Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

There are only a few military attachés stationed in North Korea, and no matter how hard they try, there will be many omissions.

Mr. He put down his pipe and said, "Since fighting has broken out on the Korean Peninsula, we should send another team to investigate the situation there, either as an observation group or as a means of cooperation. Vice Premier Wei, what do you think?"

"I will report this to the President and the Prime Minister. If we want to send an observation group or any other delegation under a different name, we need the cooperation of the North Korean side."

It is not easy to explore the heart of the Korean Peninsula.

The cooperation of the North Korean government is needed.

Now that the Korean People's Army is unstoppable, it may not necessarily agree to such a request.

But regardless of whether they agree or not, they should still try. Wei Hongjun asked Deng Guodao, "Besides the government delegation, we will also use other means to obtain the intelligence we need. Besides these, each unit can conduct its own exploration, especially regarding river crossings. If the troops do decide to enter North Korea, should the border defense forces do so all at once, or in batches?"

"Of course it's better to enter the DPRK all at once."

Deng Guo said confidently, "If we enter North Korea in batches, once we alert the enemy, the troops that follow will be blocked by the US military. Furthermore, entering North Korea in batches is like adding fuel to the fire, which is completely useless. The best approach is to send all the troops into North Korea at once within a few days. Once we start, we should send hundreds of thousands of troops together to give the US military no chance to react."

"Hundreds of thousands of troops, so many artillery pieces, and a large amount of logistical supplies, if we want to enter North Korea within a few days, we can't just rely on the Sino-Korean Bridge. We must build floating bridges on the Yalu River, and not just one or two.

Therefore, the border defense forces must be fully aware of the Yalu River's conditions and identify suitable locations for building pontoon bridges. This includes the situation on the other side of the river in North Korea. We absolutely must not allow for overcrowding after hundreds of thousands of troops cross the river. The North China Border Defense Force will also send personnel to the Northeast Border Defense Force to gain a thorough understanding of the Yalu River. This is because it's unclear which troops will cross the river from which section.

"Yes."

Although he didn't get a better answer, Deng Guo nodded.

Deng Guo continued, "With so many troops entering North Korea, if a war breaks out, it will be against the US military. What about air defense? Currently, our Northeast Frontier Defense Army only has four anti-aircraft artillery regiments. How can we defend against US aircraft? The US military can mobilize hundreds of aircraft for a single bombing, which is far beyond the reach of the Japanese and Nationalist armies we have seen before.

When it comes to air defense issues, Wei Hongjun could only frown.

After all, the United States' powerful air superiority can only be matched by the Soviet Union.

Despite promising good things, the Soviet Union ultimately chose to backtrack at the last moment. It wasn't until the Volunteer Army's outstanding performance in the first battle that the Soviet Air Force decided to join the war. But the same cannot be said of Wei Hongjun.

So he said, "The Prime Minister is currently in Moscow negotiating with the Soviet Union. If our troops do enter North Korea, we will strive to get the Soviet Air Force to join the war. Even if the Soviet Air Force doesn't participate, our Air Force currently has over 1500 aircraft. In two or three months, we will have to fighter jets that can participate in the war. As we train, the number of aircraft we can participate in the war will increase."

"it is good."

Deng Guo raised all the difficulties of fighting abroad.

Of course there are still many difficulties.

However, some of the issues that were not suitable to be raised here were to be handled by the border guards themselves, some by the Northeast Military Region, and some were to be discussed privately with Wei Hongjun. So Deng Guo did not continue.

Zhao Lu then spoke up, "Vice Premier Wei, the military's logistics issues also need to be addressed. Many of these issues involve local departments. We need to coordinate how military logistics and local factories connect."

The military had numerous factories, but to meet its logistical needs, it also needed support from local factories. However, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the military, despite its immense power, became increasingly reluctant to interfere in local affairs. The Chairman even addressed the commanders and political commissars of the major military regions directly at a Military Commission meeting, stating, "You must abide by the rules and follow orders."

In fact, it was because the Chairman was worried that these military generals would interfere in local affairs, so he told them that the current military regions and the military regions during wartime were two different concepts.

Wei Hongjun nodded and said, "We will hold a joint meeting on this issue when the time comes."

To ensure military logistics, the Logistics Department alone is not enough. The State Council and local governments must cooperate with the Military Logistics Department. This is Wei Hongjun's task, and he needs to connect with the State Council and the Central Military Commission.

"Yes."

