Just now, Xiang Xiaoqiang had just finished giving the Queen a military lesson in the Imperial Study Room of Qianqing Palace.
"It's almost time, let's end it today. This question is the homework I left for Your Majesty: If - just if - my Ming Dynasty wants to expand its power to Southeast Asia, please Your Majesty list three advance bases that must be captured. Also Yes, how should these three forward bases rely on each other? And, among them, which one is primary and which one is secondary."
Xiang Xiaoqiang stood up, bowed to Zhu Yourong with a smile, and was about to leave.
"Teacher, please wait a moment," Zhu Yourong lowered his head and rummaged for something while saying, "I have already written down this question...but..."
Xiang Xiaoqiang was stunned, remembered something, and said:
"Your Majesty, well, I have one more thing to do. I...are getting married."
Zhu Yourong hummed while rummaging for something. After a moment, he raised his head and looked at him.
"What, you...are you getting married?"
"Well...I'm asking Your Majesty for a day of wedding leave. It's...the 22nd."
Zhu Yourong was stunned for a while and said softly:
"ah."
"His Majesty?"
Zhu Yourong smiled again and chuckled:
"Haha, this is a good thing, the bride is beautiful...which girl is she from..."
Xiang Xiaoqiang secretly watched His Majesty's reaction and carefully replied:
"The one your Majesty has met is the captain of the Grasshopper, named Qiu Qiu."
"Oh, haha," Zhu Yourong chuckled and patted his head, "Qiu Qiu, that's right, it's her, yes, I forgot... How about, when is the date set?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang repeated awkwardly:
"This is number 22."
"Oh, yes, it's the 22nd. I forgot again... today is the 18th, which is three days from now. This... why does Teacher Xiang only have one day off for such a big thing as getting married?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and said:
"At this time of national crisis, as a soldier, I should not leave my post. Today, I feel too much."
Zhu Yourong looked down at the desk and said nothing for a long time. After a while, he raised his head again and said with a smile:
"Haha, let's do this. I make the decision for Teacher Xiang. Let's take a three-day holiday. Teacher Xiang can spend time with his new wife."
"This... haha, thank you very much for your majesty's care."
"Wait a minute," Zhu Yourong rummaged for a long time, found a file bag from the drawer, opened it and said with a smile, "Teacher Xiang, I originally wanted to tell you through the headquarters tomorrow. In this case, this is considered a gift from me to Teacher Xiang. A wedding gift... Although it is not appropriate to use this as a wedding gift, I will make up for it on Teacher Xiang’s wedding day."
"???"
…
"Teacher, look at it," Zhu Yourong said slowly while flipping through the documents, "Since the nationwide mobilization, we have produced 150 new tanks this month... Well, so many..."
Then, she raised her face and suddenly asked Xiaoqiang:
"How much do you want?"
…
Xiang Xiaoqiang stared at her face for a long time before he was sure that this queen sister was not joking.
In an instant, he felt that the blood in his whole body was boiling.
This means that the People's Guard will have its own armored force! He asked Xiaoqiang to have his own armored force!!
Moreover, judging from Zhu Yourong's tone, he was allowed to take whatever he wanted, which seemed to indicate that he would be given as much as he wanted.
As a fan of Armored Blitz, as a fan of Guderian, Xiang Xiaoqiang felt the same way at this moment. It was like a gun fan who was taken to the gun arsenal by a big boss one day and was filled with world-famous guns for him to do whatever he wanted.
Take the same.
But now this feeling is even more enjoyable than that, that was just a gun, this is a tank!
Xiang Xiaoqiang took a deep breath, tried to calm his pounding heart, touched the tea cup and drank a few water, and then asked in a normal tone as much as possible:
"Your Majesty, are you planning to give me...to form an armored force for your People's Guard?"
Just kidding, "my" People's Guard is not the same as "your" People's Guard. Although Zhu Yourong doesn't care about these details, Xiang Xiaoqiang wants to make Zhu Yourong feel that the People's Guard is her own, and Xiang Xiaoqiang is just an agent.
That’s it. Not only does this give you peace of mind, but it will also bring many benefits in the future. For example, if the tank is “issued” this time, she will feel like “giving it to someone else” if it is given to other troops, but if it is given to the People’s Guard, she will feel that it is just moving from the left pocket to the right pocket. It must be
Let Zhu Yourong develop this feeling. God knows whether he will "issue" planes to the People's Guard in the future.
