On a road to Chattanooga outside Huntsville, a tank formation belonging to the Fifth Panzer Division was slowly moving along the road. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info They were the vanguard of the entire armored division, and by order they were going to cross the Tennessee River by noon.

"What's going on?" About seven or eight kilometers southeast of Huntsville, more than 30 Tiger tanks and several auxiliary vehicles of the heavy tank battalion directly under the Fifth Armored Division all stopped. The battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Wu Hao, leaned out of his car and asked loudly, "Why did you stop?" ”

"Sir." The captain of the leading car shouted, "The road ahead is blocked, we can't pass!" ”

Wu Hao looked up, and this road, which was not originally wide, was full of almost endless vehicles of all kinds at the moment. Tanks, armoured vehicles, trucks, jeeps, ambulances, tanker trucks, cooking trucks, etc., crowded the entire road. And even the fields on both sides of the road are full of vehicles, people, and supplies.

"Why not move on? Check it out! Wu Hao turned around and ordered the communication soldier next to the car to go ahead and investigate. The signal corps soon rode his motorcycle down the congested road with difficulty.

'Woo~~~' There was a piercing sound in the sky, and several fighters of the Ming Army Airlines roared from a height of only two or three hundred meters in the sky and flew forward. Wu Hao climbed out of the turret door of his car, sat on the turret, took out a cigarette, lit it, and smoked.

The road ahead was very congested, and the signal corps went and never returned. The road was gradually congested with all kinds of vehicles and people. There were units of the 5th Panzer Division, as well as units of other divisions. The whole road and in the fields were full of people and cars. The air smelled of gasoline, engine oil, and dust. And the cacophony of countless soldiers chattering and talking.

Seeing the sun rising higher and higher in the sky, Wu Hao's brows gradually furrowed. It's not a problem to be stuck here.

Just when Wu Hao was about to lose his patience, the signal soldier, who had been there for almost an hour, squeezed out of the crowd sweating profusely. "Sir, a large iron bridge across the Tennessee River ahead is broken. All the troops couldn't get through, and now they're all blocked here. ”

"Where's your motorcycle?" Wu Hao looked at the signal soldier who came back from running, frowned, and asked, "That's the property of the army, where are you going?" ”

"Sir." The communication soldier said with some grievances: "The front is now tightly blocked, and it really can't be opened." I'll just put it in front and run back to report on the situation. ”

"Oh." Wu Hao nodded, turned to look at the armored vehicle carrying the officers and soldiers of the communications squad not far away, and shouted loudly, "You guys go over together and get the motorcycle back." That's the property of the Army! ”

More than a dozen Ming officers and soldiers jumped out of the car and followed the signal soldier into the crowded convoy. It took more than 10 minutes for the officers and men to carry a motorcycle back. At this time, Wu Hao had already contacted the division headquarters and learned that there was only such a bridge nearby that could cross the river. Before the bridge was restored, his troops could only be blocked here.

A large number of armored soldiers came out of their respective cars. Either going to release water, or going to the side to smoke and chat. Not only the troops of their battalion were blocked here, but the officers and soldiers of other troops around it were also blocked here. A group of officers and soldiers were bored looking for a place to block the sun and began to rest.

Several officers and soldiers spread out chess pieces on the hood of a jeep, which immediately attracted a group of officers and soldiers to gather around and point fingers. There are always more people who watch chess than they play chess, and they will also point their fingers to prove how superb their chess skills are.

After a while, some bored officers and soldiers began to take out playing cards with tanks and aircraft cannons printed on them.

Gambling was previously prohibited in the Ming army, but Zhang Cheng relaxed this rule after becoming the supreme commander of the army. Because he believed that the officers and soldiers still needed some recreation activities in addition to the brutal and fierce battles. However, Zhang Cheng also knew the dangers of gambling, so he was only allowed to use cigarettes as a bet for playing cards, and anyone who dared to do anything else would be taken away by the gendarmes.

Several ammunition boxes were piled up, and a deck of playing cards was enough to make seventy or eighty officers and soldiers pull out their cigarettes and start shouting loudly. It is indeed a great way to relax in wartime.

For all this, Wu Hao just watched it for a while and didn't pay much attention to it. He came to the command vehicle and began to contact the division headquarters through the radio to discuss the next course of action. As officers, this is their busiest time.

"Dudu~~~Dudu~~~" It didn't take too long for a long line of convoys to rumble over with a shrill horn. And in front of the convoy were several armored vehicles of the gendarmes clearing the way. Don't get me wrong, it's not some senior official who came to inspect, but an engineering unit has come over.

