In the past, the wheat harvest was to seize the time. In the north, the wheat harvest in June is also a time of heavy rain, and sometimes a storm knocks the wheat into the mud.

So when the wheat is ripe, every household rushes to harvest the wheat, and there is no surplus labor. Even those who eat subsistence allowance are calling on their friends to help with the wheat harvest. At this time, factories and workshops have to make time for workers to go to the homes of relatives and friends to help. Some soldiers close to home also went home to help. At this time, all the labor will be used. In that era when logistics relied on pulling strong ding, there was no way to fight at this time.

However, the vanguard army came from all over the country, and the wheat harvest had little effect on them. And their logistics are supplemented by the nearest base, and the point-to-point transportation through the wheels is in place. A group of backbone clones don't know how to do farm work and strictly guard the army. However, Meng Xiang still dispatched an elite driver of 300 people to drive the combine harvester produced by the Volkswagen Vehicle Factory of the Pioneer Army to carry out the harvesting task from south to north.

The combine harvester is improved by Meng Xiang to let experts absorb the characteristics of many combine harvesters in the United States, and is suitable for the layout of cultivated land in China. At the same time, when arable land is allocated, long plots are mainly used, which are suitable for combine harvester operations.

At this time, the efficiency of the combine harvester is still a little poor, and it is even worse in case of bad weather. Another is that the combine harvester peels off the ground and mixes more wheat grains mixed with wheat straw, many people feel that it is too wasteful, and most of them refuse to use it. What's more, the wheat straw was directly broken and returned to the field, which was unacceptable to the people. In the north, wheat straw can be used as fodder, firewood, and even the roof is made of wheat straw instead of more expensive tiles. In some places, cotton and other crops are planted intersitally, and machines are not available.

The hundred combine harvesters that Meng Xiang had worked so hard to produce met with indifference, and most of them were only used on the Vanguard's own farms. However, the 200 threshers produced came in handy.

At this time, Jiao Chongli was squatting on the side of the threshing floor guarding his wheat pile, looking eagerly at the thresher not far away.

The fat dog and his brother filled the large bundle of straw with heavy ears of wheat hanging from one end, and with the roar of the diesel engine, a yellow dragon with wheat grains mixed with wheat husks broke free from the exit at the other end, slid out a rainbow-like arc, and pounced on the ground, and the wheat husks were blown to one side by the wind next to them, revealing a pile of wheat grains scattered like golden sand.

The fat dog and his daughter-in-law were only in charge of untying the straw rope, but they still couldn't keep up with the speed at which the thresher was filled, and they were scolded by the fat dog twice, and they almost cried aggrieved. On the other side, the fat dog, who was constantly sweeping the husks that fell into the wheat grains with a broom, muttered a few words, came to help, and kept up with the speed.

It didn't take an hour for the fat dog's wheat to be threshed, and the wheat grains that came out were wheat grains, and the wheat husks were wheat husks, and Jiao Chongli's eyes were hot.

"It's all your fault! Didn't you say that you can pull the stone with all your strength, and you don't need a threshing machine? Shen Cuihua, who brought the water, complained, "Don't go and continue to pull Shilu!" ”

Jiao Chongli shrank his head and hurriedly went to pull Shilu again. Since he didn't pass the literacy exam at the end of last year, he could only watch Shen Cuihua get ten catties of food, and at home, he consciously lowered Shen Cuihua. The tone of his voice in front of Shen Cuihua was even lower.

After pulling Shi Lu around his field a few times, he felt that Shi Lu behind him was getting heavier and heavier. These 200 catties of stone Lu need a strong young man to pull up for a long time, usually he pulls this stone Lu faster than a mule, but at this time his eyes are always aimed at the threshing machine on the other side, and he unconsciously feels that there is no comparison between crushing threshing with Shilu and using a threshing machine.

Stripping with a thresher is cleaner, less effortless, and faster.

