Chapter 421: An Army Never Seen Before

Chapter 421: An Army Never Seen Before

Chapter 421: An Army Never Seen Before

Four days later, Najaf, Baghdad Province, Ottoman Empire.

This is a city built on a small hill. Veiled native women hid in their homes and shivered, while men wearing white headscarves bravely climbed on the parapets and looked down at the city, not knowing what kind of disaster this sudden army would bring to the city.

However, the mechanized troops rumbling past did not stop in the city at all, and did not even waste time going to the city center on the ridge.

Rows of huge steam tractors, emitting black smoke, slowly drove past the foot of the mountain. Only the logistics troops went to the nearby Najaf Sea to fetch water to replenish the tractor teams that stopped from time to time.

The devout natives went to the city center to pray, thanking the gods and their ancestors for their blessings. Surprisingly, the army that came this time did not rob.

Najaf is a city where the dead outnumber the living many times over. In the temple in the city center, five million believers from all over the world are buried over the centuries, because it is said that resting in this holy city will make it easier for the soul to ascend to the side of the God of Heaven.

"Oh no, Maura, they stopped at the foot of the mountain."

The army was too large, and after the front team passed, the main force finally set up camp at the foot of the mountain.

Moreover, several soldiers carrying guns came up the mountain under the guidance of a guide.

"Excuse me, do you have any extra food you can sell to us? We will offer you 10% higher price than the market price."

No one came out to answer.

"Forget it. It doesn't matter if we don't have any. We still have enough food. We are just taking precautions. If you don't want to sell it, forget it."

The soldiers just turned around and left...

The people of Najaf have never seen an army that does not rob or disturb the people, and they actually have to buy food...

After a long time, no more soldiers came to rob, and the common people, who were not used to it, became curious. Some brave ones even carried a bag of noodles to try and see if they could earn an extra 10%.

Although this place is on the edge of the desert, the Euphrates River is 11 kilometers away. The land there is fertile and the people really have no shortage of food.

After a while, the bold guy came back happily, throwing shiny silver coins in his hand and blowing them with his mouth, which made a buzzing sound. He really made money!
More villagers went to sell their surplus food, and some even wanted to sell local handicrafts to the soldiers on guard.

The soldier smiled and waved his hand. The guide and translator beside him quickly explained, "They have rules and cannot do business at this time. When the work group of the Anhui New Army comes later, there will really be soldiers selling handicrafts to take back. Their military pay is quite high, and they are all very rich."

The aroma of food wafted from the military camp, and from afar, a red-haired supervisor was seen leading the soldiers in reading, giving lectures with a blackboard. Soon, a lively military song was sung.

The next day, the soldiers' tractor team left early, as if they had never been there, leaving only shallow ruts on the dry and hard sand road.

Two days later, another group of soldiers arrived in a six-wheeled troop carrier, wearing the same uniforms. The leader was a young man wearing a snow-white naval officer's uniform, with two bars and three stars on his shoulders.

This team included many militiamen from the neighboring Tianfang Province of the Qing Dynasty, who spoke the same language as everyone else.

The soldiers in military uniforms greeted everyone in their awkward dialect, gave candies to the children, and bought handicrafts from everyone.

When the "working groups" entered every residential area, the soldiers would help the villagers fetch water, and while helping with the work, they would chat with the poor villagers.

Soon, the suffering villagers complained about the angel-like soldiers, such as which rich people were unkind and which landlords were evil.

The soldiers were not polite to the bad guys at all. The bad guys with blood debts were taken to the square and shot in public, and the landlords and nobles who oppressed the good people were also confiscated.

Then, the bad guys' land was distributed to the common people based on the number of people, even their children who were away from home and were drafted into the army by the Sixth Army got a share.

Moreover, the soldiers did not take the money obtained from the house searches, but distributed it to the oppressed people.

The hardworking people all wore good clothes and had good food to eat. The militiamen in Tianfang Province also built schools and medical centers. All children could go to school and learn to read. They must have been sent by the Emperor of Heaven to save everyone from suffering.
The people were told that all this was done by an army leader named "Shao". As long as they were under the rule of "Shao", those who were willing to work would be well fed, and those who were diligent and smart would be rich.

If anyone relies on their power to bully others, Shao's subordinates will take care of it if they go to the working group to sue them.

Before leaving, the working group also issued guns to everyone. Some militiamen from Tianfang Province stayed behind to lead and train local militiamen. If those bad guys come back to grab our land, we will beat them. The elite militia brigade with one company per 100 miles will also accept requests for help from all over the country.

The happy common people were excited, but suddenly they remembered that their sons in the Sixth Army had to fight against these soldiers. Wouldn't we be the bad guys? Moreover, once the noble lord came back, our land would be gone... No, under the leadership of the "activists" who joined Shao's Fenni Society, the parents whose sons were conscripted carried their backpacks and went to look for their sons.

