Vietnam Lao Cai.

"General Bruno, I think this battle plan is too risky!!"

Colonel Colpa, chief of staff of the 17th French Division in Vietnam, looked at the commander of the 17th Division, known as the first wise general in the Far East, Major General Brunuo, a young and strong man in the army, who had just stubbornly decided on an absurd battle plan.

After receiving the warm invitation of the British, the French, who had coveted China for a long time, jumped up like drugged Gallic chickens, especially Major General Bruno, who had been suppressing the peasants in Vietnam all day long, and was worried that they would not have a chance to show their strength and gain military success.

The Ministry of Defense had long had secret documents to assist the British in punishing the Chinese, but because of the delay in the specific action plan, General Bruno had been extremely depressed for almost a week in this small Sino-Vietnamese city.

And the belated invitation from the British made him see the dawn of the long wait.

General Brunau, a French young nationalist officer through and through, seemed to him to be incapable of the English, and the arrogant English, who always thought of themselves as descendants of the Anglo-Saxons, forgot that there were several of their ancestors. The arrogant people on this island are only suitable for naval warfare, and they are not suitable for the army, let alone the army.

"Colonel Colpa, this is the order. If you are unable to accept the order, then I regret to announce that your position will be temporarily replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Henry. I would suggest to the Ministry of Defense that such an important position as Chief of Staff should be filled by a high-achieving student from a regular military academy. ”

With a wave of his hand, Bruno's decision was indisputable, and the opinion of the chief of staff seemed to him conservative and ignorant. It is a shame for the French Army that this damn man who has never even entered a military academy can become the chief of staff of the division. The big hand wave is his most commonly used body language, and in his opinion, as a French general who commands thousands of troops, he should be a true knight and the most noble gentleman.

Colonel Corpa was indignant, and it was undeniable that the general was not a mediocre man, but his greatest fault was that he was too conceited. He did not go to a military school, which has always been Kolpa's greatest regret, but his military rank and position were not picked up on the ground, they were fought with the Germans on the European battlefield. This Far Eastern general, who graduated from the military academy, because of his meritorious service in suppressing the peasants, after repeatedly falsely reporting the results of the war, encircled his superiors, and was promoted faster than himself, even if he was promoted, he actually wanted to kick himself out, and he wanted the great law [***] team to send him to death.

"General Bruno, it has been a great mistake to abandon the baggage troops. If two more artillery regiments were left behind, leaving only three infantry regiments and subsidiary units in the division to march into China, the only result would be to fall into the encirclement of the Chinese. If I were a lieutenant [***] officer, then I would definitely take out the poor baggage troops in a roundabout way. "Korpa is still trying to fight for it, and for this veteran soldier, he has experienced much more actual combat than this major general who has only fought peasants and bandits, and he cannot watch the French [***] team take risks.

"Damn. Colpa, do you know what you're talking about? The great French Army is invincible in the world, we can even defeat the damned Germans, what about the Chinese? They were just like the damned Vietnamese monkeys, some farmers with their hoes and bandits running around the mountains, forming the so-called army. ”

Bruno was challenged to authority on the spot, and he felt very uncomfortable in his heart, and he still wanted to save some face for you, but of course he didn't have to now, "Kolpa, I think you were beaten by the Germans. Do the Chinese understand what modern tactics are? Our intelligence officers told us that their warlords fight, you shoot a few shots, I shoot a few shots and it's over, backward weapons, damn training, fighting spirit worse than the peasant army, will be as powerful as you say? You know, the so-called powerful troops in their north can't even beat the troops of the monkeys. Our French [***] team is the world's leading army, and I will lead those lovely lads to defeat the Chinese army all the way. Baggage troops? We have defeated the squadron, did they use bandits to rob the baggage troops? A safe rear will be their best guarantee. As for supplies, when it arrives at Ruili, the British will naturally provide everything. ”

For various reasons, the French received less information about the Southwestern Army than the British, and they did not know what was going on on the other side, especially the arrogant General Brunau. In his opinion, the artillery unit will then follow up slowly, and he will be the first to enter Kunming with the British. Perhaps, under the city of Kunming, these snail-like artillery units will be useful.

