afterglow

Chapter 563 Leclerc; French big eight wheel
An excited guy unexpectedly ran in front of him. Zhou Changfeng subconsciously took half a step back, thinking he was being attacked suddenly.

He was stunned for half a second, recalling fragments of his experiences many years ago.

"If I remember correctly, are you Otclaw? Are you still serving?" Zhou Changfeng asked uncertainly after taking a lot of effort to remember his name.

"Correct, I'm glad you still remember me." The visitor shook his head again and said in an indifferent tone: "I only have the title of consultant now."

This is Philippe-François Otclaw, who had a more famous pseudonym in his original plane - Leclerc, and the main battle tank named after him.

Historically, in order to follow Free France, he changed his name to Leclerc to prevent his wife and children from being retaliated against, and then traveled to London to join De Gaulle...

Of course, Zhou Changfeng didn't know that the man in front of him was Leclerc.

Now France has changed its face, the regime has changed, and Leclerc's troops were disbanded in Le Mans. He, who belongs to a ducal family, returned to his hometown alone, intending to wait and see for a while, so he did nothing for several months.

Due to the lack of military talents in the newly formed armed forces, many officers from the Third Republic also joined to fill the vacancies. Leclerc was also re-recruited and awarded the rank of reserve colonel, participating in organizing troop training and exercises. He was recently promoted to brigadier general, but in fact he was only It's just a false position with no real power.

Zhou Changfeng said with a smile: "I can't forget the foie gras and wine at the college. I would like to try it if I have the chance."

So relaxed!
The eyes of these French people seemed to want to eat them alive. Those beautiful, tall and luxurious girls who looked sideways like ridges and peaks were like coyotes seeing lone lambs.

"As you said, this is indeed a wonderful experience."

Leclerc pretended to be surprised and replied: "Is that all? You are welcome at any time."

The feeling of being watched by everyone is very strange, especially when these eyes are full of admiration and respect, pride inevitably arises, and the burning eyes make Zhou Changfeng, who is used to seeing big scenes, a little embarrassed.

"Hey, hello."

The organizers of the dinner were very diligent and hired many translators, so there was no need to worry about poor language communication.

Leclerc said with a wry smile: "France lost 130 million people in the past European war, and 100 million people were disabled, but we got nothing. This painful memory made the people hate war, and they will not regret (absent from this event) war).”

The general direction recognized by the upper echelons of the French Society is to maintain neutrality and a wait-and-see posture, but to prepare military forces as soon as possible to eliminate the exiled government of the Third Republic that fled to the colonies.

At this time, Leclerc's wife reached out to Xia Xiaoshi, and the two shook hands and started chatting.

"Your honor, ma'am."

Such a situation made Xia Xiaoshi on the side no longer interested in chatting. She suddenly felt that this spacious and elegant hall had become a dragon's den and a tiger's den.

"I'm too stupid. I didn't believe his achievements a month ago, but after learning that the British tried despicable murders, I was convinced." A writer introduced himself in a serious way.

However, a neutral old power in a hotspot... It is obvious that despite ideological differences, its united front value is still huge.

The latter clapped his hands and introduced loudly and energetically: "Ladies and gentlemen, the outstanding artists of the East are in front of you. The landing operation from the sea to the land is the most complex and difficult military operation. Now, the world's most outstanding The amphibious tactician is here."

This is actually somewhat contradictory - Britain is destined to send troops to help defend itself, so it will almost be inevitable to fight against Britain.

"Perhaps you have already experienced the benefits of remaining neutral." Zhou Changfeng said nonchalantly.

Zhou Changfeng, who was holding the goblet, muttered: "Your internal affairs are still in chaos. If it cannot be resolved in time, you may be absent from this war."

The Germans desperately wanted to gain new allies, but neither the British nor the Americans were willing to have new enemies. Prime Minister Winston insisted on ordering air strikes on the German troops passing through French territory. This behavior caused considerable condemnation and accusations. .

Several people entered the room together, and many people were already chatting and laughing in the spacious and elegant hall. Male and female waiters were coming and going with plates.

At this time, someone came over and asked Leclerc curiously: "Ot Crouch, you actually know him."

The French, who lack fighting spirit, tend to want to live a closed-door life without fighting against the world.

It is human instinct to worship the strong. As a traditional land power, the French admire famous generals even more.