At this time, the old Li family, who had already cut the ears of wheat with a guillotine, and originally planned to use stone to crush them, also began to use a threshing machine, and it didn't take long for all the threshing to be completed. Jiao Chongli glanced at his own wheat pile, and he hadn't finished crushing a third of it. It is not good to lay too thick at one time, it cannot be rolled, and the threshing is incomplete.

Although the site has been crushed and very strong, some of the wheat grains have been crushed into the soil. In the future, it will have to be cleaned up little by little to ensure that the particles are returned to the warehouse. However, using a thresher can eliminate these troubles, and even the wheat grains mixed in the husk can be lifted out.

Such a good thing, why did he listen to his father Jiao Laohan in the first place, and refused the recommendation of others without even reading it?

"Chongli, go and tell people, let's use this thresher too, right?" Shen Cuihua couldn't help but say.

"Hmm!" Jiao Chongli took the opportunity to stop and leaned against Shi Lu to catch his breath. With the contrast around me, I feel extremely tired.

In the distance, Jiao Laohan, who was cutting ears of wheat with a guillotine, also stopped and squatted on the sidelines to rest. He took out the dry tobacco pouch with his surname, hesitated for a moment and inserted it back into his waist, and took out a victory cigarette that his youngest son had bought for him and lit it. The youngest son was very busy in the factory, so he did not stop work and went home to help, and although the family's farmland was harvested, there was a lack of labor. If it weren't for the help of the second son Jiao Chongli's family, I am afraid that I would not even be able to harvest it.

Smoke swirled around his face, making his dim eyes more and more difficult to see, but on the other end of his line of sight was the threshing machine.

"I'm afraid I won't be able to grab it. There is only one in several villages around the thresher, and I am afraid that it will not be on the list. Shen Cuihua looked at the old man Jiao, who still insisted on farming in the old way, and said with some regret.

"I'll try my best!" Jiao Chongli hesitated slightly.

The result is also very unsatisfactory, and the benefits of the threshing machine are visible to everyone. Even if you need to pay a little fee to use the threshing machine, it is still very cost-effective. The people in line to use it have been waiting for seven days, but this kind of thing can't be delayed for too long, as soon as it rains, the wheat is prone to mold. It needs to be threshed early, and it is sunburned early and returned to the warehouse.

"There's no hope for today. I'll definitely book it early next year. Jiao Chongli looked at a large pile of wheat ears from his own harvest and sighed.

Meng Xiang, who didn't have much contact with farm work, didn't expect this situation to be the case, and the cold reception of the combine harvester and the popularity of the thresher made him sigh that he was still inexperienced. In later generations, people went out to work, and part-time work made more money than farm work, which made the rural labor tight and the combine harvester popular, but in this era, the labor was cheap, the combine harvester efficiency was too low, and the wheat straw needed to be comprehensively utilized, etc., so that he bothered to use the base parts and imported parts to put together the combine harvester was useless and put it to great use.

However, this did not prevent Meng Xiang from being happy at this time.

The vanguard army caught the Shanxi devils by surprise and broke through the devils' defenses one after another.

After Sun Liren's New First Army was adjusted, it was still parked near Dai County. Under the cover of aircraft and heavy artillery, and with the assistance of a regiment of Liu Fangwu, which broke through first from Wutai County, the attack directly broke through the defense line of the Xinzhou devils. The motorized unit has shown initial results, and it has been pushed to Yangqu in one go.

The New Eighth Army passed through the supply in the Taihang Mountains of the base, crossed the towering Taihang, and attacked Yangquan directly. Chen Mingren's new 40th Division made a meritorious contribution in the first battle, striking a single blow at Yangquan, where the enemy had few troops, and then advancing to Shouyang. Mengxian, Pingding, and Xixian counties near Yangquan were also broken one by one, and when they returned, they ate all the checkpoints in the Taihang Mountains facing Shijiazhuang and Jingcheng.

Within three days, he had such a shocking record, not only because he was more powerful after adjusting with the vanguard army, but also because of the decline in his own combat effectiveness.

