In addition to crowd tactics and onboard charges, another major enemy of the Hanqi Type 01 tank is artillery.

4-9 mm armor can easily be pierced under the bombardment of heavy guns over 8 pounds.

However, once moved, the high mobility of the Hanqi tank will make it extremely difficult to hit the heavy artillery.

On the contrary, it was the close-range shotguns that caused a lot of trouble for the Han cavalry.

In previous battles, a tank was hit in the side by an approaching shotgun.

Not only was the track damaged and incapacitated on the spot, but the deputy tanker, who operated the machine gun, was also seriously injured.

This time, Guo Dazhuang's opponent looked much easier to deal with.

It was a troop of dragoons coming from the southwest, flying a large blue flag with a lonely silver star on it.

Guo Dazhuang recognized at a glance that this force was definitely not a Californian army, but a militia from Texas, known as the Lone Star.

Texas has always been one of the strongest states in the United States to secede.

They have experienced several wars against Mexico, and their people are still strong and their combat effectiveness is far higher than that of other states in the west.

These materials are recorded in the "Royal General's Must Read Atlas", as the acting battalion commander who wants to become a regular, Guo Dazhuang is familiar with it.

And he further identified that this cavalry force of 700 men was the famous Sharps musket dragoons.

It seems that the Texans, who advocate glorious isolation, are also involved in the West Coast affair.

Guo Dazhuang immediately thought of a lesson on international relations that he had attended in the weekend training class of the Army Cadre School last week.

The class said that since Grant and Sherman became the de facto leaders of the Northern Army, they have achieved very good results by adopting the tactics of cutting off the lines of communication of the Southern Army and severing the southern states.

Could it be that these Texans had the idea of independence again because they were cut off from the Richmond government?

And just like Vietnam, which became independent from French Indochina, wanted to annex Cambodia and Laos, which were both French colonies;

India, which became independent from British India, was bent on bringing Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia under its rule.

The Texas government may have had an idea about New Mexico and Arizona, which were also Mexican states.

And then, California, which is strategically located and relatively densely populated, is also included in their field of vision?

This is the only explanation that Guo Dazhuang can think of.

Otherwise, it would be difficult for him to understand why the Texas militia would come to the West Coast to do something when they are well fed.

This is the difference between the revolutionary officers of the Ming imperialism and the officers of traditional feudalism.

Traditional feudal officers don't think about these things at all, and all they care about when they fight a war is to get money and preserve their core troops.

The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were different, not only did they understand what they were fighting for, but the Ming officers, even those of the lower ranks, had perfect political training and pre-war mobilization, and were able to understand every war from a strategic point of view.

This kind of education and training seems to be of little use other than to raise a little morale, but only by understanding the strategy of the empire can it better serve the will of the empire.

Otherwise, if we blindly control the armed forces with the doctrine of J-countryism, sooner or later, like the Japanese, unnecessary incidents will occur, and national interests will be bound by personal will.

Of course, when it comes to this battle, whether it is a Californian or a Texan, it is the same for the fighters of the tank battalion, that is, to completely eliminate them.

Under the command of Guo Dazhuang, the tank battalion maintained its formation and swooped down condescendingly.

When the steel beasts climbed over the hill and appeared at the side of the Lone Star Dragoons, the stupid rednecks not only immediately fell to their knees and begged, but also jumped off their horses and began to shoot with their beloved Sharps spears.

As it turned out, the Texans were in the wrong place.

The Sharps is a very classic rifle that was originally used to hunt the buffalo, the most important source of meat for the Indians, and was of limited power.

But after several improvements, the new Sharps M1874 sporting rifle became a popular firearm, and the Texans assembled it on a large scale.

Its biggest feature is that it can load bullets on its stomach, has excellent accuracy and power, and can add optical sights.

It can be said that this is the first sniper rifle with sights.

But that's all, and not an anti-tank sniper rifle.

Crush them!

For the Sharps musket dragoons, who lacked heavy firepower, the roaring Han cavalry tanks were almost invincible enemies.

The only targets they were able to kill were the shooters hiding behind the Gatling gun bunkers.

Compared with the four-tanker or three-tanker of a conventional tank, the Hanqi tank only has a two-man configuration, one person drives and one person shoots.

If you want to hit such an enemy, you need not only accurate marksmanship, but also God forbid.

This time, it seems that the God of the Texans has really done something.

After a burst of gunfire, the Han cavalry rushed out of the smoke.

The tank at the head of the zigzag combat unit, that is, the flagship tank piloted by Guo Dazhuang, received the most shots.

Guo Dazhuang's deputy, machine gunner Yu Qi'an, was hit by a bullet on the helmet, and the preset arc made the bullet a ricochet, but nearly half of the kinetic energy still acted on the helmet.

The new Sharps M1874 sporting rifle claims to be able to take down a cow in 900 yards.

But it is clear that either this fixed ammunition is of inferior quality, or the arms dealers are bragging.

Yu Qi'an's steel helmet was beaten and flew out, and the thinning hair on his head was also permed and bent.

His beloved hairstyle was disrupted, and Yu Qi'an held the six-pipe Gatling and went crazy over.

Penetrated by the Han cavalry tank to the current close distance, the battle situation has been decided.

After leaving behind the bodies of more than 500 of their companions, the remaining Texas cowboys scattered.

In fact, the sprint speed of Texas' good horses can reach 50 kilometers per hour, and if you choose to get rid of it at the first time, the loss will not be so big.

Of course, this is also because there are only 20 Han cavalry tanks, so they cannot disperse the pursuit.

Otherwise, using the inorganic body to compare endurance with the organism is bullying.

·

The total distance of this expedition from Xinfeng to Xinhu is about 1,100 kilometers, which is highly consistent with the distance between Beijing and Shanghai.

Even if the part that can be resupplied in Xinlu is removed, the total journey reaches more than 600 kilometers.

This is a comprehensive test of the mechanical performance of transporters, combat vehicles, and tanks of various departments.

The results are still satisfactory.

On the seventh day, the Southern Expeditionary Force completed the strategic encirclement of the Xinhu area.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty finally encountered an unavoidable scene when the Chinese dynasties conquered the barbarians, or resisted the barbarians.