In the Battle of Erzurum, the 1st Panzer Division under the command of Feng Nan took the lead and directly crossed the multi-layered defense line laid by the Turks.

Under the tracks of the Type 15 tank, a trench several meters wide did not work at all. As for the German-made Maxim machine guns, which were considered trump cards by the Turks? Although in the Battle of the Somme, the German 7.92mm MG08 Maxim machine gun was used to kill the British, causing the British to suffer nearly 60,000 casualties on the first day alone.

However, the 7.92mm caliber Makqin is naturally invincible against humans, but it is very powerless when dealing with the steel beast of tanks.

This can be seen from the proud record of the British Mark 1 tank on the battlefield of the Somme, and the Mark 1 tank used by the British is only the most basic kind, and more than 30 units have broken down in the process of use.

Against such a tank, there is no way for a king of land warfare like the MG08 Maxim machine gun, and even more so against the Type 15 tank. After all, the frontal armor of the Type 15 tank is enough for a thickness of 50mm, which is also useless even for ordinary small-caliber guns... When more than 300 Type 15 tanks crossed the trench one by one, and all the bullets fired by the Maxim machine guns in their hands were bounced off by the armor of these steel beasts, the morale of the Turks had completely collapsed.

Although the Turkish and German officials also tried to save the war after the incident, it was a pity that in the face of more than 300 steel beasts, they could not save it in any way.

What's more, behind these steel beasts, there are at least 30,000 infantry?

Led by these tanks, the infantry that followed continued to break through the defensive circle organized by the Turks, and finally achieved a remarkable result―――――― with a force of less than 40,000 men, they routed nearly 200,000 men, and captured 100,000 of them... Such a record, before putting the tank troops on the battlefield, to be honest, Jiang Baili never thought of it. At the beginning, tank troops were put into the Erzurum battlefield, just because these tanks were inconvenient to transport, and after sending Zhang Shaozeng to Baghdad, the Erzurum front line did need a lot of troops.

In fact, Jiang Baili never thought that after putting the tank on the battlefield, the final result would be like this... After obtaining such a record, Jiang Baili also thought about making Feng Nan go further, after all, at this time, there were less than 100,000 troops left in Enver's hands, and even if the reserve troops were counted, there were less than 200,000 left, with Feng Nan's tanks, plus more than 50,000 troops, it may not be impossible to defeat these Turks again.

As long as they are defeated, then the door to the Turkish hinterland will be open to Jiang Baili, and the Turks will also be greatly weakened and will not be able to pose enough threat to the expeditionary force for a long time ... Unfortunately, although the above ideas are good, they are not realistic enough.

Therefore, when Jiang Baili sent a telegram to Feng Nan, hoping that he could continue to march into the hinterland of Turkey, Feng Nan's own answer was quite regrettable.

"I can't help it..."

There are only four words, and all the helplessness is exhausted.

After defeating nearly 200,000 troops of Enver's two legions on the Erzurum front, in order to break through the defense line formed by the Turks, Feng Nan once again led his tank troops to take the lead, tearing countless gaps in the Turks' bodies.

This also indirectly created conditions for the remaining expeditionary force to capture nearly 100,000 Turkish soldiers.

In fact, during the Battle of Erzurum, there was an incident in which a single tank captured almost a battalion of soldiers. This is no ordinary result, considering that in the Battle of the Somme, the British tanks only captured more than 300 people and captured a village... The defeat of Erzurum made the entire Turkish army frightened, and the capture of nearly 100,000 people later made the Turks flee for their lives. And in the process of pursuit, the tanks under Feng Nan began to strike one by one... However, this is not surprising, after all, the Type 15 tank was designed to have a maximum range of 80 kilometers, and when off-road, it was only 35 kilometers. Although everyone had prepared enough fuel for them in advance, because of the unreliable surname of the engine, in the end, when Jiang Baili's order was issued, there were only more than twenty tanks under Feng Nan's command left at most that could be used... Of course, this is not to say that these tanks are completely useless, but it will be difficult to get them into battle before they are overhauled..."

Jiang Baili, who learned of this, also sighed, but after this incident, Jiang Baili was not against the components of the tank force at all. Because judging from all aspects of data, the current Type 15 tanks equipped by the Wehrmacht are more advanced and more reasonable than the British Mark 1 tanks.

Of course, the price is also more than that... In any case, after discovering the huge potential of the tank, Jiang Baili could no longer make any objection to the tank troops.

Not only Jiang Baili, but also Cai Yi and others in China also began to pay attention to the weapon of tanks, and some other military and political officials who were originally opposed to assembling tank troops on the grounds that one division could build five divisions also stood on the other side and overturned their previous opinions... In addition, because the result in Erzurum this time is really proud in Thailand, when the results are reported to the country, the atmosphere in the country has become enthusiastic again.

