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Text Chapter 414 Shocking Changes and Ground-moving Dragons

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    ps: My hand in typing was very bad today and I deleted a lot, so I posted two chapters together.

    *****

    During the Lunar New Year in February 1917, when thousands of families were reunited, the whole of China was shrouded in a snowstorm.  After a few years of good weather and good weather, God seems to be using all his energy on this winter. Even Nanjing has been covered with snow for more than a month.

    "On this day this year a lot of people are really going to freeze to death." As soon as the car stopped, Cai Jimin, who opened the door, frowned, muttered something, wrapped his collar tightly and rushed into the new presidential palace that was just completed this year.  , this cement-reinforced steel structure building was built entirely with donations from overseas Chinese, soaking up the efforts of overseas Chinese who hope that the motherland will be strong.

    "Xiangpu is back, how is the situation in the Northeast?"

    As soon as he entered the door, he bumped into Zhang Wenjing and Cai Gongshi, who were attending a meeting. After the latter became the Secretary-General of the Social and Economic Reform and Development Commission, he officially entered the core political circle of the Republic of China.  Among the three, only Zhang Wenjing was the most anxious, especially since the continuous heavy snowfall after the beginning of winter had brought a haze to this year's economic prospects, so he quickly asked him about the situation in the Northeast.

    After Cai Jimin took off his coat and handed it to his secretary, he began to explain the situation in the Northeast after winter to the two of them.  Within the General Staff, he was undoubtedly more like a firefighter. First, he was in charge of the southwest and Guangdong and Fujian during the Northern Expedition to ensure a smooth transition to the south. After the Sino-Japanese War, he went north to Fengtian to assist Yue Peng in managing the post-war Northeast. The former became the commander of the expeditionary force and he became the commander of the Northeast Pass.  Military and political commander-in-chief of the nine provinces.  However, he lacked military capabilities, so he spent most of his time dealing with government affairs and construction. For military affairs, he relied more on He Xi, who was transferred to take charge.  But He Xi has been in poor health due to the injury at Xiaocangshan that year, Cai E is also in poor health, and Feng Guozhang is also old.  So I had to rely on him alone to support me throughout the winter.

    Fortunately, with the Republic of China joining the Entente, the external environment has indeed improved a lot, and even Japan, which had the greatest influence, has ceased its activities.  As for North Korea, Zhang Zongchang has also done a great job. He and Jin Jiu have started a trade of grain and weapons for mineral deposits. This winter alone, tens of thousands of tons of iron ore and copper ore have been transported back to North Korea via the Andong Bridge Railway. A large amount of grain and weapons have also allowed North Korea to  The Japanese army has grown several times. Recently, the National Socialist International opened an office in Sinuiju, North Korea, and officially announced that the National Socialist Society has entered North Korea.  These measures have made the Yalu River defense line increasingly stable, allowing the Northeast military and civilians to focus on immigration, social and economic construction.  In addition, under the military control mode, labor resources can be utilized to the maximum extent. In just two years, a number of projects such as the reconstruction and expansion of the South Manchuria Railway and the Sino-French Steel Plant have been launched in full swing. The Northeast Industrial Base with Fengtian and Shenyang as the core is concentrated in British and French industrial equipment.  It also developed a lot after deliveries started.  But just when he began to long for Northeast China to enter a period of rapid development, the heavy snowfall this winter caused serious damage.  So after introducing the general situation, he sighed and said: "Big cities such as Lushun, Fengtian and Shenyang are relatively safe, but the countryside has been severely affected, especially the immigrants in the past two years who have a poor foundation. In some places, there are even  Regarding the shortage of food rations before I came, I had ordered all the troops to find ways to deliver food to the victims."

    "I hope the snow will stop soon" Cai Gongshi looked at Zhang Wenjing and said somewhat self-deprecatingly: "Finally, our finances have maintained double-digit growth every year. At the beginning of spring, there will be a large number of processing orders coming from the United States. If it is delayed by disaster relief,  If so, I¡¯m afraid part of the loan from Britain and France will be used for disaster relief.¡±

    The three of them walked towards the conference room while talking. When they arrived, they found that Li Yuanhong and others had not arrived yet. Cai Jimin handed them two cigarettes.  Asked: "I heard that the commander-in-chief is out again? How is the fight between Yue Peng and Wu Peifu going?"

