Episode 5 Unanticipated Problems

On 18 April, the divisional army departed from Beijing, went north along the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, passed through Juyongguan, Badaling, and Zhangjiakou, and then went all the way to the west.

In Inner Mongolia in the thirties, there were still more grasslands than deserts. In the spring of April, the prairie is also in full bloom, and the calf-high pasture grass is scattered with wildflowers of various colors, broken and broken. From time to time, I saw a piece of sheep, huddled in a ball in vain, and it looked like a ball of cheese from a distance. Behind the flock, Mongolian shepherds rode red horses and held whips, watching the galloping military columns from a distance.

These days, the railway has suddenly become busy, and trains full of artillery, tanks, armored vehicles, oil tanks, and large boxes are frequently rushing westward, almost one after another. This is something that has not been seen in previous decades. Now, the first military train with "people" as the content of transportation has finally appeared. On both sides of the carriage, there were ribbons floating and farewell words written, and a few childish faces were crowded in each window, looking out of the window with a novel gaze at the majestic scene of the northern land that had never been seen before......

The divisional column advanced at a speed of 50 kilometers per hour. However, this is only a one-way railway, and there are many military trains that need to go back and forth, so you have to always stop at a certain station and wait for the military train behind to pass, or wait for the military train in front to come.

When making temporary stops at some small grassland stations, Xiang Xiaoqiang and his wife, the officers and soldiers of the division headquarters always seized the opportunity to get off the bus to move their legs and feet for a short time. Xiang Xiaoqiang and Fourteen Gege are better, their carriage is very spacious, with tables and chairs, sofas, and beds, the living room is a living room, and the bedroom is a bedroom, which is simply a slender hotel room. But the soldiers were not in such good conditions. Although this long-distance troop carrier is a sleeper compartment and everyone has a bed, after all, the space is cramped, either lying or sitting, and there is a lack of activity.

Now, whenever there is a short stop, the soldiers come down and laugh and laugh under the car, and feel the magnificence of the Mongolian steppe. This feeling of high ground and wide land has never been experienced by these southern soldiers in their lives.

Although Xiang Xiaoqiang is a northerner, he has never seen the prairie. Now, he is holding the fourteen grids, mingling with the officers and soldiers, and at the same time enjoying the spring color that he has never seen before.

Spring in Mongolia is windy and sandy. But now there is no wind, and the sky is as blue as if it has been washed by water. Xiang Xiaoqiang had never seen such a blue sky. The sky of later generations will not feel blue, at most it will be grayish-white. And when he first came to this era, he also sighed that the sky was so blue. However, the sky in the interior is not as blue as the sky outside the city now.

A few white clouds, as if the brush had been lightly wiped at random, inadvertently left high in the distance. Motionless, very lazy. Under the sky, there is an endless prairie. Except for the laughter of the soldiers, there was no sound in the distance.

The only thing that can be seen is the row of small houses at the station behind me, and the railroad that stretches into the distance.

……

There was a long roar in the distance, and a column of troops came from behind.

This column was very long, did not stop, kept pulling the whistle to gallop over, the whistle "woo-" changed the tone, the front of the car disappeared in front of the wind in an instant, and only a black truck compartment was left in front of him, "clang, clang" and the wind whistling by.

Each section of these container trucks is tightly locked and sealed. It should be ammunition.

On the roof of every two carriages, there was a soldier of the Ming Army, wearing a steel helmet, wearing goggles, masks, scarves, leather gloves, a fur coat, and a submachine gun on his chest, guarding the carriage under his buttocks.

The soldiers on the side of the railroad shouted, cheering at their comrades who were whizzing past on the roof of the car. The escorts on the top of this train also waved below.

After a while, the container truck was finished, and behind it was a section of flatbed trucks, and the goods on the flatbed trucks made everyone's eyes light up:

Tank!

On each flatbed, two tanks were fastened with steel cables. It was also the same as before, every two flatbed trucks, and there was an escort soldier sitting on the tank. Wearing goggles, carrying a submachine gun, and a scarf floating in the wind, it looks cool from below.

The officers and men on the station were all from the tank regiment of the 1st Armored Division, that is to say, they were all tank soldiers. Throughout the war, they lived with tanks almost every day, and it was not new. But now, somehow, when I saw the tanks on the train speeding west, my emotions became excited, and I cheered together. Everyone thought that they were on the prairie in northern Xinjiang, driving their beloved tanks to sweep away the rebellious Qing captives, and the blood in their chests was almost boiling.

It took a while for the military vehicles to pass. Everyone thought they could get on the bus and leave, but the station did not give a signal to drive. After a while, another military column came from behind, and drove over with a clang.

The difference is that this time there was no escort on the roof of the carriage. But as soon as the officers and men saw the markings on the carriages, they were all happy.

The carriage is painted with the logo of the Nanyang Fruit Company, and the words "papaya, grapefruit, pineapple, citrus...... It's all southern and subtropical fruits.

Nanyang Fruit Company is the largest fruit company in Daming, mainly engaged in tropical fruit business, trafficking tropical fruits produced in Guangdong, Fujian, Hainan and Nanyang to Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Sichuan. Now, the company has won the bid and received a large order from the military. It now transports large quantities of tropical fruits by sea from Guangdong and Fujian to Tianjin, and then transports them directly to northern Xinjiang by train by the army for the counterinsurgency forces.

