Phoenix is located in a huge basin with the towering Rocky Mountains on the east side of the city and an ordinary hill called Komatek on the west side of the city. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Komatek Mountain is not too big, and the height is not very high. But its location is extremely important. If the Ming army occupies this place, it will be able to directly threaten Phoenix under the mountain. If the cannon is mounted on the hillside, it can completely cover the entire city. As a result, Komatek Hill was a common target for the Phoenix defenders and the Ming attacking forces.

Garrisoned in Phoenix was the Arizona National Guard, three infantry divisions of the Army, and an armored unit that was a mixture of remnants of several armored divisions that had been crippled and withdrawn from previous battles. In total, there were about 100,000 defenders, more than 1,000 artillery pieces of various types, and less than 500 tanks and armored vehicles.

It's not that the Americans don't have more tanks, armored vehicles and other heavy equipment for them, but now the armies almost everywhere are in desperate need of all types of weapons and equipment. The army stationed here was full of troops, but they were first mobilized to attack the Ming landing force, then resisted the Ming army, and then most of them were surrounded in Mexicali.

After the front-line troops are disabled, it will take time to replenish them. Moreover, the main force stationed here is the local National Guard, and the supply situation must give priority to the regular army. By the time the Ming army came over, the local defenders had not been replenished.

And the 31st Army under the Southern Front of the Ming Army was responsible for attacking here. This army group consisted of nine mechanized infantry divisions and two armored divisions, all of which were fully staffed. Together with the logistical support forces, it has a strength of nearly 200,000 troops. There were more than three thousand artillery pieces of various kinds, and almost two thousand tanks and armored vehicles.

As for air power, the US military has a numerical advantage. However, the Ming army had an advantage in the quality of fighters and the quality of pilots. Moreover, most of the Ming army are cutting-edge jet fighters, and their combat goal is also very clear, that is, to seize air supremacy. As a result, the two sides were barely tied in the sky.

Fierce fighting first broke out between the two sides on the line of the Hira River, and the Ming army quickly repelled the resistance of the defenders of about a regiment. Arlington upon the Sheila River was then occupied. Opened a passage to Phoenix.

On both sides of the Hira River, there are large fields that have been rested very neatly. It's winter and you can't see it yet, but if it's the autumn harvest, it's definitely beautiful.

"Look at the ground here." On the highway on the banks of the Hira River, a long line of Ming army convoys was moving slowly. Many Ming officers and soldiers lay on the side of the truck and looked at the vast fields on both sides, and there was a lot of discussion.

"The fields here are really good." Seeing so many fertile fields made these officers and soldiers very excited. Because Supreme Commander Zhang Cheng has already issued an order, active soldiers can rely on their military exploits in exchange for land and real estate in the occupied areas when they retire. And its standards are very low. This is an order that has made countless officers and soldiers excited and yearned.

Now in this land, everyone sees it as their future home. Looking at these fields is like looking at the fields of your own home.

In fact, the urbanization rate of the Ming Dynasty in this era was not high. Most of the population still lives in the countryside, even in the countryside.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty was still a country with a majority of the agricultural population. It's just that these agricultural people are very wealthy and well-educated. But essentially, farmers all over the world have an unrivalled love for the land. No one will not love the land.

Therefore, when Zhang Cheng announced that land and houses would be distributed to retired soldiers, ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty who wanted to join the army almost crowded all the recruitment stations. There have even been cases of suicide chosen because they were not hired.

According to the rules formulated by Zhang Cheng, as long as he serves in the army, he can get a service reward regardless of whether he has entered the front-line battlefield and fought on the battlefield. The most basic is 50 acres of land. And these 50 acres of land are only the basic number, and the actual situation is much higher than this number.

After the service, no matter what you do, you will be rewarded with a post, and even if you stand guard, you can get the basic fifty acres of land. This varies from role to role. The more dangerous and fortunate the position, the higher the reward. The highest can even reach the level of thousands of acres.

After that, there is also a service award, that is, the number of years in the army. It increases every year, and the amount is divided according to the branch of the military and the specific position. In the General Staff, the people who serve tea and water are certainly far from being able to compare with those who are fighting on the front line.

In addition, there are various meritorious service awards, and so on. There are many types, and the division is extremely specific, and it can even be specific to the distribution of land per acre. This was Zhang Cheng's strict request, and he even asked Wang Yan to strengthen the covert investigation in this regard, and absolutely not allow any means to get involved.

