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Chapter 1406 The Tank Division of Terror

August 21, Nanjing. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

A black Syrian "Venus" brand three-door luxury bulletproof car, under the escort of a total of 14 black off-road vehicles in the front nine and five back, slowly drove out of the gate of the country, drove to the right, passed Qingliang, Xuanwu Lake, and then went out of the Peace Gate, turned west, and drove towards the Lion Rock Fort.

Chiang Kai-shek sat in the car and closed his eyes, his complexion did not look very good, his thin cheeks were a little blue, and his slightly puffy eye circles showed signs of exhaustion and lack of sleep. Song Meiling sat silently beside Chiang Kai-shek, her face slightly haggard, she sometimes looked out the window absentmindedly, and sometimes stared worriedly at her strong and thin husband who was in danger of the safety of the country and the nation.

The car jolted heavily, and Chiang Kai-shek opened his eyes and asked, "Have you arrived at the Xiaguan wharf?" ”

Song Meiling shook her head slightly: "Not yet." By the way, Darling, I have a question, why did you think of going to the dock to personally welcome the New Second Army across the river? ”

Chiang Kai-shek rubbed his face and tried to make himself more energetic: "Zhang Wenbai can't fight, and he buried the three tank companies that he had worked hard to run in the Lend-Lease ...... I heard that the tank division of the New Second Army is equipped with a large number of new tanks independently developed by Syria, so I want to see with my own eyes and understand the gap between our central armored forces and An Yi's tank troops, so that we can make up for them in time and catch up as soon as possible. ”

Song Meiling was a little surprised, and her beautiful eyes flowed: "The tanks of Xiaoyi's tank troops are more advanced than the tanks in the center?" It can't be, right? ”

Chiang Kai-shek held Song Meiling's hand and patted her on the back of her white hand: "I don't know very well, the last time the New Second Army went north to Bengbu, we were still in Lushan, this time Xu Yuexiang asked me to come and see for myself anyway." Although the enemy has reached a tacit understanding with our side and has ceased fighting on their own, the call for an expansion of the war in their country has been loud and loud, and I have always had nightmares in the past two days, dreaming that the Shanghai army was defeated like a mountain, and the enemy army was approaching the city of Nanjing, carrying out a brutal massacre. I was terrified to see the bleak scene of the capital being filled with blood and mourning, but I could not do anything about it. Now I just need something to avoid evil, if the new Second Army is really as Xu Yuexiang said, it is estimated that I can sleep well. ”

When Song Meiling heard the word "massacre", her heart tightened: "Darling, you also have such a nightmare?" I don't know why in the past two days, but I always dreamed of the devil killing people in Nanjing. One of the scenes I remember very well was that the enemy first ordered about hundreds of Chinese to dig a pit, drove all the people into it after digging the pit, and then set up a machine gun to shoot them, and after shooting them, buried them in the soil and walked away. I was constantly awakened by this horrific scene! ”

Chiang Kai-shek turned his head in surprise and glanced at Song Meiling, both of whom saw a trace of fear in the other party's eyes.

......

Shimonoseki Wharf, the road is crowded with people. Hearing that the Anjia Army was heading south to Songhu, the citizens of Nanjing, who were in urgent need of psychological comfort, gathered here and vied to witness the majesty of the Anjia Army's tank troops.

The military police unit and the officers and men of the special service regiment of the New Second Army, who were responsible for maintaining order, had already cleared the road, and Chiang Kai-shek's convoy easily entered the dock area and stopped in front of a two-story building.

Under the escort of the guards, Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Meiling got out of the car one after another, walked into the building, came to the window of the river, and looked into the distance by the railing, only to see the Pukou wharf on the north bank, and the shadow of the ship was longing, knowing that soon the tank division of the New Second Army would cross the Yangtze River.

