(The title of this chapter is "David's Iron Rider (I)", the hand shake is mistyped, and it cannot be changed after uploading, apologize and correct)

Tel Aviv at night is not as busy and noisy as it is during the day. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoThe lights on the shore and the stars in the sky are quietly reflected on the water, and the lights and stars will merge into beautiful floral ripples when a ship passes by.

At this time, if you look at the heavy cargo dock on the south side of the harbor, the atmosphere suddenly changes. Through the bright dock lights, a long-arm crane can be seen hoisting one large creature after another, with its canvas-wrapped upper part and tractor-like tracks and load-bearing wheels at the bottom, from the cabin to the flatbed car of the freight train, the operators all with serious expressions, surrounded by armed Jewish militiamen......

In a two-story building adjacent to the docks, Erhard Milch, dressed in an old German Army uniform, was signing documents under a lamp, and at his desk stood a tall, thin young man with no coat of arms and a khaki uniform without any insignia, and on a sofa by the window sat a man in a black top hat and a black suit who looked to be less than forty years old.

Once Milch had signed the papers, the tall, thin young man carefully handed one of them to the man on the couch with a high nose and deep eye sockets. The man briefly flipped through the papers, quickly put them in the briefcase he carried with him, and raised his eyes: "Happy cooperation, General Milch!" ”

Mirch didn't say anything, but nodded at the young man. When the young man had left the room, he silently went to the wine cabinet, poured half a glass of wine for the guest and for himself, and said as he went: "The world says that Jews are good at business, but it seems to me that you Irishmen are many times more savvy than Jews!" A tank that left the factory in 1930, served for 10-12 years and mothballed for 6-8 years, during which it was sold to us for a sky-high price of 300,000 marks, and we not only do not feel at a loss, but we also want to be grateful to you for your helping hand in our very difficult time! ”

The man in a black suit took the wine glass from Milch and took a sip with a smile: "Indeed, 300,000 marks is enough for you to buy new tanks produced in recent years from Austria-Hungary, Italy, Sweden or the French - well, the Marceau-50 produced in France is particularly good, and the Skoda-1940 of Austria-Hungary is also good, but none of the above countries can provide you with their new tanks and supporting technology in batches, and none of them will send you elite marines, so, We are your only choice! ”

Milch shook his glass: "No, actually...... Not exactly. In the international arms market, in addition to the official channels, there is also a channel called smuggling, as long as there is money, there are almost no goods that smugglers cannot buy, and there are many qualified professional mercenaries. But...... It is difficult for smugglers to provide long-term, stable, and complete personnel training and equipment maintenance to buyers, and professional mercenaries are suitable for small-scale operations, and it is often difficult for them to meet the requirements of large-scale military operations, which you have an unbeatable advantage. ”

The man grinned and raised his glass: "So, happy cooperation, General Milch!" ”

Milch smiled wryly: "Yes, I wish us a happy cooperation, honorable Colonel Meyer." ”

After clinking glasses, Milch took a sip, and the man squinted at his old colleague and teased, "Don't be discouraged, General Milch, each of these 'heavy infantry' entrusted to you is a trustworthy warrior, and since I and my team are in Palestine, we will definitely help you at a critical time." ”

Hearing this, Milch's expression did soften a lot, although he had no contact with the Colonel Meyer in front of him, he had heard of this man's name ten years ago - the media called him "an extraordinarily fanatical war element" and a "killing machine with no regard for life", while the German military gave him a fair evaluation of "a brilliant armored commander".

Meyer joined the German Army cavalry at the age of 18 and was admitted to the German Panzer Academy at the age of 20, graduating with first honors two years later and joining the prestigious German 1st Guards Panzer Division. A few months later, World War II broke out, the 1st Guards Panzer Division sat on the Eastern Front, in order to get the opportunity to participate in the actual battle, Meyer took the initiative to apply for transfer to the 5th Panzer Division, and then landed in the United Kingdom with the army, and successively participated in Newcastle, Sheffield and many other vicious battles, with outstanding performance won the Gold Service Medal and the Iron Cross of the First Class. After the Battle of Britain, Meyer applied for transfer to the American Expeditionary Corps, participated in the combat operations against Cuba and the Florida Peninsula, and exchanged his proud military exploits for the Order of the Red Eagle, 3rd class. After the end of the war, the young officer, who was unwilling to live a peaceful life, went to Persia under the Ottoman Empire as a military instructor to assist the Turkish army against the Persian forces secretly supported by Soviet Russia. In 1938, Meyer was unusually promoted to major, becoming the youngest non-royal officer in Germany.

