George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 337

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A report came in from the prisoner camp. The prisoner camp was a simple enclosure: a circular barbed wire fence surrounding a collection of leaky tents that served as a makeshift guardhouse, crammed with dozens of people.

“You’re saying you encountered them by chance during your advance?”

The battalion commander received the news from the platoon leader, his immediate reaction one of disbelief. “What kind of bullshit is this?”

“As you know, the lowlands are flooded. They claim they were moving their base to higher ground when they engaged in an accidental skirmish. That’s why they seem so flustered. The prisoners are requesting permission to recover the bodies of their comrades swept away by the landslide, but I suspect it’s a trick to escape.”

“Maybe not. After seeing that landslide, escape would be impossible anyway. But the fact remains, we can’t allow it. Neither we nor those Chinese bastards can go down there; it’s a death sentence. Damn, now that I think about it, was this intentional?”

The landslide, triggered by the barrage of dozens of mortar rounds, had completely obliterated the road, effectively stranding both the expeditionary force and the rebels.

The only difference was that the former couldn’t go because the road was gone, while the latter couldn’t come down because they were likely dead.

And if the rain didn’t stop, the Korean army would meet a similar fate. Food supplies were dwindling, while the number of mouths to feed had increased. They couldn’t airlift supplies, making the situation truly maddening.

However, they couldn’t just starve the prisoners to death in an army that was supposedly ‘advanced’ or ‘moderately developed,’ nor could they quietly dispose of them. After much deliberation, they decided to postpone the matter. They had too many pressing issues to deal with to be stuck on a problem with no easy solution.

“Bad news, sir. We’re out of cigarettes.”

“The morale of the troops is going to plummet. But it’s just a luxury item. Many soldiers don’t even smoke. What about other supplies?”

“We used up all the grenades a while ago, and we have exactly 50 ammunition boxes left, which is 42,000 rounds. We only have enough combat rations for two days. If we have to feed those Chinese bastards, it’s only enough for one day. Thankfully, we have an unlimited supply of water from the sky.”

“Does that include the ammunition supplied to the troops?”

“I excluded the ones for the guards and the temporary guardhouse. Originally, it was based on the 5-minute ready team standard [quick reaction force], but due to the shortage of supplies, they were given 75 rounds of rifle ammunition and 2 grenades each, excluding the grenades already used.”

It wasn’t explicitly mentioned, but those grenades were also running out.

“What about the others?”

“We haven’t been able to resupply yet. I think most of them have used up their ammunition.”

“Then do it now. This is a big problem. If we engage in combat even once more, we’ll run out of ammunition and be captured.”

Fortunately or unfortunately, the reconnaissance battalion was organized with about 300 men, but in the meantime, 44 were in the field hospital due to combat, and 29 were in makeshift body bags or graves.

Of the 44, 19 were seriously injured by mortar fragments and gunshot wounds. 24 were suffering from hypothermia due to the continuous heavy rain, and the remaining 1 was suffering from a strange disease. That one was isolated in a military ambulance that had barely made it up with the communication vehicle.

“We have a problem.”

“What is it now?”

“The K3 [Korean light machine gun] is acting up again. It’s useless in this kind of weather.”

Due to the heavy rain, forced water cooling was occurring instead of air cooling, so the cook-off phenomenon, which was the biggest problem with the K3, didn’t occur. However, the K3 turned into a heavy rifle that needed to be reloaded after firing 3 rounds.

They were doing everything they could to prevent water from entering, such as putting up tents at each outpost and placing ponchos over the guns, but there was really no way to deal with the constantly changing rain and wind that came from all directions.

The K2 [Korean assault rifle] was also experiencing a similar phenomenon. However, in the case of the K2, it was only a temporary problem, and with timely gun maintenance or simple measures such as replacing parts that could be done in the field, it could be fixed. But not the K3.

The K3 had inherent design flaws from the start, and those flaws were fatal in the climate of northern China.

“We can’t just pick up Chinese weapons and use them. Tell them to fix it and use it! Good thing! Tell the supply officer to only distribute 300 rounds for the K3! The battle will be over before they even use up all 300 rounds anyway.”

“But, Battalion Commander…!”

“Hey! Headquarters Company Commander! Listen carefully from now on! We should use the captured weapons when we retreat. If we use them now, we’ll really run out of bullets and die! Do you understand? Do as I say if you don’t want our men to die!”

***

It was also raining in Beijing. However, unlike the torrential rain that the reconnaissance battalion was fighting against, it was only a drizzle that could barely wet your coat after being exposed to it for a while.

“Therefore, the Korean army is completely tied down by the rain. The 80th Motorized Infantry Brigade (第80摩步旅) has been deployed to cut off the rebels’ waist and isolate them, but proper operations are impossible due to the heavy rain.”

