The Armored Corps Department is a newly established department of the General Staff Department, and all its members are drawn from various units, and the most of them are from the cavalry units, because the cavalry is being dismantled, and the independent cavalry division directly under the Northern Military Region Command has been formally abolished, and Chi Chunxian, who was appointed commander of the Armored Corps Department, was born in the cavalry and has served in the Northern Military Region for a long time, making the Armored Corps Department full of people with a northeastern accent.

Chen Hao's acting director of the Equipment Bureau has the rank of brigadier general and major general, which is probably the main reason why he has the word acting on his head. Chen Hao refused Chen Chao's request to live at home. First, I felt that it was inconvenient, and secondly, the distance to work was farther away, Chen Chao lived in Dongcheng, and the General Staff Office was in Fengtai. So he lived in the dormitory of the General Staff. He had already received his salary, because he stated that he had spent several months in a prisoner of war camp, and the letter of introduction from the expeditionary military administration department did not mention it, and the finance department had deducted his military pay for the months he had been a prisoner of war after Chi Chunxian's instructions. If he didn't say it, the money he received could almost buy a small apartment in Fengtai.

Without a house, Xu Yi and her son naturally can't come to Beijing. According to Chen Hao's level, Xu Yi can already join the army. Xu Yi also wanted to reunite with her husband very much, and she was very happy that her husband had entered the headquarters, but now she could only wait until she had saved enough money to buy a house.

Chen Hao's equipment bureau currently has only seven people, and there is no more detailed organization, and all of them are in the process of being created. One of the six subordinates was an acquaintance, his comrade-in-arms Major Yankisheng, who was still a captain in search of gold in Kazan. He was transferred back to China in August, and all of the combat engineer regiments he belonged to were transferred back to China, before returning home. Yankisheng's military rank was raised by one level.

It's a pleasure to meet acquaintances. Chen Hao couldn't wait to ask about the situation on the front line, and Yang Jisheng said, "After you left, there was a big battle in Simbirsk, and there is no report in China, so don't talk nonsense." ”

"What are these words! I don't understand this rule yet? ”

"This battle was a bitter one......"

"Wait, Simbirsk, is Kazan lost?" Chen Hao is familiar with the major cities in the area.

"Yes. Friendly forces failed to hold Kazan. This gives us passivity. You know, the line doesn't dare to let the railroad line be in any danger. So there was a head-to-head battle with the Red Army in Simbirsk. Our regiment participated in the battle, and the losses were not small. General Wu Nian's 3rd Army. and the troops of the 2nd Army that did not return home. There are also two armies that have just been transferred from the country. When I returned, the battle was almost over, and our army had recaptured Kazan and captured more than 70,000 prisoners. ”

"Then we still won." Chen Hao breathed a sigh of relief.

Yankisheng lowered his voice. Commander Wang lost his temper. Even the commander of the 8th Army was withdrawn. Shot one of the division commanders of the 8th Army. It doesn't seem like it has happened yet, right? ”

"Ah...... "The division commander is at least the level of brigadier general, and it seems that there is indeed a problem.

"When Marshal Feng leads the 6th Army up, the Russians will not be able to hold it. The 6th Army deserves to be a trump card...... That's right. It seems that your time in the 6th Army is not short. ”

"Of course." Chen Hao has a deep affection for the old army.

"The 6th Army has a double emblem regiment, which is really amazing. This time there was a hero in that regiment, but unfortunately he sacrificed ......"

"17 regiments of the 50th division! They are the most famous in the Shandong Campaign, and in terms of fame, they are definitely not inferior to the Fathers. Chen Hao became excited. Although he was originally from the 16th Division, the 50th Regiment, which was also part of the 6th Army, fought Yang Wei again, and he was honored.

"In the end, though, we won. The Red Army suffered heavy losses, and according to Chief of Staff Kong, the Battle of Simbirsk broke the backbone of the Red Army, and they were wounded. ”

"Chief of Staff Kong?"

"Kong Dongyuan, I forgot about it so quickly. He is now the deputy chief of staff of the 3rd Army, and he arranged for my return to China. He also asked about you and said that if he saw you, he would bring you well. ”

"Of course I didn't forget. It's a pity ......."

