I want to be emperor

Chapter 1138 Tank Project No. 78

The automobile industry in the Da Chu Empire has attracted the most attention in the past ten years and is also the industry with the fastest development and greatest influence.

In contrast, many new industries of the same period were far less influential.

For example, radio communication technology has been developed, but to be honest, it has little relevance to ordinary people. At the same time, the jobs and taxes generated are limited.

There is also steam turbine technology, which can be regarded as an epoch-making power technology. It has been widely used in the field of power generation. At the same time, it has begun to be tested on a very small number of ships, that is, ships with extremely high speed requirements regardless of cost, such as high-end luxury passenger ships and the Navy. It has been used in small quantities on ships and so on...but its scale is still very limited and its output value is not high.

There is also the aircraft industry that has emerged in recent years... Although it is very novel, there are various arguments that the future air transportation industry will be very large, but the impact is actually limited. At least the capital market is currently paying attention to the aircraft industry. Very average.

The five major automobile companies mainly invest in the research and development of aircraft technology, and the reason why the five major automobile companies invest in the research and development of aircraft is largely not just for the sake of aircraft, but to improve the industrial chain and develop aircraft as a sub-project of the automobile industry. ...Because the engines used in airplanes are gasoline engines, which highly overlaps with the automobile industry.

Looking at the new technologies and new industries that have been created over the years, many of them are very novel, and the future prospects are indeed promising... However, none of them, not even one of them, can cause a full carnival in the capital market, make the imperial officials excited and even Crazy industry industry.

In the final analysis, it’s not that things like airplanes, radio communications, and steam turbines are not advanced enough... it’s purely because these things are not large-scale industrial products that are directly targeted at individual consumers.

Cars are large-scale industrial products that are directly targeted at individual consumers!

And this positioning brings an extremely huge industrial scale, which in turn brings extremely huge employment and tax revenue, as well as a comprehensive boost to the industrial chain.

Especially the comprehensive promotion effect on the entire industrial system is extremely terrifying... just like the textile industry back then.

The automobile industry can comprehensively drive the development and upgrading of almost all industrial chains, including machinery, electrical, chemicals, steel, special metallurgy, mining, petroleum, petrochemicals, transportation, ships, and even textiles and leather.

That's why the officials of the Da Chu Empire paid so much attention to it, and the capital market's pursuit of the automobile industry has continued for many years, and they are still investing money in it like crazy.

Each round of strategic investment by the five major automobile companies can attract countless large capital investments.

Not to mention the headquarters of the five major automobile companies, even the financing and listing of their industrial chain subsidiaries can attract a lot of capital and even ordinary investors... and even independent automobile manufacturers and independent industrial chains outside the five major automobile companies. Enterprises, they are also widely sought after by capital.

The rapid development of the automobile industry can directly promote the development of other industries.

As the national defense industry brings together the essence of the country's industrial and technological capabilities, it will naturally benefit a lot from it.

The most typical one is the mechanization development promoted by the current military. The currently installed armored vehicles, military transport vehicles, tractors and heavy artillery tractors, three-wheelers, three-wheelers, two-wheeled motorcycles, and even military aircraft... are all... Relying on the development of the automobile industry.

Without the rapid development of the automobile industry and the huge investment in the field of internal combustion engines by the automobile industry, these military vehicles and aircraft would not even have an engine...

The tanks that are currently being developed are no exception!

In the summer and May of the 53rd year of Chengshun, a group of army generals gathered at the suburban testing ground of the Chang'an Special Vehicle Company, a subsidiary of the Shaanxi-Gansu Weapons Company.

At the test site, three vehicles with different styles from previous armored vehicles were parked there, attracting everyone's attention.

These three vehicles are different from the wheeled running mechanism used by previous armored vehicles. Instead, they use a fully tracked running structure that has only appeared and matured in the past two years. The upper part of the vehicle body is quite normal, and the middle part of the vehicle body It has a bulge and a rotatable turret, and the turret is equipped with a 40mm short-barreled howitzer and an 8mm heavy machine gun.

This is the bidding vehicle of the Shaanxi-Gansu Weapons Company specifically for the 'Fully Tracked Artillery Chariot' project planned by the Mechanization Office under the Military Academy.

While the person in charge of the Shaanxi-Gansu Weapons Company was explaining to the army generals, the technicians at the front also began to board the vehicles and start them.

"This is the No. 78 tank project we developed. It adopts the most advanced full-track traveling mechanism in China from Liaodong Automobile Company and the corresponding chassis technology. It can easily control the forward and backward movement of the vehicle through two joysticks. Turn!"

"As for the power system, we use the advanced large-scale engine from Tangshan Automobile Company, which adopts a V-shaped six-cylinder structure. The maximum horsepower can reach 50 horses. It uses a three-speed gearbox provided by Songhe Automobile Company."

"The fully tracked running mechanism coupled with a top-notch power system can provide this tank with superior off-road maneuverability. It can effectively cross trenches, pass barbed wire fences, and muddy and complex dirt roads!"

