Episode 30 Tanks vs. Cavalry

.

After a while, an order came from behind the headquarters of the reconnaissance battalion, ordering the cavalry company and the bicycle company to reconnoiter forward, and the support company to follow behind.

At this time, two kilometers from the rear, the radio communication company of the division's communications battalion was listening for radio waves in the air.

The signal soldier wearing a headset tested the various channels and suddenly shouted:

"Master, there you have it!"

Division Commander Ha Feng'a grabbed a headset and heard a clear call sign inside:

“…… Found a rat, the rat has carrots, ask for reinforcements...... Badger dog calls fox, badger dog calls fox...... Repeat, rats were found in the south, rats have carrots, ask for reinforcements......"

"The fox calls the badger, and the fox calls the badger...... How many rats are there? How many carrots are there? Complete. ”

"The badger dog calls the fox...... Voles 50 to 100 ...... Voles 50 to 100 ...... Hamster 30 to 50 ...... Hamster 30 to 50 ...... Carrots 37-3 ...... Carrots 37-3 ...... Complete. ”

"The fox received, reinforcements immediately...... I ordered you to contact ...... first I ordered you to contact ...... first Complete. ”

"The badger dog received it, immediately touched, over."

There was no sound after two "sizzles" in the headset, and the communication soldier hurriedly raised his head and said:

"Division, it's not good, they're going to attack the reconnaissance battalion!"

Haphona nodded, biting an unlit cigarette in his mouth. After a while he said:

"Well, I know. Let's get in touch with it first. ”

He bit his cigarette hard, pricked up his ears to listen ahead behind the fog, and waited for the sound of cannon and machine gunfire to sound.

That's what the reconnaissance unit does. The most effective reconnaissance is not to lie in the bushes and count the enemy's head, but to engage the enemy. Now that the fog is thick and it is night, the cavalry company is flexible and flexible, and in a small battle, the casualties will not be very large, and the enemy's approximate firepower and strength can be ascertained.

The enemy's code words are relatively simple, and Hafenga is also a veteran, so he can basically understand them. Voles are obviously our cavalry, and hamsters are bicycle soldiers. Carrot 37-3 is said 37-mm anti-tank guns 3 pcs.

……

In the reconnaissance battalion, the cavalry scattered out into the fields farther away, all with their rifles in their hands, bent over their horses, and nervously trotted forward. The cyclists marched on the road, even more cautiously, staring at the fog in front of them, for fear of a shell coming at them.

The Qing soldiers of the support company followed behind with anti-tank guns and anti-tank guns. Fortunately, this 37-mm small cannon is short and light, only more than 300 kilograms, and it can be pushed quite fast by manpower.

Suddenly, two bright headlights appeared in the field ahead, and then the engine roared, two pillars of light were turning, and three small cannons in the middle of the road fell into the pillars of light.

The artillerymen shouted in horror, and the anti-tank platoon commander immediately fell to his knees and loudly instructed them to turn the anti-tank guns and aim at the two pillars of light. But it was too late.

"When—boom!!"

There was a flash of fire on the opposite side, and a small cannon was blown back to the side of the road, killing and wounding the gunner, and then the shell in the chamber detonated again, blowing the barrel away.

Immediately after that, tongues of fire spat out from the front shutter of the tank, chasing the gunners of the second small gun. The two gunners rushed out more than ten meters and hid in the fog, but the last gunner was shot and killed on the ground.

Then, the tank's lights went out, and it was dark again, and only the roar of the tank could be heard as it left the spot.

The third small gun, under the command of the platoon commander, turned to the approximate position of the tank, and the platoon commander shouted:

"Put!!"

The muzzle fireball flashed, and there was a metal crash in the darkness, and a spark was sparked, and the cannonball slipped away.

The platoon commander continued to roar:

"Quick, load!"

The chamber of the cannon was opened, and the small hot shell shell jumped out, and the second shell was filled again. The barrel was again shifted to the approximate position of the tank.

"Put!!"

The muzzle fire flashed, and only a line of fire was seen straight into the distance and disappeared.

If it missed, the tank had moved far away, the engine sound was still very clear, somewhere dozens of meters away, no longer moving, but the engine was still on, as if waiting for his group to die again.

The anti-tank platoon commander stood up, clenched his fists, and looked at the inky fog in front of him, and his eyes were about to erupt with fire.

Since the fight has already started, there is no need to care so much, and the reconnaissance battalion commander in the back grabbed the radio headset and reported loudly to the division headquarters:

"583, 583, I'm 130, I'm 130...... We were attacked by enemy tanks, three people were killed and wounded in the anti-tank platoon, and one gun was destroyed...... Request Unit 5 for support...... Request Unit 5 for support ......"

