For a whole week, the Shanghai-Kunming Railway was at nearly full capacity. This transportation artery along the south side of the Yangtze River defense line, traversing the east and west of Ming Dynasty, carried personnel, ammunition, artillery, tanks, food... towards
Constantly traveling in both east and west directions.
The Shanghai-Kunming Railway is a double-track railway, and its advantages are reflected at this time. Four of the six divisions participating in the red side have to be transported from the east. At the same time, one division of the People's Guard of the blue side,
A division of the Army was also divided into several groups, one after another taking trains from near Nanjing to the east, arriving at its base between Wuxi and Changzhou.
The ones on the red side this time were the Ming Army's 17th Division, 32nd Division, 43rd Division, 71st Division, 88th Division, and 121st Division, a total of 6 divisions.
The blue side is served by the 2nd Division of the People's Guard of the Ming Dynasty and the 26th Division of the Ming Dynasty Army.
The six divisions on the red side are all the most standard infantry divisions of the Ming Dynasty. That is, ordinary infantry divisions equipped with a small number of tanks, armored vehicles and some cars, and semi-motorized. This type of infantry division is the most common in the Ming Dynasty army.
Representative.
The two divisions on the blue side are much stronger. Although the Second Division of the People's Guard is not the strongest among the People's Guard, it is a standard armored division.
Among the four existing divisions of the People's Guard, the 1st and 2nd Divisions are armored divisions, and the 3rd and 4th Divisions are motorized infantry divisions. Among them, the 1st Division is the strongest and was the first to be established. This is a large organization.
The heavy armored division has about 18,000 men. Its equipment and personnel quality are the best in the Ming army. The second division is the division participating in the exercise. It is a standard armored division with a strength of 15,000 men and has a division headquarters under its jurisdiction.
(including directly affiliated troops), a tank regiment, two motorized infantry regiments, and an artillery regiment.
Another division that makes up the Blue Army, the 26th Army Division, is a strong division of the Capital Garrison. It made great contributions in the defense of Nanjing. Recently, it has just completed the motorized replacement as a priority and achieved complete motorization. It has become
It became one of the few fully motorized divisions in the Ming Dynasty Army. Its division commander Hou Hekun used tough measures to prevent soldiers from other troops from escaping during the Battle of Zimuzhou, and fought bloody battles with his 26th Division to block the
He found a gap in Zimuzhou's defense line and was seriously injured. He lost an eye and had a prosthetic leg installed.
In order to unify their names during the exercise, the six divisions on the red side were temporarily designated as Red 1 Division, Red 2 Division, Red 3 Division, Red 4 Division, Red 5 Division, and Red 6 Division. The two divisions on the Blue Side were also temporarily designated as Red Division.
Organized into Blue 1st Division and Blue 2nd Division.
…
On May 28, a Junkers-52 was flying from Nanjing to Wuxi. On the plane were Xiang Xiaoqiang, Li Gensheng, Xiu Xiu, Guderian, Rommel and his translator Atie, and Hu Jiong personally led
A security guard class.
The six divisions on the red side had all been deployed a day ago and were now setting up, training, and repairing fortifications at their respective defensive positions.
Because the red side is the defender, it has more time to prepare the defense line. The Shanghai-Kunming Railway also gives priority to the transportation of the six divisions of the red side. Although the two divisions of the blue side are small, they have only been transported today. In total,
The headquarters is located in Wuxi and the frontline headquarters is located in Changzhou. Now Xiang Xiaoqiang is taking a group of people to inspect the Blue Army's station along with an auxiliary aircraft allocated to the Blue Army - this Junkers-52.
The commander of the red side is Marshal Tang Yunsheng, Chief of Army General Staff.
Xiang Xiaoqiang only learned three days ago that Old Man Tang had died in person, and he was shocked at that time. Tang Yunsheng was the top officer of the army, and Xiang Xiaoqiang knew that he was definitely not in vain, and he was a good hand in commanding the war. Besides, Old Man Tang
His identity is to represent the Army, and now he is personally commanding the Red Army. Wouldn’t it obviously become an exercise for the Army to fight against the People’s Guard?
