On the 11th and 12th, the entire base was busy. Almost all tanks and vehicles were undergoing maintenance. Technicians from the repair camp were running around, and fuel trucks also shuttled throughout the camp to provide all vehicles with fuel.
come on.
Except for the patrols who went out for reconnaissance, other soldiers were not allowed to leave the base. Including the tens of thousands of Qing soldiers who surrendered, they were also enclosed in several large camps, guarded by the Ming army, and were not allowed to go out. Fourteen grids were allocated
A company of Ming soldiers searched the luggage and packages of the Qing soldiers one by one to prevent anyone from carrying portable radios or radio callers.
Everyone can see that big action is about to take place.
At the same time, Shishigege has formulated a series of safety regulations, which will be strictly implemented starting from today:
Vendors and local people who were able to enter the camp at will are now not allowed to enter. The military police frequently patrol the outside of the camp and will stop any local vendors who want to sneak in. The food, fruits, and meat needed by the troops are all
Go to Dihua City and Chang by a dedicated person
Jicheng purchases them uniformly and has to test them. The drinking water for the troops remains unchanged. It is still a few water bubbles in the camp. The soldiers fetch water by themselves, boil it and drink it. However, there are military police guarding each water bubble 24 hours a day to prevent anyone from poisoning.
.And water samples must be taken for testing every day.
All day long on the 11th, there was extensive construction work around the base. Thousands of Qing soldiers, under the command of the Ming Army engineers, dug soil, cut down trees, and filled sandbags. Before dusk on the 11th, along the perimeter of the base,
On the cordon, dozens of log and sandbag machine gun bunkers and a dozen observation towers were built.
All vehicles and tanks in the camp are covered with military green canvas, and the artillery pieces are also covered with gun jackets to cover up their shapes so that no one can tell what kind of vehicle they are from a distance.
…
At eight o'clock in the evening on the 12th, there was a roar of engines in the base. In the beam of light swept by the searchlights, tanks, armored vehicles, assault guns, cars, motorcycles... almost all started up, lined up in a long queue, and drove out of the base.
It was already more than an hour after sunset, and it was completely dark. In a place where wolves are prevalent, as long as it gets dark, the locals will not go out in the wild. Plus yesterday, I wanted to do this
None of the vendors came in, so no one came to try it tonight.
There was not a single figure outside the base's security range. Searchlights scanned the mountains and plains outside the base, searching for suspicious figures. However, no one was found.
The Ming army now took advantage of the darkness and came out in full force. More than 150 of the 200 tanks were dispatched, more than 800 cars and more than 600 motorcycles were dispatched. Other armored vehicles, self-propelled artillery, towed artillery, etc.
Wait, more than two-thirds of the troops were dispatched. The entire base was deafening inside and outside, and even in Dihua City, which was only a kilometer away, the ground was shaking slightly.
A long line of car lights drove out of the base and headed northwest along the road, towards Manas County.
A few kilometers away on the slopes of the Tianshan Mountains, a shepherd was hiding in a tree, looking down the mountain with a small telescope. He could clearly see the direction of the convoy. But the car lights below were turning back and forth, and some were driving out.
Some drove in, and some stopped to form a formation. Hundreds of thousands of cars were in a mess. And he could only see the headlights of the cars. As for what kind of cars they were, using binoculars was useless. He couldn't count them even after counting them.
I can only roughly confirm that there are six or seven hundred, seven or eight hundred vehicles.
Then, he stuffed the small telescope into his arms and ran towards Dihua City down the mountain.
…
Xiang Xiaoqiang left Shi Shigege at the base, and he took Gao Dayi and the others to "camp out" himself. He and Gao Dayi stood next to the armored command vehicle, looking at the long queue of car lights that could not be seen in front and back, "rumbling"
The ground passed in front of me.
We are already about 30 kilometers away from the base. There is no village in front and no store in the back. Except for the car lights, the surrounding fields are completely dark, with only the moon above our heads.
A few dozen kilometers ahead is Manas County. Follow this road to the west for about 370 kilometers to Lake Aibi, which is close to the national border. From there, turn north and continue walking
After about 200 kilometers, you will enter the Tacheng area. Then from Tacheng, turn northeast for about 300 kilometers, and you will enter the home base of Altay and Erdenmutu.
