Episode 96 A Strange Village

When the full moon is in the sky, there are not a few floating clouds under the moon, and on the ground, there are many marching columns, whether to the east or west, all of which are long and unsightly, until they disappear into the night.

There was a deafening roar in the fields. Under the moon, the tanks are lined up in battle. Because at this moment the threat mainly came from the Qing army's second-line defense line, that is, the left flank, so the armored troops were lined up in a left trapezoidal formation.

Because it was at night, the distance between the cars was much closer than during the day. And in this case, the tank is more likely to be ambushed and relies more on infantry support, so behind each tank company, there will definitely be an infantry company of armored vehicles. And in order to enhance the visual effect, each "left trapezoid", that is, the two sides of a company of chariots, will also be accompanied by infantry on foot.

On each turret, the commander was exposed, staring ahead with wide eyes. More than a dozen meters away on both sides of the vehicle, the infantry lined up in a search formation and moved forward one foot deep and one foot shallow in the field. The proportion of automatic weapons among the soldiers of these armored divisions is the highest in the Ming Army, except for the Praetorian Guards and the Commandos. Almost every infantryman you can see is carrying a submachine gun. Those soldiers who did not carry submachine guns also carried general-purpose machine guns, light machine guns, machine gun tripods, or bullets on their backs.

……

A high proportion of automatic weapons, which is also an approximate situation in the configuration of light weapons in the People's Guard. One reason is that the People's Guards are either armored or mechanized, and the soldiers mainly march in vehicles, and many times also fight in vehicles. The soldiers of the motorized infantry division only rode in cars when they marched long distances, and when they were close to the battle, they got out of the cars and fought on foot. The infantry division not only marched in armored vehicles, but also in armored vehicles when fighting, transported directly under the nose of the enemy in armored vehicles through a hail of bullets, and then jumped out of the vehicle, picked up automatic weapons and engaged in close fire.

Because it is basically close-quarters combat, it is mainly submachine guns, which can make the most of its strengths and avoid its weaknesses. In addition, the proportion of general-purpose machine guns and light machine guns is also high, which can largely make up for the long-distance firefight caused by the lack of rifles.

If Xiang Xiaoqiang were here, he would definitely have a bit of the posture of the German army in World War II in these People's Guard soldiers marching on foot. Especially in the general-purpose machine gun group, the machine gunner carried a whole "woodpecker" machine gun directly on his waist with a strap, holding the butt in one hand and the barrel in the other, and could fire urgently at any time. As if he was carrying a large submachine gun, he was majestic and high-spirited, looking around at the night around him while chatting loudly with the brothers around him.

The sub-shooter and observer are equally spirited. One of them carried a tripod and a spare barrel, and the other carried a submachine gun with a chain of bullets on his back, and smoked cigarettes, and walked on either side of the main shooter to cover him, all the while laughing loudly.

Throughout this endless procession of the People's Guards, almost every soldier was like this, with high morale, marching through this cold and dry night, stepping on the soft northern farmland and listening to the roar of tanks and armored vehicles...... The thrill of being a conqueror, coupled with the sense of security brought by the steel beasts around him, made every soldier's chest jump with excitement, and even though it was already the second half of the night, no one felt a little sleepy.

In the distance behind him, there were two leaping flames. - Actually, it was not a "flame", but a huge fire pile about ten meters high, two of which were built every ten kilometers. It's just that it's already too far away, so it looks even smaller than the flame of a lighter, it's almost like two bright stars. Now, the two stars still basically coincide, only slightly separated, and they can be distinguished as two.

This shows that the offensive direction is still basically correct and has not deviated much. The two "stars" behind him played an excellent role, always regulating the direction of the soldiers' attacks, and they were more effective than the Big Dipper in the sky.

……

The moonlight was bright, the sight was better than expected, and it stands to reason that the speed of travel could be faster than it is now. But because it was the first night mechanized march, it was necessary to be cautious and careful to explain to Xiaoqiang, and he would rather be slow than be ambushed. Now it's good to go at about eight kilometers per hour, and the infantry can keep up. Although eight kilometers per hour is faster for foot infantry, these infantry are equipped with armored vehicles. At a certain distance, the soldiers on and off the car can be replaced.

