Canteen System Assistance Notes

Attack, but how many Eighth Route Army soldiers there are, where they come from, and which direction they will mainly attack are all unknown. In the dark mountains and fields around, there seem to be red eyes lurking at all times, staring at one's neck in the corner of one's vision, making one feel a chill down one's spine.

What to do? What to do? You can't just sit there and wait for death! The situation is completely dark. The phone lines to the division headquarters and the next village are all disconnected. They must have been cut by the red bandits. The commanders of both sides gave the order at the same time. No matter what, the phone lines must be connected!

As a Soviet-equipped attack army, the First Army had a much higher radio distribution rate than the general national army. It was able to set up a communications platoon in the regiment, and the platoon was equipped with a shortwave radio, unlike other national army units that could only "not distribute it for the time being."

However, due to the constant amplitude transmission characteristics of shortwave radio at the time, they could call distant people, but those nearby could not reach them. They were unable to contact their neighbors and had to rely on landlines to communicate. The signalman, cursing, brought a few guards, picked up the telephone line reel, and began to advance towards the village where the enemy was located.

The moonlight was dim today, and within a hundred meters of the village, everyone was plunged into endless darkness. The signalmen and soldiers crouched nervously as they advanced along the hardened fields and dirt roads outside the village. The original telephone line was completely gone, and tracing the wires to find the break was impossible, so they had to re-lay it. The signalman prayed to the gods as he tugged at the reel, pulling the twisted-pair enameled wire toward the village on the other side.

Just two miles, just two miles!

But sometimes things don't go as planned. Just as they stepped onto the dirt road running north and south between the two villages, emerging from the cover of withered grass and shrubs, the signalman's foot suddenly struck something metallic. There was a crackling sound, followed by a clang as a metal ring was torn apart. The next second, less than a meter away, a brilliant flare rose into the sky!

“Get down quickly…”

Before he could finish his words, countless orange sparks lit up in the surrounding night sky and bombarded the squad exposed in the circle of light! Dense tracer bullets connected into a net, pressing them down so that they could not raise their heads. Then, whistling mortars began to fire towards the area covered by the flares - the power was not great, it was a 60mm gun, but it was enough to become an absolute nightmare for this squad of only a few people. With the sound of bang bang, the two groups of people each left behind several corpses and ran back in a panic.

The enemy did not miss this opportunity and began to pursue the retreating squad relentlessly. A series of tracer ammunition chased their butts and hit into Chicheng Village and Huaxichi Village, splashing a lot of soil.

The remaining national army had never suffered such a humiliation before, and immediately organized a firepower counterattack: With such a style, it must be the Red Bandits! With such a density of firepower, the Red Bandits must have at least one division! The Red Bandits are launching a fierce offensive against our army, brothers, hold on!

For a moment, artillery shells flew between the two villages and machine guns fired. The national army set up small mortars and heavy machine guns and fired fiercely at the middle; and the "red bandits" hiding in the darkness were not to be outdone, and also fired a large number of bullets and mortars at themselves. The two sides exchanged fierce fire all night, and both used dense rain of bullets to block the other side's night attack.

But it was not until dawn that they discovered that there was not a single corpse of the Eighth Route Army soldiers on the dirt road between the two villages.

The number of Eighth Route Army troops that besieged them remains a mystery.

On this noisy night, the main force of our army was quietly infiltrating further south.

The frontline commanders deployed a battalion, forcing two regiments to fight each other fiercely at night, battling friendly forces. Meanwhile, our field regiments were advancing toward the Kuomintang units further afield. According to the electronic reconnaissance unit, there were also active radio stations transmitting in Xiaojin Village and Ning County further south. Combining intelligence gathered by local grassroots militia organizations and deciphering telegrams with a single click, the forward command was able to determine that the remaining regiments of the Kuomintang's 78th Division, as well as troops from the 53rd Division of the 90th Army, were spread out like a pancake on both sides of the road between Changwu and Qingyang.

Anyway, the pancakes are there, and it depends on the appetite of the Eighth Route Army soldiers how many they can eat.

Chapter 279: Bandit Suppression Farce (3) Only the Civilians

As for the reasons for launching the February Incident, one of the most widely accepted reasons is that the Kong and Song families, who had suffered heavy losses in the "1939 grain operation crisis", and a large number of Guoju military leaders and landlords had the opportunity to recover their losses and retaliate.

Because of the needs of the Eighth Route Army, they launched an encirclement and suppression campaign against the Eighth Route Army's "last base".

After all, in history people would directly shout slogans like "eliminate the border areas", so it is normal for them to do something desperate now.

