Xiang Xiaoqiang drove forward in an armored vehicle along the long column of tanks. Soon, the brightly lit "Glacier" training ground was left behind, and the surroundings were dark again. However, the "bang bang" sound of artillery became more and more intense.
The louder it gets, the semicircular flashes of light continue to appear in the darkness ahead.
The front should be practicing night shooting. Sure enough, a few minutes later, the armored vehicle was surrounded by the sound of artillery. Orange flashes from the front, rear, left and right, accompanied by deafening loud noises, flashed frequently, and a car could be seen in the flash.
A tank with a cold metallic light, and a commander on the turret with his head held high.
In the darkness more than two hundred meters away, twenty large gray-white target disks could be vaguely seen moving along the top of the trench, at a speed of about 20 kilometers per hour. Xiang Xiaoqiang squinted his eyes and tried his best to see through the flashing firelight around him.
, I want to see clearly those target disks in the distance.
But it's difficult. The starlight in the sky is very weak, and the target disk is very far away. If they weren't moving, it wouldn't be easy to spot them.
Of course Xiaoqiang is familiar with this kind of training using live targets. It is often used in the People's Guard's own tank training ground. The sizes of the target disks are different and divided into No. 1 target disk, No. 2 target disk, No. 3 target disk and No. 4 target.
He estimated that the target disk he was using now should be the No. 2 target disk, each with a diameter of 1.5 meters, which is the second largest and is used for mid-range shooting training within 800 meters. Although the distance is only about 200 meters now, it is at night.
, plus it is a moving target, which increases the difficulty.
Target shooting uses armor-piercing bullets with solid warheads and no charges, so they only penetrate the target disk and have no explosive effect.
Xiang Xiaoqiang held the telescope and watched the twenty target disks moving at a constant speed in the distance being penetrated by cannonballs one after another, and the target poles falling down. Within tens of seconds, all twenty target disks were penetrated.
Suddenly, the sound of artillery all around stopped, and there was silence and darkness again.
A light was lit in one place, illuminating another armored vehicle. Standing on the armored vehicle was a short, fat old man wearing a black tank training uniform, a work cap and a headset, waving his hands and speaking German. The same vehicle
Another officer in the car also wore a headset. After the old man finished speaking, he would translate.
The distance was relatively long, and the person spoke to the radio, so there was no need to shout, so Xiang Xiaoqiang could barely hear a few words:
"...Night performance...early morning...raid...visual inspection...daring assault...adventurous spirit...coordination in the dark...single vehicle training below..."
After he finished speaking, the lights above his head went out, and the entire training ground fell into darkness again. Immediately afterwards, the ground shook, and the surrounding tanks started to move, some reversing, some moving forward, without turning on the lights, and only relied on starlight to adjust.
respective positions. Only a few fluorescent sticks were seen waving in the darkness.
It was a few military policemen commanding between the tanks. These steel behemoths rumbled past them, relying only on the light sticks in their hands to avoid running over them. If it were an ordinary person, they would be scared to death.
. But these military policemen remained calm and commanding.
Soon, most of the tanks stopped, but the engines were still vibrating. On the target disk track in the distance, a target disk moved out at a speed of 15 kilometers per hour. Suddenly there was a loud noise, and the front tank gun
Flames erupted from the mouth, and the shells penetrated deeply into the blocking earth wall 200 meters away, but the target disk in front of the earth wall was still moving.
The first shot missed.
There was a shout from the tank, and then there was another loud "dang" sound, and the moving target plate in the distance fell to the ground.
Immediately afterwards, another target plate moved out.
Now it is firing individually, and each tank has three chances.
…
Xiang Xiaoqiang watched the target practice of several tanks here. He hadn’t seen it for a while, and now the shooting level of the tank unit has improved significantly compared to last time. In this month of devilish training, the armored unit has improved in various aspects.
Ability has improved faster than in the past few months.
He looked like a god amid the rumble of artillery, and a voice from behind the armored vehicle shouted:
"Report!"
Xiang Xiaoqiang took off the binoculars and saw a messenger standing at attention under the armored vehicle.
"say!"
"Yes!" the messenger shouted amidst the sound of cannons that fired from time to time, "Your Excellency, General Guderian wants to know what business you are here for!"
Well, it seems that old Guderian also saw him. Xiang Xiaoqiang continued to hold up the telescope and looked at the target disk in the distance, without looking back, and said:
"Please ask General Guderian to come see me."
"yes!"
The messenger made a standard turn, ran and disappeared into the darkness.
After a while, the messenger's voice sounded from under the car again:
"Report sir! General Guderian is here!"