As the chief of staff, Colpa's ability to process and analyze intelligence is much stronger than that of Bruno, "But general, the opposite side is no longer an ordinary Zhong[***] valve, but Zhang Shusheng's southwest army, judging from their foreign trade, I think they should have bought back a lot of advanced weapons." The damned Germans, in particular, must have secretly sold them quite a few advanced weapons and equipment. ”

"Kolpa, I don't think you need to worry about that. However, for the sake of our same hatred of the Germans, I hope to prove the fighting power of the [***] team with a real victory. There are only weapons, there are no trained soldiers, and those will become our trophies. ”

General Bruno had already made up his mind, and he was going to leave Chief of Staff Colpa behind to guard the baggage troops, but in order to prove his wisdom, he decided to bring Colonel Corpa with him, so that he could see with his own eyes how he defeated all the [***] teams along the way to Ruili.

So, the great French Army Major General General Brunau, in order to march quickly, took only enough supplies for two days of combat consumption, three regiments of French soldiers, and nearly 3,000 affiliated troops on the road. Leaving behind were the two artillery regiments of the French and the more troublesome logistical support force composed of the Vietnamese.

History always jokes that the ambitious General Bruno, less than a day after his departure, the intelligence that the British logistics supply base was attacked by dawn arrived at the French army headquarters in Vietnam.

As a critical variable, the headquarters immediately forwarded this information to General Bruno on the front line. As a result, although the high-power radio station of the division headquarters that remained in the rear with the baggage troops received this telegram through the mountains, the low-power radio station of General Brunau's army suffered a loss, and it is not known whether the signal was not good and was constrained by complicated terrain and obstacles, or the radio power was insufficient, until the French army encountered a storm-like blow, they still did not know that the tide of battle had taken a sharp turn.

Of course, in General Brunau's thinking, the combat effectiveness of the Chinese, which is not even comparable to the African army, is impossible to dump the British army of tens of thousands, even if the combat effectiveness of the British is not comparable to the French army, which is the first in the world.

As a result, naturally a few families were happy and a few were sad, and history once again made a big joke, but this time God did not do the Oriental God System, Immeasurable Tianzun!

"General Knox, our heavy artillery regiment has arrived."

When the staff officer delivered the long-awaited news, Major General Knox felt that the resentment of the past few days had been swept away. After the temporary supply base was attacked by the despicable and shameful and sinister Chinese, he ordered the fiercest attack since the beginning of the war.

For two days, tens of thousands of troops launched a fierce attack on the Chinese's positions almost day and night. As a commander, he was well aware of the situation with the troops.

If it was still an easy battle before, intending to wait for the fighters to break through the Chinese defense line in one fell swoop, then after the supply field was raided and the supplies were burned, Major General Knox was completely panicked.

It would take at least a little more than a week for new supplies to arrive again from Burma, and tens of thousands of troops, not to mention the extremely consuming ammunition, were already in a sudden shortage of food and medicine. The lack of medicine is not the most deadly, anyway, in the opinion of Major General Knox, those are already battle-damaged personnel who cannot fight. Food is the biggest problem.

The border villages around the Chinese were all empty, even the door panels were taken away by the Chinese, and if it was not for the fact that this was still a population gathering place a week ago, Major General Knox almost thought that the bandits had ransacked the village.

The troops who went out scavenged all the edible things in the fields, drained the water in the ditches, caught fish and shrimp, and even hunted in the mountains.

However, food reserves are still declining inexorably and sharply. Nutritious dairy and soy products, cocoa and soy products, have all been consumed. Tens of thousands of people eat three meals a day, which can directly make General Knox so worried that he wants to pull out his gun and commit suicide.

If it is not possible to break through the defense line of the Chinese during this time, then the entire battle plan will be delayed for more than a week, plus the time wasted in front, then this war may not end in a month, maybe two months.

