Chapter 590 Training (II)

It has been a year since the headquarters of the armored corps was moved from Shandong to Gansu. So far, there are not many officers who know about this unit, but fortunately, Zhang Guoping is one of them, as early as last year, his Fifth Independent Cavalry Division encountered armored soldiers in training in the northwest of Gansu, which opened the eyes of these "horsemen".

"Horseman", this was the nickname given to the 5th Cavalry Division by the commander of the armored corps at that time, which made the officers and men of the 5th Cavalry Division depressed for a long time.

"Go, tell them that the 'grooms' of our Fifth Independent Cavalry Division are here, if they are interested, why don't we hold a temporary military confrontation exercise to see if our 'grooms' are good, or their 'drivers' are good."

Zhang Guoping sent a staff officer to contact the armored detachment, and then ordered the cavalry to be ready to go, and when the order was given, they would go to practice the tactics of the cavalry against the armored troops.

Zhang Guoping's cavalry provoked first, so he couldn't complain that the armored soldiers counterattacked later. After the two sides got in touch, the commander of the armored unit did not hesitate to agree to this military confrontation exercise plan, so that the "horsemen" could see the strength of the armored troops.

However, before the military confrontation exercise is held, an exercise headquarters and referee corps are indispensable, and an exercise plan is also indispensable, according to which the cavalry defends and the armored corps attacks.

Half an hour later, the military exercise began rapidly, according to the hastily drawn up exercise plan, no one on either side was polite, the armored car galloped towards the cavalry camp at full speed, "attacking" the cavalry's position, and the cavalry of the first brigade was also assembled under the order of the division commander, divided into two columns, one south and one north, carrying rifles on their backs, grenades, brandishing sabers, and 'swinging' Swinging in a circle, copying the back road of the armored car team, all of a sudden, people shouted horses, iron armor was sonorous, and the sand and dust rolled up by the horses' hooves and wheels spread, and it was like another sandstorm on the Gobi Desert.

The cavalry and armored troops each have their own strengths and weaknesses, in this flat and gravel Gobi desert. As long as the armored cars form a circle, the machine gun tower can ensure that all targets in the line of sight can be swept with a dense rain of bullets, unless the cavalry brings in infantry flat 'fire' artillery, however, due to the lack of infantry cover, this armored unit is difficult to break through the cavalry defense line after all, and when the frontal impact on the flat 'fire' gun position, it was "destroyed" by the opponent's firepower many armored vehicles.

Zhang Guoping had close contact with the armored corps last year, he was very surprised by this new branch of troops, and even more surprised that the center was so determined to build such a new armored force, he had always thought that the center would increase investment in cavalry construction, but now it seems that the center obviously does not plan to form an independent cavalry unit, perhaps, his fifth cavalry division is the largest cavalry strategic unit in the national defense force.

Zhang Guoping was a little disappointed, he once dreamed that one day he would be able to command tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of cavalry to rush at the enemy infantry wielding sabers, but now, the emergence of armored troops has shattered his dream, after all, in such an era when machine guns and artillery dominate the battlefield. The survivability of the cavalry is indeed questionable, on the other hand, the armored troops, hiding in the armored cars welded by steel plates, the armored soldiers can calmly use machine guns to destroy all targets in sight, not to mention, the armored vehicles can also be installed with flat 'shooting' guns, which is enough to destroy any field fortifications.

But Zhang Guoping was not completely disappointed, because he quickly discovered the weakness of the armored car, that is, the maneuverability of the 'sex', this four-wheeled ' The means of communication are obviously not as flexible as the war horse with four hooves, the armored car may not be able to go where the war horse can go, but the war horse must be able to go where the armored car can go, it is hard to imagine that this four-wheel armored car can do anything on the battlefield where there are bunkers and trenches everywhere, even if you can build a simple steel bridge over the trench on the trench, but this will obviously affect the impact speed of the troops, so calculated, the cavalry may not be at the end of the road.

It was precisely this self-confidence that made Zhang Guoping decide to hold a military confrontation exercise with the armored troops, so that those armored soldiers with their eyes on the top of their heads could see that the Fifth Independent Cavalry Division was definitely not a 'flower' shelf, but a division that dared to fight and could fight built by the commander-in-chief himself.

Zhang Guoping thought so, and the commander of the armored corps on the other side also had the same idea, under the organization of the 'lean' and capable staff group, a short military confrontation exercise was staged on this Gobi Desert, and each side came up with its own tactics, the cavalry was divided and encircled, and one by one was broken, and the armored corps put on a tortoise formation. No matter how provocative the other side is, it means not to disperse the action and not to give the other party a chance to take advantage of it.

Because the exercise plan was drawn up in a hurry, and out of security considerations, the military confrontation exercise lasted only half an hour before it ended, and Zhang Guoping was very reluctant to accept the fact that the "battle was a draw."

Since neither side carried the empty cartridges used in the exercise, not a single shot was fired during the entire exercise, and not a single person was killed or wounded, and it was more like a show than a drill; after all, the officers and men of the Fifth Independent Cavalry Division were indeed panicked when they came all the way, and Zhang Guoping asked the officers and men to conduct a temporary military exercise, in addition to wanting to 'grope' the tactics of the cavalry and infantry units against the armored troops, but also to give the officers and men a chance to vent and maintain their morale.

