afterglow

Chapter 203 Chapter [-] For nothing;

The river channel in this downstream area is relatively narrow. Although crossing the river takes less time, there are advantages and disadvantages. The water flow rate is correspondingly faster, and the turbulent river water increases the difficulty of crossing the river.

A reconnaissance unit of the No. 20 Sixth Division of the Italian Army quietly crossed the Tejo River, trying to carry out follow-up reconnaissance missions.

As a reconnaissance unit, it can be described as large-scale-based on two infantry platoons, equipped with two ultra-light mortars and a heavy machine gun, with a total number of more than 90 people.

This was ingeniously and temporarily formed by the Italians with reference to the feedback from the National Army, because the latter claimed that reconnaissance units at the class and platoon level would often be easily repelled after being discovered by the opponent.

The Italians didn't think about how to hide themselves to prevent being discovered, but they did the opposite. They created such a large-scale reconnaissance unit with the same fanfare as a combat patrol, for fear that people would not know it.

The setting sun is setting, the sunset glow has dyed half of the sky red, and the floating clouds have turned into shimmering red and yellow.

According to Zhou Changfeng's request, it is necessary to carry out patrols in one's own front and control area. According to factors such as geographical location and distance, he divided more than [-] places, large and small, corresponding to different alert standards.

For example, here, according to regulations, security patrols are repeatedly carried out at intervals of three hours, and the number of teams is half a shift.

"We pass by here every day, and I feel that I can walk around smoothly with my eyes closed."

"War is like this. Most of the time is spent marching, camping, and guarding. Combat may only take up one-tenth of the time..."

"Hush! Encounter! Ten o'clock direction!"

When the five British from Company A of the 71st Battalion were walking this boring old road, they happened to see the sneaky Italians crossing the river in rubber boats.

A few rubber boats obviously couldn't send nearly a hundred people across the river at one time, so it had to be repeated several times, which greatly prolonged the time for crossing the river, and it was inevitable that they would be discovered early.

"What are these guys trying to do?"

Several people quickly ran to the side of the woods, and then carefully hid under the cover of bushes.

The corporal who led the team picked up the binoculars and said while observing: "Four small boats, the total number is about one hundred, and at least one heavy machine gun and two mortars can be seen."

Because of the light, they couldn't tell whether these guys were from the Italian army or the National Army by the color of their uniforms.

The corporal ordered the three to return immediately to report, while he and another person stayed to continue to observe.

Later, several people rushed to a nearby stronghold and reported the emergency to the headquarters by phone.

Coincidentally, the third platoon of tank 102 company, which was training nearby, immediately loaded part of the ammunition, and then rushed to support with a platoon of infantry.

"How much oil is there?!"

"Half, enough!"

"Hey! The ammunition hasn't been replenished yet!"

These dozens of people and five tanks had only walked halfway, when they saw a yellow flare soaring into the sky in the distance.

Immediately afterwards, there were clearly audible gunshots.

The two British who stayed behind to watch were discovered by Italian soldiers, and there were only a few of them. In order to prevent them from going back to report the news, dozens of Italian soldiers quickly chased them. .

After firing the signal flare warning, the corporal hurriedly evacuated with another person, and behind him was a group of enemies.

A sudden encounter broke out immediately. The arrogant and careless Italian soldiers didn't realize the imminent crisis when they heard the sound of the engine, and thought it was just a troop transport truck.

Ever since, they quickly found cover nearby, deployed heavy machine guns and mortars, and prepared to fight an encounter.

Because the lieutenant who led the team felt that only by repelling the opponents who came for reinforcements could they conduct reconnaissance and search in this area with peace of mind.

However, contrary to expectations, when the silhouette of the Type [-] tank appeared in sight, the dozens of Italian troops were immediately stunned.

"Boom-boom!"

A bomb flew to the side of the Italian army who had just found cover, and then a series of "da da da" sounded.

The soil splashed by the explosion scattered down one after another, and the dust flew up for a while.Several Italian soldiers were hit by the 7.36mm bullet and fell convulsively on the field by the river beach.

As an old gadget born ten years ago, the Type [-] light tank only weighs eight tons and is equipped with a short-barreled cannon and two machine guns. It is actually considered backward today, but this is not a group of light infantry able to contend.

