The last day of September.

Inside a tank training camp.

Li Yunlong and Sun Desheng looked at the thick list of armored vehicles and discussed what type of armored vehicles they should exchange for.

There are not as many models of armored vehicles as tanks, and combined with the experience of choosing tanks last time, there are only a few that can be used, but in the end there was a little disagreement between the two.

"I'm going to change this, what do you think?"

Although he had made a decision in his heart, Li Yunlong still discussed with Sun Desheng.

Compared with him, Sun Desheng has a very in-depth study of armored vehicles, and this guy is the top tank driver and the best tank commander in the whole regiment.

For professional matters, it is better to listen to the opinions of professionals, and you can't just pat your head to decide.

Looking at the armored car pointed by the regiment commander, Sun Desheng raised his eyebrows.

M8 wheeled armored car modified.

Nicknamed Greyhound.

American.

Of course, since the suffix has been changed, it means that Boss Chen has made a lot of improvements.

It was replaced with a 157-horsepower diesel engine of the same model as the ten-wheel knack, the gearbox was also changed, the main gun was replaced with a 40 mm caliber, and the armor shape was also slightly changed, which looked a little different from the original M8 armored car.

This thing is really good, and it can be used by independent regiments.

Although it is an American product and a theoretical ally, in essence, this is actually another armored vehicle, only the appearance is similar, and the internal structure has changed greatly, so there should be no problem with using this armored vehicle.

But Sun Desheng didn't want this.

"Commander, the wheeled mobility is still a little worse, I recommend choosing this."

Sun Desheng pointed to a half-track armored vehicle and said:

"The chassis and suspension are the same as the ten-wheeled truck of our regiment, the track structure is the same as that of the No. 4 tank, the parts are common, the logistics personnel can quickly familiarize themselves with it, and they can form combat effectiveness as soon as possible."

In the list, the "Encyclopedia of Armored Vehicles" that has been opened is painted with a three-view similar to the M3 half-track armored car, of course, the technical foundation is completely different, but the appearance and structure are similar.

Without waiting for the two to argue, Sun Desheng proposed a solution:

"Commander, there is no basis for what you say, let's change two of them and test which one is more suitable."

"Good idea."

Li Yunlong's eyes lit up.

Just do it, Grand Master Li immediately contacted Brother Chen Fan and asked him to send two of the two armored vehicles. After such a long time, Li Yunlong can see that this cheap Chen brother is always on call at any time.

At noon that day, four armored vehicles arrived, along with the political commissar customizing the 15th light rail, and Sun Desheng personally led the people to test it overnight.

The next morning, the results of the full test were available.

"The wheeled maneuverability is still a little worse."

Looking at the two wheeled armored vehicles that were sent into the warehouse with some pity, Li Yunlong sighed.

After a night of testing, both armored vehicles have their own advantages, and in general, the big six wheels he likes actually have more advantages.

The defense was superior, the armor of the large six-wheeled front was twenty-twenty-five mm thick, and the tracked armored car was only twelve mm. Firepower is also superior, the firepower of the big six rounds of 40 guns is strong, enough to deal with the devil's Little Beanding tank, and it can also destroy front-line bunkers, and the shells are also common to the Bofors 40 anti-aircraft gun, while the tracks can only be equipped with 20 mm anti-aircraft guns, or large-caliber machine guns.

The wheeled type is also easy to handle and maintain, and the road surface speed is also faster.

But the end result was that the half-track armored car won, and the big six wheels were eliminated.

The armor of the half-track armored car with twelve mm on the front and seven mm on the side can withstand the bullets of the devil at a certain distance, and the extra bit of armor is of little significance. As for dealing with devil tanks and destroying bunkers, that's the thing for tank four.

There is also one of the most important problems, the passage of the big six wheels is seriously insufficient, and it is not suitable for the complex mountainous terrain in the northwest of Shanxi. It's fine on a sunny day, but when the ground is slippery on a rainy day, it's a nightmare, all kinds of slips, and it's even more serious when it's heavily loaded.

"The master said that the half-track armored car is only a transitional product," he said.

Sun Desheng suddenly spoke:

"The core technology of wheeled armored vehicles, the central inflation and deflation technology is not yet mature, and the suspension and chassis are also poor, so the passability is much worse than the half-track, and when the technology is mature, the half-track will be replaced by full-track armored vehicles and wheeled armored vehicles."

