"Let's see who gets caught first..."
After returning to the Yin Hotel in Houguan County, Zhou Changfeng began to wonder with others who should get it.
Since the shipyard incident still doesn't scare the big fish, let's increase the stir and force the other party to take action first.
Although it smells like fishing, there seems to be no other way now? Neither the emperor nor the court had the time to play a cat-and-mouse game on this matter.
On a whim, Shen Yu was trying to replace green tea with coffee. At this moment, he was stirring the cup and said: "The customs in this government are basically rotten. Just arrest them casually, which means enough."
Zhou Changfeng flipped through the roster and investigation appendix, and said thoughtfully: "We still have to find a big one. They are too smart and cunning, and we have to rely on information differences to win."
He pointed to a page and said: "In this way, let's start with the household bureau, then the experience department, and then the customs..."
Luo Fu nodded and said: "Indeed, when dealing with these treacherous and slippery people, we should be more straightforward, otherwise it will be easy for them to detect flaws."
After selecting four people with different positions, Cui Quan, who took the order, summoned his subordinates to prepare to arrest them.
If it is in Yingtianfu, the capital, the arrest of a capital official requires a special approval document issued by the Criminal Division, which is equivalent to a higher-level arrest warrant. It has long been called a "driving notice" by Ming Dynasty people.
During the Zhengtong and Chenghua years, not only ordinary yamen servants needed to follow this rule, but even Jinyiwei and Dongchang arresters also needed driving posts. However, as the system became chaotic and management capabilities declined, this rule gradually fell into disuse.
Now that Zhou and Shen can temporarily handle matters with full authority, it is completely in line with the rules to issue arrest warrants for some middle- and low-level officials.
Compared to Zhu Lingjing's hesitation and worry, Zhou Changfeng could be said to have no worries at all.
What if Fujian Province was paralyzed for several months and could not function normally at the beginning of the war?
In fact, the province of Guangzhou and the island of Xiaoliuqiu alone were enough to support the Ming army in moving south without any worries.
It can only be said that the emperor and the court took their opponents in the Nanyang region too seriously.
This time, the British and Indian troops in the Malay Peninsula will face not just the bicycle army in history, but a battle group composed of serious tanks and trucks.
Because he was sitting firmly on the Diaoyutai and was not impatient, Zhou Changfeng still had time to learn about various situations of the Ming Dynasty's airborne troops from the officers and soldiers of the 1st Parachute Regiment.
Unlike the persistence and strong support of the Germans and Russians for paratrooper units, the paratrooper units of the Ming Dynasty Air Force are much smaller, and there are only three regiments today.
As the most difficult "conventional" force to train and deploy, the cost of establishing a qualified airborne force is too high.
Not to mention other aspects, just a pair of parachutes is a huge expense - it is a serious silk fabric. Although it is not a disposable item, its durability is not good.
Moreover, the combat effectiveness of the airborne troops is also very worrying. After all, the way they enter the battlefield determines that they are destined to lack heavy weapons, and after landing, they are in a state of disorder, disorganization, and fighting on their own.
But talking on paper is definitely not convincing, so the Air Force has organized a simulated confrontation exercise at the beginning of last year.
At that time, the Second Parachute Regiment participated in the actual combat simulation, and the imaginary enemy on the ground was played by the Army's 27th Infantry Division. The latter's actual deployment range was relatively wide, with more than 10,000 people in the entire division spread over a vast area of dozens of square kilometers. Troops are very scarce.
However, the Army still responded very effectively - they determined that airborne operations had great limitations, and the opponent would definitely choose flat and open areas to carry out airborne landings, so they sent some infantry units in advance to wait and see in these places.
In the open field, a heavy machine gun, a light machine gun, a mortar, and an infantry unit of only twenty people occupied favorable terrain such as ridges and hills, and deployed turrets around the position. Barbed wire and mines were carefully camouflaged.
After that, the army men drank tea, barbecued, played cards and slept leisurely in the camp.
Ever since, when the sky full of aircraft flew over and dropped countless paratroopers, the entire sky was covered by white umbrella flowers.
Then, the army men raised the elevation of the heavy machine gun...
A considerable number of the paratroopers were judged casualties by the director and coordination team as soon as they landed, and the subsequent offensive operations were even worse.
A group of stragglers in an open area faced uninterrupted enemy machine gun and mortar fire. It took a long time just to assemble, and the attack was extremely embarrassing - only mortars could be assembled in a short time to fight back. The paratroopers, who did not have enough supporting firepower, had to push forward little by little.
