"In three days, the Huaxia troops will arrive at the departure position, and we will proceed as planned. But there seems to have been some change in Austria-Hungary, and the Austrians seem to have added a separate heavy battalion. The troops, embarking at Rijeka, could all arrive at the port of Garibaldi within two days, if nothing else. ANOTHER PROBLEM IS THAT THE OTHER SIDE SEEMS TO HAVE REALIZED THE WEAKNESS OF THEIR AIR FORCE, THEY HAVE MASSIVELY INCREASED THE STRENGTH OF THE AIR DEFENSE FORCE, AND IF OUR INTELLIGENCE IS CORRECT, IN THE COMING WEEK, THEY WILL ADD AT LEAST 10 88MM GUN ANTI-AIRCRAFT BATTERIES. The staff officer said.

"A separate heavy armored battalion? A tank platoon is 4 vehicles, a company plus 2 vehicles directly under the company headquarters is 14 vehicles, a battalion is 42 vehicles, and 3 battalion headquarters vehicles are 45 vehicles. AN 88MM ANTI-AIRCRAFT ARTILLERY BATTERY IS 4 GUNS, SO 10 COMPANIES ARE 40 GUNS! "Montgomery carefully calculated and found a strict problem, that is, in the face of such a newly increased force, the tank cluster in his hands seems to be insufficient! You must know that the entire British army in Italy only has more than 300 tanks, and they only have about 280 on hand. Even counting various armored vehicles less than 400.

"Did the Austrians discover our arrangement?" Montgomery chuckled in his heart. This time, however, Montgomery thought too much, and the Austrians did not ask for a heavy battalion from the Germans because they had insight into the actions of the British, and even now, the Austrians did not know exactly how much land the British had sent. Rather, it was because both the mountainous terrain on the northern front and the landing force on the southern front lacked heavy weapons at the beginning. And when the Navy and Air Force are unable to provide sufficient firepower, the ground forces need to bear the burden themselves. Therefore, Austria-Hungary urgently needed a strong offensive force. to solve those fortified fortresses. And those anti-aircraft guns were meant to deal with the British Air Force. Of course, these 88MML45 anti-aircraft guns are also good at fighting tanks.

"To be honest, I don't think our infantry tanks have an advantage against the opposing side's heavy tanks." Montgomery said. The tanks of the British were divided into two types, one was a cruiser tank and one was an infantry tank. The former can be compared to the cruisers of the Navy. It is a tank that emphasizes mobility, with poor firepower and protection. It is mainly used for reconnaissance and mobile combat, while infantry tanks have heavier armor and are used to cover infantry operations. BUT NO MATTER THE TANK, THEIR FIREPOWER IS NOT VERY POWERFUL, THE GUN OF THE A9 CRUISER TANK IS A 40MM CANNON, AND THE GUN OF THE MATILDA TANK IS A 57MM CANNON.

"Looks like we need to keep some hands on it. Communicate with Huaxia and ask them to put some up. Montgomery thought for a moment and said. But we don't know the strength of the other side, how is it written on this telegram? The staff officer next to him said with some hesitation. Well. 50 or so heavy tanks. So be it. Montgomery replied. But to Montgomery's surprise, a separate German heavy tank battalion was this number, but the German Army came this time not only this number!

Germany did not want to overfeed Austria-Hungary, but at the same time it was Germany's most hardcore and powerful ally. Germany did not want Austria-Hungary to fall too badly in this battle. Moreover, in the future, the layout of Germany in the Balkans could not be separated from Austria-Hungary. So how to make Austria-Hungary realize its lack of strength, and at the same time ensure that it does not have a big impact on the situation of the war, the balance is very delicate.

The Germans carefully analyzed the composition of the Austro-Hungarian Army. Structural cysts and inefficiency cannot be changed in a short period of time, but tactically speaking, the elite infantry and artillery in Austria-Hungary are not weak. Although the aviation is weaker, considering that the other side is also the end of the strong crossbow, everyone is the same. So forget it. The most important thing was the lack of a mobile armoured force, which caused Austria-Hungary to underattack. The problem of low mobility. The Germans thought very well, if Austria-Hungary took up the northeastern part of Italy with its own strength, then forget it, if it could not be solved, then there would be this German armored force to support the overall situation. After this was done, Austria-Hungary would not continue to insist on its demands, and this would be the best. Since both sides had reached the scale of a battle at the army group level, it was obvious that a single heavy armored battalion would not be very effective, so the Germans decisively sent a heavy armored battalion, a medium armored battalion and two mechanized infantry battalions to form the main force of this support operation.

THE MEDIUM ARMOURED BATTALION IS SLIGHTLY SMALLER AT TWO TANK COMPANIES, BUT THERE ARE ALSO 36 TANKS OF VARIOUS TYPES, AND THE MECHANIZED INFANTRY BATTALION IS ALSO EQUIPPED WITH EIGHT ARMOURED VEHICLES ARMED WITH 50MM ANTI-TANK GUNS. Since the Germans were so generous, it was only natural that the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as the main master, would also replenish the long-range artillery and anti-aircraft artillery needed by this army. SO AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN PREPARED THREE 150MM CANNON BATTERIES AND THREE 88MM ANTI-AIRCRAFT BATTERIES (4 GUNS EACH) FOR THIS ARMORED UNIT, AS WELL AS A NUMBER OF 20MM SELF-PROPELLED ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS. At that time, because there were too many vehicles transported, the Germans unloaded their cargo at both ports at the same time. Sadly, the British only discovered the operation in one of the ports and missed the other, and the direct result of this was that Montgomery missed nearly half of his troops in his telegram to Huaxia!

