I always see the lights of the train first, and then hear the rumbling sound. Every time a train passes in front of the platform, the station signalman always likes to stand on the platform and feel the strong air flow of the train as it enters the station, which is always the case in spring, summer, autumn and winter.

Today, as usual, there is no difference, he is still the same as in the past, after seeing the signal light come on, he stands on the platform with the signal light, waiting for the train to pass.

Half an hour later, with the long sound of the train, he saw a train with the lights on coming, he raised the signal light in his hand to make a signal, and when the train got closer and closer, he found that this train was completely different from the usual trains, and it was not the locomotive he was used to, but an iron box, which was covered with canvas.

Towards the back, there was another iron box, and the iron box was spewing smoke, this was the locomotive, but the locomotive was completely blocked by iron plates, and then looking behind it was several huge carriages.

The carriage was completely covered with a net full of debris, and the wheels were next to each other, and suddenly there was a car dozens of feet long in the middle without wheels, and then there was a carriage full of wheels facing backwards, saying that he was a carriage, but in fact it was not counting, although it was covered with a net, he could still feel that there seemed to be a thick tube on this carriage.

The strangely shaped, completely iron-clad train did not stop at the train station, but headed straight for Kanwai, just like the trains that had been passing through here for the past two days.

The cold wind blew into the compartment through the gap in the armored compartment of the train gun, and the artillerymen in the carriage, who were sleeping on their beds, seemed very comfortable, and while the snoring echoed in the carriage, in the other carriage, several officers gathered in front of a cloth model, and were calculating something there.

"We want to shoot from the Xinmin County shooting point, aiming at the artillery bombardment of the Yue army, and we need to fire about 100 shells!"

"The firing point is 15 kilometers...... In terms of the maximum firing range, we can only fire at a depth of 20 kilometers from the army, and the ammunition depot of the army is 19 kilometers from the firing point! ”

"The range is enough, and the remaining question is whether it can be hit accurately."

"This cannon, two weeks ago, only from the ship, two weeks of fighting, yesterday to complete the assembly, not even test firing, and then directly pulled the front line, when the time to hit a dozen guns are not accurate, shame will be a big loss!"

While a few people were talking there, an officer quietly left the armored car, the roar on the roof of the car was like a burst, the violent storm hit the car, the faintly visible perforation above the bunk covered the thicker and thicker snow, and after the train left the mountain pass, it encountered this snowstorm that would never exist in the pass.

The steam train let out a ferocious, torn roar of wind and thunder, dragging the military train through the nightly fields, in the white snow. In the dimness of the rumbling carriages, in the screams of the wheels grinding against the ice, in the murmurs of the soldiers from their dreams.

Pushing open the heavy and thick armored car door that was thick frost and rumbling, Xue Tian looked at the blizzard outside through the crack in the door. Suddenly, the snow swirled in the carriage, the cold air was pressing, and a chill rushed into his legs, and the menacing roar of the locomotive, the rumbling of the wheels and the screams of the wheels grinding against the ice and snow rushed in together.

The cold wind blowing through the camouflage net made him wrap his coat, and then he walked up the ladder to the gun emplacement, this 305 mm train gun, weighing 340 tons, this train gun was used for coastal defense in North China, but now it is being used in the direction of Shenyang.

In the wind and snow, Xue Tian saw several figures, in the corner of the gun emplacement, three people gathered in that small corner, with the help of a flashlight, they were counting something there.

"Distance ......"

The screams of the wind and the wheels rubbing against the ice and snow drowned out their shouts, but from the shouts, Xue Tian could hear that these gunners transferred from the navy were hurrying up here to learn the operation of this brand new train cannon, although the cannon was the same as the one they used, but the strength of this cannon was completely different.

"Sir!"

A second lieutenant saw Xue Tian's arrival, and hurriedly got up and gave a military salute, Xue Tian knew him, he was a balloon soldier, that is, the train was equipped with a tethered balloon on the observer, the observer on the balloon could reconnoiter the terrain within a radius of 20 kilometers, and provide information to the artillery to correct the trajectory and indicate ground targets.

"You ...... this"

"Back to the sir, the brothers can't sleep, so I want to hurry up and practice for a while, and when I get to the location, who knows if there will be time to practice!"

"Yes! No time! ”

Xue Tian nodded, and then he saw that there were not only the three of them on the gun truck, but also dozens of soldiers at their posts, they were all carrying out the daytime work, and the soldiers on the gun car knew their mission, and they would fire the first shot.

"There's no time! If only I had time......"

Xue Tian thought so in his heart, and finally he joined the ranks of the soldiers, and the password began to come out of his mouth, and the train was heading towards the front line, while the soldiers on the train continued to train against the biting cold wind.