Someone soon suggested: "Exquisite command art and excellent tactician, this is Marshal Victor of the East!"

As soon as this statement came out, the crowd echoed.

Victor was an outstanding tactician during the Napoleonic Wars and one of the twenty-six Imperial Marshals. His military talents are obvious to all, and he is the most troublesome French general to the British army.

There was an endless stream of celebrities who came to chat, and everyone even took a group photo at the end. However, Zhou Changfeng spent most of the dinner talking with Leclerc about past experiences and various tactical issues.

The latter sighed: "It's a pity that I can't display my talents on the battlefield like you. This is a soldier's regret."

Zhou Changfeng smiled and said: "If you are willing, the expedition to the African colonies will be your chance to show off."

In terms of age, the difference between the two is seven years, which is not much, but the former's luck is extremely enviable. Facts have proved that luck comes with time, and ability and ambition alone are not enough. Without opportunities to perform, one can only live a mediocre life.

Looking back on the past, "Zhou Changfeng" came to Saumur with several military students from the Yingtian Armed Forces Academy to "learn" cavalry tactics - in fact, it was more like a tourist visit.

In the historic Anjou region, a small town surrounded by many vineyards is the place where the highest quality wine is produced. However, it is more famous than wine for equestrianism. There is the world-famous equestrian city Saumur.

Wearing a black uniform with gold tassels and gold thread embroidery, wearing a black flat-topped round hat, riding a black horse, drinking mellow wine, and being accompanied by a different enthusiastic girl every time on vacation...

At that time, the equestrian instructor was Leclerc, who was just a captain at that time.

For "Zhou Changfeng", this is definitely the most nourishing time, with no pressure, no burden, and no responsibility.

The original intention of the Military Training Department of the Ministry of War is to let outstanding military students go and see if the Europeans who are fighting every day have spawned anything new, so as to avoid falling behind unknowingly, so that the collision of new ideas can create different sparks. I once thought that such a move would turn out to be a disguised benefit.

It is said that the master leads the way and practice depends on the individual. After the Ming Dynasty's modern military system was integrated and became its own school, the French actually had nothing to teach. The national conditions and operational areas of the two countries are completely different, and the corresponding methods of military construction must also be biased.

As far as armored forces are concerned, the French tank manufacturing industry is quite advanced. They have long begun to use integral casting processes and welding processes to produce tanks, and have also formulated universal production standards. It can be said that quality must be high and quantity must be quantity. .

However, the tactics of using tanks apart from the tanks themselves are not satisfactory.

Based on its own needs, the French army divided tanks into two categories, namely infantry tanks and cavalry tanks.

The main task of the infantry tank is to cooperate with the infantry within a 50km range, attack enemy fortifications, positions, and defense lines, rely on heavy armor to withstand incoming firepower, and assist the infantry in combat.

As the name suggests, cavalry tanks play a role similar to that of cavalry. They rely on faster speed to carry out tactical penetration of enemy troops within a range of 100 to 150 kilometers, divide them, encircle and annihilate them.

The French armored tactics are designed based on the fact that they will not stray too far from the Maginot Line and will not take the initiative to carry out strategic attacks. They have distinctive characteristics.

However, the needs of the Ming army were very different. The Ming army needed to cross thousands of rivers and mountains and cross the ocean before launching an offensive, which was completely different from the French army's defensive counterattack purpose.

But in terms of the same offensive principle, the Ming army was different from the German army, because the Ming army's combat area did not have vast plains for armored forces at division, corps, or group army levels to deploy.

Unless the war takes place in the North China Plain - but this is obviously impossible.

Therefore, the brigade-level tank troops of the Ming Army are regarded as elite iron fists, used to cooperate with the motorized infantry units to launch tactical assaults against the enemy with a depth of no more than 50 km in a single attack. Their usage is similar to ancient equipment. cavalry.

Under this guiding ideology, the performance of the tank designed by Akito to break through the position was relatively balanced - it was actually a medium tank. It can be said that he hit the right path without knowing the future development trend.

"...If we land in North Africa, then Tunisia is obviously the first choice. If we occupy Sardinia first, we can get a stable springboard. Landing with the support of the air force will be much safer."

"According to this idea, Algiers is also a good target. We can capture Mallorca first and use it to go to Algiers."