Looking at the cold Type 15 tanks in the newspapers, almost every citizen became excited.

Of course, many foreigners are also staring at it.

After all, even judging by the limited photographs in the newspapers, the tanks of the expeditionary force were more advanced than those of the British.

And at this time, such a thing as a tank was still exclusively owned by the British in the eyes of the great powers, and others could not have it at all in a short time, and then..."How did the Chinese get it?" ”

With this kind of question, many spies infiltrated the Caucasus. In Yanjing, there were also many foreign envoys who began to inquire about tanks under the name of various cocktail parties, after all, for foreigners, the matter of tanks is really not a trivial matter.

It is also in this atmosphere that the battle to capture Baghdad, which should have won the attention of the world, led by Zhang Shaozeng, has become obscure, at least in the newspapers with the first battle of Erzurum, Zhang Shaozeng's Baghdad can only be the second, and the first will always be Feng Nan's tanks..."It's really infuriating..."

Standing on the ruins of Baghdad, looking at the rows of Turkish prisoners of war standing outside the city walls, Zhang Shao once said to the adjutant on the side.

Although it is a time of war, ordinary means of communication cannot be blocked, and in Zhang Shaozeng's case, he can receive a few newspapers every few days.

After taking Baghdad, Zhang Shaozeng paid great attention to his evaluation, so he deliberately asked his subordinates to collect more newspapers, even if it was in Russian, German, and other words that he couldn't understand at all, it didn't matter, after all, there were photos on it, even if there were no photos, you could find a translator to translate it.

It's just that what makes Zhang Shaozeng sad is that those who can't understand it are not mentioned, and all those with photos, the headlines of these newspapers are all occupied by Feng Nan's tank troops without exception. And he, Zhang Shaozeng, will always be second... It was also when Zhang Shaozeng was sad that the adjutant who heard Zhang Shaozeng's words on the side smiled and said.

"Actually, there's nothing to be angry about, after all, the tanks commanded by Feng are more eye-catching, and to be honest, our battle is indeed too easy..."

Zhang Shao, who was still a little indignant, heard the adjutant say this, and he also calmed down.

Because the adjutant was right, not to mention the tank units themselves, and whether their achievements attracted the attention of others, this time they did take Baghdad too easily, so easily, as if the Turks had given it to them.

However, it is not surprising, because the Turks originally wanted to defend to the death, especially Khalil himself, and were ready to support Baghdad for a while, until the battle with Erzurum was decided.

Because Enver's original plan was to use the forces of the two legions to take advantage of the opportunity of Jiang Baili's division of troops to storm Erzurum, and prepare to fight to the death, so as not to sit still.

In Khalil's view, although the combat effectiveness of the expeditionary force is good, especially the equipment of a large number of machine guns, the expeditionary force only has more than 100,000 troops in Armenia after dividing a lot of troops to the south, and many of them have to be scattered and stationed in various places, and the troops that can be obtained in the end are definitely far inferior to Enver. In this case, Enver is not without a chance and grasp of victory... Even if he could not win, at least in Khalil's opinion, Enver's nearly 200,000 troops would be able to retreat in one piece.

It's just that what people didn't expect was that Enver was actually defeated, although because of communications, the Baghdad side is not clear what happened, but it is an indisputable fact that Enver's two legions were routed and a large number of officers and soldiers were captured.

And the spread of this news also broke the morale of the defenders of Baghdad, who were being caught between the British and the expeditionary force. Of course, this was nothing to the British, who had just taken the Coot, but to the expeditionary force that had arrived under the city of Baghdad... A group of opponents whose morale has collapsed, apparently very good to deal with ... So three strikes and five divided by two, Zhang Shaozeng quickly captured Baghdad, even though the commander of the Turkish Sixth Army Khalil personally supervised the battle during the battle, and finally died under stray bullets―――――― another reason for the collapse of Turkish morale was Khalil's death... Therefore, this battle was indeed too simple for Zhang Shaozeng..."Really, if only I had commanded those tanks in the first place..."

Standing on the ruins of Baghdad, Zhang Shao once complained.

―――――――――― just when Zhang Shaozeng complained, diplomats from various countries had already gathered in Yanjing.

Of course, under the guise of a banquet, but in fact these gathered diplomats were talking about the new weapons that appeared on the battlefield in Turkey, tanks... Of course, in such a grand diplomatic occasion, there are still many countries involved, but China is now a country of the Entente after all. Therefore, although there are some relatively hidden German diplomats in China, in fact, the main members of this banquet are only neutral countries, except for the members of the Entente countries, as for the Central Powers or something... If there were really Allied diplomats, perhaps the British, who were holding the banquet, would dare to arrest him.