    "Yue Peng and Zhang Xiaozhun on the Western Front are still using small battles to break up the troops. In the winter, the Germans are not determined to burn the boat, so the casualties are not serious. However, I heard from Ziqing that news has spread from France that there may be some casualties on the Western Front between April and May.  A big battle. They estimate that the number of troops may exceed one million! So the commander is also worried about this matter. He will not go to Zhengzhou to check the progress of new equipment in the hope of helping." Although Zhang Wenjing took off his military uniform, he knew better because of his special status.  Regarding the military situation on the front line, he lowered his voice and said: "There is some trouble in the east. Shi Xiaolou and Wu Peifu's two divisions went to Ukraine, but" He pointed outside and continued: "Same as here, the battle  We have never encountered such horrible weather. I heard that many soldiers have fallen ill and frozen to death. The 123rd Division is temporarily resting in the Urals, but when to move in still depends on the weather. The worst is probably Li Liejun. He sent a telegram and said, light  Last month, more than 10,000 Chinese workers suffered from frostbite and as many as 1,000 people died from frostbite Hey! The Logistics Department has sent additional trains to transport sleeping bags and cotton-padded clothes to support. I don¡¯t know how long they can last.¡±

    Cai Gongshi was not as pessimistic as the two of them, and comforted him: "Don't sigh too much. Although there are some difficulties now, spring will start in more than a month at most. We can also use this winter to build the factory facilities provided by Britain and France.  , we can train workers in the spring maybe we can start a batch of jobs by the end of the year." As the three of them were chatting, there was a sudden sound of running outside the corridor, and when they turned around, it was Feng Guozhang who was staying at the General Staff Headquarters today.  The old man didn¡¯t know it eitherIt was such an important matter, but he was out of breath while running all the way. Seeing this, Cai Jimin quickly supported him and asked: "Deputy Chief of Staff, are you?"

    Feng Guozhang interrupted without waiting for him to finish his question: "Where are the president and prime minister?"

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s not here yet, what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Seeing that no one was found, Feng Guozhang patted his thigh anxiously: "This Xu Shuzheng caused big trouble and killed Zhebu!" "Zhebu is dead" The three of them  He was stunned for a moment, then suddenly stood up and looked at each other Is the pillar of Mongolian faith dead?  !

    ¡°Give it to me, I¡¯ll contact the commander-in-chief!¡± Zhang Wenjing reacted first, grabbed the telegram and rushed to the telegraph room.

    While the water, electricity and telegraph room of the Presidential Palace was busy, Yang Qiu¡¯s special car had also arrived at Zhengzhou Industrial Group.  The low sound of steam motors began to sound from the hinterland of the Central Plains, and billowing black smoke carried goose feathers and heavy snow drifted over the Yellow River. The charm of modern industry was gradually revealed.  When the car drove into the factory area, even Yang Du and Chen Guofu who were accompanying them were a little surprised at the speed of construction here, although they had known that Yang Qiu had been using the earliest Hanyang and Chongqing to train workers.  I also know that there are now more than 500 large and small industrial technical schools in the country, but when the sight of tens of thousands of people gathering and working hard appeared before my eyes, I was still a little shocked.

    Yang Du even said with emotion: "The Vice President is still far-sighted! First he suppressed the domestic situation and disputes and suppressed other parties to cultivate the national society, and now he took the opportunity of the European War to develop industry. Not only did he earn back dozens of times the scale of the Westernization Movement, but he also greatly improved  It has affected the external environment and status of our Republic of China. I am really impressed that you have been able to create such a great situation in just six years! With your strategic planning and laying such a good foundation, we can fully cultivate our health and build up our national strength.  If it doesn't work in ten years In twenty years, we will definitely be able to dominate Asia and stand proudly on the west coast of the Pacific! The goal that we have been pursuing and working hard for for decades is finally within reach!"

    Chen Guofu also nodded repeatedly.  Several years of experience have allowed this young party secretary, executive committee member of the Youth Association and second-in-command of the National Socialist International to completely wash away his youthfulness, and his two light mustaches add a bit of stability to him.  Although Yang Qiu cared little about politics during this period.  But this does not mean that it will give up monitoring various domestic forces.  Because of this kind of surveillance, he was not as optimistic as Yang Du, saying: "Although our national society has no opponents for the time being, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party have not stopped yet. When the Democratic Party Congress was held in Hong Kong two years ago, Wu Tingfang and Cai Yuanpei  They all went to attend. Although the meeting was not open to the public, Wang Zhaoming took over the post of Secretary-General immediately after returning to Shanghai. According to this momentum, it is certain that he will become the Chairman. Moreover, he has been in frequent contact with Zhang Jizhi and others recently. I guess he may be seeking  Merger matters.¡±

