June 6, 1940, 2781 AD, Red Sea County, Yanqiu City, Djibouti.
Yanqiu City is the former French Somalia, also known as Djibouti.
It is located on the west coast of the Gulf of Aden in northeastern Africa, guarding the key point where the Red Sea enters the Indian Ocean.
It borders Somalia to the southeast, Ethiopia to the southwest, west and northwest, and Eritrea to the north which now belongs to Ethiopia.
The word "Djibouti" means "boiling steamer" in the local language.
Whether it is the former Djibouti or the current name "Flame Hill", it fully reflects the topographic characteristics here.
Although the area here is only 23,200 square kilometers, the terrain is very complex.
There are towering volcanoes, deep lakes, and most of them are volcanic plateaus with low altitude.
Deserts and volcanoes account for 90% of the country's area, and there are low-lying plains and lakes.
The south is mostly plateau and mountainous, with an altitude between 500 and 800 meters.
The East African Great Rift Valley passes through the middle.
Lake Yanqiu Asal at the northern end of the rift zone is 150 meters below sea level and is the lowest point on the African continent.
Almost all terrain except glaciers can be found here, so it is known as a "living specimen of geology".
Of course, in places with complex terrain like this, the land is usually very barren.
The same is true here in Yanqiu.
Most of the territory is plateau and mountainous with volcanic rock material.
Although the volcanic soil is one of the most fertile soils, there are very few plains suitable for farming, and the entire territory is hot and rainless all year round, so it is difficult to develop here.
In traditional agriculture, the city has less than 3,000 hectares of arable land, and the yield is extremely pitiful.
It is only suitable for the development of some animal husbandry that has low terrain requirements.
There are about 200,000 hectares of grassland and pasture in the area, but because there is too little rainfall, not many results can be achieved.
In the past, because it was too barren and the food production was too impressive, the population was very small.
When China took over the sovereignty of this place from France, there were less than 40,000 indigenous people in Djibouti, with an average of less than 1 square kilometer. to two people.
After China took over, it made a large initial investment in infrastructure construction and immigration.
Although the land here is very barren and the climate is very unfriendly, the geographical location is very important.
The most important thing is that this is China's first territory in Africa, and it is also the bridgehead for future expansion into Africa.
It must be built with money, even if it is a loss.
After more than 20 years of construction without any expense, Yanqiu has completely changed.
Many towns have been built, with a comprehensive transportation network, railways to Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital and Somalia, and multiple large airports.
Due to the large-scale immigration of Chinese people, the permanent resident population of Yanqiu at this time exceeded 180,000.
You can hardly see a black-skinned person on the streets here, and it feels no different from the mainland cities.
The Chinese have carried out extensive construction of Yanqiu Bay and Tadjoula Bay here, expanding it into a large seaport.
A large naval base has been built in the port area, which can berth large ships of 200,000 tons, and there is also a ten The 10,000-ton maintenance dock can repair and maintain capital ships and large aircraft carriers.
Therefore, it has also become an important base for China's Indian Ocean Fleet.
This place is restricted by natural conditions and is indeed not suitable for the development of agriculture.
In the history of the original time and space and later generations, 90% of the food here had to be imported.
But now that Mr.
Wen is here, it is naturally different.
With the support of various new crops, the region's agricultural products such as grain, fruits, vegetables, and meat can now be exported after meeting self-sufficiency.
Although the cultivated land in Yanqiu is barren, it is extremely rich in geothermal resources and minerals.
During the French rule, perhaps because the area was too small, the French did not invest enough energy in it.
Of course, there were also technical reasons, so these minerals were not found at all, and naturally they were not developed.
Not long after China took over here, the exploration department relied on the detailed geological information provided by Wen Desi and discovered a world-class super-large volcanic rock type copper, gold and silver associated mine, with copper metal reserves of more than 28 million tons and gold reserves of 1,700 tons. , the silver reserves are 1.62 million tons, which is roughly equivalent to the national copper reserves during the Datu Dynasty of the original time and space.
It has naturally become the largest copper mine base and copper smelting center in the country.
It can provide the country with 450,000 tons of refined copper, 15,000 tons of silver and about 40 tons of gold every year, accounting for approximately the total domestic self-produced copper. more than half.
