Chapter 971 Isn't this a coincidence?

  Salt Lake City

  This fortress city in the middle of the Rocky Mountains, which the Central Pacific Railway passes through, entered a high-level military alert after the outbreak of the first US-Japan War, always paying attention to the fierce battles east of the mountain range, and 260,000 troops were waiting for the battle.

Every day, the train going west into the Rocky Mountains will undergo strict inspections in the small town of Lyman at the foot of the eastern foothills of the mountains, and then it can meander into Evanston in the Rocky Mountains, through which it arrives all the way to Salt Lake City, from the small town of Lyman. Starting to calculate, it is about 240 kilometers in the mountains.

The small town of Lyman is the only small city east of the Rocky Mountains belonging to the Northern Federation. It guards the entrance to the Rocky Mountains to the west by the Central Pacific Railway. The 30-kilometer semicircle around it belongs to the Northern Federation. It is the entrance to the Rocky Mountains. A military fortress city at the forefront of the mountains.

In the city, a semi-circular defense pattern with large and solid bunker towers as the defense core, with many bright and dark bunker towers, has been formed. The large concrete poured bunker towers can be bombarded with 280mm caliber heavy artillery. A total of 5 towers have been established, numbered from 1 No. to No. 5.

At the top and upper floors of the tower, 210mm artillery positions can be set up to control the surrounding area of ​​more than ten kilometers. The middle floor can be stationed, and a small medical clinic, grain and water storage facilities can be set up, which can provide three battalions for more than a thousand people. required for the battle of the month.

  The large-scale bunker tower is 42 meters high and has 9 floors. In particular, the outer façade concrete is one meter thick. It is extremely sturdy and can be described as the backbone of defense.

   There is a tunnel at the bottom of the large bunker tower, which can support the small bunker nearby to form a complete defensive line. On its outer layer, there are defense lines consisting of 3-4 layers of barbed wire, wide anti-tank trenches, and a moat that introduces streams and other defense facilities.

  In the event of war, the Central Pacific Railway can be cut off at any time, forming a fortress-type defensive position that is a headache. In the two large bunker towers at the foot of the mountain, one south and one north, there are wide passages that allow armored tanks to drive out directly.

  It is usually blocked by steel gates, and when necessary, it is directly opened to release steel monsters, and they can gallop freely in the empty central plains.

   "The commander arrives, all officers and soldiers stand at attention and salute..."

After the loud voice   , the officers and soldiers in Tower 3 all put down their work, stood at attention and saluted, with a look full of respect.

Marshal Li Shuanzhu strode forward surrounded by a large group of generals, and the marshal's scepter in his hand lightly tapped the brim of his hat as a salute, and he kept walking forward, asking as he walked; "Qixiang My brother reported a few days ago that he wanted to connect the towers of Leiman City with the city wall, so I just wanted to ask, whose bad idea is this?"

   "The commander, the subordinate, etc. are supposed to be stronger and more conducive to defensive operations."

"Now is the age of artillery hot weapons. The city wall must be able to withstand heavy artillery bombardment, otherwise it will only bring psychological comfort. The city wall is not built firmly, and when the heavy artillery bombards the gravel flying around, it will cause heavy casualties to the defenders. Have you considered this?"

"I thought about it, there is a batch of old battleships and cruisers to be dismantled on the west coast. We want to cut their armor plates into small pieces and transport them over and lay them on the reinforced concrete surface of the city wall, so that the thickness is more than 1.2 meters. The concrete layer and the rammed earth layer of 5~6 meters wide can resist the frontal bombardment of the 280mm heavy artillery, and the cost-effectiveness ratio is also higher.”

   "Oh, the idea of ​​​​using waste is very novel, have you calculated how much you need?"

"The commander who has calculated, the main armor of large armored ships and battleships is more than 100 meters long and 5 to 6 meters high. Basically, a single ship can lay a city wall of more than 500 meters long. With the size of the small town of Leiman, That is about a dozen ships. If the front is the main one, and the side is supplemented, the armored steel including the ammunition depot, the conning tower and the deck can also be used. The amount required is even less."

   "Then you can make a report. Anyway, the dismantling of those old US military ships is waste, and it doesn't cost much."

   Marshal Li Shuanzhu agreed with a big wave of his hand. He stepped up the stairs and walked up the stairs. The officers and soldiers passing by stood at attention and saluted.

If the city wall of Lehman Town is built, it will be about 3.5 meters high. The bottom layer is about 1 meter high and built into a smooth slope. Next to the **** is a circular trench with a depth of 2 meters 2 to avoid the siege ladder. come up.

  In this way, the siege ladder can only be placed diagonally in the trench, and it must be more than 7 meters, otherwise it will not be able to reach the top of the city at all.