Zhu Yourong smiled and said:
"Why, are you surprised?...Actually, wasn't it decided when we originally planned to build the People's Guard? The People's Guard is my own army and the top priority of all the armies of the Ming Dynasty. It must be built into the most elite
troops. Therefore, equipment and personnel naturally have priority over other troops. Tanks are a powerful weapon in today's land warfare, so they cannot be ignored. Originally, I planned to equip the People's Guard with tanks within a year, but now that the war is underway, the People's Guard
As the first Nanjing, we must be equipped with the best weapons in the shortest time. Moreover, our monthly production of tanks was only about ten tanks. Now that we have entered the wartime economy, we did not expect such a production in the first month. Therefore,
Haha, before other troops come to snatch it from me, let’s get more first.”
Zhu Yourong laughed very excitedly, as if he had taken a huge advantage.
Xiang Xiaoqiang was also excited for a while, and his mind gradually cleared up. A very critical question was before him. How much to take? Besides me, who else would take these 150 tanks?
Three new weapons emerged on the battlefield of World War I: airplanes, tanks, and submarines. After World War I, submarines were generally not looked upon favorably, and were considered obsolete, like outcasts. However, the other two weapons, airplanes and tanks, continued to be widely used after World War I.
Popular, everyone knows that this is a good thing, and all countries are trying their best to develop it. Now tanks are treasures in the armies of all countries, and armies at all levels are rushing to get them. In other words, even if the People's Guard is the top priority, you
If you want to monopolize these 150 tanks, you will become the "public enemy" of the entire army. There are pairs of red eyes around you, and they can kill you with just their eyes.
Moreover, the fact that Zhu Yourong, a young girl, is so eager to give tanks to the People's Guard is largely due to personal preference, because the People's Guard is her "own" army, because Xiang Xiaoqiang gives her military lessons every day, and because Xiang Xiaoqiang teaches her about tanks.
The war aroused her interest. Now all she can think about is "Tanks must be used intensively", and she wants to give all 150 tanks to Xiang Xiaoqiang. But she may not necessarily consider whether there is someone who needs tanks more than the People's Guard.
force.
According to Xiang Xiaoqiang's judgment, there are two armies that need tanks now. One is the Nanjing garrison. The one guarding the periphery is the Capital Garrison, with eight divisions and 100,000 people. The People's Guard guarding the city has more than 10,000 people.
The number of people is almost one division. The other is the strategic reserve currently stationed dozens of kilometers behind the Yangtze River defense line in the eastern section, with about sixty divisions.
But the problem is that half of the more than 600 tanks of the Ming Army are in the hands of the defenders of the Yangtze River Defense Line. These few hundred tanks are widely distributed along the defense line of several hundred kilometers, with an average of only one tank per kilometer.
Many. The current thinking is: since tanks are so powerful, they must be placed on the defense line to block the enemy's offensive. This is to regard tanks as "infantry cover" and "movable bunkers". This is also to regard tanks as
That's why the baby bumps are scattered like this. If dozens or hundreds of vehicles are gathered together to charge into battle, this usage must be too extravagant in the eyes of the generals of this era.
The remaining half of the tanks, more than 200, are in the hands of the strategic reserves, and more than 100 are in the hands of the capital garrison. Needless to say, they try to distribute them evenly. The largest unit is the tank company, with 15 or 20 tanks in a company.
Just like that, some divisions still have tanks, and some divisions don't have tanks.
The Strategic Reserve has nearly 1 million people, the Capital Garrison has 100,000 people, and each of them only has one or two hundred tanks. If your People's Guard has 10,000 people, and there are more than 100 tanks at once, needless to say, it will be like New Year's Eve.
Ten fireworks are equally dazzling.
Now if Xiang Xiaoqiang is selfless and devoted to the country, he should give up all the tanks, because both the strategic reserve and the Capital Garrison need tanks more than the People's Guard. Because they need to defeat the Qing army in field battles, and the People's Guard can't
It's just a street fight.
But for Xiang Xiaoqiang, a fan of armored warfare, it is obviously impossible. To take a step back, even if all these more than 100 tanks are given to others, others will distribute them equally, split them into companies and platoons, and split them into only one tank per kilometer.
A few cars. That’s about the same as none.
It would be better to concentrate on Xiang Xiaoqiang and defend Nanjing.
Xiang Xiaoqiang and Zhu Yourong talked about their opinions. Zhu Yourong was interested in giving all the tanks to the People's Guard, but Xiang Xiaoqiang let her know that although concentrating all the tanks in the hands of the People's Guard would have the greatest impact, this cannot be done in reality.
As a result, Zhu Yourong was deeply impressed by Xiang Xiaoqiang's spirit of "taking the overall situation into consideration".
In the end, Xiang Xiaoqiang selflessly "let go" half of the tank, keeping half for himself.
