In 1934, after the completion of the Great Conferral of Titles, New China immediately launched a large-scale expansion of the whole army.

The total strength of the New Chinese People's Army is 2.1 million, not counting the police force, of which 1.8 million are in the army, 150,000 in the navy and 150,000 in the air force.

The army has 1.9 million troops, and according to the average establishment of about 13,000 people in a division, excluding those who are not in combat formation, 140 combat divisions have been organized, and three divisions of the main force have been organized into one army, and a total of 15 main forces have been organized. In order to keep the secrecy from the outside world, the first to the thirtieth serial numbers were adopted, and there were 15 corps from the 1st Army to the 30th Army. Among these 15 armies, the First Army and the Second Army of the People's Army will be the establishment of two armored corps.

At present, on the basis of the original heavy armored brigade and other tank units, including the existing tank stocks, a total of two armored divisions have been formed. The other units of the two armies can only carry out training while gradually waiting for the development, production, and distribution of tanks, armored vehicles, self-propelled artillery, self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, and other equipment.

Compared with the five Panzer Divisions that Germany was about to form in 1935 at the same time, although they were somewhat insufficient in number, they were at least five years more advanced in equipment.

The cunning Germans, each division was in large formation, and once the five armored divisions were formed, the number of tanks and equipment of the German army would reach almost 3,000 units.

In the original history, the Germans only established the armored corps command in 1934, with Guderian as the chief of staff, and in 1935, three armored divisions were organized, Guderian served as the commander of the second division, and each supernumerary armored division had 561 tanks. Of course, in the future large-scale construction of armor, this number will definitely be lowered.

However, in this time and space, the Germans, who were stunned by the combat effectiveness of tanks because they bought tank drawings from the Chinese at the beginning of World War I, formally established the Tank Command in 1930 and completed the arming of three supernumerary armored divisions in 1933, which is expected to form the size of five armored divisions around 1935. At the same time, other countries, especially Britain, France, Russia, and other countries, Germany's traditional enemies, have also strengthened their own armor strength.

After Hitler came to power, he focused on strengthening the armored strength, strengthening the armored strength of the Wehrmacht on the one hand, and strengthening the armored force of his elite unit SS on the other.

It is foreseeable that in the future, the number of tanks in European countries will rise in a straight line, and the tank surname will also exceed the original historical time and space in the same period.

According to Zhang Shusheng's plan, around 1939, China would also complete the equipment of two armored corps, with a total of six armored divisions. The number of Chinese Tiger 2 and 3 tanks should reach 202 vehicles per division, with a total of more than 1,200 tanks. This does not include, of course, the Guards, the most elite unit of the KPA, which will be fully mechanized. The number of tanks and equipment of the whole army as a whole will be close to 2000 in 1939.

Historically, the Wehrmacht had about nine divisions in 1939 and a total of 20 divisions in 1940. Counting the SS pantry divisions, it will be even more. After the butterfly effect brought by Zhang Shusheng was strengthened, the armor force of the Germans in 1940 should be more powerful, at least the tanks were much more advanced than the original history.

As a result, the Chinese People's Army had only 3 fully armored armies in 1939, which was insufficient compared to the upper and more than enough to be lower than the lower. However, according to the five-year national defense plan signed by Zhang Shusheng himself, by 1939, several major heavy machinery bases will be put into operation and completed, that is to say, in 1940, in the case of the successful completion of the five-year economic plan and the rapid rise of the economic scale, China's tank armored vehicle production capacity will achieve a big leap forward, not to mention the wartime tractor factory and other vehicle factories to manufacture tanks.

After all, even if there are no new heavy armored arsenals, there are not a few machinery factories in the southwest that have the conditions for producing tanks, and with the advanced machine tools provided by the heavy machinery factories, the mechanical development of new China will usher in a high tide.

In the short term in terms of the entire national defense layout, the tank and armored forces plan can rely on the quality and quantity of tanks, and in some parts far surpass the Soviet Russians in the Far East and the East Asian Empire, not to mention the British and French Far Eastern armies in the south, nor to mention the three big brothers in the Himalayas who are still in the midst of the dire and dire colonial ebbs.

And in the long-term part of the plan, it will surpass Germany, and even the United States, after the start of World War II.

In addition to the development of mechanization, the army will also step up motorized construction, especially increase the distribution of automobiles, improve the mobility capability of the troops, and no longer let the infantry run on two legs, so that after the first five-year plan is basically completed, after the qualitative leap in road traffic construction throughout the country, all units of the people's army will be able to achieve rapid mobilization in the four directions of the north, south, east and west throughout the country.

The navy is two-sided, one is the conventional navy and the other is the marines.