The bulletproof armor plate is mainly laid at the bottom of the city head. It is almost 2.5 meters high. It is not necessary to build a smooth **** with more than one meter below. Large-caliber heavy artillery shells are very expensive, and it is impossible to use it to fry the walls. Since it can't hurt people, the damage effect is poor, and it's really blind.

   What if you dig a hole in the city wall?

  The city wall with the overall steel armor will not collapse, and it will not be able to blast through a passage, because the middle rammed earth layer will collapse after being blown loose below, blocking possible openings, which is meaningless in actual combat.

   Generally speaking, if you want to blow up the city wall, you are all going to the middle of the city wall.

  5 large towers are 5 bastions to strengthen the defense. If you follow the idea of ​​​​building bulletproof steel plates, the completed city wall can indeed greatly strengthen the defense of Laiman City. As for the money spent for this, it is not a problem.

The expeditionary force controls the main traffic routes to transport materials to the east. The goods in transit in the Republic of California will be taxed once, and exported in the name of the Northern Commonwealth. The same is true for imported materials from the United States. Re-export to the Republic of California.

  The United States has never officially recognized the independence of the Republic of California, and naturally there is no bilateral relationship. It can only trade in the way of saving the country through a curve, which benefits the expeditionary force a lot.

   Someone will ask?

  The United States has not officially recognized the Northern Federation, so why can formal trade be carried out?

  This thing is hard to say, it is a compromise choice in desperation. Although the Americans refuse to admit it verbally, in fact, they say one thing and do another, forming a tacit understanding that cannot stand scrutiny.

   After all, he can't provoke the powerful Ocean Empire, so if he is annoyed, he will teach him how to be a man in minutes.

   The group came to the top of Tower 3 and took a closer look.

Four 210mm heavy artillery and four 155mm howitzers are displayed in the four corners of the building, which are operated by two heavy artillery companies. There are also six 95mm rapid-fire gun positions and more than 20 heavy machine gun positions on the floors below the roof. The three directions of the tower form a complete fire coverage.

   Marshal Li Shuanzhu commanded a commanding view of the surrounding vast land, and the surrounding area was unobstructed.

The train marshalling station is located in the east of Lehman town. There are 8 railway lines lined up in a row. There are trains waiting for inspection on three railway lines. After the inspection, the trains pass the switch and enter the main road. The winding railway line in the Key Mountains.

On the northernmost railway line of the train marshalling station, there is a hideous-looking armored train, with a 210mm large-caliber howitzer at the front and rear of the train, and two 155mm guns and four 95mm guns in the middle of the car body. , 4 60mm rapid-fire guns and a dozen heavy machine guns, this is a fire monster on the railway line.

  The entire armored train is a reinforced artillery battalion, which is subordinate to a heavy artillery company equipped with two 210mm artillery pieces. Two 155mm guns. A 95mm gun company and a 60mm gun company, plus a heavy machine gun company and two infantry companies, have individual combat capabilities.

   Such armored trains are directly under the headquarters of the Expeditionary Force. There are three trains in total, one in Salt Lake City, one in Evanston, a city in the Rocky Mountains, and one in Lyman, which is the armored train that everyone sees.

   can be seen

The expeditionary soldiers on duty within the range of the barbed wire are fully armed, armed with live ammunition, and patrolling with two big wolf dogs in a squad unit to check whether the barbed wire is damaged, whether there is an enemy infiltrating, whether there is an enemy situation, etc. The shiny rifle filled the air with the smell of blood and iron.

  This is the front line of the border confrontation, and there is no need to be careless at all times.

   "How is the garrison of the fortress?"

   "Reporting to the commander, the defense of Fort Lehman and Evanston belonged to the Qingdao Division. They switched defenses in June this year. The defense period was half a year. It has now passed 5 months and 1 week.

   The next defender is Shangri-La Division 2, which is scheduled to enter in three weeks.

   At present, the Lehman Fortress has a total of 6 artillery battalions, 4 infantry battalions, and a service company. The total number of troops is 5,882. There are 17 people on sick leave, and the actual number is 5,865.

  Fortress Commander... Brigadier General Liu Dongqiang, Deputy Commander of the Qingdao Division, is reporting to you. "

   "Well, let's wait for a new order from the General Headquarters."

   "As ordered." Brigadier General Liu Dongqiang replied simply in a standard salute.

   Marshal Li Shuanzhu nodded, asked about some defensive arrangements and trivial matters of officers and soldiers, checked the maintenance of equipment, and was quite satisfied with what he saw.

