In mid-August, under the scorching North American sun, the sound of trumpets, loud singing, and the roar of pouring rocks and sand, the Norfolk Pier was in full swing. Machines, people, livestock, all kinds of sounds weave together a majestic symphony over the Hampton Anchorage. Standing on the lighthouse, you can see the crowds surging below, and the entire Hampton Anchorage has been transformed into a large construction site in full swing. More than 50,000 coolies on the construction site, plus nearly 10,000 soldiers of the expeditionary force, are working hard to build an impregnable coastal defense fortress.

-- The expansion and repair of the damaged Norfolk Pier is just part of it!

"Report! Commander-in-Chief Wu, Deputy Commander He and Minister Zhu of the Logistics Department are here! ”

Wu Dekai is walking around the construction site with the guards to supervise, he doesn't understand too professional knowledge, but he can check the quality of concrete and supervise the work efficiency. The battalion commander, who was on guard outside, hurriedly ran over.

Wu Dekai, whose skin was completely bronzed, took off the towel from his neck and wiped his sweat vigorously. "Oh? What are they doing here? Let's go, show me! As he spoke, he followed the battalion commander and walked out quickly.

"Haha, Commander-in-Chief Wu, did you go out in person? That's good, that's good! Have a lot of energy! He Qing and Zhu Guozhen were very satisfied with Wu Dekai's attitude.

Wu Dekai saw He Qing and Zhu Guozhen, the two Mesozoic pillars in the army, coming over accompanied by a group of guards, and greeted him loudly: "Deputy Commander, Minister Zhu." What gust of wind is blowing you? On this hot day, why don't you come to my ghost place if you don't enjoy happiness in a cool place? ”

Wu Dekai is an old man in the National Defense Army, and he is not young. Before he was transferred from the army to the commander of port and coastal defense, when Huo Guangcheng served as the commander of the garrison in Shanghai, he served as the commander of the coastal defense in Wusongkou. Now he has come to Norfolk Dock to supervise the repair site, and if nothing else, he will be the future commander of the Norfolk garrison.

He Qing and Zhu Guozhen glanced at the busy people on the construction site. said to Wu Dekai: "Commander-in-Chief Wu, we have been ordered by the commander to come here this time to see how you are doing here, and if there is anything you need help with." If you have any difficulties, tell us quickly, and the naval formation will be exhausted in a few days. ”

"Don't be afraid. Nothing difficult. The morale of the soldiers is high! As for these coolies, they are to be fed and clothed every day, and if they do a good job, they will be given a little wine. The days are much better than those in the prisoner of war camp, and it is too late to be happy, who dares not to work hard?! ”

Wu Dekai is full of confidence in completing the construction of the terminal on schedule. In a week at most, the berths at Norfolk Pier will be fully completed. And the naval formation, which had just arrived in Houston, wanted to come to Norfolk, and it would take at least half a month to even rest and recuperate.

"Let's go, let's take a walk in circles and see how your fortress is being built." He Qing and Zhu Guozhen chatted with Wu Dekai for a few words, and then walked towards the construction site with a smile.

Warehouses along the docks. An improvised railroad track runs from the warehouse entrance to the docks, and on the other side it connects to Norfolk's railroad. This is to be able to move materials quickly. The outer embankment and pier are heightened with boulders, cement, and steel frames, and the solid outer embankment is like a thick city wall, arching the safety of Norfolk Harbor.

On the coastal defense battery in Norfolk Harbor, He Qing was satisfied to see that the coastal defense troops were shouting the trumpet to lift two heavy large-caliber guns into the gun emplacement, and the 210mm heavy gun was a majestic killer on land, for an artillery battle on the sea. But it's just a very general, very general caliber. The real weapons of Norfolk Harbor are eight 260mm guns and two 305mm guns. The muzzle of the black hole opens up to the sky, and it can spit out the cannonballs carrying death and destruction on the heads of the enemy at any time.

"According to the requirements, Norfolk first set up three battery groups, all of which required an underground military hospital, ammunition depots, food depots, and water storage tanks, which could be connected to each other by tunnels. In front of the trenches was barbed wire, and outside there were minefields. And set up a machine gun bunker. "The expeditionary force has taken a large part of the east coast of North America, which is a great thing, but it also puts a greater burden on the expeditionary force. The fleets of the United States and the French continued to attack the coastline, and only a few limited areas of the coastline, such as Norfolk, were spared from attack because they were heavily defended, and the current posture of the expeditionary force was absolutely unstoppable.

Hundreds of thousands of troops were deployed like peppercorns in the closest places to the coastline and ports. The expeditionary force also made every effort to unblock the railway lines in North and South Carolina. More than 300 locomotives and 5,000 wagons were mobilized in order to be able to mobilize troops as soon as possible at a critical moment. But even so, it has suffered a lot. If it weren't for Liu Xian's action, he commanded the airship unit to inflict two wounds on the United States and French Navy, sinking and damaging many battleships, ironclad ships, and heavy cruisers, Norfolk would definitely have been attacked by them.

More than a dozen battleships and 10,000-ton ironclad ships, dozens of cruisers and gunboats of various types, the caliber of cannons can deliver up to 10,000 tons of ammunition at a time, and they only need to give them an hour to destroy Norfolk Harbor.

Otherwise, the North American Expeditionary Force would not have begged Emperor Liu, who had already inspected the Mississippi River Valley at that time, to return to Richmond.

