Episode 65 Battlefield reunion

Xiang Xiaoqiang heard someone below shouting "Your Majesty's convoy", and saw several armored vehicles appear in the middle of the road under the dazzling sun in the west.

The first thing to see was an armored reconnaissance vehicle.

This is the standard armored reconnaissance vehicle of the Ming Army, and it is also used as an artillery observation vehicle, produced by "Taiping Ji", officially known as "Hurricane 33 Artillery Observation Vehicle", military number TP33/AEP. This armored car, although fully tracked, was fast, equipped with a rotating machine-gun turret, a 1.5-meter rangefinder and a radio. Zhu Yourong's convoy of such armored vehicles brought two this time.

Behind the armored vehicles, there were five armored personnel carriers. This full-tracked armored vehicle is also produced by "Tai Ping Kee", the full name is "Hurricane 33 Armored Transport Vehicle", military designation TP33/MG34/Y10. This is the armored vehicle that showed its skills in the defense of Nanjing by the Ming army. Two drivers, ten soldiers, one machine gun. This time the convoy of armored vehicles brought ten.

Both of these belong to the "Hurricane 33" series of armored vehicles in Tai Ping Kee.

Behind are four identical-looking "Tai Ping Ji" armored command vehicles. But only one of them was Zhu Yourong's car. The other three cars came to board Zhu Yourong's attaché, and the other also played a role in covering confusion.

Behind the three command vehicles, another five armored personnel carriers. This was followed by two trucks. It contained supplies for the entire convoy, as well as the items that the Empress had brought with her on her patrol. At the back was another armored reconnaissance vehicle, pressing into the rear.

Because it was close to the battlefield and the surrounding situation was complicated, the whole convoy was not driving fast. The machine gun towers of the two armored reconnaissance vehicles in front and behind were opened, and an observer was exposed, observing the situation on all sides like a tank commander, and from time to time he held up his binoculars to take a closer look at a certain place.

There are ten armored personnel carriers in the back, and a soldier stands in each vehicle to observe the situation on all sides.

……

The guards around the small observation fort on the high ground, the referees of the exercises, were excited, and some joked that they were going to bet on which car His Majesty would come out of.

Suddenly, two cannon shots drifted in the distance. Two more followed. The four cannon shots were almost synchronous, followed by a series of compact machine-gun fires.

Xiang Xiaoqiang was startled, took off the binoculars and looked around, it turned out that the ambush tanks of the Blue Army in the distance had opened fire, and four white smoke drifted from the muzzles of the four tanks. A few seconds later, the four tanks started up and began to rush forward. The armored vehicles behind also started up and quickly followed.

Several exercise referees at their feet were also stunned for a moment, raised their binoculars and glanced at them, and saw that the ambush site of the Blue Army tanks was only less than 100 meters away from those Red Army scouts.

But the Queen's convoy, a kilometer away and farther away, suddenly became nervous.

The commanders of the two armored reconnaissance vehicles immediately got into the machine gun towers and closed the roofs. The observer on the armored personnel carrier also sat down and lowered his head. The whole convoy slowly stopped, the machine-gun tower on the roof of the reconnaissance car turned, and the periscope on the roof of the command car also turned, observing the situation nearby.

At the same time, the radio next to Xiang Xiaoqiang also sounded, and the commander of the Empress convoy was asking what was going on.

The commander of the empress's convoy this time was none other than the commander of the People's Guard's Praetorian Guard, Li Changgui.

Xiang Xiaoqiang made a gesture, and under the observation fort, Xiuxiu handed over the radio headset. Xiang Xiaoqiang put it on, and immediately said loudly:

"Changgui, I'm Xiang Xiaoqiang. You don't have to panic, this is a drill battle...... At about 600 meters at two o'clock, the reconnaissance forces of the Red and Blue armies were engaged in skirmishes...... I have set up an observation point here for His Majesty to see...... The terrain is gentle, and the convoy can drive up directly. ”

Xiuxiu said a few words to a drill referee. The referee took out the signal flag, climbed to the top of the observation fort, and waved the flag in the direction of the queen's motorcade.

Li Changgui's voice sounded in the headset:

"Ah, my lord, my subordinates are polite...... Your Majesty's safety is of paramount importance, so your subordinates should stop here first and wait until the battle is over before going over......"

Xiang Xiaoqiang was disappointed for a while, but still pretended to be casual and said:

"Okay, I'll observe here and let you know when the battle is over."

"Oh, wait......" Li Changgui suddenly said again, "Your Excellency, please wait a minute......

After a few minutes, the commander's voice resounded:

"My lord, we will go to your place now, please get ready."

The sound fell, and the armored convoy on the road in the distance spewed out green smoke again and drove in this direction. And the speed is much faster than just now, which can almost be called "speeding".