"I am going to form a tank battalion first," Xiang Xiaoqiang wrote on the paper with a pen, which was also a lesson to Zhu Yourong on the organization of armored forces. "At present, regardless of the Ming army or the Qing army, the largest organization is still a tank company.
Therefore, our tank battalion will have an overwhelming advantage. A tank battalion is preferably a battalion headquarters, a communications platoon, a repair platoon, a reconnaissance platoon, three light tank companies and a medium tank company. Each light tank
There are four platoons of five tanks in each row. Medium tanks are organized in three platoons of five tanks in each row. In this way, a battalion has 60 light tanks and 15 medium tanks, which is exactly 75, which is exactly half."
After saying that, he threw down the pen to Xiaoqiang, and a wave of excitement spread throughout his body again. He had a tank. The real armorization of the Ming Dynasty Army will start with the People's Guard.
…
The next day, January 19th, was the 26th day of the New Year. It was approaching New Year’s Eve, but there was no “New Year’s flavor” on the streets. In previous years, at this time, the streets would have been filled with the sound of firecrackers. But this year, because of the war, in order not to
It was confused with the sound of gunfire, so firecrackers were banned along the Yangtze River. The streets were deserted, and the New Year atmosphere was completely destroyed by the war. If the left-behind citizens hadn't posted Spring Festival couplets, it would have been impossible to feel that the New Year was about to begin.
Xiang Xiaoqiang was in a very excited mood. He was sitting in the car and was about to review his armored battalion. Zhu Yourong issued an imperial edict and all departments had green lights. The efficiency was extremely high. More than a hundred tanks had just rolled off the flatbed train.
According to Xiang Xiaoqiang's request, 75 vehicles were selected and driven to the People's Guard barracks at Xiaolingwei in the east of the city. The tank crews were all selected from the best graduates of the Army Tank Academy, and also from the tank troops of the Capital Garrison.
More than twenty of the most experienced officers were selected to serve as company commanders and platoon leaders.
The sun has not risen for several days recently. Since last night, the fog has become heavier. By this morning, the fog was already very thick, especially when we left the city, passed Crescent Lake, and walked through the woods of Purple Mountain on the left side of the road.
Thick fog filled the air, and it was completely white. The farmland on the right side of the road could not be seen for more than ten meters.
The fog warning sent the day before yesterday was quite accurate. The fog on the Yangtze River must be even thicker now. Smoke is the attacker's best friend. If the Qing army wants to break through the Yangtze River defense line, there is no better time than now...
Xiang Xiaoqiang's two cars drove through several checkpoints and entered the main camp area of the People's Guard. Rows of camps on both sides of the road appeared and disappeared in the thick fog.
…
Finally, we passed a gate guarded by a machine gun bunker. There were no more camps, and we seemed to have entered an open field.
In the thick fog, large iron-gray objects appeared and disappeared, vaguely revealing armor plates, gun barrels, tracks, serial numbers...
In front of each "thing", two young black-clad soldiers stood upright. There was another person with half of his body exposed from the top, also standing upright.
Two cars stopped, and Xiang Xiaoqiang got out while suppressing his excitement. Li Gensheng also got out of the latter car. As the captain of the mobile team and the direct superior of the armored battalion, he was probably even more excited than Xiang Xiaoqiang.
"stand at attention--"
There was a neat sound of leather boots, and everyone on the tank field stood at attention.
The tank battalion commander and all the battalion officers lined up under the vehicle to salute.
Xiang Xiaoqiang slowly raised his hands to his head and returned the salute to them with a determined expression.
The battalion commander loudly ordered:
"Everyone—turn on the lights—"
Suddenly, two rows of bright car lights appeared in the thick fog, neatly arranged on both sides, marking the position of each tank.
Then, he turned around, faced Xiang Xiaoqiang, and shouted angrily:
"Your Majesty, Commander, Shi Shengli, Commander of the First Tank Battalion of the People's Guard Mobile Team, see you sir! The whole battalion is now lined up, please review it!"
Nodding slightly to Xiaoqiang, the battalion commander turned around and shouted:
“Inspection—begin!”
The military band of the political and engineering team at the end of the road had already been arranged neatly. The conductor played his baton beautifully, and the loud and majestic military music resounded throughout the venue.
He wrapped his black cloak around Xiaoqiang, held his sword lightly, and walked forward slowly amid military music. A group of officers followed behind him.
"All officers and men of the first company salute, sir -"
Every time a tank passed by, the crew of the tank would salute with a "snap", watch as Xiaoqiang walked towards him, and then put it down with a "snap".
