Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 112 Armored Patrol Train

"How is it? How many Japanese are defending the station? And have you seen the firing points in the station clearly? Are there any hidden firing points?"

Li Xiu, who had been observing for quite a while, thought about what Wang Gensheng said before saying to him:
"There aren't that many Japs, only about the size of a squadron! We've spotted six fire points, but since a squadron has at least nine light machine guns, there are at least three more that I haven't spotted! Furthermore, this station isn't just surrounded by a wall, it's also covered in barbed wire, so it's not very easy to raid at night!"

After hearing this information, Wang Gensheng nodded, but then he thought about it and continued:

"We need to observe more and find out the patrol schedule of the Japanese armored patrol trains and how long it takes for transport trains to pass by this station!"

Just as Wang Gensheng was speaking, an armored two-way train drove into the station with its headlights on.

This so-called dual-purpose train was actually an armored vehicle that could travel on both railways and roads. Although its armor was not thick and its weapons and firepower were average, it was a very difficult nut to crack for the guerrillas and the Eighth Route Army, who lacked heavy weapons and had low mobility.

Even the brave and tactically flexible Railway Guerrillas in the movie tried their best to avoid head-on confrontation with them.

This dual-purpose armored train is called the Type 91 railway and highway dual-purpose armored vehicle, and is the standard equipment of the Japanese.

You have to know that if you want to attack a country that mainly relies on land transportation, the railway is naturally the top priority, because the railway is not only responsible for the transportation of strategic weapons, ammunition and other supplies, but more importantly, it can bring the resources seized during the invasion back to the country in a timely manner.

The Japanese naturally placed great importance on the use of railways. However, the long railway lines were easily sabotaged by guerrillas. To protect the railways, the Japanese built a large number of patrol vehicles. The vehicle was officially finalized and put into production in 1931, with over a thousand units produced. Because 1931 was the 2591st year in the Japanese imperial calendar, it was named the "Type 91."

The vehicle weighs seven tons, is 6.58 meters long, 1.9 meters wide, and 2.95 meters high. It can carry more than six people, and the outer shell steel plate is six millimeters thick. Because it uses armored steel, which is the high-manganese alloy steel used in bulletproof inserts, although the thickness is only six millimeters, it can also withstand close-range direct fire from rifles.

If Wang Gensheng could get such an armored vehicle back, the high-manganese steel plates on the vehicle alone would probably be enough for Wang Gensheng to cut hundreds of bulletproof plates for bulletproof vests.

However, the bulletproof shell of this armored vehicle is connected by rivets, and the entire shell and body are integrated, weighing more than five tons. Now, this kind of integrated body is not like in the future, where you can easily disassemble it with a gas cutter.

Wang Gensheng now has no angle grinder or gas cutting equipment, so he has no idea how to deal with this kind of iron shell. So it would be better for him to deal with the rails. At least a rail would not weigh several tons.

Moreover, after Wang Gensheng's on-site inspection, he found that the Zhengtai Railway at that time was actually using light short rails. The so-called light short rails are light rails with a length of only 12.5 meters and a weight of less than 30 kilograms per meter. The general weight of light rails is about 25 kilograms.

This type of rail is naturally incomparable to the high-speed rail tracks of a few decades later. You must know that high-speed rail tracks are all heavy rails, and the weight of each meter can reach 75 kilograms.

This was normal, given the limited steel production in Huazhong during that era. Using light rail would naturally allow for longer rails at the same weight. This also made it easier for Wang Gensheng to steal the rails, as he had no means of breaking them. Therefore, the lighter each section of rail would make it easier for Wang Gensheng to transport them.

For example, a section of the current light short rail, which is 12.5 meters long, weighs only more than 300 kilograms and can be easily towed by four horses. But if it is the high-speed rail that will be 500 meters long and weigh 75 kilograms per meter in a few decades, Wang Gensheng will have no choice but to grab it.

Of course, this Type 91 dual-purpose armored vehicle is not slow. Its road speed is 40 kilometers per hour, and its rail speed can reach 60 kilometers per hour. However, its firepower is not strong. There are no fixed weapons on the vehicle, and the crew carries rifles or machine guns as combat weapons.

Although it was claimed to be a dual-purpose vehicle, the Japanese seemed overly optimistic. Converting the Type 91 from railway mode to road mode was a complex undertaking – the vehicle had to be lifted with a jack, the six steel wheels used on the rails removed, and then replaced with rubber tires attached to the sides of the vehicle.

It is said that this series of operations takes twelve skilled technicians fifteen minutes to complete. After all this hard work, the iron turtle finally came down from the railway and drove on the highway and mountain road.

However, the cucumber dish was cold within fifteen minutes. After all, under normal circumstances, fifteen minutes was enough for the guerrillas to retreat safely.

Therefore, in the movie Railway Guerrillas, after the Japanese patrol cars discovered the situation, they usually just stopped on the railway and fired guns and artillery, or sent people off the car to chase. There was basically no scene of the car being modified and converted into road mode for pursuit.

Of course, Wang Gensheng was not worried about this kind of armored vehicle. After all, he still had a lot of armor-piercing grenades in his hands that were useless!

It is strange to say that during the big cleanup at the end of the year, Wang Gensheng did not find many of the Japanese's tanks and armored vehicles. It is probably because the Japanese and Mi Zuo were fighting.

Therefore, the Japanese soldiers who realized that Mi Jun was powerful sent all the small tanks to the Pacific Ocean to guard the island!

After all, although most of the battles between the Americans and the Japanese were naval and air battles, the islands in the Pacific were the key, because the fight for these islands was not only about whether the US military's bombers could directly bomb the Japanese, but more importantly, the US military fleet could establish supply points in the Pacific.

Wang Gensheng and Li Xiu then spent most of the night observing the situation. After determining how often the Japanese Type 91 2-Purpose Vehicles patrolled, and how often the Japanese trains carrying supplies arrived, Li Xiu then asked:
"Captain, when are we going to take over this station?"

In response to Li Xiu's question, Wang Gensheng shook his head and said:
"About a month later! Right now, the snow on the ground is still very thick, which is not conducive to the movement of our war horses. We can wait until the snow melts and spring arrives before we move. Now we should scout the location in advance and observe more! After all, this is our first time to stop at a train station, so we need to be well prepared! Now let's go back!"

When Li Xiu heard this, she immediately cleaned up the traces on the ground and followed Wang Gensheng back to Majia Village on skis.

That’s right, Wang Gensheng and Li Xiu didn’t come here on horses but on skis.

(End of this chapter)