meeting began to discuss internal affairs, such as the hidden danger of flooding in Jingzhou, the completion of the state-run Liuzhou Steel Rolling Company, and so on.

These political affairs had nothing to do with the generals, and it was not until more than half an hour later that the topic came to the battle between the East and the West.

“…… It is expected that Britain will intervene in Russia through the traditional Arctic Ocean route, with the destinations of Motown and Murmansk. ”

"Really? The British hand is really long enough. ”

"This is probably just a threat, and the Germans have publicly warned about it." Li Guangyuan, the finance minister, said more firmly: "Unless Britain and the United States jointly send troops, the British cannot be so bold, they have a limited number of troops, and 100,000 horses will be sent to the large land of Russia and make waves." ”

"It's not certain, the British have always had the ability to stir up trouble everywhere." Foreign Minister Yu Shenhua shook his head slightly, and said in a deep voice: "What's more, 100,000 troops are not too small, and they are enough to be used in key places." ”

"If that's the case, the German people will be famous, and it will be okay to send millions of troops."

After learning the lesson, out of political considerations, the German Society never openly intervened in the civil war in Tsarist Russia, and its intervention was limited to the small Red Eagle Army and aid weapons and equipment.

At the same time, they also warned against the intervention of Britain and the United States, otherwise they would definitely take strong measures to give the people of Tsarist Russia "the necessary protection".

The old men of the Zhengmi banner in London know very well that the British Empire is now fighting on multiple fronts, and there is no considerable expeditionary force to interfere with Tsarist Russia, so they have been encouraging Washington.

President Benjamin Franklin had been pushing back on this bold plan, but recently he replied in the affirmative: "We will be able to begin equipping ourselves with new, modern warfare weapons in about November, and 15 new divisions will be trained and expected to be deployed to Europe in January, some of which may be feasible to go to Russia."

The so-called new weapon in this reply is actually the M3 medium tank - after realizing that their tin cans could not meet the demand, the Americans worked overtime to develop a successor model to the M2 medium tank, which is expected to be put into production in two months.

The cutting-edge M3 light tank is even earlier, and trial production has now begun at the American Vehicle and Foundry Corporation (ACFC).

With such a reply, Prime Minister Winston was doubly heartened, and he believed that only in this way could the forces and war resources of the odious Germans be dispersed, otherwise there was no hope of victory at all.

He also approved a strategic bombing program against the Baku oil fields, after sporadic small-scale air strikes proved ineffective, so they had to be stepped up.

After a little discussion of the war situation in Europe, the topic of today's regular meeting came to my own country.

Song Zhongkai was not present, and Ouyang Zhanghua, as the authority of the Ming Navy, took the lead in speaking: "I first want to refute the recent arrogance and quick victory, which is very inappropriate. ”

Ma Mingli, vice president of the Advisory Yuan, smiled slightly, "Why did Chief Ouyang say this? ”

"Obviously, the clause of 'inflicting heavy damage on the enemy fleet' is not in line with reality." Ouyang Zhanghua stared at him, "The enemy still has two aircraft carriers, and one of the two leased by the British can be repaired immediately, and a new aircraft carrier built on the mainland is also about to be commissioned, so there are four, not a lot, how can you give up?" ”

(End of chapter)

.