Munitions Empire

Chapter 983: 905 seems to be unable to Chapter 983: 905 seems to be unable to “I think it’s fine too.” At this time, another engineer expressed his opinion: “Our 113 armored vehicles and Lion tanks, actually can’t withstand the 50 long barrel guns, and the effect would be the same with 75 caliber cannons, so there’s no difference.”

The armored vehicles of the Great Tang Empire don’t have very thick defenses, so indeed there is no need to worry about the opponent’s anti-tank guns being too powerful. Because even a 30mm caliber machine gun can easily penetrate the protection of these armored vehicles.

He then continued to say, “On the other hand, our Type 59 tanks and Panther tanks can withstand attacks from 75 caliber guns at a medium range, and it’s the same with 50 caliber.”

“So shall we go for the cheaper 75-caliber guns?” Having heard this, many people thought that there was no need to develop a new gun, giving the 75-caliber gun directly would save some trouble.

However, the factory manager had other plans and chose the 50-caliber gun: “Let’s go with the 50, although it’s a bit more expensive, it seems safer… Besides, 50 is a caliber we haven’t used ourselves before, providing it to Fengjiang won’t cause any unnecessary issues.”

What he was thinking was to avoid as much as possible the need to deal with the military authorities, saving a lot of trouble—if the military authorities don’t want to get involved in the Dahua Empire civil war, they will reject the 75-caliber gun proposal.

Rather than having to come back later and replan, better to directly come up with a more likely-to-success plan and present it to the military authorities.

...

If the military doesn’t agree, then they can fall back on the developed 75-caliber gun, without losing anything, it’s even more convenient in terms of production.

The engineer responsible for production immediately nodded and said: “OK! I’ll arrange the production line right away, start producing a few samples according to our original designs, and what about the accompanying ammunition?”

The person in charge of shells confidently assured: “No rush with the ammunition, just arrange a few factories to handle it. What I’m worried about are the shells for other calibers of artillery.”

At this time, the factory manager was very bold: “Don’t worry! The caliber that Fengjiang uses the most is the 130 caliber produced by Shireck back in the day, we’ve dealt with those before, there are even some outdated shell factories relying on Fengjiang’s orders to survive.”

The armament factories of the Great Tang Empire really had an overcapacity during peacetime. Being able to pick up arms production orders from other countries was indeed a great joy.

Sometimes, they would even experiment with their own newly developed gadgets in a certain batch of ammunition, making their clients very satisfied.

As this factory prepared to bring out the 50mm caliber high muzzle velocity anti-tank guns, other factories were also considering producing some exotic weapons and equipment for Fengjiang.

Source: , updated on ɴονǥο.сο

This was also a unique advantage of the factories of the Great Tang Empire: aside from them, no other country in the world could rush to produce a new batch of equipment to support another country.

It’s just that because some of the weapons from the Great Tang Empire are too significant, the weapons and equipment supplied to Fengjiang, from some perspectives, are really not that easy to use.

For example, the kind of man-portable anti-tank weapons desperately needed by Fengjiang, the Great Tang Empire actually had similar designs a long time ago: RPG-type anti-tank rockets.

But to ensure the safety of their own armored corps, these rockets were kept strictly confidential. In the end, what could be supplied to Fengjiang were the outdated anti-tank hand grenades and anti-tank bombs.

Yes, the so-called anti-tank bombs are actually a bizarre weapon that attaches an anti-tank mine to a long pole, used in real combat by Japan during World War II… As for whether it was effective or not, only those lucky army fools would know.

This kind of pole-mounted man-portable anti-tank weapon is essentially an explosive spear, and whether the soldiers attacking tanks could return unscathed entirely depends on the feng shui index of their family graveyard.

If the graveyard is emitting blue smoke, there’s no problem using this weapon. But if the feng shui is average and the grass doesn’t grow lushly, it’s pretty much time to prepare another gravesite.

Additionally, the Great Tang Empire also found some Thompson Submachine Guns, made some copies of the Boposha Submachine Gun, and urgently shipped them to Fengjiang, re-equipping the Fengjiang defense forces.

There was a funny incident in there: the Thompson Submachine Gun was exported in large quantities, many countries were equipped with them, so the Dahua Empire had nowhere to investigate and could only pinch their noses to accept what happened, allowing the matter to pass.

Instead, there was a problem with the imitation Boposha Submachine Gun copied from the Ice Cold Empire: the Great Tang Empire’s craftsmanship was too good, these pirated submachine guns were of much higher quality than those produced by the Dwarves.

For a time, the Boposha Submachine Gun, which was originally criticized by many, suddenly became famous, and the Fengjiang version of the submachine gun even became a sought-after item.

Actually, everyone knew where Fengjiang’s Boposha Submachine Guns came from, but since the Dahua Empire didn’t wish to pursue it, the incident eventually ended without any outcome.

Although the Great Tang Empire supplied Fengjiang with numerous weapons and equipment, the heavy weapons and equipment that the Fengjiang defenders needed most were still lacking.

