The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 207: Why do we need regiments when we have a combined battalion?

But the leaders couldn't help but frown.

Because the thought of investing a combined battalion makes one's scalp tingle.

The investment is really huge!
Look at the current combined battalion of Panshan Machinery Factory. It is not a complete heavy-armored combined battalion. How much money has to be invested just for the weapons and equipment?

The price that Panshan Machinery Factory gave to the troops for 20 Type 80 main battle tanks was all cost price, or even a discount. One tank cost 100 million RMB, and 20 tanks cost 2000 million RMB.

For two self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, the price given by Panshan Machinery Factory was also as low as it could be, so low that even the military leaders would be embarrassed. The price of one was 2 million RMB, and two would cost 300 million RMB.

Add to that bulletproof vests, bulletproof helmets, transport vehicles and other weapons and equipment, a combined battalion like the Panshan Machinery Factory would cost nearly 4000 million RMB.

The high training intensity, food and wages of the combined battalion cost at least 10 million yuan a year.

In other words, the investment of 4000 million RMB can only be considered as money for weapons and equipment, and it will cost about million RMB each year to maintain a synthetic battalion.

The current military expenditure is only about 170 billion yuan a year. Even if it increases in the future, it will not increase much. 170 billion yuan can only equip 425 combined battalions with weapons, which is about 34 troops.

But you know, that is simply impossible. Even if the plan to streamline the troops is completed this year, the entire army will still be as high as 530 million people.

Not to mention, the air force and navy are very expensive, and it is impossible to give all military funds to the army.

Even leaders who are not very good at accounting do not think that the current military budget can support a combined battalion.

Everyone knows the benefits of mechanized troops, but why are the US and Soviet armies the only ones in the world that have achieved mechanization?

Firstly, the investment is huge. The investment in mechanized troops is very large, and without strong national strength, it is impossible to support mechanized troops.

Secondly, it is because we need talents. Mechanized troops need a large number of talents in this area. Without talents, even if we have national strength, it will not work.

China is not unaware of the benefits of mechanized troops, but it has not yet built a mechanized force because it lacks both aspects.

For example, the U.S. military's annual military expenditure is about 1437 billion U.S. dollars. The Soviet military's annual military expenditure has never been made public, but everyone knows that as one of the two major hegemons today, the Soviet military's annual military expenditure is definitely not less.

If China's capital is calculated based on 170 billion RMB, even at the latest exchange rate, it is less than 96 billion US dollars.

Just after the New Year, the exchange rate between the US dollar and the RMB has changed from the official 1 US dollar to 1.49 RMB to 1 US dollar to 1.7768 RMB!
The settlement between Panshan Machinery Factory and the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building also changed from 1 US dollar to 1.75 RMB to 1 US dollar to 2.1 RMB.

"Alas, the investment is too huge. Even if we spend 100 years, we probably won't be able to realize the digital synthetic battalion you mentioned!" The leader shook his head and smiled bitterly.

Liu Tao laughed in his heart, but he never thought that China would be able to build a combined force at this time.

Even decades later, in an era of soaring military spending, this goal was only achieved after so many years of construction.

As for now, not only is there not enough money, but there are also not enough talents.

"Leaders, our combined battalion is an experiment to explore, learn, summarize experience and prepare for the future," Liu Tao said. "Next, we plan to build a combined brigade based on the combined battalion and build a combined brigade in five years!"

The Panshan Machinery Factory can build a combined battalion.

After all, as a military factory, it is normal to have an armed department, and it is not excessive to have an armed force of a battalion.

But if we want to set up a brigade-level armed force, that won't work. We need the military's approval. "A combined brigade?" A leader was a little surprised. "If we want to set up a combined brigade, we should first set up a combined battalion. Why a combined brigade? We have to take one step at a time and eat one bite at a time."

Everyone knows that above the battalion-level unit is the regiment-level unit.

As for the troops, there were brigade-level combat units during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, but they were gradually cancelled later. Now the organization is divided into army, division, regiment, battalion, company, platoon, and squad.

Logically speaking, the regiment is above the battalion.

As for the brigade, practice has long proven that it does not meet the requirements.

"Leader, a combined battalion can handle what a regiment can do now, so why would a combined force need a regiment?" Liu Tao said, "The combined force will be transformed from the current three-level organization of 'army, division and regiment' to a three-level organization of 'army, brigade and battalion'. The combined battalion will be the most basic combat unit, and it will be meaningless to set up a regiment."

The leaders all thought the same.

What a regiment can do, a combined battalion can also do.

In this case, there is no point in setting up a group.

At this time, a leader mentioned that "the combined battalion may not be suitable for a protracted war, especially the heavy combined battalion. The water network in the south makes up for it, and the existing bridges cannot support heavy tanks at all."

"That's true. This time our combined battalion arrived at Kunshi Railway Station and was transported to the front line by train. When heading to the front-line battlefield, we often dare not cross the existing bridges. If the riverbed conditions are good, we will go directly to the river, and if the conditions are not good, we will reach the pontoon bridge." Liu Tao nodded and said, "In order to facilitate the combined battalion to arrive at the battlefield in time, we prepared for work one month in advance, planned the marching route, and built the pontoon bridge in advance."

"It should be said that most of the current bridges cannot support the weight of the Type 80 tank, and even the Type 80 self-propelled tank. Many bridges are overhanging." Liu Tao said, "This is why the combined battalion is not suitable for the troops now."

"Here, I suggest that the country improve the construction standards of important roads and bridges in the future. Otherwise, the bridges will not be able to pass heavy tanks, and even if tanks drive on them, the road surface will be crushed." Liu Tao said.

Roads play an absolutely huge role in the military, and all major transportation roads are designed with military considerations in mind.

The standards of today's bridges and roads are too low.

Not to mention heavy tanks like the Type 80 main battle tank, even medium tanks like the Type 59 are not suitable for many bridges and roads.

The leaders nodded slightly. They all realized that behind the powerful combat effectiveness of the combined battalion was a strong logistical support capability.

Panshan Machinery Factory was making various preparations a month before the battle began.

Tanks like the Type 80 are actually subject to great restrictions in the southern region. They cannot pass through roads or bridges, and if they want to cross a river, there is a high probability that the tank will get stuck in the river and unable to get out, because many rivers in the south are silt or soft soil.

But what Liu Tao said also makes sense. With China developing the Type 80 main battle tank, it is impossible to leave it unused. All major transportation roads and bridges must be upgraded and constructed.

In fact, when the country carries out road construction in the future, the standards will continue to improve, including taking military purposes into consideration.

For example, after the birth of the Type 99A main battle tank, all highway bridges are required to be able to carry at least 55-ton vehicles, which means the standard vehicle gravity value is 550kN, and this value is exactly the weight of the Type 99A main battle tank.

A first-class highway bridge can bear a load of 300 tons taking into account the design redundancy.

As for the fourth-class highway, considering the design margin, even a car weighing over 60 tons will have no problem passing it.

(End of this chapter)