Chapter 62 Preparing for the Offensive

  In modern-day Seoul, South Korea. Goyang is on the phone with Jung Soo-jung explaining "Soo-jung, I'm really sorry but I won't be able to keep my promise to you. Something important has come up and I have to take care of it, I apologize."

  On the other end of the phone, there was a brief silence before Jung Joo-young's somewhat suppressed voice came on. "It's okay, OPPA must have something very important to do, let's celebrate later when we have time, good luck." Gao Yang gritted his teeth and said softly, "I'm really sorry this time, I'll handle it as soon as possible, wait for me." He hung up the phone and sat quietly on the sofa for a while before starting the time-space shuttle to head to 1925.

  Inside the Nanjing Army Officer Academy, Zhang Xinghai and others returned to their dormitories after taking a bath to prepare for evening classes. Zhang Xinghai lived in room 201 of building 5, with Wang Dashan as his roommate. When he returned to the room, he saw Wang Dashan leaning on the desk writing something.

  "Big Mountain, writing a letter home?" Zhang Xinghai asked with a smile while putting away the washing utensils. "En, Brother Xinghai, I was thinking of asking if my second uncle has enlisted yet." Wang Dashan scratched his head lightly and said with a smile.

  "Your brother is a military dependent, as long as he's old enough and passes the physical exam, it's certain that he'll be enlisted. But you're already serving in the army, why do you want your brother to enlist too?" Zhang Xinghai asked with some curiosity while leaning against his bedding.

  Wang Dashan put down his pen and smiled, looking a bit embarrassed. "I have three younger brothers at home, but we only have over ten mu of land. My dad said the land is definitely not enough for us brothers to divide, so he said since the treatment in the army is good now, let my brothers all come and join the army to eat food. It just so happens that my second brother is old enough this year, and when my dad came back with a letter, he said Er Bao had already gone to sign up."

  Zhang Xinghai sat up straight on the military bed, laughing and said "Oh, I see. Actually, if you want me to say it, a situation like yours..." Zhang Xinghai's words were cut off by a sudden urgent bugle call from outside the window. The two people simultaneously froze, looked at each other, and then hastily got up and put on their military uniforms.

  This is an emergency assembly bugle! According to the regulations, you must put on your uniform quickly, pack your bags, and bring all items to the playground within 10 minutes. Those who fail to arrive on time will be considered a violation of military discipline!

  Other roommates in the dormitory were also quickly packing up their belongings, with the sound of "ding dong" constantly ringing out. As Zhang Xinghai quickly packed his things, a doubt arose in his heart: "What's going on?"

  Ten minutes later, all the students except those on duty arrived at the large playground in front of the teaching building. Colonel Brant stood solemnly with the instructors waiting in front of the teaching building. "1, 2, 3, 4......" The voices of each team's roll call and the urgent footsteps mixed together to create a chaotic atmosphere. At this time, the big iron gate of the college had been opened, and one after another Dodge trucks drove in and formed a long convoy, with dazzling lights illuminating the entire playground.

  Very soon, all the students had gathered. Zhang Xinghai, as the team leader, ran up and saluted loudly, reporting: "Report to the Education Director, a total of 1582 students in the first batch of the Army Officer Academy, with 1459 actually present, 116 on duty, and 7 absent due to illness, have gathered. Please instruct." Brant returned a military salute and said loudly, "Dismissed!"

  Buland took a few steps forward, looking at the thousands of students in front of him, took a deep breath and said loudly: "Just received orders, all cadets of the Army Officer Academy will immediately go to the Sixth Division as intern officers to prepare for battle! Now all cadets board the trucks according to the instructor's instructions, no noise is allowed!" The head of the Logistics Department of the Academy, who was standing behind Buland, was a biochemical warrior. After Buland finished speaking, he loudly translated it into Chinese.

  Over a thousand students had different expressions, some were surprised, some excited, and some worried, but no one made a sound. Brant nodded slightly, very satisfied with the education during this period of time. The instructors took out the name list and began to loudly call the roll, after everyone was present they got on the bus and left, the entire action was well-organized.

  Zhang Xinghai and 11 classmates got on a truck, which then started up and left the military academy. At this time it was not yet 8 o'clock in the evening, and many citizens of Nanjing were strolling about in the streets.

  Since the power plant started generating electricity, as Gao Yang adopted cost pricing for electricity charges, many small and large shops in Nanjing city and households have installed electric lights, and many street lamps have been built on the roads. Many citizens like to take a walk on the streets after dinner. At this time, seeing one truck after another loaded with fully armed soldiers heading out of the city, they all asked "What's going on?"

  On the vehicle Zhang Xinghai was in, a student named Zhang Zhonglin who sat opposite him asked, "Xinghai brother, just now the education officer said we're going to participate in the war, but who are we fighting against?" Zhang Xinghai smiled and didn't say anything, instead taking out a pack of cigarettes from his backpack and handing them out to his classmates. After lighting one with his Zippo, he smiled and said, "Since the education officer didn't say who we're fighting against, then we don't need to know. What's important is that we remember who our superiors tell us to fight, and we'll fight whoever they tell us to! Got it?"

  At the same time, in the large campus of the Army Aviation Brigade, all officers and soldiers were busy loading supplies onto various vehicles. Except for pilots preparing to fly to Changzhou Airfield tomorrow morning and airport security troops, other officers and soldiers will take trucks overnight to rush to Changzhou Airport.

