The railway from Luntai in the Western Region to the Volga River Basin was actually only opened to traffic less than half a year ago. The main reason was not that it was afraid of destruction by the Russian Empire, but that the railway through Central Asia was really difficult to build.
In addition, after the Ming Dynasty's policy of reforming the land and returning it to local people was implemented for a period of time and won the hearts of the people, the progress accelerated a lot.
The construction of this railway will not only benefit the terminal station, but also the places with stations along the way. Electric wires were also stretched along the railway, but at this time, they were basically for military use, and there were no telephone lines open to the public.
Governor Zhang Huangyan led his generals, including Bo Hong and others, to the train station.
Because the people coming this time were military trains, the railway station has been under martial law by Ming army officers and soldiers, and outsiders are not allowed to enter.
There are eighteen carriages in the military train, ten of which are open-air, and the things fixed on them are covered with oilcloth.
As soon as the train stopped at the station, a general got off the train and came to Zhang Huangyan and saluted: "Li Laiheng, the chief soldier of the Armored Battalion of the Ming Dynasty, has been ordered to report to Lord Zhongcheng!"
Li Laiheng was relatively young among the main generals of the Ming Dynasty. He had participated in the Battle of the Grasslands, the Battle of Liaodong, etc., and had great military exploits. Of course, the most important thing was that he was the general who persisted in resisting the Qing Dynasty for the longest time in history.
Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen valued him and appointed him as the chief soldier of the first armored battalion of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhang Huangyan just received a phone call and knew that the armored battalion was the enemy of the cavalry.
Most of the troops under his command are cavalry, so to be honest, he actually feels a bit harsh about the cavalry nemesis.
But fortunately, this armored battalion is also under his command. At this time, I am very curious and want to see what the armored car mentioned on the phone, the legendary cavalry nemesis, looks like? No, I am returning it to Li Laiheng.
After a salute, he asked with a smile: "The armored battalion is the enemy of the cavalry, right?"
Hearing this, the generals behind him became a little commotion. Although they did not speak, the sound of their armors clashing could be heard.
Whether they were generals from the Cossack tribe, the Turgut tribe, the Kazakh tribe, etc., they all looked at Li Laiheng a little indignantly, just to see how he responded to Master Zhongcheng?
"My lord is wise, the nickname of this armored battalion is the Cavalry Nemesis!" Li Laiheng held his head high and answered without hesitation.
Hearing this, Bo Hong couldn't help it, and whispered behind Zhang Huangyan: "You don't have to be afraid of flashing your tongue when you talk big!"
His military position was not as high as that of Li Laiheng, so he was self-aware and did not dare to say it loudly.
When the other generals heard Bo Hong's opening, they immediately followed suit.
"The cavalry can fight and move, and has strong maneuverability. The heavy-armored cavalry has a high impact. On the battlefield, the cavalry is the most powerful. Where can we find a nemesis?"
"No, throughout the ages, the cavalry has been the king on the battlefield. This is generally recognized!"
"Yes, an army can be without infantry, but it cannot be without cavalry!"
"Think back then, the Mongolian Empire conquered the world with its cavalry. If there was a nemesis, why would the Mongolian cavalry sweep across the world?"
"..."
Zhang Huangyan felt funny in his heart and stretched out his hand to signal the generals behind him to shut up. Then he smiled and said to Li Laiheng: "You heard it, my subordinates are basically all cavalry. How about you, the nemesis of the cavalry?"
Show some strength, but they are not convinced! Do you have the confidence?"
When Li Laiheng heard this, he did not look at the generals. He just looked at Zhang Huangyan and said confidently: "Master Zhongcheng, the last general in one battalion can defeat them all. Do you think this can be regarded as the nemesis of the cavalry?"
"..."
As soon as he finished saying these words, even Zhang Huangyan was stunned. Did these words blow his mind to the sky?
Li Laiheng's armored battalion seems to have no more than 10,000 people, but the generals present now command at least 50,000 to 60,000 cavalry. This is not the cavalry in Europe, but the Ming cavalry, equipped with
The most advanced guns.
Bo Hong was the first to react, feeling that this was too arrogant!
To put it bluntly, this is absolute discrimination. It can even be said that it is discriminatory against all nomads! After all, riding and shooting is the talent of nomads. How dare you be so arrogant!
When he really wanted to open his mouth to refute, he saw that Li Laiheng's men had already removed the oilcloth covering them, revealing their true colors.
At this moment, everyone's eyes were attracted, and no one bothered to speak.
I saw that the thing turned out to be a car made of steel. It had a strange shape that I had never seen before.
If the previous train hadn't brought some big trucks, those people present probably wouldn't have been able to recognize what was in front of them!
Instinctively, these generals felt that this thing in front of them was not easy to mess with. What kind of cavalry nemesis could there really be?
