When Xue Boling returned to the position of the Northern Expeditionary Army with these two ironclad vehicles, the position instantly became lively, a wave of officers and soldiers surrounded the two small tanks, and other officers and soldiers who were far away also ran over to see the excitement when they were fine.

"Lai Kezai, can this iron shell actually sit on people? Amazing! ”

"That is, you see there are light machine guns and mountain artillery on it, if we get a hundred and ten of these iron shells, it will be much easier and more convenient to fight."

"How can it be that simple? How can this iron thing go? ”

……

Around the two Renault FT-17 French light tanks, the officers and soldiers said everything I wanted, many officers and soldiers had never even seen a car, and the first time they saw this thing, they immediately felt fresh, but if they saw this kind of thing on the battlefield, I am afraid they would also be frightened away.

The news spread quickly, and within an hour, the news that Xue Boling had brought two tanks of the Northeast Army reached the front command headquarters of the Northern Expeditionary Army. As soon as the meeting ended, Huang Ke asked people to pull the two tanks back, and then said to the other officers to take a look.

Two tanks were driven over, the early tanks were relatively small, similar to the harvesters of some paddy fields in the south today, but the machine guns and firepower on them were enough to shock ordinary people, Huang Ke was born an armor fan, and now he saw that there were tanks in his team, and he had an indescribable excitement and excitement in his heart.

"Who can name the model and firepower configuration of these two tanks?" Huang Ke slapped the steel plate on the tank and said with a smile. Corresponding to his cheerful expression, all the officers looked at each other, at that time, even the most advanced army in the country was only equipped with a small number of tanks, and among the larger number of officers and soldiers, they had not even heard of it, let alone talked about the models of tanks and various firepower configurations.

Long-term poverty has made the Chinese people physically weak, and they have always lagged behind others ideologically. Huang Ke knows this, but he is determined to change.

"Xue Boling, you got these two tank cars back, tell me, what model is this tank car? What's the firepower like? ”

Xue Boling smiled and said, "Commander, if I'm not mistaken, this car is a Renault FT-17 French light tank, as for the firepower on it, a discerning person can know it at a glance, these two reprints are 40 mm guns, but they can also be replaced with machine guns." ”

After hearing Xue Boling's words, the expressions of the people around him were different, some were amazed, some appreciated, and some were puzzled. Although Huang Ke was relieved in his heart, he was not in a hurry to show it, he patted Xue Boling on the shoulder and said, yes, this is a French-made tank, but you know that it is not unusual, because when I was talking about European wars at the Xiguan Military Academy, I specifically talked about this kind of tank. What do you think? Are you interested in tank cars?

Xue Boling naturally didn't dare to say no, not to mention that he was full of interest in this new weapon in land warfare in his heart. Huang Ke was happy to hear that some tank vehicles aided by the Soviets will arrive after a while, and you will stay in Wuhan now to receive them, and when the time comes, you will gather the tanks together, and form a tank brigade based on your spy company, and you will be the captain of the brigade yourself, okay?

"Yes!" It's a joke, but it's also a military order.

What is the concept of the tank brigade, Xue Boling is not clear in his heart, I am afraid that everyone present is confused. However, he knew that Huang Ke's ideas had always been different from ordinary people, and when he was at the Xiguan Military Academy, Huang Ke had repeatedly asserted that tanks would become the king of future land warfare, and he had also talked many times about the important role of tanks in future land warfare.

"Yes!" Xue Boling replied with a snap.

After that, under the planning of Huang Ke, the first tank armored unit of the Northern Expeditionary Army was established.

Unlike the armoured units of other warlords at the time, Huang Ke did not separate these units into the infantry sequence, but instead made the armoured units a separate branch. It was Huang Ke's practice to set up a separate army, just like Batu's cavalry before.

The battle on the front line in Wuhan was going on every day, and Huang Ke handed over the specific preparations for the construction of the armored brigade to Xue Boling, a young man under the age of 30 who was about to provoke the big beam at this time, which really made people look at him with envy.

However, at the moment he was not happy, there were many difficulties in the early formation of the armored forces, and he could not keep close to these two captured tanks. The tanks that Huang Ke said before are still unknown, and I don't know when they will be able to send them over, how can an armored brigade without tanks be formed?

Xue Boling was in trouble.

In less than a week, Xue Boling called the No. 1 special line to complain to Huang Ke. On the phone, Huang Ke scolded him with his head and face.

Huang Ke said that if he stretched out his hand, he would be able to form it, what else do you want me to do? You remember, this is the first tank unit in the world, and you have to get it out anyway.

