Traveling through 1937, starting from the Battle of Songhu

Chapter 186 Ship Arrangement, Battle Preparation

Half an hour later, Zhao Chong received the news and personally brought a group of people to where Gu Changfeng was.

"Commander Gu, the first batch of 70 ships has arrived. What should we do now?"

Gu Changfeng looked at Zhao Chong and said, "Send someone over to carry the ammunition. We'll talk about it after we get on board."

Zhao Chong nodded and waved his hand, and the soldiers and civilians behind him ran towards them.

The soldiers didn't react, but the people widened their eyes. A leading citizen asked nervously.

"Sir, you are all from the army fighting against the Japanese, right?"

The fighting in Nanjing was fierce at the time, and the people of Chuzhou were close by, so they naturally knew about it.

Previously, Zhao Chong asked them to help transport ships, and the reason he told them was to support the front line.

Seeing such a large amount of ammunition, the people were naturally a little worried.

If they mistakenly target the wrong person and become accomplices of the Japanese, they will become criminals.

Gu Changfeng smiled, looked at the people and said kindly:

"My fellow countryman, we are indeed a team fighting against the Japanese invaders, don't worry."

The leading civilian looked at Gu Changfeng seriously for a moment, nodded, and said, "You don't look like devils. I hope we didn't help the wrong people."

He looked at the people behind him and shouted, "Fellow villagers, get started and help the commander get the things onto the boat."

Zhao Chong had good organizational skills, and he was able to gather more than 200 farmers, especially during this war period.

Ten minutes later, Gu Changfeng boarded the boat, thought for a moment, and then pulled the leading citizen over and asked, "Fellow villager, what's your name?"

"Liu Dahan lives in Xiaohegou. These people are from our village and neighboring villages. They are all farmers."

Liu Dahan answered honestly.

Gu Changfeng smiled and said, "Brother Liu, are there any villagers nearby who are free?"

"I still have a lot of ships that need to be transported. Could you please help me?"

Now he didn't know when the retreat order would be issued. In order to prepare for a rainy day, he must get the ships here first!

After all, there were hundreds of thousands of civilians to evacuate, and he only had more than 500 ships. Even if he worked day and night, there was only so much he could do.

We also have to guard against Japanese air raids, which increases the difficulty a lot.

"Sir, I'm willing to help, but I don't know how many people are willing to come." Liu Dahan replied.

"The wages are easy to negotiate. Just help get the boat here as soon as possible."

Gu Changfeng was very confident after the last time he robbed someone's house.

Liu Dahan hesitated and said, "I'll try to ask."

He couldn't make any promises during the war. If something went wrong and he was blamed, he really wouldn't be able to resist.

"Brother Liu, our commander said that we'll have to trouble you when the time comes. Don't be afraid to call more people."

"If you're really worried, we can give you the money first."

Zhao Chong interjected.

After Zhou Qianli led the team into Jinling, the affairs of the ship were almost entirely handed over to him and Wan Chenghai.

This mission was urgent, so he spent a lot of effort to invite more than 200 people out.

Liu Dahan thought for a moment and said, "Commander Zhao, that's not necessary. I trust you. Forget about the money. Just carry on as usual."

"Our boss is a wealthy man, so don't save money for him. We just need people now, the more the better."

Zhao Chong said jokingly.

Liu Dahan pulled the corner of his mouth, forced a smile, and stopped talking.

Gu Changfeng shook his head, pulled Zhao Chong to the stern and said:

"Try to get all the ships here as quickly as possible. The Battle of Nanjing is probably not far off, so you have a heavy task ahead of you."

"Commander Gu, I don't quite understand. Will the Japanese really attack the hundreds of thousands of civilians in Nanjing?"

Although everyone was following Gu Changfeng's orders, Zhao Chong was not the only one who had doubts about them.

There were also many people including Zhou Qianli, and even Zhao Ziqing had some opinions.

"Have few people suffered in the villages around Jinling during this period?" Gu Changfeng asked in return.

Recently, the Japanese army suffered setbacks in their attacks, and many villagers were killed. Those who remained were used as labor by the Japanese army.

They were even sent to the front line to serve as cannon fodder, making the defenders hesitant to act rashly.