However, what were they really asked to say, but they couldn't say it. They always felt that this thing, like a turtle shell, could become the nemesis of the cavalry?
Li Laiheng obviously didn't intend to offend Pao Ze, so he smiled and explained to them: "This is an armored vehicle. It is equipped with our most advanced weapons. Whether it is offense or protection, it is an invincible existence in this era!"
Upon hearing this, some people were a little unconvinced. Isn't the existence of invincibility even more exaggerated than the cavalry nemesis?
Just as he was thinking about it, Li Laiheng continued: "With its protective capabilities, artillery cannot cause damage, and its offensive capabilities can tear anything into pieces, and use human sea tactics to deal with it, whether it is infantry or cavalry."
, they are all the stupidest!”
Artillery can't do any damage?
Just these words shocked everyone.
Zhang Huangyan was happy to hear it. Anyway, the more powerful this thing was, the happier he was!
After hearing this, he smiled and said: "Let's go and have a look!"
According to the phone call from the cabinet, all armies need to know about the armored battalions so that they can cooperate with each other. Therefore, Zhang Huangyan previously asked his personal guards to pass orders to have generals at all levels go to Class A areas!
Needless to say, after Li Laiheng's armored battalion showed its power, everyone, whether it was the Cossacks, Wasi, or the entire generals of Mongolian origin, fell silent.
With solid defense, ferocious lethality, and high mobility, if the cavalry encounters them, they will definitely have no choice but to escape!
With this kind of armored vehicle, it is really possible for the cavalry to withdraw from the battlefield from now on!
Needless to say, these generals felt very uncomfortable about such a result!
Does this count as racial talent being abolished?
Fortunately, this is a weapon only available to the imperial court. Otherwise, I don’t know how many soldiers would have died under this war machine!
Thinking of this, all the generals became happy again and mourned for their opponents.
At this time, they truly understood why the imperial court was indifferent to the alliances of so many European countries!
Military trains came every few days to bring in the remaining parts of the armored battalion.
In the end, Li Laiheng's armored battalion had a total of 100 armored vehicles and more than 200 logistics supply vehicles, mainly transporting ammunition, oil, spare parts for armored vehicles, etc.
In addition, Zhang Huangyan also transferred the original artillery from each army to receive new artillery. For the first time, real explosive bombs were presented to the generals of each army.
Finally, needless to say, various armies also began to equip heavy machine guns, but not in large numbers.
But it is certain that as time goes by and military trains travel back and forth, more and more new equipment will be sent to the front line.
……………………
In the Middle East, supplies are not transported by train, but by sea.
Grains and grass are transported directly from Dongwu, the South Asian subcontinent, to Persia, the Middle East and other places. There is no need to transport them from the country. Some will eventually be supplied from Nanyang.
But for arms, they still have to be shipped from China. Important arsenals, at least so far, are still in China.
There are mainly two delivery routes.
One starts from Guangdong, along the coastline of Annan Province, and goes to the Middle East through the Strait of Malacca.
The other option is to take river transport from Yunnan to the Daguang estuary, and then along the coastline to the Middle East.
Basically, it can be said that at this time, not only Nanyang has become the inland sea of the Ming Dynasty, but also the original Indian Ocean has actually become the inland sea of the Ming Dynasty. Except that God may not deal with it, there is nothing to worry about.
Along the way, there are either provinces directly under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty or vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, and you can stop at any time for supplies.
Because the Su Yinshi Canal is indeed very important, in order to be able to supervise the construction nearby and to prevent enemy damage, Li Yan not only set up his governor's office in the original Su Yinshi City, which is the outlet of the Su Yinshi Canal on the Red Sea, but also
Heavy troops were also deployed in this area to protect the excavation of the Su Yinshi Canal from enemy damage.
The Su Yinshi Canal is actually not very difficult to excavate.
First of all, the geographical location of the Su Yins Canal can be seen by anyone with eyes. Therefore, excavations have been organized in several historical periods.
Secondly, the land here on the Suins Canal is mainly composed of marine sediments, coarse sand and gravel accumulated in previous rainfall periods, alluvial soil from the Nile River (especially in the north) and sand blown by the wind. There is no rock that can break the stone
Moving things.
In the original history, it took a French company eleven years to complete the excavation, mainly employing poor Egyptians to dig it. However, when the canal was dug at that time, it was not just about digging the canal, there were also political factors.
Influenced.
In addition, there is a shortage of drinking water at the excavation site, and a large number of migrant workers die of thirst. The food provided by the French company is poor and small, and one meal is not even enough for a child. Most migrant workers are often in a state of semi-starvation.
In addition, the sanitary conditions were very poor, and diseases such as bronchitis, hepatitis, lung disease, and dysentery were extremely common, especially the plague, which claimed the lives of a large number of migrant workers.
However, it is completely different here in Ming Dynasty.