On the shunting yard of the marshalling station, the prison train has been marshalled, lying on the rails, puffing out steam, waiting for the departure order.
There were five cars attached to the back of the locomotive, two guard passenger cars, a fourteen-compartment luxury box, a freight car (prisoner of war prison car), and an ordinary passenger car.
A long military column had just arrived from the north, pulling flatbed trucks with artillery and anti-aircraft guns fixed with steel cables and covered with canvas.
Hundreds of soldiers cheered and jumped off the military column. The leading officer wanted to requisition all the empty wagons at Jinan Station, add coal and water, and stand on the ground to cook for the brothers.
Now the tranquility of the station has completely disappeared. It has turned into a mess. Tianjin accent, Beijing accent, Zhili accent and Guanwai accent are everywhere. They are noisy, swearing and almost quarreling with the people on the station.
"It's such a mess on the station," Xiang Xiaoqiang looked out from the front of the car and smiled, "it's helped us a lot. We just want to be messy now, and the messier it is, the better we can get through it."
Li Changgui nodded and said:
"On the first day after the Qing Dynasty mobilized, the chaos was like this. If there is a real fight, I don't know what the chaos will be like."
Xiang Xiaoqiang said:
"Not necessarily. I think this new emperor is quite courageous. It has only been less than twelve hours since he took the throne, and only about ten hours since the general mobilization. The first military column has already moved south. The military potential of the Northern Qing Dynasty is huge.
It would be scary to be completely mobilized."
As he spoke, he squinted his eyes and looked behind the long military column. Far behind, in the blur of snow and mist, there was a flatbed truck. It was much longer and taller than the other flatbed trucks. It had iron escalators and
The iron railing seems to have a simple pulley crane.
It was covered with a large, tight canvas, and several soldiers with rifles stood on it, cuffs rolled up, stamping their feet, as if they were freezing, but they didn't dare to come down.
Li Changgui was also looking at that special flatbed truck, squinting his eyes and muttering:
"It's so long, who can pull it?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang swallowed and murmured:
"It should be a train gun."
"Train...train...cannon..." Li Changgui repeated in surprise, "Train gun...I never heard that Qinglu had such a thing..."
Xiang Xiaoqiang guessed:
"If they didn't have it before, they probably bought it from the Soviet Union... The Soviet Union is known as the world's largest armored train power, and it has many train guns..."
Li Changgui almost forgot to shovel coal and said blankly:
"The Qing Dynasty's train cannon was discovered at Jinan Station... Then we must report it back quickly! With this thing here, Nanjing will not be safe!"
Xiang Xiaoqiang said coldly:
"Nanjing is not safe to begin with. If the Qing army wanted to bombard Nanjing, they couldn't use train artillery. Ordinary artillery would do... What's really serious is that if such a guy moved to the north bank, not only Nanjing, but also Suzhou, Wuxi, and Shanghai
Within range."
In fact, he knew in his heart that although this kind of giant cannon has a long range, its rate of fire is extremely slow. It takes dozens of minutes to fire one, and the number is one or two at most. If it really wants to bombard the big cities in the Yangtze River Delta, the damage will be limited. Mainly
The effect is to bring panic.
The real danger is not to bomb the big cities, but to use them to bomb the Yangtze River defense line. Although Xiang Xiaoqiang is not superstitious about defense lines, he also knows from Qiu Qiu that the Yangtze River defense line in the Ming Dynasty was extremely strong and could play a strong defensive role.
.
Although it is called the "Yangtze River Defense Line", in fact, the western and central parts are mainly mountain defense lines, mainly defense lines in the Hengduan Mountains, Daxue Mountains, Daba Mountains, Daxue Mountains, Dabie Mountains and other high mountains and mountains, mainly relying on the terrain, and the mountain defense lines are recognized as easy to defend
Difficult to attack.