"130, I'm 583," the division commander's voice appeared, very calm, "how many enemy tanks are there?" ”

"Report, one!"

The division commander's voice was silent for a few seconds, and then he ordered with obvious anger:

"Order the reconnaissance battalion to wipe out that tank! …… No reinforcements yet! ”

Hafona threw down the headset, already showing anger. The enemy has only one tank, but the reconnaissance battalion has 300 people, three anti-tank guns, and eight anti-tank guns.

What is Unit 5 for? It was an anti-tank battalion specially prepared to deal with the armored troops of the People's Guard. It belongs to the division directly under the unit, equipped with 36 37-mm anti-tank guns and 20 47-mm anti-tank guns, and the anti-tank firepower is very strong. This battalion was with the main force of the division and could not leave easily. According to intelligence, the People's Guard Corps has more than 100 tanks and armored vehicles, and only one has appeared at the moment, and the main force does not know where it is.

The reconnaissance battalion commander cursed the division commander and ordered the entire battalion to withdraw from the road and disperse into the fields.

But then again, if the enemy tank only has this one, then with the strength of the reconnaissance battalion, it will not be a problem to take it out.

All the cavalrymen took their bayonet rifles, unscrewed the covers of the grenades on their waists, and spread the distance. The soldiers of the bicycle company dropped their bicycles and followed with anti-tank guns, ready to wait for the cavalry to rush up and blow up the round with grenades before reimbursing them with anti-tank guns.

The company commander commanded in a loud voice:

"Cavalry Company - Charge!!"

At the sound of an order, dozens of cavalrymen rushed in the direction of the tank. The horse's hooves stirred up the soil in the field, and their mouths and noses spewed white air. The cavalry lay on his horse and tossed around, staring ahead. The sound of the engine after the dense fog was getting closer and closer, and the cavalry company commander shouted:

"Ready—"

The tank lights suddenly turned on, the turret turned, the synchronized machine gun on it spewed tongues of fire, and the horses of the two or three cavalrymen in the light were shot and fell in front with a scream.

The company commander shouted:

"Cast !!"

Dozens of grenades flew out with smoke in their mouths, and suddenly there was a dense explosion, and in the firelight, only the body of the tank could be seen as motionless as Tarzan. Only a few grenades exploded in the front of the tank, apparently causing little damage to it. The tank shook, its tracks grinding against the earth, almost making a big turn in place, and then quickly fled into the distance, the turret turned to the rear, and the machine guns kept firing at the pursuers.

Although the distance was relatively close, it was so dark outside that the machine gunner in the turret could hardly see anything from the narrow viewing hole, only a rough diffuse.

The cavalrymen lowered their bodies, listened to the "whizzing" bullets in their ears, desperately clamped the belly of the horses, tried to steal to the back of the tank with the advantage of speed, and threw a round of grenades at close range. In this soft field, the cavalry could not run, but the tanks could not drive. The top speed of this tank on the road is only 40 kilometers per hour, and it is not bad to be able to drive up to 15 kilometers off-road in the fields at the moment. The cavalry behind him was catching up at a speed of 30 kilometers per hour.

However, the Lightning 2 tank was designed for the muddy terrain of the south of the Yangtze River, and at this moment it played its maximum efficiency, with wide tracks gripping the soil forcefully, and the speed was even 20 kilometers.

But the distance was getting closer and closer, and the cavalry company was determined to kill the tank. The second round of grenades was thrown, and the tank ate seven or eight of them, got stuck in a burst of fire, the track was blown off, and the chain fell off with a "clatter". The tank roared and spun in half a circle and stopped.

Since this time it was the weak rear that was blown up, and it was a gasoline engine, flames immediately broke out above the engine.

"Boom", the turret roof opened, and four tankmen in black uniforms got out one after another, jumped off the tank and ran.

The cavalry behind had already seen it by the light of the fire, and as they rushed over, they shouted with joy:

"Catch alive, catch alive!"

Four tank crews ran a few meters and lay down on the spot, and two of them suddenly copied a short weapon and opened fire very violently. Two cavalrymen were shot instantly, one fell from his horse, and the other fell to the ground with his horse, falling several meters away.

Dozens of horsemen immediately jumped off their horses, lay on the ground, and returned fire with their rifles. But the guns of the Ming army tank soldiers on the opposite side were too powerful to beat at all, like two machine guns, no, faster than the rate of fire of machine guns, in the dazzling firelight, bullets splashed over, and the other two people pressed dozens of people on this side to raise their heads.