"What's wrong? Where are the troops? Wu Hao, who came out of the command car, asked his deputy loudly.

"It's the Boat Bridge Force." The deputy commander of the heavy tank battalion said loudly, "It seems that the bridge in front is very badly damaged and cannot be repaired in a short time." The bridge troops were sent over to prepare for the erection of the pontoon bridge. The gendarmes told all the people and vehicles to get off the road to make way for the boat-bridge troops. ”

"How do you make way?" Wu Hao had a surprised expression on his face, looked at the full vehicles around him and said, "It's all jammed like this, how can you drive?" ”

Indeed, the road is now blocked. There are dense vehicles and personnel everywhere, and it is almost impossible to evacuate. Even the gendarmes could do nothing about it. It's not that the Ming officers and soldiers don't want to get out of the way, but they really can't move.

In the end, the boat and bridge force was not able to pass this road. They had to drive all their vehicles off the road and make a circle through the surrounding fields toward the Tennessee River. Looking at those large tracked armored vehicles with huge modular steel pontoons on their heads, Wu Hao began to calculate in his heart how long it would take for the pontoon bridges to be built.

After the Zhouqiao troops passed, the sky had gradually come to noon. The cookers on the road began to prepare lunch.

There are quite a few troops on this road, which belong to different formations. Normally they have their own cooking units, but now the situation is clearly chaotic, and some units are probably not able to eat hot meals.

Wu Hao's armored battalion also had its own cooking unit, but the cooking unit of their battalion was still with the division headquarters at least a few kilometers away in the rear at the moment. When Wu Hao set off in the morning, he only brought a vehicle in good condition and a communication command vehicle, and the other logistics vehicles followed the division headquarters.

Originally, Wu Hao thought that he would be able to arrive at the scheduled destination at noon, and then the division headquarters would soon follow. But no one thought that there would be a traffic jam, and it is estimated that there will be no hot meal. When marching and fighting in the field, no officer and soldier would like to eat those military rations.

Just as Wu Hao was scratching his head, General Zhang Xuan, the commander of the Fifth Armored Division, came to the location of his unit on a motorcycle.

"Commander, why are you here?" Seeing his division commander riding a motorcycle squeezing through the traffic with difficulty, Wu Hao hurriedly stepped forward to salute.

"I'm anxious and want to go over and see how the road is going." Zhang Xuan parked the motorcycle with a smile and asked out loud, "What's going on ahead?" ”

"There is a Zhouqiao unit that has just passed, it seems to be from the 167th Division." Wu Hao responded: "But it is estimated that it will take a few hours to get it done." And the front is now completely blocked, and the motorcycle can't get through. ”

"Huh?" Zhang Xuan said in surprise: "Can't get through motorcycles? It's... Well? Time to eat? ”

"Commander." Wu Hao smiled bitterly and said, "There are no troops of our division around here, and the cooking soldiers are all behind, and it is estimated that we will have to eat field rations at noon." ”

"Who likes to eat that?" Zhang Xuan shook his head, looked at a cooking cart not far away, and said, "Isn't there a cooking cart over there?" ”

"Division commander, it seems to be the 33rd Armored Division." Wu Hao hurriedly said, "It's not from our troops." ”

"How can there be so many words." Zhang Xuan waved his hand and walked towards the cooking car. As he walked, he said, "They are all officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, what do you do so clearly?" Let's all go to dinner, if Zheng Qian makes irresponsible remarks, let him come to me. ”

With a lieutenant general speaking out and giving orders, all the cooking cars on this road were immediately no longer divided into units, and as long as they were officers and soldiers, they could directly come to eat. This matter quickly spread among the army, and Zheng Qian, the commander of the 33rd Armored Division, did not go to Zhang Xuan for trouble. On the contrary, Zhang Cheng, who learned of this incident, was very pleased, and specially sent a telegram to the whole army to inform him of this incident, and praised Zhang Xuan by name.

The lunch was very rich, even if it was thousands of miles away from the mainland in the rear at the moment, Daming's strong logistics supply capacity could still send anything they needed to the troops on the front line. And it's a battlefield, surrounded by places where American agriculture is rich. Both wheat and various livestock products are available in large quantities. As an occupying army, the Ming army was usually able to contain cattle and sheep as long as they gave a little money.

The fragrant rice and steamed buns, the lumps of beef and mutton and the cans of canned fruits made the Ming officers and soldiers very satisfied.

After a few hours of lunch, the sun began to set in the west. Ahead, a pontoon bridge over the Tennessee River capable of carrying heavy tanks was finally erected. These Ming troops, who had been stuck in the road all day, were finally able to move slowly again. (To be continued.) )