Speaking of this, Yang Zhen looked at the Soviet-made tanks in front of him that had completed the day's training plan and had now lined up two complete tank regiments, shook his head and said: "For the British, in the face of the huge pressure of the huge armored clusters of the Germans in the current North African battlefield and the future European battlefield, they will not give us the best performance tank."

"Tanks like this, the Matilda II and the Crusader cruiser, which they have already begun to obsolete, will be handed over to us. Look, in the not-too-distant future, when American-made medium tanks with excellent performance are mass-produced, we will compete with the British and Soviets for a quota of American aid. ”

"The British will definitely adopt some tricks in order to get American-made tanks with better performance. I estimate that these British tanks will become the main aid equipment for us for quite some time. As for the tanks of our own making, you have to wait. ”

"But those British tanks, when it came to the Germans, may have fallen behind. But against the Japanese, the performance is still enough. Perhaps because of the difference in their opponents, the Japanese tanks were not only more unsuitable for anti-tank combat, but in fact they were barely able to take on the task of covering infantry attacks. ”

"Armed with howitzers that are more suitable for fire suppression, and not cannons that fight tanks. The maximum caliber of 57 mm howitzers is inferior to our T-26 tanks in armor-piercing ability, and even more equipped with Type 94 armored vehicles that do not even have artillery. In the face of such an opponent, these equipment will be fully sufficient for a long time. ”

"So, don't think about the shortcomings of these equipment in one way or another. Instead, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the performance of such tanks, and find ways to use guò tactics to avoid their weaknesses. We should strive to put them on the battlefield as soon as possible, give full play to their greatest power, and become a sharp weapon against the Japanese army. ”

"Lao Chen, the headquarters will find a way to fight for you with advanced equipment. But no matter what kind of equipment it is, whether it can become the most fundamental factor in a powerful weapon against the Japanese army is still in those of you who use it. People have no heart to win, and when they are greedy for life and afraid of death on the battlefield, whatever equipment they give them can only become a pile of scrap metal in the end.

"For these tanks supplied by the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union, no matter what shortcomings they have, you have to accept and familiarize yourself. In the shortest possible time, they exert their maximum power. In a word, a weapon that can kill devils is a good weapon. The equipment that can reduce our sacrifice on the battlefield is the best equipment. ”

"Just because these equipment have shortcomings of one kind or another does not mean that we are unwilling to accept them and not want to familiarize ourselves with them. There is no such thing as perfect weaponry and equipment, let alone perfect tactics. So no matter what kind of equipment you receive, you must have the right mentality. You can't waste food because of choking, and you can't throw it away like clogs. ”

"If there are not enough technical support personnel, do you want to train yourself? In the training program, use your brain more and think of a way. Can a living person suffocate urine? In addition to the air force, your armored corps is the target of the transfer of key intellectuals in the whole army. I think as long as we work hard, there are always more ways than difficulties. ”

"Isn't it good that you relied on the tank factory under construction to train technicians? Why not continue? It doesn't matter if the culture is low, how many of us didn't even know our own names before joining the army, and we still learned a little bit of culture after we went to the army. If we can train a person who can't read a word to become a senior commander, why can't they train technicians? ”

In fact, Chen Hanzhang also complained, although these tanks have their own problems. But if he really doesn't give it to him, and allocates it to the infantry unit, I'm afraid he, the commander of the armored corps, will have to be killed. Since Yang Zhen has said it so thoroughly, with Chen Hanzhang's personality, he naturally shut up and won't talk about it.

As for the problem of insufficient technical support personnel, it is indeed true, but it is not that there is no solution at all. As soon as the armored corps was established, he selected a group of cadres and fighters who had graduated from the puppet Manchu elementary school from among the organs and logistics personnel to study at the tank factory built with the aid of the Soviet Union.

Although the tank factory has not been completely completed so far, and not a single tank has been produced. However, his armored troops relied on the production technology training courses run by Soviet technicians in the factory, and the first batch of 200 maintenance and support personnel was trained. And this pattern is still going on.

In the later period, the military region transferred to them the puppet Manchu Chinese Cheng dù, half of whom he trained according to operational cadres and half according to technical cadres. Moreover, the method of bringing in the old with the new and speeding up the training has been adopted. However, in the face of the sudden expansion of the number of armored troops and equipment, the number of technical support personnel is indeed not sufficient, but it is enough to meet the most basic needs of several fist units of the military region.

His complaint was actually similar to Xiong Dazhen's original goal. I just want Yang Zhen to open up some openings in the number of intellectuals and allocate more new soldiers to the armored troops, who are at least the cultural programs of the middle school graduates. There is no way, according to the number allocated by the military region, for the armored troops who are in the process of rapid development and are hungry, they are far from satisfying their needs.

At least according to the development plan for the armored forces that he personally began to formulate after returning to the army at a ventilation meeting of senior cadres of the military region at the end of last month after learning that the Anti-Japanese Federation had reached an aid agreement with the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union, it really could not meet the needs. Taking one step and looking at three moves on the chessboard is also the philosophy of life, and Chen Hanzhang, who played a good hand of chess, still remembers it very clearly.

