Sword: Heart of Iron

Chapter 83: Getting ready [Happy New Year to all readers! ]

1937 11 Month 1 Day.

A sharp whistle sounded, and the military train spewed out thick white smoke and slowly stopped on the platform.

After making sure that the surroundings were safe, Wang Feng strode out of the carriage.

Zhao Fangyuan followed closely behind: "Sir, I have contacted the city defense department and asked us to station in the Houtang Village area."

Wang Feng tilted his head: "Whose order?"

"Commander Yan? Or Fu Zuoyi?"

Zhao Fangyuan nodded: "It's Commander Fu."

Wang Feng breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, I made it in time.

Last night, General Yan convened a military meeting in Taiyuan.

Just two things.

First, he announced a major retreat from the Xinkou defense line and deployed the defenders on the Taiyuan line in an attempt to resist stubbornly.

The second was to determine the combat strategy for defending Taiyuan, appointing Wei Lihuang as the commander-in-chief of the Second War Zone and Fu Zuoyi as the garrison commander of Taiyuan.

At the same time, the Second War Zone Command was transferred to Jiaocheng.

Calculating the time, Yan Laoxi has probably already evacuated Taiyuan early.

The carriage door opened and the soldiers rushed onto the platform.

The captain of the guard company approached: "Sir, the weather is cold, put on a coat."

After receiving a large number of brand new military uniforms in Yangquan, the soldiers' uniforms were uniformly changed from the blue of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army to the khaki of the Central Army.

The generals' uniforms are dark green.

Wang Feng took the coat and took a close look at it.

Well, luckily it's dark green.
After putting on his coat, Wang Feng pointed ahead and said, "Let's go and arrange for the troops to go to the garrison first."

In Taiyuan City.

Wang Feng was sitting in a jeep, and looking around, he saw soldiers marching fast along the road.

City defense deployment orders were issued one after another. The troops that had just withdrawn from the front lines of Xinkou and Niangziguan had no time to rest and had to be immediately deployed to the next battle.

After repeated defeats, the army's morale was already low, and after continuous fighting, it was already exhausted.

There were no strategic locations to defend around Taiyuan. In Wang Feng's opinion, it would be extremely difficult to keep this most important city in Shanxi.

The Japanese army was less than 50 kilometers away from Taiyuan City. Most of the people in the city fled upon hearing the news. Those who chose to stay in the city also closed their doors and windows, like turtles retreating into their shells, and turned a deaf ear to what was happening outside.

The once bustling and prosperous streets were now deserted.

Feeling the shadow of war getting closer, Wang Feng couldn't help but sigh.

The war has come to this point, which is definitely a result that no one wants to see.

Even Yan Laoxi initially wanted to do his best to save Shanxi, otherwise he would not have personally planned the Battle of Datong.

It’s a pity that the Datong Battle, which was highly anticipated, ended before it even began.

The speed of the Japanese invasion was beyond everyone's imagination. Under such circumstances, Yan Laoxi began to waver in his heart and made some stupid moves.

One step wrong, step by step wrong.

In the end, it can only end up in a situation where it is difficult to reverse the situation.

The captain of the guard company was sitting in the co-pilot seat and turned his head: "Sir, the city defense headquarters is ahead, do you want to stop for a while?"

Wang Feng shook his head: "Drive forward, out of the city to Houtang Village."

The North China Battle Group was under the Fourteenth Army Group, and its immediate superior was Wei Lihuang. It would be sufficient to send someone to the city defense headquarters to report in. There was no need to go and see Fu Zuoyi in person.

At first, Wei Lihuang planned to incorporate the North China Battle Group into the city defense force, but because Chiang Kai-shek bypassed the Second War Zone, he directly issued an order to move to Changzhi.

But the arm was no match for the thigh, so in the end he could only give up.

Zhao Fangyuan reminded from the side: "Sir, what about Chu Yunfei?"

He still remembered the telegram requiring the 358th Regiment to return to Taiyuan to report on its work.

The battle group's departure time was only a few hours away from the 358th Regiment's planned return time, so they could almost overlap.

So far, Yan Laoxi has not found anything abnormal.

Wang Feng waved his hand, not caring at all: "Don't worry about it. With the official transfer order from the Nanjing government, there is nothing to worry about!"

Plans cannot keep up with changes. After the withdrawal of troops from Xinkou, Xiangyue Qingji's advancement speed was extremely fast. He would be able to reach Taiyuan City in three days at most. A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. Yan Laoxi had no time to settle accounts with Chu Yunfei and had already sneaked into the Luliang Mountain area.

The convoy moved on.

Houtang Village, northeastern suburb of Taiyuan.

The jeep stopped and Wang Feng quickly jumped out of the car. The soldiers had already built a temporary command post with tents.

He strode closer, followed by a group of officers.

Wang Feng sat on the chair and coughed lightly.

"To make a long story short, I have only one purpose for returning to Taiyuan this time."

"Move away the arsenal's equipment before the Japanese army attacks the city!"

The officers looked at each other, their eyes revealing joy.

Liu Zhijian, who was always taciturn, spoke first this time: "Sir, that's a good idea. We can't let the Japanese take advantage of the equipment in the city if we can't move it away!"

Kong Zhiyong nodded: "Yes, our equipment is used to produce weapons for the Japanese, and in the end it hurts our own people!"

"Since Commander Yan can't transport it, we'll do it for him!"

Wang Feng waved his hand to silence the crowd: "Now let's assign tasks."

"Sergei." Sergei stood up immediately: "Sir, please give the order!"