……

Xiang Xiaoqiang looked at the convoy driving towards him in the distance, and his heart warmed. He knew who had given Li Changgui the order just now.

The battle continues below. Glancing at Xiao Qiang, his heart moved, and he ordered the battle between the red and blue sides below to be suspended. The order was delivered, and a few seconds later, tanks, armored vehicles, and motorcycles on both sides in the distance stopped in place, and the infantry also sat down, gasping for breath.

The Queen's convoy sped across the battlefield. Zhu Yourong was in the command car, looking out through the narrow shooting window, and saw that the battle was still in full swing outside just now, and all of them were suspended for themselves at this moment. Tanks, cars, anti-tank guns in the fields were parked there, and the soldiers stood up and saluted their convoys......

She closed the armor cover of the shooting window and sat down slowly on the sofa, habitually playing with her official kiln cover bowl in her hands......

Wei Zijin next to him sat next to the radio, wearing a headset, his eyes did not squint, and his body swayed gently with the swaying of the vehicle.

……

The convoy drove all the way to the high ground. Ten armoured personnel carriers were parked in a circle around the observation fort, with ten machine guns pointed outward. 100 People's Guard soldiers jumped out of the car first, armed with submachine guns, and surrounded the small highlands, staring warily outside.

In the protective circle, everyone lined up in two columns, standing upright. Everyone's faces flushed with excitement. Except for Xiang Xiaoqiang and Xiuxiu, everyone else has never seen Zhu Yourong before.

Xiuxiu had played with Zheng Yuxuan in the palace a few times, and had met Zhu Yourong a few times, but she still couldn't help but be a little nervous. And she wasn't as excited as everyone else, just staring at the cold and thick armored door of the command vehicle in front of her, and an indescribable feeling floated in her heart.

Four armored command vehicles were parked in the middle of the protective ring. The door of the first command car opened, and two People's Guard majors jumped out and stood upright outside the door.

Everyone stared at the door of the car, knowing that Her Majesty was about to come out.

However, it was a colonel of the People's Guard who came down.

This is the convoy commander Li Changgui.

After Li Changgui came down, he first saluted Xiao Qiang, and saluted Xiao Qiang back, he turned around on the spot, and trotted to the door of the third command car.

He lifted his military hat and uniform, then opened the armored door, stood upright again, and saluted the door.

So, everyone turned to the car, stood upright, and saluted.

……

A hand wearing white gloves was on the steel plate at the door, and then Zhu Yourong appeared at the door of the armored command car in military uniform.

Zhu Yourong held the car door with one hand and his hat with the other, first glanced at the crowd, smiled slightly, and bowed his head. Then he jumped down lightly, stepped on the ground with shiny leather boots, and stomped his foot slightly twice to soothe the numbness of a long car ride.

She smiled and looked around at everyone again, and when her eyes swept over Xiang Xiaoqiang, she didn't stop for long, and then smiled:

"You Aiqing have worked hard, you don't have to be formal, just treat me as an officer."

Everyone laughed a few times cooperatively, but they all stood up straight.

Zhu Yourong's eyes stayed on Xiuxiu, nodded and smiled:

"Xiuxiu."

At the same time reach out to her.

Xiuxiu was flattered all of a sudden, and she didn't expect Her Majesty the Empress to take the initiative to shake hands with her. She nervously held Zhu Yourong's hand and shook it carefully.

Zhu Yourong felt the ring on Xiuxiu's ring finger through the gloves. Her gaze swept down quickly—

…… Star of the Ryukyus.

Immediately, Zhu Yourong glanced at Xiang Xiaoqiang next to him, and smiled lightly:

"Xiang Qing."

Xiang Xiaoqiang wanted to smile in return, but somehow, his heart felt like he was pressed by a stone, and he couldn't laugh. He only owed slightly, and bowed.

Zhu Yourong turned his gaze slightly gloomy, and smiled at Xiuxiu again:

"Xiuxiu, let me get to know all of you here."

Xiuxiu observed the reactions of the two, felt slightly soothed, smiled intimately at Zhu Yourong, then took a deep breath and generously introduced:

"Your Majesty, this is the chief adviser of the German Volunteer Officer Corps to the Ming Dynasty, Heinz? William? General Guderian. General Guderian previously held the position of Director General of Panzer Corps in the German Army. ”

Zhu Yourong had already guessed that this German general was the legendary Guderian, the armored wizard who Xiang Xiaoqiang had been talking to her and finally spent a lot of money in exchange.

She held out her hand to Guderian and, with a smile, said in German:

"Good afternoon, General Guderian. Welcome to Daming, I hope you will make this your home. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang looked at Zhu Yourong and was a little surprised. He only knew that Zhu Yourong was proficient in English and French, but he never knew that Zhu Yourong could also speak German.

