The cold wind invaded desperately from the Mongolian Plateau in the north and swept the land fiercely. On nine cold days, in the rolling hilly area on the west side of Danba Town, located in the northwest of Yan'an, the roar of the motor comes and goes. If you look down from the air, it's a shocking sight. From a bird's eye view, I can only see the roar of tanks and chariots, shuttling back and forth. Some tanks are off-road climbing, some are shelling targets. The terrain here is very suitable for tank training, so the Independent Armored Brigade of the Eighth Route Army chose this training site.

In mid-December, 160 two tanks were in place one after another, and the tank brigade began to enter large-scale confrontation exercises. With the opening of the Northwest Air Route, a large number of American-style trucks were given priority to the tank brigade and created the best conditions for the tank brigade to become an army. A tank combat vehicle stops the turret lifted. "Haha, our Iron Lion has finally formed an army, and the nightmare of the little devil's tin box has begun. It is said that tanks cannot be loaded with bayonets, so I will make my chariot a sharp knife, and I want a knife to see red! Li Yunlong, commander of the Independent Armored Brigade of the Eighth Route Army, got out of the turret and shouted loudly.

He was dressed in a tank soldier's uniform, his burly body was a little bloated, and he had obviously just climbed out of the tank. The commissar and chief of staff also climbed out of the tank turret, their faces covered with oil. The three generals were on the same tank, which was rare on the training ground. In order to make the armored units of the Eighth Route Army form combat effectiveness as soon as possible, all the generals of the first independent tank brigade of the Eighth Route Army are like ordinary soldiers, and they are training in full swing, even the chief officers are not excluded.

Li Yunlong is one of Peng Dehuai's most important generals, who has experienced a hundred battles and made many achievements. Last spring, he was selected by the Eighth Route Army Headquarters to enter the Ruijin Armored Forces School for a one-year intensive training and to study the systematic disciplines of commanding operations of armored units. To be able to enter the armored forces school to study, you must go through the strict assessment of the training syllabus compiled by Ouyang Jian himself before you can pass the test. At the same time, Li Yunlong entered the accelerated training of the armored forces school, and there were more than 10 generals of the same level.

When Li Yunlong entered the armored forces school, Peng Dehuai warned him that in order to stand out in the armored forces school, he must go through a strict examination and select the top commander of the independent tank brigade among the generals. Due to Li Yunlong's weak cultural foundation, he is almost reading the theoretical textbooks of armored forces compiled by Ouyang Jian. However, Li Yunlong took out the posture of fighting bayonets with the enemy, and used several times more effort from others in half a year, and he was stunned to take a heaven-like armored army course. Although his theoretical test scores were in the middle of the stream, his command and combat skills were among the best.

In the comprehensive evaluation, his test score was on par with the first place. Originally, a fair selection should be conducted in the tie for first place, but to everyone's expectations, Ouyang Jian personally decided not to conduct the assessment, and decided to let Li Yunlong serve as the commander of the first tank brigade of the Eighth Route Army. Ouyang Jian's explanation is: "Although Comrade Li Yunlong's cultural level is insufficient, his actual command ability is outstanding, and he is fully qualified for the post of commander of the tank brigade??????。

Of course, Ouyang Jian's support for Li Yunlong also has other factors, and others can't know the mystery of it. Don't look at Peng Dehuai's emphasis on Li Yunlong, but he is not ambiguous in fair play. In order to take care of Ouyang Jian's face, Peng Dehuai did not conduct a theoretical assessment, but let a real combat confrontation drill be conducted between the tied first places, and Li Yunlong won 3:0 in the actual combat confrontation. In fact, Peng Dehuai also had the idea of avoiding suspicion by doing this, so Li Yunlong was undisputed as the commander of the first tank brigade of the Eighth Route Army.

Commander Lin of the Northwest Group Army said to Li Yunlong in private: "There are two generals who are loved by Chief of General Staff Ouyang in this selection, and the one who is tied for first place with you is highly valued by Chief of General Staff Ouyang??????。 Ouyang Jian is the embodiment of bravery and wisdom in Li Yunlong's mind, and he can get the approval of Ouyang's chief of staff, Li Yunlong is very encouraged and strict with himself. Since the formation of the tank brigade, he has taken the lead and has been on the training ground every day. In addition, he almost arrogantly led the commanders to study the tactics of the tank.

The German and Soviet armies, including the Japanese armored forces, compiled pictures and even sand tables for every large-scale battle, and required every officer to memorize them. The subordinate officers who were tortured by him privately called him "a madman who went crazy!" Such a "brutal" training was established immediately. As a result of the training, two training pacesetters emerged. One is Gu Jun, the commander of the 2nd Company of the 1st Tank Regiment, aged 26 and studied at the Armored Forces School for one year, and the other is Liu Xiaofeng, the platoon commander of the 3rd Company of the 5th Battalion of the 2nd Tank Regiment, aged 22.

Liu Xiaofeng was selected from the field unit and did not study systematically at the armored forces school. But with his own talent, he quickly rose to prominence. After hearing the news, Li Yunlong made an exceptional promotion and appointed Liu Xiaofeng as the commander of the 3rd Company of the 5th Battalion of the 2nd Tank Regiment, which further stimulated the soldiers' training upsurge.

The exercise ground was full of enthusiasm, and at this time, two tanks rumbled in, and Li Yunlong knew in his heart that these two stinky boys had come to fight a lawsuit again. Just now the two companies are acting against each other, and they must be pinching each other because of the competition between the two sides.