"A division of the French, already from the barracks on the border with Vietnam."

The staff officer's words made General Knox happy again, he was worried about the lack of troops, and there was a division of French people who wanted to help, and it was indeed a traditional Anglo-French ally, so that he did not have the cheekiness to ask the British command in India for reinforcements.

"However, they gave up all their baggage, and even two artillery regiments were left behind by Major General Bruno."

However, the staff officer's supplementary explanation made Old Man Knox smell an unusual smell. This Frenchman's idea of grabbing merit is too anxious, how can he not even ignore the baggage troops, and only drive straight into the battle unit with the commander?

Almost hundreds of miles away, even if the other side rushed to the vicinity of Ruili within two days, in the middle, the cunning Chinese would sit and wait for the French to support themselves.

General Knox hesitated, in his prediction, whether the French did not move, or sent an elite army division to help him, it would be a nightmare for the Chinese, when the time came to the defense of another Indian brigade behind him, he would have an army of more than 50,000 people, sweeping the entire southwest will not be a problem.

But now, the situation seems to be getting worse and worse.

"Send a telegram to the French, try to contact General Bruno, we need accurate combat coordination." General Knox let go of the doubts in his heart, no matter what, the heavy artillery came up, and he would launch a general attack today and take the Chinese positions in one fell swoop. "My boys, let's prepare our plans for the evening assault. Damn the Chinese, I will hit them back with cannons and let them know that the glory of the empire is not something that they yellow-skinned monkeys can insult. ”

"Chairman, the British seem to be preparing for a new offensive. The Dragon's Tooth Special Forces Brigade eliminated the scouts released by the enemy, grabbed a few tongues, and judging from the information obtained, the enemy's attack this time seemed to be unprecedentedly fierce. Gu Xin will even send out the royal Gurkha regiment. The words of the intelligence staff officer made Zhang Shusheng fall into deep thought, for a long time, but he had already figured it out, and the British were in a hurry. They want to finish their work in one battle, and they want to break through the defense line in one battle.

So, did the heavy artillery regiment, which the British had been waiting for for a long time, also arrive?

"Order the Ruili airport to immediately take off reconnaissance planes, bomber units ready to go into battle at any time, once the British artillery regiment is found, immediately and resolutely wipe it out."

Zhang Shusheng knew very well that at this time, even if he couldn't wait for the opponent's artillery regiment to open fire, he would have to dispatch the air force, and blindly waiting for the opportunity was not the way. Even if the opponent's heavy artillery regiment is not discovered this time, the air force will still use the offensive as a means to cooperate with the second division, which is already obviously in a weak position, to complete this increasingly difficult blocking battle.

However, he also understood that if the main three divisions, or the Guards Division, which was composed of all elite officers and soldiers, fought this battle, of course, it would be smoother. The garrison division is based on the reserve force and has only been formed for more than half a year, and even though the reserve units of the Southwest Army were well-trained, their combat effectiveness has declined somewhat, and the overall combat effectiveness of the troops has been affected.

"I hope these Yunnan veterans can withstand the test of war, otherwise, they can only go home and farm." Although judging from the reports obtained from all sides, these veterans performed well, but Zhang Shusheng was still waiting for the results after the war, once the results were unfavorable to these old people in Yunnan and Guizhou, Zhang Shusheng could only give them a severance pay and go home to retire, which was better than delaying the Southwest Army and sending his own life.

"Hurry the, if you don't want to die, let Lao Tzu hurry up and dig it."

The first position of the 2nd Division, after several days of fierce fighting, was plowed over and over again by mountain artillery, mortars, and even heavy machine gun bullets and grenades, and the simply constructed position had lost its reliable surname.

Fluffy dirt, collapsed trenches everywhere, the 2nd Division was already building positions for the third time. Fortunately, the first line of defense and the second line of defense behind them were separated by nearly 700 meters, and the first line of defense stepped back a little to become the second line of defense.