"Technology..."

Li Yunlong's heart was full of emotion.

For so long, he has deeply experienced the impact of technology on war, and he also vaguely feels that one day, technology will be the most crucial factor in determining the outcome of war.

After the model was decided, the next thing the two had to discuss was how much to change.

"We still have fifteen hundred tonnage to use."

Grand Master Li said with his fingers crossed.

As of a week ago, the Independent Regiment had killed more than 7,500 devils and replaced 80 No. 4 tanks, each weighing 75 tons with spare parts, and 35 tons of fuel and lubricating oil free of charge.

"All of this will be used for a half-track armored vehicle."

Sun Desheng says:

"Tracked armored vehicles are used for a lot of purposes."

"It can carry people, an infantry squad plus weapons and equipment and all ammunition can be carried in one vehicle, it is no problem to carry five tons of off-road cargo, the passability is much stronger than that of a ten-wheel large truck, and there can also be an anti-aircraft model, four 12.7 heavy machine guns, and three 20 mm anti-aircraft guns (Yugoslav M55)."

"The political commissar is preparing for the construction of light rail, and when the time comes, air defense needs to be arranged on important road sections, and mobile air defense armored vehicles can reduce the pressure on air defense."

"Okay."

Without any hesitation, Li Yunlong directly agreed.

As the base shop became bigger and bigger, the pressure on air defense also increased. Warehouse complexes, machine shops, front-line road repair teams, regimental headquarters, gunsmiths, and explosives factories all require the deployment of anti-aircraft units, and although the size of the anti-aircraft company has been repeatedly expanded, it is still far from enough.

Fortunately, the devils have also stopped bombing recently, only high-altitude reconnaissance, and even some pilots of the First Army Flying Group have been transferred to the south.

But the threat of the little devil's plane is always there.

With this half-track anti-aircraft vehicle, the mobility of the air defense units will be greatly increased, and wherever it is necessary, they will maneuver to the predetermined place to strengthen the anti-aircraft fire, and the 20-mm anti-aircraft gun will be enough, as long as the little devil plane is forced to dive and drop bombs at a low altitude, and high-altitude bombing is not a threat at all.

Unless the little devil has the strength of the Yankees, come a wave of heavy bombers carpet bombing.

The half-track anti-aircraft vehicle can also provide anti-aircraft fire with the maneuver of the tank unit, and if necessary, it can also strengthen the front-line fire, and the anti-aircraft gun strafs the infantry, which is a must.

And a half-track vehicle can carry a base number of shells while towing the new 105 howitzer.

The two looked at the manual and continued to discuss the specific number of various models.

"It's all good things, but it's a pity that the quota is not enough."

Looking at the detailed information, Grand Master Li sighed.

When Ping'an County is captured, the independent regiment will take the tank unit as the main force of operation, and the biggest threat to the troops at that time will be the devil's plane.

In his plans.

In the future, the armored reinforced battalion of the independent regiment will be equipped with 150 tanks No. 4, 70 half-track anti-aircraft vehicles to defend the sky, 200 accompanying infantry, towing new 105 howitzers and transport shells.

There are also eighty half-track supply transporters in the rear for fuel and ammunition replenishment. Tanks are large consumers of fuel, and armored vehicles themselves consume a lot, and the fuel supply must keep up, otherwise the tank is not as good as a pillbox.

In total, three hundred and fifty half-track armored vehicles were needed.

The half-track is not light, with an empty weight of seven tons, plus a total weight of twenty tons of various parts, three hundred and fifty vehicles, a total of seven thousand tons is required.

And this is only the number of a battalion.

In his heart, there was a big plan, a final big plan that no one had, and this plan was not something that a mere tank battalion could accomplish, just a fraction of it.

"It seems."

Grand Master Li took a deep breath, and his eyes flashed:

"I'm going to have to keep working hard."

After eliminating more than 15,000 devils, Brother Chen began to double the reimbursement of weapons and ammunition, including tanks, armored vehicles, and fuel consumption, which will be settled once a month until July next year.

The sooner the goal is achieved, the greater the profit will be for the Independent Regiment.

"Yoshio Shinozuka..."

Li Yunlong muttered as he took out the iron communicator.

