Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 831 Want Peace, Not War
Sulaymaniyah and the French army on the Iran-Iraq border tried their best to stop the advance of the Chinese, and succeeded in many places.Obviously, Wei Gang's defense-in-depth arrangement still played some role.At least, the armored troops of the Dragon Army will no longer run 80 to 120 miles a day like they did when the war started.

But Feng Yuxiang wasn't worried at all. He held at least the strongest commander in Asia and the strongest troops in history. After encountering obstacles in the early stage, they quickly thought of a contingency method.When encountering the French "hedgehog stronghold", the armored troops walking in front usually go around first, and then the following infantry slowly nibble them. Although the French army resisted desperately, the huge gap between the two sides cannot be avoided. of.On the third day of the offensive, the Long Army still completed the breakthrough of the first line of defense.

Chen Jitang's armored corps still performed so well. Although this unit has undergone some adjustments and the 10th Panzergrenadier Division has not been rebuilt, he still has two powerful armored forces in his hands. 9th Panzergrenadier Division and 8th Panzer Division.In addition, there is the 4th Grenadier Division, which has just been transferred from the northern front of Iran.

At this moment, the 8th Armored Group he led was lined up along the 150-mile-long front of the Tigris River, and broke through the French position to a depth of 30 kilometers on the first day.However, they soon encountered resistance, and the French 101st Division emerged from the side in an attempt to counterattack the Dragon Army's flank.

However, Chen Jitang regarded the counterattack of the French army as a game. In his eyes, the French army was still at the kindergarten level in the use of tanks and the coordination of infantry and tanks. The distance has reached 1 kilometer, and these huge, lonely tanks have become the best targets for Dragon Army gunners to practice.It's just that the 37mm anti-tank guns equipped by the Dragon Army were not very useful, and many senior officers and staff officers of the Dragon Army also went to the battlefield one after another to show off their shooting skills, turning the entire battlefield into a battlefield. Huge shooting range.

All kinds of artillery of the Dragon Army were brought up on the battlefield, ranging from 37 to 50 to 88 recoilless guns and even 150mm howitzers. Everyone had a good time.The only unlucky one was Chen Jitang, the commander of the armored corps, who was blown into disgrace by the enemy's artillery fire when he personally fired an anti-tank gun at the French tanks, so he could only escape.While fleeing, he scolded the equipment department of the group army and strongly demanded to replace his anti-tank weapons.

While the 9th Armored Division was having a great time, the 10th Panzergrenadier Division to the east encountered a bit of a situation.The commander of this division is Wang Jingguo, a classmate of Chen Jitang's military academy, and he has just taken over as the commander of this unit.Facing the inexperienced Wang Jingguo, the French finally found another opportunity to rely on preset positions for defense and temporarily demonstrate their talents in this regard.Originally, a staff officer proposed to use infantry to break through the defense line of the Tigris River first, and then mobilize armored forces to expand the breakthrough, but this resolution was quickly vetoed by Wang Jingguo.So after spending a few hours crossing the river, the Dragon Army put hundreds of tanks into formation and pressed towards the French army. However, they were warmly welcomed by the French army's field artillery and anti-tank guns on the way. The officers and soldiers of the 10th Panzergrenadier Division of the Dragon Army who had seen the world in Tehran were all shocked. They had to carefully bypass those strong defensive positions and continue to charge forward.But the dotted French strongholds successfully severed the link between the Dragon Army infantry and tanks.So the Dragon Army Tank had to turn back to help its infantry.For three whole days, the entire front of the third armored group fell into an extremely tragic melee.

Fighting until noon on the third day, Wang Jingguo's troops still had no progress in the face of the desperate French army.On the other hand, the French infantry here were completely trapped by the stronghold of the Dragon Army. They rushed in all directions and fired at the Chinese soldiers, and refused to surrender. Most of these French completely obeyed the orders of their supreme commander Weigand Command and fight to the death.

When the time came to November 11th, the progress of the Wang Jingguo group was still not very great. He was even tricked by the French into a trap set up in a village, and he was beaten up. The two battalions that rushed in had almost no lives. return.Another day passed, and Wang Jingguo suddenly realized that he could not do anything to those strongholds that would not surrender, not only the infantry were restrained.The supply column of the armored force could not keep up, and many people doubted whether tomorrow's battle could go on smoothly.

