On October 20, 1924, the province of Huqistan in southern Persia was shrouded in the night.

Compared with the fierce battles in the southern foot of the Zagros Mountains in the northwest, the battlefield in the central part of Hugestan Province can only be described as unusual peace. After the clever Italians discovered that the Soviet Volunteers' troops appeared north, they wisely chose to retreat and build positions. The Soviets did not show any urge to press step by step, but dug trenches 10 kilometers away from the front positions of the Italian Expeditionary Force.

Such a distance is too far from the army's firepower in the 1920s. Even if a 150mm first-class howitzer storm was deployed to the frontier position, it could only barely reach the opponent's frontier. Without reliable caliber shooting, it would be impossible to hit any target if it fired at such a "far" distance! Since even a long-range firearm like a 150mm howitzer cannot reach the opponent, what reason would the two armies, which were far apart, run up to 10,000 meters in panting to attack the opponent's frontier position? Everyone knows that without the cover of cannons, it is impossible for infantry to conquer the strong fortified enemy positions. Therefore, during the days when the two sides confronted each other, the calmness of Huqistein's battlefield was not difficult to understand. But this rare calm will last tonight.

Just when the night was darkest, the long-range artillery group of the Soviet Volunteers suddenly roared in silence! Hundreds of cannons of various calibers, as well as mortars from movements from unknown to when, were fired. Countless fires poured straight towards the frontier positions of the Italian army.

Lieutenant Huang Wei, who once served as an observer in the Italian Expeditionary Force, described the scene in the report: "...The Italian young men who were disturbed by Qingmeng were panicked and confused. The frontier positions were full of soldiers running around in the trenches like headless flies. Some of them were shouting for help in Italian, and everyone was running away to the rear. Some of the "experienced non-commissioned officers" who were severely repaired by the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the German team in World War I played a key role at this time, beating and scolding the infantry that had been huddled to the front line. They put the weapons on a panic and waited for the attack of the Soviet infantry.

Compared with these soldiers who had not experienced war, the reaction of the middle and lower-level officers of the Italian army was quite normal. The "Love Saints" who only knew how to discuss women on weekdays were wearing brand new military uniforms and shiny leather shoes, and they all lay on the trenches holding telescopes and staring into the darkness. But apart from the flash of artillery fire, there was no shadow of the Soviet infantry. In fact, even the bombardment accuracy of the Soviet artillery was extremely poor, and few shells fell into the trenches of the Italian army. So there was no loss. At that time, all the front-line officers did not know what the purpose of the Soviet army suddenly launched this artillery?

The confused Italian officer soon reported the situation on the front line to General Bardoglio's headquarters in the city of Avas through the communication network. When the general was woken up from his sleep, the staff officers of the Italian Expeditionary Force Command had made judgments, perhaps it was the Soviet volunteers who were testing the reality of the Yi army! From this they all thought that the Italian army's intention to launch an attack might have been understood by the Soviet army. Therefore, the planned attack must be postponed and the entire line will be turned into defense!

General Badoglio was a little strange about such suggestions. Did he find out that the Italian army's offensive intention was related to the random shooting of artillery in the middle of the night? Did the Soviet commander think that a few random shots could scare the brave Italians? Such an analysis was completely nonsense! But General Badoglio decided to postpone the attack that would start in two days and ordered the front-line troops and the reserve troops to enter the position and prepare to welcome the possible attack by the Soviet army! The artillery moved forward and prepared to counterattack!

On the frontier positions of the Soviet army, it was a scene before the attack was about to be launched. With the rumbling sound of cannons, T18 light tanks were swaying through the darkness. On the open area of ​​the frontier of the Soviet army's frontier positions, white lines were sprinkled with white gray, and every ten meters, a triangle sign was marked with white gray. The hatch covers of all T18 tanks were opened. The driver and the head of the vehicle were protruded out, and the weak tank headlights were used to guide the way. He moved forward slowly, stopped in front of the triangle signs, and finally formed a

A huge square array consisting of nearly 300 T18 tanks. The tanks had just formed a formation, and more than 300 wheeled armored vehicles transformed from light trucks rumbled and another square array was arranged behind the tank phalanx. However, these so-called armored vehicles actually had no armor, but were just wrapped in a thin layer of iron on the front of the truck, and a machine gun was installed on the roof. The rear compartment of the armored vehicles was full of infantry holding submachine guns and rifles. Behind the armored vehicles were brigades of red cavalry riding Don River war horses and holding shiny sabers.

One by one, the cannons were also moving their positions under the cover of night. These cannons were dragged by mules and horses on the wasteland. In some difficult-to-pass areas, dozens of people and hundreds of people pushed and pulled the cannons. There were also thousands of infantrymen moving forward. Their mission was not to follow the tanks, but to clear all obstacles on the road ahead for the tanks!