At this time, Lieutenant General Xu Tingyao, commander of the Central Armored Corps, strode into the house, came to Chiang Kai-shek's side, and was about to stand up and salute, when Chiang Kai-shek smiled and waved his hand, signaling that he was not polite, pulled him to point to the other side of the river, and asked: "How many tanks are there in the tank division of the New Second Army?" ”

Xu Tingyao respectfully reported: "The new Second Army is a tank division completely organized in accordance with the German armored forces, with two tank regiments, an anti-tank infantry regiment, an anti-aircraft artillery regiment, a special service regiment, an engineer regiment, a repair battalion, a logistics support battalion, an armored reconnaissance company, and a communications company. Among them, each tank regiment has 75 medium tanks, the anti-tank infantry regiment has 80 armored vehicles, the anti-aircraft artillery regiment has 88 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, 20 quadruple Zhongzheng-5 machine gun self-propelled artillery vehicles, the special service regiment has 30 armored vehicles, and the armored reconnaissance company has 10 armored vehicles. ”

Chiang Kai-shek gasped when he heard this: "Speaking of which, this tank division alone has 150 tanks and 120 armored vehicles, what does that self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery and artillery vehicle mean?" ”

Xu Tingyao said: "I don't know very well, it is said that it is an anti-aircraft gun that can move on its own without external traction on the chassis of the vehicle. As early as 1914, Russia created the world's first 76 mm gun mounted on a truck chassis, and at present, Germany's armored forces are also forming self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery units. ”

"So one tank division has more than 300 tanks and armored vehicles? Oh my God, how much does it cost to build such a force? Song Meiling, who was beside Chiang Kai-shek, covered her mouth and exclaimed.

Xu Tingyao shook her head and did not answer.

At this time, a large ferry had already docked, and thirty tanks drove down from the ferry in turn, with a loud roar, and came to a stop by the road in front of the pier.

Looking at the majestic posture of the tank, the citizens of Nanjing from near and far broke out into bursts of cheers. If it hadn't been for the military police and special brigade to stop them, it is estimated that they would have crowded in front of the tanks at this time and would have moved their hands and feet.

Chiang Kai-shek couldn't help the curiosity in his heart, and strode out of the house, Song Meiling and Xu Tingyao quickly followed.

I saw that these tanks were all painted with the four-color camouflage used by the An Jiajun, which was much taller and more powerful than the tanks of the Central Armored Corps, especially the huge tank guns, which left a deep impression on Chiang Kai-shek. Compared with the tanks equipped by the tank division of the New Second Army, the German Type I tank, which was originally thought to be mighty, suddenly felt like a child's play, very shabby.

The roof of a tank was lifted, and a major general wearing a camouflage uniform and a protective helmet jumped out of the tank quickly, walked up to Chiang Kai-shek, and stood up and saluted:

"Report! Li Yuewu, commander of the 103rd Division, paid tribute to the chairman. ”

Chiang Kai-shek was trying to understand the performance of this never-before-seen tank, so he hurriedly grabbed Li Yuewu's hand, strode to the side of the tank, touched the outer wall of the tank, and asked loudly: "General Li, may I ask what kind of tank is this, what is the armor, and how powerful is it?" ”

Li Yuewu introduced: "I would like to inform the chairman of the committee that this is a new generation of tanks made of special alloy steel through the latest welding process on the basis of the characteristics of the M1931 tank of the United States, the medium and light tanks of the Vickers series of the British Vickers series, the medium and light tanks of the Renault series of the French Renault series, the various types of enemy tanks captured in the Songhu operation and the Great Wall of Resistance, the Italian Fiat series tanks, and the German Type I and II tanks. Different from German-made tanks, we use a high-horsepower diesel engine developed by the Power Research Institute of Fox Company in the United States to drive it, which is more secure in terms of safety. ”

Chiang Kai-shek nodded silently and looked up at the huge muzzle, his eyes full of excitement.

"Our tank has a very rational design layout, consisting of the hull, turret, engine, controls, transmission, chassis and suspension, our tank has five pairs of huge load wheels, the second and third pairs of wheels are spaced apart, the suspension of each wheel is mounted independently, the transverse suspension is mounted on a vertical coil spring mounted inside the body, the drive wheels are mounted at the rear to improve the impact resistance, and the track with a width of up to 48.2 mm is driven by a central guide shaft die on the staggered track chain links. Our tanks weigh 27.2 tons and are capable of navigating mountainous and muddy terrain. ”

Listening to Li Yuewu's explanation of the driving device, Chiang Kai-shek rarely squatted down in front of everyone and looked at it carefully.