"It's a bit unrealistic to talk about this now. If you attack North Africa, the British will definitely oppose it, and the Italians will also hinder you." After speaking, Zhou Changfeng handed the empty goblet to the approaching waiter.

"Yes, the Mediterranean does not belong to us." Leclerc's eyes dimmed a bit.

Another general who was in the audience clenched his fist and cursed: "Shameless British! We will never forget their sneak attack on our fleet, and the stupid politicians of the Third Republic, who ruined the glory of the French Navy."

Zhou Changfeng drew a beautiful blueprint for everyone present. It was easy to land in North Africa and regain control of the colonies, but the prerequisites were a fantasy.

The fleet of the British Royal Navy and the Italian Royal Navy cruised in the Mediterranean Sea without a single possibility in sight.

It was late at night and the dinner party was over.

Many people chose to stay directly at the Ritz Hotel, but Zhou Changfeng returned to his original hotel for safety reasons.

After drinking many glasses of wine, the two of them were tipsy. Xia Xiaoshi, who had been wearing high heels for so long, was even walking a little unsteadily. Zhou Changfeng, who had been chatting for several hours, was also tired and almost fell asleep on the bed.

After sleeping deeply until the early morning of the next day, they both woke up early, and it was only after five o'clock.

It’s early in the morning and there’s nothing to do, so what else can you do? Xia Xiaoshi muttered that her feet hurt, so Zhou Changfeng stretched out his hand to pinch her, and the pinching turned into lingering on the bed.

Their experience shows that exercising first in the morning will increase your appetite, and breakfast seems to be more delicious.

Two days later.

I don't know who leaked the news about Zhou Changfeng's eloquent remarks at that dinner. The major newspapers chose to quote it out of context in an unscrupulous manner in order to gain attention.

After further distortion and distortion in the circulation of information, by the time it was published in a British newspaper, it had become "In retaliation for the British attack, the Pacific Serpent wants to go to the Mediterranean."

The glass-hearted British immediately refuted it. The most quoted words were Vice Admiral Charles Ramsay's words "unless he can transport the fleet to the Mediterranean by train."

At this moment, Zhou Changfeng was visiting Panhard Company with some members of the inspection team. After learning the news, he was dumbfounded.

He said to everyone unhappily: "Isn't this right? The British like to judge others by themselves. I'm not that petty."

"The prime minister can punt a boat, so Zhou Daizhao is certainly not inferior." Li Zhijie laughed and said seriously: "But a kayak is a boat, and a landing ship is also a boat."

The whole group laughed.

The directors and engineers of Panhard Company present naturally did not understand the meaning. They just wanted to know whether these picky Chinese people were willing to place an order.

Panhard Company, a well-known manufacturer of mobile vehicles, many of the armored vehicles equipped by the French army are from their handicrafts.

The Panhard 178 light armored vehicle produced by it has very good overall performance. As a four-wheeled vehicle, the front armor is 20~26mm thick, the top speed can reach 72km/h, and it uses a 25mm tank gun.

The Ming army generals who already had the Type 40 wheeled assault gun were not interested in it. What attracted Zhou Changfeng and others was a unique eight-wheeled armored vehicle.

It has a flat body, low shape, thick armor, good firepower, and retractable steel wheels in the middle...

【Picture】

This is the Panhard 201 heavy armored vehicle, a distinctive French weapon with an 8×4 layout. Although it has eight wheels, the two pairs of steel wheels with anti-skid teeth in the middle will be folded when maneuvering on the road. Only The middle steel wheel will be lowered only when going off-road, thereby dispersing the pressure and increasing the off-road obstacle surmounting ability.

A member of the inspection team got in and took a test ride for a while. As soon as he came out, he complained: "You really don't treat soldiers as human beings. It's so narrow inside and one person has to do the work of two people. He will collapse from exhaustion in two hours at most." "

An armored vehicle of less than ten tons actually has a frontal armor about 60㎜ thick. It can reach a top speed of 80㎞/h on the road and uses a 25㎜ tank gun. The French like to create amazing vehicles in a limited space. Weird things about data?
"They said that this thing has been mass-produced, and the military has placed orders for a thousand units in a row, so if we want to buy it, we won't increase the price, we just have to wait a little longer." Li Zhijie said.

"Isn't that asking us to add more money?" Several members of the inspection team said in unison.

(End of this chapter)