Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 1046 Speed ​​Determines Everything

Between Laon and Lance is a vast plain with forests and hills, but the altitude is not high, and there are rivers, but neither wide nor deep, which is very conducive to the deployment of mechanized troops.

The defensive positions of the German army were also temporarily built, and did not form a complete deep position. After breaking through the first line of defense, the First Armored Division faced a flat plain. Attacking, Ludendorff did not realize that the frontline troops were in great danger.

After breaking through the German defense line, the [-]st Armored Division encountered tenacious resistance from the Germans in a small town.

The First Armored Division took full advantage of the maneuverability of the tanks. After bypassing the town, only a small number of troops were left to surround the town, and the large troops continued to advance towards Reims.

"We can't get entangled with the German army on the road. It is our task to join the French army as quickly as possible. The Germans in the small town are left for the follow-up troops to deal with. As long as they dare to leave the town, they will be attacked." Annihilation." Hanke resolutely carried out the order, and the tactics used by the British Expeditionary Force were the same as those of the German Army, speed is everything.

"Sir, our speed is too fast, the troops need to rest—" The commander of the armored force is looking at the map. If the map is correct, since the start of the attack, the armored force has advanced 25 kilometers to Reims. At this time, the distance Only two and a half hours had passed since the attack began.

Although theoretically, the "Light Cavalry" tank can reach a speed of 20 kilometers per hour in the field, but the speed in actual combat is definitely not so fast. After all, the field environment is more complicated than the training ground, and accidents may occur at any time. Running 25 kilometers in two and a half hours is already super fast.

In fact, in the plan of the staff of the headquarters, the mission of the expeditionary force on the first day was 25 kilometers. Even the staff of the headquarters did not expect that the speed of the armored force was so fast.

This is the first time that the British Expeditionary Force has used tank units to attack on a large scale on the battlefield. It takes time for both infantry and staff to adapt to the speed of tank units.

"Then take a break, do you need to replenish fuel?" Hank handed his water bottle to the commander of the armored force. The water in the water bottle was not filled with wine, and it was the same as the previous attacks. The tanks are full of wine, which they need in order to face the brutal battle.

"Thank you, no need—" the commander of the armored force refused politely, pointing to the external fuel tank installed behind the "light cavalry" and remained silent.

In order to increase the attack distance, the expeditionary force is accustomed to using auxiliary fuel tanks, whether it is a tank or an aircraft. Unlike the German troops who are short of fuel, the fuel for the expeditionary force is supplied by Port Elizabeth. The price is low and the quality is as much as possible, so there is no need to worry about insufficient fuel. The problem is that infantry units often use oil to support combustion when lighting fires in the wild, which is unimaginable in German troops.

When the troops stopped to rest, the tankers and maintenance personnel were busy overhauling the tanks. The diesel engines produced in southern Africa were still quite reliable. After the attack began, only a few dozen tanks failed, and most of the tanks persisted. up to now.

"My name is Chen Xie. It's nice to meet you—" the captain who jumped off the tank introduced himself. Most of the officers and soldiers of the First Armored Division are Chinese. All units are composed of elite officers and soldiers, and the Chinese officers and soldiers of the Southern African Expeditionary Force performed the best, which is recognized by everyone.

"My name is Hank, a Yankee, but now I have become a southern African citizen." Hank is very enthusiastic about Chen Xie, and there is no bloody racial discrimination. According to the ratio of Chinese to whites in the British Expeditionary Force, if you want to discriminate, you are also Chinese Discriminate against white people.

It is an interesting phenomenon that discriminatory behaviors often occur in countries where whites make up the majority, including in southern Africa before.

But after the Chinese occupied the majority of southern Africa, discrimination disappeared in southern Africa. Most white people could restrain themselves, and those who could not restrain themselves were in prison.

"Welcome, Yankee!" Chen Xie laughed and joked, and the joke also depends on the target. Since Hank doesn't care about his "Yankee" status, Chen Xie doesn't have to avoid it deliberately.

Hank shook his head and smiled wryly, and found a random rock to sit down and rest. Unlike the tankers sitting in the tank, the infantrymen had already run 25 kilometers so far. Even if the tanks didn't need to rest, the infantry troops also needed to rest.

At this moment, looking at the infantry officers and soldiers who were still alive and well just now, they were all stumbling around. Only the cooks were trying to light the fire, and the big iron buckets had also been set up, ready to make coffee for everyone.

When there is enough fuel, it is not too simple to start a fire. Collect some branches from the woods, pour gasoline on it, and the flames will ignite immediately. Several tanks rub their hands and laugh around the stove to keep warm. The infantry don't need it. They At the moment, he was sweating profusely, and his hair was smoking. Some people unbuttoned their coats and tried to breathe, but were immediately stopped by the officers. It is not a joke to catch a cold in this weather.

