Chapter 1323 A Great Wind Rises
Night market, Xishui Railway Freight Station
After nearly two years of continuous expansion and renovation, this former civilian freight hub has been forged into a pure steel behemoth serving the war effort.
It is now a vast military logistics fortress with the railway at its core. The station chief's rank has been repeatedly raised, and its military and political affiliation has been discussed many times. Finally, it was designated as a department-level unit.
The station's towering concrete walls and watchtowers completely isolated it from the outside wilderness, while its wide, straight internal roads were large enough to accommodate even the largest military equipment.
The core of the station area consists of more than 30 multi-functional heavy loading platforms extending along more than 30 railway tracks.
These platforms are not simple platforms, but composite structures that combine heavy-duty gantry cranes, hydraulic lifting platforms, lateral traction rails, and automated fixing devices.
Freight trains can drive directly under the platform, and heavy equipment such as tanks and artillery can be quickly and smoothly loaded directly into reinforced flatbed carriages or special transport vehicles via specially designed ramps or hoisting equipment.
Surrounding this massive loading core is an even more astonishing cluster of warehouses!
Nearly a hundred warehouses, semi-underground bunkers, and open storage yards of varying sizes are distributed radially along the perimeter of the station area, connected by a dense network of internal railway branches and paved roads.
Ever since Gu Chengyuan recently acquired some money, the reserves here have never fallen below 200,000 tons!
From artillery shells, missiles, and fuel to field rations, medical supplies, and engineering materials, a wide variety of combat materials constitute the powerful logistical heart supporting the strategic offensive of the Central Plains Theater.
At this moment, this heart is beating with unprecedented strength and frequency.
Over the past few days, following the issuance of orders from the theater command, the 4th, 5th, and 6th Group Armies, which had just completed reorganization and basic training, surged towards Xishui Station from Ye'an New Area like three converging steel torrents.
The area outside the station, along the main roads leading to the major entrances, presents a spectacular sight.
Apart from a few "supply arteries" that were strictly cordoned off and were reserved for logistics vehicles such as oil tankers, ammunition trucks, and refrigerated trucks, which were still crawling along with difficulty, all other roads were almost filled and frozen by an endless stream of military vehicles.
As far as the eye can see, there is only a cold steel jungle and mottled digital camouflage.
Rows of Type 99A main battle tanks stood like crouching steel behemoths, their thick armor reflecting a matte luster under the gloomy sky. Their 125mm smoothbore guns were either uniformly pointed to the sky or fixed according to their marching posture. The commanders and drivers sat in the open hatches, some checking equipment, others silently smoking, all with their eyes fixed on the direction of the station area.
The Type 04A infantry fighting vehicle is relatively small in size, but there are more of them. The infantrymen either stretch their hands and feet next to the vehicle, check their equipment, or lean against the vehicle to take a short rest. Their faces show a mixture of fatigue from marching and excitement for the unknown mission.
There are also countless Mengshi 3 assault vehicles, Lynx all-terrain vehicles, various types of command vehicles, communication vehicles, engineering repair vehicles, field kitchen vehicles...
They lined up in an endless queue on the wide road, arranged according to their unit, vehicle type, and mission order.
The deep idling sound of the diesel engine merged into a low hum that enveloped the earth, and the wisps of blue smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe mixed together, making the air feel heavy and scorching.
Mid- to low-ranking officers, armed with terminals or blueprints, weaved through the traffic, shouting out unit numbers to guide following vehicles to temporary parking spots or designated assembly areas.
Vehicles of the station's internal security forces flashed their warning lights and maintained order at key intersections to ensure that those precious "supply arteries" were not completely blocked.
To bring the equipment closer to the station, a huge gantry crane moves slowly above the track day and night, with steel cables hanging down to lift large pieces of equipment and steadily place them into open wagons or concave flatcars.
Ground staff wearing vests of different colors (red for loading and unloading, yellow for dispatching, and blue for technical inspection) were busy like worker ants, with commands, whistles, walkie-talkies and the roar of heavy machinery all mixed together.
The military trains, already loaded, sat quietly on the spare tracks, stretching as far as the eye could see.
Each train is like a steel centipede, consisting of a power locomotive, equipment flatcars, personnel cars, fuel/ammunition supply cars, maintenance and support cars, etc.
To avoid loading the wrong train into the wrong carriage, huge banners belonging to the army group are hung every one or two carriages of each train to distinguish them.
"6th Army, proceed to platforms 3 through 8! Hurry! You're in the first batch!"
"Heavy equipment from the 4th Army Group, proceed to platforms 11 through 18! Self-propelled artillery and long-range rocket artillery are given priority!"
"Rolled units and auxiliary units of the 5th Army, assemble and await orders at platform 21 on the west side! Do not block the road!"
The dispatch orders coming from the loudspeaker were clear and urgent.
In a relatively open assembly area, a group of major generals and senior officers were gathered around several command vehicles painted with the insignia of the 5th Army Group.
Surrounded in the middle was Lieutenant General Yang Ren, the army group commander!