Political cadres also advanced with these infantrymen, marching and carrying out pre-war mobilization at the top of their voices: "Revolutionary mentor Comrade Lenin and revolutionary prophet Comrade Trotsky are waiting for the news of our victory in Moscow. Now the homes of 130 million Soviet people are under threat of imperialism. Comrade Trotsky teaches us that the working class of the Soviet Union can only liberate itself in the end, so we must severely attack these evil invaders in Persia and rescue the 25 million Persian people from the butcher knife of imperialism..."

The First Tank Army of the Red Army, the First Cavalry Army Group of the Red Army, and the Sixteenth Army Group of the Red Army have already launched the entire line at a starting position about 8 kilometers north of the front of the Italian Expeditionary Force in Susangaild! Hundreds of Soviet cannons are now firing randomly to cover their actions. The first real armored squad assault in human history is about to begin soon!

Yakiel and his staff at the front-line headquarters of the Soviet Volunteer Army, as well as military observers from Poland, East Germany and Japan, drove to a high slope in a command car built by the Soviet Union. Looking at the Red Army armored assault cluster rolling under his feet, Yakiel suppressed his excitement and introduced loudly to his staff and friendly officers: "What you see is the powerful Red Army armored cluster, the core force for carrying out large-scale attack operations! Early tomorrow morning, the infantry of the four divisions will rush straight to Susangail's Italian Expeditionary Force under the cover of thousands of cannons, tearing a huge gap on the enemy's defense line with absolute superior force.

An armored cavalry cluster composed of three hundred T18 tanks, three hundred wheeled armored vehicles and four cavalry divisions will quickly break into the thrust opened by the infantry and sweep the rear of the Italians at the fastest speed. It will completely disrupt their entire front! At the same time, the 100,000 officers and soldiers of the 17th Army of the Red Army and the 1st Persian Army will also launch a full-line attack on the front of the Italian army! If nothing unexpected happens, in less than 72 hours, the 100,000 Italian invading troops will collapse under the powerful offensive of the Soviet-Polish coalition forces!"

...

The night passed quickly. Thousands of Italian soldiers had been waiting in the trenches for half a night, and the sentry responsible for the guards were constantly observing the actions of the Su-Po coalition forces opposite. At this time, the artillery that lasted for the middle of the night had stopped. The wasteland was quiet. Time slowly reached 5 a.m. on October 21, 1924. When the Italians who had been waiting for half a night began to breathe in their hearts and felt that they could escape this disaster. They suddenly felt the earth under their feet tremble. A flash of light flashed across the end of the land opposite, and the entire line of shelling of the Soviet Volunteers suddenly started again!

The scale of this shelling was almost ten times stronger than last night! After last night's mobilization, thousands of cannons of various calibers of the Soviet Volunteer Army had approached the frontier of the Italian army, and most of them were concentrated on the Susangaild line on the westernmost side of the Italian front! The Soviet artillery fire was so fierce that the shells fell on the simple Italian army's fortifications like raindrops, and they immediately flew with flesh and blood. The Italian army immediately discovered that the Soviet artillery fire was planned to be concentrated on the westernmost side of their front. There was probably the focus of the Soviet army's breakthrough!

General Bardoglio's reaction was also very timely. Two of the three Italian blackshirt divisions as the reserve team received the order to reinforce Susangeld almost immediately. However, before these elite troops composed of Italian fascists completed the assembly, countless Red Army officers and soldiers had already stepped on the landing point of the shells and launched the first wave of offensives with the slogan "Ula! Ula!"!

In the direction of the main attack of the Red Army, the Italian military positions that were originally built were ploughed several times by dense artillery fire. The barbed wire, deer forts, minefields, etc. were almost wiped out by fierce artillery fire, and most of the trenches were filled. The Italian soldiers guarding the front line were also killed and injured in the artillery. Their reserves tried to break through the blockade of Soviet artillery and reinforced the front line, but after several batches of reinforcements were in the sea of ​​fire, the Italian soldiers behind refused to go further anyway.

On a reserve position of the Italian army, Lieutenant Huang Wei, who was a military observer, was lying in the trenches, staring blankly at the several furious Italian officers, trying every possible way to drive thousands of Italian soldiers who were lying on the ground into the sea of ​​fire in front. At this moment, the Soviet artillery fire gradually stopped! All the officers at the scene were stunned for a moment, and almost at the same time raised the telescope and looked forward. A small-caliber gun with black hole suddenly appeared in the eyepiece of the telescope, all of which were installed on a yellow-painted steel turret. Then the steel car body under the turret appeared in the telescope! These steel monsters advanced on two constantly rotating tracks, lifted up large groups of sand and soil, and stopped from time to time, aimed at the small-caliber gun at some unknown target to hit the whole family!

"Tank! It's a tank, hundreds or thousands of tanks!"