A 6.5mm bullet hit the 16mm thick nickel-manganese alloy steel plate head-on, and was either bounced off or shattered directly.

The terrified Italian army fled to the woods tens of meters away, and then desperately fired back.

They cleverly placed the Fiat heavy machine gun in a small depression. The gun body was no more than [-] centimeters from the ground. From a distance, the target was extremely small.

At this time, the flat trajectory becomes a disadvantage. Even if the elevation angle of the tank gun is only a little bit different, the deviation of the explosive shell will be magnified many times when it is hundreds of meters away.

There were more than a dozen explosions around the small depression, but none of the shells could effectively hit it. The tanks had to use machine guns to keep suppressing it while slowly approaching.

The soldiers of a platoon also dispersed and followed closely behind the tank.

To everyone's surprise, the ultra-light mortars equipped by the Italians actually added a lot of trouble to this supposedly unsuspecting encounter.

For the infantry units of any country today, without carrying anti-tank weapons, they can only rely on cluster grenades and blasting tubes to engage in close combat with tanks.

However, the Brescia M35 45mm ultra-light mortar equipped by the Italian army is an out-and-out wonder. Today's popular mortars are bipods and seat plates, relying on shells to fall freely in the barrel And firing.

However, the ultra-light mortar of the Italian army is a tripod like a heavy machine gun. There is a magazine containing ten rounds of empty rifle ammunition on the top. The shells are loaded from the muzzle and then pushed out by the powder gas when the empty ammunition is fired. muzzle.

Therefore, its rate of fire is very fast, and it also has the ability of flat fire that ordinary mortars cannot do.

Therefore, when the five tanks approached to about 300 meters, a series of high-explosive bombs were ushered in immediately.

Since the caliber is only 45mm, this high-explosive bomb weighs only 450g and is filled with 70g of TNT explosives. It is not very powerful, but it cannot hold a large amount.

In just over a dozen seconds, the leading Type [-] tank was hit five times. The commander's observation mirror was shattered, the turret ring was damaged and stuck, and it lost its combat effectiveness.

Two more high-explosive shells missed the target, missed the tank and fell behind, knocking down several people.

The rumbling series of explosions startled the tank soldiers, thinking that the Italian army was carrying some kind of anti-tank weapon, so they hurriedly stopped, regardless of 21, and fired in that general direction desperately.

"Da da da da——" The dense firepower overwhelmed the opponent in an instant, and the machine gun tracer bullets drew a conspicuous line of fire in the dusk, and the bullets fired by the two sides were so dense that they seemed to be able to touch each other.

Another tank next to it was also hit continuously by 45 mm high-explosive bombs. The driver was injured by the explosion because the driver did not close the hatch tightly for the convenience of getting on and off the vehicle.

But a mortar is just a mortar after all, and its ammunition is not a dedicated armor-piercing shell. It is still impossible to completely destroy a tank.

As the two M35 mortars were killed, several tanks approached slowly while maintaining fire suppression.

The morale of the Italian army was already low, and now they lost their support, so they quickly cast smoke bombs to cover their sight, and then hurriedly retreated.

But... it took so much effort to cross the river, how easy is it to escape now?

When the tank and the accompanying soldiers emerged from the smog, nearly ten Italian soldiers were knocked down in the blink of an eye.

The tank tracks rolled over the corpse, as if a person stepped on a rotten watermelon, and the blood and viscera exploded and splashed around like juice and melon flesh.

The defeated Italian soldiers no longer had the confidence and leisure they had when they set off. They were killed along the river beach, and their corpses were strewn all over the place.

I don't know who started it, and soon, they threw their weapons aside one after another, and surrendered with their hands raised high.

But there were also a few fast-running and clever Italian soldiers who escaped into the rubber boats, luckily dodged the bullets shot from behind, and escaped successfully.

After half an hour.

"Is it all wiped out?"

"Yes, only about ten people escaped across the river."

"Interrogate the captives, count the seized documents, and bring them over immediately after they are collected."

After interrogation, everyone learned the specific situation of the enemy in front of them.

It had been previously thought that the enemy force swaggering across the river was a combat patrol, that is, to make a tentative attack, to raid the outpost security position.

After working for a long time, this stupid team is actually here to "reconnaissance"?

Normal people, after learning that reconnaissance teams are always discovered and repelled, must be thinking about how to prevent being discovered, such as taking a long way or strengthening the camouflage.