Sure enough, two tanks and combat vehicles stopped in front of them, and the turret lifted and the two of them got out together. Li Yunlong remained silent, Gu Jun opened fire first with a loud voice: "Brigade commander, you give a comment, my impact point hit the target accurately, but his impact point is two meters off, my victory should be ironclad!" "Brigade commander, what does the difference in shelling by two meters mean something, my impact point is also in the bull's-eye. This is like shooting training, shooting 10 rings of bullseye and edge should be judged to hit 10 rings, is this the truth? ”

There is no problem with what Gu Jun said, and Liu Xiaofeng also has a point. Li Yunlong's eyes widened when he heard this, and said, "You two stinky boys, it's uncomfortable not to fight." Since the impact point is in the bull's-eye, it should be regarded as hitting the target. Since the two of you are a match, this game should be won by Gu Lianchang, but for the sake of fairness, I think two wins in three sets? Gu Jun and Liu Xiaofeng glanced at each other, and walked away from the newly entered turret. Li Yunlong happily looked at the smoke and dust that slipped away, and was secretly proud. He likes his subordinates not to admit defeat and likes this competitive atmosphere.

The chief of staff leaned out of the turret and said, "Brigade commander, these two boys have been spoiled by you!" The kung fu political commissar also came out of the turret and joked: "Lao Li, these two stinky boys don't stop making a little movement every day." "Hey, hey! If every day is dull, I'm not used to it. Li Yunlong jumped out of the tank and said, "I'll go and be a referee for these two stinky boys, so as not to say that I'm unfair." He got into a jeep and drove away. The political commissar and the chief of staff glanced at it and said, "It's not too early, let's call it a day!" ”

The political commissar and the chief of staff returned to the Danba town station in a jeep, only to see several American-style jeeps speeding towards them. Seeing this, the two hurriedly stopped and got out of the car, at this time Commander Lin's jeep was parked in front of them, Chief of Staff Zuo Quan was seated in the front row, and Lin sat in the back seat without getting out of the car. "Report to General Lin and Chief of Staff, our department has just completed training, please instruct!" The two raised their hands in salute. "Li Yunlong?" Chief of Staff Zuo Quan made an inquiry. "Report to the Chief of Staff, the brigade commander is still at the training ground!" "Let him come back immediately!" 、

Seeing that the face of the chief of staff of Zuo Quan was extremely serious, the political commissar and the chief of staff knew in their hearts that there must be a combat mission. Soon, the brigade headquarters Neilin, Zuoquan and the political commissar, chief of staff and other officers of the tank brigade were in place. Commander Lin stood in front of the map without saying a word, and the others were silent. There was a jeep movement outside, and after the engine sound disappeared, I saw Li Yunlong rushing in, "Report to General Lin and Chief of Staff, there is a combat mission?" Lin turned around and said with a grim face: "Are you unable to hold it now!" ”

"Hey, hey! Or Mr. Lin understands me! Li Yunlong was a little embarrassed. According to the operational plan of the group army headquarters, our friendly Fu Zuoyi Department should take the lead in launching the Baotou Campaign. In order to cooperate with Fu Zuoyi's troops to launch an offensive smoothly, your department dispatched two tank regiments to support Fu Zuoyi's troops. According to what we know, the Japanese army has an armored brigade in Baotou, and this armored brigade is equipped with 99 tanks, do you have the confidence to defeat this opponent? ”

"Please rest assured, Mr. Lin, I will make a military order now to ensure a complete combat mission and eliminate this Japanese armored brigade!" Li Yunlong swore an oath, full of the desire to fight. "Brigadier Li, don't be full of words. Although the performance of our tanks surpassed that of the Japanese army, we have no combat experience in armor, and your unit has been training for less than two months, so we cannot be careless and complacent. "Chief of Staff, I know what to do!"

Lin continued: "The 1st and 2nd Tank Regiments of your department, after nearly two months of systematic training, have basically completed the training subjects. The 3rd Tank Regiment was formed less than a month ago and temporarily remained at the base for training. There are 3 more days to be New Year's Day, giving you 4 days to prepare, and depart on January 2nd. "Yes!" After Lin and Zuo Quan left, Li Yunlong seemed to be still in high spirits and said, "Chief of Staff, the three of us must leave one person behind." "Okay, I understand what you mean, the commissar can't stay at the base, it can only be me." The chief of staff knew it.

Early in the morning of January 2, in the wilderness on the north side of Danba Town, tanks and trucks lined up in two columns, and the momentum was very spectacular. "I wish you all a victorious start and success!" The chief of staff reluctantly shook hands with Li Yunlong and the political commissar and said goodbye. "Chief of Staff, how can it be like a parting of life and death, I don't like such an atmosphere, waiting for the news of our victory!" After Li Yunlong finished speaking, he put on a tank hat and climbed into the chariot. "Lao Li has already entered the role, there is no way that he is this kind of character!" The commissar shook hands with the chief of staff.

At the sound of an order, Gu Jun was in the turret of the first tank and combat vehicle, showing half of his body, waving goodbye to his comrades who saw him off. The mighty steel light horses marched towards the north, and the rolling iron streams shook the earth and marched forward bravely. Liu Xiaofeng's expression was solemn, and he raised his hand to salute the comrades-in-arms who saw him off, and his heart was full of battle pride??????。