Guderian's face did not change, he just took off his military cap, tucked it under his armpit, then straightened the Iron Cross on his chest, held Zhu Yourong's hand, did not kiss, but bowed and said:

"Your Majesty, it is a great honor to meet you."

Then, Xiuxiu introduced Hu Jiong and the remaining officers to Zhu Yourong one by one. Although Zhu Yourong mainly wanted to get to know Guderian, he still smiled and shook hands with other junior officers one by one. These junior officers experienced a moment of their lives that they were so excited and incoherent that they were about to faint.

Everyone also felt that mixing with Xiang Xiaoqiang was really promising.

……

Zhu Yourong, accompanied by Wei Zijin, Xiuxiu, Guderian, Li Changgui, Hu Jiong, and Xiang Xiaoqiang, walked into this observation fort built with sandbags.

As soon as she entered, she was a little stunned. She didn't expect this temporary fortification, which looked dirty and rudimentary on the outside, to be so spacious, clean, and even comfortable on the inside.

Zhu Yourong looked at the sofa and the small tea table, and stared at the vase of flowers on the small tea table.

She stared blankly for a few seconds, her hands subconsciously kneading the gloves. At this time, Hu Jiong behind him said with a grin:

"Your Majesty, this observation fort was built for you. This is also arranged for the adults themselves. This vase of flowers is also handmade by the adults...... Uh......"

He stopped suddenly, glanced at Xiuxiu, and then smiled:

"It's also to Lord Xiang...... Let people put it here, hehe......"

Zhu Yourong turned his face to look at Xiang Xiaoqiang, and smiled after a few seconds:

"Xiang Qing has a heart."

Two junior officers moved in a folding table and spread the map on it.

Xiang Xiaoqiang says:

"Your Majesty, please allow the minister to introduce the basic battle situation to Your Majesty."

As he spoke, the two of them walked to the map table at the same time. Xiang Xiaoqiang used red and blue pencils, triangles, and compasses to make basic annotations on the map, marking the current situation of the two sides, and at the same time casually making introductions.

Zhu Yourong also asked one or two questions from time to time, and Xiang Xiaoqiang also answered them casually.

The two of them gradually entered the state of military class, almost forgetting that there were several people around.

Xiang Xiaoqiang raised his head suddenly, stared at Zhu Yourong's eyes, and said:

"Your Majesty, the situation between the two sides is roughly like this. Now, let the ministers demonstrate to His Majesty. ”

said that he didn't ask Zhu Yourong's opinion, and strode directly away from the map table and came to the observation window. Zhu Yourong also involuntarily followed him to the observation window.

Xiang Xiaoqiang instructed outside:

"Order the exercise to continue!"

The referee of the exercise outside immediately radioed the order.

Almost seconds later, the sound of gunfire reappeared outside. A few hundred meters away in the field, the contact battle between the red and blue armies to reconnoiter the outposts began again.

……

The four tanks of the Blue Army destroyed the four commanders of the Red Army at the beginning, but there was still some distance. Now both sides also knew that Her Majesty the Empress was watching them, and they both showed twelve points of spirit.

The remaining scouts of the Red Army immediately lay down and quickly crawled through the fields, preemptively disarming the four 37mm anti-tank guns behind the four commanders' cars before the Blues tanks could rush in front of them. Almost instantly, four anti-tank groups were formed. Taking advantage of the "damaged" chief's car as a cover, and taking advantage of the low size of the 37 small guns and the convenience of concealment in the crop fields, they turned the small guns around and aimed them at the approaching Blue Army tanks.

Four Blues tanks were strafing as they went, and eight Blues armoured vehicles were outflanking from several other directions. Within seconds, two anti-tank gun crews of the Red Army were declared dead. But......

"Bang! ……”

"Bang! ……”

The remaining two small cannons emitted two puffs of white smoke in the field almost simultaneously. Two seconds later, the sound of cannon fire also reached the observation fort.

A few seconds later, a Blue Lightning 2 tank was immediately declared "damaged", two crew members were killed, and the tank was temporarily incapacitated.

But three other tanks had already pressed in, and under machine-gun fire, the last Red Army anti-tank gun group was eliminated.

Eight armoured vehicles of the Blue Army continued to strafe, while the soldiers behind the vehicles jumped down with submachine guns and began to rush over to engage the remaining Red scouts.

After a burst of gunfire, this reconnaissance outpost of the 1st Red Division was eliminated.

……

At this time, the sun had already sunk in the west, and when he looked at Xiaoqiang's watch, it was already five o'clock.

Faced with the approaching night, Xiang Xiaoqiang did not know what Rommel would arrange. Will he choose to fight at night, or will he distance himself from the Red Army and wait until tomorrow to attack again.

Since that day, the Red Army, which had suffered from air raids, had long been looking forward to the dark.