With the opening of the prelude to the counteroffensive on the Chinese battlefield, the sharp swords of the north and south of the river were unsheathed. According to the strategic deployment of the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, the headquarters of the Northwest Group Army issued an operational order to capture Baotou.

In the Wuyuan 2nd Theater Headquarters, Commander Fu Zuoyi was listening to the reports of his subordinates and making arrangements for the Baotou Campaign. "Commander Fu, after the deployment of our troops, the Japanese army in Baotou noticed that the 18th Tank Brigade of the Japanese Army suddenly appeared in the Urat area. The Japanese army dispatched a tank brigade, probably guessing our intentions! "The arrows are already on the strings, even if the Japanese have guessed our intentions too late. The dispatch of the tank brigade by the Japanese army was an attempt to delay our offensive, and this move just illustrates the problem. ”

"Commander Fu, I didn't expect the Eighth Route Army to secretly form an army aviation team in the northwest, it's really a big deal!" The chief of staff sighed with joy on his face. Fu Zuoyi looked around at the generals and said, "Everyone, quickly seize air supremacy and eliminate the threat from the sky. This Baotou campaign was carried out in conjunction with the Northwest Group Army of the Eighth Route Army to carry out a counterattack operation in Shanxi, and we accepted the unified command of the Northwest Group Army Headquarters. Last year, in accordance with the overall deployment of the Northwest Eighth Route Army Headquarters, we fought dozens of large and small battles, eliminating nearly 20,000 puppet troops, and the Japanese puppet army is currently compressed in Baotou and the surrounding areas! ”

Fu Zuoyi said with a red face: "The headquarters of the Northwest Group Army of the Eighth Route Army ordered us to take Baotou within 10 days to create conditions for the main force of the Eighth Route Army to eliminate the Japanese army in Shanxi. At present, more than 100 tanks from the Independent Tank Brigade and two tank regiments of the Eighth Route Army are supporting us, and this has created conditions for us to capture Baotou. The tank unit of the Eighth Route Army has been here for nearly 3 months, and for reasons of secrecy, no one has seen the true face of Lushan. Ladies and gentlemen, you will immediately see the majestic posture of the tanks and combat vehicles of the Eighth Route Army. ”

"Commander Fu, Balu is so rich, he actually bought so many tanks in the United States!" One of his subordinates muttered. Fu Zuoyi smiled and said: "It's unbelievable to say it, the tanks and combat vehicles of the Eighth Route Army are produced by their own arsenal, and you don't need to know where they are produced." "Commander Fu, how is the performance of the tanks produced by the Eighth Route Army itself. I heard that the 18th Tank Brigade of the Japanese Army in Baotou has more than 100 new Type 97 tanks, and the protective performance and strike strength have been greatly improved. If the Japanese tanks cannot be contained, it will be difficult to capture Baotou.

"I watched the tank combat vehicle drill of the Eighth Route Army, and the off-road performance, protection, mobility, and strike intensity are higher than those of the Japanese Type 97 tanks, so let's wait to see a good show! After three days of air fighting, the Japanese army's air supremacy in Shanxi was completely lost, creating conditions for us to conquer Baotou. In addition, I would like to tell you the good news that air supremacy has changed hands, and the Army Aviation Corps of the Eighth Route Army will provide bombers to support the operation. When the generals heard this, they clapped their hands and applauded, and their joy was overflowing.

At this moment, there was a rumbling sound from the north, and the phone rang. An operational staff officer answered the phone and reported: "Report from the north gate that the tank unit of the Eighth Route Army has entered the city!" Fu Zuoyi waved his hand, and everyone rushed out, as if they were in a hurry to witness this spectacular scene.

The rumbling sound shook the earth and struck everyone's nerves. Li Yunlong, commander of the Independent Tank Brigade of the Eighth Route Army, drove in front of the command car, and he would not miss such an opportunity to show his face. Before the tank and combat vehicles set out for the battle, Li Yunlong, at the request of Fu Zuoyi, swaggered through Wuyuan City in order to enhance the morale of the officers and men and the pride of the people and further increase the cohesion.