In the conventional navy, while further developing new third-generation ocean-going submarines, four aircraft carriers will be launched during the five-year national defense plan. Among them, two main aircraft carriers with a displacement of 40,000 tons and two medium aircraft carriers with a displacement of 20,000 tons will constitute the fist maritime forces of the People's Army Navy before 1939. Of course, the keel will be laid at the same time, and more modern aircraft carriers completed in the early stages of World War II will be another huge surprise for the participating countries of the future world war.

Of course, in the early stage, these powerful new naval ships were mainly used to protect the further blowout of maritime trade in New China. After all, a variety of high-end products, a variety of advanced products will appear in large numbers, and the safety of maritime trade cannot be ignored. In order for New China to make tremendous achievements in the five years of economic construction for the whole people, and even surpass the unnatural achievements made by Soviet Russia in the north in the five-year plan, it is necessary to develop domestic demand and foreign trade at the same time, otherwise the economic results will be greatly reduced. (Judging from the development of Soviet Russia, all the data are extremely unnatural.) The development of New China mainly depends on the southwest as the cradle of industry and economy. By 1934, the industrialization of the southwest had been carried out for at least 18 years, and with Zhang Shusheng's efforts and the great help of the dream machine, the results were very remarkable. The Marine Corps, with a total of four divisions and more than 50,000 Marines, will become a very elite amphibious combat force that will ensure that it will have a deterrent capability in the short term, a vigilance and deterrence capability against the US forces in the Philippines, and a deterrent and read-force offensive capability against the South Seas.

As for the Air Force, the existing 700 aircraft of various types, including 512 fighters, were doubled in size around 1939 on the basis of economic take-off. The United States needs more than $100,000 to build an airplane, but because China has adopted a relatively advanced design, canceled some unnecessary redundant designs, and adopted some advanced and cheap new materials, the cost of semi-metal or all-metal aircraft has been reduced to a certain extent; the cost alone is not much money for hundreds of new fighters, but in terms of pilot reserves and training, the air force part of the five-year national defense plan will spend several times or even 10 times the cost of fighters.

According to the five-year national defense plan, the People's Army will gradually convert the Jian-1 and H-1 planes into training, stockpiling, and export, and will equip them with a large number of Jian-2 fighters and H-2 fighters; although these two fighters are not as advanced as the J-3 fighters and H-3 fighters that have been hunted and equipped, they are superior in terms of cost and are first-class aircraft in the world. In the early stage of World War II, it was enough to be used, and the three types of fighters and bombers, which will be properly equipped, will begin to be reequipped on a large scale around 1940 to ensure that China's air force weapons are advanced, and they can always be in the forefront of the world, but not too wasteful.

As a result, while completing this simple task of expanding the Air Force, the five-year training program for a total of 3,000 pilots will become staggering. At the same time, the pilots' clubs that will be established throughout the country will also be open to the vast number of flying enthusiasts, so as to facilitate the reserve of pilots for wartime.

However, in the same period, a new branch of the Air Force will be born!

In June 1934, Hefei, Anhui, the People's Army's station on the outskirts of Hefei.

"All of them, take a break, stand upright! Welcome to the speech of Commander Ma from the Air Force. ”

Stationed here is the newly formed 15th Division of the People's Army, which is part of the 10th Army of the People's Army. Unlike the First Army and the Second Army, the two most elite units that will become the Panzer Corps, the Tenth Army entered the ranks of the most elite fifteen corps, but it only belonged to the middle elite troops.

Division Commander Zhu Chi, the fifth infantry command scientist of the Huaxia Military Academy, and Wang Gongliang, who was very prominent in the Northeast Battlefield, graduated at the same time and received a personal commendation from the principal Zhang Shusheng at the same time.

Tens of thousands of people stood on the training ground, and in the face of Zhu Chi, who had been awarded the rank of major general in the award of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the officers and men did not dare to speak out. Although Zhu Chi did not get much performance in the Jinjing battlefield, he led his regiment to perform extremely well in the subsequent Shenyang battlefield, and was also designated as the commander of the first batch of army expansion troops in the large-scale army expansion.

This person was extremely strict in administering the army, especially in the confrontation battle, and the spirit of fearlessness and fear of death was regarded by the officers and men of the whole regiment as a real iron-blooded commander.

For Zhu Chi, when the title was awarded, Zhang Shusheng was also very emotional, among the two outstanding graduates of the fifth session that year, Zhu Chi and Wang Gongliang were both famous generals in the original history, although before, the two did not perform as dazzling as Dai Anlan, but they still relied on their own efforts to climb to the position of the middle-level general of the People's Army.

And Zhu Chi, this person is one of the famous generals of the resistance. The third phase of the Huangpu infantry scientist in the original history participated in the Northern Expedition after graduation, fought quite bravely, and made many meritorious contributions. Later, he participated in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and made meritorious contributions. It is a pity that although he repeatedly defeated strong enemies on the battlefield of Zaisonghu, he finally sacrificed himself and all the officers and soldiers in the Yuhuatai position in the defense of Nanjing. is considered a fierce general.