Qing Bing held his head and buried his head in the soil, his heart beating wildly: this is the legendary new weapon - submachine gun, right?

One of the soldiers shouted:

"Throw grenades!"

When the four tankmen on the opposite side heard this, they got up and ran with their legs, shouting in grief and indignation as they ran:

"Hey—where the hell are you dying-"

"We've brought people in!"

"Almost! It's time to come out!! ”

"Help! Come out!! ”

Originally, the Qing army got up and chased after them, but when they heard these words, they immediately felt bad. After a slight hesitation, the Ming tankmen in front of him disappeared into the dense fog.

The commander of the cavalry company of the Qing army slapped his thigh and scolded:

"***, lie to us! Chase!! ”

The four tankmen in front of them gritted their teeth, and they panicked with one foot deep and one foot shallow, and suddenly the person in front of them hit something and sat down on the ground.

It was an armored personnel carrier.

Suddenly, the four of them scolded as if they had seen relatives, while climbing into the car:

"Mom, so you're so close! Want to watch us get killed? ”

A couple of arms on the open armored car pulled them up, and a voice laughed:

"Little Katsuko? …… There's no way, the regiment wants us to squat here, and the Qing soldiers can't move until they are under their noses......"

The Qing soldiers behind also heard this conversation, and they all stopped, panting and looking at each other, not knowing whether to pull out their legs and run backwards. But the scene in front of them made them suddenly make up their minds.

More than ten meters away, almost under the nose, a green signal flare was raised. A few seconds later, a field of headlights lit up, followed by the sound of the engine.

Fifteen armored vehicles were lined up at intervals of more than ten meters, and the machine guns on each one spewed tongues of fire.

Before dozens of Qing soldiers could cover their eyes, they were shot and fell down one after another, and the remaining twenty or so were terrified and ran away.

The long array of armored vehicles began to turn their tracks, crushing the dirt and pressing over. Not only the machine guns in the front of the car, but also a few soldiers stood up on each armored car, hiding behind the baffle, and using the submachine guns in their hands to shoot at the fleeing Qing soldiers in front.

These cavalrymen were originally hunters, but now they are chasing into the ambush circle, and the situation is reversed, and they have all become the targets of hunting. They panted and ran desperately, with only one thought in their hearts: if I ran faster, I ran into the fog in front of me, and the pillar of light would not shine on me......

In their previous concept, how could armored vehicles be used like this! Everyone was driven slowly in front of an armored car, and a large group of infantry followed behind, advancing forward under the cover of armored vehicles. Now suddenly turn on the lights like this, without even saying hello, more than a dozen armored vehicles are rushing over like this, isn't this bullying!

……

The armored car vibrated and chased after them at a speed of 25 kilometers per hour, and these Qing soldiers found that they could not get rid of the pillar of light behind them no matter how much they ran, and they were hit in the back one by one and fell to the ground. Some fell directly in front of the armored vehicle, and were rolled from the heels of the tracks to the top of their heads, becoming a piece of meat sauce, mixed with the soil......

There were dozens of cavalrymen left in an instant, and they all fell to their knees, foaming at the mouth, and raised their hands in surrender.

The armored car roared past them, and a phrase was dropped on it:

"Go to the back and find the infantry to surrender!"

These Qing soldiers were so tired that they gasped and scolded:

"He ...... ***, even ...... Surrender and don't let ......"

At this moment, eight flames flashed in the darkness in the distance ahead, accompanied by a sound similar to a small cannon. Two of the armored vehicles here made a violent metal crash, as if they had been hit with a heavy hammer, and the front armor plate was pierced with two holes, and a co-pilot and a soldier were shot and killed, with a bowl-sized bloody hole in the front chest.

These were two 14.5 mm anti-tank gun tungsten core rounds, which pierced the front steel plate of the armored vehicle.

Soldiers of the bicycle company of the Qing army came up with anti-tank guns. There were eight of them, and the gunners were lying upside down to reload, and the rest were also lying on the ground, throwing grenades at the lights.

Because there were fifteen armored vehicles, the grenades were thrown relatively scattered, and the Ming troops all shrank their heads to hide, and after the loud noise, the armored vehicles were still moving forward.

The commander of the armored car commanded over the radio:

"Keep going! Keep moving! Speed up! Rush over! ”

Fifteen armored vehicles increased their throttles and rushed towards the Qing soldiers with their bright headlights, and the machine guns in the front of the cars began to strafe again, and the Qing soldiers on the ground got up one after another, carrying anti-tank guns and running backwards, and many of them were swept down in the lights.