The airfields of Shanxi were visited several times by the bombers and fighters of the Pioneer Army, and the entire sky of Shanxi was already ruled by the Pioneer Army.

With a few roars, the military industrial machines that he had put together were bombed by the planes in the sky and could no longer operate normally, and the ammunition depot was even bombed by special forces, of which Tanya alone blew up two.

Even if the devils who lack ammunition react under the surprise attack of the vanguard army, they do not have much ability to block the attack of the vanguard army.

Besides, Taiyuan's incomplete machine was okay to produce some bullets, but the large-caliber artillery shells were powerless, which greatly reduced the artillery firepower that the army relied on. Relying only on the 38 big guns and crooked machine guns, how could they block the rapid attack of the vanguard army?

In three days, the vanguard army forced Taiyuan City.

Since then, I really can't hold my breath. Soon a larger-scale attack was also launched from the southern front. Originally, they planned to be a little later. One is that they are not well prepared, and the other is that the vanguard army has a large geographical span, and at this time it is only the southern region that begins to harvest, and when the wheat harvest is in the middle and late stages, the vanguard army will invest more force in the wheat harvest, and the effect may be better at that time. They can even get some of the spoils of grain, after all, they have consumed a lot of food recently.

But no matter what, in the face of the vanguard army that had already been prepared, the first offensive launched by himself in Huaibei, Suqian, and other places was like a breeze surging waves hitting a solid reef, and under the bombardment of aircraft and heavy artillery, it was suddenly defeated. However, the offensive in the Xuchang area of Henan Province has reached a stalemate, and the vanguard army on the opposite side does not seem to be strong, which makes the devils see some hope.

However, they did not rush to attack, because at this time their greatest hope was not on the ground, but in the air.

More than 300 Zero planes flew from Bengbu, Hefei, and Nanjing toward the bomber group in the Huaibei and Xuzhou areas of the vanguard army. Because of the great threat of the Pioneer Army's air force, the strength of the army's army aviation has also increased greatly, and the army aviation version changed from the zero type to become the new favorite of the army. However, in this attack, 100 of them flew from Nanjing, belonging to the HNA Zero fighters, and the ones on them were also excellent pilots of the HNA Airlines.

At this time, Henan was under attack on three sides, and there was the danger of Shanxi, but he still endured it, and did not rashly fight the vanguard army in the Zhengzhou area, but chose the Huaibei area, trying to find a breakthrough in the coastal area, and also reduce the pressure on logistics.

"Our intelligence officers have discovered that the heavy artillery of the southern front of the vanguard army is mainly concentrated in the front-line area, advancing step by step. If they occupy air supremacy, they can cooperate with the aerial bombardment, send troops from Lianyungang and other areas to land, directly plug in, and cut off their front line and rear supply lines along the Longhai line. Then these heavy artillery, without shells, are likely to be our trophies. Kenji Dohihara licked his lips as he spoke, and there was a greedy glint in his eyes.

The vanguard had at least 300 heavy artillery pieces, but it was very eye-catching.

But more heavy artillery also means more ammunition consumption. Each leg of the vanguard advance was followed by several well-built improvised roads to support the transport of ammunition. However, what he did not know was that the supply of ammunition for heavy artillery played a decisive role in the sub-bases, and the vast majority of the areas they conquered at this time were not out of the direct jurisdiction of the sub-bases. The sub-bases in Tancheng and Caoxian built chariot factories directly next to the heavy artillery groups to bear their ammunition supply.

However, he only saw the ammunition transported back and forth on the road, so he thought of cutting off the ammunition supply. They retreated all the way to the vicinity of the Huai River, partly because the vanguard army was under too much pressure, and partly because it was also to lure down the heavy artillery group and drag the supply line of the vanguard army so that they could attack from the flank.