For instance, Fengjiang lacked tanks, and the Great Tang Empire didn’t have suitable tanks to provide for the Fengjiang defense forces in the short term. They could only temporarily supply a few hundred civilian trucks to Fengjiang defenders, somewhat enhancing the transport capacity of the Fengjiang defense forces.

However, the second line of defense on the western side of Fengjiang unexpectedly held firm: the Dahua Empire only used a day to take the first line of defense of the Fengjiang forces, but after continuously fighting for 3 days, they were unable to shake the second line of defense of the Fengjiang forces.

There were reasons for this: the fortifications were solid, the Fengjiang defenders fought desperately, and also the attacking forces of the Dahua Empire were running out of steam.

Because they were not fully prepared for the offensive, the Dahua Empire’s attacking force started to weaken after several days of fierce fighting.

They tried to quickly breach the defenses of the Fengjiang garrison, only to discover that the second line of defense was far more formidable than the first.

This area has always been a permanent defensive fortification to block the Tang Army’s attack, only it was originally facing the Great Tang Empire to the east.

Ironically, the person who was the main advocate for building this fortification line at the Dahua imperial court was Shen Chuan, who was truly knowledgeable about the military tactics of the Great Tang Empire.

He noticed that the typical attack pattern of the Great Tang Empire was “a breakthrough by the Armored Corps, followed by a rapid encirclement to disrupt the enemy’s formation, ultimately aiming to annihilate them.”

To counter this tactic, Shen Chuan hypothesized that, in the event the Tang Army suddenly attacked and captured Fengjiang advancing toward Hezhe, he thus set a trap in-depth for the Great Tang Empire.

He constructed a permanent defensive line between Hezhe and Fengjiang, made up of numerous circular defensive fortifications.

Shen Chuan’s fortification was specifically designed to resist the flanking maneuvers of the Tang Army, with a great number of circular defensive works connected by trenches.

Such fortifications were modified by the Fengjiang garrison, and in turn used to cope with the Dahua military, their robustness far exceeding expectations.

First, the quality of this fortification line was quite high, as it was intended for the Tang military – anything less wouldn’t suffice. Some areas were even reinforced, resulting in astonishing defensive capabilities.

Furthermore, most positions along this line were circular and layered, with no distinction between front and rear, which indeed made the Dahua Troops’ attacks extremely difficult.

Lastly, this line was further strengthened by military advisors from the Tang Empire, who added many cannons, significantly boosting its firepower.

For all these reasons, the Dahua Empire’s attack force was halted at this defensive line, unable to make any progress for the moment.

Zhao Chen became increasingly anxious as, on the flank at Shanping, the Fengjiang military had finally completed their mobilization and launched a fierce assault on Shanping.

The battle was intensely fierce from the start; directed by military advisors from Tang Country, the Fengjiang military’s overwhelming onslaught tore through the Dahua military’s defensive line.

Subsequently, the Fengjiang’s Armored Corps penetrated deep into Dahua’s defenses, indeed displaying some of the Tang Army’s prowess. In the midst of chaos, the Dahua military even lost the second line of defense, and the situation suddenly turned passive.

At this juncture, the two Armored Divisions from Dahua that had set out from Guiguang had not yet reached Shanping. If the Fengjiang military managed to take Shanping beforehand, the Dahua side would be pushed into a defensive position.

Yet, just as things seemed greatly favoring them, the Fengjiang military began to falter – after breaching two lines of defense in the Shanping direction, they unexpectedly got stuck at the third line.

After two days of relentless attacks, the Fengjiang military still could not break through the third line of defense. The Dahua garrison held out until their reinforcements arrived, and the two sides once again found themselves in a deadlock.

Luo Xiao, who had planned the Shanping offensive, nearly went insane in the command post, and his team of advisors was likewise in dismay.

They had foreseen the incompetence of the Fengjiang defenders, but they did not expect the military forces from other countries, besides the Tang Army, to be so inept.

They never believed there could be people who couldn’t even march in step, but now they were convinced – not only convinced, but they also realized these individuals were not few in number.

These military forces lacked belief and rigorous training, and they started to crumble at the slightest obstacle. Their attacks were not sharp, and their defenses were riddled with holes.

At this moment, they truly grasped the meaning of “a nadir of incompetence.” They finally understood why some people found it enjoyable to watch two women pulling each other’s hair out on the streets.

After all, not everyone is capable of competing in boxing, wrestling, judo, or Sanda. Sometimes, pulling hair and scratching faces might be the most delightful spectacle they can offer.

“Seriously, can’t they just follow the plan, and complete a task as it was laid out?” Luo Xiao despaired as he watched the Fengjiang forces stalled halfway through their southern advance.

“It seems they can’t,” expecting no answer, Luo Xiao’s rhetorical question got a response as a similarly despaired staff officer continued his line of thought.

“Figure out a way to keep them attacking! If they stop here, we have no hope left!” Luo Xiao took a deep breath and shouted loudly.

———

Two updates today