The plain area east of the Dabie Mountains is the real river defense line. It is only separated by the Yangtze River and is a vulnerable area. The fortifications in this section are also the strongest. The cement roofs of some major fortifications are several meters thick. Ordinary artillery shells can penetrate
Impenetrable.
But if this kind of huge cannon with a caliber of 200 or 300 millimeters is specially deployed to hit the Yangtze River defense line, it would be really dangerous.
…
"I don't know what caliber it is and what its range is."
Xiang Xiaoqiang muttered. Looking at this length, the range is not close.
However, we can also see the level of chaos when the Qing army was first mobilized. Strategic weapons such as train guns should be hidden, or at least parked outside the station, but they actually drove into Jinan Station, with noisy and in full view of everyone.
He was spotted away by these "Nan Ming spies".
The military police who originally lined up on the platform to monitor the escorting of the fourteenth compartment and the prison car were now busy maintaining order and driving away the soldiers who were running around.
After struggling for more than an hour, a company of military police lined up in front of the prison train. The leading company commander ran from the front of the car to the back, and then from the back to the front. Only then did he notice an officer named Xiang Xiaoqiang, standing at attention:
"Sir, the first company of the Gendarmerie Battalion of the Jinan Garrison Headquarters has completed its formation and is responsible for escorting this train. Please allow me to get on the train! ... Well, sir, are you the commander of this train?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang pointed behind him:
"The commander is Commander Miyamoto. He is the new commander of our stick-stick department. Go find him!"
The company commander saluted and ran to the back.
Xiang Xiaoqiang and Li Changgui both had drums beating in their chests. They wondered if the new chief of Sticking Branch could be fooled by this little Japanese. They all had complete Sticking Branch IDs, and they were arrested once and fought twice, but it was useless.
They had never met anyone from the Qing army. Those who had seen their faces in the Xuzhou Niangan Disposal Office were all killed. There was only one person left who had seen them, and that was Shi Shigege.
She was locked in a box at the back. But she wouldn't be allowed to come out and recognize someone for no reason.
"Seventeen Princess spent a day with us," Li Changgui said worriedly, "She must have informed a group of Ming Dynasty elements who were pretending to be sticky sticks."
Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded:
"So we have to make a bet. If there is no such thing as purging the captives and changing the emperor, we will be in great danger. But now, let alone escorting the female prisoners of the Ming Dynasty to Beijing, I guess it is not just escorting the fourteenth princess to Beijing.
What's going on? Their new emperor has just come to power, and with the nationwide mobilization, this is a big deal. Military and police officers everywhere are worried about their future, not knowing whether they will stay in their positions or whether they will be purged. You
Look, there is a commotion everywhere now, and they are busy expanding their armaments and preparing for war, and mobilizing troops and supplies. Therefore, we bet that no one will care about them and will not take care of them."
At first glance, this sounds very risky, but Li Changgui stayed in the Qing Dynasty for a long time, and he is well aware of the gap created by the Qing Dynasty's pushback and excessive personnel. Now that the throne has changed and two major events have been mobilized, the country is in chaos. Even if some people doubt them,
They also have excellent certificates. Even if someone is really responsible and doubts the authenticity of the certificate, he can call Beijing to check. Xiang Xiaoqiang even doubts whether anyone will answer his call and help him with such trivial matters.
…
There was a commotion in the box at the back. The two people looked up and saw a person being carried out. He seemed to be dead.
"Fifteen Gege committed suicide! The gunshot just now!" Li Changgui whispered excitedly, "Now it's better, no one has seen us anymore! And no one cares about our train!"
"No, Changgui, that looks like a man."
Soon, the military police company commander ran over, his face turned pale with fright:
"Sir...sir, your Chief Miyamoto...is dead!"
"How did you die?!"
"It seems...it seems that he was shot to death by Shi Shigege."
Xiang Xiaoqiang and Li Changgui looked at each other.
