Although the enemy had been warned and prepared before the Ming army attacked, this did not change anything.

Twenty-four hours later, at 11 o'clock on the 19th, the Ming army on the Eastern Front had cleared the British and Indian positions on the Gangri Gabu Mountain and the foothills, and the three companies of the 2nd Assam Regiment (Battalion) were severely damaged, and some of the fleeing Indo-Du soldiers even threw away their guns in order to run faster.

It can be said that the British and Indian troops did not expect their own side to collapse so quickly, and before the remnants of the defeated generals who retreated to the vicinity of Baimagang could gain a firm foothold, the pursuing troops of the 105th Regiment of the 34th Division followed closely behind.

The soldiers of the 1st Assam Battalion, stationed here, thought they were dreaming, and the front-line position, which was expected to hold out for at least seventy-two hours, only held out for a third of the time?

When they were overwhelmed, a squad of the 106th Regiment attacking from the flank was already already conducting fire reconnaissance.

On the Western Front, about 100 miles away, in the Milin area, the 12th Infantry Division also successfully uprooted more than 200 bunkers and more than 30 strongholds all over the mountains, and the Sikh regiment (battalion), which was praised by the British as brave and fearless, was also annihilated because of their stupidity.

They could have retreated in time, but the battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Finnegan, had the illusion that he could hold on a little longer, so he missed the opportunity to retreat and was surrounded by a battalion of the 37th and 38th Regiments.

As for Lieutenant Colonel Finnegan, he was hit into a hornet's nest by a machine gun while shouting.

The first battle was won, the situation can be described as very good, the officers in the Lingzhi command headquarters all breathed a sigh of relief, and worked at high intensity for more than ten hours in a row, and now everyone is physically and mentally exhausted.

On the Sichuan-Tibet Highway, thousands of miles away, more than 800 people from the Zhou Changfeng Department are struggling to advance along the winding mountain road.

On the left hand side are the towering hills, and on the right hand side are steep cliffs with large dips. Guardrails and bollards? Joke, this kind of place has these things?

Just forty minutes ago, a Type 29 six-wheeled truck loaded with ammunition had somehow burst off the road and rolled off a cliff.

Brake failure? The driver lost his mind? What the reason is for which no one knows.

The leaking gasoline was ignited by an electric spark, and the wreckage of the burning truck became the grave of two motorists; The bullets triggered by the scorching flames made a crackling sound like firecrackers.

[In this era, most trucks used gasoline engines; This is true of many tanks, not to mention trucks. 】

The convoy paused only briefly, and after witnessing the flames erupt, everyone knew that there was no hope of survival.

There was no time to grieve and regret, the convoy was restarted, and everyone knew that now the front line was at war, and every second counted, after all, who knows what will happen? Whether it's good or bad, you've got to be there, right?

Just when Zhou Changfeng closed his eyes and recuperated, a sudden change occurred!

The off-road vehicle carrying Xie Wancheng in front of him suddenly burst a tire, and the driver who found the car out of control was excited, and immediately hit the steering wheel desperately to make the car deviate to the left, and finally crashed into the mountain.

For a time, the sound of "squeaking" brakes was endless.

"Medic !!"

The soldiers who came from the front and rear dragged Xie Wancheng out, while the driver and orderly in the front seat were already bloody and unconscious.

"... I'm fine. Xie Wan sincerely stared at the exploding left rear tire, and then looked at the abyss on the right, "I almost died." ”

Zhou Changfeng glanced at his watch and found that it had been nearly five hours of continuous marching, and it was time to stop and rest, so he turned his head and ordered to rest in place, eat and drink.

Xiao Li nodded, took out his flare gun and loaded it with a green flare, and then fired a shot into the sky.

Suddenly, the whole convoy fell silent, and one by one the cars stopped.

Because there is a lot of time to rest, it is not too much time to cook, so the cooking team of each team directly puts the stove on the side of the road, and then sets up a large iron pot, a dozen pots in a row, or stir-fry or steam rice, which can be described as fragrant for several miles.

Zhou Changfeng, who felt that he was too hungry to eat something to cushion his stomach, was stunned for a moment when he took the canned braised pork handed to him, because the can was already swollen.

So Xiao Li took out a few more cans from the locker in the trunk, only to find that they were all swollen.

Zhou Changfeng realized that during the day's and night's march, the altitude was climbing dramatically, and they were less than fifty miles away from the pass of the Golsi Mountain.

In other words, the altitude is now more than 4,000 meters.

He hesitated for a moment and ordered: "Let the medical detachment check all the officers and soldiers, from the back to the front, and report after completion." ”

After saying that, he jumped out of the car again, squatted next to the wheels, and then stretched out his hands and pressed them with his thumbs, and found that the tires were also swollen badly.

This... No wonder Xie Wancheng's car had a flat tire.

Zhou Changfeng found that he had overlooked a very important thing, that is, he did not expect that the progress of science and technology was reflected in the subtleties of bits and pieces, and the tires of military vehicles in the era before he crossed also contained high technology, which were very durable, and there was no need to deflate the tires when entering high-altitude areas.

But it's different now, it's only the thirties.

[In fact, at the beginning of this century (and still exist), some old drivers who often run into Tibet still retain the habit of deflating tires, putting the tire pressure from the normal 2.2 bar to 2.0 bar. 】

At this moment, he was very annoyed, but fortunately there had been no more serious puncture so far, otherwise if a truck full of soldiers had a flat tire and fell off a cliff, he would probably die of distress.

He suddenly thought of something, "Xiao Li, take that "Uszang Battle Guide" over me." ”

"Yes."

This is a pamphlet temporarily printed by the Ministry of War, and it is no more than 30 or 40 pages in total.

Zhou Changfeng carefully flipped through it from beginning to end, and only then did he see the sentence "If you find that the tires are bulging, it is due to the low air pressure at high altitudes, it is usually fine, and you can deflate a small amount as appropriate" in the inconspicuous place on the right side of page 32.

Depend on!

The typography is just in the corner, and the whole sentence is still fluttering, as if it is not an important thing.

The words "usually no obstacles" were particularly eye-catching, and Zhou Changfeng, who was speechless, couldn't help but complain a few words, "When the people in the military department compile this kind of manual, don't they even distinguish between priorities and urgency?" ”

At this time, the cooks found that the rice was not cooked? How can it be sandwiched in one bite? The water is already boiling, huh?

However, they immediately realized that this was due to the high altitude and low pressure, so they went to fetch a specially prepared pressure cooker. But the pressure cooker is relatively small, and there are few in total, so it is not enough at all.

They pondered for a while, and then tried to go to the side of the road and pick up some large rocks and press them against the lid of the large iron pot to strengthen the airtightness.

The medical detachment also completed the examination, and the second lieutenant of the military doctor headed by the team reported: "Sir, after examination, a total of 397 people have developed altitude sickness, and all but four of them have mild symptoms. ”

Zhou Changfeng took a deep breath and said seriously: "Take care of them, thank you for your hard work." ”