After a long voyage at sea, a flotilla loaded with half of the 1st Tank Division and nearly 200 new fighters finally arrived in the port of Durban under the escort of the navy.

They were only the first troops, and more than two infantry divisions were gathering ready to come on board for reinforcements. At that time, the Ming army will sweep away the Boers who were red-eyed and forgot how high the sky was and how thick it was.

The army was unloading the ship, and officers such as Zhang Cheng and Lu Zhiyuan attended a welcome dinner hosted by the Governor General of South Africa, who had arrived from the port of Cape Town. Subsequently, the Governor, who finally relaxed, handed over everything to Zhang Cheng to be responsible. He could finally rest.

"How's it going?" In the seaside villa arranged by the governor for Zhang Cheng, Zhang Cheng, who had finished washing, took a towel to dry his hair, and asked Wang Yan, who was sitting on the sofa drinking tea, out loud.

"Those Europa people move fast." Wang Yan put down the teacup in his hand, narrowed his eyes, and said in a deep voice, "They are transporting a large amount of military supplies to the Transvaal by sea, and at the same time recruiting volunteers throughout Europa to prepare to come and fight us. After a pause, a sharp color flashed in Wang Yan's eyes, and he added, "The scale is very large. ”

"Oh." Zhang Cheng replied noncommittally and threw the towel on the sofa. took the wine glass handed by Xiao Hongbao and sat on the sofa, looked at Wang Yan opposite, and asked loudly, "What are those Boers doing?" "In this day and age, there is no telephone, no Internet, and no ubiquitous journalists. The circulation of information is really difficult, and Zhang Cheng, who has always been floating on the sea, cannot fully understand everything through telegrams alone.

"They're crazy." Wang Yan's expression froze, and he said in a cold voice, "They drove away all the Ming people in the territory, and even dared to shoot at the Ming people!" Many people have died in recent times. After a pause, Wang Yan continued, "The Boers are rapidly building an army. You know they're not honest farmers. They have been fighting for generations in this wild land with fierce natives and beasts. And almost every man is a good hunter. Very difficult to deal with. ”

"Shh Zhang Cheng raised his eyelids and looked disdainful, "It's just a group of armed militia, what is it in front of the regular army?" ”

Wang Yan glanced at Zhang Cheng with some surprise, and opened his mouth to persuade him not to underestimate the enemy too much, but when the words came to his lips, he took them back. He is only engaged in intelligence, and he does not understand the affairs of war. Zhang Cheng, who was sitting opposite, was a veteran of personally commanding large-scale wars.

Zhang Cheng is not a light enemy. See what troops he brought? For the sake of this thing. Half of the First Tank Division and the main force of the road aviation team personally approved by Lord Shoufu participated in the battle. Mechanized troops on the ground and hundreds of new aircraft in the sky. There was even a fleet on the sea to respond. The troops participating in the war are all veterans who have been trained for many years. How difficult can such a force be against a group of militias with good marksmanship but little organization or discipline to speak of? You know, there are no guerrilla tactics in this era! The engagement between the two sides is basically a hard-fought back-and-forth. The militia of light infantry and the regular army equipped with tanks and planes are stumbling? Of course Zhang Cheng wants to hehe. He didn't even have the idea of waiting for the infantrymen to arrive.

"You get ready." Zhang Cheng raised his hand and took a sip of whiskey, and commanded softly, "Always keep an eye on the movements of the Boers, I want real-time information." In terms of expenses, you go to find the edge of the road, he is my chief of staff. ”

"Okay." Wang Yan nodded and agreed. After a pause, he suddenly frowned, and looked at Zhang Cheng suspiciously, "Is it too early to have real-time intelligence now?" Aren't the reinforcements still gathering in Songjiang Province now? ”

Zhang Cheng raised his eyelids and glanced at him, the corners of his mouth slightly curled. Sketched an inexplicable smile: "Who said I had to wait for the infantry?" ”

"Huh?!" Wang Yan's eyes suddenly widened!

The battle plan of the Ming army this time was very simple, gather more than two divisions of strong military forces, destroy the resistance of the Boers and seize the mining area with the overwhelming force of Mount Tai. As for the armored forces and aviation units, they are here to train their hands and gain real combat experience.

This combat scheme is clear to practically everyone. Including the Boers and the countries of Europa, because this is the most advantageous way to fight with the Ming. Among the weapons used by the countries of Europa to support the Boers were a large number of heavy machine guns and barbed wire, which were designed to counter the Ming army. In fact, when everyone thinks so, Zhang Cheng has another idea in his heart.

Although Zhang Cheng is already a major general, this is mainly because of the remuneration given by the military top brass in order to reward him. Zhang Cheng's heart is big, and he wants to continue to move up. Want to get more hands on it. Profit, then you need enough confidence to do it. What is the confidence in the army? What a record!

Zhang Cheng was the commander of the advance team. The advance team, consisting of half a tank division and army aviation, received an order to act on the fly. No one thought that Zhang Cheng would have the courage to take the initiative to attack the Boers with an army of less than 10,000 people.