Wu Dekai walked while introducing the fort position he had built to He Qing and Zhu Guozhen. Compared with the so-called fortifications on land, the current coastal defense batteries are too strong. All the concrete thickness is not less than one meter, and there are a lot of thick steel bars sandwiched in the middle, and the top of the gun emplacement is covered with steel plates.

It is also because of the high standards and heavy workload that Liu Xian will transfer 60,000 prisoners of war from the prisoner of war camp to work as coolies here, plus a reinforced brigade of troops, and more than a month of hard work, so that the port of Norfolk has the appearance it is today.

He Qing looked ahead, and there were people everywhere in front of him. "Is the sea trestle erected?"

"The main body has been erected, and the engineering units are putting the final touches."

"Commander-in-Chief Wu, you guys are doing it very quickly. Are there any difficulties? ”

"The main thing is that the cement transported from the rear cannot guarantee the progress of the project. The railroad tracks have now been built, but the promised train has not even arrived! ”

The railroad tracks on the pier that extend to the pier are not fully connected to trains, the pier is ten meters wide, and the pavement is made of stone, cement and lime, and the tracks laid on it can only be used for horses (cars specially loaded with goods). But even so, it's much faster than manual pushing and pulling.

"Don't worry about cement, I'll let the factory behind you hurry up production. The produced cement was quickly transported here first. Zhu Guozhen is in charge of the logistics department, which is not only in charge of all military transportation, but also manages all the factories that are still in operation in the occupied area. Cement is a strategic location, and cement plants controlled by the expeditionary force are naturally indispensable.

Wu Dekai said gratefully: "That's really thankful." ”

He Qing looked around at this time, and whispered to Wu Dekai: "Let's go, go to your site headquarters first." "It is impossible for him and Zhu Guozhen to come all the way here just to inspect the construction of Norfolk. There must be something confidential to be said.

Wu Dekai's face sank and asked, "What?" Has the tide of battle changed? ”

He Qing shook his head and comforted: "It's not a big deal, it's just that there are some things that are not convenient for the people below to know, and they are about you." Let me tell you first, it's not a bad thing, don't grind, let's go. ”

Wu Dekai didn't know what was going on, and walked towards the construction site headquarters with He Qing and Zhu Guozhen with a confused face. The group rode horses. It was also coming soon.

After entering the command headquarters, after arranging for someone to pour tea for He Qing and them, Wu Dekai asked his entourage to guard outside the office. "Now it's talkative. Stay safe! ”

"Commander-in-Chief Wu, to tell you the truth, you have been reported. Someone has accused you of misappropriating construction materials, and Minister Zhu and I are here this time to investigate the history of the assassination. Don't be surprised, this kind of thing must be clarified. If someone makes a false accusation. After He Qing returned Commander-in-Chief Wu, he came to apologize to Commander-in-Chief Wu again! ”

"Which king and eight calves framed my old Wu!" Wu Dekai heard that he had been sued. Immediately called for a crash. "What a great wrong!"

"Deputy Commander He, Minister Zhu, how dare I?! If you really want to embezzle those materials, let alone who I sold them to, even the engineering quality inspection team has already sued me! Wu Dekai said that he was very wronged. Although he is the largest in this construction site, there is also a group of 'Imperial Doctors' in the engineering quality inspection team. This group of people does not have a high position. The power is very heavy, and it has direct access to the general headquarters of the expeditionary force.

All Norfolk projects are under the supervision of the engineering quality inspection team, and the final inspection report also needs to be signed by the engineering quality inspection team to count. It is impossible for the engineering quality inspection team not to be aware.

"But the black markets in Kentucky and Tennessee are suddenly flooded with cement and different types of steel bar. These two supplies are under the control of the military. ”

He Qing didn't think that Wu Dekai, a veteran, was really so unpromising and bold to make trouble in the Norfolk project, but this batch of cement and steel bars that suddenly appeared on the market made the general headquarters have to face up to the report letter. It can only be said that Wu Dekai's luck is very back!

Wu Dekai turned his back after understanding what had happened. It has been more than half a month since the General Headquarters received the report letter, and it was not taken seriously before. If you can easily and thoroughly investigate a senior party because of a worthless whistleblower letter, how can the Chinese officialdom and army do it? This is the same as the 'eight cents' of the Celestial Empire in later generations.

Outsiders may think that it is a cover-up, but in fact it is the truth!

There is no real evidence, just a report letter, this cost is too low.

The General Headquarters is more like finding the person who wrote this report letter, but unfortunately after half a month of investigation, it did not find the slightest clue. At this time, in the black markets of Tennessee and Kentucky, a large number of reinforced concrete materials suddenly appeared, which suddenly made the general headquarters nervous. But Wu Dekai is a nobleman, a hereditary earl, and an old qualification in the Wehrmacht, although his position is not high, his influence is far-reaching. Xiang Fa handpicked He Qing and Zhu Guozhen to jointly handle the case. Such a high-level investigation team is also worthy of Wu Dekai's identity.

"Deputy Commander He, you can show that letter to my old Wu." Wu Dekai wants to find out the complaint of the turtle son, he has to skin that guy!

"The commander-in-chief has reported this matter to the emperor. Commander-in-Chief Wu, please rest assured, as long as you are innocent, the black water will not be splashed on you! (To be continued......)