It can be said that the brutality of the Japanese devils once again refreshed the cognition of many Nanjing defenders and many civilians.

Zhao Chong was speechless for a moment after hearing this. After a while, he asked, "Commander Gu, how long can we hold on to Jinling?"

"I don't know, maybe three to five days, maybe seven to eight days."

After all of Gu Changfeng's troubles, he really doesn't know the future situation. The only answer is that Jinling cannot be defended.

Zhao Chong gritted his teeth and said, "In three days, I will transport the boat to Pukou."

Gu Changfeng said: "Don't transport it directly to Pukou, hide first and wait for orders."

Tang Shengzhi has not yet ordered a retreat, so it is certainly impossible for him to organize the evacuation of the people at this time.

There has been no movement from Liao Lei yet. Even if he wants to organize something, he can't. He doesn't have the power to do so.

"Okay, Commander Gu, just give the order when the time comes."

Zhao Chong agreed and went to the bow to discuss with Liu Dahan.

It would be quite difficult to transport so many large and small ships without the help of a large number of people.

At 10 o'clock, Gu Changfeng and his party arrived in Pukou in a mighty manner.

Seeing a large number of ships approaching the shore, Liao Lei was a little confused and asked doubtfully: "Changfeng, where did you get so many ships?"

You know, Tang Shengzhi had ordered the destruction of ships before, and now, except for steamships, these wooden boats are almost nowhere to be seen on the river.

"Let's move the ammunition first, they still have to go back." Gu Changfeng waved his hand and said.

He hadn't told Liao Lei about the ship yet. He planned to discuss it after receiving the order to retreat.

Liao Lei's men quickly took over boxes of bullets from the people, and soon they set out on their return journey.

Gu Changfeng had already explained everything he needed to, and waved goodbye to Zhao Chong.

"Kid, where do you get so many boats?" Liao Lei looked at Gu Changfeng with a serious expression.

"I have many more boats." Gu Changfeng gave an ambiguous answer.

He didn't plan to say it. Anyway, it would be useless to say more now and it would just be a waste of breath.

Liao Lei looked at Gu Changfeng helplessly, then changed the subject and asked, "Are you planning to attack the Yuhuatai devils again this time?"

He had no objection to Yuhuatai, after all, the two sides were close.

Gu Changfeng said directly: "We saved the battalion that stayed behind at the Sihang Warehouse before. If there is a chance, we can help them again. We are fighting the Japanese anyway."

He then became a little confused and asked Liao Lei, "Commander, it stands to reason that if the Japanese attacked Yuhuatai, they wouldn't let Zhonghuamen go."

"Why did they only attack Yuhuatai this time, but spared Zhonghuamen?"

"How the hell should I know? Wouldn't it be better if the Japs didn't attack?" Liao Lei said unhappily.

After saying that, he stared at Gu Changfeng again and asked tentatively, "Could it be that the Japanese know that you are in Zhonghua Gate and are afraid?"

Gu Changfeng sneered, "Commander, do you think I'm a god? If the devils are afraid of me, they should get out of China!"

He believed that there were problems within the Japanese army, but it was impossible that the Japanese were afraid of him. No one would believe what he said!

Liao Lei just said it casually, he didn't even believe it himself!

"Forget it, I won't guess anymore. The Japs will attack tomorrow anyway."

"Since you have prepared so many shells, come with my men!"

Gu Changfeng said indifferently: "Commander, please make the arrangements. I will attack wherever you say."

Liao Lei glanced at Gu Changfeng and said lightly.

"In the afternoon's battle, an entire regiment of Japanese soldiers was completely wiped out, and only a few escaped."

"Commander Tang is very happy. The commendation has been issued. You are now on Commander Tang's good side."

"Just take the reward. If you have any bullets or anything, just give them to me." Gu Changfeng said with a smile.

He knew that this time his move would not be the same as before, so he didn't care about being exposed.

At this point in time, it doesn’t matter if the Japanese or the higher-ups know about it.

"You wish. Jinling is short of supplies right now. We don't even have bullets."

Liao Lei himself is very poor, so even if he had money, he would not give it to Gu Changfeng.

After bearing so much pressure, what's wrong with getting some benefits?

Gu Changfeng's subordinates are richer than anyone else, and he hasn't robbed anyone yet...