When the tank troops arrived outside the city, Li Yunlong asked all tank crews to be neatly dressed, and the commander of each tank to show half of his body in the turret and maintain a saluting posture. As soon as the tanks and combat vehicles entered the city, they immediately caused a sensation in the whole city, and people rushed to tell each other and poured into the streets to witness it. Some people actually climbed onto the ridges on both sides of the street to get a sneak peek. Li Yunlong's command car drove slowly, and the white eight-way two characters and the 01 number on the body were very eye-catching. Li Yunlong asked his subordinates to maintain a salute posture, and he himself waved his arms to the sides of the street to show that he was the commander of the tank fighting vehicle.

Soon, the command vehicle stopped in front of the command department, and in front of Fu Zuoyi's smiling face, Li Yunlong quickly jumped off the tank and ran forward to salute with his hand: "Report to Commander Fu, Li Yunlong, commander of the Independent Armored Brigade of the Eighth Route Army, led his troops to Wuyuan, please instruct!" "Brigade Commander Li, the purpose of letting you enter the city is to boost morale, how can the effect come out, you have alarmed Wuyuan City, and the owner of the restaurant in Wuyuan City tonight is afraid that he will make a lot of money!" "Commander Fu, it is also my duty to let the people in the city see the powerful armored forces of the Eighth Route Army."

Everyone walked into the headquarters with a smile, "Commander Fu, how to fight you and give a combat order, I can't hide it, my hands have long been itchy." Fu Zuoyi said: "The headquarters of the Northwest Group Army of the Eighth Route Army has issued an operational order to conquer Baotou, and the Japanese army in Baotou has already detected our attempt. The 18th Tank Brigade of the Japanese Army, stationed in Baotou, advanced out of the Urat area in an attempt to intercept our troops from Baotou. In order to ensure the smooth implementation of the Baotou Campaign, you are required to eliminate the Japanese tank brigade and regiment, are you sure? ”

"Please rest assured, Commander Fu, if I, Li Yunlong, can't eat this Japanese tank brigade, I'll come to see you with my head." "Brigade Commander Li, even if you can't eat this chariot brigade, as long as you defeat it and ensure that I Shunli will attack Baotou. This is the detailed information of the 18th Tank Brigade of the Japanese Army, you are pressed for time, you can see on the road! On that day, Li Yunlong did not stop in Wuyuan, and after merging the transport convoy in the city, he drove eastward. At present, the independent tank brigade of the Eighth Route Army is the only mechanized unit, so it has extremely strong mobility capabilities.

At the beginning of April, the grasslands are full of life, sunshine and warmth. The grass sprouts tender green shoots, which are on par with the withered grass. The prairie shrouded in blue sky and white clouds was replaced by a rumbling sound. A few wild antelopes are nibbling on the delicious shoots. They wag their tails leisurely and indulge in a delicious meal. Suddenly, the earth began to shake, and the sound became more and more intense. The wild antelope pricked up their ears to listen alertly, and then began to flee, and soon disappeared into the depths of the grassland.

A tank emerged from a low-lying part of the hills, followed by the 2nd and 3rd vehicles. With a strong roar and vibration, a long army of steel came rushing in. Liu Xiaofeng, commander of the 1st Company of the Independent Tank Brigade, still serves as the pioneer. Due to the sweltering heat of the cockpit, he was half exposed in the open turret, holding up his binoculars, sometimes looking ahead, sometimes to the left and right. The figure of a wild antelope running appeared in his field of vision, and Liu Xiaofeng observed it carefully and muttered: "The first time I saw a wild antelope running, it was like flying on grass." ”