Xiang Xiaoqiang has been trying his best to downplay the identities of the red and blue sides. He originally thought that the person commanding the red side was a military commander or a group commander. But now that Old Man Tang personally took charge, Xiang Xiaoqiang was unsure.
Know what they think.
Xiang Xiaoqiang went to General Counselor Lu to visit Tang Yunsheng that day and had a chat with him. Tang Yunsheng told Xiang Xiaoqiang sincerely and told him not to have any worries. Tang Yunsheng would personally command the red team, which was what Ming Gong meant. Zhang Zhaoxian was the
Because I attached great importance to this exercise and knew that one of Xiang Xiaoqiang's side was an armored division and the other was a motorized infantry division, which were indeed very strong, I decided to strengthen the red side and let a boss-level person take command.
Tang Yunsheng hinted to Xiang Xiaoqiang that the reason why Ming Gong could make things more difficult for the blue side was because he was prepared to use the results of this exercise as an important basis for whether to fight against the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, let Xiang Xiaoqiang get rid of all worries and don't think about the People's Guard and the
Regarding the identity of the Army, and whether there will be any antagonism, just let go and fight hard. The more beautiful the fight, the better. Xiang Xiaoqiang can also choose a Blue Army commander himself, either from the People's Guard or the Army.
As long as you can fight, it doesn't matter what your identity is.
Because the difference in quality and quantity between the red and blue sides in this exercise is much greater than the difference in quality and quantity between the Ming and Qing armies. As long as the blue side can beat the red side beautifully this time, then the plan for the Ming Dynasty to fight against the Qing will be a good one for all parties.
is much more persuasive.
Xiang Xiaoqiang understood everything at once. When he walked out of General Staff Lu, his whole body was filled with a sense of excitement.
…
Who will command Lan Fang? He definitely can't do it. Xiang Xiaoqiang knows how much he has to eat. Li Gensheng, I'm afraid, can't do it either. If he is in charge of the daily work of the People's Guard, army expansion, training, etc., he will indeed be very competent. But in
In terms of military command, his level may only be considered mediocre.
Xiang Xiaoqiang was hesitant about what to tell Li Gensheng. Li Gensheng found him first and proactively suggested to Xiang Xiaoqiang not to let him serve as the commander of the blue team. The reason was that the victory or defeat of this exercise was of great significance and was directly related to the consideration of Qing's operational suggestions.
He recommended Staff Officer Rommel to Xiang Xiaoqiang as commander of the blue side.
Xiang Xiaoqiang admires Li Gensheng's attitude of not caring about personal favors and humiliations. In addition, Colonel Rommel recommended by Li Gensheng is also one of the candidates for the blue commander in Xiang Xiaoqiang's mind. In fact, besides Rommel, the most ideal candidate in Xiang Xiaoqiang's mind is
There are two more: one is Commander Hou Hekun and the other is Major General Guderian.
Hou Hekun's commanding skills displayed in the Battle of Nanjing, as well as the appearance and training of the Army's 26th Division, are quite rare in the Army.
But after all, Xiang Xiaoqiang still knows little about Hou Hekun. What is going on now is such a high-intensity, long-distance, and more complex battle, which requires more superb command art and a very strong offensive spirit. Xiang Xiaoqiang doesn’t know what to do about it.
Is Hou Hekun qualified for this requirement? If it were an ordinary exercise, Xiang Xiaoqiang would let Hou Hekun take command. Maybe he could find a military genius. But now this is an exercise that cannot be lost. Xiang Xiaoqiang decided
careful.
In fact, in Xiang Xiaoqiang's mind, the best candidate for this kind of "blitz warfare" is the "blitz hero" Guderian himself. Guderian's current armor warfare theoretical level and practical command ability have reached a considerable height.
.Xiang Xiaoqiang felt that this exercise and this kind of task were tailor-made for him.
But after all, Guderian's time in Ming Dynasty was too short, only more than 20 days, and he was not familiar with the army he wanted to command. It is a taboo for military strategists to not know the soldiers, which means that they cannot command the army. After thinking about it, Xiang Xiaoqiang realized deeply.
It was a pity that he still rejected Guderian. But Xiang Xiaoqiang knew that if Guderian had come a year earlier, no, half a year ago, he would have led the Blue Army to pursue them all the way and beat the Red Army to nothing.