"At the same time, this tank has fifteen millimeters of armor on the front of the body, eight millimeters on the sides, and six millimeters on the rear. The turret also has stronger armor protection."

"Such a strong armor protection capability allows this tank to easily cope with various small arms fire from field tanks and even complex cities, and resist medium and short-range attacks from small and medium-caliber smoothbore cannons."

"The weapon it carries is a 40mm short-barreled howitzer developed by us. In addition to being able to launch grenades, we have also specially developed a semi-armor-piercing grenade with certain armor-piercing performance for this artillery, which is used to attack various fortifications.”

"In addition to the main gun, there is also a coaxial eight-millimeter heavy machine gun on the turret. In addition, there is also an eight-millimeter heavy machine gun on the co-pilot position directly in front of the car body."

"Its powerful firepower is enough to tear any enemy apart!"

"According to the tactical positioning we gave it, this tank not only has the ability to fight in the field, but also has strong combat capabilities in complex terrains such as cities!"

"With the protective performance of our tanks, even if those indigenous rebels hide in the city and engage in so-called street fighting, they will not be able to block the attack of our tanks and ensure the safety of the soldiers inside."

"It can even be said that we originally developed this tank for use in urban combat environments!"

These words also caused many generals in the army to nod... Developing tanks for urban street fighting?

If this were placed in the meta-time and space, it would be completely non-mainstream, because it would easily put the tank under the enemy's various anti-tank firepower, such as rocket launchers, anti-tank missiles and other weapons.

But in the contemporary Dachu Empire, the greatest use of tanks, vehicles with strong armor protection, is actually in cities.

As for fighting in the field...the Chu army actually doesn't need such a big iron lump.

To put it simply, just bombard it directly with various artillery pieces, and then the other side will basically be finished.

The more complicated method is to bombard with artillery, then fire with heavy machine guns, and then the infantry slowly go up to clear the battlefield. This is basically the end... In the past 20 to 30 years, the Chu army has basically fought in this way.

In recent years, the military has begun to use armored vehicles again... The combat method is still the same, with various artillery blasting in turn, armored vehicles equipped with heavy machine guns to shoot in various ways, and then the infantry cleans the battlefield.

But in the city...there are too many uncontrollable factors.

Even if the Chu army's artillery force is so powerful, it is difficult to say that they can wipe out all the enemies hiding in the city. There are too many buildings in the city. After you use artillery to blow up the buildings and collapse them, the enemies can still use them. The ruins serve as cover to give you a cold shot.

The Chu Army has recently tried to use armored vehicles to carry out combat missions into the city. However, the frontal armor of the current armored vehicles is okay, but the side armor is very weak. It can withstand medium and long-range bullets, but it is still a little unable to resist short-range bullets... even if it is just Bullets fired from muskets.

Don't think that muskets are weak because they are lagging behind. In fact, muskets only have poor accuracy and a short effective range, but they are quite powerful... For example, the Chu army exported a large-scale 47-year-old percussion gun, which was eighteen years old. mm caliber, the muzzle kinetic energy of the bullet can reach 320 joules, while the muzzle kinetic energy of the later AK is only joules. The weak armor on the side of the armored vehicle cannot withstand the bullets fired by this flash cap percussion gun within a range of meters...

The Chu army and even the indigenous armies of various countries in Europe, West Asia, India, etc. have completely eliminated all kinds of armor. It is because the musket is so powerful that it cannot stop the armor worn by humans!

Of course, whether it can hit is another matter, but if it can't hit a hundred meters, then fifty meters, or even thirty meters... So the infantry in the past were all line infantry, focusing on close range volleys.

In a complex environment like a city, those indigenous resistance forces can relatively easily shorten this distance and get close enough to attack the Chu army's infantry and even the current armored vehicles within a range of tens of meters.

Therefore, for a long time, the Chu army basically did not take the initiative to enter the city to fight overseas. Instead, it was directly beaten to pieces by various shellings.

If they must not enter the city to fight, they will send cannon fodder infantry from the Foreign Legion into the city to fight.

Otherwise, there will be too many uncontrollable factors in the battle into the city, and the casualties of the regular army's infantry will be too great.

From these perspectives, before the appearance of tanks, the Chu army had not actually been able to find a relatively perfect weapon for entering the city.

This also directly gave rise to the Army's enthusiasm for developing tanks and armored vehicles with heavy armor protection.

In fact, in addition to developing tanks, the Army is also developing heavy-duty wheeled armored vehicles that sacrifice cross-country mobility in exchange for better protection capabilities given the limited power system.

Both of these weapons were actually developed for urban street fighting to some extent.

As for fighting in the wild, the Chu army has no need for this stuff... The overlord of the earth is not just blown up, but fought out.

Without absolutely powerful military strength, how could it be possible to dominate the world and put all the territories on the earth under its own direct rule or colonial rule?

I really thought that the hundreds of millions of indigenous people were all obedient sheep, willingly allowing themselves to be exploited and killed by the Chu people.