At eight kilometers per hour, counting some small resistance that may be encountered on the road, it is enough to advance to the beach before dawn. If it is faster, not only will it be easy to cause confusion, but the infantry on foot will not be able to keep up. Without the foot infantry scattered on both sides, it would be too dangerous.

The Panzer Division advanced all the way to the northeast, encountering skirmishes along the way. But this is such a powerful armored division, many times it didn't fight much, and the Qing army on the opposite side fled in the wind, and even threw away the artillery. The side effects of Guangwu's order of "one person captured, and the whole family was connected" became apparent at this time.

Originally, if they didn't have this order, they might still resist for a while under the coercion of the commander, and it was not terrible to be surrounded, but it was a big deal to surrender in the end. But now, the fear of being captured made these small groups of Qing soldiers dare not even fight. They knew that the Ming army's mobility was far above their own, and they were afraid that if they stayed to resist, they would fall into encirclement, and in the end, no one would be able to escape, and their family would be all over.

Even the Qing army officers, who would have forced the soldiers to resist, are now taking the lead in retreating. - Once you are encircled, you will inevitably be captured even if you are an officer. The court will not open up to his wife just because he is an officer. However, those Qing soldiers whose homes were in Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Henan would happily surrender at this time. They have no scruples at the moment. Their hometown has been liberated by the Ming army, and they know that as long as they surrender to the Ming army, they will soon be able to return to their hometown.

So there was a strange situation - every time a Qing army encountered a weak resistance, after two weak resistances, the Qing army would immediately turn into two groups, one threw down its heavy weapons and fled, and the other happily left to surrender.

At half past two o'clock in the second half of the night, the reconnaissance battalion of the vanguard of the Fifth Armored Division had already advanced through Tongxing Town, and no Qing troops were found. When the people on the edge of the town heard the noise, they all put on their clothes and came out to see, only to see a large sea of metal under the moonlight, and a large area of steel helmets glowing with cold light, moving slowly outside the town.

They were dumbfounded, and they couldn't believe their good fortune for a long time. In the past month, thousands of troops and horses of the imperial court have been constantly moving south, and the town has not stopped publicizing how strong the imperial army is, how impregnable the imperial defense line is, and how afraid Nanming is, and has cried and shouted for peace with the imperial court...... The common people thought that they would live a lifetime under the rule of the Qing Dynasty.

Unexpectedly, there were a few cannons during the day and the first half of the night, and the Ming army actually drove over in the second half of the night...... Fate changed so quietly.

……

At this time, it is estimated that there are still 20 kilometers from the sea, and at this speed, it will be more than two hours away.

A platoon of the reconnaissance battalion was widely scattered across the field. At the front were twenty or so infantrymen, carrying submachine guns and light machine guns, walking through the fields and searching in a fan. Some distance behind them were several sidecar motorcycles, with woodpecker machine guns in them, slowly driving forward. At the rear, there were three Lightning-2 light tanks, and two armored vehicles with machine guns to support them. Both armored personnel carriers were empty, and the soldiers on them were already searching on foot in front.

The vast farmland was bare, with the pale moonlight shining on it, and there was occasionally a tall mound or two in the distance. From time to time, owls make strange noises from the dead trees in the fields.

The atmosphere was terrifying.

Even though the soldiers of the reconnaissance battalion held submachine guns in their hands, they could not help but have a heart. They are not as relaxed as the officers and soldiers behind them, they should talk, laugh when they should laugh, and smoke when they should smoke. The troops behind were unlikely to be suddenly ambushed. The only people who were suddenly ambushed were their reconnaissance units, which were advancing at the forefront and had the weakest troops. They are like sappers in a minefield, and they are the first to be killed when they are in danger.

In particular, the machine-gun motorcycles behind were at a distance of tens of meters from them. Tanks and armored vehicles, pulling even farther away. This is to prevent people from arriving before the sound of the engine arrives, and if you don't detect the enemy, you will be detected by the enemy first, and you will inevitably be ambushed.

But then again, the more this happens, the more nerve-making it becomes. Everywhere these 20 or so infantry went, the four fields were silent, especially when they only had submachine guns and light machine guns in their hands, and they felt that they were even weaker. On the contrary, it is better to feel more secure with the tank behind you.

Suddenly, one of the squad leaders who walked at the front raised his arms. Suddenly, the scattered two dozen or so people all stopped, like clocks, very accurate.