And most importantly, the reward for such fields and houses belongs to the soldiers, not to the officers. Only soldiers and non-commissioned officers can participate in it, and those who are officers above the rank of second lieutenant cannot join it. In the face of the protests of the officers, Zhang Cheng gave a simple explanation, you are all professional soldiers, you do not need to participate in it.

As a compensatory reward for the officers, Zhang Cheng gave a large number of various medals. It's a really large number of medals, and the number is very huge. It was even so large that after a victorious battle, it was necessary to transport the medals by military aircraft. And then there's the money.

Zhang Cheng greatly raised the level of treatment of the officers, increased their salaries and various benefits, and used high salaries to support their honesty. The officers of the Ming Dynasty did not have officers' dormitories, they either lived in the barracks, or went home or went back to their private residences. It doesn't matter if your own home is a mansion or a slum. Because the army has paid you the full amount of pay and benefits.

Zhang Cheng stipulated that the highest land rewards were for officers and soldiers who sacrificed, were seriously injured and disabled, and were honored with various military merits. The maximum amount can even reach as much as 5,000 acres.

It's not that Zhang Cheng can't take out more land, in terms of the huge territorial increase brought about by the Ming Dynasty's colonies all over the world and the recent sweep of the world, there is no problem in increasing the land for tens of millions of troops.

The only reason why Zhang Cheng gave the highest limit was that he was unwilling to create too many big landlords. Maybe this generation is heroic, but who knows what will happen in the future? What will happen to people in a hundred years, who knows? And land annexation has been a major problem in the minds of all dynasties.

Zhang Cheng did not want his good intentions to bring irreparable consequences.

Under these circumstances, the fighting will of the officers and men of the Ming Dynasty was very high. Their bravery and high morale shocked all of them. Many Allied officers and soldiers even thought that the brave Ming army was the army that defended their homeland when their country resisted the attack of the Ming army.

"It's nothing here." A non-commissioned officer smoked a cigarette and smiled and said to the officers and soldiers around him: "When we get to the Mississippi River Valley, you will know what it means to make a good field." The land is so fertile that you can wait for the harvest without having to wait for the seeds to be sown. ”

"And this kind of place?" The surrounding Ming officers and soldiers asked in surprise.

"Of course." The non-commissioned officer raised his chin, looked up at several Ming Army Airlines fighters flying in the sky, and said loudly: "There are three places in this world like such a good land. One is our native black soil in the northeast, the other is the black soil in Ukraine, and the other is the black soil in the Mississippi River Basin. ”

After a pause, the non-commissioned officer continued again, "There is no need to mention the Northeast, there has been no vacant land for a long time. Ukraine has also been divided up by the European army, and we don't have our share. Now all that's left is the land on the other side of the Mississippi River. This time, the brothers will make a meritorious contribution, and when they retire, they will be able to apply for the best land that can be left to future generations. ”

"That's for sure." The surrounding Ming officers and soldiers responded one after another: "Whatever you say, you must make great contributions." Seeing that the war is coming to an end, at this time, if you don't work hard, you won't even have the opportunity to fight hard! ”

What the officers and men of the Ming Dynasty said was not wrong. This war was called the war that ended all wars, because everyone thought that from now on there would be no more wars in this world, because all opponents would be conquered by the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, in the future, it has become a luxury to make meritorious deeds on the battlefield in exchange for rewards, and seizing the last opportunity has become a common idea for everyone.

Mount Komatek had now become a flaming mountain shrouded in flames and smoke. Thousands of Ming artillery poured countless shells round after round into the defenders' positions on the hill with intensive shelling. The Ming artillerymen did not have any intention of saving shells, and even received orders on how many shells they had to shoot.

The ferocious shelling brought huge losses to the defenders, not only the temporary repair positions on the mountain were destroyed, but also the American troops stationed on the mountain suffered heavy losses. Even when the Ming army attacked, the defenders were unable to put up a strong enough resistance.

On the one hand, the artillery fire of the Ming army was too fierce and accurate, and on the other hand, because there were almost no decent fortifications on Komatk Mountain.

Phoenix is actually a landlocked part of the United States. Who would invest a lot of money in this place to build a large number of permanent fortifications? Even when the Ming army began to land, there were only a few lookout posts here.

It wasn't until after the Ming army captured San Diego that the defenders began to build fortifications on Komatek Hill. But what can be built in such a short period of time? At this moment, in the face of the powerful firepower of the Ming army, it became a matter of course to lose the position. (To be continued.) )