"What a pity?"

"I mean, if only I stayed."

"Hey, like how good you are. By the way, just when the main forces were fighting Simbirsk, the 1st Ukrainian Army was also withdrawn. ”

Chen Hao was taken aback, the changes in the past two months were really big, "The Germans attacked? ”

"It's not. The Germans could not hold on to the Western Front, and their soldiers were all transferred home. Commander Xiong took the initiative to retreat, and also taught the Ukrainians a hard lesson, that is, Peliura's troops, killed him in the eastern suburbs of Kyiv with seventy or eighty thousand," Yan Kisheng looked at the closed door, "It seems that the expeditionary force is not far from returning home." ”

"It's still fun on the front line." Chen Hao's thoughts retracted, "Like you, you are also a character in the army, you can only be a small soldier when you come to the headquarters office, and you have to take the initiative to salute almost everything you see." No wonder some people say that at the grassroots level, it is a watermelon, but when it reaches the General Staff, it becomes a sesame seed...... Ha ha. By the way, your Russian daughter-in-law brought it back? ”

Natalia, a beautiful girl with beautiful silver hair......

"Nope. The General Hospital is still on the front line, how can she come back? ”

"Hehe, one of my elders heard about Natalia and was very interested. When Natalia returns, I'll take you two to meet my elder. Hehe. Chen Hao once told Chen Chao about the story of Yang Jisheng, Chen Chao was amazed and wanted to meet this Ukrainian girl who was willing to be a Chinese daughter-in-law.

"Definitely, definitely. Oh, and you have relatives in the capital? Didn't hear you say that? "In the days of treasure hunting in Kazan, the two had nothing to talk about.

"Actually, it's not related by blood. Because my father passed away early, he took care of my family a lot, and I have always regarded him as my father's generation......" Saying this, Chen Hao felt a little guilty, because Chen Chao was his adoptive father, after his father's death, the family lost their labor, and the food and clothing of the family of three all depended on Chen Chao...... The older I get, the more I feel the kindness and kindness of Chen Chao's family, Chen Chao needless to say, Mrs. Chen, Chen Shu, Chen Xian, and Chen Zhi did not treat their family as a burden, and until now, they still "enjoy" the care of the Chen family. Every time my mother came to Beijing, she lived in Chen Chao's mansion and never felt outside.

"Hey, that's weird, isn't your hometown in Yizhou?"

"It's hard to say, but I'll talk to you slowly if I have a chance."

Chen Hao's first errand was to inspect the tank factory. This is something that the Armament Bureau must understand. Leading the team was Lieutenant General Chi Chunxian, a famous cavalry general who also knew nothing about tanks. According to the information of the General Administration of Ordnance, their first stop was Taiyuan.

On the train from Beijing to Taiyuan, Chi Chun first asked Chen Hao about his impression of German tanks, but Chen Hao couldn't say. As far as he knew, the expeditionary force had only conducted one anti-tank operation, which was fought by the 1st Army, and Chen Hao had never been to the 1st Army, so he didn't know at all.

"According to the materials given by Chief Situ, this thing (referring to the tank) is also vulnerable? And Lao Song said that it was very expensive, and the cost of a tank exceeded 30,005. What are you spending all this money for? Chi Chun patted the information on the small table and said.

"This. I really can't tell......" Chen Hao said, scratching his hair.

"And, why is it called a tank? It's better to call it an armored car. Chi Chun first put the materials and photos into a briefcase and handed them to his adjutant.

At present, there are only two military factories under the management of the General Administration of Ordnance Industry that produce tanks, and one is in Taiyuan. The other is in Luoyang. According to the information transferred by the General Administration of Ordnance Industry. The one produced in Taiyuan was a light tank with a weight of only 11 tons, while the one in Luoyang was called a medium tank. The dead weight reached 17.5 tons.

When they saw the real thing, Chen Hao was taken aback. Because the appearance is not at all the same as the tanks he saw that Britain, France, Germany and other countries transferred from the Military Intelligence Bureau put on the battlefield, and it is much more beautiful than those clumsy guys.