After the exercise, the cavalry invited the armored soldiers to the camp as guests, and took out camel 'meat' to entertain these comrades, and the armored soldiers were not polite. took out the fresh vegetables he carried, and then, after nightfall, the Gobi Desert wafted out a strong aroma of food, and occasionally a few rough Northwest folk songs wafted in, which made people intoxicated.

As the supreme commander of this armored detachment, Bai Lang was very happy to meet the cavalry here, and like Zhang Guoping, the reason why Bai Lang appeared on this Gobi Desert was also for long-distance training, and he came from Gansu. The main purpose is not only to train the soldiers' driving skills, but also to see this new armored car's Sex' ability, these fifty armored cars are the masterpieces of cooperation between Wuhan Automobile Factory and Hanyang Arsenal, compared with the old armored cars before, this armored car is a special armored car, not the previous kind of substitute transformed from trucks, not only thick armor, but also fierce firepower, fast speed, driving on flat ground like flying, coupled with the black and bright paint, this armored car also got a nickname: pangolin.

It is worth mentioning that the engine installed in this armored car is no longer the kind of gasoline engine that can be used at a moment's notice, but a safer and more powerful diesel engine.

The diesel engine is the German Rudolph. Invented by Diesel at the end of the 19th century, this compression-ignition internal combustion engine is safer than a gasoline engine due to the use of diesel fuel with a higher ignition point. Diesel tried to commercialize this internal combustion engine, but as an engineering technologist, his business acumen was far inferior to his technical level, so, so far, there are few people who really attach importance to diesel engines, and Zhao Bei, the president of the Republic of China, is one of them.

As a traverser, Zhao Bei is of course aware of the development prospects of diesel engines, but the problem is that Rudolph. The diesel engine invented by Diesel did not solve the problem of fuel, due to the use of air fuel, this primitive diesel engine is very cumbersome, and there is no problem with installing it on ships, but it is not suitable for installation in cars, so Zhao Bei finally decided to simply put Rudolph. Diesel invited him to China and gave him the conditions and the money to make every effort to improve his invention, and once the improvements were completed, the Chinese companies had to be allowed to share his diesel engine industrial patents in exchange for the 'exchange'.

Rudolph. Diesel didn't hesitate. After receiving the invitation, he immediately packed up and rushed to Wuhan, China, in the Wuhan Automobile Factory to study the improvement of diesel engines, as for why he rushed to China in such a hurry, the reason is also very simple, because Zhao Bei invited him to China to establish an internal combustion engine laboratory in 1913, at that time, Rudolph. Mr. Diesel's commercialization of diesel engines was suffering a serious setback, and not only was it unmarketable, but it also left him in debt, and he was about to go bankrupt. Mr. Diesel was so discouraged that he even had suicidal thoughts at one point, and if it had not been for President Zhao's invitation letter to the minister in Germany to hand over the invitation, I am afraid that the inventor of the diesel engine would have ended his life on a ferry in the English Channel.

After a year of intensive research in the internal combustion engine laboratory set up for him in the Wuhan Automobile Factory, and after hundreds of desperate failures, Rudolf Brown studied the internal combustion engine in his place. Mr. Diesel finally completed the key "sex" improvement of diesel engine fuel technology, a dexterous mechanical fuel injection device to solve the problem of excessive volume of diesel engine, so that the diesel engine no longer has to compete with the steam engine for the market, and the diesel engine can compete with the gasoline engine.

Out of gratitude and respect for Mr. President, Rudolph . Mr. Diesel not only named this improved diesel engine "Zhenhua Diesel Engine", but he also decided to set up his first new diesel engine manufacturing plant in the Wuhan area, although his capital is not enough at present, but the Wuhan Automobile Factory has indeed begun to mass-produce this "Zhenhua diesel engine" and give priority to the armored forces of the Wehrmacht.

However, after all, this diesel engine is a product that has not been commercially tested, whether it can completely replace the vehicle gasoline engine, this still needs to be tested, so Bai Lang and his armored troops came to this Gobi Desert, they tried to prove the advantages of diesel engines with practice, as armored soldiers, they really hate the kind of gasoline engine that is on the line.

For the task of Bai Lang and others, Zhang Guoping was a little puzzled, in his opinion, the gasoline engine can be used for airplanes and cars, it is a very good machine, why do armored soldiers hate gasoline engines so much? However, since Bai Lang did not elaborate, he did not plan to ask, soldiers, that is, to be conscious, do not ask what should not be asked, do not say what should not be said, interlaced like a mountain, he believes that Bai Lang most of them do not understand why the war horse should be supplemented with 'fine' feed.

The gathering on the Gobi Desert officially ended in the middle of the night, Zhang Guoping and Xu Shuzheng led all the officers and soldiers of the Fifth Independent Cavalry Division to pack up and embark on the journey again, their night marching and training began, but Bai Lang did not march to the military station with them, the reason is also very simple, because the armored cars have eaten a lot of sand on the way, they need to clean the filter of the engine air intake, and they must continue to rush tomorrow, after all, this is the training operation of the armored troops.

At present, in the units of China's national defense forces, not only cavalry and armored troops are seizing the time to train troops, but also the scenes of Chinese soldiers training in full swing can be seen everywhere in the north and south of China's great rivers.

This large-scale military training is not only the need of the grassroots troops, but also the order of the president, because he knows that in the near future, a cruel war awaits the Chinese soldiers, "sweat more in peacetime, shed less blood in wartime", this is the motto of the Chinese soldiers.