However, among this group of people, there are also some who did not suffer much loss and even made a profit.

For example, Ma Shaoyun, who owns the Ning Province Plain.

In Ning Province, due to lack of financial knowledge and financial advisors, he could not participate in the increasingly frenzied futures speculation and could only gradually sell his grain in exchange for profits. In addition, due to the inconvenience of transportation from Xingqing Prefecture to Guanzhong area, the transportation

Due to his poor transportation capacity (the route with large transportation capacity was through the border area), he did not have time to sell too much grain, and the price was hit down by the Eighth Route Army.

All in all, Ma Shaoyun made some money, more than most people involved in this turmoil, but he felt it was not enough, and he felt that it was not interesting enough, so he wanted to make more.

Therefore, when Chiang Kai-shek's people brought the intention of "jointly besieging the border areas and making money together", he was very happy and responded immediately.

The Eighth Route Army has money and can be robbed; but the Eighth Route Army is powerful and difficult to rob.

This was a paradoxical problem. Ma Shaoyun pondered for a long time and finally came up with what he thought was a very good solution: before Chiang Kai-shek's army launched an all-out offensive, he would withdraw the two Ning Province Cavalry Brigades, the First and Second Brigades, and return to the province. He then submitted a request to the border region: "I want to pass through your defense zone to fight in Suiyuan Province!"

At this time, the Nationalist Army was launching the "Winter Offensive of 28" against the Japanese, and Japanese troops were also entrenched in Suiyuan Province. This was indeed a justifiable request. The Eighth Route Army approved his request, allowing the two cavalry brigades to pass through the border area and head north. However, they were required to follow the route designated by the Eighth Route Army and camp in designated areas. They also proposed to send troops to accompany them.

Ma Shaoyun agreed immediately. He believed that as long as his cavalry entered the vicinity of the Red Zone, the roads built by the Eighth Route Army would become the perfect aid for their highly mobile cavalry. Then, the Eighth Route Army would be hesitant to act rashly, and the cavalry would simply charge in and out, like Sun Wukong entering Princess Iron Fan's belly, turning the whole place into a complete mess!

After that, the infantrymen squatting by the Yellow River could file out and seize territory - not to mention that He Jingzhou, who was in charge of the Yellow River defense in the north, would also send troops to support.

As long as this tactic succeeded, the large quantities of "Nep" brand refined salt and "Yinkela" brand fertilizer produced in Ding and Yan would all be theirs! Ma Shaoyun told his commander Ma Guangzong about this strategy, which he called the "Trojan Horse Strategy", and instructed him to learn from "those Trojan foreigners" and take over the Dingyan Industrial Zone controlled by the Eighth Route Army in one fell swoop.

Ning Ma's troops began to move.

As one of the Ning Province Ma, Ma Shaoyun had always been the anti-communist Northwest vanguard. He had numerous troops under his command, but the vast majority were conscripted men, with very poor combat effectiveness. The primary force that ensured this Ning Province local emperor's stability on the throne was the 168th Infantry Division and two cavalry brigades, of which the two Ning Province cavalry brigades were the most powerful.

The "brigades" under these two local organizational units were said to have a size of about 400 people and 300 combat cavalry horses, which was a large organization. Their troops were equipped with sabers, lances and machine guns. Most of their members were Northwestern Han people who were accustomed to riding horses and had learned to ride horses since childhood. And because there were only a few cannons in the entire brigade, their combat rate was very high, and there were basically no carts that needed to be pulled by pack horses. All of them were horse-drawn cavalry with excellent mobility.

In addition, most of them are related by blood, and are united by the bonds of fellow townsmen, villagers and relatives - just like the "Xiang Army", an important support for the Qing Dynasty official Zeng Disheng to defeat the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom - a very combat-effective type of feudal warlord army, it can be said to be a "Northwest elite force"! Powerful!

The cavalry moved like the wind, and the two cavalry brigades withdrawn from the front quickly assembled and deployed. They boarded large sheepskin rafts from the area south of Wuzhong, crossed the Yellow River, passed through the Wuzhong Defense Zone where Ma Ziyin was stationed, and began to advance towards the heart of the Eighth Route Army. According to the pre-planned route, after crossing the river, they should have headed southeast, then turned north at Yanchi, continued north through the Yimeng grasslands, and finally reached their destination.

But how could this group of cavalrymen, who already had ulterior motives, remain obedient? After just a few days of walking, they could no longer contain themselves and were ready to take action.

—―--—---

On the night of the operation, the troops were arranged to camp in a wilderness northwest of Yanchi. As promised, the Eighth Route Army provided them with fodder, fresh water and food.