Xiang Xiaoqiang took off the binoculars and looked under the armored vehicle. In the darkness, a short, fat old German man with gray hair and a mustache under his nose stared at him.
Xiang Xiaoqiang supported the armor plate and turned over and jumped out of the car, looking at him with dignity. Guderian touched the heels of his shoes and saluted him. Xiang Xiaoqiang also saluted back.
If it were any other subordinate general, Xiang Xiaoqiang would definitely step forward with a smile, hold his hand, pat his arm, and greet him cordially for a while. But he knew Guderian very well and knew that this man was an old-fashioned man.
Old Prussian Noble Army
As an official, I was not used to this kind of "hypocritical" intimacy in Chinese style. Xiang Xiaoqiang tried it several times, but Guderian seemed a little disgusted. Xiang Xiaoqiang simply showed a serious face to get along with him. In this way, Guderian
On the contrary, it is more adaptable.
He gestured to Xiaoqiang and asked him to go aside to talk. The two of them walked and talked, followed by Hu Jiong as a confidant translator.
Xiang Xiaoqiang clasped his hands behind his back and walked slowly in the darkness. As he walked, he asked lightly:
"General Guderian, I am very curious about some of your training programs."
Guderian was also walking beside him with his hands behind his back, one foot deep and one foot shallow. He calmed down for a moment and said with a smile:
"Mr. Commander, you are referring to..."
"I mean crossing the river on the ice."
Xiang Xiaoqiang said straight to the point. Then he stopped, looked around and saw that there was no one else except Hu Jiong, then stared into Guderian's eyes and said:
"General Guderian, what are your considerations for training your troops to cross the river on ice?"
"oh."
"General Guderian, our Ming Dynasty's rivers do not freeze in winter. Although you have not been here long, you will know this with your professionalism."
Guderian smiled and raised his head. In the deep triangular eye sockets, a pair of small eyes shone cunningly.
"Mr. Commander," he said with a smile, "it seems that the information I collected is a little different from yours... The rivers in the Ming Dynasty sometimes freeze in winter."
Xiang Xiaoqiang was stunned, and the first thought in his mind was: Huh? Isn’t it possible? After a long time of fussing, I got a spark? Is it possible that the temperature in the 1930s was so low that the rivers in southern China would freeze?
Guderian nodded and affirmed again:
"Yes, Mr. Commander, I have collected all the geographical and climatic conditions of your country... within a range of fifty to one hundred kilometers south of the Yangtze River and one hundred fifty to two hundred kilometers west of the coastline.
Rivers also freeze in winter. Although they do not freeze every year, they freeze on average once every two and a half years. And some rivers freeze to such an extent that
Cars and light tanks can even be allowed to drive through... Mr. Commander, you see, this area is the part where the Qing army is most likely to invade, and it is also our main potential battlefield. The water network in this area is dense. If every river is
If we need to build a bridge, our mechanized troops will be severely constrained. Therefore, this kind of training is very necessary."
Xiang Xiaoqiang squinted his eyes and stared at this serious old man suspiciously. He seriously suspected that this little old man was talking nonsense. At least the winter when he came here was not so cold. Otherwise, he would have frozen to death in the Yangtze River.
He turned to look at Hu Jiong and asked:
"Is the winter in Jiangnan so cold?"
Hu Jiong smiled and said:
"Sir, it's almost the same. It will also freeze... But as General Guderian said, tanks can be driven on ice... I have never encountered such a cold winter in my whole life."
Xiang Xiaoqiang knew it, nodded, and smiled to Guderian:
"General Guderian, I don't care if someone revealed something to you or you guessed it yourself... I only care about how you explained it to the soldiers? Will it make the soldiers have some associations?"
Guderian said seriously:
"Mr. Commander, crossing the river on the ice is an event that I had to train when I was the director of the armored forces in Germany... Since your country invited me here, I will train the troops according to my own method, and there is no need to
Explanation. In our Germany, soldiers are not allowed to ask
There are so many 'whys'. As for what associations they have in their minds, that is their own business. However, if anyone expresses this association or questions my training methods under various excuses, he will be punished.
...This is the explanation the soldiers received."
Xiang Xiaoqiang laughed dumbly. After a while, he nodded and said with a smile:
"Okay, your explanation is very good... but I suggest you, Mr. General, it is best to let the soldiers think that this kind of ice training is just the result of the rigidity of the old German man's brain, and is not a specialized training for a certain purpose.
Training...so this kind of training does not need to be too much, it can be done incidentally...because you know..."
He lowered his voice and said:
"Even if we really need to cross the river on the ice during the battle, there are not that many rivers where we are going to fight... Do you understand what I mean?"