    "Want to merge?" Yang Qiu secretly smiled.  His previous impression of Wang Zhaoming was still based on the word "big traitor", but it was only after experiencing the Xinhai Revolution that he understood this man's political ability.  It was he who promoted the peace talks between the North and the South.  Now that the big bosses of the Democratic Party have entrusted their future to him, they must be extremely optimistic about it.  As for the Democratic Party and the Republican Party finally coming together, Yang Qiu had already thought of it. After all, the influence of the Democratic Party still existed, but Zhang Jizhi and Liang Qichao, the old and young, were the ones with conservative ideas.  They wanted to keep a distance from the national society but also wanted to reap political benefits. However, as time went by, their conservative ideas became less and less replenished by fresh blood, so the final result was to be annexed.  It's just that he doesn't have time to think about it now.  After all, establishing a two-party system was his idea from the beginning.  Butit is certain that the Democratic Party must continue to suppress it now and even in the next thirty years!  But the negative consequence of this is that centralization of power will become more prominent, so the scale of this suppression must be grasped well. This is the most basic thing that the Democratic Party cannot die!

    On the contrary, the approaching Russian revolution worried him. Physical things such as aircraft and cannons can block it, but ideas have no national boundaries.  Even he found the theory of the Poor Party very attractive, let alone the people in those poor areas.  Especially in areas where land issues have not yet been resolved, there is a huge market.  It¡¯s not that he hates the poor party, but that the current Republic of China has gradually entered the track he envisioned.  Accepting this kind of foreign thought will lead to chaos, so how to channel this thought, how to use the opportunity of ideological explosion to disintegrate the family-style autonomous management model that still continues in rural areas in China, and eliminate the dependence of landlords and gentry on land, can we  This is a problem he needs to solve in the next few years!  Of coursethe poor party will face the extremely difficult dilemma of being surrounded by the capital world after the revolution, so they will definitely seek a breakout. There is no possibility of a breakout in Europe. The only way is to take the Eastern road to break through the blockade of the capital world.  Only in this way can they realize their ideal of exporting revolution and liberating the proletariat around the world.

    ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? East!

    Thinking of this, Yang Qiu sighed in his heart. The East is destined to be the front line of ideological and geopolitical conflicts for a long time in the future. Therefore, Yang Du said that the stability of the Republic of China was actually far from being achieved. Although it would gain a good external environment after joining World War I, and  The European and American world needs itself when it comes to intervening in Russia.You are on the front line, but you must also have enough capital in your hands!  "We need to work hard on Zhi Gong Tang. They are now our largest overseas branch. If National Socialist International wants to spread, we must follow their path. In another two years I'm afraid you won't be so leisurely!"

    Yang Du asked in confusion: "Why did the vice president say that? Is there anyone who can threaten the status of our national society?"

    "It's not a threat, it's a collision of ideas and a comprehensive challenge in various fields." Yang Qiu smiled and opened the door. Yuan Zhongquan, the new director of the Zhengzhou factory and the person in charge of the tank and armored vehicle research and development projects, has already brought dozens of engineers and technicians.  At the door, you can also see many foreign faces.  These people were very excited to see him.  After entering the test area, the three of them felt that their eyes suddenly brightened up. Different from the scene they saw last time at the Xinye Army Weapons Test Factory, the test training ground was noisy and lively at this moment.  Hundreds of soldiers are operating the steel behemoth in the snow to conduct tactical training and new vehicle acceptance experiments.

    "Report, the 101st Division's new armored brigade major, Xue Yue has met the commander-in-chief." Just walking towards the armored convoy, Xue Yue, who was leading the troops to train here, rushed out from nowhere with his face covered with oil.

    Xue Yue has received special guidance from Yang Qiu many times since he was selected as the commander of the first armored brigade in China, so the two are already very familiar with each other.  Seeing his oily and unkempt appearance, Yang Qiu was also happy and said with a smile: "You kid, you don't know how to get into the engine? How did you end up like this" "Haha  Report to the Commander-in-Chief. I encountered a sudden stall while running two laps. Unexpectedly, I just opened the cover to check the engine oil and the oil spurted out." Xue Yue said while wiping his face with his sleeves, but the more he wiped his face, the darker it became, which annoyed Yang Du.  He and Chen Guofu laughed loudly and quickly asked someone to bring a clean rag.  After he wiped his face, Yuan Zhongquan and his technical team began to introduce the tank he was talking about to Yang Qiu.  But in Yang Qiu's opinion, the thing in front of him was not actually a tank, but only an armored vehicle.