The soldiers were causing great harm to the people, and the two brigades were very large.

They were all far away from the village, which made the Ma family army, who had to be controlled by their superiors and restrained these days, very uncomfortable.

From here, you can see the industrial park on the other side of the salt pond from afar. Before night falls, the chimneys, reaction towers and busy crowds there are all visible.

These cavalrymen felt novelty and fear, and of course, there was also the impending

A greedy thing to do.

They might have originally been herders of sheep, shearers, horse breeders, or even farmers, like the new recruits from the Eighth Route Army's Ningxia and Gansu regions. However, compared to the new recruits who had undergone education and training and understood basic principles and could distinguish between good and evil, they were now more like well-trained bandits, acting on instinct.

Ma Guangzong ordered that the entire army would not listen to the Eighth Route Army's wake-up call today. They had to get up in secret early and feed the horses in the dark. Then, at dawn, they could drive their horses and launch an offensive in this prosperous place. The soldiers, who could finally vent their enthusiasm, were very motivated. With a desire for money, they got up carefully and quietly and personally fed the horses with hay mixed with beet pulp.

This is the traditional "battle rations" of the Northwest Cavalry, meaning that the troops are about to go into battle.

"Commander! Brothers, are you ready? That red-headed guy is so stupid that he hasn't noticed us yet!"

"Good! Very good! Brothers, let's first capture those Red Bandit representatives and kill them as a sacrifice, then we'll go and wipe out the troops that are following us!" Ma Guangzong mounted his tall horse and drew his pistol. "Then, we'll gallop off and wipe out the Red Bandit's lair. After we're done, we won't stop for three days, and everyone will get a share!"

"Ow!"

A beast-like response echoed, and someone called out their warhorse, charging towards the Eighth Route Army representative's tent on the outskirts of the camp. However, when they opened the tent, they found no one inside. "Report to the Brigade Commander! The Eighth Route Army isn't here; they've run away!"

"Haha!" Ma Guangzong laughed loudly. "The Eighth Route Army is so cowardly! In that case, brothers, let's charge!"

The all-horse troops moved with incredible speed. Once the clatter of horseshoes hammered down, it resembled a storm of steel, sending surging shockwaves that echoed far across the dry northwest Gobi Desert. The two brigades, boasting over 6000 cavalrymen, managed to create a formidable attack with a force of only around 3000. The dust kicked up by the horses' hooves could be seen from kilometers away.

In the early morning of the border area, they galloped on horseback along the golden road towards the rising sun in the east.

The loss of half their actual strength at the outset of the battle did not cause any abnormal mentality among the Ma family army. Instead, the cheering of the cavalry group made them full of confidence: the first target was naturally the pipelines, ironworks and material warehouses that the Yanchi group did not understand. Brothers, charge!

The brigade commander said, apart from the few Eighth Route Army soldiers monitoring us, there are only those Eighth Route Army civilians here!

Chapter 280: Bandit Suppression Farce (4) Battle of Yanchi

The imposing charge of cavalry has long been a natural killer of infantry. While classical infantry could counter cavalry by forming battle formations, this was ultimately limited to defending against cavalry. The choice to fight or not, even with the advent of gunpowder weapons, often remained in the hands of the cavalry.

Ma Guangzong, commander of the Ma Clan Army, has a simple yet dangerous tactic. Since your main force, the Eighth Route Army, is highly skilled in combat, I will utilize the mobility of my cavalry to charge and plunder throughout your internal transportation network. This will not only allow me to cooperate with allies in combat, but will also allow me to slaughter and plunder and satisfy my own bestial instincts.

The first target they chose was to attack the Eighth Route Army who came to monitor them.

The morning glow, which should have been vibrant and vibrant, now resembled a sunset, thick and heavy. More than 300 cavalrymen formed a torrent of black, brown, and other colorful colors, galloping along the gravel road. In a blink of an eye, they rushed into the surveillance camp of the Eighth Route Army. As expected, upon seeing this scene, the Eighth Route Army had already thrown away their weapons and fled for their lives towards the salt pond.

In the distance of the road, there were some vague figures fleeing. They were indeed the castrated Eighth Route Army!

The cavalrymen spurred their horses, leaned forward, and drew their scimitars, accelerating their horses. The horses, in perfect harmony, understood their masters' wishes and charged forward. Chasing infantry was a cavalry specialty. When facing cavalry, facing them head-on offered a glimmer of hope, but exposing their backs meant they were simply lambs to the slaughter.