There is no way, war waits for no one, time waits for no one. If he had the Soviets who had spent as much time as they had before the war to build peace, and could proceed steadily and step by step, he would not have been in such a hurry. But the current shape can't give him so much time to take it step by step.

As long as No. 1 speaks, the political commissar and the Northeast Bureau will definitely have a smooth ride. So after Chen Hanzhang finished complaining, he kept looking at Yang Zhen with great anticipation. Looking forward to Yang Zhen's nod, he promised to take care of the armored soldiers in the distribution of recruits with the cultural standards of middle school graduates when recruiting.

The reason why he complained about British tanks was nothing more than a means of throwing bricks and stones. Since the army, no matter how great the pressure is, no matter how difficult the situation, Chen Hanzhang has never taken the initiative to complain. This time there are some nagging complaints, although there is also a reason for the incident, but it is indeed groundbreaking.

It's just that Yang Zhen kept silent about this matter as if he hadn't heard anything. I just talked to him, the commander of the armored corps, about the history of tank development, and by the way, I gave a new name to the Soviet-made medium tank in front of me. As for the shortage of maintenance and support personnel, it is clear that he is self-reliant.

Since Yang Zhen has already expressed his attitude in disguise, he will not dare to say anything more about Chen Hanzhang. Xiong Dazhen has touched the gray result many times because of this incident, and he Chen Hanzhang still knows it very well. Since No. 1 is silent, then there is no room for negotiation in this matter.

Although he was well aware of his complaints, Number One definitely heard them. But No. 1 did not spit out, and I am afraid that the military region is really embarrassed in this matter. Chen Hanzhang is not a faceless Xiong Dazhen, since Yang Zhen avoided talking about it, he also knew the current actual situation, so he did not continue to complain.

As a member of the party committee of the military region, he is still very clear about the current predicament of the military region in the face of qualified personnel. He knew that the various branches of the armed forces that were currently being expanded, and the various schools and factories that were being set up in large numbers in the base areas, were all keeping an eye on the distribution of students graduating each year. When considering the distribution of young people with education at and above the middle school level, the military region must give priority to it before giving priority to it.

Looking at Chen Hanzhang, whose face was a little heavy, Yang Zhen patted him on the shoulder and said, "The difficulty is very great, but I believe that this is only temporary, and it is definitely not impossible to solve it." As long as you are willing to make up your mind from within to dismantle some of the potential, and think of more solutions, it can still be solved temporarily. ”

"But from the current environment in which we find ourselves, we need to fundamentally solve this dilemma. Don't talk about you, even the military region has no way now. The only way out for us is for your armored troops to make their new equipment into combat effectiveness, so that we can clench our most powerful fists and break our current predicament. Only by playing out, can we really solve all the troubles completely. ”

After saying this, Yang Zhen closed his mouth and didn't say anything more until dinner. At dinner, none of the cadres at all levels who knew Yang Zhen's temper and temperament, including Chen Hanzhang, took the initiative to accompany Yang Zhen to eat any working meals.

And Yang Zhen never left his temporary office after dinner. It wasn't until nine o'clock in the evening that Chen Hanzhang was found that he opened a top-secret map and said: "You first look at the combat situation above, and consider what are the current deficiencies in terms of troops and deployment if you command the operation on the Western Front." At the same time, you tell me your own thoughts. ”

After that, Yang Zhen didn't look at Chen Hanzhang's expression that was slightly stunned after seeing this map. Instead, he clicked on the map and said, "This battle plan for the next stage was taken out by the headquarters." But this is not to say that this is the final plan, at most it is a preliminary draft. ”

"You are the commander of the armored forces, and at the same time one of the senior commanders of our army who are best at synthetic command. And our next operation, on the Western Front and the Eastern Front, the armored corps will be the main means of assault, so I need to ask for your ideas on the Western Front now. ”

"Remember what I just said, the starting point for all your questions is to think as the commander of the assault cluster of the entire Western Front. You don't have to worry about other strategic directions, what you need to think about now is how to achieve the operational intent of the headquarters. ”

"Your entire mission commands the assault cluster to take the Sunit Left Banner and the Abaga Banner as the starting point for the attack, and go straight to the front line of Baotou and Guisui. Your attack stops from the Yellow River in the west and the Outer Great Wall in the south. And at any time ready to enter the northern part of Jin, to respond to the battle of the troops in the Guannai. In addition to the first part of the advance army, you are also cooperating with the troops of the Jinsui Military Region. In addition, the Daqingshan guerrilla detachment of the Jinsui Military Region will also fully cooperate with you. ”

Although Chen Hanzhang was asked to come up with his own opinions and ideas, Yang Zhen did not directly tell Chen Hanzhang that in the next stage of the operation, he would serve as the commander of the entire Western Front assault group. Although it has been roughly determined, it does not represent the final decision.

Regarding the selection of this commander, Yang Zhen still has to carefully weigh and consider. Although Chen Hanzhang is indeed his first choice, whether Chen Hanzhang can finally take office and serve as the supreme military commander of this cluster, Yang Zhen still depends on what his final thoughts are.