I can’t serve the bad nobles as a soldier anymore. I have to come back and farm my own land!

…………

On the tenth day of July in the thirteenth year of the Tongzhi reign, after six days of forced march, Shao Quanzhong led the main force of the Huai Army and suddenly appeared on the outskirts of Baghdad.

It was basically a march, and the Huai Army easily captured Baghdad, a huge city with a population of one million, without any fighting.

The total distance is only over 600 kilometers. The speed of the steam tractor is not fast, only 13 kilometers per hour.

But this thing has a heavy load capacity. If the soldiers march for ten hours a day on foot or on horseback, they simply cannot sustain the physical strength, let alone in a car.

The rest of the time was spent repairing the damaged tractor and recuperating, and we arrived in six days covering 600 kilometers, which was a breeze.

Shao Quanzhong rode on a Ferghana horse, riding side by side with Grant. Shao Quanzhong was a professional horse bandit, and Grant was an expert rider. The two rode for ten hours a day at a slow speed of 13 kilometers per hour, just like taking a leisurely tour. It was very relaxing.

"Old Ge, don't tell me, the road conditions here on the edge of the desert are similar to those in Yili Province. It is particularly suitable for mechanized armored forces to fight blitzkrieg."

Grant nodded easily. "The staff officers who stayed in Germany are not here for nothing. The Desert Storm plan was very successful. We suddenly appeared here, and there were no organized enemy troops in Baghdad."

"We can go north to support Xu Bangdao's troops soon. I'm afraid the enemy's Third Army that has entered northern Azerbaijan has not yet received the news that we and Xu Bangdao will join the war."

"No wonder Moltke gave us a battle report. After actual combat testing, tank units are not very useful in Western Europe with its dense railway network. Now the German tank units have been transported back to the Eastern Front to deal with my father-in-law Alexander II."

"It turns out that tank units are not used in places like Western Europe. There is a convenient railway network, and it is more cost-effective to transport artillery than tanks. When large-scale military groups fight, artillery still has the final say."

"Only here and in large plains like Eastern Europe and North Africa where there are no railways are suitable for armored forces to launch blitzkrieg."

Well, logically, the German army and the Huai Army should be considered enemies now, but the Qing Dynasty and Germany have not yet declared war on each other.

The Huai Army focused on attacking the Ottoman Empire, and Germany seemed to have forgotten about the Ottoman Empire, its ally that had taken the initiative to join the Central Powers.

However, due to their "personal relationship", Moltke and Emery often exchanged telegrams and shared their combat experiences...

The main reason why the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers was that Russia joined the Allied Powers.

I must support what Lucia opposes. Based on this principle, and also wanting to take back the Bulgarian homeland, the Ottomans joined the war.

Who would have thought that Bulgaria was unexpectedly difficult to deal with? The main force was dragged down by Bulgaria on the Thracian front. The elite of the new army was fighting a mountain battle with the British and French, while the ordinary troops were fighting with Russia in Azerbaijan.

Fighting on three fronts was already the limit. The Huai Army joined the battle at this time and stabbed the bloated and weak giant of the Ottoman Empire in the back, thus bringing tragedy to the Ottoman Empire.

Shao Quanzhong was surprised to see the troops taking over Baghdad in an orderly manner. He had confidence in the discipline of the old Huai Army, but the discipline of the Hunan Army was always poor.

Who would have thought that after Zeng Xiaoyi and the red-haired military supervisors’ education, Liu Kunyi’s troops were actually reformed to have strict military discipline. How did they do that? The Finney Society is so useful. I am worthy of being the leader of the branch.

With the Anhui New Army led by Zeng Xiaoyi working behind the scenes, they would implement the old Tang Dynasty wisdom of "get rid of the aristocratic families and divide the permanent farmland" as Zeng Xiaoyi explained to him. There would be no need to transport food by sea, as the food could be solved locally in the Mesopotamian Basin. This was called "taking food from the enemy", a traditional military tactic.

"Maria, leave a letter to Zeng Xiaoyi, who is in charge of the working group, to increase his funding. Ask me for more money when you spend it, and I will give it to you."

"Lao Ge, Xiao Ai, let's leave the new Gan army to defend Baghdad, and the rest of us, go north and seize the oil fields in Baku!"

"The handsome and wise man!"

The iron torrent advanced northward from Baghdad, arriving at Mosul, where there was not a single soldier, three days later, and reaching Armenia seven days later, where it joined forces with Xu Bangdao's Chu Army from Batumi, cutting off the Ottoman Empire's Third Army in northern Azerbaijan.

News came from the rear that the enemy's Sixth Army, which was heading back to Baghdad to support it, had not yet reached Baghdad. On the way, it was surrounded by enemies on all sides, and the soldiers all ran home and disbanded...

(End of this chapter)