"It's a pity that the base camp doesn't listen to me. If Huaiyin, Huainan and other places were also sent to the vanguard army, leading them across the Huai River, or even near the Yangtze River, it would be easier to clean them up. Kenji Dohihara said regretfully, of course, he also knew that this bait was too big, which would cause strong dissatisfaction among the people in the empire, maybe before the counterattack began, the cabinet would be dissolved, and the people in the headquarters of the Huaxia Front would have to step down, and even his position would be lost.

He may not care about the position, but others need to be cautious, especially Sugiyama Motolian who is defeated and may be demoted at any time.

"Without the destruction of the aircraft of the Vanguard, there can be no talk of follow-up plans. The Vanguard planes are very strong, and they seem to be able to detect our whereabouts early. Therefore, the target of this attack should be as close as possible, and logistics must also be guaranteed. So the goal of Henan is not suitable. Kenji Dohihara's expression was a little heavy, but then he waved his hand confidently, "Our attack on Huaibei and Xuzhou is just in time to cooperate with the plan to cut off their heavy artillery ammunition supply lines." Take them all in one fell swoop. ”

He already knew that the Xuzhou area was a large air force gathering place for the Vanguard Army, where there were at least 100 planes and were responsible for flying on the southern front. He said that he used 300 planes to attack there, and he was still very sure that he would fight more and less.

They were accompanied by bombers, who were supposed to attack the Vanguard airfield, but when they got there, they found that the Vanguard planes were already in full swing. This further confirms my suspicion that they have mastered the latest new radar technology.

As for the radar, he himself is also researching, but due to several difficulties, he cannot achieve a final breakthrough, and he does not need this to deal with the Central Army of China, so it has not been put into practical use. However, the vanguard repeatedly discovered them in advance, so that after guessing various reasons, he finally focused on radar technology.

But knowing the radar technology, they can't crack it, so they can only give up their luck and attack in a real way.

"What? The little devil dispatched more than 300 planes at once. Or is it that kind of zero? Meng Xiang couldn't help frowning.

Since the vanguard army needs to defend more places, the airfields are also widely distributed. Fortunately, thanks to the proposal of the Air Force General Staff, the strength should not be too dispersed, so that the distribution of pilots at this time was only concentrated in a few major areas.

In order to deal with the incoming enemy at sea in the Jiaodong area, more than 100 skilled pilots were concentrated in the Weifang area and were responsible for the teaching task of the Weifang Aviation School. It is also the main base of the 1st Flying Group of the Thunderbolt Fighter Wing.

The 2nd Brigade was stationed in Nanyuan, Beiping, and they guarded the north. The more than 100 skilled pilots of the naval aviation are also assisting in the defense of Tianjin, Tangshan, and Shanhaiguan.

The third brigade is stationed in Xuzhou and is responsible for the sky protection of the southern front.

The fourth brigade is in Zhengzhou and is responsible for the air protection of the Central Plains and surrounding areas.

The second wing of fighters is relatively chaotic because of its variety of aircraft, and it is mainly concentrated at the airfields near Jinan and Qidu. In addition, some aircraft were also arranged in Nanyuan and Weifang in Beiping as teaching schools for aviation.

In the past two or three months of preparation, the number of skilled pilots in the vanguard army has increased by more than 300 people, just over 1,000.

However, once dispersed, plus the personnel used in other types of aircraft, there were not many skilled pilots in each brigade, and the third brigade in Xuzhou at this time had only more than 50 skilled fighter pilots. There are also only about 90 fighters there. Other bombers and transport planes could not help. Although Raiden has a slight advantage over the devil's Zero Style, and the Zero Type is used as an imaginary enemy in normal training, the numerical disadvantage is difficult to reverse.

"The enemy is menacing, but the flying squadrons in the surrounding areas of Zhengzhou should not be dispatched." Fan Chong reminded.

Meng Xiang nodded and said in a deep voice: "Order, fighter flight squadrons or squads in Jining, Heze, Linyi and other regions to support Huaibei; Ordered, the Hellcat formation of the Fifth Brigade of Jinan went to support Huaibei. Prior to this, the 3rd Brigade of Xuzhou contracted its defense, and air defense forces at all levels supported it with fire. ”

After all, it will take a while to rush to support, and during this time, the Third Fighter Group in Xuzhou will need to hold on.

