Chapter 671: 671 Panzergrenadier
Chapter 671 Panzergrenadier 671
Compared to the armored reconnaissance vehicle factory in Anpu, the establishment of the M113 armored vehicle factory in Tongcheng seems to be relatively smooth.
So, when Lu Ming and his wife took the train north and stood in the narrow aisle of the train with a lot of luggage and felt the smell of feet in the carriage, the first batch of M113 armored vehicles had already been produced.
This thing doesn't have much technical content. It's just a pile of steel plates welded together. The engine is even a mature model produced by Tongcheng Engine Factory.
The entire M113 armored transport vehicle uses basically mature technology, including the gearbox and engine, which are basically existing models without any changes.
Such a choice makes all indicators of this armored vehicle very mediocre, or it makes this armored vehicle perform exceptionally well in all aspects.
It can travel through mountains and rivers, and has a very low failure rate. Because the car body itself is not heavy, it is actually quite fuel-efficient in comparison.
This kind of armored vehicle only has steel plate protection and is not very bulletproof, but it is definitely much better than a car. So for motorized infantry, its appearance has indeed improved their survivability.
Sometimes it’s just that simple: something is always better than nothing. The infantry did not have armored vehicles before, but now they have them. Even if the performance is not very good, they still have them after all.
It can tow a 155mm caliber artillery, carry ammunition for various artillery pieces, transport the wounded, transport infantry, and pull various tattered tents and equipment.
This thing is simply an all-rounder on the battlefield. If conditions permit, it can even drag the damaged No. 4 tank away from the dangerous battle zone.
A vehicle body that can withstand rifle and machine gun bullets can provide quite good defense for grenadiers. It can carry infantry to follow the tank attack and reduce the casualties of grenadiers.
An MG42 machine gun installed on the top of the vehicle body can also provide continuous cover firepower. There is a steel plate shield in front of the machine gun to provide cover for the shooter.
Originally, the plan was to install a 12.7 mm caliber machine gun, but considering the problem of supplying ammunition, the same MG-42 machine gun used by infantry was finally used, which is indeed much more convenient at least in terms of supply.
It’s just that the MG-42 machine gun is definitely not as good as the 12.7 mm caliber machine gun in terms of fire suppression, so this plan will definitely need to be modified in the future.
The first regular armored grenadier unit of the Tang Kingdom received this mass-produced M113 armored transport vehicle.
They like this brand-new weaponry very much, because with this armored vehicle, it is much easier for them to carry ammunition and place sundries, giving them more options when fighting.
In addition, this unit is also equipped with the No. 4 assault gun. This weapon proved to be a very effective assault weapon in the offensive and defensive battles near Beiyuan City.
With this weapon, infantry casualties dropped to an incredible level. Under the cover of the No. 4 assault gun, the casualties incurred by the Tang army in capturing a firepower point were less than one person on average.
Other than laying mines in advance, the enemy has almost no way to deal with this low-profile armored fighting vehicle. The 75mm short-barreled gun equipped on it can destroy a bunker with one shell. It is simply a perfect killing machine.
The Tang Army's armored grenadier division formed with these new weapons can definitely be described as powerful in combat effectiveness.
The entire division is equipped with 56 assault rifles, artillery equipment, Bee self-propelled guns, No. 4 assault guns, M113 armored vehicles, and trucks and motorcycles to supplement transportation capabilities.
Such a force has almost no shortcomings except that it consumes a lot of gasoline. They can follow the armored forces, quickly expand the breakthrough, and follow the armored forces to tear apart the enemy's deep defense lines.
Tang Mo is trying to think of ways to form similar units to supplement the armored divisions and mix them into a more combat-effective group army to facilitate logistics management planning.
Today's Tang Army has more than doubled in size than before the war. It now has 600,000 troops, a total of 32 divisions! Tang Mo had no intention of disbanding these troops, and even had plans to expand more troops.
For him, although this war is over, the next war is about to come! The Tang Army needed more troops to ensure the security of the Tang Kingdom.
There are at least 7 armored divisions, 2 newly formed armored grenadier divisions, 8 motorized grenadier divisions, and the rest are standard infantry divisions.
Due to insufficient production capacity, almost all units are under-strength. The armored division's rated number of more than 300 tanks has never been correct.
Most armored divisions are equipped with only more than 200 tanks. Some are under repair, some are damaged and waiting to be replenished, and some are short of personnel and are always waiting for new personnel and equipment.