"It's been so long, why hasn't Mr. Zhu Erdian come out yet..."

"I don't know..."

In the hall of the British Embassy, the envoys of various countries have been here for some time, but for some reason, the British ambassador Zhu Erdian has not appeared.

If the host does not come out, it is certainly impossible for the banquet to begin. Therefore, in the hall, the envoys of various countries can only hold a wine glass in one hand and talk about tanks with the people around them.

"The British tank should have been developed in 1915, and it was not put into actual combat until September last year, after only two years..."

After taking a sip of red wine, the French ambassador said slowly.

"That's right..."

The Russian ambassador also nodded.

"But the most important thing is that the tanks that suddenly appeared by the Chinese not long ago are much more advanced than those tanks of the British, no matter how you look at them..." This can be confirmed by some of our military officers and intelligence officers in Armenia that the tanks equipped by the Chinese are by no means comparable to those tanks of the British ...

"That's strange," said the Italian. How could the Chinese possibly have more advanced tanks than the British? You know, tanks were invented by the British. Even if the British have just started this project, and the Chinese have already begun to follow up, then the Chinese will not be so advanced..."

When the Italians said this, everyone present nodded.

The envoys of these great powers did not believe that China had built tanks on its own, and of course, this was not because of the pride peculiar to white people, and there was a reason why these white people thought so.

That is, China's New Deal was established after the Second Revolution and the Northern Expedition in 1914, and before that China had a poor industrial base. Although it has been possible to produce some advanced weapons on a relatively large scale, weapons such as tanks and warships are... And after the end of the Northern Expedition and the reunification of the whole country, China also spent a period of time developing its industrial strength. In such a short period of time, it is simply impossible for China to develop tanks. This is what the envoys of the nations have come up with... Then..."Well, now our task is to figure out how to pry the Chinese's mouth open..."

When he said this, the Frenchman still looked very gentlemanly, but his words aroused the approval of everyone present.

So far, the number of appearances of tanks has been really limited, quite limited, but each one is extremely eye-catching. For example, the first appearance of tanks in the Battle of the Somme, and the recent Battle of Erzurum, which defeated nearly 200,000 enemy troops in a single battle and captured nearly 100,000 of them―――――― although behind the scenes, more than 30,000 infantry followed... In addition to this reason, another reason is that the current form of the European battlefield is too cruel, especially the emergence of trench warfare, which has increased the bloodiness of this war by several levels.

By far the most effective way to deal with trench warfare has been limited to heavy artillery bombardment. Although countries are now beginning to find ways to deal with trench warfare, the results are not very good. And the most effective of these is the British tank.

It's just that the British are very secretive about tank technology and are not willing to share it with their allies at all. As for Russia, France and other countries? To be honest, the most rudimentary tanks are actually not very difficult, especially in technology, Russia and France can be studied, and they are indeed studying "tanks" now. It's just that it will take a long time to develop a tank on their own, and even if they do, I'm afraid it won't be any different from the British Mark tank... And at this time, looking at the Type 15 tanks of the Chinese, you can see everything ... So..."I must try my best to pry open the mouths of the Chinese..."

―――――――――― Russians, French and Italians are still trying to figure out how to pry open the Chinese's mouth and dig out the secrets about the tank. However, in the corner of the banquet hall, Ambassador Zhiyi stood in the corner in great secrecy, although his face was well hidden, but he could still see a lot of resentment and jealousy... Since the defeat of the Shandong Campaign, the status of the book has been greatly deteriorated, and it has been ignored and despised by other countries many times in many diplomatic arenas. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that Yu Ben still maintained an extremely large fleet, I am afraid that this banquet would not have invited Yu Zhiyi at all.

And even at this time, the Russians and the French excluded Zhiyi from the circle... But... But Zhiyi didn't care about this, because unlike Russia, France and other countries that were often confused. It has been operating in China for many years, and has many intelligence organizations such as the Black Dragon Society, and it is still very good at intelligence, so it doesn't need the help of Russia and France at all, let alone share intelligence with them... So..."Wang Jun, everything is up to you..."

When he said this, the resentment and jealousy on Zhiyi's face had all been hidden, and only a smile was on his face.

And opposite him, Wang Jingwei, who was invited to come, could only nod his head although his face was ugly.

"Please rest assured, I will do my best..."

When he said this, Wang Jingwei closed his eyes.

"If I hadn't left that many handles..."

(To be continued)