At this time, the third brigade was really on the verge of danger. Even the pilots of the bomber wings began to turn to flying fighter jets to help, but there were still too few of them. All 89 fighters flew into the sky, and they could not compete with the more than 200 Zeros on the opposite side, and there were 200 other fighters attacking.

The third brigade, which was entangled in the struggle, could no longer cover the heavy artillery troops on the ground at this time, and more than 50 bombers accompanied by the devils continued to bombard the defense line of the vanguard army. But it was not powerless on the ground, Meng Xiang considered the worst plan as soon as he arranged the heavy artillery, so it was the air defense unit that followed the heavy artillery unit.

At this time, the 40 mm caliber Bofors continued to pour ammunition into the sky, the muzzle of the 88 mm anti-aircraft gun went straight to the sky, and the more threatening was the 127 mm highland dual-purpose gun of the MK38 type, which was directly moved to the army and became the main force of the next anti-aircraft artillery deployed by the vanguard army.

In the next stage, Meng Xiang plans to unify the caliber of the artillery of the navy and army to ease the logistical pressure. The MK38 127 mm highland dual-purpose gun has become an indispensable gun on naval ships because of its proximity fuse, so Meng Xiang unified this gun into a large-caliber anti-aircraft gun of the Vanguard Army. And said that although his 98-type 100-mm anti-aircraft gun has a good surname, it still has a great reduction in power due to the lack of a proximity fuse, and it is only used for research.

Even the Germans' 88-mm anti-aircraft guns would later be phased out and replaced by American 76-mm anti-aircraft naval guns with the same proximity fuse.

The 20 in Erikon and the 40 mm in Bofors will also be used uniformly. At this time, the 20-mm anti-aircraft gun and the 12.7-mm anti-aircraft machine gun were also firing at the same time, constantly intertwining the firepower net with the sound, penetrating the smoke of gunpowder that made up for the battlefield, and covering the devil fighters raging in the sky.

The Vanguard Army has always had the advantage of the Air Force, so that the devils almost forgot that the Vanguard Army also has such a sharp weapon as anti-aircraft artillery. The anti-aircraft weapons of the vanguard army have been deployed to the company level, although they are usually used to shoot infantry flatly, at this time all the anti-aircraft weapons fired, and immediately the large and small anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns sprayed nearly a thousand rays of light and shuttled in the direction of 100 kilometers around Xuzhou in Huaibei.

Like a flying immortal outside the sky, the sword qi is like a rainbow, and more than a thousand fires emitted by friction air are intertwined, constantly colliding with the devil's plane. Most of the nimble Zeros were able to dodge, but the bulky bombers were hit one after another. They don't have the thick skin of the Flying Fortress, like the usual material-saving tradition of the little devils, and the thin skin of the bombers. Not long after struggling in this fire net, they were shot down one by one with black smoke.

It didn't take long for a dozen bombers to be missing from the sky, and the others hurried up and pushed far away, but the 88mm and 127mm anti-aircraft guns were still chasing after them. With a dozen muffled sounds, a bomber will be planted that tastes the power of a proximity fuse for the first time.

This kind of shell is difficult to avoid even those fighters. At the same time, several fighter jets were planted. Among them, there are also two thin-skinned aircraft such as the Zero.

This was just the beginning, and with the rapid involvement of the anti-aircraft artillery of the surrounding units, even the Zero fighters found it difficult to weave between those dense firepower networks. More and more planes fell, not only by anti-aircraft artillery, but also by fighters of both sides.

The 3rd Brigade fought hard. Rao is thunderbolt is thick-skinned, and at this time, more than 20 planes have been shot down, and the opponent has only shot down more than 20 planes. This kind of one-to-one swap has never been done before. At this time, it is good that they can protect themselves under the siege of many aircraft, and it is normal for some of these rookie pilots to be shot down.