After Huang Ke finished speaking, Xue Boling was a little deflated, full of grievances, but he couldn't say it. After a while, Huang Ke changed his tone to a soothing tone and said, Comrade Boling, you are a pathfinder of armored tanks, in the Northern Expeditionary Army, in China, and in the world.

Our country has a poor industrial base, the country is at war, and it is normal for you to have difficulties. But don't be intimidated by the difficulties, you have to do it if you have the conditions, and you have to do it if you don't. As for the problems you mentioned, I have already informed all the units of the tank vehicles, and all the captured vehicles will be sent to you, and you will choose the talents you need from among the various units, and as long as they are what you like, I will let them go. What do you think? Still have questions?

On the other end of the phone, Xue Boling, who held the microphone tightly, was a little moved, this is a great trust for soldiers, and they can only do their best to serve them.

"Yes! The commander can rest assured that his subordinates will live up to their mission. ”

Soon after, the Quartermaster Department sent someone to send several scrapped cars to the armored brigade that was being formed, which were captured by the troops at the front, and what looked like they were scrapped was not left to hand in.

Although it was a few broken cars, Xue Boling still found craftsmen, and on the basis of these scrap vehicles, he used wood and paint to imitate several vehicles similar to the shape of the tank, which were used to simulate driving and familiarize the students with learning.

In addition to weapons and equipment, talent is the most rare. Although the cultural level of the officers and men of the Northern Expedition was higher than that of the warlord army, and there were also literacy classes in the army, Xue Boling was still powerless for the highly professional branch of the armored corps, and there were less than ten people in his special service company who could drive vehicles, and some of them had never even seen a car before, let alone drove a tank.

These circumstances always plagued Xue Boling, but he still found the soldiers he needed throughout the army. Some are army transport drivers, some have learned various vehicle repair techniques before joining the army, and some are young people with relatively high cultural quality......

Everything is self-made, how easy is it to start a business in the early days?

Fortunately, Huang Ke gave maximum support to the construction of the armored brigade. Although the battle on the front line was in full swing, Huang Ke still strongly led a group of educated and high-quality officers and soldiers to the armored troops, and in this way, not long after, the first armored brigade of the Northern Expeditionary Army was announced on the Wuhan front.

The inauguration ceremony was held in a small town on the edge of Wuhan, which had just been conquered, and not far away was the rumbling artillery fire, and the fierce battle was going on. More than 300 officers and 10 tanks (2 tanks, 3 assault vehicles and 5 wooden dummy tanks) are all that this force has.

These officers and men were also wearing old army uniforms, with Tony helmets on their heads, shorts and long coats, and 79 rifles with long poles in their hands.

"Brothers! Today, the Armored Corps Brigade of the Northern Expeditionary Army was officially established! I am proud and proud to be one of you because we will be the ace force in the future land warfare! ”

Xue Boling was impassioned, and the officers and soldiers below were also concentrated.

Under the scorching sun, Wuhan really lived up to its name, but the dark-skinned officers and soldiers straightened their waists and did not move. Most of these officers and soldiers had just come down from the frontline battlefield, and the smell of gunpowder on their bodies had not yet dissipated before they arrived here to accept such a sacred mission.

Xue Boling and the more than 300 officers and soldiers present would not have imagined that in less than ten years, their group of people would gradually grow into an armored force that is proud of the world! They will crush the arrogant Soviet and Japanese Kwantung armies to pieces in the Siberian wilderness, in the open mountainous terrain of Korea, and they will become the kings of land warfare in the truest sense of the word.

But that's all for later, and the most important thing now is to get started. Several operation manuals obtained by Xue Boling were printed in many copies, one for each person. A few dilapidated tanks have become training vehicles for everyone to take turns learning. Due to the lack of gasoline, the two real tanks and armored vehicles rarely operated, and the trainees rarely had the opportunity to operate on the vehicles.

Xue Boling has no choice, not to mention the high price of gasoline on the market, and many times it is not available. The supply of gasoline in the army is even more rare, and the supply of each time is pitifully not enough, so Xue Boling has to think of other ways.

The method he came up with was a local method, in addition to driving to reduce the throttle and shorten the operating time for everyone to get on the bus, it was to get gasoline from other troops. Despite the difficult conditions, Xue Boling finally lived up to expectations, and after more than a month of training, more than 300 officers and men of the armored brigade could drive tanks and fix simple problems.

Soon after, the first batch of five T-18 tanks purchased from the Soviet Union arrived at the front line of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and after the formation and training of the formation, the armored brigade formed a preliminary combat effectiveness, and it was in this way that they gradually became the king of land warfare.