The surrounding roads began to narrow gradually, and the distance between the cavalry and the deserters also narrowed rapidly. Then, when the cavalry penetrated the faint dust and rushed forward, they were very surprised to see that the group of Eighth Route Army deserters ran into the middle of a group of Eighth Route Army civilian laborers. The people next to them raised a red flag, and the group of civilian laborers made a gap and let the deserters into the formation. Immediately afterwards, with a long whistle, the enemy's line changed significantly.

The first row of people lay down, the second row of laborers squatted down, and the third row of laborers, together with the Eighth Route Army deserter, picked up a long gun from the ground.

"Everyone—bayonets fixed—!"

"Salvo—ready—!"

The three rows of people moved together, and in an instant, three rows of gleaming guns appeared!

Ma Guangzong's judgment was correct. Apart from the surveillance troops, there were really no regular troops of the Eighth Route Army in front of him.

However, what he didn't know was that these extra "civilian laborers," although not wearing military uniforms, had another name within the Eighth Route Army: the Eighth Route Army Infrastructure Engineering Corps.

In addition to building railway bridges and factories and houses, one of their current tasks is to use cement produced in Fuxian County in the border area or asphalt produced in Yanchang to harden some frequently damaged roads.

Their management is based on military standards, and they have to undergo military training every once in a while. Although they don't have many machine guns, they have enough old-fashioned rifles that have been discarded to make sure each person has one.

In Ning Province, under the rule of the Ma family army, only civilians would do this kind of work, so it is no wonder that they would admit their mistakes.

Pulled out is the army's "civilian laborer", when has the Ma family army ever seen

what!

The construction troops, arranged in three rows, showed no mercy. They fired with the swiftest possible motion, as if they were in military training. With just one volley from their rifles, the vanguard of the Ma family cavalry was completely wiped out, their horses and men falling to the ground.

bang bang bang!

The dense volleys were transformed into rhythmic free shooting. The classic "three-stage shot" maximized the firing density of the rifle, which could repel more cavalry charges in the era of muzzle-loading rifles. When the rifle evolved into a bolt-action rifle with a magazine, this infantry formation, which was somewhat behind the times, still showed strong pressure resistance.

The Ma family army, charging with swords drawn, was unable to break in for a moment!

"Go! Go! Brothers! Jump in!"

Ma Guangzong, who was in the rear, shouted and blew his whistle, urging the cavalry in front to charge forward. This was not because he was cold-blooded, but because the cavalry and their horses were already charging at an accelerated speed, and with a total mass of several hundred kilograms being swept away by inertia, it was not easy to stop. If they tried to turn their horses around, they would not only become targets, but would also collide with the cavalry behind them!

Rows of cavalrymen fell, and those behind them shouted, as if to dispel their surging fear. But before these "community men," several circular wire meshes arranged in a triangular pattern, each tipped with sharp blades, impeded the cavalry's charge. Finally, one lucky man, surviving the intense rifle fire, gave his horse a shove, and the horse, in perfect harmony, soared into the air, poised to clear the few meters of wire. Finally, he was able to raise his saber, ready to strike downward, charging into the Eighth Route Army formation.

"Okay! Okay! Okay..."

Someone shouted, but before they could finish their words, a horse's hoof, mid-air, was caught in the wire mesh. The barbed iron sheet instantly pulled at the elastic circular mesh, halting the unstoppable momentum of both rider and horse. The unfortunate horse, like a bird being pulled back into a hand by a rope, slammed back to the ground. The rider, even more unfortunate, was sent flying from the horse, only to be hooked back by the barbed wire and tumbled directly into the next wire mesh!

This painful scene was nothing in the context of such a classical duel. It couldn't even attract the attention of the "civilians" who were shooting. They were like calm machines, firing, pulling the bolt, and firing again. The density of the cavalry meant that they didn't need to aim to hit people or horses.

Under such an attack, Ning Ma's sharpness was rapidly dulling and diminishing.

However, as the direct line of the Ning Province, they still had basic qualities. After one or two hundred people were killed or injured, someone finally started to whistle and led the cavalry to charge towards the flank. The Eighth Route Army's formation was like a shallow inverted crescent, with many riflemen arranged like hedgehogs, arranged along the entire dirt road, and protected by several circles of concertina wire.

If the cavalry could bypass this dangerous area where their flanks were exposed,

If they could get to the flank of the formation that seemed to have no firepower, the cavalry's horse rifles would be able to play a role, inflicting casualties on the eight routes and causing the formation to collapse.

As mentioned earlier, the four-legged race relies not only on impact but also on immense battlefield mobility. Pursuit, flanking, circling... if all else fails, cavalry still have the option of "not fighting," meaning they are not completely without a path to retreat. So, when did this battlefield advantage of cavalry over infantry finally come to an end?

