In the valley, two steam-powered tanks were covered with various branches and vines, and were undergoing pre-war training. Although they were carefully camouflaged, the characteristic of smoking could not be disguised. However, many people did not know about the steam tank at all. They would never have thought that the thing covered by the branches would be a terrifying machine for slaughter. Speaking of which, the tank landed less than ten days, and it took a lot of effort to land. When landing, it took a lot of effort and tried every means to make this particularly heavy iron lump climb ashore. This steam-powered tank weighed 52 tons. Fortunately, it was more than nine meters long and the contact area between the track and the ground was large. After landing, there was nothing to stop it. Even a four-meter-wide trench could easily cross it. However, in less than ten days, it would have to train its initial combat power, which was a bit difficult.

Among the six crew members, the driver and coal-fed soldiers were dispatched from Nanjing. The crew members of these two positions have undergone preliminary training in Nanjing. Although they are not necessarily skilled in driving, they are very interested in driving. They are very interested in driving. But after all, they are Brother Chu who drives. They have happened many times before they brake. However, it doesn’t matter how hard the iron armored tank hits, and it is impossible to be damaged. Besides, its speed is not fast. So far, all the misoperation has not brought any terrible consequences. At most, it is knocking over several carriages.[]

The other four crew members were mainly allocated from Qu Song's original armored vehicle company, but Qu Song has now become the leader of the armored regiment. However, the number of passengers in the past was limited. After the expansion of the army, the armored vehicle regiment has added 55 "Chang'an" light armored vehicles and four treasure-level steam-powered tanks. The top priority is of course to ensure the combat effectiveness of the steam tanks. Therefore, elite soldiers and strong generals are of course given priority to the steam tanks.

Since Guo Longda, Lu Qixi and Han Ershun attacked Hashan Pass last time, they have been commended for their merits and received by the emperor in person. The emperor personally awarded the medal. This is an extraordinary honor. Unfortunately, in the entire car crew, You Yongfu died. The commander Deng Xinchao was injured in the huge shock of the explosion. After that, he was sometimes awake and sometimes dementia, and obviously no longer suitable for war. Among the three injured, Lu Qixi was lucky, but he was unconscious for most of the day. After waking up, he had nothing to do.

Guo Longda, Han Ershun and Lu Qixi, who recovered successfully, were then transferred to the No. 2 steam tank. Guo Longda became the gunner, and Lu Qixi got his wish and became a machine gunner. Han Ershun became a loader because of his outstanding physical strength. The pilot of the No. 2 steam tank was called Fan Dagui. He was originally a trainer to be a steam-powered ship, but he encountered the birth of the steam-powered tank. By chance, he was selected as the first driver of the No. 2 tank among the first batch of steam tanks in the Ming Dynasty. This time, he came to Liaodong with the steam tank. The commander Meng Shihaiyuan

He was a battalion commander under Wang Fuzhi. He fought the Battle of Laizhou, the Battle of Taiwan and the Battle of Liaodong. Meng Shihai was not only the commander of the No. 1 tank, but also the deputy commander of the entire armored vehicle regiment, and served as the deputy commander of Qu Song. The coal-adding soldier Niu Shoucai was also a guy with low height but outstanding physical strength. This man also came from Nanjing with Fan Dagui this time. He was just a recruit. He was selected as a coal-adding player who could be a steam tank and had also been selected. In just four precious steam tanks, of course, those who could be used as the four tanks were the best in the army.

Two days ago, I heard only the sound of cannons in the north, but there was no steam tank, which made Meng Shihai and other tank soldiers itchy, especially Meng Shihai. I only heard the legendary story of the armored vehicles that shocked Hashan Pass last time. Three of the guys who made meritorious service in the tank were now by my side. I finally arrived at the tank regiment in the past two days, but in addition to training, I had no chance to go to the battlefield. This time the division of labor was as follows: Qu Song led No. 1, No. 3 steam tanks and 60 armored vehicles were responsible for dealing with the Qing army in the north, while Meng Shihai led No. 2, No. 4 tanks and 15 armored vehicles blocked Ajige's attack from south to north. In addition, there were ten armored vehicles left by Emperor Lushun.

The war in the north has been going on for two days, and there is no movement on Ajige yet. Could it be that Ajige is just waiting for reinforcements passively, and he has no intention of even trying to jump over the wall? When he thought of his powerful chariot, he did not dare to hit the enemy. Meng Shihai felt like a hero was useless.

Like the chariot, Fan Dagui was eager to go to the battlefield to kill the Tartars. Fan Dagui believed that there was no need to invest in the firepower of the tank, just drive over and crush the Tartars directly. At present, there was no fighting in training, which made Fan Dagui feel very frustrated.

In this era, Fan Dagui is a skilled person. He has good skills and a flexible mind. He can say that even Meng Shihai values ​​him very much. Because of this, Fan Dagui has no taboos in speaking:

"Deputy Commander Meng, you see, we have been training almost all the time. Car No. 4 has hit the tree three days ago, and since the day before yesterday, it has never happened again. Our car No. 2 hit the cart five days ago. If I ask me, there is no problem in training so far, it is sent to fight. Deputy Commander Meng, Niu Shoucai and I have never driven meat to kill the Tartars. We always say that there are opportunities. Deputy Commander Meng, you say something, when will we send us to drive tanks to kill the Tartars?"