Because of the arrival of Zhang Shusheng, in this era, many people who should have been famous and passed down through the ages have moved to other fields, either in business, literature, or politics. However, many of the original famous generals still entered the army and became the backbone officers of the People's Army.

"This time I came to the 15th Division to select soldiers and important officers......

The Army's expansion is much faster, while the Air Force's action is much slower after it is preparing to form an airborne force, and the key lies in the fact that the Airborne Forces have too high requirements for officers and men, and they need to be selected from among veterans in order to quickly build up their combat effectiveness.

As the commander of the First Airborne Army, Ma Wenwu was transferred from the army to the airborne unit of the Air Force. This had a strong interest in the airborne troops in the textbooks when he was at the Huaxia Military Academy, but because there were really no conditions to form airborne troops at that time, it was not until 1934 that the whole army was greatly expanded.

This person is a graduate of the first phase of the Huaxia Military Academy, and among the senior generals of the People's Army, his performance in land warfare can only be said to be average, but he is the first among the senior generals in his understanding and research of the combat theory of the airborne forces. In 1933, as the commander of the People's Army, he concurrently served as a senior instructor of the Huaxia Military Academy's elective course: On Airborne Operations.

It can be said that many operational concepts, operational theories, and troop development directions in the People's Army are not unfamiliar to senior officers, especially those who have received education from several major military academies. For example, Zhu Chi, when he was in the military academy, read textbooks on airborne operations.

This is a very amazing thing, you know, at that time, the southwest was still a militia group, if it is not a particularly studious, particularly insightful students, who can think of more than ten or even twenty years later, some of the things mentioned in those textbooks can actually come true. Ordinary people may not even bother to go to the library with a huge collection of books.

The decision of the military headquarters was to select personnel from among the several units that had completed the expansion, and the 15th Division would be one of the candidates, and there would be one or two battalions of places.

Ten minutes later, Ma Wenwu briefly explained the assessment method and ended his speech, and at the same time, the assessment facilities on the training ground were also ready.

In front of the officers and men of a division, five two-story jump towers were placed, and a huge training/firefighting safety mat lay underneath.

Although the officers and men below do not know what is going on, except for some officers who have graduated from middle and high military academies, they all know that this is an elite unit to select people, and being able to be selected will represent a great honor, and the military salary will also be greatly improved.

Although being a soldier is to serve the country, everyone is willing to fight for more honors and better treatment, and the new army also means more opportunities for promotion, which is also a few points that the officers and soldiers below are more concerned about after Ma Wenwu's personal explanation just now.

"Comrades, although our Airborne Forces will be one of the most elite and mysterious units of the People's Army, the assessment method for the primary selection is very simple. Everyone has seen the five jump towers and the safety protection mat underneath. You only need to complete a five-kilometer armed cross-country in 20 minutes, and then the passers will jump from it in turn, and then be able to calmly shoot at the humanoid target 100 meters ahead, and if you shoot more than 7 out of 10 rounds, you will pass the primary. ”

As soon as Ma Wenwu's voice fell, the officers and soldiers of the 15th Division below couldn't help but light up in their eyes, it didn't look difficult, they could fight it. Most people are able to do a five-kilometer cross-country in 20-25 minutes, and after passing this hurdle, jump off a two-story jump tower with their eyes closed, maybe they will be selected for the elite army.

"Let's go!"

As soon as the assessment officer gave the order, the officers and men of the 15th Division, who were already fully armed and carrying rifles, gas masks, two bricks, bullet bags, and grenade bags, began to run and set off, and they will return here in about 20 minutes to participate in the high jump.

"Commander Ma, do you estimate that how many of our fifteenth divisions can pass the test this time?" Zhu Chi asked Ma Wenwu on the side, Zhu Chi is still familiar with this senior of the Huaxia Military Academy, after all, it was only the fourth period earlier, and Ma Wenwu also gave a lecture to Zhu Chi and the students of their class.

"According to the previous selection of other troops, I estimate that one battalion of people can pass the primary selection to be satisfactory." Ma Wenwu is still the commander of the light pole army, before coming to the 15th Division, he has been to many divisions, and there are a lot of people to choose, but for the real airborne troops, he still does not know the bottom in his heart, whether these officers and soldiers can do it, dare to jump down from a height of 1,000 meters or even 2,000 meters in actual combat, and then be able to participate in the battle safely, although the future training is also very important, but the basic conditions of the soldiers are equally important.