…
The only remaining candidate was Rommel. Unlike Guderian, Rommel had been in Ming Dynasty for several months, and during the battle to defend Nanjing, he personally led his troops to participate in actual combat, arranging troops in the heavy fog in the southern suburbs.
Formation, annihilated an Eight Banners Division, and achieved impressive results. His military rank in the German Wehrmacht was still lieutenant colonel, but in the Ming Dynasty, his military rank had been promoted to colonel.
In addition, Xiang Xiaoqiang gave him the nickname "Fox of the Fog", which is now known among the People's Guards.
In the past few months, Rommel had been obsessed with the armored forces and became extremely familiar with the two armored divisions and two motorized infantry divisions of the People's Guard. And after several months of hard study, and the perfect
In terms of language environment, Rommel's Chinese level has been greatly improved, especially his listening and speaking skills. He is now able to carry out basic communication and has a good grasp of various military terminology. Now he rarely takes a translator with him wherever he goes.
Xiaoqiang feels that it is not an exaggeration to say that he is now at the "Chinese Level 4" level.
Rommel was a very hard-working man, and he generally slept no more than four hours a day in the past few months... He was like a lion holding back his energy. This was Xiang Xiaoqiang's own impression.
Besides, in an important task like an exercise, he must be forced to have a translator to prevent his two swords from making mistakes in Chinese.
…
Amidst the roar of the plane, Xiang Xiaoqiang looked at Rommel and Guderian in front of him, feeling extremely satisfied. The two top generals in World War II were now sitting in front of him. One was already able to use it, and the other
In time, it will be integrated with the Ming army and become the most terrifying war machine in the war against the Qing Dynasty.
…
The plane landed at a military airport in the western suburbs of Wuxi. This airport will become one of the five airports used by the Blue Army for exercises. Yangshan Town, a few kilometers further west, is where the Blue Army's general headquarters is located.
Amidst the roar of the huge propeller, Xiang Xiaoqiang first appeared at the cabin door.
Dozens of senior officers of the Blue Army lined up neatly below and stood at attention, facing Xiang Xiaoqiang.
Xiang Xiaoqiang was very satisfied, smiled and waved below, and then walked down the gangway. Behind him, Li Gensheng, Guderian, Rommel...
In the middle of dozens of officers, a young colonel in his thirties wearing an eyepatch, leaning on a cane, dragged his legs forward, looked at Xiang Xiaoqiang, saluted him, and said coldly:
"Sir General, all the senior commanders of the Blue Army for the 'Fortress Exercise' have gathered and are waiting for your orders."
Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded and looked at the teacher with one eye and one prosthetic leg. Instead of returning the greeting, he stretched out a hand, held his hand tightly, shook it hard twice, and patted it hard at the same time.
Patted his arm and said in a deep voice:
"General Hou, thank you for your hard work!"
Hou Hekun's eyes were still cold as he introduced other officers to Xiang Xiaoqiang, including Xiang Xiaoqiang's own subordinate, the commander of the Second Division of the People's Guard.
Xiang Xiaoqiang introduced the commander of the Blue Army to the officers: Colonel Rommel. There was also General Guderian who would observe the entire exercise with him.
Immediately afterwards, a group of officers got on the bus and began to review the air power that the Blue Army was proud of.
Eight sidecar motorcycles opened the road ahead, and a dozen cars lined up in a long queue, driving at a medium speed on the vast airport runway.
There were two rows of dive bombers parked with their heads held high. In front of each plane, the crew members stood at attention and paid attention to the convoy.
These planes were cleaned spotlessly, and the cockpit glass reflected the dazzling sunlight. The crew members held their heads high, were full of energy, and had high morale.
One after another, the dive bombers lined up into the distance with almost no end in sight.
Xiang Xiaoqiang stood up from the convertible car and saluted the pilots on both sides. Immediately afterwards, the senior officers in each car stood up and saluted the pilots on both sides.
The pilots on both sides began to cheer in unison, and the loud roars shook the sky.
…
Xiang Xiaoqiang felt a surge in his chest, and the blood all over his body was boiling. His mind suddenly flashed back to Göring's arrogant declaration after reviewing the Nazi Air Force before Germany's "Operation Sea Lion":
――If we lose this war, we deserve to be kicked home.