The Ming army was all southerners and did not adapt to the dry climate. In this Northern Expedition, I don't know how many soldiers had nosebleeds. That is, later began to buy apples on a large scale in the north, ensuring that each soldier had at least two apples a day, and the phenomenon of nosebleeds was better.

Now I go to northern Xinjiang, which is much drier than northern China. Although the north and south are also rich in melons and fruits, the season is not right now. Apples and grapes are in autumn, and cantaloupe is in summer. So tropical fruits are brought in specifically from the south. Tropical fruits are available all year round, and fruits such as papaya, grapefruit, and citrus are also suitable for long-term storage, and are not afraid of spoilage for long-distance transportation. Although the cost of transportation is very high, fortunately, there are few troops dispatched, and only one division can be guaranteed.

Watching a whole train of tropical fruits drive through the northern prairie, the morale of the soldiers is getting higher and higher. Everyone knows that the state really takes itself seriously. Such a country is worth shedding blood and sacrificing for her.

……

In this way, the army marched on the Hetao Plain, and then southward at Bayan Zhuoer, all the way along the Yellow River. Two days later, on the morning of April 20, the military train entered Lanzhou Station.

Lanzhou is the place to get off the train. The railway journey of more than 1,500 kilometers of the troops in the west is the end point, and the next 2,000 kilometers to Altay are all roads. Although the westernmost station of the railway is Xining, which is more than 200 kilometers away, it is on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. And now if you want to go west to northern Xinjiang, the most convenient thing is to get off in Lanzhou.

The troops regrouped and formed in Lanzhou, waiting for the various columns to arrive one after another, unloading the troops, equipment, and supplies, and reforming into a complete armored division. It took a whole day.

Although Xiang Xiaoqiang and Shishige were also too busy to visit Lanzhou, Xiang Xiaoqiang finally seized the opportunity and tasted an authentic "Lanzhou ramen" at noon.

But when he asked him to take him to eat the legendary "Lanzhou Baked Cakes" in the evening, the local officials were at a loss and said to Lord Xiang, we have baked cakes here, but they are no different from those in your mainland, not a specialty. But how can Xiang Xiaoqiang take a break, it's easy to get to Lanzhou, how can he not eat Lanzhou baked cakes.

He still asked the family to take him and Fourteen Gege to eat a meal of mutton steamed buns. It's just that the soaking is not "Zhuang Bao", but baked cakes. - Anyway, I finally didn't miss the thunderous "Lanzhou Baked Cakes".

On the morning of April 21, the mighty marching army set out and embarked on the long "Silk Road".

The rest of the day was not so comfortable.

The road was covered with dust and yellow everywhere. Endless tanks, armored vehicles, trucks, artillery, chief cars, motorcycles, dozens of kilometers in front and behind, slowly wriggled in the yellow sand and dust. The dust floated like a curtain, almost connecting the earth and the heavens, and the procession was as small as ants.

The soldiers in the military card all lowered their canvases to cover the dust. But the soldiers who were exposed—those in open armored vehicles and on sidecars—wore the standard equipment of the expedition: goggles and dust masks.

Fourteen Gege stayed in the comfort of the command car. And Xiang Xiaoqiang himself wore goggles and dust masks, tied a cloak, stood in the open-top chief's car with his waist crossed, and drove majestically past the marching columns, receiving the cheers of the soldiers along the way. He also kept waving his hand, showing that he was sharing weal and woe with the soldiers, and wanted to eat the soil and everyone eat together.

Every soldier wore goggles and masks, and Xiang Xiaoqiang couldn't help but feel as if he was commanding the German North African Army in World War II, fighting with the enemy in the yellow sand.

……

In addition to enduring dust, sand, and bumps, what is even more unbearable is the increasingly frequent breakdowns of vehicles and tanks.

Spring in the northwest is extremely dry. Moreover, the grasslands and vegetation along the road in Gansu are far less lush than those of the Hetao Plain. There is always a lot of sand and dust accumulated in the parts of the vehicle and the cylinders. In addition, mechanical failures caused by wear and tear over long distances are frequent. The repair company was completely overwhelmed.

Just after Yongchang and before reaching Zhangye, the number of tanks that broke down on both sides of the highway suddenly increased. The car was better, the half-track armored car was slightly second, and the full-track tank and armored car had the highest failure rate.

The Ming army's "Lightning" series of tanks were originally designed to adapt to the humid and muddy environment of the south of the Yangtze River. The current dry, dusty environment is simply unadaptable. Moreover, even in the war of unification, the long-distance transfer of armored forces was transported by train. Although the Left Army Group did not have a train in Shanxi, it was a stop-and-stop operation, and it had never been attacked for such a long distance at one time.

Now, the problem is exposed.

"Damn," Xiang Xiaoqiang sat in the chief's car, watched the tanks break down one after another on the side of the road, and scolded fiercely, "In this way, when you get to Northern Xinjiang, you can't tell who will kill whom!" ”