Sure enough, the next day, the newly formed First Armored Division of the French Army arrived to support and began to launch a fierce counterattack against Wang Jingguo's troops. They gathered 75 tanks and rammed them into the Long Army's position again and again. As soon as the officers and soldiers of the fourth regiment who had just escaped from the trap of the French army saw the French counterattack, they immediately called for air support. The Lanxiang fighter planes of the Imperial Air Force ruthlessly ravaged the French from the sky.Excited Chinese pilots even played tricks in the sky with the Lanxiang fighter.Although, in the next step, the French invested in a second armored division equipped with 60 tanks, but then the reinforcements sent by Chen Jitang also rushed to the battlefield.After half an hour of fierce fighting, the French, who were short of major generals, were finally defeated.

The French landmines, anti-tank ditches, barbed wire and tank counterattacks made Wang Jingguo depressingly watching the reinforcements singing their triumphant songs there.Now he regrets it very much, regretting why he chose the 10th armor group, why he chose such a poor location, and why he didn't give this armor group to Chen Jitang to personally command.

At this time, the main defensive force on the east bank of the Tigris River was basically wiped out. Chen Jitang ordered his troops to gather on the spot and stand by. Hundreds of tanks and chariots lined up along the river bank, facing Sulaymaniyah, which was tottering in the wind and rain!

In the French capital, Paris, the past month has been tense and chaotic.As the bad news kept coming, France and the military were on pins and needles.Pétain and Weygand also became more and more eager to stop this disparity in power and withdraw from the war. They believed that France could no longer continue the war, and the situation was worse than that of World War II.Two hours after the dragons took Sanandaj, an emergency meeting of the French High Command was held, at which all were pessimistic about the prospects for war.French Prime Minister Renault asked in a low voice: "If we lose this battle in Iraq, France may be threatened. Once the Chinese invade France, where will we go?"

Before Wei Gang could answer, Henry Honoré Giro, the commander of the armored forces who had just returned from the battlefield, stood up and retorted loudly: "We should continue to fight. We still have troops in our hands. We are going to fight the Chinese in Iraq. Street fighting. Even if one day the Chinese invade France and lose our capital, at most we will move the capital to Brittany. If Brittany falls, we will go to North Africa and England. As long as we continue to fight, The United States will also support us, just like they came to reinforce us during World War II. In short, if we continue to fight like this, one day we will win." Jiro jumped up and waved his fists excitedly.

"Brittany! North Africa! England? America?" Before Giro could finish speaking, Wei Gang, who was sitting on the other side, interrupted him coldly. "Dear General Giraud, do you think it's possible? Move the capital to Brittany, a place that has no military value except being a little farther away from the Chinese. Go to North Africa? Don't you want us France to start from a European powers suddenly downgraded to second-class African countries? Go to the UK? Now the UK is not as strong as it used to be. The Royal Navy has been defeated by the Chinese Navy many times. The British Army is not an opponent of the Chinese. Protect us? I really can't think of any way for the British to ensure that their own power will not be wiped out by the Chinese. As for the United States, this speculator should not consider it. In the absence of our strategic advantage, this country You only think about your own thoughts, you didn’t see what bills their two houses are drafting recently, announcing that they can lease supplies to all countries participating in the war, needless to say, he is obviously helping the Chinese.”

Wei Gang's counterattack made Ji Luo speechless. Seeing the young guy's deflated appearance, Wei Gang was very happy.After all, the other party has given him a headache for a long time, and now it is time to teach him a lesson, so Wei Gang decided to strike while the iron is hot, "I personally think that the most important thing at present is to correct our mentality. We must have our own demeanor and reason. We don’t want to see the people pushed into the boundless flames of war. All battles should put the people first. Therefore, if we lose the battle of Iraq, France may fall into the enemy’s hands. What we have to do is not to engage in unnecessary resistance, but to negotiate with the other party, this is the real courage of our French!"

As soon as Wei Gang's words came out of his mouth, the audience immediately became chaotic.The surrender faction supported Wey Gang's decision. They believed that the decision made by the veteran at a critical time was extremely wise, while the anti-war faction did not hesitate to label Wei Gang as a traitor and a traitor. .Soon the two sides turned from an argument to a quarrel, which escalated from a quarrel to a fight, and finally turned into an aimless riot.But at this moment, Petain, who had been silent all this time, suddenly stood up.Seeing this respected old man, everyone stopped involuntarily. They stared at Petain, hoping to get the other side's position from the other side's words.

(End of this chapter)