Tie Sanqian had already grabbed the sapper shovel beside him, and while shaking his muscles all over his body to dig the trench, he yelled angrily at the soldiers near and far.

He almost never gets angry with the soldiers, only matters related to the life and death of the soldiers, he will scold his subordinates like his grandson every time, but he still has a big reason, otherwise he would have been cleaned up by Zhang Shusheng.

The front commander has already given an urgent order for the second division to strengthen the defensive line, and the fierce battle is imminent, and the second division, which has suffered 1,126 casualties, will inevitably suffer casualties if it does not seize the time to strengthen the new position.

The Southwest Army only relied on heavy machine guns, grenades, various artillery and other sharp weapons of trench defense to be able to block the low-intensity offensive in the early stage. And now, not to mention the tens of thousands of British [***] teams on the opposite side, even tens of thousands of pigs will charge the position, it will also be a big test.

Once the blockade fails, let alone wrapping dumplings from the British, the entire second division may be defeated, or even dumpled in reverse.

Therefore, we must not lose this time, not only Tie Sanqian, but even Zhuge Sheng personally ran to the front line.

"After the heavy artillery regiment covered the forward positions of the Chinese, those damned heavy machine gun bunkers were removed, and the offensive would officially begin. This frontal combat mission was led by a reading Indian brigade, with the 1st Regiment of the 4th Division following up the offensive mission, and the 2nd Regiment of the 4th Division being ready to support the follow-up. The Indian division attacked from the left flank, the Royal Gurkha broke through the Chinese line from the right flank, and the 3rd Regiment was to serve as the general reserve......"

General Knox in order to break through the Chinese defense line in one breath, no longer care about casualties, and the casualty figures of the Indians and the British combined in these days have broken through the 4,000 mark. What he needs to do is to rely on heavy artillery to concentrate on suppressing the forward positions and break through the blocking positions of only one division of the Chinese in one fell swoop.

"The Chinese must not be able to stop it." General Knox seems to have seen the light of day, and what he is waiting for is the heavy artillery regiment, once the heavy artillery regiment can effectively remove the dense heavy machine gun pillboxes on the Chinese position, he can accept a low degree of combat damage. "At 4:11 p.m., the artillery regiment launched an artillery bombardment, targeting the forward positions of the Chinese. Ten minutes of artillery fire was prepared, and the troops began to attack in an orderly manner. ”

However, what General Knox didn't know was that in the sky above Ruili, a J-1 two-seater reconnaissance plane modified from a J-1 fighter finally flew to the rear of the British and circled at a high altitude at a large angle to reconnoitre.

Ten minutes later, when the fighter plane swept over a forest, he finally found a strange protrusion in the woods, and his heart tightened for no reason, the specially trained scout, rubbed his eyes, and picked up the special telescope again to reconnoiter carefully, it was actually a cannon barrel, and then, from the dense forest that he swept quickly, he found more and more abrupt long tubes that did not belong to this jungle, and each cannon pointed in the direction of Mengmao Town.

Holding back the huge surprise in his heart, the aerial scout tried his best to report to the radio station in the most solemn tone of his own: "Forward finger, front finger, I am Asuka No. 1, I found the French artillery regiment, found the French artillery regiment. Bearing ......"

The plane flew farther away, and the British in the woods did not see it at all. For the sake of secrecy, the artillery group in the jungle covered itself and blocked its view.

Only a British sergeant who ran to pee in the distance, looked up and saw that there was actually a plane in the distance, damn it, it took more than a week before and after he climbed from the jungle of Myanmar to China, they were good, in the blink of an eye, Burma could fly to China, but unfortunately, the Chinese did not have the air force to give them a chance, and lost the opportunity to show off their might. However, looking down and seeing that he was covered in mud, his heart was still unbalanced, and the birds of the Air Force were flying high to watch the show, and he was also a gentleman, but he could only build an artillery position below, and couldn't help but scold: "Oh, [***]you! **you!!”