Li Yuewu continued: "The tank hull is suspended on tracks, the front and side armor are 43.8 mm thick, the rear armor is 39 mm, and the top armor is 19 mm. The oblique armor around the turret is inclined at an angle of 60 degrees, and the ballistic resistance is excellent, which is equivalent to 75 mm thick vertical armor. The rear armor behind the turret was slightly raised to accommodate the engine compartment grille and engine viewing hole covers with exhaust pipes on both sides for easy inspection and service.

"Our tank has a crew of three, divided into a gunner, a loader and a commander, who observes the terrain, masters the radio communication system, directs the tank and cooperates with other tanks. Our main gun is a German 50mm KWK39L/60 smoothbore gun, which is powerful and has a fast rate of fire, and the secondary weapon is a Zhongzheng 5 general-purpose machine gun, which can fully meet the needs of combat. ”

Chiang Kai-shek touched the thick armor, turned his head and asked: "How much does it cost to produce such a tank?" If it is carried out in the army, will it greatly improve the survivability of the troops? ”

"I don't know the specific price, but I believe it will not be less than 500,000 yuan. In fact, what plagues China's development of tanks is not the problem of money, but the problem of oil supply. It is these tanks and armored vehicles that have caused our oil stocks to be greatly tightened, and for this reason we have made various efforts to quietly smuggle oil through the Yunnan-Burma Highway, but this has always treated the symptoms but not the root cause, and it will be more difficult to replenish oil in the future. In my opinion, if a large number of tanks are developed, but the fuel supply cannot keep up, the consequence is only that there are more steel batteries, and the combat effectiveness of the troops will not be greatly improved. Li Yuewu replied cautiously.

Chiang Kai-shek was greatly disappointed, but it also made sense to think about it, tanks, armored vehicles, automobiles, airplanes, ships, and other mechanically driven transportation and combat tools were originally monsters that devoured oil, and now that China's coast was blockaded by enemy forces, it was extremely difficult to obtain oil replenishment. It seems that the time is not yet ripe for the development of China's own armored forces, which they dream of.

As we talked, several ferries docked and drove off tanks and armoured fighting vehicles.

The armored fighting vehicles of the tank division of the New Second Army again attracted the attention of Chiang Kai-shek. These armored vehicles include not only the "Cheetah II" six-wheeled combat vehicle displayed at the military parade in Syria four years ago, but also an eight-wheeled combat vehicle, the main armament is a 37-mm anti-tank gun, and the secondary armament is a general-purpose machine gun of the Zhongzheng-5.

After inquiry, Chiang Kai-shek learned that this was the new "Cheetah III" armored combat vehicle finalized by the Syrian Ordnance Research Institute last year.

Relatively speaking, Chiang Kai-shek was slightly disappointed by the self-propelled anti-aircraft weapons possessed by the anti-aircraft artillery regiment of the tank division, and the so-called self-propelled guns were nothing more than FLAK 3688 mm anti-aircraft guns towed by special half-track transporters and quadruple machine gun mounts attached to the rear of the half-track vehicles. According to Li Yuewu, the FLAK 3688-mm anti-aircraft gun was towed by a special eight-ton half-track truck produced by the Syrian Automobile Factory, which carried the members of the artillery squad and personal equipment, and had an ammunition box for 88 guns behind the body.

Looking at the murderous torrent of steel, Chiang Kai-shek suddenly gave birth to a heroic spirit of directing the country and scolding Fang Xuan.

If we add the 102nd Panzer Division, which is fully equipped with the "Cheetah" series of combat vehicles, and the 136th Division of the New Second Army, which is organized according to the German Mountain Division, we can imagine what a threat such a unit would be to the enemy in the Songhu battlefield.

"Perhaps, in the face of my powerful mechanized troops, the enemy people really have the possibility of peace!"

Chiang Kai-shek thought secretly, and glanced at Song Meiling, who had the same idea, and the haze that had been accumulated in his heart for many days was swept away, and a bright smile appeared on his face.