    Since the external environment has improved a lot after joining the agreement, you can basically buy everything you want except for some cutting-edge equipment and technologies.  Coupled with the priority guarantee of military supplies promised by Britain and France, Yang Qiu had the idea of ????starting armoring in advance, and after careful consideration, he chose the Cadenloyd multi-purpose armored transport vehicle.  The first thing that should be explained is.  Although the Carden-Loyd armored transport vehicle and the famous Carden-Loyd ultralight tank have the same name, they are not the same series of combat vehicles.  Even though the chassis of both are very simple and easy to build, they are completely different things.  The latter is the originator of Japanese tanks, while the former is a famous light armored transport vehicle in World War II.  The United States has also produced 18,000 armored transport vehicles numbered T16 based on patents.  Because of its strong reliability and applicability, it is affectionately called a "multi-purpose universal transport vehicle" by soldiers.

    Yang Qiu chose this chassis mainly because its structure is very simple and in line with the current industrial processing capabilities of the Republic of China, and secondly because it is very strong and durable.  During World War II, it could be seen on various battlefields from Europe to the deserts of North Africa. Not to mention its output of 80,000 vehicles in various countries around the world is enough to explain it all, so some people call it a "tracked taxi."  .  However, the design team led by Yuan Zhongquan still made appropriate improvements to it.  Mainly because the current water-cooled gasoline engines in various countries around the world are not as small as the original Ford eight-cylinder gasoline engine. Therefore, according to Yang Qiu's suggestion, a pair of road wheels were first added to lengthen the vehicle body to 3.85 meters, and the width of the tracks was also increased by 40 centimeters.  Widen by 5 cm.  In this way, the engine compartment can be enlarged so much that a 150-horsepower eight-cylinder aviation water-cooled gasoline engine used by the Sparrow reconnaissance aircraft can be directly inserted.  However, considering the stability of the output, the power was reduced, and the actual output was 120 horsepower.

    Yuan Zhongquan stood in front of the car and introduced in detail: "The model is named T2 armored vehicle. T is the first abbreviation of tank. It weighs 5.3 tons. The front armor is 23 mm and the other parts are arranged at an angle of 15 mm. The fuel tank in the vehicle can travel a distance of 160 kilometers.  . The highway speed is 55 kilometers and the off-road speed is 25 kilometers. Using our self-produced Krupp armor steel, although we can already produce the road wheels, tracks, engines, springs and gearboxes in-house, the scale is small, so for the time being.  It is purchased from Europe and the United States based on standard parts. The roof is open, with a machine gun mount on the front and a cannon can be installed in the middle. This is the most basic Type A transport type. It is driven by two people, and a Han gun is installed on the front of the car.  After the Type II water-cooled heavy machine gun, it can carry up to 1 ton of ammunition and supplies at a time, or it can carry 6 fully armed soldiers and tow a 70mm infantry cannon, or it can be changed to tow ammunition that can carry 40 70mm infantry cannon shells.  truck or 360kg oil truck.¡±

    "Commander, look." Yuan Zhongquan said this and pointed excitedly to a row of folded steel plates of unknown purpose on the outside of both sides of the car body. Seeing this, Xue Yue immediately laid one of the steel plates flat and sat on it, saying: "This is our own invention.  Yes, there are 3 foldable chairs on each side, so that when the inside is full, 6 more people can sit outside. According to the test, it can be fully loaded without affecting the speed and maneuverability." Looking at this unique and thoughtful "  "Little invention" Yang Qiu also laughed dumbly. Unexpectedly, Yuan ZhongQuan and Xue Yue actually thought of using this method to bring more soldiers, and steel pipes were installed on the upper and lower sides of the stools for feet and armrests.  It can be seen that it has been tested in detail.  In fact, everyone later learned that in actual combat, because soldiers wanted to travel, the number of vehicles carried far exceeded the rated maximum number of 12.