The veteran's hair was gray, but his posture was as straight as a pine tree. The deep wrinkles on his face resembled trenches, but his eyes were still as sharp as an eagle's.
At that moment, he was wearing a military overcoat and listening to a report from his staff.
"Commander, the 51st Combined Arms Brigade (heavy) of our army group has basically completed loading and is expected to be able to form the first formation and depart in two hours."
"The 53rd Combined Arms Brigade (medium) and the 55th Combined Arms Brigade (light) are successively entering the station." The chief of staff spoke very quickly.
Upon hearing this, Yang Ren nodded, his gaze sweeping over the noisy yet orderly scene around him, before turning to the 99A main battle tanks that were being driven from the loading ramp onto the train flatbed, his expression complex.
He reached out, his somewhat rough fingers gently brushing against the cold armor of the Mengshi 3 armored command vehicle beside him, his tone filled with emotion.
"This era is so much better! This equipment is amazing!" He whispered to his deputy, a deputy commander who was also over fifty years old, "If we had this kind of thing before, the Americans wouldn't have dared to enter the Pacific!"
The deputy commander smiled, his wrinkles smoothing out: "Yes, Old Yang. I never thought I'd have such an opportunity after being reborn. I wish I could go back and visit again."
As the deputy commander finished speaking, everyone present, including Yang Ren, fell silent for a moment.
Cough cough--
Yang Ren coughed lightly, drawing everyone's attention to himself: "Let's not talk about the past. The most important thing is to do a good job in the present!"
"No one here knows about our past exploits, so no matter what, this time, we must fight a resounding victory!!"
"Don't let those younger colleagues in the war zone look down on us and think we're out of touch with the times!"
"Yes!!"
Yang Ren's words, full of encouragement, made the faces of the senior generals present turn serious, and the pressure instantly increased!
Those who stand here are all proud in the field of warfare, and they all have the right to be proud. If they are humiliated and their reputations are ruined in their later years, it would be worse than death for them!
While the 5th Group Army was conducting ideological mobilization for its leadership, not far away in the area belonging to the 4th Group Army, Commander Peng Yi was displaying a completely different style.
Wearing reading glasses, he was personally checking the loading schedule with the deputy stationmaster of the Xishui Railway Hub, occasionally pointing out areas of confusion and asking questions.
"The additional armor for the 04A cannot be installed simultaneously; we'll have to find it once we arrive at the destination?"
“Old sir, there are regulations on the weight capacity and size of this flatbed cart. It’s not safe to force it on…” Faced with this expert’s question, the deputy stationmaster, who was only in his early thirties, replied with a respectful expression.
"The rules are inflexible! Let's think of a way! Can we change the car model?!"
Upon hearing this, the deputy stationmaster adjusted his glasses and said with a wry smile:
"Old commander, I would like to change it for you, but this transportation plan was directly formulated by the Railway Command, and I really can't do anything about it."
"But rest assured, the plan is absolutely fair and just to all your army groups. If you don't believe me, I can take out the plan and let you see it for yourself!"
"Xiao Fu, hurry up and go to the security department to get our..." the deputy station chief said, turning to his secretary beside him.
"Wait, I was just asking casually, so let's forget about it!" Seeing the deputy station chief's expression, Peng Yi quickly stopped.
Just kidding. If someone actually read that, wouldn't it be like they're bullying the weak and making things difficult for their subordinates?
"Commander, everything is ready. The railway station headquarters has informed us that our first military train is ready to depart at any time."
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.
In the 6th Group Army area, Commander Han Feng stood alone beside a military train that was about to be assembled, silently gazing at the banner hanging on the train that read "6th Group Army Military Train".
Upon hearing the chief of staff's report, the tall Han Feng nodded slightly, without turning around, and said in a deep voice:
"Send a message to the forward command: the advance echelon of the 6th Group Army is ready to head north to Chongqing. Have them coordinate the subsequent Yangtze River shipping operations."
"Yes!"
...
Soon, as time passed, the huge signal lights on the station control tower changed colors.
Waaaaahh ...
A powerful, long whistle rang out!
A heavy shunting locomotive belonging to the Railway Command, painted with special camouflage, slowly drove in, belching thick smoke, and began to dock and couple with the first equipment train of the 6th Group Army.
boom!
The clanging sound of steel colliding was like the snapping of bones in a giant beast.
On the platform, beside the carriages, and in the assembly area, the officers and soldiers, regardless of which army group they belonged to, involuntarily stopped what they were doing and turned their eyes to the long steel train that was about to take off first.
A solemn atmosphere, a mixture of farewell, envy, and a sense of personal mission, quietly permeated the air.
Han Feng took one last look at his steel-willed team that was about to embark on a long journey, then turned and strode towards his command vehicle.
The wheels are about to turn, and the steel torrent is about to rush along the crisscrossing railway network toward their respective destined battlefields.
On the vast strategic chessboard, one heavy piece after another has already left the player's grasp.
The wind rises from the tip of a blade of grass, and the mountain rain has already filled the building.
...