In another compartment, Li Songming and his comrades-in-arms were rubbing the thick butter on a heavy shell, which had to be coated with a thick layer of butter to prevent rust and deterioration. Before feeding into the breech, be sure to scrape off the butter and wipe it clean with a cloth.

"Brothers, the hands and feet are numb, the butter is not wiped clean, it affects the range, don't say it, it's not accurate, don't fight, because we didn't wipe the shells and let people pull us are old donkeys [***], I can't see it!"

When he was shouting, the wooden scraper in Li Songming's right hand was scraping on the body of the cannonball, and when he was scraping the cannonball, he stared at the cannonball, just like staring at the girl, and even the butter in the iron ring plugged in the fuse seal did not forget to wipe it clean.

"Dog, little devil, grandpa killed back after ten years!"

Li Songming muttered in his heart that ten years ago, he Lushun, who was also a fort soldier, had a battle with himself, and he had long been looking forward to the day of revenge in this dream.

"Ha ......"

He sighed at the cannonball, wiped it vigorously with a cotton cloth, and finally wiped the cannonball clean, Li Songming muttered between his lips.

"Kiss my son, I have to fight for Lao Tzu when the time comes!"

It snowed all afternoon, and at about ten o'clock in the evening, it stopped, and almost as soon as the snow stopped, a few horses galloped across the snowfield. Under the moonlight, Lin Yanren, who was riding on horseback, hummed a little song in his hometown accent, he looked a little elated at this meeting, the combat meeting had already been held, the combat mission had been issued, what was left? I'm afraid it's been a long wait, and he trusts that his troops won't let him down.

Mu Ziqiu looked into the distance, his expression a little distracted.

"Sir, do you think the Yue Army is our opponent?"

Compared to the commander, he does not have the self-confidence of the commander, as an officer, he knows that as a commander, no matter what the situation, he must show 100% self-confidence, only the self-confidence of the commander can encourage his subordinates, but what about himself?

"In all fairness, the army is still very powerful, the commander of the army is outflanking the battle, from them and Lao Maozi, Lao Maozi has suffered a lot, and the soldiers are extremely heroic! Although we have a mental calculation or not! But if it starts, the winner or the loser is still two by two, when the time comes, we can only carry our lives, sometimes in this matter of fighting, who wins and who loses, it depends on who can survive to the end, as long as you grit your teeth and hold on! ”

Endure...... It's easy to say, it's hard to do, if you really fight, you don't know how many lives you have to survive for a minute, not to mention, for the Second Army, there may not be a need to fight a large-scale battle for the time being, but it is not easy to fight a battle in that narrow gap, there is no room for detours, and there is not even a depth of defense, this battle has too many uncertainties for the Second Army.

At this time, the smile on Lin Yanren's face was instantaneous, and his eyes couldn't help but look ahead.

"Who has not died since ancient times? …… Being able to die in the national war is also a great joy in life! ”

Lin Yanren pondered for a while, calmed the war horse with his hand, and then spoke.

"Okay, wood, don't sigh here, we are soldiers, not sour literati, this battle can only be successful, not defeated!"

"Sir, have you thought about Xiaoqingzi?"

"Little Aoko?"

He was stunned for a moment, and then in Lin Yanren's mind, a man who was ten years younger than himself came to his own family, Lin Yuqing, a twenty-year-old major general and brigade commander, the commander of Dalian City Defense.

It is not uncommon for the Guards to have twenty-three or four-year-old generals, all of whom are young officers who have come out of the rapid training class, if not, His Majesty will pray for the preparation of the Imperial Army University, I am afraid that after this battle is over, senior officers will go to the Imperial Army University for further study, but like Lin Yuqing, he became a major general at the age of nineteen, and he is also the only one.

"We are fighting here, you and I are safe, but Dalian is different, Dalian is surrounded by soldiers, Xiao Qingzi is only 5,800 people around him, field artillery mortars together, there are dozens of guns, although the fight from the capture of Dalian, began to build a trench system along the city, but next to him there is a military division there, and there are more than 20,000 wounded soldiers in various military hospitals on the Liaodong Peninsula, even if half of them can hold guns, he is also a top ten! And ......"

Mu Ziqiu's voice was a little low, before he was transferred to the General Staff, he had a very good relationship with Lin Yuqing, but now, he knew that this time, it was the little Qingzi who "couldn't be killed", I am afraid that ...... "Who has not died since ancient times!" ”

Lin Yanren muttered a sentence.

"If you can die in the national war, you can die a well-deserved death!"

(To be continued)