The journey is more than 800 kilometers, and at an average speed of 20 kilometers per hour, it will take 40-50 hours. Of course, this does not include the time lost due to tank failure. If it is like the journey into Xinjiang, it will have to be delayed for several days.
.In addition, it is almost entirely an oasis area with rich water and grass, and continuous towns and residential areas. I am afraid that before the army has marched to Lake Aibi, Erdenmutu's scouting horses have already reported the news back to Altay.
However, this is exactly the effect Xiang Xiaoqiang wants.
Amidst the rumble of the engine, Gao Dayi looked at the luminous watch, and then shouted to Xiaoqiang:
"Sir, it's nine o'clock! It's almost time!"
He nodded to Xiaoqiang, waved with a smile, and climbed into another military truck with Gao Dayi. Behind him, Wu Yanbin climbed into the truck with a set of radios. Hu Jiong stayed on the armored command vehicle.
Then, the driver of the military truck turned the steering wheel and drove off the road. Immediately, countless pairs of lights on the front and rear also turned, drove off the road, and quickly formed another convoy on the grassland.
Soon, this armored division was divided into two groups. The large group was still traveling west along the road, and the small group was traveling northeast along the grassland, almost turning back. However, they were completely traveling on
On the grassland, keep a long distance from the road and avoid the villages you passed through when you came.
…
The spring night in northern Xinjiang is still bone-chilling. Under the pale moonlight, more than 500 military vehicles and wheeled self-propelled artillery are lined up in a long queue, bumping on the boundless prairie. The long car lights form a long queue,
Shaking in the dark.
Xiang Xiaoqiang sat in the carriage of a military truck, wrapped in his coat, and shuddered from time to time. But he was very excited, looking at the map under the flickering lantern, and studying the battle plan over and over again.
In fact, he has studied this battle plan countless times. He just can't sleep now.
"Sir," Gao Dayi said, "you should hurry up and get some sleep. I will be on duty in the first half of the night."
Wu Yanbin also advised:
"Yes, sir, please hurry up and get some sleep. We won't arrive until around four o'clock tomorrow morning."
Xiang Xiaoqiang was thinking about this exciting "decapitation operation" in his mind, and his ears were listening to the howls of wolves in all directions. He was so excited that he couldn't sleep. He shook his head and said with a smile:
"No, Dayi, you should go to sleep first. I will be on duty in the first half of the night, and I will call you at two or three o'clock. The fight will start in the morning, and you will be the main force at that time, haha."
Without any explanation, he ordered Gao Dayi to go to bed first. Xiang Xiaoqiang himself, leaning on the canvas cover of the carriage, his head shaking with the bumps, his thoughts had already flown to Altay, more than 600 kilometers away.
…
The 1st Armored Division was divided into two routes, one from the east and one to the north, bypassing the Kurbantunggut Desert, with the target being the Altay region at the northern end.
The west road is mainly filled with tanks and armored vehicles. They march slowly along the densely populated grassland route. It is basically a cover. It is to paralyze Erdenmutu and make him think that so many tanks will still be on the road for a few days.
, making him think that he had at least four to five days to organize a defense. Moreover, the direction of the defense was also to the west.
But the troops on the east route were all cars, all wheeled vehicles, not even a half-track. These more than 500 cars were the main force in the surprise attack. They had been inspected and maintained repeatedly in the past two days, and any vehicles with hidden faults were
All brush down, either stay at the base or follow
We went under the guise of the tank troops on the West Road. Among the more than 800 wheeled vehicles, more than 500 were selected in the best condition. The total distance from here to Altay is about 650 kilometers, which is nearly 200 kilometers longer than the West Road. But along the way
Almost all of it is the Great Gobi, no man's land, very suitable for sneak attacks.
Of the more than 500 cars, Xiang Xiaoqiang's request was that none of them should break down on the road. If it did break down, it would not slow down the car. He could only throw the car down and let the soldiers move to other vehicles.
In this way, at 100% the speed of the car convoy, we can rush to Altay in 14-15 hours. In other words, we can take advantage of dawn tomorrow to reach the city of Altay.