Zhu Chi shook his head, pointed to the officers and soldiers of the 15th Division who were running away from the training ground, and said, "Instructor, I dare to guarantee that more people will definitely pass the pre-selection." ”

"Huh?" Ma Wenwu squinted his eyes slightly, looking at Zhu Chi, who was once his own student, he couldn't help but think of his more real energy at the Huaxia Military Academy back then, and couldn't help patting him on the shoulder, "It's still the same as back then." Go, you try too, and if you pass, I'll let you come to the Airborne Forces as a division commander. ”

"Instructor, I'm not good at airborne operations." Zhu Chi knows himself very well, he has read a lot of those military school textbooks, and he has read a lot of them, and he knows the airborne troops, but he knows that he is not good at it. What he is good at and yearns for is the kind of battle that completely tears apart the enemy's defense line from the frontal battlefield. His philosophy of army management is an iron-blooded attack. "However, I can guarantee that I will make it through the primaries."

Zhu Chi smiled slightly, then made a move, took the off-road equipment handed over by the guard, quickly put it on his back, and followed the troops to set off.

"Yes, you are suitable for a breakthrough on the frontal battlefield, but the Airborne Forces are inherently destined to be surrounded." Ma Wenwu shook his head, he liked this student very much, but it was different from his own combat philosophy, otherwise with his combat courage and command ability, he could really go to the airborne troops to take up an important position. "What the Airborne Forces have to do is to stab them in the back, or put out fires on the battlefield. I will prove with my own actions that the airborne combat theory in the textbook is definitely a surprise tactic that will win on the big battlefield in the future. ”

Just 16 minutes and 20.1 seconds passed, and one soldier returned to the starting point. At the 17-minute mark, four more officers and men returned to the starting point, including even a battalion commander. Then, between 17 minutes and 20 minutes, more people returned, and on the whole, within 20 minutes, the soldiers who were able to achieve excellent results in five kilometers of cross-country travel finally reached the number of people in a smaller regiment.

Zhu Chi set off a minute late and returned to the starting point at 18 minutes, which is also very good.

"Yes, Master Zhu, these soldiers are indeed very good. You kid has a set of soldiers. "The 15th Division has only been formed for more than three months, and although as an elite division of 45, the 15th Division is directly selected from among veterans, but after several months of iron-blooded training by Zhu Chi, it is still amazing to have such results. At least, Ma Wenwu knew that the main division he was in before was not much stronger than this kid.

"Tower Jump Begins!"

With an order, Zhu Chi was the first to take the lead in rushing to the two-story No. 1 Jump Tower.

"Drink!"

Facing the height of the two-story building, Zhu Chi put down the heavy load on his body, shouted, jumped down without closing his eyes, and then at the moment of touching the safety mat, he rolled on the spot, rushed down the safety pad, grabbed the gun handed over by the soldier next to him, rushed to the shooting position, and pulled the trigger smoothly.

"Bang bang ......"

The 25-year-old Huaxia-style semi-automatic rifle, with 10 rounds in the standard magazine, hit a humanoid target 100 meters away without missing a target.

"Report to the commander and complete the mission."

Zhu Chi ran to Ma Wenwu's side, like the military academy back then, and saluted and reported.

"Haha, that's good." Ma Wenwu patted him on the shoulder happily, and then waved his hand and shouted to the soldiers who had passed the physical fitness assessment, "Go on!" ”

Then, under the personal encouragement of division commander Zhu Chi, the more than 3,000 officers and men of the 15 th Division who had passed the pass jumped from the two-story jump tower one after another with full confidence, and the landing speed was about 6 meters per second, which was about the same as the landing speed of the airborne troops under normal circumstances.

Of course, the actual situation is that after the actual jump, many people find that it is not particularly easy to 'jump off the building'.

Some soldiers are naturally afraid of heights, and the height of the two floors makes many people have to close their eyes and jump, and even the bold ones are bold and jump down with a loud yell, but they can barely get through.

More people are stunned after jumping from a two-story building, even if they have a safety cushion, or they fall slightly due to excessive tension, or they find that their shooting skills have dropped greatly after jumping and taking over their rifles.

The final result was that Ma Wenwu failed to take Zhu Chi from the 15th Division, but took away nearly 2 battalions of recruits who passed the primary selection, and will participate in the next stricter screening after further training.

The plan of the Airborne Forces, the first batch of units to form a division, after two years of training, will gradually expand the Airborne Forces to the scale of corps.

"You remember, the Airborne Forces are a battlefield soldier, an elite soldier in the line of fire. The future combat mission is very clear, on the entire land, on the whole battlefield and all terrain operations, where you are needed, you can go, you are the battlefield fire brigade, you are the battlefield reinforcement troops.

You will fly in the blue sky and cross thousands of mountains and rivers, instead of walking on two legs like an infantryman! Remember, our 1st Airborne Army will be the first airborne unit belonging to our Chinese, the Eastern Airborne Forces. ”――

(To be continued)