The tank was painted in earthy yellow, with a visual height of more than 2 meters, a length of about 5 meters, a width of 2 and a half meters, a circular turret mounted on the base, a 37mm gun, and a machine gun on the left side of the turret.

"Not bad......" Lieutenant General Chi circled the tank a few times, and then the first one got into the tank through the top entrance.

Chen Hao couldn't suppress his curiosity and excitement, and followed the lieutenant general into the tank. The first impression is that it is too narrow: it is divided into two layers, the lower level is the driver's position, the upper level is slightly wider, and the rear is the shell magazine, although it is not loaded with live ammunition, but it can be seen at a glance. In the middle is the position of the gun commander, and on the left is the position of the commander and machine gunner.

The two of them didn't speak, they took turns looking up and down, and accidentally, Chen Hao's head was knocked down, and he said to Chi Chunxian with a wry smile, "This thing is safe, but it's too aggrieved." ”

"Insurance? I don't know if I've tried it. Didn't our 75 guns kill the Germans and call them mothers? ”

Listening to Lieutenant General Chi's meaning, it seems that he is not optimistic about this thing.

The chief engineer of the plant gave a detailed description of the development of the tank, which is already an improved version, the initial development began in 16 years, and according to the drawings and photos provided by the Ordnance Administration (there are no physical objects), as well as rough technical parameters, the plant began to explore difficult. The engine and transmission device are completely borrowed from the ready-made technology of the 110-horsepower tractor transferred by the United States, and the gun is also ready-made, although the 37mm rapid gun is no longer equipped with the troops, there is no problem with production, and the Taiyuan Gun Factory can do it. The first prototype and the original prototype were finalized in March and August 1917 respectively, and sub-tests began according to the test outline, and at the end of that year, 22 improvements were made to the original prototype, including the improvement of the artillery. The car seen now is the result of improvements, but there are still 4 items that do not meet the standard, including artillery. Tests showed that copying the original 37mm rapid-fire gun could not be done, and the Taiyuan Artillery Factory redesigned a high-pressure gun for tanks, which has not yet been officially finalized. In addition, the tracks are also unqualified and are being improved.

Chi Chunxian doesn't seem interested in the factory's barrage of numbers and technical jargon. He offered to actually pull it out and have a look. So the group went to the test site in the northern suburbs, where there were two prototype cars for road tests and shooting tests.

The performance included two major subjects: cross-country and shooting, and the performance made Chi Chunxian extremely satisfied, and he said to Chen Hao, "This thing will do!" In addition to the direct hit of the opponent's artillery, the machine gun did not work, at least solved the problem of infantry charge, followed it, and at once went to the enemy's trench...... Well, barbed wire is no problem. ”

"However, it seems that the intention of forming an armored force above is not to cover the charge of the troops, right?" Chen Hao has studied the relevant materials in the past few days and felt that the actual unit (limited to one regiment) to be formed by his superiors is a new type of unit with tanks as the core weapon.

"It certainly can't do without the cooperation of other arms. You are a student of infantry, you say, how can you do it without infantry? ”

The mission of the Armored Corps is not only to guide the production of tanks, but also to use this new weapon. However, that is not the task of the Ministry of Equipment. For the rest of the time, Chen Hao and several of his subordinates began to familiarize themselves with tanks and began to enter this new field.

"The tank is the perfect combination of firepower, protection, and mobility, and is the main combat weapon that will dominate land warfare in the future......" This sentence in the data is extremely impressive. But Chen Hao felt that this tank was not yet able to achieve its goal, the firepower was not strong, the mobility was enough, the slope and trench limited it, and the strongest was protection, as long as the artillery did not hit directly, the shrapnel and bullets that threatened the lives of the infantry could not help it.

"It would be nice if they could resist a frontal attack from the infantry artillery...... Chen Hao said to Chief Engineer Xing, who had been following them.