A flash of excitement flashed through Guderian's triangular eye sockets. He held Xiang Xiaoqiang's hand and lowered his voice and asked:
"Mr. Commander... you mean... I made a mistake in my judgment?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang did not answer directly, but smiled mysteriously:
"Mr. Guderian... I said that serving in Ming Dynasty will definitely give you something you can't get in Germany..."
The little old man grinned, and the mustache on his lips twitched.
Xiang Xiaoqiang lowered his face again and said harshly:
"If the news is leaked in advance, then I swear, you can only stay at home and watch us do it!"
…
That night, Xiang Xiaoqiang patrolled around the training ground for half the night, and then did not go to the dormitory of the sniper school. Instead, he simply spent the night lying on a hard bed in an armored command vehicle. The next day, he patrolled again.
After a morning of daytime training for the Armored Division, we ate a field lunch at noon and drove back to the headquarters in the city.
In the headquarters office, Qiu Qiu and Xiu Xiu had already stood upright, waiting for him with half joy and half grievance. This time, Xiang Xiaoqiang had been away from them for so many days, and they just came back to participate in the training of the captured officers and soldiers.
ceremony, and then went to the headquarters for a meeting, and then went to the Tangshan training ground. What’s even more outrageous was that he didn’t go home on the first night after returning...
Seeing his beloved wife, Xiang Xiaoqiang was also very excited. Behind him, Hu Jiong exited and closed the door with a wink. Xiang Xiaoqiang opened his arms with a smile. The two little girls immediately rushed over and got into his arms, almost
Knocked him to the ground.
Xiang Xiaoqiang held the two girls in his arms, patted and coaxed them, "three in one", and walked towards the desk with difficulty step by step.
After being intimate for a while, Xiuxiu felt that Xiang Xiaoqiang had something important to do, so she took the initiative to withdraw, tidied her hair and buttoned her clothes shyly. Qiu Qiu still stayed in his arms and refused to come out, so Xiang Xiaoqiang
He let her go, holding her in his arms and telling Xiuxiu with a smile:
"Xiuxiu, go to Zi Teng's place and give this to him..."
As he said that, Xiang Xiaoqiang took out two pieces of paper from his pocket, unfolded them and handed them to her, saying:
"These are two proofs. Zhang Liansheng was brutally killed, and all the people who signed the above were involved. You ask him to make arrangements and draw up an assassination plan to be carried out in Chifeng. All the sixteen people above will be killed, and there is no limit to the means."
After listening to such a gloomy order being uttered to Xiaoqiang, Qiu Qiu also got out of his arms, looked at the two of them with wide eyes, and took two more lists to look at.
Xiu Xiu also got together with Qiu Qiu, and they looked at the two certificates together.
Xiang Xiaoqiang ordered again:
"None of these people are senior military officers. The highest ranking is just a lieutenant colonel. The civilian level is not high either. There are no strict security measures. The assassination plan should not be complicated. But there is one thing you must remember: it must be done before
When the fourth batch of prisoners of war comes back, that is, after all our prisoners of war return, we will begin to carry out the assassination... This will leave enough time for Zi Teng."
Xiu Xiu took two certificates and said solemnly:
"yes!"
…
Xiuxiu turned around and went out. Xiang Xiaoqiang immediately asked Qiu Qiu to bring him yesterday's and today's newspapers. He mainly wanted to see what Zheng Yucong said at the press conference.
Xiang Xiaoqiang quickly browsed the front pages of several newspapers and quickly figured out the answer.
Whether it was Zheng Yucong or other officials, they only talked about how the Beiqing side made false claims, how they mistreated prisoners of war, Zhang Liansheng's brave behavior and how he was brutally killed. However, the number of captured Ming soldiers was more than 8,000, not more than 6,000.
Name, this most critical core message is not mentioned at all.
There were more than 8,000 prisoners of war at the beginning, but the Qing side has always concealed the true number from the Ming side, always saying that it was more than 6,000. This means that about 2,000 prisoners of war have been tortured to death in labor camps.
If this is revealed, it will cause outrage not only in Nanming but also internationally.
Xiang Xiaoqiang did not expect that they actually concealed this fact and did not say it at the press conference.
He flipped through other newspapers until he looked through all the newspapers in front of him, but could not find the words "Two thousand people died."
It can be seen that it has been concealed... As soon as this kind of news is revealed, it will definitely be on the front page. There is no need to look for it like this. But... why?
Xiang Xiaoqiang pinched his chin, wondering what was going on and who could put pressure on Princess Zheng to hold back the most outrageous thing at the press conference.