"Now the naval officers of the National Defense Force in the Naval Academy and Naval War College are doing very well. They are easy to learn and work hard, which our instructors admire very much. []"

In Marshall's reception room, the gunman smiled and listened to the soft words of the U.S. Chief of Staff. From the summer of 1924 to the late spring of 1927, Marshall served as the chief staff officer of the 15th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army in Tianjin. At that time, he studied

Chinese.

Therefore, he and Pao Ye were communicating in Chinese.

"I need to thank you for this." Gun Ye looked at Marshall and said solemnly: "Although our navy started not late, it does not know enough about the world's naval warfare forms. We lack systematic learning and training, and these are

You provided it to us.”

"We will never forget the help of our friends." Pao Ye smiled faintly and said to Marshall: "So we brought over the batch of design drawings and the investment plan."

What the coalition government brought was a set of drawings about the Tiger A tank. This is something the United States has always wanted since Eisenhower tested the combat effectiveness of the new tank on the battlefield.

The United States is more concerned about the Tiger Shark fighter jets currently equipped by the National Defense Forces Air Force. Unfortunately, although these fighter jets are rumored to be extremely powerful, the United States has no way to evaluate them.

First of all, except for the Soviet Union, the Wehrmacht did not sell tiger sharks to other countries. Secondly, although some tiger sharks were shot down in each battle, most of them fell within the Wehrmacht's own area.

Moreover, the Tiger Shark dispatches are always to cooperate with one's own operations or to fight on the sea. The number of dispatches is also limited, so that the Japanese army has not captured a Tiger Shark fighter jet.

However, Tu Menghu has no intention of handing over the tiger shark drawings to the Americans now, at least Tu Menghu does not plan to do so before Europe is reduced to rubble by the head of state.

"Members of Congress are very happy to see you and Vice Chairman Song coming. Mr. President is arranging Vice Chairman Song to speak in Congress. Please talk to Vice Chairman Song about this and make preparations."

Marshall smiled and said to Tu San. Although the two did not have much contact, Marshall had strengthened his understanding of Tu San through side effects during this period of time.

In Marshall's view, this tiger was also one of the key figures in China's war of resistance.

Therefore, in Marshall's view, communication between the two parties is essential. Especially in the current situation, the mustachioed head of state in Europe continues to gain advantages every day.

If this continues, even if the United States does not want to participate in the war, it will become impossible. As for China, Japan is now trapped in a large number of troops, but China has no way to hold back Japan's navy.

The Japanese navy is the biggest threat to the United States in the Pacific. This is also the reason why the United States is willing to help the former three northeastern provinces and the current coalition government train naval officers.

Newly promoted naval officers studied at the U.S. Naval Academy, and those who experienced the Battle of the Yellow Sea and were deemed outstanding by Shen Honglie were assigned to study at the U.S. Naval War College.

"Congress has preliminarily approved your arms purchase project. However, this matter cannot be carried out openly." Marshall suddenly changed the topic and said to the gunner.

"Saratoga, if nothing else happens, it will be the new battleship of the National Defense Forces Navy." Marshall smiled slightly and whispered to the gunner.

Hearing Marshall's words, Gun Ye still kept smiling. This result was something he had already learned before coming to the United States. Little Morgan, who had taken charge of the matter, immediately called the coalition government after settling the matter.

After receiving the news, Shen Honglie was naturally overjoyed and almost danced in public. But the price demanded by the United States was definitely not cheap. The Saratoga was the first aircraft carrier of the United States and could even be said to be an experimental one. aircraft carrier.

Although it has been transformed several times, its foundation is still a battleship. But the current situation is that such an aircraft carrier is already very good for the National Defense Forces.

"How much." Pao Ye was also very direct and said directly to Marshall. Marshall was surprised by Pao Ye's directness. He smiled and said: "Twenty-seven million. This is our bottom line. "

Marshall was not polite and said to Mr. Gun. The United States was determined to sell to the coalition government. In their view, this would at least allow Japan to have a clearer hand when trying to invade Southeast Asia.

Now it is obvious that Britain and France have too much to take care of themselves, and Japan is definitely eyeing the resources in Southeast Asia. Those lunatics may even consider attacking the United States.

This is unacceptable to Washington, so providing some arms to the coalition government has become a necessary choice for Washington. Originally, the navy had different voices on this matter.

This resulted in the fact that even if Congress passed it, the delivery of warships was obviously slowed down. It was not until Japan and Germany announced their alliance, and Germany was beating Europe like crazy in one go, that the Navy Department accelerated the process of this matter.

"Twenty-seven million is not expensive, but it's not cheap either." Mr. Pao laughed and said to Marshall, "You have to give us some other things, right?!"

"We have helped you train officers and sailors, and we have made the best match." Marshall shrugged and said to the gunner: "Not many foreigners can enter the U.S. Naval War College to study. We are equivalent to I gave you the warship and also trained the officers and sailors."

The gunner also shrugged and said to Marshall: "We paid you the training fee. We are not in arrears on this, right?! The Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and France have asked for this drawing of the Tiger tank several times. We are not willing to cooperate. Now that the drawings have been sent, you should also express your opinions, right?!"

"Okay, what do you want?!" Marshall smiled helplessly and said, "Remember not to go too far and stay within the scope of my authority."