"That must strengthen the thickness of the frontal armor. This will put forward higher requirements for the engine, and the difficulty of casting is not small. There is also the problem of steel material, which is not good for general steel. Special steel grades are required. We have already made demands, and the Wuhan steel mill has received the task, and it is said that there has been a breakthrough...... Director Chen, the tank is a system project. Changes in any one indicator involve others. It's complicated. ”

"Then study it systematically." Chi Chunxian didn't know when he came over. He waved his hand proudly, "Good job, much better than I thought." Lao Xing. How many such tanks can you produce per month? ”

"At present, a formal production line has not yet been established, and it is still in the stage of sample trial production. Of this product, only six were made in total, three were destroyed in the test, and you saw the rest. ”

"Is it the money?"

"Not really. The funds of the General Administration have been allocated, and the new factory has been started, but the key is that the technical difficulties have not been overcome. It would be nice to have the opportunity to study in other countries. ”

"You can't rely on others, can you? You still have to rely on yourself......" Chi Chun first pointed at Mr. Xing, "If you lack any conditions, just mention it to the General Administration, even Shupeng's kid doesn't do it, you come to me." ”

"If you don't save zài, you don't save zài, and the director of the company is most concerned about tanks. We are confident that we will meet the GA's technical targets, but it will take time. ”

"Time is tight, the superiors decided to form an armored test unit within the year, there are no tanks, what to let the troops train? Well? ”

They stayed in Taiyuan for two days, ate an invitation from Governor Yan, and left for Luoyang. The progress of the medium-sized tank developed by the Luoyang Factory is similar to that of the Taiyuan Factory, the index is higher than that of the sample of the Taiyuan Factory, and the gun is of 45mm caliber, which is much more powerful, and it is a new gun specially developed by the Huayuan Artillery Factory for the tank, but there are many problems.

After seeing the real thing, Chi Chunxian said to Chen Hao, "Your task is to keep an eye on these two factories, familiarize yourself with the combat technology indicators, and ask for the opinions of the troops." In my opinion, the experimental troops should be formed as much as possible, otherwise it will be all on paper. ”

"I completely agree with you. However, we really don't understand the technical issues, can we transfer some experts from the factory or the General Administration? Chen Haojian said.

"What kind of experts. Even if there were, it wouldn't be our turn, right? You've been on the battlefield, think about it for me, if you form an experimental unit, in addition to playing tanks, what other types of troops are needed? We're going to have to come up with an opinion. ”

"The infantry definitely wants it, and then the repair soldiers, if it breaks down in the middle of the road, the one who drives the tank will not necessarily repair the tank......"

"That's what you said."

Returning to Beijing, Chi Chunxian immediately started the work of forming an experimental unit. After reporting to Long Qian, Chi Chunxian had a bottom in his heart, and he said at a special meeting of the Ministry of Armored Forces, "The original idea was not right, and the president had a clear idea of this, the tank is not to cover the infantry, but to fight independently as a breakthrough weapon." Therefore, the armored forces should be the main assault force that can independently undertake the task of the campaign, and the formation of the troops should be carried out around this idea......"

The armament bureau led by Chen Hao began to have frequent contacts between Beijing, Taiyuan, Luoyang, Jinan, Wuhan, and other places, and was immersed in various boring technical indicators.

At the end of August, the Ministry of Defense approved the report on the creation of a test unit in the Department of Armored Forces of the General Staff. Two infantry battalions and artillery battalions were transferred from the 2nd Army of the garrison to form the 1st Armored Regiment directly under the Armored Corps Department of the General Staff. One of the infantry battalions was reorganized into an armoured battalion, initially determined to have 42 tanks per battalion, while the other infantry battalion was fully equipped with vehicles. The artillery battalion was armed with 75mm howitzers, all towed by cars. The relevant sapper, communications, medical care, repair and other branches of the army are also fully equipped. However, the troops do not yet have a single tank on their full strength, and according to the order issued by the Joint Logistics Headquarters, the first batch of 20 tanks will not be delivered to the troops until the end of the year.

On October 1, the Ministry of Defense officially awarded the flag to the 1st Panzer Regiment. The first armored infantry regiment of the Wehrmacht was officially formed. The next day, the Armored Forces Academy was formally established and located at the south entrance of Beijing to train armored commanders. (To be continued......)