The expeditionary force began to dominate Southeast Asia by recruiting defeated soldiers

Qi Quan paused, his eyes fixed on the gliders quietly parked on the grass, and the training ground in the distance still spewing flames, and his voice lowered:

"This is an exercise. We have complete control of the airspace. There are no real enemy anti-aircraft and fighter threats on the ground. Communications are unimpeded and the weather conditions are perfect. But Operation Thunder..."

His eyes became sharp:

"It will be across the Strait of Malacca, attacking a huge island—Sumatra. The sea and air distance of dozens of kilometers may not seem far, but it is the first true cross-sea and cross-continental offensive operation since the establishment of our Nanyang Defense Force."

He counted on his fingers, listing the potential obstacles one by one:

"At that time, the sky will be filled with not only transport planes and gliders, but also escorting fighters, ground attack bombers, and reconnaissance planes. On the sea, there will be transport ships responsible for transporting landing troops, cruisers providing fire support, submersible heavy gunboats, and destroyers responsible for minesweeping and escort.

On the ground, there were several forces that parachuted, airdropped, and landed on the beaches... the navy, army, and air force, dozens of units, thousands of aircraft, hundreds of ships, and tens of thousands of troops.

How do you ensure they are in the right place at the right time?

How can we ensure that air strikes don't accidentally injure our own people? How can we ensure that naval artillery support can respond to ground calls in a timely manner? If one link goes wrong, it will cause a chain reaction."

Tan Zhijie nodded in agreement:

"Indeed, gliders are too fragile. Ocean air currents are unpredictable, and even sporadic fire from enemy anti-aircraft artillery could cause these 'disposable' vehicles to disintegrate mid-air. The uncertainty surrounding whether airdropped troops can land safely and quickly assemble into combat effectiveness after landing is too great. Parachute drop is even more so. If they stray from the designated area and land in the jungle or enemy lines, the consequences are disastrous."

This was also the pain point of the Allied forces during Operation Overlord. The Allied forces participating in D-Day were ten times the number of troops in the "Operation Thunderbolt" that the Nanyang Defense Force was about to launch.

But at the same time, once this hurdle is overcome, it will grow into a sharpened sword, a real modern army capable of conducting integrated operations of the army, navy and air force.

Fortunately, their opponent, the devils on the island of Sumatra, was not a strong army, and the Nanyang Defense Force still had enough room for error.

Qi Quan took a deep breath. Zhang Chi appointed him as the commander-in-chief of the ground forces of Operation Thunder, and handed over the First Airborne Brigade and the newly reorganized First Army directly to him.

He was well aware that this massive operation posed unprecedented challenges to the command system, communications support, logistics dispatch, and coordination among all arms of the military.

The burden on my shoulders is very heavy.

The smile on Tan Zhijie's face also faded, and he patted Qi Quan's shoulder.

"Old Qi, the problems you mentioned are all real and difficult problems. It's precisely because they're difficult that I let you take on this. And it's also because this is your first time that you have to perform well!"

During the An Min Army era, Zhang Chi led everyone to sweep across Pegu and Malay. Next, if the Nanyang Defense Army could successfully cross the sea and land on Sumatra Island, and easily destroy the 6 to 7 Japanese on the island, then the combat effectiveness of Nanyang would be established.

Who in the international community would dare to underestimate the United States of Southeast Asia, which has the ability to conduct large-scale expeditions across seas and regions?

A strong army means the strength to defend the country, while strong delivery capabilities, especially amphibious landing and airborne capabilities, mean the ability to export externally.

There is no doubt that "Operation Thunder" is the battle of standing sticks in Southeast Asia.

------

At the same time, at the outfitting dock of Yangon Shipyard.

The huge gantry crane moved slowly above everyone's heads, making a dull metallic friction sound.

Zhang Guangsong, commander of the Nanyang Republic Navy, dressed in a neat white naval officer's uniform, was standing with several senior officers and technical experts next to a warship with a peculiar appearance that had just completed its main construction and was undergoing intensive outfitting and weapons installation.

The warship has a small tonnage of about a thousand tons, and its hull lines are relatively low and smooth, which obviously emphasizes its seaworthiness and shallow draft.

The most eye-catching thing is its specially reinforced front and rear decks, on which are installed four huge, dense and intimidating steel devices.

Those are four 100-barrel multiple rocket launchers.

Each one is composed of one hundred linked launch tube modules. The densely packed launch tubes are like the back of a steel hedgehog, emitting deadly deterrence.

The four together have a total of four hundred 132mm caliber rocket launch tubes.

"Reporting to the Commander! The main construction and rocket launcher base installation of the first Thunderbolt-class amphibious landing fire support ship have been completed. The fire control system coordination and internal pipeline laying are underway."

The shipyard's chief engineer reported excitedly, his voice trembling slightly in the sea breeze.

He couldn't help but be excited, as this was a ground fire support ship designed and built entirely by the people of Nanyang.

Unlike the Seawolf-class frigates that emphasize modularity and short-range rapid-fire firepower, the Thunder-class fire support ship emphasizes crazy area coverage and area killing capabilities.

Zhang Guangsong's sharp eyes swept across the ferocious launcher array, and there was also excitement burning in his eyes, as if he had already seen the scene of the Japanese soldiers stationed on the beach wailing under the coverage of rockets.

He asked in a deep voice, "Can this rocket be used to satisfy your hunger?"

"All domestically produced, Commander." The officer in charge of ammunition development stepped forward immediately, his tone filled with pride. "132mm solid-fuel rocket, warhead charge of 15 kg of high explosive, equipped with a trigger/delay fuse. It uses domestically refined fuel and domestically developed stabilizer fins. The dispersion accuracy has been repeatedly tested and has met the design requirements. We have sufficient inventory, and the first batch of live ammunition has been loaded and is ready for testing."

"Fire control?" Zhang Guangsong's eyes turned to an added rotating platform with a protective cover on the top of the bridge.

"An optical rangefinder paired with a transistorized fire-control computer." The fire-control expert's voice rose with barely suppressed pride. "Commander, this is the latest breakthrough from our Electronics Research Institute. The transistorized computer is compact, generates little heat, and has high computational speed. Combined with the high-precision optical rangefinder, it can quickly measure target distance, correct wind speed and direction, and calculate trajectory."

The director is directly linked to the launcher's direction and elevation control, and the range can accurately cover 10 kilometers."

Zhang Guangsong was very satisfied. What does a 10-kilometer range mean?

This means that as long as the heavy coastal defense artillery is suppressed, the "Thunder Type" can hide far beyond the effective range of the enemy's other small and medium-caliber coastal defense artillery and output with confidence.

This means that when the landing craft is still charging on the sea, the destructive firepower of the "Thunder" can plow the preset landing beach back and forth several times like an iron broom.

This means that when the troops go deep inland, as long as they do not exceed 10 kilometers, the "Thunder" parked on the shore can continue to provide large-scale fire support.

This is exactly the weapon the Navy's amphibious forces need most!