By this time, the commander of this armored unit, Colonel Hube, had already assembled his troops and stationed them near Padua. , ready to go to the battlefield as needed. Hube is still quite satisfied with the armored unit under his command, and the No. 4 tank of the independent heavy tank battalion is actually a compromise plan for the heavy tanks of that year (see Chapter 1047 for details). THE WEIGHT OF THE WHOLE VEHICLE IS 36 TONS, THE FRONTAL ARMOR IS 60MM AND INCLINED 40 DEGREES. THE TURRET ARMOR IS 80MM. THE SIDE ARMOR OF THE HULL IS FROM 50MM TO 30MM. THE REAR ARMOR IS 30MM. The main gun is a 75MML40 gun. The engine power is 350 horsepower. THE OFF-ROAD SPEED IS AROUND 20KM. (If you don't know about tanks, you are welcome to correct them.) The number of members is 5.

The No. 3 tank of the medium tank battalion was a modified version of the "Indian tank" of that year, and in the end, the German War Department abandoned the plan to install the 75MML40 gun, and instead used a weaker 50MML50 tank gun. The tank weighed 24 tons and was similar in performance to the historic Type 4D tank. Originally, this tank was also intended to use inclined armor, but in order to ensure the space of the crew, the amount of ammunition reserves, etc., in the end, almost vertical armor was used. And according to current intelligence, apart from France, Britain and the United States did not have particularly powerful tanks in the Entente countries, and such a design was enough.

IN ADDITION TO THIS, THE TWO MECHANIZED INFANTRY BATTALIONS OF THE GERMANS HAD 8 TWL 75-TON HALF-TRACKS ARMED WITH 40MML8 ANTI-TANK GUNS. AND 8 SELF-PROPELLED MORTAR VEHICLES WITH 120MM MORTARS. Both in terms of numbers and firepower, these two mechanized infantry battalions are actually exceeded. Just when Hube was on standby and ready to enter the battlefield at any time, the Huaxia Army also entered the attack position, and the arrival of Montgomery's telegram also made Zhou Xuan feel a little surprised.

At this time, Zhou Xuan also held a heavy tank battalion in his hands. Zhou Xuan was still quite entangled in how to use this tank battalion, because he didn't seem to find an opponent of equal strength on the entire battlefield. Under Zhou Xuan's command, there are 1 heavy tank battalion, 2 medium tank battalions and 3 mechanized infantry battalions. (The rest of the artillery and logistics units are counted separately.) At the time of the campaign, the Chinese Army was only responsible for cutting the opponent's positions, after all, the number was limited. The severed encirclement was handed over to the Italian garrison in the north and part of the British Dominion army. Originally, against the mountain infantry, Zhou Xuan thought that medium tanks were enough, and there was no need for heavy tanks, but with the emergence of the German heavy tank battalion, Zhou Xuan finally found an opponent.

The weight of the Huaxia Type 29 heavy tank is similar to that of the German tank, but because of the rear of the gearbox, some weight is saved, and the height is also reduced, and the saved weight is used to strengthen the frontal armor, so the frontal armor of this tank reaches 60MM and is inclined 50 degrees. THE TURRET ARMOR REACHED 100MM. AND THE FRONT PART OF THE SIDE ARMOR ALSO REACHED 50MM. THE REAR ARMOR IS 30MM. The gun used is 75MML40, and the performance of the gun is similar to that of the German tank, but because Huaxia is a famous tungsten producing country in the world, the proportion of tungsten alloy armor-piercing shells equipped with it is relatively high. However, the engine power was low, less than 300 horsepower, the off-road speed did not exceed 20 kilometers per hour, and the crew ended up using a four-person crew.

The Type 26 medium tank is in the 26-ton class. THE FRONTAL ARMOR WAS 40MM THICK AND INCLINED 45 DEGREES, AND WAS ARMED WITH A 57MM GUN. THE TURRET FRONTAL IS 60MM. THE SIDES OF THE BODY ARE 40MM TO 30MM. THE REAR IS 20MM. Equipped with a 210 horsepower engine, the off-road speed is only about 20 kilometers, from the performance point of view, the speed is not high, the defense is good, the firepower is okay, it is an obvious transition product. Huaxia didn't invest much energy, according to Xu Jie's plan, this kind of tank was used to change the assault gun or the pursuer. However, this tank is definitely excellent in the eyes of now, and if the table is better, maybe the British will order a batch?

Unlike the Germans, who had the full assistance of Austria-Hungary, the Chinese Army needed to provide its own anti-aircraft artillery. FOR THE SPECIFIC CALIBER OF ANTI-AIRCRAFT ARTILLERY, IF FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF HISTORICAL CONTINUATION, 88MM ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS SHOULD BE USED, AFTER ALL, BEFORE THE 1ST WAR, CHINA AND GERMANY WERE RELATIVELY CLOSE, BUT NOW THE SITUATION HAS CHANGED, AND HUAXIA AND THE ENTENTE ARE ABOUT TO FORM AN ALLIANCE, SO THE CALIBER OF ANTI-AIRCRAFT ARTILLERY FINALLY USES AMERICAN-STYLE 90MM ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS. THIS TIME, IN ORDER TO PREVENT THE FRIENDLY AIR FORCE FROM NOT GIVING UP, HUAXIA SPECIALLY EQUIPPED THE TROOPS WITH A LARGE NUMBER OF 40MM AND 90MM SELF-PROPELLED ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS.

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976 for the tip~~~, and the book friend Zhiqiu Yiye 1117 monthly pass support ~~~. The next few chapters will be the first armored force showdown, I hope you can enjoy it~~~~. (To be continued......)