Then, the squad leader at the front waved his hand down, and the people of both squads lowered their bodies and entered a semi-shaded state.

The first squad leader was half-kneeling in the dirt, holding up his binoculars, and looking at the black, gray mass in the distance ahead.

……

About a hundred meters or so, there are more than a dozen large trees gathered together to form a small grove. Behind the grove, there are faint outlines of some houses.

The squad leader judged that it was a village.

The two squad leaders watched with binoculars for a while, then quietly got together and exchanged opinions in a whisper, both thinking that it was a village.

Such a small village, this night also passed a lot. However, Rao is so, and it cannot be taken lightly. At least six times of resistance were encountered in the vicinity of such a small village.

The squad leader called a soldier and told him to run to the back, inform the motorcycles and chariots behind, and about a hundred meters ahead, a small residential area was found.

Then, after consulting with another squad leader, he stood up with one squad each, carrying submachine guns and light machine guns, and bent on his waist, flanked the small village in front of him to conduct reconnaissance.

……

The two reconnaissance squads, from the north and south, quietly groped around the outside of the village, and finally met at the east end of the village. Nothing was found on the outskirts of the village, and the soldiers were a little more relaxed, and began to joke quietly, waiting for the two squad leaders to make the next arrangement, whether to continue to move forward or enter the village for further investigation.

If you enter the village, if you don't get it right, it will cause a series of dog barks. If there is really a small group of Qing troops staying, it will be a surprise. But then again, if there is really a Qing army, then even if it startles the snake, it should be. That's what the reconnaissance battalion does.

After some discussion, they decided to go with the most common method.

More than two dozen scouts stood at the east end of the village, each occupying a few firing points and laying an ambush. And then. Two soldiers touched the door of a family at the entrance of the village and knocked lightly.

They planned to ask the people in the village if there was a stay for the Qing army in the village.

After knocking for a long time, there was a sound of trembling inside. Then, with the sound of a man pulling his shoes, he leaned against the door and asked impatiently:

"Which one? What for? ”

"Open the door and talk!" A Ming soldier lowered his voice, learned the northern dialect, and shouted in a rough voice, "The master is from the 12th Division of the Eight Banners!" Let the Ming army disperse! Do you have any of our brothers in your village? ”

The voice inside the door looked frightened, and whispered:

"I don't know how long it will be...... Here comes the chiefs, and the door is opened......"

The door opened a crack, revealing a head, looking at them. When he found out that they were Ming Jun, he was shocked:

"Ahh You are ......"

"Hehe, don't blame fellow......" A Ming soldier said with a smile, "We are from the Fifth Armored Division of the People's Guard of the Ming Army, and the large army is behind, so we will go to your village to reconnoiter first...... Do you have Qing troops in your village? ”

"Ah...... Ah......" Maybe he was too excited, this fellow couldn't speak for a long time, "Long ...... Sir...... The commanders work hard, and we don't have a Qing army in the village......"

The two Ming soldiers looked at each other and smiled, nodded, and one smiled:

"Oh well, excuse me. Tell the people in the village tomorrow morning that your village is restored! ”

"Hey! Ay! ...... by all means."

……

When the two soldiers completed their task, their hearts suddenly relaxed, and they let out a long breath and walked towards the village. One took out a cigarette and gave one to his partner, and the two started to smoke it.

By the light of the match, a soldier suddenly looked at the ground and was stunned for a moment.

"Hey, let's go! What's wrong with you? ”

"Wait a minute!"

The first crouched down and touched the ground with his hands.

"What's wrong?" The second soldier smiled, "See the money?" ”

"Money, you're a fucking head! Hush...... Be quiet! ”

"What's wrong? What did you find? ”

The first soldier was nervous and whispered:

"Hey, help me block the dots, and strike another match!"

"What?"

"Teach you to row, you can row!"

So the two soldiers squatted on the ground, struck another match, and shone it on the ground.

Under the red light of the match, a track mark was deeply imprinted on the mud floor.

The two soldiers looked at each other, dumbfounded.

They quickly extinguished the matches, and then the two of them touched the ground, in two directions. Soon, a man whispered:

"Here we are!"

Another person also leaned over and touched it. …… The second track trail was found.

Judging by the width of the track tracks, not the tanks of the Ming army.