Resistance against Japan: Starting with the local militia

Chapter 96 Underground Great Wall

After the meeting last night, Zhang Haoshan specifically sought out Professor Zhao for a chat. During the conversation, Professor Zhao couldn't help but feel a greater sense of approval for Zhang Haoshan, the newly joined deputy leader of the militia, who was known for his conscientious work ethic.

The next morning, Zhang Haotian couldn't wait to go to Professor Zhao's office at the regimental headquarters. At that moment, Professor Zhao, accompanied by his bodyguard, had just walked from the canteen to the door of the regimental headquarters office.

"Professor Zhao, good morning." Zhang Haotian greeted Professor Zhao warmly.

"Deputy Commander Zhang, you're here so early?" Professor Zhao was slightly surprised that Zhang Haoshan had come so early in the morning.

"The regimental commander entrusted me with such an important task as the Wolong Mountain military fortress, so I must take it seriously in order not to let him down," Zhang Haoshan explained.

"It's excellent that Deputy Commander Zhang has this insight. Our militia likes people like you who get things done. It's cold outside, please come in." Professor Zhao invited Zhang Haoshan into the house. The guard standing next to Professor Zhao hurriedly went over and opened the door with the key.

Professor Zhao's bodyguard was personally selected by Tang Weiguo, to take care of Professor Zhao's daily life and protect his safety.

Professor Zhao is currently the only senior intellectual in the militia, so Tang Weiguo attaches great importance to his safety and specially selected a clever soldier from the reconnaissance battalion to be Professor Zhao's bodyguard.

After Professor Zhao entered the room, he asked Zhang Haoshan to sit at the table and wait. He went into the inner room and carefully took out a key from his pocket to open a specially made metal box in the corner of the inner room, which contained the planning drawings for the current construction project.

Professor Zhao's police officer, Xiao Zhu, was busy relighting the stove in the room. As the coal burned, the room began to warm up.

After the guard, Xiao Zhu, relit the stove, Professor Zhao came out of the inner room carrying the blueprints.

"Xiao Zhu, you've worked hard again," Professor Zhao said politely to Xiao Zhu, the guard who had finished starting the fire.

"Professor Zhao, you're too kind. Please call me if you need anything. I'll go out to take my shift now." After saying that, Xiao Zhu left the room, leaving only Professor Zhao and Zhang Haoshan in the room.

"Deputy Commander Zhang, please take a look at the construction drawings." Professor Zhao placed the drawings on the table and opened them.

Zhang Haoshan stood on the table, carefully examining the blueprints in front of him. The more he looked, the more shocked he became, and he asked, "Professor Zhao, are we planning to hollow out the entire Wolong Mountain? This is no ordinary project."

"Deputy Commander Zhang, since this is your first time here, you may not be familiar with the situation. There is a huge cave system in Wolong Mountain. So, we're taking advantage of this natural feature to connect and expand the existing cave system, creating an underground military fortress. In the commander's words, we're building an underground Great Wall to fight the Japanese invaders, which will both protect our safety to the greatest extent and inflict maximum damage on the Japanese," Professor Zhao explained.

"Currently, more than 1000 people are working in the caves. The main task at present is to connect the various caves in Wolong Mountain," Professor Zhang continued.

"Commander Zhang, please look. We have now opened up the most crucial transportation route inside Wolong Mountain. This route mainly connects the most important parts of the underground fortress, including the command post, logistics reserve center, hospital, barracks, as well as the military factory and armory," Professor Zhao said, pointing to the red-marked line on the map.

"Now, the important part of our construction is to connect the other defense points of Wolong Mountain with this core transportation line, so as to ensure that the core transportation line can be used to support various locations as quickly as possible."

"Professor Zhao, what about the security of the core transportation line? Once the Japanese invaders breach this core transportation line, the entire underground fortress will fall." Zhang Haoshan immediately noticed the problem with the existence of this transportation line.

“As expected of Deputy Commander Zhang, he immediately saw the problem. Therefore, for the safety of the core transportation line, it was designed not to be directly connected to the outside world.”

"The only way for outsiders to enter the core transportation line is through various branch lines. In this way, even if the Japanese attack the branch lines, we can completely destroy the line that the Japanese are attacking, preventing the Japanese from invading the core transportation line and protecting the core transportation line to the greatest extent possible."

"Furthermore, the branch transportation lines of the Wolong Mountain military fortress connect various defense centers. We have deployed a total of three layers of defense centers around the core transportation line. If the Japanese invade the core transportation line, they will have to eliminate the surrounding branch defense points one by one."

"In addition, some dedicated offensive transportation lines are also built around the defense center and have no connection with the core transportation lines. Furthermore, we have made multi-layered designs for the branch transportation lines to ensure that the branch channels are protected against smoke, poison, and counter-intrusion," Professor Zhao explained.

"And based on the design scale of a military fortress, it can accommodate 2 people to hold out here for 2 years," Professor Zhao said.

"Professor Zhao, if this fortress plan can be completed, not even a few hundred thousand Japanese soldiers will be able to attack us." Zhang Haoshan seemed to see Wolong transform into a giant dragon in front of the attacking Japanese soldiers, reaping their lives piece by piece.

"Of course, this is just a written design. We still need Deputy Regiment Commander Zhang to provide some suggestions for actual combat."

“Professor Zhao, then I’ll have to teach you my humble skills. Professor Zhao, how about we go and take a look at the cave first?” Zhang Haoshan said.

“Okay, let’s go now,” Professor Zhao nodded.

"Xiao Zhu, let's go to the construction area now," Professor Zhao called out.

"Yes." Then Xiao Zhu led Professor Zhao and the other person toward Wolong Cave.

Once Zhang Haoshan entered the cave complex of Wolong Mountain, he was truly awestruck. The naturally formed caves of Wolong Mountain have enormous interior spaces. The main passageways, expanded from the original caves, are nearly two meters wide, greatly facilitating the transportation of personnel and supplies. Furthermore, the caves are clearly divided into functional zones, all in an orderly manner.

Moreover, some of the functional areas are already in use. In Zhang Haoshan's eyes, it doesn't look like a military fortress, but more like the first underground city.

"Professor Zhao, this is truly astounding," Zhang Haoshan said in shock.

"When I first came to check the terrain, I was also shocked. The mountain structure of Wolong Mountain is simply a gift from heaven to our militia, allowing us to teach those sons of bitches a lesson." Professor Zhao, who was usually gentle and refined, couldn't help but curse when he thought of the Japanese devils' atrocities.

"Professor Zhao, then we must build this military fortress well."

"We will not fail in our mission." The two men clasped hands tightly.