Answer: It is the widespread use of cars, or armed armored vehicles in wars.

The cavalry of the first and second brigades, spurring their horses and galloping towards the sides of the formation, saw the most terrifying scene of their lives in the early morning of the Shaanxi-Gansu Plateau.

In the salt pond industrial area in front of them, rows of trucks suddenly emerged - not just trucks - but a string of vehicles of different styles: Ford, Dodge, and Bedford trucks, as well as trucks with iron sheets, welded grilles, and turrets.

Immediately, the traffic split into two groups. One group was converted from ordinary trucks, and the other group was "tank training vehicles" carrying steel turrets, hanging baskets and Y-generation guns. Led by those tracked "Bren" armored vehicles, they rushed out of the road and circled back to the flank of the cavalry.

Someone on a small tracked vehicle at the head of the group waved a red and yellow flag. Then, as if on command, it began to unleash a fiery blaze at the Ningma cavalrymen circling our flank. Yes, all of these vehicles had one thing in common: at least one machine gun mounted on the front or in the bed!

The convoys belonging to the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Transport Team and the Eighth Route Army Armored Forces Training Team were like two fleets arranged in a single column. They flanked the Huangshi Plateau near the Salt Lake from both sides and fired "port salvos" and "starboard salvos" in unison, using naval tactics similar to "Storm Corner" against the two cavalry brigades, which were also fleets.

There was even a car playing the eardrum-shattering "Saber Dance".

In this bizarre and absurd atmosphere, the desperate cavalrymen returned fire. However, just as in naval battle, they faced angled fire from two directions. No matter which way they charged, bullets would always be fired from the side. Moreover, the "biological warships" they were riding on were far less resistant to sinking and had a much lower forward speed than the mechanized vehicles of the enemy. Some of the hastily fired bullets either flew into the air or struck the steel "armor belt" attached to the trucks, shattering.

Maxim, Czech, BESA... even some M2 heavy machine guns, are responsible for different parts in this firepower symphony, connecting them into a series of deadly bullets with tracer bullets.

The flame staves harvested the lives of the cavalrymen at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Life.

In such an environment, the insane bravery and bloodthirsty frenzy will all give way to the projection density of metal and the speed and roar of the internal combustion engine.

There were those who could triumph in the battle of flesh against steel through sheer willpower and command, but these were clearly not the Ningma cavalrymen before them. The moment the convoy of armed trucks burst out of the salt pond, only one thought remained in the minds of all those in the First and Second Cavalry Brigades:

Run! Run! Run!

The farther the better!

On the radio frequency band belonging only to the Eighth Route Army, the instructions of Xu Dehua, the captain of the Armored Forces Training Team, resounded: Chase! Chase! Chase!

Chase them until they can't run anymore!

Brigade Commander Ma Guangzong ultimately became a deserter. He took a few personal soldiers, seized a few horses, and fled the battlefield of the Battle of Yanchi without looking back. Over the course of more than half a day, their cavalrymen increasingly fell from their exhausted horses, breaking their thighs or necks during the rapid flight. Combined with the scattered troops, their ranks dwindled, and in the end, two cavalry brigades, each with a strength of 3000, were reduced to fewer than 100 riders.

The ghostly engine sound behind them never stopped, like the Black and White Impermanence demanding their lives.

"Gee! Gee!"

As the brigade commander, Ma Guangzong and his personal soldiers were able to ride two horses each. It was precisely because of this that they were able to escape from the battlefield 80 kilometers away in less than half a day. After experiencing a nightmarish few hours, the green of the Wuzhong area finally came into their sight.

"Commander! There are people in front! They are our people!"

The guard shouted, pointing to the shadowy figures of men and horses ahead on the road. Ah, it's the reinforcements! Ma Guangzong's nerves relaxed, and he almost fell off his horse. He tried hard to steady himself, slowing down his horse, which was running at full speed, and approached the enemy.

"Which unit are you from? I'm Ma Guangzong, commander of the 1st Cavalry Brigade! In the name of Commander Ma Shaoyun, we're marching to suppress the bandits!" He pumped up his voice and shouted, "The situation has changed. I need to contact the commander!" "Yo!"

The crowd on the opposite side parted, and a man on a tall horse came out. The man sneered and waved his hand: "What Commander Ma Shaoyun? What First Cavalry Brigade? What bandit suppression? How come I don't know?

"I only know that Commander Ma Daoziyin has ordered us to intercept these bandits! Come on, take their guns away!"