The Italian commanders were well aware that although their opponents were weak in this war, they would definitely have to pay some casualties. But what they didn't expect was that the actual situation was far beyond their expectations.

An armored brigade of more than 5,000 people was severely damaged by an Egyptian infantry regiment, with more than two-thirds of the casualties and more than half of the heavy equipment lost. If it weren't for the timely reinforcement of nearby friendly forces, this armored brigade might even be completely annihilated by the other side. As soon as this news reached the headquarters of the Italian Eastern Route Army, it shocked the commander Emilio de Bono.

Emilio, 69, is a battle-hardened Italian veteran who survived the First Ethiopian-Italian War as a young man, narrowly survived the Emerald Star, and was promoted several times during the First World War for his service against Austria.

When Italy invaded Ethiopia, Musonili appointed him commander-in-chief. The veteran did have the idea of being ashamed of the snow and actively made a plan in front of the station. In his plan, the Italian army should first establish a solid base in Eritrea, and slowly weaken Ethiopia with fewer forces and superior equipment to the south.

The advantage of this plan was that it was safe and the loss was small, and the disadvantage was that it was slow, which was obviously unacceptable to Mussolini's quick temper. Since the beginning of the war, Mussolini has sent telegrams more than once to urge the army to speed up, and Emilio is not tired of disturbing him. The old man is arguing with the unreasonable big boss, and he never thought that this kind of thing would happen on the front line.

"What is this armored brigade doing!? He was beaten into this bear by a group of mud legs who didn't even have much machine guns! ”

"Your Excellency, Commander, according to the survivors, the enemy used a powerful projectile-type weapon."

"Projectile weapons? Did the Germans get heavy artillery for the Ethiopians? ”

"It's not artillery, it's a ...... Rocket. ”

"Rockets?"

The adjutant's words made Emilio a little overwhelmed for a while, and the old man instinctively realized that there might be a big problem here, and hurriedly asked the other party.

"Call the commander of this brigade to me immediately."

"I'm sorry, commander, the brigade commander has been killed, and his command post was killed at the first moment of the attack."

"Then let the remaining top officers come to see me!"

Soon! A wounded lieutenant colonel was led to Emilio, the guy had lost half of his arm, his entire face was covered in gauze, and he looked like a mummy in a military uniform.

"Lieutenant Colonel, I want you to tell me the situation now."

"Yes, Your Excellency Commander......"

As the lieutenant colonel recounted, Emilio gradually learned what had happened. The enemy's surprise attack began with such rockets, a rain of rockets that inflicted heavy damage on them in an instant, one of which hit the command headquarters and reimbursed all the senior officers on the spot. The lieutenant colonel was out on the toilet at the time, so he narrowly escaped.

Italian soldiers, who had never suffered similar attacks, were quickly thrown into disarray, and the collective deaths of senior officers were exacerbated. As a result, the remaining Italian soldiers, in the confusion and lack of unified command, were beaten by an infantry regiment of the Egyptian army, and there was even a ridiculous scene of infantry chasing and killing armored machine soldiers with bayonets.

"Your Excellency Commander, it's not that our army doesn't work hard, but the enemy has ......"

"That's it! No more explanation! From now on, your brigade will be transferred to the rear to rest and recuperate, and you must keep your mouth shut about the secret weapons of the Egyptian army. If there are any strange rumors in the army, I will only ask you! ”

Waving his hand for the lieutenant colonel to go down, Emilio felt a headache. Now that the bad weather has caused war weariness in the army, if there are any more rumors such as "the Egyptian army has a secret weapon", it is difficult to guarantee that the morale will not deteriorate further. As an Italian general, Emilio was well aware that he was not leading a good fighting force.

"Adjutant, have you captured the kind of rocket used by the enemy?"

"Yes! Reinforcements from both flanks arrived in time, so the enemy did not take the position. Afterwards, while our men were cleaning up the battlefield, they picked up a dud bomb that did not explode, and I have ordered the bomb disposal experts to deal with it, so you can check it at any time. ”

"Then get me that thing!"

Soon a rocket with its fuse removed and its charge hollowed out was delivered to Emilio, and the old fellow knew that it was certainly not a weapon that the Ethiopians could have made. The rockets have a smooth, unnumbered exterior and are made of a lightweight, strong alloy that Ethiopia will not be able to produce for decades to come, without precision machining and even high-quality steel.

"Damn it! Those Germans actually tested their new weapons on us! ”

Clearly, Emilio was mistaken! All he knew was that Germany was secretly aiding his opponents, and that the other petty arms dealers were not being taken seriously by him. The lack of intelligence made him ignore the existence of Zhao Jian and blame the Germans for the rockets.

"Send this rocket back to China as soon as possible, hand it over to weapons experts for study, and if they can make imitations as much as possible, I will use this thing for a tooth for a tooth!"

Enraged, Emilio threw all his hatred on "innocent" Germany because of this attack, which was one of the reasons why he fought hard to oppose the alliance between Italy and Germany a few years later, and sought to kill him for it.

Of course! That's all for later!

At the same time, Ethiopians, unlike worried Italians, are basking in long-lost joy. Since the war has been going on so far, the Egyptian army, which has been beaten almost all the time, has achieved decent results for the first time.

Inflicted heavy damage on one of the opponent's main armored brigades, killed more than 2,000 enemy troops, and killed an Italian brigadier general. After learning of this important news, Selassie I immediately informed the whole country, and then returned to the capital overnight to commend the meritorious personnel, and personally met with Zhao Jian, who "sent charcoal in the snow".

"Thank you so much, Mr. Zhuge It's a miracle that you've sent me this time! ”

Selassie I was overjoyed by the rocket's miraculous effect, and the other side almost saw it as an "artifact" that could turn the tide of battle. In this regard, Zhao Jian kindly reminded the other party after a little smugness...... Don't rejoice too soon!

"Your Majesty, you praised it falsely! As an arms dealer, I'm glad that my customers like what I offer, but out of the moral sense of an international friend, I feel compelled to remind you that one or two ordinary weapons can't change the tide of war. The reason why the rockets achieved such success this time was largely because of the strangeness, and they quickly adapted to this kind of attack. In addition, the rockets are not very technical, and it is very easy for the Italians to imitate them if they want to imitate them. ”

"And what do you mean?"

"陛xià! There is a proverb in my country, which is called to stay in the green mountains, not afraid of no firewood! O man! Sometimes you have to know how to make trade-offs and give up! ”

PS: It's only been 3 days, and I'm already feeling physically and mentally exhausted, but fortunately, tomorrow is Monday, and the starting point of the legal department should be able to give a letter. In addition, in the afternoon, a friend sent me a screenshot, saying that the opposite "martial arts team" is going to move, and I want to be careful, I don't know if they are targeting me, or which post to look at, in short, I can only wait now!