Seeing that they were getting closer and closer, and the distance was less than ten meters, the Qing soldiers in front saw that they could not escape, so they ran to both sides and dispersed, intending to steal the armored car from behind. Fifteen armored vehicles roared, their tracks kicked up the dirt, and they plunged headlong into the group of Qing troops.

A passphrase sounds:

"Get out of the car—"

Suddenly, the back door of the armored car opened, and ten Ming infantry jumped out of each car, and as soon as they jumped down, they each chose their own targets, and the submachine guns in their hands frantically spat out tongues of fire, shouting and rushing towards the Qing soldiers around. Those Qing soldiers were excited in their hearts: they finally got off the bus, and they were finally able to fight fairly!

With long bayonets and rifles, they roared and threw themselves at the Ming soldiers with short arms in front of them, calculating in their hearts whether they could nail their opponents to the ground in two or three strokes.

But the Ming soldiers in front of them didn't come to fight with them at all, they picked up the short weapons in their hands and opened fire, and before the Qing soldiers could see what was going on, their chests were chiseled into a sieve.

The "hand-to-hand combat" lasted only ten seconds, and all the Qing soldiers were lying on the ground with their eyes glared and blood rushing from their chests.

More than a hundred Ming soldiers gasped for breath and sat on the ground with their armored vehicles.

A soldier stroked the Thomson submachine gun in his arms, touched the small grip under the barrel and the 50-round drum behind it, and said weakly:

"This thing...... Really good......"

The commander of the armored car company next to him also gasped and laughed:

"It seems that what Lord Xiang told us is not wrong at all, once a large number of submachine guns are on the battlefield, the era of fighting bayonets will pass."

……

Two kilometers to the south, the headquarters of the Sixth Division of the Eight Banners also faintly heard the explosion in front. The division commander Ha Feng'a also wore a pair of headsets, with a gloomy face, and watched the communication soldiers shout at the radio non-stop:

"130, 130, I'm 583, please call back! Please reply! ……”

Although there was no reply in the headphones, the sound of the engine kept coming, and it was getting louder and louder. The "click" of machine guns, the shouts of soldiers, and the screams of the soldiers were also mixed with the constant coming. The signal soldier raised his head and looked at him very weakly:

"Division...... Master? ”

"Look what I'm doing, keep calling!"

"Yes...... 130, 130, I'm 583......"

Suddenly, there were a few "gurgles" in the headphones, and the voice of the reconnaissance battalion commander came half-deadly:

"Master's seat...... Division...... Division...... The main force of the enemy! The main force of the enemy! Dozens of ...... Dozens of them! We're done with the camp...... We're done...... You're going to avenge us...... Division...... Ah——!!!h ”

The last scream was accompanied by a burst of submachine gunfire. Haphona's face turned white. The Signal Soldier continued to shout:

"Hey, 130! 130！ Please reply! Please reply!! ”

At this time, a man spoke in the headphones:

"No need to shout, your reconnaissance battalion has been wiped out by our People's Guard! Hurry up and wash your butts and wait for us to wipe them all out......"

Haphona listened to the provocative sound in the headphones, and his fists clenched. He took off his headset and turned back and ordered:

"The main forces of the enemy have been discovered. Order Unit 5 to start deploying forward, and be sure to give the enemy a head-on attack! ”

"Huh!"

"Order the combat units of the whole division to run forward and move forward quickly! Order the artillery regiment to follow closely behind the infantry regiment and configure forward! Ordered all units to abandon their columns, come down from the road, line up on both sides, and form a combat position! ”

"Huh!"

After the orders were passed down, Ha Fenga muttered:

"The main force of the enemy...... This is what the reconnaissance battalion scouted with all their lives...... The enemy's main ...... The investigation is good, but the cost is a little bigger......"

……

At this time, 12 kilometers to the south, near Moling Town, the queue of the Sixth Division of the Eight Banners was still marching on the road at the end of the queue. As the battle order came here, the infantry regiment, artillery regiment and other combat units immediately accelerated forward, and the division's medical battalion, quartermaster battalion, supply office, veterinary company, gendarmerie company and other logistics units were left behind.

Five kilometres west of the road, there is a long queue of trucks parked on a country road, numbering hundreds. In the fields on both sides, a large number of tanks, armored vehicles and self-propelled guns were parked.

The vehicles had no lights, no starts, and lay quietly in the thick fog of the night. The sides of each vehicle are prominently painted with bright yellow round emblems and black swords.

12 kilometers away and the decoy troops in the north, unlike the main force of the People's Guard.

They had already taken advantage of their mobility to detour back behind the Sixth Division of the Eight Banners, ready to attack. Just wait for the end of the Qing army's column to pass, and then you can block the opening and form an encirclement.