Xiang Xiaoqiang held his sword in one hand and raised his snow-white gloves on the brim of his hat with one hand, and returned the salute to the tank crewmen beside him. He nodded slightly and gave them an appreciative smile.
"All officers and men of the Second Company salute, sir -"
"All officers and soldiers of the third company salute, sir——"
"All officers and soldiers of the fourth company salute, sir——"
…
Xiang Xiaoqiang saluted the brothers on his left and right, and also observed the tanks behind them.
These tanks do not have the majestic look of later generations of tanks, nor do they even have the majestic look of tanks in World War II. They are all small in size, with a short stature, only over two meters tall. They look thin and thin, and feel like they are not much bigger than a van.
The straight body has few arcs or slopes, and a short cannon protrudes from the small turret, like a pig's snout.
Xiang Xiaoqiang couldn't help but frown slightly. Although he had been mentally prepared and knew what the tanks at this time were, and had read the information yesterday, when he first saw the real thing, he was still subconsciously disappointed. Ugly, too ugly
.
No way, the beautiful images of the Tiger, Leopard, T34, JS and so on in World War II had a deep impact on his mind. Nowadays, the tanks in the mid-1930s are like ugly ducklings.
The only thing that is pleasing to the eye is that compared with European light tanks of the same period, they are shorter in stature, wider in chassis, and one-third wider in track. It seems that the overall weight is better distributed.
This should be due to the mountainous and rainy nature of the south, which makes it easier for them to cross-country in hilly and muddy areas.
There are currently four main types of tanks in active service in the Ming Army: the light tanks "Lightning-1" and "Lightning-2", the medium tank "Lightning-3", and the heavy tank "Thunder-1".
The Lightning-1 is the first tank designed by Ming Dynasty. It was put into service in the early 1930s. It is only 6.5 tons and less than two meters high. It is only equipped with two machine guns as weapons. The front armor is 15 mm, which can barely resist small arms.
It is really too weak. Therefore, very few are produced now, and they are mainly used as training vehicles for tank academies.
The Lightning-2 type looks a bit like it, with a total weight of 10 tons, a crew of 3, 30 mm front armor, a 37 mm cannon, two machine guns, and a maximum road speed of 40 kilometers per hour. This is what we practiced when we formed three light tanks.
kind.
The Lightning-3 is a medium tank with a total weight of 22 tons, a crew of 4, 40 mm front armor, a 47 mm cannon, two machine guns, and a maximum road speed of 40 kilometers per hour. This time, 15 tanks form a medium tank company
That's it.
From Xiang Xiaoqiang's point of view, the Lightning-3 finally has some combat effectiveness. The speed of 40 kilometers per hour is quite high for this period, and in addition to being used as an offensive tank, its 40 mm thick front armor and 47 mm main gun
, it can also provide good cover for infantry, and can barely be used as an infantry tank. The so-called infantry tank is a tank with strong firepower, thick armor, and slow speed, specially designed to provide cover for infantry. In fact, the Ming Dynasty has real infantry tanks.
That is the heavy tank Thunder-1. This thing weighs more than 30 tons, has a front armor 50 mm thick, has a top speed of only 25 kilometers per hour, and the number produced is too small.
How should I put it? I feel that the Ming Dynasty’s tanks are a little inferior to those of Britain, France and the Soviet Union at the same time, but they are already better than Germany’s pz-1, 2, and 3. Germany was bound by the Versailles Contract, and the tank industry started too late.
Already.
…
After the majestic military music was played, Xiang Xiaoqiang climbed up on the tracks to a tank in the middle, took a loudspeaker, stood on the tank and said:
"Brothers, from today on, you are a member of the People's Guard!"
In a word, all the tank soldiers were excited again. Joining the People's Guard was the happiest thing for them in the past two days. They all had just graduated from the tank academy or were serving in other troops. They heard that they were selected into the People's Guard.
They were all extremely happy.
Xiang Xiaoqiang continued:
"The People's Guard is the elite of the Ming Dynasty's army, and you are the elite of the elite! You are the ace in the future land war! You are the knife force and the fist force in the future war! Why do you say that? I tell you, because of your speed
The fastest, the strongest firepower, and the hardest armor! You will be at the forefront in future wars, siege cities and land, and destroy everything! You can tear open the holes that others can’t! You can tear open the holes that others can’t plug.
Can be blocked!
"I tell you, you 75 tanks and 300 brothers will not be separated! You will not be split up like other troops! In my place, you will always be together and will always be comrades in the same battalion.
!If possible in the future, we will have a second battalion and a third battalion! They will not be separated! We will have armored regiments and armored divisions in the future!