The Boers at this time had several militia groups. These groups are made up of villagers and herders from various farms and villages. They have excellent marksmanship. Morale is high. In addition to the police force, the Boers and descendants of the British had more than 30,000 troops. And the number is growing.

In addition to the number of people, what is even more important is the very large area of the Transvaal. Everyone has the impression that an army that uses horses as a mobile force needs a huge number of troops to fight in such a large area. It's just that Zhang Cheng doesn't care about all this.

Zhang Cheng never thought about defeating the entire Transvaal directly, and the strength in his hands did not allow him to do this. Zhang Cheng's idea was simple, he only had to take the mining area and hit the Boers hard. Now the eyes of the world are focused on the Transvaal mining area. As long as Zhang Cheng quickly attacked and won the mining area, he would be able to make indelible feats, which would have unparalleled benefits for his future development. You know, at this moment, almost all eyes of the world are focused on this.

The mechanized forces had a lot of heavy equipment, and Durban's port facilities were outdated, plus there were also equipment and aircraft for the army airline. It took several days to unload from the transport ship. A large number of construction machinery began to build a number of field airfields and material storage points. The soldiers were seizing the time to rest, the staff officers began to plan the battle plan, and Wang Yan began to collect intelligence. Zhang Cheng was prepared to attack the Boers as quickly as possible, and to deal a heavy blow to the Boers before they could gain more and more reinforcements.

When the time came to January 1933, when a large number of Ming infantry began to board the ship in Songjiang Mansion, Zhang Cheng sent his own battle plan to the army headquarters. A few hours later, Army Commander Marshal Yang Zhuo personally called Zhang Cheng back, "Agreed." ”

January is the hottest time of year in South Africa. The strong sea breeze blows the air currents inland, leaving the entire sky cloudless and unusually pure.

The loud roar of engines could be heard in the blue sky. At an altitude of 1,000 meters, two gray-painted lower wing fighters were patrolling the sky. Both aircraft belong to the new fighter of Daming Army Airlines, the GD32 Fighting Falcon fighter. GD is General Dynamics, and Fighting Falcon is the official name for this aircraft in Army Airlines.

Since the construction of the field airfield outside the port of Durban, the army aviation under Zhang Cheng's command has dispatched warplanes to the airspace of the Transvaal almost every day to conduct reconnaissance and demonstrations. This is a kind of pre-war preparation.

The new Special Envoy for Foreign Affairs, Wang Fan, officially sent a diplomatic letter to the Transvaal at the Port of Cape Town. The Transvaal was asked to give an explanation before midnight on January 5 for the brutal murder of a large number of Ming citizens in the Transvaal some time ago. Otherwise, the Ming court will use all means to protect the safety of its own people.

The diplomatic letter, which was seen as an ultimatum, was sternly rejected by the Transvaal. They insisted that the Ming people were all criminals who had illegally entered the Transvaal to steal minerals, and that the Transvaals were protecting their property.

Virtually everyone knows that any explanation is meaningless. The Ming wanted the Transvaal's gold mines, and they would 'use all means' with or without excuses. The emaciated Boer walked through the jungle with a huge gold brick in his arms, surrounded by countless eyes full of malice. Da Ming was just the biggest of them all, the closest one to them.

It's just that what makes everyone wonder is that the main force of the Ming army is still boarding the ship at the mainland, why did the ultimatum be issued so early? Is it because the Ming Dynasty wants to use the navy in advance to block the aid channel provided by the countries of Europa to the Transvaal? Or is it because Da Ming is too confident and doesn't take the Boers seriously?

No one expected that the vanguard force stationed near the port of Durban would take the initiative. Everyone believed that the force was there to protect the port and wait for the main force to come to help. Even the Boers were still thinking of taking the initiative to attack the port of Durban and block the landing route of the Ming army.

It was January 5th, not long after the sky had just been lifted. Two Fighting Falcon roared through the sky and rushed towards the town of Ladysmith. It was the closest Boer army assembly point to the port of Durban. The idea of the Boers was simple, to capture the port of Durban before the main forces of the Ming army arrived. These two planes had come to reconnoiter the movements of the Boers.

"Everything works." In the cockpit of a Fighting Falcon, a pilot in a funny dogskin hat and a heavy military uniform picked up the shortwave walkie-talkie in his hand and shouted.

"Understood." His wingman was quick to respond.

"Military intelligence. People here say that the Boers seem to have planes too, do you think we can meet them? After flying over the town of Rydersmith, which was close inland, the wingman's pilot smiled as he looked at the Boers running around on the ground below.

"I hope to meet them." The young Sha Jin smiled and looked at the thick clouds that had gradually gathered, "I would love to have the first downfall mark of the Army Airlines. ”

"Here's your chance." The wingman's voice changed suddenly, and he shouted loudly, "At ten o'clock, two planes of unknown nationality are rapidly approaching!" The preliminary judgment is that it is an enemy aircraft! ”

Thousands of miles in the sky, the first shot is about to be fired! (To be continued......)

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