After arranging tasks for his officers, Yi Zhenhua, Zhao Daquan, Chen Qigang, Haoyue, Nuo Hu and others came to the tank and armored vehicle training ground outside the base.

Since tanks are more difficult to operate than mining vehicles, and the base has financial constraints, Yi Zhenhua only has ten Sherman tanks so far.

However, this is only temporary. With the development of the base, armed vehicles such as tanks and armored vehicles are no longer a problem. The biggest obstacle is the training of tank and armored troops.

The commander in charge of tank and armor training is Zhao Daquan, the current commander of the garrison. Zhao Daquan wears many hats, which is helpless, because no one else in Wuzhishan can quickly master the driving skills of various types of tanks and armored vehicles except him.

.

As they entered the training ground, the tank and armor soldiers who were undergoing the most basic training on driving tanks stopped to salute B Zhenhua.

Looking at the armored soldiers, who numbered no less than three hundred, but only took turns to study and train around ten tanks and some military trucks. It was obvious that there were too many monks and too little food. Yi Zhenhua couldn't help but frown, turned to Zhao Daquan and said: "Daquan,

How is the training of the armored soldiers going?"

"Brother," there were no outsiders around, they were all Yi Zhenhua's confidants. Zhao Daquan changed his title and replied: "Training high-tech arms such as tanks and armored troops does not happen overnight, although many soldiers have learned how to do it."

He has acquired the most basic driving skills, but many operations such as tank gun aiming and loading, as well as tacit cooperation with the driver, all need to be accumulated bit by bit over time, especially the main gunner of the tank gun, which is currently in short supply.

Talents in this field, because it is not just about being able to shoot, but also a certain amount of cultural knowledge, a clear mind, strong psychological quality and willpower."

"Well!" Yi Zhenhua knew that what Zhao Daquan said was the truth, and nodded in agreement, and said: "Although there are many difficulties, in order to cope with the future war, we must increase training. I don't care what you use

You must give me a way to overcome all difficulties and make our tanks and armored troops combat effective as soon as possible!"

"Brother, how about we first form an armored force of heavily armed armored vehicles to deal with any battle that may break out at any time!" Zhao Daquan suddenly suggested.

"Heavy armed armored vehicle?" Yi Zhenhua asked doubtfully: "You mean to use the mining vehicle as an armored vehicle?" Although this method is not impossible, it is obviously not suitable for the base that is currently strapped for funds.

"No, you can choose to have the tank factory produce a batch of more advanced heavy armored vehicles, such as the American m3a1 half-track armored vehicle. This armored vehicle weighs 6.8 tons. It is not only equipped with a 12.7mm high-shelf machine gun, but also

Two 7.62mm Browning vehicle-mounted machine guns can also be used as an armored personnel carrier and an artillery tractor, because in addition to the cab that can seat three people, the carriage can also carry seven or eight fully armed soldiers, and the defensive armor is thick.

With a diameter of up to 7 mm, and a road speed of 64 kilometers per hour, it can be used for reconnaissance and transportation, and its powerful firepower allows it to also serve as an armored group to launch assaults on the enemy!"

"One high-shelf machine gun and two heavy machine guns? It can also carry people and tow artillery?" Yi Zhenhua was quite surprised after hearing Zhao Daquan's introduction. As a time traveler, he couldn't remember the American armored vehicles during World War II.

There is also a multi-purpose tracked armored vehicle that integrates many functions.

The key is that the speed of this armored vehicle reaches an astonishing 64 kilometers per hour, which is nearly one-third faster than the 47 kilometers per hour of the Sherman tank. If it is really equipped with this half-track armored vehicle, it means

This means that his troops can be quickly deployed to the frontline battlefield 150 kilometers away within three hours.

Such amazing mobility brings so many benefits. As we all know, modern warfare is all about logistics and comprehensive national strength, and the mobility of troops and logistics supplies is even more important in determining the outcome of a specific battle. On the battlefield, mobility

The side with the superior xìng has a greater chance of winning.

And this m3a1 can be used for almost all kinds of tasks in army operations. It can be used as a personnel carrier or a tractor for the artillery unit. This will give the artillery unit powerful and flexible mobility and provide the required troops with artillery fire in a timely manner.

support.

"Yes, brother, one 12.7mm high-shelf machine gun and two heavy machine guns. Of course, the high-shelf machine gun can also be used to deal with enemy infantry and light armored targets!" Zhao Daquan nodded, and then said: "But brother

, the reason why I recommend this armored vehicle to you is mainly because it is a half-track armored vehicle with tires on the front. In other words, as long as you can drive a car, you will drive this armored vehicle, which can temporarily satisfy the needs of our armored forces.

needs!”