Wang Feng lowered his voice and said, "You arrange for a reconnaissance team to investigate the specific location of the Taiyuan City Arsenal. I will only give you one day. Please organize the information and send it to me at 12 o'clock tomorrow."

"Also, send a group of people to infiltrate the arsenal and look for some high-value targets. Mark them out in the submitted materials."

Sergei responded without hesitation: "Yes! I guarantee to complete the task!"

During the reorganization of Yangquan, a reconnaissance battalion was added under the battle group with a battalion-level organization.

Currently under the command of Sergei.

After the city defense headquarters was established, the entire city of Taiyuan went into martial law that day. It was estimated that the city would be completely sealed off in two days. Although the city could protect the civilians but not the troops, it was still a troublesome matter anyway.

The 'snatch' operation must begin as soon as possible.

After giving the order, he turned his gaze to Song Wenjie.

"Sir, what are your instructions?"

Wang Feng rolled up his sleeves and checked the time: "It is now 12:24 noon. I will give you eight hours. By 8 pm, no matter what means you use, collect 200 mules and horses from the nearby villages. Can you do it?"

Song Wenjie was in a dilemma: "200 horses. This..."

200 is not a small number. Pack animals like mules and horses are not as expensive as oxen.

But for ordinary people, not every family can afford it.

Even if we searched the entire suburbs of Taiyuan, we would be thankful if we could get half of it.

Wang Feng frowned, this request was indeed a bit high.

"First, collect mules and horses in the suburbs, and then go to the city to find camel gangs. Camels and cows are also fine."

"In that case, we need more than 200 animals. The more livestock the better!"

"And there are carts. We need to collect at least 100 of them!"

The Shanxi merchants' camel caravans appeared on a large scale in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, specializing in trade with Russia, exporting tea, silk and other items.

15 camels form a team, and 10 teams form a room.

Each room has as many as 150 camels, supplemented by cattle, horses and other livestock.

Back then, his parents were involved in the camel gang business and had accumulated a lot of connections.

Taiyuan is the largest city in Shanxi and the base of Shanxi merchants. There are many camel gangs in the city, so it is impossible for them to run away completely.

You don't need too many, two or three hundred will be enough.

Song Wenjie responded: "I will obey your orders!"

Wang Feng nodded with satisfaction. These livestock and carts were prepared to be used as means of transportation to carry the arsenal equipment.

Huang Shaohong showed him the transfer order from the Nanjing government, instructing him to move to southeastern Shanxi, rest the army with Changzhi as the center, and prepare to resist the enemy at Jinpu.

Wang Feng gladly accepted it.

Compared with other regions, Changzhi has greater room for development.

It is located at the junction of Shanxi, Hebei and Henan provinces, with Taihang Mountain in the east and Taiyue Mountain in the west. There are no large mines in the territory, but the resources are complete and suitable for the development of logistics industry.

It’s just that the distance is a bit far. Two days ago, Yangquan was officially lost and the Zhengtai Railway Line fell into the hands of the Japanese army.

It is already November and the Fen River has entered its dry season. The water level has dropped and heavy equipment cannot be transported.

In desperation, they could only choose land transportation with the smallest capacity.

Compared to the indignant crowd, Chu Yunfei was much calmer: "Sir, I have been to the Northwest Locomotive Factory. There are thousands of equipment in this factory alone. Even if we recruit more livestock, we can't move them all!"

Zhao Fangyuan also thought of this: "Sir, if we encounter Japanese planes again along the way..."

Wang Feng looked at the two of them and couldn't help but admire them, "Very thoughtful, not bad."

"As for the handling of equipment, I have already made up my mind that I will give priority to handling grinding, milling, boring, punching, turning, drilling and other machine tools, as well as various types of motors."

"The second is all kinds of raw materials. We will pack as much as we can!"

The arsenal has a huge amount of equipment. Even if each soldier has the physique of a Hulk, can carry a ton on their shoulders and lift a thousand pounds with their hands, they still cannot move all the equipment.

The hydraulic press and rolling mill weighed thousands of tons. Not to mention whether the carts could bear them, even if the mules and horses were tired to the point of foaming at the mouth, they would not be able to pull them at all.

But even though the super-heavy equipment cannot be pulled away, the drawings and technicians can be taken away!
With technology and talent, it is only a matter of time to resume production.

The types of machine tools mentioned above are the most important equipment.

They are the starting point of industry. The so-called industrial mother machines include these types of machine tools. They can directly process raw materials and are machines that can manufacture machines.

It is the solid foundation of a towering building.

Wang Feng continued: "As for the air raid, the Japanese bombers lack the ability to fight at night, so the transport troops can hide during the day and move out at night."

He calculated the time based on the current battle situation.

At present, the enemies in Niangzi Pass and Xinkou are rushing to Taiyuan with all their strength and have no intention of turning to southeastern Shanxi.

It would take at least a week for Taiyuan to fall.

There is sufficient time for transportation, and we would rather slow down the process by staying out during the day and working at night to ensure the safety of the equipment.

Chu Yunfei nodded.

The Taiyuan Arsenal is known as one of the three largest arsenals in China. After the fall of the Shenyang Arsenal, only the Hanyang Arsenal could be compared with it.

Decades of accumulation are like a huge mine that Yan Laoxi cannot dig out by himself.

Before the Battle of Datong, he had already started the migration, first to Fenglingdu, then to Shaanxi, and finally to Sichuan.

But after two months, only a very small portion of it had been transferred.

There are only a few days left
Since I can't take anything away anyway, I might as well go and help. It's better to let the things fall into our own hands than to let them fall into the hands of the Japanese for nothing.

(End of this chapter)