I don’t know who called it in Italian first. The Italian Army is not a native bun that has never seen tanks. In fact, the three black-shirt divisions of the Italian Expeditionary Force are also equipped with Type A tanks, which are more advanced than the Red Army T18 tanks in front of me! However, the Italian tanks are scattered, with each division of thirty or forty. They are used to cover infantry attacking enemy positions. No one has ever seen the posture of using hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles together! To be honest, no matter who sees this scene for the first time, he will definitely be shocked!

"Let's fire! Open fire! For God's sake, stop them!"

With the orders of the officers and non-commissioned officers, the fearful Italian infantry picked up the weapons at hand and fired ammunition at the steel monsters that were slightly slow to move. The bullets of the machine gun rifle were like raindrops, splattering sparks on the armored steel plates of the tanks. But they could not stop their advancement at all! Several 75mm mountain cannons played some roles, shooting several T18 tanks, but then a 37mm tank cannon shell swept over, and suddenly knocked several mountain cannons into parts!

The tank group stopped in front of the not-too-wide trench. Turn the turret and sweep the entire front with machine guns and 37mm cannons. Such close-up shooting made the Italian infantry fly in blood and flesh! One round of shells accurately hit one machine gun firing point after another, and immediately threw the fragments of the mixed human body broken weapons into the air. Wheeled armored vehicles followed. The infantry above jumped down one after another, and used the rifles and submachine guns in their hands to shoot wildly while shouting for Ula charge. The Red Army cavalry also jumped across the trench and rushed into the Italian army's reserve position, waving its sabre and slashing around!

The Italian army's resistance did not last long before it collapsed. First, the soldiers dropped their rifles. They ran away regardless of the roar of the officers, and then the officers who saw something wrong escaped faster. The Italians who loved football seemed to have good physical fitness and fled the battlefield at an incredible speed. However, the Soviet tanks, armored vehicles and cavalry ran faster, and machine guns and bullets chased the Italians' butts, knocked them down one by one, and then crushed them with tank tracks. Some smart Italians realized that escaping was not a solution, so they knelt on the ground one by one.

He raised his hands high and shouted surrender in Italian. The GC-speaking soldiers indeed stopped killing. Several political cadres and security personnel responsible for captives used stiff Italian and gestures to make them walk towards the Red Army's starting position with their hands. Seeing that surrender could save their lives, more Italians breathed a sigh of relief, raised their hands happily, and consciously arranged a column under the guns of the Red Army, walking towards the north, and walked all the way to an unknown concentration camp in Siberia. Most of them would spend the rest of their lives in selfless labor reform.

However, Lieutenant Huang Wei, a military observer sent by the Chinese National Defense Force, was not killed by the Red Army's Justice bullets, nor was he captured alive. Huang Wei in this time and space graduated from the fourth phase of the Central Military Academy. His equestrian skills were very good. He also received an Arab horse in Kuwait. As soon as he saw something wrong, he rode the horse and ran south, ran across the Arab River, and wrote what he saw and heard into a report, which became an important reference material that would affect the development direction of China's armored soldiers in the future.

The first Italian Infantry Division collapsed on the same day, and then the Red Army armored troops rushed over from the side of the First Libyan Division and swept through the rear of the Italian defense line, destroying all the Italians who dared to block them. The two black-shirt divisions that Bardoglio had gathered in a hurry tried to counterattack and fill the gap in the defense line. However, they were all repelled by the firepower of the Red Army tanks. After a day, Italy

The army was thrown away, and a large number of technical weapons were seized. Several field artillery regiments located behind the defense line were caught by tank troops on the way to retreat and transfer, and all of them and equipment were captured by the Red Army. The two black-shirt tank battalions also launched tank battles with the Red Army tanks one after another, but were wiped out by the Red Army tanks, which had an absolute advantage in number. More than half of the Italian tanks joined the Red Army tanks after simple maintenance.

The 17th Army of the Red Army and the 1st Persian Army of the People's Army also succeeded in the face of the Italian army on the night of the 21st. The Italian Army's First Mountain Division, the 25th Bologna Division, and the 27th Brescian Infantry Division were defeated without even insisting on the Red Army tanks to copy their retreat. They lost all artillery and most of the infantry weapons and equipment and fled into the city of Avas, defended by the First Blackshirt Division, which is also the location of the Italian Expeditionary Force Command.

On the night of the 21st, the First Tank Army of the Red Army met with the 17th Army and the 1 Persian Army under the city of Avas! After only one day of fierce fighting, the 100,000 Italian Expeditionary Force was left with only one Blackshirt Division and the First Mountain Division who relied on the ancient Fortifications of the Avas City Wall to resist desperately. The total strength of the 25th Division and the 27th Division was less than 30,000 people! The remaining more than 70,000 people either walked towards Siberia with their hands high or were sleeping on the wastelands in southern Persia. Only a very small number of lucky people escaped the pursuit of the Red Army tanks and cavalry, escaped the Arab River, and spread the myth of the invincible Red Army.

After this day of hard battle, the whole world, including the GC-minister leaders in the Kremlin, were shocked. The Red Army armored forces turned out to be such a powerful force!
Chapter completed!