Most of the infantry divisions are also waiting for more weapons and equipment, including artillery and rifles, and various command equipment are also insufficient.
It is actually very easy to form an army. You just need to recruit some soldiers to start training, and then issue weapons to each one. At the same time, it is very difficult to form an army. If you want this army to have high enough combat effectiveness, you need strict training, enough salary rewards for the soldiers, and at the same time, they are equipped with more weapons and equipment to support them to be more efficient on the battlefield. of combat.
In the battle against Qi State, the Tang Army had already reaped the dividends brought by communication equipment. Coordinated command on the front line is more convenient and faster than in the past, which greatly improved the combat effectiveness of the Tang Army.
In order to maintain this kind of flexible and efficient command, the commanders of the Tang Army did not hesitate to distribute tanks and vehicles with radios to the troops to serve as relays for communication.
The terrifying combat power of the tank troops and air force with a large number of radio stations also made commanders at all levels of the Tang Army pay more attention to these new weapons and equipment, treating them as treasures.
Soon, the call for equipping infantry with more radios grew louder, and radio communication equipment was spread to battalion-level units and even down to company-level units.
Unfortunately, due to the huge demand, the radio equipment that was originally planned to be spread to the company, like tanks, aircraft and self-propelled artillery, has become a "scarce material" that various troops are competing for.
In short, with the expansion of the Tang army, the troops were in dire need of everything.
…
In the distant Ice Empire, in a huge factory that Datang Group assisted in building in the past, in the noisy workshop, a brand new tank has been produced, and it looks quite impressive.
This brand-new tank was designed by the engineers of the Ice Empire by referring to the pictures of the No. 4 tank.
Although they look different, the overall layout is exactly the same: a turret on the hull, a main gun, and the engine behind the hull.
This tank, named the Cold Type 1, used a 90mm-caliber short-barreled gun. The thickness of the front armor of the vehicle body reached an astonishing 50mm, completely crushing the Cyric Type 1 tank.
“Except for being slower, it is very close to the No. 4 Tank of the Datang Group.” The engineer of the Ice Empire, who already knew the correct name of the No. 4 Tank, said angrily to a few people around him.
“The only drawback is that it does not have a radio communication device. Tang Army’s tanks all have that kind of equipment!” Cyric’s engineer said with some regret as he looked at the masterpiece in front of him.
“We don’t have similar equipment, there’s no way around it.” The dwarf engineer spread his hands and said with the same regret.
But he quickly added: "But it doesn't matter, we have reserved space for installing subsequent equipment!"
The communication system of the Tang Army is no longer a secret. There are some unburned parts in the destroyed tanks and assault guns of the Tang Army, which has led others who have seen the wreckage to speculate on something.
In addition, the response speed of the Tang Army is also faster than that of the armies of other countries. If the Tang Army does not have a brand-new command and communication equipment, no one will believe it even if they are killed.
In contrast to these two situations, it is not difficult to know that Tang Jun has some new equipment. What is really difficult is...how to imitate this equipment!
Over the years, many engineers in many countries have conducted some basic research on radio. They have also developed some of their own gadgets based on Datang Group's technology.
It’s just that these things are not yet mature and cannot be used in tanks or airplanes like Datang Group’s radio communication equipment.
“It’s a pity that we can’t catch up with this war.” Seeing that the brand-new Binghan 1 tank he had built could not be put into battle immediately, the leader of the engineers sighed with regret.
"Don't worry! The next war won't be too far away! This time it just gave Tang an advantage in new weapons! Next time, we won't give them a chance!" Cyric's engineer comforted.
He participated in the design and manufacture of the Ice Tank, and has sent a similar design back to the Flame Castle... In short, Cyric will soon have a new tank, and soon there will be newer tanks around the world!
Coupled with aircraft technology... before the next war comes, the Tang Army's technological advantage will no longer exist. At that time, it will be the turn of the countries supported by Cyric to give full play to their own advantages!
Of course these people don’t know that what their leaders spent a lot of money to buy back is just some outdated technology, and the tanks they copied are actually far from the real No. 4 tanks.
However, these things are indeed enough to deal with other surrounding countries. After successfully imitating the Binghan 1 tank, His Majesty the Emperor Binghan I began to be active again.
The dwarf emperor felt that he seemed to have the strength to go south again and the strength to unite all the dwarves!
Just because the war between Qi and Tang was not over yet, he was more wary of Tang, so he suppressed his temper and waited for a better opportunity.
(End of this chapter)