I am an industrial worker during the War of Resistance

Chapter 74 The Power of the Hand Tractor
At Commander Yang's order, everyone in the cavalry regiment's garrison was mobilized.

All twelve hundred cavalrymen were fully equipped and ready for service.

The logistics unit's two-horse-drawn carts were already fully loaded.

Because the large carts now use iron axles with bearings, and the outer edge of the wheels is covered with hollow carriage tires.

Therefore, the two-horse carts of this cavalry regiment could carry twice the weight of a cart made entirely of wood.

If the road conditions are good and the distance is within ten kilometers, this truck can carry two tons of goods.

If the road conditions are poor and the distance is long, this truck can carry one and a half tons.

This is mainly due to the limitations imposed by the pulling force of the two-horse pull.

Apart from the cavalry regiment's own personnel.

There were also production teams that reclaimed wasteland in the cavalry regiment's garrison area.

The production teams here are not ordinary people from within the controlled area.

They were militia-type production teams that could fight with guns and farm with hoes.

These production teams that came to the Chulechuan reclamation area were provided with more than a dozen hand tractors by headquarters.

In addition to being able to plow the fields, these tractors can also be used to haul goods by attaching a trailer to the back.

Moreover, the cargo it carried was far more than that of a two-horse carriage.

Because of the current production issues with tricycles, the cavalry regiment has not yet been equipped with tricycles.

However, on this vast grassland, the hand-held tractors currently in use are actually better suited to the environment.

It also offers better value for money.

The production team that reclaimed the land here had more than 6,000 people, including men, women, and children.

It can be said that here, apart from three-year-old children, everyone who picks up a gun is a qualified soldier.

This time, the militia production team also mobilized 2,500 people to act alongside the cavalry regiment.

The entire team totaled more than four thousand people.

If it really comes down to a head-on battle.

With these men, Commander Yang could also annihilate or defeat Ningma's invading cavalry.

However, doing so would inevitably result in some casualties on our side.

Furthermore, in cavalry warfare, achieving a decisive victory is relatively easy.

However, it is extremely difficult to completely annihilate a large cavalry unit.

Because cavalrymen run fast.

If you want to annihilate a large cavalry force.

The first thing to do is to restrict the movement of the enemy cavalry.

Then continuously compress the enemy, forcing their cavalry into an extremely confined space.

Cut off their food and water supplies from within, and cut off their reinforcements from without.

A cavalry unit that was hungry, had no water, and could not run.

In such a siege, there is only one way out: death.

This allows us to achieve the greatest results with the least cost.

Why not?

After completing the preparations, the entire force immediately set off.

The main force marched at a brisk pace of five to seven kilometers per hour for a distance of more than sixty kilometers.

Including the rest time, it took thirteen hours, and we finished the journey in the middle of the night.

This was achieved by Commander Yang controlling the pace to ensure everyone's physical fitness.

This was different from the surprise attack on Sansuoli by our army in the Korean War in later generations.

At that time, every soldier in our army carried guns, ammunition, and food supplies, and traveled along rugged mountain roads.

Various battles will take place in between.

Finally, they marched 72.5 kilometers in fourteen hours.

At a speed of 5.2 kilometers per hour, they achieved a miracle for human light infantry.

However, this march by Commander Yang and his troops took place on a flat grassland.

They don't need to carry their own loads yet.

At most, each militiaman carried his own rifle, a few dozen bullets, and two hand grenades.

The remaining supplies were almost entirely transported on carts and tractors.

However, only a few hundred militiamen actually carried guns.

Most of them carried hoes, picks, and shovels. Their main task this time was to dig holes.

After arriving at the designated ambush location.

In the darkness, Commander Yang first roughly surveyed the terrain.

The weather is clear tonight, with a bright moon and few stars.

It's a nice day.

After determining the location, Commander Yang began assigning tasks.

Political Commissar Yin led a team to be responsible for digging holes on the left flank.

Chief of Staff Du was in charge of digging trenches on the right flank.

Meanwhile, Liu, the militia commander, was in charge of digging the pit at the exit of the valley.

Although Commander Liu was responsible for a valley that was quite wide, he had the fewest men with him.

The main exit of the valley is about three or four kilometers wide.

It is shorter than the five or six kilometers wide interior of the low-slope valley.

It formed a roughly funnel shape.

However, compared to the low hills that are a dozen meters high and several kilometers wide, the funnel shape is almost invisible.

The reason why Commander Liu had the fewest people staying here to work was because of this.

That's because he had a tractor to help with the work.

The purpose of a horse trap is to use uneven ground to cause galloping warhorses to slip and fall.

The main job of a hand-held tractor is plowing.

Plowing is digging deep trenches in the ground and turning over the soil.

The terrain here is flat, and it's no problem to use a hand tractor to plow dozens of deep furrows, several kilometers long, across the entire exit area.

As for the slopes on both sides.

We can start by using manpower to dig horse traps on the back of the slope. It's not convenient for hand-held tractors to work on those sloping areas.

Once the work on the front is completed, these tractors will then move to the small valleys on both sides and plow deep furrows into the valley floor as well.

Commander Yang refused to believe that warhorses could run on such artificially modified ground.

Cavalry that can't run fast is no better than infantry.

Those cavalrymen who couldn't run on horseback were nothing more than targets for riflemen.

After a quick meal, some water, and a short rest, the more than 4,000 people began their work.

"Old Liu, how's it going? How long will it take to plow this entire front section?" Commander Yang asked Commander Liu of the militia.

Commander Liu said to Commander Yang, "Old Yang, don't worry, it won't take more than a few hours."

I just checked the soil quality here.

Our tractor, equipped with a double-headed heavy plow, can plow more than a kilometer per hour without any problem.

This width is only three or four kilometers, and in a little over three hours, we can plow it from one end to the other.

This time we brought sixteen tractors. We lined them up in a row, and in one trip I can plow out thirty-two furrows for you, each thirty or forty centimeters deep.

Faced with such a deep ravine, let alone warhorses, even a person running fast on it would fall over.

Within eight hours, I can plow out sixty-four deep furrows for you.

The two furrows created by this double-headed plow are nearly one meter wide.

We kept the distance between the two tractors between five or six meters.

Within this gap, someone can dig some small holes to fill it in.

After these sixteen tractors plowed the land twice, this created a deep ditch area that was nearly 300 meters wide.

The deep ditch, the upturned earthen embankment, and the distance of more than 300 meters.

Those Ningma cavalrymen who wanted to cross this distance would have to pay with their lives.

"Okay, Lao Liu, I'll leave this to you."

After you finish plowing here, you'll need to go and support the valleys on both sides.

I plan to ensure that, like the last Ningma, not a single one of these runners will make it to the finish line.

"Haha, don't worry, Lao Yang, leave this to me. You just focus on blocking their escape route."

If we can capture them alive, we'll have several thousand more warhorses.

Those are all good stuff.

(End of this chapter)