Zhou Changfeng was silent for a full three seconds before replying: "It's not necessarily a bad thing to avoid something, it may also be a troublesome thing."
"Don't you think that suppressing the bandits is not worthy of credit?" Zhu Lingjing's tone on the other end of the phone was very calm, "You are smart, and you know how to ask Xu Zhanming to take credit for you."
"The general environment is like this, so I can only do this. I hope what Chief Xu said will work." Since the last time he suffered a defeat in the Military and Political Department, Zhou Changfeng has recognized the reality. When it comes to relationships, he must rely on them. Humanity and sophistication must still be spoken. .
I'm pretty flexible, so that's okay.
In fact, Zhu Lingjing felt that instead of asking Xu Zhanming to apply for merit, it would be better to call the emperor herself.
But she didn't say that, but directly asked another question, "Can you project flames? Well...it's a weapon with the ability to incinerate."
A weapon that projects fire?
Did the topic change too quickly?
Zhou Changfeng, who was a little confused, was stunned for a moment and affirmed: "Yes, the chemical protection unit is equipped with flamethrowers."
"Okay, take them with you when we set off."
"Your Highness, this...can you tell me the reason?"
"Burn the snails that cause the epidemic." Zhu Lingjing's question and answer was very concise.
Combined with the recent news that she was in Jiujiang Prefecture to deal with the schistosomiasis epidemic, Zhou Changfeng understood that burning was indeed a good way to eliminate snails.
But why does this woman's words make people so uncomfortable?
Speaking of playing with fire, the Chinese have been fond of using arson equipment for city defense since ancient times. "Wu Jing Zong Yao" and "Wu Bei Zhi" record many interesting incendiary weapons for city defense.
Even before the European War, the Ming army had already equipped some compressed gas flamethrowers that were considered advanced at the time. Of course, because the Ming Dynasty did not participate in the European War, the first ones to apply them in actual combat were the Germans.
Although the Type 33 flamethrower currently equipped by the Ming Army uses compressed gas in the same working principle as the mainstream individual flamethrowers, that is, there are two tanks, one containing fuel and one containing compressed nitrogen. The latter is the propellant and is used to propel the flamethrower. Fuel spurts out.
However, there are slight differences in the design ideas. The Bureau of Ordnance believes that the shock ability of flamethrowers lies in their suddenness, so there is no need for flamethrowers to spray non-stop on the battlefield, approach quietly, and then suddenly attack. The most reasonable thing is to squirt a few times and then run away.
Therefore, the fuel tank of the Type 33 flamethrower only has a capacity of five liters and can only perform three short injections or one long injection.
What follows is that its weight is the lightest in the world, with an empty weight of 16kg and a weight of only 22kg when filled with fuel and nitrogen. At the same time, because the fuel tank is so small, it can be sprayed out in just a few strokes in actual combat, so there is no need for it. Worried about being killed.
Zhu Lingjing is already thinking about the long term these days, because Qianyuan Company has initially improved the production line of quinine antimony hydrochloride and will conduct trial production soon, and will then put it into mass production.
This is the power of industry. Once the assembly line in the factory starts running, as long as there are enough raw materials, a steady stream of products will be produced, and it will not take long to meet the demand.
Once the oral pills are delivered and distributed, it won't take long for this sudden epidemic to be suppressed.
In other words, the goal of "treating the symptoms" will be achieved soon.
However, although "treating the root cause" was not within the scope of her mission, she still wanted to give it a try.
There are two fundamental solutions. One is to improve the medical level in rural areas, including the hygiene knowledge of hospitals, doctors and farmers; the other is to eliminate snails as intermediate hosts.
The former was a long-term and costly undertaking, and it was obvious that she could only try the latter now.
Over the years, local governments and local hospitals have summarized many ways to eliminate oncomelania, such as poisoning with pesticides, or changing the environment, directly digging new ditches and filling in old ditches.
In addition, the more convenient method should be fire. However, the temperature of burning with firewood and straw is not high enough, and the burning effect is not satisfactory.
To put it simply, it is not violent enough or ruthless enough.
Then... where can I find the most violent and cruel thing that can use fire attacks?
The answer is obvious. Throughout the ages, people have always used the most advanced technology to kill each other.
Zhu Lingjing later telegraphed the court, hoping to second the chemical defense unit of the local garrison.
In fact, she didn't need to remind him, Zhou Changfeng would definitely bring a chemical defense platoon with him.
For bandits hiding in complex terrain such as deep mountains and old forests, what could be more efficient than a flamethrower? Directly purify them with a thousand-degree flame, which is more humane and more efficient.
In the next few days, the 1st Marine Regiment continued to conduct various landing training on the shores of Taihu Lake.
An amphibious tank broke down during the floating training. Water continued to enter uncontrollably and the water pumping device failed. The tank sank, but the two tank crews escaped in time.
The Ming Dynasty was not yet wealthy enough to abandon its technical weapons at will, so the First Marine Regiment organized several barges to salvage them the next day.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out that the fault was caused by the usual maintenance methods of the water pumping device not meeting the specifications.
"Some people always think that training is of little significance, but 'sweat more in peacetime and bleed less in war' is definitely not a lie. Look, if this doesn't happen, it will cost two lives on the battlefield in the future... Oh, not only that, without the timely support of a tank, we might lose the whole battle."
Zhou Changfeng took this opportunity to respond to the complaints among the Marine Corps.
"...After that, we didn't go back to the Jiangxinzhou station. We loaded up the truck and went directly to Wuhan, and then rushed to the Yidu area to suppress the bandits. The whole group went, and no one was left behind."
"...We can't take it lightly, we must attach great importance to it mentally. This is actual combat, and people will die. If anyone neglects his duty or does not take it seriously, I will personally kill him."
The emphasis of military operations is to "prepare thoroughly first and then act as quickly as thunder." The same is true for suppressing bandits. There is no rush.
However, the emperor was very dissatisfied with the attack on Yiling Prefecture, and now the public opinion is also agitated, with many people criticizing the incompetence of the imperial court and the government.
Therefore, since it has been raised to this level, the Marine Corps cannot help but prepare slowly.
According to the deployment of the General Staff Office of the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, the surrounding Yi'an Army and the field units of the two divisions will assist in the battle. However, they will not enter the mountain. Instead, they will pull nets on the outside to prevent a few stubborn bandits from escaping.
Therefore, the only unit that went directly into the mountains to carry out pursuit and suppression missions was the 1st Marine Regiment.
Due to the special nature of the mission and the extremely cunning opponent, Zhou Changfeng has been thinking about how to expand the asymmetric advantage in tactics these days.
Heavy equipment on the ground can't go deep into the mountains and forests, so it's best to rely on flying equipment?
However, fighter jets and attack aircraft still need to make a large circle before returning after an attack, which makes it easy for the target to take advantage of the opportunity to escape, and the bomb load and stay time are limited.
So, what aircraft can meet such requirements?
(End of chapter)
