Chapter 109: Few people, more guns, come quickly (Second update, please collect)
The tricolor flag, the tricolor flag everywhere.
On the walls, windows, and on the top of the building, there are tricolor flags fluttering in the wind.
That's the flag of France.
France is liberated.
On Tuesday, August 15, Napoleon's birthday, the Allies launched Operation Dragoon and landed in southern France.
On the 23rd, although all 121 docks in Marseille were damaged by the German army, none of them could continue to be put into use; the blasting of explosives and thousands of mines turned every dock and warehouse into steel and concrete and ruins of cables. Eleven large ships, including transatlantic passenger ferries, were damaged to block the entrance to the harbor, and 257 cranes were thrown into the water.
However, the task force led by Li Yian still entered Marseille by boat. In order to avoid the mines, everyone could only take landing craft to land on a beach far away from the city, because there were only two landing craft and a team of more than 3,000 people. It took three days to get ashore.
After landing, they naturally contacted the Allied forces immediately. Although the task force had permission from the Allied Command, when they arrived on the battlefield, they found that things were not that simple. There were no troops fighting on the front line at all. In line with their wishes, they even felt that this was a waste of transportation capacity. Because of the destruction of the port, supply shortages gradually threatened the US Seventh Army, and thousands of tons of ammunition were loaded on top of other cargo in the ship's cargo hold.
In this case, naturally no one cooperated with them, and they were even worried that the task force would occupy their logistics supplies. But despite this, in just a few days, the task force still captured more than 300 cannons and tens of thousands of rifles from the German defense lines near the coast.
"They are all cannons over 100 millimeters! Some are French, some are Russian..."
Compared with the excitement of Zhao Xiyong and others, Li Yian didn't have much interest in these scraps of metal. Interested, after all, there are weapons everywhere from France to Germany. After entering Germany, they will find planes everywhere - because there is no fuel, nearly 10,000 German planes are hiding in the forest beside the airport runway, and the woods on the roadside .
Because there is no fuel, there are abandoned tanks everywhere on the roads and in the city. Not to mention other countries, France alone lost one or two hundred Panther tanks. There are even hundreds of submarines that are about to be completed or have been completed in the shipyard.
"General Zhao, you see what I said is right. I can tell you for sure that the further inland you go, the more weapons you will pick up. The few thousand of us are still too few. Ah!”
Li Yian’s words made Zhao Xiyong nod his head.
"What Chief Li said is true. Thousands of people seem to be a lot, but spreading them out is simply not enough. Moreover, the French are also picking up equipment, especially heavy equipment. The French have many acquaintances, and we are not familiar with the terrain. , there are still few people, so we will suffer a big loss..."
Having said this, Zhao Xiyong took the initiative to ask.
"Sir Li, if the country sends people again, are you willing to accept them?"
After saying that, he looked at Li Yian expectantly. Although he holds the rank of major general, that was in the past and now he is just a company employee. In fact, even if he holds the rank of major general, it is useless here in France. The Americans recognize it as a task force, and the special forces The captain of the detachment is the man in front of me.
Although the battlefield was full of guns and ammunition abandoned by the Germans, there were too few people to work at all. Therefore, he had the idea of inviting more people from the country to come, but this required Captain Li. agree.
With such a good thing, Li Yian immediately agreed without even thinking about it, saying,
"I am here to order troops from Han Xin, the more the merrier. I guess, well, with another 10,000 people, it should be about the same ”
“Not enough, not enough”
Zhao Xiyong shook his head repeatedly.
"Chief Li, France is so big. If we want to collect as many weapons as possible, the more people we have, the more people we have. We can't even search the defense line in this area. I think we have to do whatever we can. Twenty thousand, how about twenty thousand?”
Twenty thousand!
Li Yian was so shocked by the numbers given by Zhao Xiyong that he couldn't even speak out. After all, I am still too conservative!
It’s easy to make nonsense if you take a big step, but being conservative can lead to trouble!
Seeing that Li Yian did not speak, Zhao Xiyong only thought that he was calculating expenses, so he whispered.
"Mr. Li, isn't he worried that the United States will not be able to bear the expenses? Don't worry, Chief Li, although the country is more nervous, we can still raise enough salaries for 20,000 people..."
Before he could finish speaking, Li Yi'an waved his hand. , said.
“They are all employees of our company, how can we ask the country to provide money? Let’s keep that money to fight the Japanese.”
The seemingly generous Li Yian did not pay a cent at all. The money, the expense of the task force's search for supplies, was borne by the United States and was part of the Lend-Lease Act.
The reason why he didn't react for a while was entirely because of Zhao Xiyong's generosity... 20,000 people!
Good guy!
With a contingent of 20,000 people, North Borneo truly has its own army.
Even now, this force is still a castle in the air, but it does not prevent Li Yian from starting to make some plans for it.
First of all, this unit must have its own artillery, tank troops, and even its own air force.
Why!
Nothing else, because the task force is the basis for the future return of the North Borneo Company to Borneo.
Of course, the expenses for more than 25,000 people are definitely not small, but that is no problem. After all, the expenses are borne by the Americans. In fact, the expenses are not large, that is, one million US dollars a month. Just expenses.
"It seems that I have to keep some weapons for my own use."
"What?"
Zhao Xiyong couldn't help but be stunned and said in surprise.
"Aren't all our weapons supplied by Americans?"
Looking at the surrounding team members carrying M1 carbines, Zhao Xiyong's face was full of doubts. The task force is equipped with weapons based on logistics personnel, with only M1911 pistols and M1 carbines. As for heavy weapons, there are a small number of M1919 heavy machine guns, as well as some German-made MG34s and mortars.
If the country really sends 20,000 people to us now, then heavy equipment must be put on the agenda. Tanks, artillery and the like must be prepared.
"What the Americans provide are some light weapons. No matter how bold the people are and how productive the land is, if we have enough manpower, we can follow the Allies closely. They fight in front, and we pick up behind them. By then, we will definitely be able to collect more weapons. However, the Germans fight in a roundabout way. If we encounter the Germans, we will have the ability to fight back. Do you think safety comes first? "
“Chief Li’s opinion is that safety comes first. Only when we are safe can we send more weapons to the country!”
Zhao Xiyong quickly complimented. Then several other liaison officers were invited to discuss it, and they all agreed with the idea of sending more manpower. After all, there really aren’t too many weapons scattered all over the mountains and plains!
So soon, a telegram was sent to the country. The contents of the telegram seemed to be a lot, but in fact it was just one sentence - few people, many guns, come quickly!
(End of this chapter)