Behind a bush at the edge of the woods, Weiss held a telescope and watched intently at the "enemy situation" several kilometers away. A red-flagged second-class cruiser landed in the open space between the river and the coal pile, a group of workers in black overalls were using mechanical conveyor belts to fill the flying battleship's coal bunkers, and several workers in the same outfit were pumping water through hoses to the flying battleship with a pumping machine driven by an internal combustion engine......

Nikolai came to Weiss's side lightly and whispered, "How's it going?" ”

Weiss handed him the telescope: "Uh, a good news, a bad news, which one to listen to first?" ”

Nikolai did not hesitate: "Listen to the bad news first." ”

"There are about 100 defenders and 30 workers at this remote coal and water station, and a corvette comes every 4-5 hours to refuel, staying for 2-3 hours each time, with only 2 hours in between, which means that we have very little time to operate if we want to attack this coal and water station."

Nikolai held up the binoculars: "What about the good news?" ”

Weiss grinned: "It is estimated that because this coal and water replenishment station is far away from the combat zone, and their aviation unit occupies an advantage on the battlefield, the soldiers' vigilance is relatively lax, and their four air defense positions are far apart, and they can still respond to each other during the day, and after nightfall, as long as they do not make a loud noise, the soldiers on the other air defense positions will not notice that there is an abnormality in a certain position." ”

Since arriving here before dawn, Weiss has been carefully observing the refueling and refueling station specially set up for flying ships for a small half day. There were 4 anti-aircraft positions in the vicinity, each with 2-3 light anti-aircraft guns, 6 soldiers per crew, 70-80 gunners, plus the soldiers on patrol, the total number of combatants was about 100, and there were 30 non-combatants responsible for refueling coal and water.

In this era when the development of steam engines is highly mature and internal combustion engine technology is in the ascendant, flying ships of various countries use coal-fired boilers and reciprocating steam engines as the main power, and more than half of the output of the power system is used to convert the power for the buoyancy generated by the star source stone. An 800T-class second-class frigate, usually carrying about 100T of coal, with a normal cruising consumption of 0.5-0.8T coal per hour, can maintain 5-6 days of continuous flight, if it is a combat mission, then about 2 days to replenish coal. Due to the characteristics of the cruiser's short endurance and high attendance rate, when conducting large-scale combat operations, a number of coal-fueling and water-replenishing stations are usually set up between the front line and the large rear, and battleships and cruisers, which are flying ships with large tonnage and strong self-sustaining power, may only patronize such temporary supply points under very special circumstances.

Weiss's strengthened squad now has a total of 50 cadets. If the surprise attack is successful, according to the 1:3 exercise battle loss ratio, the coal and water replenishment station can be captured at the cost of 30-40 casualties, and then 130 enemy officers and soldiers can be captured to participate in the battle nameplate - each officer and soldier participating in the exercise has a nameplate indicating his identity, and the nameplate can be taken away by the "killed" opponent, so as to obtain the corresponding exercise points. 10 points for ordinary soldiers, 20-30 points for non-commissioned officers, 40-100 points for officers, and only 2-5 points for ordinary auxiliaries. According to rough estimates, the exercise score of these 130 "enemy troops" was about 1,500 points, and the average score of each squad member was 30 points, and after the first stage of head-to-head combat between the two sides, many units had an average score of more than 50 per capita, and there were not a few who collectively averaged more than 100, which meant that even if Weiss's team successfully raided this coal and water station, it was not enough to get a third-class meritorious service.

War is not a simple calculation of scores, and the same is true of exercise grounds. A frontal assault by 50 men on a 130-man coal and water replenishment station did not necessarily result in a 1 to 3 battle damage ratio. If you give full play to local advantages, for example, 50 people first attack the anti-aircraft artillery position stationed with 20 people, with the superposition effect of surprise attack + encirclement, you can achieve a battle loss ratio of 1 to 5, if you do not annihilate and force the other party to surrender, although the score is halved, but you do not need to reduce your own personnel.

According to this calculation, if you seize the coal and water replenishment station under extreme conditions, you can get seven or eight hundred points without losing one person.

The first exciting battle in the Hollywood war drama "Band of Brothers" is the destruction of the German artillery position behind the beach by B Company, which is deeply etched in Weiss's mind. Therefore, he devised a night attack plan to surround and raid the four artillery positions of the "enemy" one by one. Command the anti-aircraft guns, then concentrate the artillery fire, destroy a second-class cruiser, and then escape into the woods and retreat lightly.

Based on the extreme disadvantage of the ground force against the flying force, if you damage or destroy a flying ship, you can get a combat tonnage *10 exercise score, and if you capture a ship, you can not only get the basic score of combat tonnage *20, but also score according to the crew killed or captured. In previous years' exercises, there was an example of an infantry battalion capturing a first-class cruiser, and they got 40,000+ exercise accumulations in one go, which alone is enough to get a first-class meritorious service!