No, it's not because of the weather, but because of the requirements of the headquarters. Since the Spanish flu—no, the American flu pandemic, the expeditionary force has paid enough attention to colds. No one wants to be quarantined because of a cold.

It is precisely because the headquarters attaches great importance to colds. Among all the troops on the Western Front, the impact of hand colds on the British Expeditionary Force is the slightest. As far as Rock knows, nearly [-] U.S. troops have lost combat effectiveness due to colds. Thousands of people died from colds. These are all non-combat deaths, and the officers and soldiers who died did not even receive full pensions.

The French troops were also seriously affected by colds. In the Paris garrison, officers and soldiers of the entire company had to be hospitalized because of colds and lost combat effectiveness. Statistics from the French Ministry of War showed that since the outbreak of the pandemic, nearly [-] This situation is unacceptable to the French.

For soldiers, it's normal to die on the battlefield, but dying in a hospital bed because of a small cold is really frustrating.

Although it has been confirmed that the pandemic originated in the United States, the number of French troops who died due to the pandemic was actually more than that of the US military. In order to prevent the impact of the pandemic, the French government has urgently ordered medical supplies from southern Africa. Masks are important The most important.

"Smoking?" Hank took out a cigarette on his own initiative.

"No, thank you—" Unlike Hank's cigarettes, Chen Xie's was smoking an antique pipe. Judging from the degree of mottled pipe, it should have a story.

"Nice pipe!" Hank praised casually.

"Do you like it? I'll sell it to you for five rands." Chen Xie was generous. There was a big gem inlaid on the pipe, which should be worth more than five rands.

"You might as well grab five rands—" Hank won't be fooled. As the war progresses, there are more and more things like pipes, pocket watches, rings, and necklaces. Things made purely of gold can still be worth some money, gems prices are constantly falling.

"Haha——" Before Chen Xie had time to speak, fierce gunshots suddenly came from not far away.

"Ready to fight—" Hank threw away the cigarette in his mouth and picked up his rifle. Chen Xie jumped into the tank as quickly as possible. Some hesitated, rationally telling them that they should destroy the enemy first, but the temptation of coffee is not small.

"Don't just stand still, kill the enemy first and then come back to drink coffee—" Hank probably doesn't know the allusion of "Warming Wine and Killing Huaxiong", or he would probably say "Pour the wine, some go come."

The battle broke out very suddenly, and ended equally suddenly. It was not an attack by a large German army, but an encounter caused by dozens of German troops.

For the officers and soldiers of the Second Cavalry Division, encounters of this scale are commonplace.

Without the command of Hank, the officers and soldiers of the Second Cavalry Division had a clear division of labor. The machine gunners started to suppress fire after setting up the machine guns. The riflemen knew how to outflank without organizing. Half of the German soldiers were knocked down one by one by precision shooters. Chen Xie jumped into the tank and started to heat it up. The tank didn't move, and the battle was over.

At this time the coffee is not yet brewed.

A total of 35 German soldiers, 21 were killed on the spot, four were seriously injured, and the rest obediently raised their hands and surrendered.

The German-speaking soldiers went to interrogate on the spot, and information came back soon.

"These soldiers are from the 113th Division of the German Army. They are the rearguard of Michael's plan. The 113th Division is organizing a defense line two kilometers away. They don't seem to have expected our speed to be so fast—" Hanke informed Chen Xie of the situation .

Chen Xie was sitting on the rock just now, holding a hot cup of coffee in his hand and thinking.

"Don't think about it, let's go faster, as far as we can go today." Hanke knows the truth that soldiers are expensive, and when the German 113th Division has dug the trenches, then the First Armored Division and the Second Cavalry Division will be able to fight. Breaking through the defenses of the German 113th Division took a lot of work.

"Can you still run?" Chen Xie was worried about the physical strength of the infantry, and that's why the machine was good. As long as there was oil and no failures, the mechanical troops could keep moving forward.

"No problem, my 50-kilometer field training results are excellent." Hanke is full of confidence. Unlike the European troops who lack training, the southern African army has always attached great importance to the training of troops. The [-]-kilometer field training is unheard of for European troops. , is commonplace for the southern African army.

"That's all right, get in the car—let's continue to set off—" Chen Xie drank the coffee in the cup in one gulp, jumped on the tank and shouted to the other tankers to act.

Although the task on the first day was only 25 kilometers, no one said that the task could not be overfulfilled.

(End of this chapter)