833 Logistics Meeting

After the border defense army meeting ended, Wei Hongjun quickly convened a joint logistics meeting.

There were military representatives, including Zhao Lu, the head of the Military Commission's Logistics Department, and officials from the State Council's Finance and Economics Committee. For example, Mao Zemin, the deputy director of the Finance and Economics Committee, who was in charge of China's finance and foreign trade, and Yang Lisan, the head of the Ministry of Light Industry, were all present.

"The military logistics department is currently placing a lot of orders for canned meat. However, these orders conflict with export orders and some domestic orders."

The purpose of the joint logistics meeting is to solve problems.

Soon Yang Lisan spoke.

Canned food was a crucial component of military rations. Back in the day, the Eighth Route Army and the People's Liberation Army couldn't afford canned meat, including luncheon meat, due to limited resources. For troops at the time, simply being able to eat enough was a blessing.

But it's different now.

It has been more than two years since the founding of New China.

The army's logistics capabilities have been greatly enhanced, and the army's food must be improved.

The military logistics department's preferred rations for the troops were canned goods. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the Chinese Civil War, capturing canned enemy meat was like celebrating Chinese New Year. After all, for the impoverished Eighth Route Army and the People's Liberation Army, being able to eat canned meat was truly a feast.

In addition, canned food is easy to carry and has a long shelf life, making it one of the most suitable military rations.

Therefore, the logistics departments of the Northeast and North China Military Regions placed orders with canneries to stockpile rations for their border defense forces. However, the canning industry in New China was only just beginning to develop, and many of these canneries were newly established, relying on loans and technology from the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries. Their primary focus was export, and they currently held numerous export orders.

If we accept orders from the military, it will conflict with export orders.

There are also some cities in China.

Although China is currently relatively poor, and therefore canned food orders are limited, some cities still have a large number of canned food orders. If a cannery accepts military orders, it will lose even export orders, let alone domestic orders.

Wei Hongjun thought about it.

He said, "All domestic canned goods orders that conflict with military orders must be canceled. At the same time, no domestic orders in this area will be accepted for a short period of time. The Ministry of Light Industry must personally address this. Whether it's the cannery or the units that placed the orders, we must personally explain the situation one by one and resolve this issue."

Everything is for the sake of war.

While the Korean War was a limited conflict, not a full-scale war, it nonetheless involved a million troops, and was a war against the United States. For China, this meant entering a state of war. At this point, the entire country's strategy shifted towards the Korean War, with every department and factory dedicated to it.

Military rations are the foundation of the army.

All departments that have orders at the cannery have to give up their orders.

"As for orders from the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries?"

Wei Hongjun thought for a moment and said, "I'll report this to the Premier. The Premier is going to the Soviet Union for negotiations. I'll see if we can discuss this issue directly with the Soviet government. After all, the Soviet Union can't remain immune to the Korean issue. We canceled some export orders because of the Korean issue. The Soviet side should make appropriate concessions and not pursue our contract issues. Comrade Mao Zemin, the Ministry of Foreign Trade should also actively communicate with the Soviet and Eastern European trade ministries. For some products where the military needs orders and export orders conflict, we can explain to them and cancel some orders. As long as the Soviet Union is willing to help mediate, the problem should not be too big. We can tell them that as long as the Korean Peninsula issue is resolved, we will resume export orders."

Although the Korean issue appears to be an issue of the unification of the Korean Peninsula, it is actually more of a contest in the Far East between the socialist camp led by the Soviet Union and the Western camp led by the United States.

Therefore, this is not just a problem for North Korea or China alone, but a problem for all socialist countries. As the big brother, the Soviet Union must act like a big brother and provide more assistance to China in this regard.

"it is good."

Mao Zemin knew that this task was important.

After all, last year's Harbin International Trade Fair secured numerous canned goods orders. Furthermore, these orders enabled us to secure substantial loans from the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries. This was a very positive development.

However, if the newly launched foreign trade is cancelled without a reason, it will directly affect the credibility of China's canned food industry and even the entire Chinese government. At that time, it will not only affect the canned food industry, but also other export industries, which will directly hit China's import and export trade.

Mao Zemin was in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Trade, but he wanted to use foreign trade to accumulate foreign exchange and strive to purchase more machinery and equipment for the country.

Therefore, Mao Zemin attached great importance to this batch of orders.

But with war imminent, insisting on export orders would affect supplies to the army. Now, hearing Wei Hongjun's words, Mao Zemin had no choice but to accept. Mao Zemin prepared to personally negotiate with the trade ministries of the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries to explain why some export orders were being canceled.

