Chapter 912 Sir, Now is the Age of Cars (Fourth Update, Please Subscribe)
car!
If you look down from the air, you can see trucks everywhere.
From the Mato Grosso Plateau to the grasslands of northern Uruguay, there were cars everywhere. There were at least tens of thousands of trucks loaded with soldiers and supplies, or towing cannons, driving across this vast land.
car!
All that changed two years ago when the first car production line came online.
The originally expensive cars have been falling sharply, while the production has been increasing. Last year, the production of Jiefang trucks exceeded 35,000 units!
By the standards of 1876, this was an absolute miracle.
The military has become the largest user of automobiles. In fact, compared with the civilian population, the military has always been the most important supporter of automobiles.
The reason is simple: cheap!
Even when the first batch of Jiefang trucks rolled off the production line, the army was still very generous and took over 80% of the orders, despite the high price of 2,800 yuan per truck. But even so, the army still felt that it was cheap and inexpensive.
Why is this happening?
Because cars are indeed cheaper than horses. On the surface, the price of a draft horse is only about 20 yuan, but the problem is that raising horses is expensive!
Unlike cars, which have little cost if they are not moved, horses, even if left alone in a stable, will eat a lot of hay and salt bricks. Not only that, horses also need people to sit and wait on them. According to the standards set by the military, the cost of raising a horse a year is as high as 500 yuan!
Compared to the "delicate" military horses, cars can be called "cheap iron horses". Although they look expensive, they are cheap to use. When a car is not driven, it only needs basic maintenance. Even when it is driven, it only consumes some cheap gasoline. Gasoline at two yuan per ton is enough for a truck to drive three or four thousand kilometers. During this period, only a few parts need to be replaced, and the cost is... just a few yuan.
If it is military horses, the horse feed consumed in three or four thousand kilometers is secondary. The most important thing is that if you are not careful, the horses will be injured or die, which will affect the combat effectiveness of the troops.
And what about the Iron Horse?
Just need oil and spare parts!
As a result, the Iron Horse, with its ridiculously low operating cost, became the army's favorite. After declaring war on Brazil, the military directly placed an order for 100,000 vehicles, which was almost three times the annual output of the Chollima Automobile Company.
Although it would take a long time to complete the 100,000 vehicles on the order, after the outbreak of the war, relying on the 60,000 trucks accumulated before the war, the Ming military actually achieved a certain degree of motorization... no, it should be called mechanization.
After receiving the order to march, nearly 300,000 Ming troops advanced towards Brazil from three directions. For a time, the earth was filled with the sound of wheels.
This was the first motorized march in human history, with 300,000 troops moving in cars or on foot at a speed that had been unimaginable in the past.
Although not everyone can ride in a truck, for the search pioneers, their cars are still guaranteed.
Wearing a steel helmet, Li Haodong sat in the passenger seat of an open truck, looking left and right from time to time. The car left a trail of ruts in the knee-deep grass. Although there was no road on the grassland, but... with more cars, it became a road. The rifle was casually placed between his legs. He held the handrail with one hand and put the fruit picked from a nearby orchard into his mouth with the other hand.
When the convoy was driving on the grassland, they could occasionally see low wooden houses on the grassland. Those were the houses of the Brazilians. He knew that the Brazilians must be watching them from the houses on the roadside.
Think of them as conquerors.
Yes, they were indeed a group of conquerors. The battle in this area was over before a single shot was heard.
The Brazilians' resistance was extremely weak because the Ming army's marching speed was far beyond their imagination. Before they had time to react, they found themselves in danger of being surrounded, so many border troops retreated.
Suddenly, Li Haodong heard laughter. It was the driver Zhao Dong who was laughing there.
"Dongzi, what's so funny?"
"Captain, I was wondering if we'll make it all the way to Sao Paulo without even being able to fight a battle!"
"Haha, you know what I think. Those Brazilians run faster than rabbits."
The soldiers in the carriage all burst into laughter, with complete disdain in their tone of voice for the Brazilian army. After all, few people would look down upon an army that could only run away.
Finally, the convoy of five trucks stopped among an undulating hilly area. As soon as the cars stopped, soldiers jumped off the trucks and walked up the hill.
"Pay attention to your surroundings. This is a good place to set up an ambush."
While leading the soldiers in his squad to the top of the hill, Ma Yukun held his rifle and occasionally joked with his brothers.
Just when he reached the top of the slope and looked forward, he was stunned!
There was a full regiment of Brazilian troops in front of the slope, and the blue uniforms gathered on the grassland to form a long blue dragon winding forward. Several teams of cavalrymen holding spears ran on both sides to keep alert. At this moment, Sergeant Ma Yukun was actually frightened and broke into a cold sweat.
"Quick, report to the company commander, the enemy has been spotted one kilometer ahead..."
Li Haodong was dumbfounded by his subordinates' report.
"How far is it now?"
"About one kilometer, there are about two thousand enemies."
One kilometer!
Two thousand people!
These words made Li Haodong frown.
"Captain, let's..."
Without waiting for the deputy company commander Yu Song to finish his words, Li Haodong slapped the car body hard and uttered a word.
"beat!"
Instantly, everyone was stunned. Li Haodong pursed his lips and sneered.
"We haven't fired a single shot since we entered Brazil. It's too easy for these deserters to escape just like that. We have to teach them a lesson!"
"That's exactly the truth,"
Yu Song also agreed.
"They are just a bunch of cowardly deserters, no big deal!"
"That's right. No matter how many people there are, if they lose their courage, they will have nothing left. We will still have to clean up the mess!"
"But, Captain, they have a lot of troops!"
Platoon leader Zhao Cheng's reminder made Li Haodong nodded.
"Well, we do have a few people, but it doesn't matter. We are not going to fight them head-on..."
Staring at the undulating slope and then looking at the car, Li Haodong said.
"Drive our trucks to the reverse slope of the slope. If they get close, we will retreat! After all, horses can't outrun cars..."
(End of this chapter)
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