Hearing Weiss say the battle plan he envisioned, Nikolai frowned: "Will there be fraud?" ”

"You mean to say that the 'enemy' has deliberately set up an ambush here?" Weiss asked.

Nikolai nodded: "They captured our companions, and it is likely that they learned from them about our escape from the round-up, as well as the battle plan we originally set, so as to judge our general direction and direction." In order to lure us to take the initiative, we deliberately put on the illusion of lax vigilance. ”

Weiss shook his head and said, "But I have carefully observed, there are no ambushes here, and all the enemies are in front of us." If it's an ambush, there should be a corresponding deployment. ”

Nikolai had seen the magic of Weiss's eyes, and he thought, "All right! I trust your judgment, so do it! ”

Weiss was not in a hurry to gather the cadets for deployment, and after a night of marching and staying up here for another morning, he was already physically and mentally exhausted. In order not to affect his judgment due to his tired mental state, he asked Nikolai to continue to monitor the place in his place, found a sheltered place for himself, and slept wrapped in a blanket.

When he woke up again, it was almost dusk, and for half a day of Nikolai's observation, the coal and water replenishment station in his sight was still operating in accordance with the rules, and there was no abnormal situation. Therefore, Weiss decided to carry out the night attack plan, he summoned the five detachment commanders who originally belonged to the 1st Squadron, together with the detachment commanders who joined later, elaborated on his analysis and settings, speculated on the various situations that might be encountered in the operation, and focused on the considerable prospect of "shooting down the enemy's flying battleship", which made the six detachment commanders all have bright eyes and eager to try.

Unlike the previous surprise attack on the defenders of Stone Bridge, Weiss chose to start after midnight, so except for the cadets who took turns to stand guard, everyone spent the first half of the night recuperating. As it approached midnight, everyone had a full meal—though they were eating unheated field rations, which were cold, hard, and unpleasant, but they were strong enough to keep them energized and energetic for the rest of the night and the next morning.

The first target of the operation was the anti-aircraft artillery position located in the southwest corner of the coaling and water replenishment station, which was next to the woods, and three anti-aircraft guns were laid in a triangular shape, judging from the appearance outline, two were medium-caliber rapid-fire guns and one was a small-caliber machine gun. Thanks to the year-round and rigorous military curriculum at the Basen Military Academy, the second-year cadets are equipped to operate rapid-fire guns, while the third-year cadets can play with almost all the standard weapons of the Ulster Free Federal Army.

Even in the middle of the night, the attackers' cruisers continued to land to replenish coal and fresh water, and the machines powering the conveyor belts and pumping machines continued to rumble, providing a shield for the night raiders' movements. Weiss used his "keen eye" to survey the exact distribution of the gunners, and then made detailed arrangements and arrangements to the detachment commanders. After the operation began, he asked Nikolai to take two detachments to wait for the opportunity to move behind, and he personally led four detachments to surround the target on all sides, and after all the detachments were in place, he took the lead, holding the "Grumman burning stick" into the enemy position, and led the 1st detachment to directly take down the only soldier on duty on the position, and shouted in a deep voice: "You have been captured!" Don't move! Don't scream! ”

The soldier was covered by three cadets, held his hands and feet, and stared at Weiss with a pair of stunned eyes.

Weiss turned his back to the enemy flying ship that was refueling and replenishing water, quickly unscrewed and then turned off the flashlight, and went back and forth twice, signaling the other three squads to enter the position synchronously, and cleanly controlled the 17 gunners who were sleeping soundly in the bunker, some wanted to resist, some struggled hard, and some desperately made some noise, but the two fists were hard to beat the four legs, they quickly recognized the situation, and in order to avoid suffering more flesh and skin, they all accepted the status quo obediently.

In less than three minutes, 18 gunners and 3 anti-aircraft guns were all trophies of Weiss's squad.

"Guys, I'm sorry to disturb your rest, but I regret to inform you that you have become our captives. The situation is clear, you have no choice, and there is no chance to resist, when the operation is over, I will release you, during this period, you should follow the rules of the exercise, and there must be no transgression, otherwise, even if you bear the infamy of 'killing prisoners', I will take away your nameplate for participating in the war! ”

After a brief conversation with the captured soldiers, Weiss assigned a squad to guard the "captives" and operate the artillery, and then led the remaining squad to the next target, giving them a verbal warning after each success.

The first, the second, the third, and finally the fourth, Weiss and his companions quickly captured all four anti-aircraft gun positions, and the whole process went unexpectedly smoothly, and after the detachments aimed the muzzles of the anti-aircraft guns at the cruiser in the field, Weiss lit the red fireworks signal stick, raised it with one hand, and strode towards it......