Unfortunately, this rising military star got into big trouble because of his usual bravery and fierce style: during an attack on Persian militants, he ordered the shelling of a village containing Persian militants, resulting in the death of dozens of civilians, which was reported by military correspondents, causing a humanitarian storm. Under intense pressure from both home and abroad, the German military court finally found Meyer guilty of manslaughter and sentenced him to three years' imprisonment and deprivation of military service. After being released from prison in 1941, Meyer joined the Irish Foreign Regiment on the recommendation of his former colleagues, first as a staff officer in the "Viking" battalion, and then because of his outstanding skills in the Irish Army's autumn exercises in 1942, he was favored and valued by the Irish high-level, and was immediately hired as a special instructor at the Irish Armoured Forces Academy and a technical adviser to the Irish Army Armoured Corps. In 1944, the "Viking" battalion was reorganized from a mechanized infantry battalion to an armored battalion, and Meyer served as the commander of the battalion, successfully building the unit into a first-class armored elite with combat effectiveness. In two exercises in the spring and autumn of 1945, the "Viking" battalion showed a performance comparable to that of the Irish front-line armored troops, and thus won the honorary title of the ace battalion of the Irish Foreign Regiment. Later, when the situation in the Pacific became tense, Ireland was invited by the United States to send foreign reinforcement troops to serve as senior sparring partners and wartime reserves, and the "Viking" battalion was one of them. In the Philippine campaign, although the battalion did not get the opportunity to display its skills, the excellent quality it displayed in its daily training exercises was highly affirmed by the US side.

After the arrival of the "Mohammed" battalion in Palestine as an advance force, several other battalions of the Irish Foreign Legion would also embark on a foreign journey, and this time Meyer took his battalion headquarters to Tel Aviv by boat, both to escort the delivery of chariot equipment purchased by Jews and to train chariot crews for Jewish militias in Palestine.

Outside the window, the train laden with cargo finally slowly leaves the heavy cargo terminal, and the 80 combat vehicles that have completed the delivery procedures will be transported to the tractor assembly plant in Tel Aviv's northern district. Of the 80 vehicles, 28 are 16-ton "Patrol" light tanks, and the remaining 52 are 34-ton heavy tanks nicknamed "heavy infantry". In the early 30s, the Irish-made "heavy infantry" was a rather eye-catching land weapon, although the road speed was only 25 kilometers per hour, the off-road speed was about 15 kilometers, but the thickness of the armor in its main parts reached 72-82 mm, coupled with the use of inclined armor design, the protection ability was the best in that era, and its armament of 50 times the diameter of the 75 mm gun, within a kilometer can penetrate all the combat vehicles at that time, so it was regarded as a tactical weapon for the defense of the homeland by the Irish high-level.

After the collapse of the British Empire, the likelihood of an invasion of Ireland suddenly changed from "very large" to "very small". With the transformation of the national defense strategy, the "heavy infantry" production line was shut down one by one, and its ownership dropped from 446 at its peak in 1933 to 165 in 1942, and only a small number of improvements were made in ten years without upgrading or replacing the model, but the Japanese-Soviet War in 1942-1944 showed the world the considerable power of the tactics of large armored aircraft groups, and the Irish Army took the lead in December 1943 to launch a new generation of medium standardized combat vehicles "Irish Leopard" for the Western Allied camp. As soon as the prototype was displayed, it caused a sensation in military circles. In the following six months, the Irish received orders for 780 vehicles, with a total purchase contract value of 234 million marks, and personnel training and maintenance contracts worth tens of millions of marks.

In October 1944, the heavy tank "Irish Tiger" was first introduced. Although it is widely regarded as an upgrade of the "heavy infantry", the "Irish Tiger" is not a simple enlargement and enhancement of the "heavy infantry". First of all, the "Irish Tiger" received a completely new design suspension system, six pairs of medium-diameter load-bearing wheels and two-pin tracks, which got rid of the shortcomings of the "big and stupid" heavy tank. Secondly, the large two-man turret is equipped with a 50-fold diameter 105mm rifled gun, an incredibly powerful tank gun equipped with a smoke extractor and stabilizer, as well as an optional active infrared night vision device. In addition, the armor thickness of the frontal armor of the turret of the "Irish Tiger" reached 100 mm, the inclined armor of the turret and body was optimized, and armored skirts were installed on both sides of the hull. The combat effectiveness of such an "Irish Tiger" has been increased by a factor compared to that of the "heavy infantry"!

In approaching the new United Kingdom's top brass, the Jews wanted to bring in the "Irish Leopard" and the "Irish Tiger", two powerful pieces of equipment that had recently entered service, and General Milch and his assistants had even calculated the amount of equipment to defeat the Arab countries - 40 "Irish Leopards" or 30 "Irish Tigers" would be enough to keep any Arab armed force away from the Palestinian areas with relative air supremacy! The well-funded Zionists were willing to increase the price of these two tanks by 20 to 30 per cent on the basis of the price of the two tanks purchased by the Western Allies, but the new United Kingdom had given assurances to the German Government, which had ordered the Irish Leopard and the Irish Tiger in bulk, that they would only supply the Western Allies with these two high-quality land weapons for six years. In addition, the "Irish Leopard" and "Irish Tiger" not only greatly surpass the "Celtic Warrior" series and "Heavy Infantry" vehicles in terms of performance, but also have a lot of difficulty and maintenance requirements, and they are not 100% effective in the hands of rookies. As a result, the Irish military enthusiastically recommended various upgraded versions of the "Celtic warriors" and the old and sturdy "heavy infantry" to the Jews, not only giving preferential treatment, but also providing free operation and maintenance training. Although the Jews were a little reluctant, they weighed the cost-effectiveness of various equipment and finally accepted the "kindness" of the Irish.

(End of chapter)