Although China has also changed the figures for its exploration results here, so many copper ingots are sent to China every year, but it cannot be concealed from others.
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Even if foreign countries do not know the real reserves here, they know that this copper mine is very large even if they estimate it. .
When the French found out, they beat their chests with regret.
They all said that if they had known that there was a huge copper mine here, they would not have given it to China even if Madagascar was given to China.
The people even scolded their own government and experts bloody.
This was also a big reason why French politics turned to the right after the war.
Of course, in addition to this huge copper mine that was only discovered in the mid-21st century, there are also rich salt mines, and a large salt chemical industry base has also been built here.
The most important thing is that there are extremely amazing geothermal resources here.
China has built 22 large-scale geothermal power plants here, using the latest thermoelectric conversion technology.
Not only can local industrial electricity be solved at once, but it can also supply surrounding area.
Submarine cables are used to supply electricity to Hodeida and Yemen across the Yanqiu Strait and to areas such as Yemen.
High-voltage cables are used to transmit electricity to Ethiopia, British Somalia, British Sudan and even Egypt and East Africa.
A place like this cannot be overemphasized.
So even though Yanqiu is only as big as a palm, China usually stationed an infantry division and a mountain brigade here, and the Air Force also stationed a fighter regiment here, and Hutai City across the strait is the headquarters of the Western Indian Ocean Military Region.
There are two army divisions and one air force division.
Originally, this kind of military strength was already very strong, but after the outbreak of World War II, China gradually strengthened its military strength here to prevent disaster.
Because World War II was not only fought in Europe and North Africa, but also in East Africa.
The East African Republic is in the Allied camp.
After the war started, Egypt and Ethiopia, two countries in the Allied camp, took colonial troops from British East Africa to form a group to clear the East African copy.
In the end, they forgot that East Africa is a fighter among black swarms. , "Double Ai", the two brothers stole the chicken but failed to lose the rice, so Dong Africa held their heads down and beat them severely.
In the end, they even lost their underwear.
Not only did they lose all the East African territory they just grabbed, they also lost all of Uganda, and most of Kenya and Somalia.
It can be said that they lost everything.
If the East African army had not been able to keep up with its logistics and ran out of ammunition, it would have had to stop its offensive at Lake Turkana, otherwise it would have penetrated into Ethiopia and Sudan by now.
Since the fighting in East Africa is very lively, it is appropriate for China to strengthen its defenses.
East African teosinte is also teosinte.
Who knows if they may accidentally "stumble" into Yanqiu.
Xiandeng County is a county in the north of Yanqiu.
The north borders Eritrea, which is now Ethiopia, and is the original "Obok" area of French Somalia.
It is the third seaport of Yanqiu, because it was the first place where China received a delegation.
The land we set foot on was renamed "Xian Deng" after we acquired it.
The first step to the northeast is the Mandeb Strait, the Yanqiu Strait.
This strait is only more than 20 kilometers wide.
Opposite is the city of Hodai, the capital of the Red Sea County.
The first step and the coastal defense fortress guns on the opposite side can cover the entire strait and guard the throat of the Red Sea. .
The armored training ground of the Eighteenth Army is here.
At this time, a large group of steel behemoths were galloping in the training ground, making the entire place filled with smoke and dust.
The division commander, Major General Peng Sizong, was not unhappy at all, with a smile on his face like a flower.
"Yes, yes, the panda is better than the leopard," Peng Sizong said happily.
"Lao Peng, the leopard is the first generation, and this panda is the third generation.
There is a difference of two generations.
How can I be okay?"
Brigadier General Wang Yaowu, commander of the 118th Armored Division, rolled his eyes at him and said with some pride: "You guys are still...
It’s just a red panda.
Our division has giant pandas, which are better than this.”
"There's nothing better than this, aren't you bragging?"
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Peng Sizong didn't believe it.
"Tch, why did I lie to you?
Look, it's coming."
Wang Yaowu pointed at a group of "Bison" heavy-duty flatbed trucks that were entering the venue and said with a smile.
I saw that each "Bison" flatbed truck carried a huge canvas bag.
The canvas bag was tightly packed, like a large rice dumpling.
Peng Sizong was very familiar with this kind of flatbed truck.