  At this time, Gao Yang had already boarded the Hai Rong cruiser, and his command was also set up on the Hai Rong. After boarding the ship, the first thing Gao Yang saw was Captain Ou Yang's words "It's really small." Captain Ou Yang was taken aback for a moment before saying "The entire navy is deeply grateful to Commander Gao for purchasing ships for the navy!" He then led the sailors behind him in saluting Gao Yang.

  Gao Yang's plan to buy a ship from the UK had already spread throughout the navy. Gao Yang smiled slightly and said nothing, taking steps towards the rest cabin prepared for him by Ouyang Wei. After boarding the ship, the Yangtze River Fleet gathered at Nanjing Xiaguan Wharf set sail and left the port heading in the direction of Jiangyin.

  The next morning, Gao Yang got up and washed up after breakfast in the officer's cafeteria, then came to the bridge. Seeing Ou Yangjun, the captain of the ship, his first sentence was "Why didn't you blow the wake-up call?" Ou Yangjun replied, "In order not to affect your rest." Gao Yang stared at Ou Yangjun for a while before saying lightly, "Don't do this again in the future." "Yes," Ou Yangjun said with a salute.

  At this time, Wekes stepped forward a few steps and handed the documents in his hand to Gao Yang. "Commander, this is the battle plan." "Oh." Gao Yang took the document and flipped through it. As for these professional knowledge that he didn't quite understand, Gao Yang just roughly looked at it and then returned it to Wekes, saying "Just give me a brief overview."

  "Wei opened the file and said, 'The 19th Division is taking a defensive stance in northern Jiangsu, southern Anhui, and northern Zhejiang to resist possible attacks. One part of the Sixth Division is deployed along the north bank of the Yangtze River, while another part has advanced to the Yixing line as a flank cover. The main force is concentrated on the Jiangyin line, planning to break through the Zhejiang army's defense line within 12 hours with the cooperation of the navy and air force, and then attack along the Ningbo-Shanghai railway all the way to Shanghai. The key point of this operation lies in speed, our army should occupy Shanghai at the fastest speed. The staff department predicts that once we occupy Shanghai, the Zhejiang army will face collapse, and potential hostile forces with hostile intentions towards us will also be deterred by our strong strength, and dare not attack us."

  "Alright, let's do it then. When will we start attacking Jiangyin? The troops are all in position."

  "Weeks closed the file and said, "The 2nd and 3rd regiments of the 6th Division have entered their departure positions, with four other regiments in reserve. The rest are still on the way. The artillery units have completed their deployment and will start firing at 8:00 am to provide cover for 40 minutes before the infantry launches an attack. The air force reports that they have completed their aircraft redeployment, but all logistics vehicles are still on the road, and only a small number of hand grenade-type bombs are available at Changzhou Airport. As for the navy, let Colonel Ou Yang introduce it." He then stepped back to yield his position."

  "General Ou Yang took a step forward and said loudly, 'The naval fleet has completed its pre-war preparations. Each ship can launch an attack on the Zhejiang military line at any time!' General Gao Yang nodded slightly, stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment, and then said in a low voice, 'Tell the air force to drop all the bombs on the Zhejiang army's heads. Order the military police to speed up road clearing and let the air force's convoy pass through first! Also, send someone to investigate why there are no war reserves at Changzhou Airport!' General Gao Yang was very dissatisfied with the fact that Changzhou Airport only had a small number of hand-thrown bombs."

  After the installation of military factory equipment purchased from Germany was completed, Jinling Arsenal has been producing at full capacity. However, due to insufficient workforce, technology and raw materials, the output did not meet Gao Yang's expectations, and Gao Yang continued to purchase finished military products from Germany. Gao Yang remembered that he had issued a document stating that all field airports should be equipped with more than three sets of small bombs that can be mounted on the wings of Fokker aircraft.

  Gao Yang looked at Yang Dong standing in the corner and asked, "How's your side prepared?" Yang Dong stepped forward two steps, slightly bowed his head and replied, "Reporting to General, everything has been arranged. It will be carried out simultaneously when the troops launch the attack." Gao Yang nodded slightly.

  On the side, Ou Yang Wei suddenly spoke up and said, "Director, this morning Du Commander sent a telegram from Magic City saying that Lin Jian Zhang Commander of the Shanghai Fleet is willing to pledge allegiance to the Director." "Huh?" Gao Yang slightly surprised opened his mouth and said, "Isn't he negotiating with the British about buying warships? How did he get in touch with Lin Jian Zhang?"

  Ouyang Wei smiled slightly and said, "Commander, since the news of your plan to purchase large warships for the navy spread out, all those who are involved in the navy want to join you. This time it should be Commander Lin who took the initiative to find Commander Du to make this request. What do you think about this?"

  "You naval officers don't have any idea of secrecy at all! As soon as there's an idea, the whole world knows about it! If we go to war with another country in the future, won't they know our departure time and route before we even set sail? What are you people thinking!" Gao Yang was very angry, slapping his hand on the command platform several times. This group of naval officers has no concept of secrecy at all, what kind of military is this?

  Ouyang Xun was stunned, originally wanting to show off, but instead got scolded. With a stutter, he said "Th-th-this..." Fortunately, Wekes saved him from the situation "Commander, it's time for the attack."