That night, Lu Xiaojia sat in the war room, holding a cigarette between her fingertips, looking at the report she had just received, and couldn't help but mutter to herself.
"This Qi Xieyuan's organizational skills are really bad. I waited for him for nine whole days, but he still hasn't gathered the troops in Liyang City."
As we all know, Huai Province is divided into north and south banks by the Yangtze River. The south bank borders Yu Province, and Qi Xieyuan's troops are mainly on the north bank.
Lu Xiaojia has not acted rashly these days. He is just waiting for Qi Xieyuan to gather his troops, and then he will send troops to kill them all.
For this reason, I waited for him for seven or eight days, but now the 6th Zhizhi Division, the 9th Zhizhi Division, and four garrison brigades were gathered on the south bank, with a total of less than 50,000 people.
There is also the 29th Zhizhi Division that is stranded on the north bank and has not yet crossed the river. This speed is really touching.
Lu Xiaojia was completely impatient and decided to go directly to Yixing County tomorrow to wait and see.
But before that, he planned to temporarily replace the King Tiger tanks of the armored forces. There was no other way. Who said this system was so unreliable?
Are you saying that it’s not good for you to give heavy tanks like the IS-3 Father and the M26 Pershing that are slightly lighter?
In the end, you chose to give the King Tiger tank. Although the King Tiger tank given by the system seems to be a specially improved model with a built-in Maybach HLP45 12-cylinder water-cooled gasoline engine, there is no lack of power. However, this tank is really too It's heavy.
You must know that this battle is in Changxing and Yixing. There are no railway lines. Although the roads have been repaired, the road conditions are still not good.
Moreover, there are mountainous areas in the battle area. It would be okay if a medium tank weighing only 20 tons or so.
If the King Tiger tank is a nearly 70-ton iron block, it is no longer a problem of failure, but it will be completely stuck on the road and cannot be driven out.
Lu Xiaojia can only purchase new tanks at the moment to temporarily replace the armored battalion.
Open the system and purchase 40 LVT(A)-1 amphibious tanks first, and then purchase 50 M5A1 Stuart light tanks.
The LVT(A)-1 amphibious tank, nicknamed the Alligator, was an amphibious tank used by the Sam State to provide fire support to soldiers and vehicles landing on the beach during World War II.
The picture shows the LVT(A)-1 Alligator amphibious tank
An M44 turret is installed on the LVT amphibious armored vehicle, equipped with an M6 37mm cannon and two M1919A4 heavy machine guns.
This tank weighs only 13 tons, has a crew of 4, and has an armor thickness of 7 to 12.7 mm.
Its power unit is a 7-cylinder radial aviation gasoline engine with a maximum power of 200 horsepower, a land speed of 19 km/h, and a water speed of 10 km/h.
During World War II, this kind of amphibious tank could be seen in the battles for Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima, Leyte and other islands.
The Stuart M5A1 light tank was the main light tank of the Sam country during World War II. It had a total combat weight of 12.5 tons and a crew of 4 people.
The picture shows the Stuart M5A1 light tank
Its power unit is a Cadillac 42V-8 dual gasoline engine with a maximum power of 250 horsepower and a maximum speed of 58 kilometers per hour.
The armor thickness is 25 to 44 mm, and it is equipped with an M6 37 mm cannon and three M1919A4 heavy machine guns. Sometimes, soldiers will also install a Browning M2HB heavy machine gun on the turret.
LVT(A)-1 amphibious tank, priced at 15,000 silver dollars each. Stuart M5A1 light tank, priced at 13,000 silver dollars each.
The purchase of these 90 light tanks cost a total of 1.25 million silver dollars, which was about the same as cabbage price.
In addition, each tank vehicle is equipped with an additional 100 rounds of M63 37mm anti-personnel grenades, 47 rounds of M51B2 37mm hooded armor-piercing rounds, and 12,000 rounds of 7.62×63mm rifle rounds.
[System, can you deliver these tanks to Yixing County at five o'clock tomorrow afternoon? 】
[Ding! Yes, but the host needs to pay an additional transportation fee of 10,000 silver dollars. 】
Oh no, it’s just 10,000 silver dollars.
Lu Xiaojia readily agreed. Not to mention that this place is about 200 kilometers away from Yixing County, and there is no railway yet. However, long-distance transportation of heavy equipment like tanks relies heavily on railways.
After doing all this, Lu Xiaojia glanced at his watch. It was 7:12 in the evening. He wanted to hold a pre-war meeting, so he said to Zheng Yaoxian on the side.