Now the U.S. military, especially Army Aviation Major General Henry Arnold, is coveting the Tiger Shark fighter jets of the National Defense Forces. He has asked the War Department more than once to get the Tiger Shark. Unfortunately, every time the U.S. gives way to the coalition government The ambassador went to test the tone of the National Defense Forces, but all he got was perfunctory responses.

Colt and Morgan Jr. were dispatched, but the other party only expressed that they were waiting for a price. Hanging on this carrot, Marshall also wanted to build a good relationship with Gun Ye and test his tone.

While Gun Ye was bargaining with Marshall, the Fifth Division of the First Army and Second Army of the National Defense Force arrived at the deserted Damiao Town with a cart full of heads.

This place used to be very lively, but now it's dead silent.

The barren graves, wild dogs, crows and the blood-stained ruins seem to be silently telling what happened here. After the massacre by the Japanese army, no one dared to come here again.

Even villages more than ten miles away are moving away one after another. They say that they can often hear screams and crying coming from here. They say that the people who died unjustly here have never been at peace.

Shang Yingyan led people to the front, holding a box in his hand. In the box was the human head pickled with lime. Behind him, the soldiers of the Fifth Division looked solemn.

They pulled carts one after another, and the carts contained boxes of human heads. These were cut off by the Fifth Division from the battlefield. It was Shang Yingyan who insisted that they be sent to Damiao Town to deal with those who died in vain.

A memorial ceremony for the wronged souls.

The Taoist priests from Baiyunguan wore Taoist robes early and came to the mass graves outside Damiao Town, where more than a thousand men, women, and children who died under the butcher's knife of the Japanese army in Damiao Town were buried.

The Taoist priests recited scriptures that Shang Yingyan could not understand, and in front of each tomb was a huge cauldron made of cement. Inside the cauldron were huge sticks of incense.

Shang Yingyan solemnly walked to the steps in front of the tripod, opened his box, took out Ogao Guizang's head and placed it there. The soldiers of the Fifth Division behind him took boxes of heads and placed them there.

On top of this step.

Suddenly, the steps in front of the tombs were filled with human heads! The whole scene looked terrifying and strange. The faces of the Taoist priests who were chanting sutras couldn't help but shed cold sweat.

Who has experienced this scene?! That’s at least a thousand heads, right?! They just piled up into a hill, and that’s a lot of human life...

"Shang Yingyan, commander of the Fifth Division of the Second Army of the Chinese National Defense Force, once swore here that if he did not behead the murderer to pay tribute to my dead compatriots, he would not return to the temple for a day!"

"Fortunately, the officers and men of our fifth division fought bravely to kill the enemy without retreating! Twenty-four hundred and sixty-two warriors were sacrificed, 3,210 were slightly or seriously injured, and five thousand, three hundred and forty bandits were killed.

Three people! Take the head of the thief chief Wei Gaogui Zang!"

"Today, the officers and soldiers of our fifth division took the heads of the bandits to pay homage to our compatriots! I hope that the souls of our compatriots who died in vain can rest in peace! And the soldiers of our national defense force are willing to guard our land of China forever! The heroic spirits of our national defense forces who died in battle will protect our country.

Children!"

"The ceremony begins~~" the Taoist priest wiped the cold sweat on his forehead and shouted.

The entire fifth division's soldiers, including the new recruits, knelt three times and kowtowed nine times in front of the grave. After a round of salutes, the heads were picked up, sprinkled with gasoline, and burned.

After the memorial ceremony was held, there was a burial ceremony for the soldiers who died in the battle of the Fifth Division. This was a request made by Shang Yingyan to the headquarters. These civilians were not protected by the soldiers of the National Defense Force while they were alive.

Then after they died, at least the soldiers of the National Defense Force would be by their side to protect them. The 2,462 soldiers of the Fifth Division who died in the battle were slowly buried in solemnity.

Their names and birthplaces were engraved on the tombstones. Then these cemeteries where the soldiers of the Fifth Division were buried were built into a martyrs cemetery by the engineers.

The heads that were burned to ashes were buried under the stone bricks in front of the gate. Shang Yingyan told these engineering soldiers that since these bastards came to China, they should not expect to die in peace after committing murder and arson.

.

The construction work of the engineering troops gradually attracted surrounding villagers. Most of the burned houses in Damiao Town were demolished and re-planned and rebuilt.

The coalition government also sent its own officials here and set the administrative location in Damiao Town. Most of the retired personnel of the Fifth Division who were seriously injured and unable to continue fighting also settled their homes in Damiao Town.

As the number of visitors gradually increased, Damiao Town became lively again. And with the construction of the Martyrs Cemetery, there were more and more legends here.

Some people said that a child in the village was possessed by evil spirits. The family held the child in their arms and hurriedly looked for the magician. But when passing by the Martyrs Cemetery, the child suddenly felt better and told the adults that he saw his uncle in the uniform of the National Defense Force, touching his head and telling him to go home.

Some people say that a mother-in-law who returned to her family encountered a tiger near the Martyrs Cemetery, and she was frightened. But she vaguely heard a voice from the cemetery scolding the tiger, and then the tiger ran away into the mountains without hurting anyone.

Others said that a thief came from a nearby village and wanted to steal cattle, but was scolded by a man wearing a uniform of the National Defense Forces. The thief was scared away, and later he went to the cemetery and saw that it was a soldier buried here.

There are many legends, and the people of Damiao Town believe that these are the heroic spirits of the soldiers of the National Defense Force protecting them. They never leave.
Chapter completed!