The reason why the   Lyman frontline fortress did not adopt the establishment of a fixed garrison division, but the troops were on duty in rotation, was to make the field division not slack, always be alert to prepare for battle, and maintain a high fighting spirit.

There are more than a dozen divisions in the Northern Federation. On weekdays, at least half of the divisions maintain the third-level combat readiness. In the current situation, they belong to the first-level combat readiness. All the troops have cancelled their vacations, the officers and soldiers are fully loaded, and the rifles and equipment are distributed to the companies. Ready to go into battle at any time.

  Some people don't understand, thinking that with the strong Rocky Mountain defense line, can the Americans still come in?

   This possibility is probably not even 1/10,000.

   The problem is that the alarm bells are always ringing, and they are often unremitting. The army maintains first-level combat readiness to guard against the possibility of this 1/10,000, completely eliminate any chance of luck, and leave no opportunity for the enemy to take advantage of.

   Tighten the fence to prevent wolves from worrying.

  At this sensitive time, the marshal went to the front line to inspect the situation in person, and the situation seemed a little unusual, which made the accompanying generals smell a little strange.

   "Woo..." came a long train whistle

   Marshal Li Shuanzhu and a group of generals looked back and saw a train coming from the winding railway line in the mountains, slowing down slowly as it approached the Laiman Fortress.

  The flatbed truck pulled by the steam locomotive is loaded with cheetah Chinese tanks. The steel body shimmers with a cold sheen in the sun, and the raised muzzle cannot be seen at a glance.

   see this scene

   Marshal Li Shuanzhu's mouth curled into a smile, this is how he planned to greet the American, and the generals accompanying him also suddenly realized;

   There will be a new military operation on the summit...

   According to the latest military newspaper;

The U.S. and Japan are fighting fiercely around Albuquerque. The U.S. troops are besieging the city and attacking the city day and night. The artillery fire has razed the entire city to ruins. The Japanese army fought tenaciously on the ruins, swearing to defend their positions and giving the attacking U.S. military critical hit.

  The two sides are like giants who cannot retreat, fighting fierce hand-to-hand combat.

The strength of the Japanese army in Albuquerque is that much, one point is lost, and the US military continues to exert pressure. completely annihilated.

   This is not an alarmist, the whole city has been destroyed by the war.

  The 560-kilometer-long Gobi Desert Road from Albuquerque to Los Angeles has no cars or carriages. If the Japanese retreat, how far will they go with their feet alone?

   The Japanese army had virtually no way out, standing on the edge of the cliff with both feet.

   And this is the opportunity that Marshal Li Shuanzhu was waiting for...

The U.S. Army crossed the border from Colorado City and attacked all the way. After successively occupying the cities of Wagenmonde and Las Vegas from north to south, it continued to deepen south. After occupying Santa Fe, Bingfeng continued to reach Abu. Quirky pierced almost half of New Mexico, reaching a depth of more than a thousand kilometers.

   An army of 275,000 people gathered in front of them. Every day, they needed a lot of ammunition, food supplies and various medical equipment.

   It can be said that this is an indispensable lifeline.

Along the way, cowboys can be seen driving a large herd of cattle along the wilderness on one side of the road. This is food sent to the battlefield ahead, while on the road are countless heavy-duty wagons and thousands of load-carrying vehicles. Trucks were running around the clock, transporting ammunition and large quantities of medical supplies to the south.

   With 275,000 people fighting in the front, and hundreds of thousands of people in the rear to ensure logistics, the Americans have invested their blood in this war, and it can be said that they are bound to win.

Today is November 4, 1912. The polling day of the states in the US general election starts on the second Wednesday in December and lasts for 5 days, while the early mail-in ballots started in mid-November, which means that after more than 10 days, The American people began to cast their sacred votes for the election of the president.

   At this time, a condition is mentioned, the timing is just right!

   Marshal Li Shuanzhu is going to make a small appearance before making conditions, show off his muscles, and threaten the rear desert road that the American army regards as a lifeline, so that the Americans can talk.

All is ready except for the opportunity.

   At this time, a confidential officer climbed up from the downstairs panting, looked left and right, walked quickly to Marshal Li Shuanzhu, stood at attention in a standard manner, saluted, and then presented a secret message with both hands;

   "Report Commander, this is an urgent secret telegram sent by General Kodama Gentaro of the Japanese North American Command. The designated face is Commander, and it is urgent."

   "Oh, in a hurry?"

   Marshal Li Shuanzhu took the telegram with a calm expression. He guessed that the east wind was coming. After reading the content of the telegram, it was obvious. Isn't this a coincidence?

   I thought how hard the bones of the hibiscus people can be, but now it seems that they have to wag their tails and beg for pity!

   (end of this chapter)