Naturally, he didn't forget that there was still a business that the Independent Regiment had not completed, driving away Yoshimoto Sadachi and letting Yoshio Shinozuka come back, the price of this business was not low at all, a completed production line of barrel shells, and technical information on extended-range shells.

Getting that barrel shell production line, that large number of machinery and equipment and raw materials, can make Zhao Jiayu Machinery Factory grow by leaps and bounds.

However, this business is a little difficult.

Thinking in his heart, Li Yunlong pressed his hand on the red button of the communicator, during which he glanced at the calendar on the side, and today's date was [October 1st].

······

Taiyuan.

Kotaro Ito, who has been promoted to Nakasa, uses his patrol time to secretly distribute his recent earnings to his henchmen and partners in other troops, such as the member of the Yamamoto special team who always guards the airport, and even a young man in the headquarters security unit.

"Captain."

After receiving the gold and silver belongings, all his men shouted at Ito in unison.

Because of his outstanding performance, Ito has made many 'meritorious contributions', not only promoted to Nakasa, but also about to serve as the captain of the airport guard brigade, as for the original captain, he took the troops to Heian County to participate in the war.

"Yo Si."

Ito was happy, nodded in satisfaction, and continued to distribute the proceeds.

There is a very important reason why Ito has been able to secretly resell the imperial property here in Taiyuan for so long, and the hundreds of tons of steel that have flowed out have not been discovered, not to mention, and he has also been promoted and raised, is that Ito is very generous and never stingy with his business partners.

"Nakasa Ito."

Getting a small gold bar, the guard of the headquarters who came came gave Ito a message:

"In two months, your brigade will also be sent to Pan County."

"Shall we go to Pan County?"

Ito was taken aback.

Panxian is close to the base of the Independent Regiment, and it is a combat area!

He is now doing business in Taiyuan smoothly, life is leisurely, and his pockets are getting more and more bulging, and the independent regiment is buying steel on a large scale, and the price is not low, which leads to the black market, and such a large Taiyuan city, there is the largest railway station in Shanxi, and it is the garrison of the First Army.

"The airport?"

Ito asked.

They are responsible for guarding the airport. Recently, however, very few planes have taken off from Taiyuan Airport, and only a few reconnaissance planes have occasionally taken off. Because of the severe shortage of fuel, and explosives, I don't know how, the First Army and for a long time did not get fuel and explosives replenishment.

"It seems that he is going to be evacuated and go to Baoding, I don't know the specifics."

Shao Zuo, a guard at the headquarters, replied.

"Thank you."

Ito handed over a little more things, and the young man left very happily.

"I wonder if there is any good business to do on the Independent Regiment's side?"

Looking at the deserted airport, Ito fell into deep thought.

He was only a captain of a brigade, so he naturally couldn't resist the commander's order, but fortunately, it was Pan County, not Ping'an County, where the fighting was fiercest, and the danger was not great. Close to the base of the Independent Regiment, he should be able to play a greater role as a spy.

Moreover, there are a lot of good things on the side of the independent regiment now, food, sugar... It's a great place to do business.

So·····

Ito narrowed his eyes and fell into deep thought, what do Commander Li and his independent regiment need most now?

In doing business, the most important thing is to understand the needs of the other party.

"Yaga..."

Several of Ito's old henchmen also heard the news, and they immediately scolded.

It is said that on the front line of the Independent Regiment, only half of the ten people survived in the end, and they did not want to go to the front line to die.

"Damn Yoshio Shinozuka."

One of the ensigns suddenly scolded.

"General Shinozuka?"

Ito didn't understand how anyone could scold this former commander of the First Army.

The second lieutenant continued to curse and be indignant:

"I have an elder brother who is a staff officer of the Front Army Headquarters, according to him, it is this Yoshio Shinozuka who came up with the idea of investing a large number of recruits in Ping'an County to send the imperial recruits to death, and even because of this incident, this old guy has recently been praised by the base camp."

"The credit for the materials obtained in Ping'an County is also credited to Yoshio Shinozuka."

"It turned out to be him."

Ito's eyes lit up slightly.

This is valuable news.

······

Northwest of Shanxi, Zhao Jiayu.

With the support of sufficient food and materials, under Zhao Gang's painstaking business planning, in just one year, it has changed from a small mountain village to a mountain county today.

And it's a big county town.