This all has a premise, and this premise is the extremely powerful military power of the Chu Empire.

There was a rebellion in the Kingdom of England before. They not only committed rebellion and tried to seize power in the Kingdom of England, but also used the slogan of expelling the Chu people... In response, the Chu people directly dispatched thousands of foreign legions and hundreds of regular troops. In just two moments, he brought down several of the rebellious nobles, and killed them all in a bloody stream, directly reducing the local population by half.

This is the core factor that makes the Chu Empire deter Europe, West Asia, India and other regions.

Nowadays, even the unsophisticated primitive people in the interior of Africa know that the Chu people are not easy to mess with... they avoid them if they encounter them, for fear of being captured by the Chu people and used as free labor.

Nowadays, the Chu army wants to further improve and solve some of its own shortcomings on the basis of global dominance, such as the large casualties in urban street battles.

Tanks and heavy armored vehicles are the options to solve this problem... at least in the eyes of those in the Army.

With the arrival of tanks and heavily protected armored vehicles, the regular troops of the Chu Army no longer have to rely heavily on foreign legions to perform combat tasks such as entering the city and patrolling the city in order to avoid casualties.

It does not mean that we have to compete with the foreign legions for work, or even eliminate the foreign legions for this reason.

Rather, the regular troops of the Chu Army may not be engaged in urban combat, but they must have the corresponding capabilities.

Just like regular field operations, in fact, the regular Chu army rarely dispatches on a large scale now, and they basically let foreign legions do it.

But that doesn't mean that the regular army can't do it... In fact, it can be done better by letting the regular army do it.

It just costs more...

The same is true in urban combat today. The regular army must have corresponding combat capabilities, which far exceed those of the foreign legions without causing greater casualties to itself.

As for whether to use this ability once you have it, that is another question...

The foreign legion certainly played an important role in the military power system of the Great Chu Empire. At the same time, the middle and senior officers of all the troops were the top commanders of the grassroots troops. For example, the company commanders were all Chu people.

But those who are not of my race must have different minds.

The top brass of the Chu State have always been wary of foreign soldiers and foreign low-level officers in the foreign legions.

It has been 20 or 30 years since the establishment of the Foreign Legion, but there has never been any example of a foreign officer serving as the main commander of the Foreign Legion... This option is directly prohibited by regulations.

The command structure of the grassroots foreign legion infantry company is often composed of Chu officers serving as company commander and deputy company commander, and then Lieutenant Tong, a foreign officer, serving as company chief executive, assisting Chu officers in managing the entire company; Native second lieutenant Tong serves as platoon leader, Command an infantry platoon in combat.

In the infantry battalion of the Foreign Legion, there is also a "Tong Captain" among the foreign officers in the command system to assist the Chu battalion commander in managing the entire battalion.

As the scale of the Foreign Legion continues to expand, and at the same time, in order to give the elite foreign officers in the Foreign Legion a certain amount of room for advancement and honor, so as to stimulate them to better fight for the people of Chu, a ' Tongquanmao', mainly serves as a division officer in the senior command structure of the Foreign Legion, assisting the senior commanders of the Chu Kingdom at the division, brigade, and regiment levels to handle various matters involving indigenous soldiers.

After such high-level fellow officers retire, they can obtain the official nationality of the Chu State and become Chu people in the legal sense... Of course, it is also very difficult to become a fellow officer. Generally, indigenous officers cannot expect it. .

This thing not only tests your ability, but also your loyalty... Only by having both, and having the Chu people and generals above you appreciating you and willing to provide you with a guarantee can you be promoted to the same rank.

In addition, another point is that part of the military police force in the Foreign Legion is composed of regular soldiers of the Chu Army... This small-scale military police force composed of regular soldiers of the Chu State is actually the Chu State Supervisory Team of the Foreign Legion. , is also the most direct and effective deterrent force used by the Chu generals of the Foreign Legion to control the Foreign Legion.

After all, simply sending a few Chu officers to control thousands or even tens of thousands of foreign legions would be too variable and would require a certain amount of military support from the regular Chu army.

In addition, the large-scale military operations of the Foreign Legion are coordinated with the actions of the regular army, or in other words, they are fought by the regular army and do the dirty work. It is rare for the Foreign Legion to operate independently on a large scale.

The previous dispatch of troops to the Kingdom of England to suppress rebellion is a typical example. While thousands of foreign legions were dispatched, there were also motorized battalions composed of hundreds of regular troops.

Judging from the composition of the command system of the Foreign Legion and the deployment of operations, the Chu people have never given up on supervising or even guarding against the indigenous soldiers and officers in the Foreign Legion.

Reusing and defending at the same time, this is the typical psychological state of Chu people towards foreign legions.

Under such circumstances, the Chu army was naturally uneasy about letting the foreign legions take charge of operations in the urban environment for a long time and letting the regular troops fly to Nanshan.

Again, you don’t have to use it, but you can’t live without it!

(End of this chapter)