Finally, after clearing out the four or five pre-set anti-airborne positions in the airborne area, the Second Paratrooper Regiment was judged to have suffered one-third casualties, and the regiment commander was judged to have been "killed by the opponent's mortars."
And the most important thing is that they took so much time that the Army had enough time to organize reserves to encircle and annihilate them.
Whether it's a mule or a horse, let's talk based on reality.
The results of the simulation exercise proved the weakness of the airborne troops, and those within the Ming army who advocated "the development of large-scale airborne troops" also stopped after that.
So now the Ming Air Force has built paratrooper units as a rapid force with special application scenarios. It does not expect them to be able to compete head-on with the army's field forces, so it will no longer expand its scale.
For example, in the operation to seize oil fields, paratroopers can play an effective containment role.
Or if the enemy forces seize the road and flee, you can quickly deploy a paratrooper unit to airborne behind the enemy's only route and cut off the enemy's retreat.
In short, this will be an auxiliary with special and irreplaceable functions, but it will be difficult for others to make it the main force.
"How about your equipment? Can the leg bag hold a long gun? One meter is almost enough."
Zhou Changfeng suddenly thought of the Ming Dynasty Air Force's plan to purchase automatic rifles for paratrooper units, so he asked casually.
The result is that you don’t know if you don’t ask, but you will be shocked if you ask.
The adjutant of the Second Battalion of the 1st Parachute Regiment was a tall man with a Chinese character face and as strong as an ox. He replied in confusion: "Leg bags? What are those?"
"Huh?" It was Zhou Changfeng's turn to be surprised. He gestured and then asked, "It's a bag for weapons. It hangs under the thigh or on the side."
"Uh uh... I've heard of it, but we have no use for it."
"Then how do you drop weapons during airborne deployment? Airdrop alone?"
"You are referring to the weapons airdrop box, right?" The adjutant of the second battalion said matter-of-factly: "Yes, we all use special boxes to drop weapons individually."
This is unscientific. Airdropping a human and a suit is not a difficult idea to think of.
The constraints of airdropping people and equipment separately are too great. The paratroopers themselves only carry paratrooper knives and pistols, while weapons such as rifles, submachine guns, light machine guns, grenades, etc. are all packed in separate airdrop boxes.
However, a slight difference can mean a thousand miles. God knows whether the airdrop box can land accurately. Sometimes the error can be hundreds or even thousands of meters.
Before obtaining the airdrop box, the elite paratroopers were just a group of "only inch-armed" stragglers.
During the Battle of Crete in history, the German paratroopers faced such a dilemma - they could only use pistols to fight fiercely with fully armed British troops.
"Tsk, this is a big problem." Zhou Changfeng muttered.
He suddenly realized the seriousness of the problem and was still puzzled about the solution.
Although "leg bags" and "human-suit airdrops" were pioneered by the British and later spread throughout the world, they are not sophisticated things in themselves.
It's so funny, what I subconsciously assumed I already had is not there?
If a war really breaks out, and a select few elites can only fight with pistols and low-level trash like the Dutch and Indian Army, wouldn't it make people angry to death?
Just thinking about it makes people’s blood pressure soar. No, we must figure out the cause and effect immediately!
Designers should be sent to Siberia to dig potatoes! No, this is in the Ming Dynasty, he should be relegated to a place where birds don’t shit!
"Damn, what the hell is going on!"
Because he was too unhappy, Zhou Changfeng put the matter at hand behind him for the time being.
Afterwards, he made a direct call to the Air Force Department of the Ministry of War.
Faced with this inexplicable call for questioning, the official on the other end of the phone was obviously unable to cope - it could be said that Mr. Zhou's anger almost came out of the phone.
"This...Sir Zhou, I don't know Zhou Daizhao. Please wait a moment. I'll call someone to calm down your anger."
There was only faint background sound left in the microphone.
Shen Yu on the side couldn't help but said: "A strong anger is harmful to the body. It's better to find out and deal with it as soon as possible. Hmm...is this problem serious?"
Angrily, Zhou Changfeng picked up the tea cup and drank the remaining water in it, then replied: "How old is your child?"
Shen Yu, who didn't know why, was stunned for a moment, "More than six years old."
"If he still can't write his name at this time, are you angry?"
"..."
After a while, a voice finally came from the other end of the phone.
"Hey, Zhou Taizhao? It's like this. In fact, the thing you asked about has been tried before, but the effect was not satisfactory, so it was shelved."