The gunner accosted him: "Company commander, you are from southern Shaanxi and don't have a chance to see the wild antelope fleeing in fright, my home is in the prairie, and the wild antelope flies on the grass, much faster than the casual speed of the war horse." In the grasslands, it is difficult to hunt wild antelopes. "I've heard that the meat of wild antelope is very delicious." "Company commander, we are fighting in the prairie, and we will definitely be able to eat wild antelope meat." Liu Xiaofeng changed the topic and said: "Since coming to Wuyuan, the troops have been kept secret, but now they are advancing with great fanfare, clearly telling the Japanese army that we are coming, what does this mean." ”

"Company commander, you don't understand, and we don't understand. Usually you are used to guessing the intentions above, how did you drop the chain this time! "The gunner teased." In this way, the army moved to the west, perhaps to deter the Japanese army, or to surrender without a fight, but these reasons were not valid. "Company commander, I heard that the 18th Tank Brigade of the Japanese Army is equipped with the latest Type 97 tanks. The Japanese army's new tank protective armor was massively upgraded. The little devil once preached that our rockets can't help it. The driver couldn't help but chime in. The 18th Tank Brigade of the Japanese Army is very arrogant, and since this is the case, let's have a steel duel and let the little devils taste our iron fist. Liu Xiaofeng's face showed an expression of eagerness to fight.

On a tank tank tank in the rear team, Gu Jun, the commander of the 2nd Tank Battalion, had the same ideas as Liu Xiaofeng. At this time, he leaned against the turret, looking at the clear blue sky a little lazily, as if he was looking at the scenery, but his eyes were a little confused, and his brain was thinking about other problems. "Since the tank unit entered Wuyuan, in order to keep it secret, the troops have been training at night and resting during the day. Now it is brazenly advancing eastward, clearly telling the Japanese that we are coming. Why is that? "Gu Jun tried to analyze, but he couldn't guess the brigade commander's intentions after thinking about it."

Liu Xiaofeng and Gu Jun, as excellent tank commanders who have emerged, have a common hobby, that is, guessing Shangfeng's intentions is very accurate, and they are not far from ten, so it is not surprising that the two are loved by Li Yunlong. This time, Liu Xiaofeng couldn't figure it out, and Gu Jun could only justify himself. Since it has been kept secret, the purpose is to surprise and attack it unprepared, and it is reasonable to adopt the tactics of sneak attack against the Japanese tank brigade.

Gu Jun racked his brains and didn't find the right answer, but fortunately he didn't think about it. He took out his notebook, which recorded various data of the Japanese army's Type 97 tank, he didn't know how many times he read it, but every time he looked at it, he seemed to have new insights.

The steel torrent rushed forward, and next to the command car in the middle of the steel queue, an American jeep was driving side by side. Li Yunlong and political commissar Zhou Ting sat in the car, and without the audience, Li Yunlong naturally lost interest in showing off on the tank tank, and sitting in the jeep was much more comfortable than the stuffy tank cockpit. "Lao Li, there is a lot of discussion below, and I don't understand why a hidden tank unit should expose itself and swagger to tell the enemy whether it is necessary to unify their thinking, lest they spend their energy on this."

"If they can't guess my intentions, it means that they don't have the qualities of a qualified commander. Kameda thinks that he is invincible in the world when he is equipped with the most advanced tanks. I carefully studied his character, this man was very conceited, had been trained in the German Panzer Forces, and was very familiar with armored operations. "I understand what you mean, the goal of exposure is to make Kameda Takeo misjudge. He must have intended to equip us with tanks provided by the United States, so that he could devote his energy to the study of American tanks. ”

"Hey, hey! It is said that you and I are husband and wife, and those who know me are not political commissars. "Nonsense, you and I who are male and who is female" "Do you need to say this, look at my tall and burly man, I am naturally the head of the house, you are elegant and delicate, and you are naturally in the Lord." "You're thick-skinned and never suffer. No wonder I didn't get a wife when I was in my 30s. If I were a woman, I wouldn't marry you! "Hehe, we Lao Li haven't met the right person, I believe that person must be waiting for me." "You just blow it!"

The two couldn't help laughing, and the tank soldiers on the tank saw the two commanders talking and laughing, and a trace of nervousness suddenly relaxed.