Meng Shihai was actually very anxious, but after all, he was the leader of the first group, and he said now:

"I said Fan Dagui, if you ask you to train, you will be able to fight soon. When the war starts, don't panic. If you hit something again, you can't stop the car, I'll settle the score with you."

Lu Qixi, a machine gunner, has been idle all the time. To be precise, it is not idle either. After all, it is training. Although it is not live-fire shooting, it is still necessary to simulate the machine gun strafing. Lu Qixi did not stop in his hand and said:

"Deputy Commander Meng, even if Ajige leads his troops to rush up, it will not be our tank first at the beginning. I'm afraid that the armored vehicles of Chang'an and Rhino will destroy the Tartars in a few strokes. Then will there be no tanks without us at that time!"

Fan Dagui became even more depressed after hearing this and said:

"There are enough to deal with the Qing army with ten 'Chang'an's, let alone five 'rhinos'. I think it's better to transfer our tanks directly to deal with the Tartars from the north. After all, the Tartars from the north can withstand a dozen shield cars. Otherwise, I'm worried that our tanks will not be useful at all."

Lu Qixi also cheered:

"Ajige is now less than 20,000 troops left, and our army's attack from the south has never stopped. Even if Ajige wants to cooperate with Dorgon to attack on both sides, it is amazing to be able to draw 5,000 troops, right? Five thousand troops are not enough to sweep the machine guns of "Chang'an" and "Rhino"."

Meng Shihai laughed and said:

"Okay, Lu Qixi, you can also talk about the tactics of attacking on both sides, and it has made a lot of progress! However, the Tartars must not be underestimated. In the words of the emperor, even if it is a sick cat, it must be a tiger. As the saying goes, if a dog is anxious, jumps over the wall, and a rabbit is anxious and bites people! The Tartars can do anything. If the Tartars want to attack on both sides, they will never send only five thousand soldiers. Besides, building shield chariots is not difficult. If Ajige wants to attack, they must never underestimate the enemy. We don't have many armored vehicles, so we may not be able to curb Ajige's desperate attack. So, don't worry, our tanks will not be just decorations."

If there is any reservation to the attack of the Qing army in the north, then there is no need to reserve for Ajige's attack. Therefore, the entire combat plan is to unconditionally repel Ajige's attack from south to north.

Han Ershun was happy to hear Meng Shihai say this and said:

"Really? That's good. At that time, Brother Guo's cannon will be killed by all Tartars. Right? Brother Guo!"

Guo Longda grinned and laughed.

Finally, the attack launched by Ajige in cooperation with the Qing army in the north began on the third day. In the early morning of the third day, Ajige launched a fierce attack from south to north.

Two days ago, only the Qing army in the north was attacking. The reason why Ajige's troops did not move was that Ajige was waiting for the right opportunity to attack. After Dodo led his troops to capture two lines of defense, Dorgon felt that the time for attack was ripe. Ajige's troops were indeed restrained by the Ming army, and the Ming army's attack on Ajige's troops had never stopped. Of course, Ajige would not be willing to be attacked passively. Encouraged by Dodo's attack on the second line of defense of the Ming army, Ajige took the risk of drawing troops from the position confronting the Ming army, gathering up 10,000 troops, and leading the army to attack the Ming army from south to north.

As Meng Shihai said, Ajige was not idle in this month. With Dorgon's flying pigeons passing letters for guidance, Ajige also built some shield cars, and at the same time, he swore before going to war: There is advancement but no retreat! As the saying goes, trapped beasts still fight, Ajige almost made a desperate bet, hoping to advance north and south to defeat the Ming army in one fell swoop.

Ajige's troops rushed to the Ming army's position and saw 15 armored vehicles lined up on the Ming army's position, five of which were obviously bigger. Ajige had heard of this armored vehicle. How could he know whether it had such terrifying combat power?

Ajige had not many trump cards in his hand, and the firearms and ammunition had almost been consumed. The artillery fire coverage was obviously powerless. Ajige had to use the "dead horse" tactic used by the Qing army to detonate the mines in front of the position as much as possible, and then launched a storm-like attack.

When Meng Shihai led two steam tanks in disguise to the battlefield, the Qing army was launching a third round of attack.

Two steam tanks were parked about 500 meters behind 15 armored vehicles. Meng Shihai opened the hatch and raised his telescope to observe the battlefield, while Lu Qixi observed the battlefield through the periscope.

Han Ershun asked:

"How about it? Can the armored vehicle in front be held back?"

Lu Qixi said:

"The smoke of gunpowder is everywhere on the position, and it is impossible to see clearly. It seems that the Tartars cannot rush up for a while. Look, another Tartars shield cart was blown up, and I saw that the Tartars' cavalry were falling down one by one."

Fan Dagui also held a periscope and shouted:

"Look, the cavalry of the Tartars was simply inadvertent in front of the armored vehicles, and was knocked over as soon as they appeared. Alas! But this time, it seems that we are really fine."

The few people in the tank were both excited and a little depressed when they heard this, as if their tanks were really useless. In fact, the blocking armored vehicles in front played a major role, and the Ming army infantry in the fortress also played a great role, otherwise there would be no such effect of killing enemies.

Meng Shihai shook his head and thought to himself, these guys were thinking too simple. The Qing army's desperate attack was just the beginning, and the fierce battle was still behind!


Chapter completed!