"Have you tried it? Not ideal?" Zhou Changfeng frowned upon hearing this, "Who are you?"
"I'm here to help. This happened last autumn. I still remember it roughly."
"Okay, why do you say it's not satisfactory?"
"The main problem is the strength. The existing parachutes cannot support such a heavy weight. If you think about it, adding one piece of weapons and ammunition would weigh 20 kilograms more. During the test, the lanyard broke repeatedly. It was too dangerous."
Obviously Zhou Changfeng was not satisfied with this answer. He asked: "So? Nothing further?"
"Yes, the Air Force Headquarters feels that safety is the first priority. If such an accident occurs, the gains outweigh the losses..."
"No, so why not strengthen the parachute?"
"Well... the explanation given at the time was that firstly, it would gain weight, secondly, the soldiers reported that it was too obstructive and inconvenient to move, and thirdly, it would cost a lot to reorder."
"They are not insurmountable problems." Zhou Changfeng sneered and said thoughtfully: "Let me put it this way, it is of great importance and will directly affect whether the future war plan can be effective. Restart the project immediately."
"Huh?" The Air Force officer opposite him obviously didn't believe his words and felt that he was exaggerating.
Moreover, to make a sudden and rash phone call from thousands of miles away is too trivial about military matters, right?
Shen Yu winked and signaled Zhou Changfeng to speak harshly - the reason why the word "special" was added to the privilege was naturally unusual.
The latter blinked, and then said very seriously: "The devil knows when the war will start. Design, mass production, familiarity, and practice all take time. The matter is urgent and it cannot be delayed. I will return to Beijing immediately after the Fuzhou incident is over for inspection." . If anyone dares to deliberately procrastinate, I will be the first to sue him!"
After saying that, Zhou Changfeng hung up the phone directly.
He complained depressedly: "It's really interconnected. If the paratroopers' diversionary mission fails and the oil fields and refineries are completely destroyed by the Dutch, it will be difficult for us to repair them."
Shen Yu naturally didn't understand the specific technical details, but he knew the consequences of this series of events.
"It's not too late to make amends." He comforted: "Even if the war starts today in Taixi, we still have a buffer time of a month."
Brother! Don't be so talkative!
Zhou Changfeng, who was quite helpless, covered his forehead and waved his hands repeatedly, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It would be embarrassing if I really got what you said."
As a result, the trip to Fuzhou, which originally seemed very dull and boring because everything was under control, suddenly became a little more tense.
The unexpected anomaly made Zhou Changfeng so speechless that he began to seriously think about whether there would be a similar situation.
During this period, the ruthless paratroopers had completed the arrest operation efficiently.
Lei Lifengxing forced the door open when he refused, and four officials with different positions were promptly arrested and brought to justice.
The "tigers" originally thought that the emperor and the court would not escalate the matter, so they have been doing everything possible to mediate with the capital, while patiently waiting for the investigation team and the imperial envoy to leave.
In fact, they were generally correct, but unfortunately the plan could not keep up with the changes - because the emperor still made up his mind and changed his mind.
The Changle Shipyard case involved only a limited number of people, at best a few flies and a tiger cub.
But the customs matter is different. If we dig deeper, the Chief Secretary, the Inspector General, and the Governor's Office will all suffer.
Moreover, it is not just a matter of customs.
Now that the expansion has begun, does the court want to continue to follow the clues to investigate and delve into other matters?
While releasing some confusing news from time to time, Zhou Changfeng and his party patiently waited for the matter to ferment for a few days.
On the last day of early December, news that "the special investigation team will return to Beijing urgently tomorrow" quickly spread throughout Fuzhou Prefecture.
Does this look like it's going to be a sleepless night?
But the strange thing is that the whole night was very peaceful, and the expected bold move did not happen.
Early in the morning, more than 20 people from the team boarded cars and buses and set off for the airport.
"How can they be fooled so easily? Brother Zhou, you should have listened to me from the beginning." Shen Yu said.
"It's okay, it's not you who gets criticized anyway." Zhou Changfeng, who was particularly depressed, said sarcastically.
Strange, why is this Ming magistrate so cowardly?
As the sun rises in the east, the motorcade reaches the junction of the city and the suburbs, where brick and tile houses stand out, and the sound of cockcrows comes one after another.
But at this moment, a red oil tanker came towards us. The distance is getting closer, but it doesn't slow down.
(End of chapter)