    After introducing the transportation type.  Yuan Zhongquan began to introduce the other two main modifications.  The first is the B-type infantry support type. Its weapons include a 7.62mm machine gun and a 12.7mm Fang heavy machine gun. The Fang may be replaced by a 25mm Bumblebee 16-year-old rapid-fire mechanism that the Zhengzhou factory started mass-manufacturing based on Yang Qiu¡¯s drawings.  This gun is imitated from the 20mm Baker gun equipped by the German army in 1917. It is the originator of the famous Oerlikon. The difference is that the caliber is changed to 25mm and uses a 5-round magazine.  The barrel is much longer and heavier, improving accuracy and the ability to hit armored targets.  Of course, it also has the ability to carry a 37mm gun, but there are very few such artillery in the national defense services, so the current choices are Venomous Fang and Bumblebee.

    The third and most important modification is the Type C fire support vehicle!  This was Yang Qiu's idea based on later generations of self-propelled mortars. A 160 mm heavy mortar was installed at the rear of the vehicle. The barrel and base were fixed with winches. When marching, the barrel was placed across the square carriage. When shooting,  The rear of the vehicle points towards the enemy, and the soldier lowers the mortar and base with a crank handle to fire.  When carrying a 160mm heavy mortar.  It can also carry 2 artillery pieces, 10 shells and propellant packs at the same time.  If combined with a transport type, it can carry a complete artillery squad and a 30-round ammunition trailer, and a standard 12-gun heavy mortar battalion of the National Defense Force can carry all the equipment and ammunition in only 24 vehicles.

    Motorized artillery is the dream of countless generals at this moment!  But currently, all the vehicles known to move with the vehicle are 57 or 37 small guns, so let alone a fire support vehicle carrying a 160 mm heavy mortar with a range of 8 kilometers.  Even if it only carries a 120mm mortar, it can become a nightmare for the enemy.  In order to understand intuitively, Xue Yue also asked the soldiers to operate the fire support type.  The thick 160mm gun barrel is placed horizontally in the compartment, and the front is fixed with a special bracket to prevent vibration.  Ammunition is stored under the seats of soldiers on both sides. When in use, you only need to open the cover to take out the shells. When in use, use the crank to lower the mortar and base for aiming. It only takes three minutes from start to insertion of the first shell. This efficiency  It was no big deal in later generations, but in this day and age, artillery technology has been greatly advanced!

    Interestingly.  Compared with the boring T02 number, the soldiers also nicknamed this series of armored vehicles "Ground Dragon"!

    "Batch production started in October last year. If all are produced in-house, 40 vehicles per month can be manufactured domestically. The standard parts purchased from outsourcing have been delivered since January. There are now three factories participating in assembly, and 100 vehicles per month is not a problem. Here  There are currently 252 vehicles, and a batch of 300 vehicles can be delivered at the end of the month. But the price" Yuan Zhongquan smiled bitterly and spread his hands: "The standard parts purchased in Europe and the United States are very expensive, and our own production speed is fast.  We can¡¯t keep up, so each fire support vehicle like this, including transportation costs and artillery, costs at least 50,000 yuan.¡±

    This price made Chen Guofu take a breath of air. According to what Yuan Zhongquan said just now, if a total of 1,000 vehicles are to be manufactured in this batch, the cost will be a full 50 million yuan and a cost of 25 million US dollars!  You can now build a battleship!  Yang Qiu also secretly smiled bitterly. No wonder Japan, which is not too poor in history, cannot afford armor. The biggest conflict between the navy and the army is always the biggest!

    "What about the mortar? Has the optical sight been solved?"

    "The lenses we make ourselves are still not up to par, but the Chief of General Staff started ordering enough rangefinders and sights from France last September. 1,000 units were delivered last month, leaving 3,000 artillery rangefinders and artillery sights.  It will all be delivered within five months.¡±

    After solving the problem of heavy artillery and artillery's most important sights, the resumption of full-speed production of heavy artillery finally allowed the National Defense Forces to gradually resume the construction of self-produced heavy equipment after a two-year hiatus. The gradual increase in strength also made Yang Qiu, who was worried about the poor party, a lot more relieved.  He looked at Xue Yue with a smile: "Are you ready? You will set off from Hankou at the end of the month."

    Xue Yue had been waiting to go to Europe to show off his skills for a long time, so he immediately blushed and saluted: "Report to the Commander-in-Chief, I've been waiting for a long time!" Yang Qiu smiled slightly and was about to continue talking, but Kuang Xukun suddenly came from behind and pulled him.  He pulled his clothes and handed him a telegram.

    Yang Du, who had been paying attention, only saw his eyebrows twisted tightly, and then slowly relaxed after a long time.  (To be continued)

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