The military police company commander was frightened. Under his protection, the newly-appointed top commander of the sticky pole was beaten to death. Everyone knew how serious this matter was. The company commander's face became like a dead man, and he only felt that his head was
It can't be saved anymore.
Xiang Xiaoqiang thought it was an opportunity. With a livid face, he jumped out of the car and looked at the body. He walked around in circles for a few times. His face became increasingly ugly.
The surrounding military policemen stared at him in fear. His commander must be in trouble, and he didn't know what would happen to him.
"what's your name?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang stared at him and said.
The company commander shook him twice, with an expression of resignation:
"Zhou Decai."
"Hey, Brother Zhou," Xiang Xiaoqiang sighed and patted Zhou Decai on the shoulder, "Forget it, I don't blame you for this. The former chief of the Sticky Branch killed the successor. It was an internal matter within our Sticky Branch.
.Oh, please stop getting involved."
When Zhou Decai heard that the captain of the stick-stick department had taken over all the responsibilities, he felt as if he had been granted amnesty and expressed his gratitude:
"Thank you, sir, thank you, sir... Sir, you have saved our brothers..."
Waved to Xiaoqiang:
"Okay, now that I have the highest military rank here and am in the sticky post, I will be in charge of this train."
"Ah? This..."
"Well, if there is a problem, forget it. Then you can take responsibility, or you can tell the superiors and ask them to send another commander to escort the vehicle."
"No, no," Zhou De just saved his life and refused to take the blame for the matter. He kept saying, "Sir, it is best and most appropriate for you to take charge...Then I will let the brothers get on the bus."
Nodding to Xiaoqiang, there was a burst of joy in his heart. He didn't expect that what he thought would come to him. He didn't know why Shi Shigege wanted to kill Miyamoto Hachibei, but her shot was so good that it killed the train.
The command has been given to him. It turned out that his plan was to blend in with the train and follow it out of the station. But now he has to act according to the situation. Now he is the highest officer of this train, and he can take the initiative to arrange many things.
.
He looked at the platform. He had a stomachache and was wearing a sticky military uniform. He was wandering around like a ghost. His eyes were like hooks, staring at the military police. The military police were made uncomfortable by his stare. He was there like a human being and a dog.
After walking around all night, no one dared to come forward and ask.
Xiang Xiaoqiang arranged for his stomachache to wait there for the signal. The truck was outside the marshalling yard, and all the team members were on it. If Xiang Xiaoqiang didn't find an excuse to let them get on the train until the train started, then the team members would have to drive there in their cars.
Next to the railway outside the station, I waited for the opportunity to pick up the train.
But it's different now. One shot from Shi Shigege has turned Xiang Xiaoqiang into a commander.
He waved directly to Xiaoqiang, called him over for stomachache, and then asked him to go outside and call all the team members over.
"There is no way," Xiang Xiaoqiang took out a cigarette, and Zhou Decai hurriedly lit it for him. "This basket is too big, and I can't carry it alone. In addition, I will ask a few more brothers to come over and escort Gege back to Beijing together.
We are all bannermen, so we should look after Gege along the way. Alas, she is our Gege after all."
Zhou Decai nodded in agreement with a look of emotion on his face.
…
A group of people came over carrying handbags on their shoulders. Suitcases, military rucksacks, canvas bags, and machine guns wrapped in oilcloth...
Zhou Decai looked at it in a daze. In such a short time, he had packed up all the big and small bags? What is that long thing?
Xiang Xiaoqiang was also dizzy: I said to you guys, wouldn’t you just throw away a few things? Wouldn’t that arouse suspicion...
What’s even more amazing is that in the back, Uncle Snail is carrying a little lolita on his shoulders, his hands are tied behind his back, and his mouth is stuffed with cloth. He kicks his feet wildly, shakes his head, and screams "Uh-huh" desperately...
All the soldiers, military police, and railway employees at the station stared at this scene with their mouths open, and many of them were still rubbing their eyes.