As a result, this group of guys ran in the opposite direction. They really deserve to be Italians!

The summarized key military information was listed on the paper, and the officers in the headquarters started whispering as they watched the new enemy numbers appear one after another.

"God, on the thirty-kilometer-wide front, they have assembled four divisions, and at least two divisions are being deployed." Blake, who had recovered from minor injuries, said in surprise.

"There are quite a few on our side." Roald pointed to the map and said, "But which side will take the lead in launching the offensive is yet to be judged."

Chretien, with a relaxed expression, pressed the nearly burnt cigarette into the ashtray, "No matter which side starts first, they will have to pick a place to make a breakthrough, and this is the most suitable place for us in theory. "

He glanced at Zhou Changfeng who was thinking, "However, I have full confidence in our defense."

Blake and Chretien often tear each other down. On the one hand, it is because of the old enemies of Britain and France, and on the other hand, their political positions are completely opposite. They argued for no less than half a month.

But Zhou Changfeng didn't care about these, how to build and strengthen the fortifications had to follow his rules.

The forward security position responsible for warning and confirming the enemy's movements; the main position composed of three reinforced trenches, with concertina-shaped barbed wire, minefields, and deer villages in between; the oblique position used to hinder the enemy's breakthrough and divide its offensive formation; The ring position support point used to delay the enemy's in-depth development and buy time for one's own counterattack; the firepower point used for delay and surprise the enemy...

All kinds of trenches, bunkers, traffic trenches, and firepower points are criss-crossed and dotted all over the place. All defensive areas are divided strictly in accordance with the principle of "being able to fight independently and flexibly support each other".

The defensive positions constructed under Zhou Changfeng's personal inspection and guidance for more than ten days in a row from morning to night can be said to be breathtaking. From the halfway up to the top of the mountain, the 109 highland is covered with dizzying tunnels.

This completely shocked the [-]th Brigade, and Chretien and Blake, who claimed to have "experienced the largest positional warfare in human history", were also speechless.

Blake even felt that the rich experience accumulated by the Europeans in the European war with millions of casualties was stolen by the Chinese, otherwise it would be impossible to create such a headache arrangement behind closed doors.

While the officers of the [-]th Brigade were discussing the other party's possible actions next, the Spaniards and Italians in the northern city of Talavera were doing the same.

The headquarters of the 26th Division is located in the Analiya Bank. This private bank with a reinforced concrete structure and many granite masonry is usually regarded by the local citizens as the strongest building.

Now, the same is true in the military, so it has become an ideal place to arrange the headquarters.

Regarding the end of the "well-prepared" reconnaissance team not long ago, the Spaniard was very sorry on the surface, but he couldn't help mocking in his heart, while the Italian who was beaten in the face pretended not to care.

Lieutenant Colonel Ricardo, Major General Antonio's adjutant, said in surprise: "The Republican Army doesn't have many armored vehicles, but there are a few tanks here, and they even allocated precious armored units to these volunteer troops. Does this mean that they attach great importance to this place?"

Domingo, the commander of the 96th Brigade of the National Army, pondered: "This is for sure. Talavera is the core of the battle. After these days of fighting, we can be sure that the volunteer troops on the other side of the river are experienced elites and are difficult to deal with. , I think you should also agree."

These words were a bit ironic, but the Italian officers who had just been slapped in the face were powerless to refute.

Antonio kept staring at the map with a blank face, and only raised his head at this moment and said slowly: "There are many people in Rome and Florence who admire ancient Chinese books. I have also read them recently, and I agree with many of them, such as 'take the lead The side that makes the move has the advantage, and the side that makes the shot later will be constrained', this is highly consistent with Vegetius and Machiavelli's thinking, and it is exactly what we should follow."

"Your Excellency, do you think the attack should be launched in advance?" Ricardo asked.

"In order to break the balance of victory and defeat, we need to create a salient on the other side of the Tejo River to facilitate the deployment of follow-up troops, and the city of Talavera cannot be contained by those guys on the other side, they must be resolved."

"Yes!"

"With all due respect, General, this will disrupt the deployment of the campaign." Domingo was a little dissatisfied. He felt that the Italians were eager to save face and completely disregarded rationality.

Antonio glanced at him and said lightly, "I will apply to the staff, Colonel."

(End of this chapter)