"If possible, I will lead you to chase the Qing captives on the land of the motherland, like a tiger, using the tracks to crush the blood of the Qing captives! If God bless me, I will also lead you to march northward, attack Huanglong, and complete the year.
Marshal Yue Fei's unfinished business! We will be like what was sung in the Ming Dynasty's military song: Thirty years of fame and dust, eight thousand miles of clouds and moon! We will drive a chariot through the Helan Mountain gap! We will eat the hungry Hulu with great ambition.
Meat, laughing and drinking the blood of the Huns! We will clean up the old mountains and rivers again and face the sky!!!"
On the tank field, there were endless fanatical cheers. These young men's faces were red with excitement, and the most passionate shouts burst out from their chests.
…
Beijing, Forbidden City South Study Room.
There was a large-scale map in the middle, surrounded by generals and marshals. Standing in the middle was a young man in his thirties. He casually wore a mandarin jacket and had a kind face. Among the pile of military uniforms
Among the generals, they seemed very casual.
The young man was playing with a paper fan in his left hand and holding a long stick in his right hand, gesturing on the map and saying lightly:
"Calculated this way, our East Route Army Group has 50 divisions, and its advantage over the enemy on the front is five to one. The Army Group on the Middle Route has 110 divisions, and its advantage on the enemy on the front is ten to one. The West Route Army Group has 110 divisions.
The army group has 65 divisions, and its advantage over the enemy in front is six to one. Haha, everyone, if we can't defeat such a superior force, coupled with such good foggy weather, then someone should really commit suicide. You guys,
That’s the truth, huh?”
He finally asked tepidly, opened the paper fan and fanned twice symbolically. All the generals present were so frightened that they shrank their heads and did not dare to look at him.
The young man put away his fan with a snap, drew a circle on the picture with a stick, and continued:
"Let me say it again: the range of the East Route Army Group crossing the river is from Jiangyin in the west to Chongming Island in the east. The range of the Middle Route Army Group crossing the river is: the section from Jiangyin in the east to Ma'anshan in the west. The range of the West Route Army Group crossing the river is
:The section from Ma'anshan in the east to Tongling in the west.
"According to weather forecasts, in the next two or three days, the fog will be the thickest in the section from Zhenjiang in the east to Wuhu in the west. Therefore, the main direction of attack is the middle road and the west road. The fog on the east road is relatively light, mainly for containment. Once a certain point is passed
Jiang Chenggong should immediately attack horizontally along the south bank of the Yangtze River, outflank the defenders of the Yangtze River defense line from behind, and try to tear as wide a hole in the defense line as possible.
"You may encounter Nanming's strategic reserves within 6 to 10 hours after crossing the river. Therefore, there is no need to rush to capture counties and cities. We must try our best to consolidate the ferry and erect pontoon bridges to allow our large troops and heavy equipment to cross the river as soon as possible.
Humph, Nanming's strategic reserve does not exceed 80 divisions. As long as we can stand firm after crossing the river, we will have an absolute advantage."
At this time, a young officer ran over and called Qian'er and respectfully handed him a piece of information.
The young man read it once and burst into laughter. He threw the piece of paper on the table and said with a smile:
"The latest news is that the People's Guard of Nanming has formed an armored force. How many tanks do you think they are?"
Then without waiting for anyone else to answer, he laughed mockingly:
"A tank battalion, a total of seventy-five tanks! So many! Huh? Hahahaha..."
He smiled so happily that all the generals around him responded with "haha" and "haha". After a moment, the young man waved his hands and the laughter stopped abruptly.
He put on a straight face and said proudly:
"As for our Qing Dynasty, every division participating in the attack this time has tanks, and some divisions also have tank companies! The total number of tanks in our three army groups is almost double that of all the tanks in Nanming!"
He sat in the chair, stretched out his hand, and the person next to him respectfully offered a cup of tea. He scraped the tea leaves with the lid of the cup, blew and drank, and said lightly:
"Then it's decided, everyone, we will launch a general attack at four o'clock tomorrow morning... In the past half a month since the war started, we have been attacking tepidly for a while every day, just to make Nan Ming think that we only have so much ability and energy.
Let's relax. Now we have to get serious. It's God's help to catch up with such good weather. We can't win even if we don't win... For so many days, those old people we have died in the Yangtze River every day have
There must be quite a few weak, sick and disabled people, and the river is turning red. They were having a great time beating them! Hum, it doesn’t matter, after we cross the river, we will kill them all back with profit! Ahem... listen...
It’s clear, this New Year’s Eve, I plan to spend it at the Imperial Palace in Nanjing. Anyone who wants to be crowned a marquis should cheer me up.”