kingnovel Chapter 1217 Order
Chapter 1217 Order
This time, the Nationalist government's Air Force Operations Department reacted very quickly. After Liu Xiaoshan's message was delivered, the other side immediately signed their agreement. However, due to a lack of demolition personnel and bombs, the task was entrusted to the 72nd Army's airfield garrison regiment.
Two days later, the civilian personnel of the 72nd Group Army's Hankou office began to withdraw. Liu Xiaoshan also left, leading his men to the airport. There was another army garrison regiment at the airport; they would withdraw with them and supervise the planting of bombs throughout the airport.
"Reporting, sir. This is Liu Xiaowu, the leader of the demolition team coming from the rear."
Liu Xiaoshan had just gotten out of the car when he saw a man named Liu Xiaowu. If you didn't know him well, you'd think he was one of his brothers. However, this guy looked like a bear; he didn't look like a technical officer at all. But the people back at the rear said that such a large-scale demolition couldn't be done without him.
"When I asked the rear for personnel, more than a dozen operations staff officers recommended you at the same time. Hurry up and finish planting the bombs. You don't have much time left. The Japanese are likely to occupy this place soon, and we may be bombed by the Japanese during the day. You must complete the mission in such a difficult environment."
Liu Xiaoshan remembered Li Shaoyi's instructions. Li Shaoyi had told him before that if Hankou fell, the Hankou Airport must be completely destroyed. Li Shaoyi had seen a scene in a TV series where, after the Japanese occupied Hankou, they would carry out large-scale repairs on Hankou W Airport. It was also a major base for air raids on the western region. At that time, the Japanese stationed nearly 500 various combat aircraft there, constantly launching air raids on my country's rear.
Li Shaoyi is now planning to blow up the entire airport, to the point of being irreparable. If you want to use this place as a base, you'll have to pay a much higher price than building a new airport. If that happens, the Japanese will probably give up on this place altogether.
Whether the Japanese need to repair the airport or rebuild it, it will take a considerable amount of time. At that point, no matter what they do, we'll have some breathing room. Of course, all of this depends on destroying the airport.
Therefore, Liu Xiaoshan specially summoned a demolition team from headquarters. After receiving Liu Xiaoshan's orders, dozens of people quickly began working throughout the airport. The first thing to do was to check several key points of the airport, because only by planting bombs at these key points could the airport be destroyed.
"Please rest assured, Commander Liu, my men are the most skilled in demolition among the 72nd Group Army. We will stay until the last moment to retreat."
The demolition team members are probably the most dangerous in the entire army; they are all meant to stay and retreat at the last moment. Liu Xiaoshan nodded in agreement. No one else could take their place in this situation. Only they knew where the bombs were and how to detonate them.
"Take care of yourself!"
Liu Xiaoshan took off his gloves and saluted Liu Xiaowu. The demolition team members returned the salute and quickly got to work in various locations. They had done similar things many times before. Back when we retreated from North China, these men had destroyed countless bridges and other infrastructure, causing the Japanese a great deal of trouble.
Their work is very important to us, but it's very oppressive for them. After all, it's our property that's being destroyed every time. In a country like this, having such property is extremely rare, yet our job is to be ordered to destroy it. How can they feel good about that?
Just as things were being arranged here, a large number of cars drove in at the airport entrance. These were all vehicles from various departments in Hankou preparing to evacuate. When Liu Xiaoshan submitted a report in advance that he was coming to the airport, the Ministry of Military Affairs assigned him another task: to be the chief coordinator of the airport, ensuring that these people were safely and orderly transported to the planes, and absolutely preventing any chaos from occurring at the airport.
"Assemble the guards and have them line up in an orderly fashion. Anyone who tries to ram through is to be beaten!"
Looking at these people, Liu Xiaoshan was furious. After getting out of the car, they didn't use the proper channels at all; seeing a transport plane in the distance, they were about to wave their suitcases over. How could Liu Xiaoshan allow them to get close to the plane? If there were Japanese spies among them, the entire airport would be in chaos.
More than 200 soldiers immediately rushed over, armed themselves, and even pulled out their identification to tell the ordinary soldiers their ranks. However, some people quickly stopped because they realized these men were wearing uniforms from the 72nd Group Army. Reasoning with these men was useless; you had to follow their logic, or else you'd get a good thrashing with your rifle butt.
Sure enough, those who were familiar with the situation benefited, while those who weren't familiar with the situation tried to climb the ranks. But the brothers didn't have time to indulge you. If you didn't follow our orders, we'd slap you first. If you were obedient, the slap would be enough to calm you down, but if you were disobedient, we'd smash you down with the butt of our rifles.
This group consisted of over 200 people, more than 80 of whom were not qualified to board the plane but were trying to sneak on during the chaos. Liu Xiaoshan kicked them all out. Submachine gun bullets flew right in front of them, serving as a warning: either get out of the airport immediately, or this place will be your graveyard in the next minute.
Even those allowed on the plane must have their luggage thoroughly checked. Who knows what's in your luggage? If there are flammable or explosive materials, you shouldn't even be on the plane. What if you're a Japanese spy? There are just too many people being bribed by the Japanese these days.
Although Liu Xiaoshan's railway policy aroused dissatisfaction among many people, there was no other way to reach the rear except for these dozen or so transport planes. The only other option was to travel by car, but that would be a bumpy journey of over 20 days, and the route would be subject to Japanese bombing raids. Could you endure that?
The convoy from the Ministry of Military Affairs also arrived…