"Yeah!" Yi Zhenhua nodded with great satisfaction, and suddenly said: "By the way, can you replace the two 7.62mm Browning heavy machine guns on the vehicle with mg34 general-purpose machine guns? After all, no matter how fast a general-purpose machine gun fires,

The bullet caliber and ammunition supply are much better than the Browning! If the replacement is successful, the firepower of this half-track armored vehicle will be even more powerful!"

"Returning to this humble job to study, after all, our tank factory can only produce new vehicles equipped with Browning heavy machine guns!" Zhao Daquan changed his tone and said: "Brother, how about we produce German SDKFZ251 model half-track weapons?

Forget about armored vehicles, in addition to a 20mm rapid-fire cannon, this armored vehicle is also equipped with two general-purpose machine guns! In terms of firepower, it is slightly stronger than the American m3a1."

"In addition to firepower, how about other aspects like the comparison? For example, armor thickness, speed, load capacity, etc., and by the way, the cost!" Yi Zhenhua asked curiously.

"The armor thickness of sdkfz251 is about the same as that of m3a1, both are about 7 to 12mm, and the load capacity is also similar. As for the speed, because its overall vehicle weight is 8.8 tons, it is slightly heavier than the American m3a1, so it is slightly slower, with a speed of only 5

About seventeen kilometers. In terms of cost, the American M3A1 costs NT$2,000 per unit, while the German SDKFZ251 costs NT$2,500!" Zhao Daquan quickly explained.

"Two thousand yuan and two thousand five hundred yuan?" Yi Zhenhua fell into deep thought and comparison. The two armored vehicles have similar load capacity and defense. In terms of firepower, although the German SDKFZ251 armored vehicle is equipped with a 20mm rapid-fire cannon,

The American M3A1 also has an anti-aircraft machine gun with a caliber of 12.7mm. Although the caliber of the rapid-fire cannon is slightly larger, the anti-aircraft machine gun is better at firing faster and with a longer range.

The only slight drawback is that the two vehicle-mounted machine guns of the German 251 are extremely powerful and fast general-purpose machine guns, while the vehicle-mounted machine guns of the American M3A1 are slightly inferior Browning heavy machine guns.

However, the American M3A1 has advantages in terms of speed and cost. After thinking about it, Yi Zhenhua said to Zhao Daquan: "Daqun, I have decided to choose the American M3A1 half-track armored vehicle, but remember, you must think

There is a way to replace the two Browning machine guns with the German mg34 general-purpose machine gun, so that its firepower will be superior compared to the German armored vehicles."

"Yes, I will try my best!" Zhao Daquan quickly stood up and saluted, then scratched his head and said with a smile: "The general-purpose machine gun does not need to be much bigger than the Browning, I guess it is not a big problem!"

"Well, how much total capital do we have now?" Yi Zhenhua asked, nodding.

"It should have exceeded 150,000 oceans!" Zhao Daquan thought for a while and then turned his eyes to Haoyue beside him before he finished speaking.

Haoyue nodded knowingly and said: "Well, that's the number. I went to see it in the morning. Now we have more than 30 mining vehicles, and the daily mining amount can reach more than 200,000. Excluding the electric power of the maintenance base and the oil of the mining vehicles.

Waiting for consumption, and excluding the daily consumption of the tens of thousands of people on the mountain and the more than 3,000 officers and soldiers of my fifth security brigade for basic living needs, we can save 30,000 to 50,000 yuan every day!"

"Oh!" Yi Zhenhua nodded. The number of mining vehicles he owns is not small at present. The main reason is that his consumption is too high, because the fifth security brigade not only has no tax revenue, but also has to feed the people on the mountain.

Tens of thousands of refugees, this is a huge expense.

However, this situation will not last long. As long as we help the people grab this season's rice and help them return to their original places to plant the second season of rice this year, they will soon be able to rely on themselves and no longer be a drag on others.

The development speed of Zhenhua Base has increased.

At the same time, once the people resume normal daily production and life, the Fifth Brigade will be able to obtain tax revenue within its own jurisdiction.

If there is a stable tax revenue, then Yi Zhenhua can rely on the tax revenue to provide military pay and daily necessities to his subordinates. Even if there is a slight shortfall, he can make up for it from the base revenue.

In this way, the profits gained from the future mining of the base can be completely used to build the base and develop and expand the army. At that time, the base will enter an opportunity for rapid development.

"In this case, let's produce fifty M3A1 half-track armored vehicles for the time being!" Yi Zhenhua paused and said: "After the fifty armored vehicles are produced, add the original ten Sherman tanks as the basis.

Fundamentally, the tank and armor battalion of our fifth security brigade is officially established! As for the position of battalion commander..."