Under the construction of the construction brigade five times the scale of the super army, nearly 1,000 kilometers of hard stone highways will connect hundreds of villages and towns in a radius of nearly 100 kilometers, and the highways are still extending at a speed of about 5 kilometers a day.

With transportation, development can begin.

Under the organization of the base areas, the people with the conditions began to raise chickens, ducks, pigs, and so on, and the ultra-cheap coarse grains provided the foundation for retail breeding, and the products of the base areas were gradually enriched.

On both sides of the road, factories were built, clothing factories, cigarette factories, lumber factories, furniture factories, brick factories, lime factories, etc., and various collective farms were formed, and a large number of ordinary people who had fled and those poor local peasants who had no land or even houses entered the farms or factories to work.

Low-priced grain allows everyone to be fed, and ultra-low-priced cotton also allows everyone in the base area to be warm.

As for those landlords, under the impact of a large amount of cheap grain, a small number of people with good reputations did not have much influence, and there were still people who helped them farm, and as for the bad ones, they did not set off a trace of disappearance without a trace of waves.

So many factories and farms recruit a lot of people, and if they give less, who will give the landlord farm?

Compared with collective farms and factories, the construction brigade is the best place to go, with the best treatment, including food and shelter and ten catties of fine grain every day, one person can feed a family, but it is not easy to get in.

The best thing, of course, is to get into the troops.

At the same time, schools have also been established, and it is mandatory for all school-age children to be enrolled, and there are fines and incentives for enrollment.

"Commissar."

On the same day, in the regimental headquarters of Zhao Jiayu, a personnel staff officer of the construction brigade walked in and reported to Zhao Gang:

"Last week, 5,000 people signed up to join the army, 2,000 passed the cultural knowledge assessment, and 1,900 passed the physical examination."

The military management of the construction brigade works during the day, organizes cultural study in the afternoon or evening, or organizes collective activities.

The independent regiment is recruited directly in the brigade, and the recruits do not have to worry at all, considering more and more high-level equipment, the troops have also raised the conditions for enlistment, not only to have good physical fitness, but also to have a certain cultural foundation.

"Okay, let's just hand it over to the regiment headquarters."

Zhao Gang nodded.

Looking at the personnel staff officers who left, Zhao Gang felt emotion in his heart.

The Republic of China is a country with a large population, but it is definitely not a country with soldiers, and soldiers have high physical requirements, at least the foundation should not be too weak and can withstand arduous military physical training.

But the poor people, who have not eaten enough for many years, and can't even drink clean water, can there be a few people with good health?

When I was in Yang Village, the army recruited soldiers and went out to the militia, and the common people also enthusiastically participated, but at that time, not to mention the cultural knowledge requirements, among the 100 people who joined the army, it would be good to have 30 people who passed the physical examination.

And now Zhao Jiayu base, there are sufficient and cheap food materials, everyone can be fed and clothed, and the people who have been here for more than half a year have very good physical fitness.

Especially in the construction brigade, it is unrealistic to eat meat at once, but there is no problem at all with eating oil at once, which is also the confidence of the independent regiment to dare to improve the recruitment conditions of soldiers.

After a while, another man walked in:

"Commissar, the railway brigade has been formed."

"Okay."

Zhao Gang's eyes are one.

That day.

Zhao Jiayu formed a railway brigade of 50,000 people, and began to lay light rail railways under the leadership of railway engineers mobilized from all over the country.

······

In the afternoon of the same day.

Unloading point.

After delivering seventy-five half-track vehicles, Li Yunlong dragged his old brother Chen every day, trying to pry some ideas or knowledge out of the mouth of this cheap brother. Or, it's not bad to get some devil information.

To Li Yunlong's surprise, this time, his brother Chen did not leave impatiently, but said with a smile:

"Today is October 1st, what a good day!"

"Good day? What's a good day? ”

The brainless sentence made Grand Master Li frown.

He thought about it for a long time, but he couldn't figure out what a good day it was.

"Today's holiday, this is a holiday gift."

As he spoke, Chen Fan handed Master Li a stack of materials, and then left while Li Yunlong was looking at the list.

However, Li Yunlong was already attracted by the contents of the information at this time, he looked at the information one by one, his eyes gradually lit up, like a light bulb, and he muttered to himself in his mouth, and his tone was extremely surprised:

"Noise self-guided torpedoes."

"Good stuff!"