He could roughly estimate the weight of the goods on it by looking at the shape of the main beams and tires of the flatbed truck.
"Hey guys, about 50 tons"
Lao Peng was impatient and ran over to the car before it stopped, and was about to climb onto the car as soon as he raised his legs.
"General, we haven't unloaded the goods yet," the squad leader escorting the truck reminded him with a dark look on his face.
"Hehehe, unload the car quickly" A group of officers and soldiers of the armored division ran up and hurriedly untied the ropes, lifted the canvas, and opened the fixing bolts on the car board.
Soon, a powerful armored fighting vehicle revealed its face.
If future generations of military fans see it, they will definitely think it looks familiar.
The "Panda Tank" in front of me looks like the Type 99 with an enlarged turret and lengthened body.
The group of smaller "Red Panda" tanks running on the field are similar in length to the 96a.
Of course, the turret is also larger and the body is wider.
Well, in fact, they are based on Type 99 and Type 96a, with some optimizations and modifications.
Their tubes are thinner than the original ones, at 105 mm.
Of course, in this plane, their names are zzz2780 "Giant Panda" main battle armored fighting vehicle, and zzz2779 "Red Panda" main battle armored fighting vehicle. zzz is the pinyin abbreviation of main battle armored combat vehicle, and 2780 represents the finalized republican year, that is, 1939 AD.
In fact, the code name of "Giant Panda" should be "Cat Bear", which is Gungun, which is the correct scientific name of this animal.
Just because of the influence of Wen Desi, the domestic people are used to calling him "Panda" and cannot change their words at all, so they can only make mistakes.
Except for those professional journals and formal media, people call Gungun "Panda".
In order to distinguish it from the genuine panda, they add the word "big".
The genuine panda, that is, simply Mianjun, can only add the word "big".
The word "small" is prefixed.
"Why is such a powerful chariot called a panda?
Why not a liger?
What do you think?"
Peng Sizong said with an embarrassed face.
"I know that.
However, I heard that Mr.
Wen took it personally."
Wang Yaowu whispered: "I heard that after Mr.
Wen saw it at the Tianjin factory, he said this was our panda, so the name became It’s settled” "Well, this name is very appropriate.
Panda is the image representative of China."
Peng Sizong immediately changed his mind when he heard that Mr.
Wen had chosen it himself.
Wen is always the person he admires the most, so naturally he has the best name.
"Oh, good guy, it is indeed a giant panda.
Although it doesn't look much bigger than a red panda, it weighs more than ten tons."
Old Peng looked around and compared with the red pandas on the field for a while.
Then he said: "I just don't know how the performance is."
Wang Yaowu asked the officers and soldiers beside the car: "Which crew does this car belong to?"
A young lieutenant immediately stepped out of the queue, saluted him, and said loudly: "Reporting to the division commander, he is from our car crew, the No. 1 car of the 1st Regiment, 1st Battalion, 3rd Company and 1st Platoon."
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Wang Yaowu looked at him and said kindly: "Platoon Commander Wen, your crew will drive it down now and demonstrate it to us."
"Yes."
Platoon leader Wen immediately greeted the crew members and quickly got into the tank.
"Boom, boom, boom" the chariot started, and a bridge plate for getting on and off the vehicle was also placed on the rear of the flatbed truck.
The panda quickly climbed off the flatbed truck with agility that belied its weight, and then began its performance demonstration.
After a while, a group of officers and soldiers' eyes lit up.
Especially Lao Peng, his eyes turned green.
In terms of mobility, firepower, and mobile shooting accuracy, these new tanks completely surpassed the Leopards and Red Wolves they had previously equipped.
"The superiors have only given me a battalion of leopards these past few years.
I almost vomited playing with the red wolf.
Now it's hard to change my clothes, and they don't give me a big one.
I want a giant panda."
Peng Sizong suddenly jumped up: "No. , I have to find Commander Li."
As soon as Peng Sizong finished speaking, someone behind him said: "Peng Sizong, why are you looking for me?"
Everyone looked back and saw a bunch of generals standing behind them.
Standing in the middle are the local top military officer, General Hong Shilou, commander of the Western Indian Ocean Military Region, Lieutenant General Li Zongren, commander of the 18th Group Army, Major General Luo Guangying, political commissar, and Major General Bai Chongxi, chief of staff.