Yi Zhenhua pondered for a while and looked at Zhao Daquan and said: "Until there is no suitable candidate, you, Daquan, will temporarily take over the post. Please remember that the armored soldiers of the tank armor battalion must master the M3A1 armored vehicle as soon as possible to form combat effectiveness, and at the same time, they cannot relax.

Training for tank crews!”

"Yes, sir, don't worry. As long as soldiers who can drive can drive this half-track armored vehicle, the other operations are high-definition machine guns and general-purpose machine guns. All it takes is a little training for ordinary machine gunners."

Got it!" Zhao Daquan assured, patting his chest.

"Yes!" Yi Zhenhua nodded in deep agreement, and after briefly expressing condolences to the more than 300 tank and armored soldiers, he left the tank and armored battalion with Haoyue, Chen Qigang and others.

On the way back to the brigade headquarters, Yi Zhenhua asked Chen Qigang again: "Battle Commander Chen, how is the training of your artillery battalion going? Especially the German 88mm anti-aircraft guns that I newly assigned to you some time ago. That is the future.

A great weapon used by our army to deal with Japanese aircraft and tank armored targets!"

"Please rest assured, the officers and soldiers of the artillery battalion at lower level have been training and studying day and night in accordance with your requirements. Now the officers and soldiers of the 1st anti-aircraft anti-aircraft artillery company have basically mastered the operation and related aspects of anti-aircraft artillery.

Knowledge and principles! I believe it won’t be long before we can officially enter the battle!”

"Well, very good. I just thought about it. In a few days, your artillery battalion will also be equipped with a batch of American M3A1 half-track armored vehicles. This can be used to tow artillery, especially the 88mm anti-aircraft gun, and increase your artillery force.

The battalion's mobility can also provide you with powerful defensive firepower. If you encounter a small group of enemy sneak attack troops, you can rely on the powerful machine gun firepower of this armored vehicle to carry out self-defense battles!" Yi Zhenhua said.

"Thank you very much for your concern, Brigadier! I will definitely take your lead and obey your orders, and kill more Japanese invaders for the country and the nation in the future battles!" How could Chen Qigang not know the power of this new armed armored vehicle?

Yi Zhenhua was so excited that he gave Yi Zhenhua a high hat.

Yi Zhenhua was naturally not disgusted by his subordinates' flattery of loyalty. He smiled faintly and continued to walk forward. Haoyue, Chen Qigang and several police guards quickly started to follow.

…………………………

At the same time that Yi Zhenhua sent troops to cover the people coming down the mountain, they were preparing to harvest mature rice in the surrounding areas of Baoting and Qiongzhong.

The commander of the Japanese Army, Shoji Iida, who was far away in Haikou, also summoned his captain and above officers to the Haikou headquarters for a meeting.

In addition to discussing and studying the previous failures in responding to the rebellion and surrender of Ma Qing's troops and the surprise attack on Wuzhishan, and summarizing experiences and lessons, the content of the meeting was also the proposal of Shoji Iida to mobilize all forces to harvest the mature rice in the vast areas of Hainan.

Not to mention that Japan is an island country with a shortage of resources, even if Japan is a large land country, Shoji Iida, as a lieutenant general commander, will not be indifferent to the millions of acres of mature rice in Hainan.

Because all fools know that food is a necessary strategic material whether in war or in peacetime. In wartime, it is even more important than gold.

What's more, because the base camp's strategic goal is tilted to the north, and all the money, food, troops and horses are doing their best to support the Kwantung Army in the Battle of Nomonkan, the Japanese base camp has issued internal orders to all departments of the Japanese invading army to be as self-sufficient as possible.

Therefore, it is reasonable to seize grain and other crops from the Chinese-occupied areas.

In the conference room of the headquarters, Iida Shoji stood at the head of the conference table in neat clothes and said with a serious expression: "Gentlemen, in order to reduce the logistical pressure on the homeland, in order to build the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, and to build the Asian Emperor's Paradise, therefore,

We must harvest all rice and other crops in the occupied areas of Hainan, and we must not leave them to the despicable Chinese people!"

Iida Shoji's order was quickly implemented. In order to grab as much rice as possible, the Japanese Army mobilized most of the Japanese Army on Hainan Island and the entire Imperial Association Army in addition to the necessary garrison forces.

Han jiān, Japanese merchants, and the Chinese long-term workers they hired, began a mighty operation to grab grain!

ps: I should have updated nearly 8,000 words today. Thank you to Master Tianhai Xiangyun for the reward. Congratulations on becoming the first master of this book. I will continue to update for you tomorrow!!! Also thank you to Dark Blood Wolf
Chapter completed!