“Try to figure out how to supply them. We need to draw in as many Korean troops as possible right now, and it wouldn’t be good if the reconnaissance battalion was wiped out because of this. The Lanzhou front should be handled by Koreans. We will gradually return the 27th Group Army to the Jinan front.”

“Understood. I will contact the dispatched headquarters to agree on receiving supplies.”

After sending all the officials and generals out, Li Keqiang leaned back in his chair. The price, which was comparable to a small house, was not an exaggeration, as it provided truly comfortable and plush support. However, to Li Keqiang, this chair felt as uncomfortable as a throne made of corpses and skulls.

It was because a considerable amount of blood had been shed by Li Keqiang’s orders. Of course, not many people were actually executed; most were either demoted or sent to the front lines, but dead was dead. Besides, sending them to the front lines was practically like killing them with a borrowed knife.

‘But I’ve completed the foundation. A foundation as solid as a mountain that will never be shaken, no matter what happens in the future.’

He would do anything for China. It wasn’t like the self-justification that executioners make after carrying out a small massacre. It was actually true. If the current regime were to change, it would mean the destruction of the Communist Party and the existing China.

They would lose control of Korea, which they had gained by selling land, and the influence over the United States, which was subtly playing the role of guardian of balance in Qingdao.

The military would also not fully follow the next regime, so it would naturally become another civil war, and they would have to return to ‘those days’ of abandoning all foundations and fleeing.

And there would be no other opportunity like those days. Unlike before, there is a great power intervening in China this time. They may not be able to completely control China, but they can certainly pretend to.

The United States and India, and the bordering countries that are always eyeing China’s territory and wealth, are now silent because China is still strong.

The reason why those bordering countries are quiet is because the Communist Party is still relatively intact and the rebel warlords are strong, but it is also thanks to the United States, which is trying to prevent a larger war. Otherwise, India would not have been satisfied with just liberating Tibet and Uyghur and putting them under its sphere of influence.

India is originally one of the opponents that is difficult to determine superiority even when fighting a healthy China. But they don’t invade in this perfect situation? It’s really absurd.

The same goes for Taiwan. If the US military had not been stationed there, large and small disputes would have started after the engagement in the Taiwan Strait, whether they liked it or not.

Therefore, the moment this deterrent force of the United States disappears, China will truly turn into a living hell. Of course, the United States would desperately try not to let go of China, but how could that be done at will?

“It’s terribly awful.”

Li Keqiang muttered to himself without realizing it. The era was no longer one that could be controlled solely by China’s power. If his predecessors had quietly and silently built up their strength and lived as hidden dragons for another 50 years, they might have been able to face the United States.

But that had turned into a mere midsummer night’s dream. Unless other countries willingly decline, China will never be recognized as a great power in the international community again.

Perhaps India would soon take China’s place, and even if they won this war, they would have to face India’s influence for the time being.

Didn’t someone say that the future is always bleak? China’s future was truly so.

‘Only I can do it. This is not self-praise. The situation that has come is like that. Even if I quietly step down at this stage, the civil war cannot be avoided.’

So isn’t it a good thing? He prevented the civil war. He purged the opposition. He avoided more bloodshed. He sacrificed the small to protect the large.

‘It’s troublesome that they’re picking at me from all over the place about that purge, but it’s going quite smoothly.’

Everything was going smoothly. He had also seized the absolute power he had aimed for since taking office as chairman, and he was also winning the war. If things got really bad, he could just destroy the Three Gorges Dam.

If he did that, Guangzhou-Nanjing would surrender in a day at the shortest, or a month at the longest, and the Lanzhou-Chengdu rebels, who had already been beaten by India and weakened, were no match for the Communist Party.

However, the reason why he doesn’t do that is because of the post-war processing. There was the trivial matter of the regime he had created being flawed by the label of massacre, but more than anything, one-tenth of China’s entire population would die or be injured. The fact that one-tenth of the population is concentrated means that the area affected by the flood is an area where infrastructure is densely packed, which means that the economy will collapse.

If the economy collapses, it has to be restored, but the Communist Party has nothing. Even if they try to rely on foreign countries, there is no sugar daddy in the world who gives everything away without any conditions.

Therefore, they would eventually have to sell their country’s future and sell their interests to somehow make up for it, and the aftermath would be obvious. China can never become great again unless it dies and is reborn. It was a hundred years in the past, but this time they would have to wait ten thousand years.

‘The problem is not us, but them blowing it up.’

Even now, they were establishing a plan to somehow recapture the Three Gorges Dam. However, the Guangzhou rebels also knew that this was the biggest weakness, so they had built a strict defense system.

In fact, most of the troops that were not deployed to the Jinan front were protecting the Three Gorges Dam.

“We have to do something.”

Yes. We have to do something.

Because China must be completely unified.