There are also Lieutenant General Liu Yiqiang, commander of the Eighth Group Army opposite, Lieutenant General Yang Ning, commander of the Eleventh Group Army, etc.
A whole platoon of generals, 90% of the generals of the entire military region are here.
His immediate boss Li Zongren looked at him with a smile: "Xiao Peng, what do you want from me?"
Peng Sizong and others quickly saluted.
"Ah, leaders, when did you come?"
Bai Chongxi smiled and said: "It's been twenty minutes, and we are standing behind you.
You are all just looking at the pandas.
How can you pay attention to what is behind you?"
"Commander Li, why don't we have giant pandas in our 29th Infantry Division?"
Lao Peng said quickly.
"What giant panda does your mechanized infantry division want?
That's the equipment of the armored division.
You can just use the red panda."
Li Zongren twitched the corner of his mouth and said, "Do you know how much this thing is produced?
Even the armored division doesn't have a share.
How could it be your turn to be a mecha infantryman?"
"That's right, we only have one group of giant pandas, and the others are all red pandas," Wang Yaowu said with some regret.
Hong Shilou said with a smile: "Xiao Peng, the current production of pandas is not enough.
So many troops across the country need to change their uniforms, so this is the only way for the time being.
Our Military Region and Anxi Military Region are the first to change their uniforms, and other military regions are also extending Long Neck is waiting for production to increase. , the quota will be increased in the future, you mech infantrymen also have plans, why are you anxious?"
When Hong Shilou was young, his appearance was calm and powerful, with a murderous look, but after he reached middle age, his appearance became more and more amiable.
Now, he has become the image of a kind-hearted elder.
"Hehehe, Mr.
Hong, I'm just asking.
It's good to have it."
Lao Peng laughed a few times.
For some reason, he was most afraid of this commander who looked very gentle.
At this time, the three Panda tanks that were demonstrating their performance on the field were seen flying across various obstacles and terrain at a speed of at least 80 kilometers.
As they headed over a patch of gravel toward the shooting range, there was a sudden drift.
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Yes, it's tank drift, and there's simultaneous main gun fire.
Then they quickly fine-tuned the gun barrel's position during the drift and aimed at the target vehicle 1,500 meters away.
These target vehicles were modified from retired Wolverines, and the driving system was changed to remote control.
They were covered with a shell so that their size and shape could imitate most combat vehicles.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
The three Pandas roared almost at the same time, and a ball of fire shot up from the bodies of the three target vehicles almost at the same time.
Of course, the Panda is now firing a training bullet, which has the same weight and ballistic characteristics as a live bullet, but it is just a soft alloy warhead with a small amount of black powder inside, which will not really destroy the target vehicle.
"The good ones are the first hits," Wang Yaowu exclaimed happily.
Such a difficult move was successfully completed.
Now he can look good in front of his boss and colleagues.
Sure enough, Hong Shilou's eyebrows flew up, and he praised Wang Yaowu repeatedly: "These three crews are all masters, Xiao Wang, you have led good soldiers."
"This is the result of the hard training of the officers and soldiers."
Wang Yaowu felt that all the bones in his body were lighter by several kilograms.
Li Zongren and other generals in Episode 18 all looked proud, with smiles on their faces.
The faces of the generals of the other two group armies were not so good-looking.
Although they were both from the same military region, the competition was fierce.
Hu Zongnan saw the serious expression on his superior Yang Ning's face, so he hurried up and whispered: "Commander, there are people in our division who can do drift shooting, and they are no worse than those in Episode 18."
"I know."
Yang Ning nodded, her expression relaxed.
Wang Yaowu was introducing to several superiors: "Commanders, these three vehicles are all in the same platoon.
Our division has a regiment, a battalion, three companies and a platoon.
The platoon leader is Lieutenant Wen Zecheng who was assigned last year.
He is from Zhending Army School.
Undergraduate student of armor command department" "I've heard of this top student before, and he is indeed well-deserved."
Hong Shilou smiled and nodded.
At his level, it would be difficult for him to know the rookie lieutenant who has just been assigned, but this person who leads the team to play drifting is different: