The banquet was not sumptuous, and a war was imminent. It was not a good thing to spread the word of eating and drinking to Lingao. Because Elder Lin had not shown up for a long time, he caused a sensation when he appeared and had to exchange pleasantries with the elders present. Naturally, he is tight-lipped about what he has been doing in recent years.
What followed him to the big world was the hard work he and the Foreign Intelligence Service had put in over the past few years: several thick boxes of "Compilation of Situations in Guangdong Province", which included not only the compiled and copied copies of Guangdong and Guangxi brought by the Big Library in time and space, Information on important military locations in the region and major climate and earthquake records in the past three years, as well as the intelligence they have collected over the past few years, can be used at any time.
But this is not the main reason why he came to Guangzhou so early. In fact, he also has a more important mission, which is to perform a series of "beheadings."
The Bureau of Foreign Intelligence compiled a directory for the chief officers of key pass points from the Pearl River Estuary to Guangzhou. Before the offensive is officially launched, there will be dedicated personnel to "persuade" them to "cooperate" when the time comes. The conditions include ensuring the safety of his personal and family life and property, providing a considerable bribe, and providing a safe escape route.
According to the information at hand, Lin Baiguang is confident that the South China Army starting from Hong Kong will reach Baghdad unimpeded just like the US military did when it entered Iraq.
"However, when we get to Baghdad, we can't be like the US military..." He thought, looking coldly at the protagonists of the banquet: the center of various "instant success" and "famous history" wishes - Xi Yazhou is proud of his past, Zhu Mingxia is complacent, You You The tiger's eyebrows were dancing with joy... Mr. Lin and Guang Tongchen followed the excitement, but also looked at it coldly for a long time, taking advantage of the atmosphere at the table to get excited, and quietly stepped out of the door.
Seeing that they were elders, the two guards at the door stood up and saluted. Lin Baiguang confessed, "I can just walk around" and slowly walked down the steps to the observation deck on the top floor.
Apart from a monocular telescope made by Lingao, there are only sentries on duty on the observation deck. Lin Baiguang shook his hand. Let the soldiers do whatever they want. He stood on the observation deck and stared at the city of Guangzhou not far away. The lights in the city can be called "brilliant" according to the standards of this time and space - in many places he has been to, only a few places have lights after nightfall, and the rest are pitch black and dead.
The "brilliant" lights cast a dark shadow on the walls and towers of Guangzhou City. This is the largest city in southern China, or rather in southern Asia. This city of nearly one million people has accumulated countless wealth. Even by the standards of later generations, this is a colorful world. Such a trophy full of temptation! The Senate was able to endure it for five years. He farmed in the wild small town without saying a word, until today.
Lin Baiguang does not think there is anything wrong with the development of the Senate's "turtle stream". In his opinion, this is a safe and rational approach. The only problem is that it takes too long.
He was only thirty-six years old when he came to this time and space. Now he is an out-and-out middle-aged man. By the time he completes his goal of unifying the country and dominating East Asia, he will probably be in his sixties.
However, he feels that his physical fitness and energy have not declined in the past few years. He had a very obvious feeling about the decline of his body function when he was in his thirties. But now that I have entered my forties, my physical fitness and energy are actually better than those on D-Day.
To say that it is a gift from my "healthy" life in recent years does not seem to be entirely true. He noticed this because when he returned to Lingao to hold a general meeting, he saw several female senators whom he had not seen for many years. There is no obvious change in appearance. You must know that it is difficult to detect changes in appearance when people get along day and night. If they do not see each other for several years, the changes will be very conspicuous.
"Is there something fishy here?" He lit a cigar.
On the sea less than 100 kilometers away from Guangzhou, three h800 transport ships and an escorting patrol boat are sailing in formation. These are the 10th Infantry Battalion and the directly affiliated teams at the military and brigade levels starting from Lingao. part. Tian Liang and his company were also on one of the boats.
The soldiers carried their rifles, bayonets and carrying equipment on board the ship. Many people in the army have complicated feelings about these familiar ships: it was these ships that took them away from the hell and gave them a new life. However, the bumpy journey and the relatives who died on the road and were thrown directly into the sea left them with gloomy memories.
Tian Liang checked the placement status of each class one by one. The space for the soldiers is very small, and the cabins are divided into upper and lower levels. After climbing in, they can only sit.
The average area occupied by a person is only about one square meter. There's not much room left for personal gear if one wants to lie down and sleep. I have to use my backpack as a pillow and take out the blanket.
The cabins were all cleaned up before transporting troops, so the environment was quite clean. It's just a tight space. The light is dim. Except for the cabins near the deck hatches, which can be somewhat illuminated by the hatch covers of the grating, other places can only rely on the horse lanterns hanging on the passages for illumination.
Tian Liang urged the soldiers to put their luggage and equipment in place. Each squad was given a tin bucket with a lid, which was the so-called "vomit bucket."
The company's health workers went around distributing sedatives and urging the soldiers to lie down and rest to prevent seasickness.
Tian Liang's accommodation was slightly better than that of the soldiers. He and two other officers in the company enjoyed a three-story bunk and a small table that could be propped up and hung on the wall.
After inspecting the troops, he went out to the deck, and equipment that was only used when transporting people and livestock was installed on the bow. A fan-shaped canvas curtain collects fresh air, which is then piped into the ship through a cloth duct.
Standing on the deck. The scenery on both sides of the Qiongzhou Strait is vividly visible, including the villages and towns along the coast. The lights are dotted. Overhead, ropes creaked and the sails puffed. As the ship moved forward, the lights of Bobu Town, immersed in the dusk, gradually faded away. Tian Liang leaned against the bulwark and tightly held the rope handrail on the side. A wave of heat surged into my chest, and I couldn't say anything. Just stood there silently.
Tian Liang woke up very early the next day and did not sleep well in this crowded and bumpy boat. He put on his coat and went out on deck. There are already many soldiers and officers on the deck breathing fresh air and solving physical problems.
Naturally, there is no toilet on the ship. Fortunately, a solution was found when the refugees were transported. The specific solution was to hang out a set of wooden components made of strong wooden boards outside the handrails on the outside of the deck. There is no roof or walls, the floor is just two planks of wood spaced just right apart. For safety reasons, there are railings for grabbing on the side, and those who want to get up "conveniently" have to put a buckled rope loop on the side of the ship on their Y-armor belt, so that they can still save themselves if they fall.
Although the "toilet" is simple, it is very clean when used and does not need to be cleaned. The disadvantage is that the large amount of human excrement discharged in a centralized manner will attract sharks - if you fall, you will definitely not be saved.
There was limited fresh water on the ship, and so many soldiers came up. Each person was provided with a tea jar of water. Tian Liang rinsed his mouth first, then poured the rest on a towel and wiped his face haphazardly. By this time the dinner bell had been ringing.
The sailors in the ship's mess room have already started serving breakfast. The soldiers' meals on the ship were provided by the navy. Tian Liang originally thought that they would be given "pao", which was a meal he often ate during many voyages. Unexpectedly, what he received was actually packed in a tinplate lunch box. Steamed rice - instant rice is used, and there are large pieces of fish slabs and pickled radish shreds on the rice. The miso kelp shredded radish soup was brought in a thermos bucket. After a meal, I felt comfortable all over after drinking a bowl of it.
Tian Liang did not get seasick and had a delicious breakfast. After breakfast, each person was given a lunch box with water to wash the dishes.
In order to maintain morale and health, all personnel, as long as they are not sick, must take turns to go to the deck to do exercises after breakfast, and shout "Long live" to the morning star flag three times.
In this way, the fleet moved forward and successfully entered the Hong Kong anchorage a few days later.
The cool sea breeze in the morning caresses your face, refreshing your lungs.
The crane on the pier roared "turf, tut, tut", and the black steel arm swayed in the dazzling sunlight. On the site where military supplies were piled up like a hill, the steam locomotive dragged the carriage and screamed as it passed by, and the ground beneath its feet was shaking.
The Central Pier is like an "ant nest" with its roof uncovered - it's in full swing. The transport fleet was moored in the harbor, lined up in rows and crowded beside the trestle in the light smoke: large Harmony ships, Galen ships, various large Guangzhou ships, and Fu ships were docked densely, and people were busy transferring people and hoisting materials.
On the ship and on the pier, people were walking and busy in almost every corner, machines roared, roared, and moved, and materials were hoisted and lowered above the water almost everywhere.
Near the sea outside the large bunker in Central, there were several small boats patrolling the sea. Several sailors in white military uniforms on the deck sailed on the green water as calm as a mirror, causing small V-shaped ripples. The navy's warships lined up majestically in two rows at the beginning of the spring, turned on the electricity, raised the waves, and shook the ocean. White smoke rose and dispersed from the chimneys - they were ready to go. There were groups of patrol boats and spy boats slightly outside, with clusters of white sails. Sails. The white awning of the large battleship has been erected and it is parked there quietly.
All units of the South China Army will complete their military assembly and rest here, and then transfer to river ships to enter the Pearl River to officially launch an attack.
The newly arrived Army Infantry 10th Battalion and some directly affiliated troops of the corps and brigade are unloading and disembarking. Although preparations and plans were made to ship the large equipment and luggage required by each department to the port in advance, it would still take half a day to unload the personnel and accompanying small luggage. (To be continued.)