"Yao Xian, ask your men to continue to strengthen the inspection of the north and south sides of Huai Province. If there are any changes, please inform me as soon as possible. Don't let me down with your clairvoyance."
"Yes, Lu Zuo."
After saying that, Zheng Yao stood up first and was about to open the door and leave, but was suddenly pulled back by Lu Xiaojia.
"Yao Xian, can you please listen to what I have to say? You will go to the Military Affairs Office for me later and call me the senior officers of the teaching regiment and Cai Zhonghu of the artillery regiment. Tell me that I have something to tell you."
Ten minutes later, more than a dozen senior officers from the training group and Cai Zhonghu arrived in the war room.
Lu Xiaojia first distributed the report that Zheng Yaoxian had just brought and asked them to circulate it. He also took this time to discuss with them.
"I have received accurate information that Qi Xieyuan, the governor of Huai Province, sank more than 60,000 troops on the south bank of Huai Province with the intention of plotting against our Anhui army."
"So I'm going to send out your teaching team to teach Qi Xieyuan, a guy who doesn't know the heights of the world. I don't know what you think about it now."
After reading the report, the regiment leader Yao Zijing stood up first and said bluntly: "Master, since they are a bunch of losers who want to fight, we can't weaken our momentum. Our teaching regiment will stay with them until the end."
After reading the article, Deputy Commander Long Huazhai took over the conversation, "Qi Xieyuan and the others are sinking troops in Liyang City. They undoubtedly want to bypass Hudu, Suzhou, and Taihu Lake and attack us directly from the direction of Changxing. Changxing County is nearly two hundred kilometers away from us. I suggest we set off tomorrow morning.”
Lu Xiaojia saw them gearing up and was about to prepare deployment orders. Unexpectedly, Chief of Staff Jiang Wentao stood up again and wanted to give some recruits a chance.
"Master, although our two infantry divisions have not been reorganized yet, after such a long period of training, they actually already have certain actual combat capabilities.
"I think since there is going to be a war, some soldiers from the 1st Anhui Division and the 2nd Anhui Division can be mobilized to join the battle. This will allow Qi Xieyuan to serve as a whetstone for us new recruits and have a good experience."
"Okay, I have accepted Staff Jiang's opinion. Now I will issue an order."
After saying that, Lu Xiaojia stood up with a solemn expression, and everyone hurriedly stood up when they saw this.
"All the teaching regiments and artillery regiments are here. I order you to transfer 5,000 recruits with good performance from the 1st and 2nd Anhui Divisions tonight after the meeting."
"Let them carry ammunition and equipment, prepare for battle, form a task force with your teaching group, and march towards Changxing County together tomorrow morning."
"And Battalion Commander Huang of the Armored Battalion of the Teaching Regiment, you will not carry King Tiger tanks in this battle. I have assigned you light tanks in Changxing County."
"Yes, Master!"
"Yes, Master!"
…
Then Lu Xiaojia turned his attention to Cai Zhonghu. As the saying goes, a war will definitely be covered by artillery fire.
The howitzer battalion directly under the teaching regiment currently has only 600 people. These personnel are definitely not enough to meet Lu Xiaojia's artillery standards.
"Captain Cai, how many of the former artillerymen of your division's howitzer regiment have passed the examination so far after your special training during this period."
Cai Zhonghu said categorically, "Reporting to the division commander, there are currently 1,200 people in our division's howitzer regiment who have passed the examination. It will not be a problem to control forty 155 grenades."
Lu Xiaojia nodded after hearing this and continued: "Okay, I order your division's howitzer regiment and teaching regiment's howitzer battalion to temporarily merge."
"Tonight, you will allocate 60 M1A1 155mm howitzers to me from the ammunition depot, carrying 3,000 155mm high-explosive grenades, and follow the teaching group to set off for Changxing tomorrow."
"Yes! Master!"
Lu Xiaojia's arrangement made everyone on both sides of the conference table take a breath, with a hint of horror on their faces, and they thought in their hearts that this master was too cruel.
You must know that the teaching regiment, even if it does not lead a regimental howitzer battalion, is equipped with 48 M19 60mm mortars, 48 M20A1 super bazookas, and 27 M1943 120mm mortars.
This kind of artillery fire configuration is already quite explosive. Coupled with 60 155mm howitzers, this is the rhythm that will crush Qi Xieyuan's 50,000 troops into ashes!