The most important thing is the attitude of the Soviet Union.

As long as the Soviet Union is willing to make concessions and support China for the sake of the overall situation, the problem should be solvable.

"Comrade Yang Lisan, is there any problem with the Ministry of Light Industry?"

"No problem. I'll coordinate with the cannery."

Currently, most canneries in China are either state-owned enterprises or public-private joint ventures with the government holding a majority of shares. Originally, when the People's Republic of China was first established, most canneries were privately owned.

However, the powerful canneries, some of which were backed by bureaucratic capital and some by foreign capital, were eventually confiscated by the government. Later, considering the issue of canned goods exports, the government invested a large sum of money in the expansion of the canneries, including loans from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. These loans were all government-issued and then used to finance the canneries.

As a result, the proportion of shares held by the original capital of those canneries is decreasing. After all, they were originally small canneries, and the expansion is now all government capital. Therefore, it is relatively easy for the Ministry of Light Industry to mobilize these canneries.

"Vice Premier Wei, there's another crucial aspect of logistics. We can't produce many of these, like medicines and medical equipment, so we need to purchase them. We might need to involve some private companies. Their access to these resources is no less than ours. If we want to meet the troops' needs, relying solely on our own channels probably won't be enough."

Zhao Lu spoke.

Wei Hongjun thought for a moment and said, "Should we also stockpile some medicines and medical equipment?"

"Yes. We have been importing some medicines since last year and have been stockpiling them, but the medicines we have have expiration dates."

The logistics department has already started preparing a batch of medicines.

But medicines all have expiration dates. Especially penicillin, the most important medicine currently, has an expiration date of only about two years, so it cannot be stored for a long time.

"Medications with limited shelf life will be exchanged for those with longer shelf life in other units. Comrade Yang Lisan needs your Ministry of Light Industry to intervene."

"it is good."

Wei Hongjun sighed inwardly.

There is still not enough time.

If we give it another year or two, there might be good news for the North China Pharmaceutical Factory. The North China Pharmaceutical Factory was built very quickly, but after all, it was still short of time and was not yet able to produce antibiotics.

But this thought only flashed through my mind.

He continued, "As for wanting to include some private companies in the procurement list, that's acceptable."

There's no way around it.

Many private pharmacies have been involved in the pharmaceutical trade for many years and have extensive connections both domestically and internationally. Many of these pharmacies have direct connections with European and American businesses. They have found ways to circumvent the blockade and purchase some medicines from abroad.

“But it has to be well regulated.”

In history, the capitalists in Shanghai harmed a large number of volunteer soldiers.

Expired medicines, unsterilized medical gauze, military uniforms made of black cotton, and rotten pork cans all caused the volunteer army to suffer unnecessary casualties. Therefore, Wei Hongjun emphasized: "Before purchasing items are transported to the front-line troops, the logistics department must conduct random inspections on these items. Only those that pass the inspection can be sent to the front-line troops. If anyone dares to tamper with this issue,

Wei Hongjun suddenly paused.

The War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea will soon begin, and that will be a state of war.

Under these circumstances, some crimes are different from those in peacetime. It seems I still need to talk to Marshal Nie and come up with some crimes from the wartime era. Only then can we justify and severely punish those unscrupulous businessmen.

Wei Hongjun paused for a moment before quickly saying, "Orders should be given to public enterprises as much as possible, with private enterprises serving only as a supplement. Regarding supervision, public and private enterprises should be treated equally. The Logistics Department must quickly organize a professional inspection team to conduct spot checks on supplies sent to the front lines."

There will be a lot of military orders in the future.

Winning military orders was a great opportunity for many factories, and Wei Hongjun certainly hoped to use this opportunity to strengthen state-owned enterprises.

"Yes."

Wei Hongjun patiently solved each problem one by one.

In fact, it is to coordinate the relationship between the military and local governments.

Many matters the Logistics Department couldn't directly intervene in, requiring local governments to intervene. The meeting lasted three days, addressing each issue one by one. After reviewing the meeting's content, Wei Hongjun prepared to recommend that the central government establish a logistics command center.

Let the Military Commission and the government send people to form a coordinating body.

Wei Hongjun was such a busy man, with so many things to deal with that he couldn't just do coordination every day. After the meeting, Mao Zemin didn't leave. He said to Wei Hongjun, "Old Wei, have you read the Central South Bureau's report?"

"What report?"

The Central South Bureau reports every day.