I want to be emperor

Chapter 1202: The Place with the Most Concentrated Troops

The half-track vehicle submitted by Lee Dynamics for the bidding was originally developed as a light manned and towing vehicle for muddy areas. It is basically a substitute for wheeled vehicles and full-track vehicles in special circumstances.

After all, the territory of the Great Chu Empire is so vast that not all places have mature and usable paved roads, and many are dirt roads.

Especially in Southeast Asia, Siberia and other regions, a large number of dirt roads become very difficult to travel during the rainy season, and local people's travel and material transportation, especially the transportation of various materials, become very difficult.

Conventional wheeled vehicles cannot move at all, whether it is a tricycle or a truck, they are all doomed.

Some wheeled tractors are better but not quite there.

Before this, some local farms, forestry farms or other enterprises simply used full-track tractors for short-distance land transportation, transporting goods from the farm to the train station and then shipping them out... This is why wheeled tractors and crawler tractors are so popular.

In the contemporary Chu Empire, this thing is not only an agricultural production tool, but also an important means of transportation.

But fully tracked tractors are also expensive. Not only is the purchase cost high, but the operating cost is also high... There is actually a saying that tracked vehicles are as durable as motorcycles, mainly because their durability is far inferior to that of wheeled vehicles.

Generally speaking, long-distance maneuvers for tracked vehicles are carried by trucks or trains, and then they use their own power to move forward after arriving at the destination.

This means that these places need a cheaper vehicle that can adapt to the muddy environment of the local rainy season.

So Lee Power Company combined the advantages of tracked vehicles and wheeled vehicles, and finally came up with a half-track truck. The front steering wheels are rubber wheels, and the rear drive wheels are replaced with track wheels, which increases the area in contact with the ground, reduces pressure, and greatly improves the passability on muddy roads.

This type of vehicle has received certain orders in special circumstances because it is cheaper than a full-track tractor and has its own carriage, making its operating cost relatively low.

However, the half-track transporter only solves the problem of cargo transportation, but has not solved the problem of people traveling in muddy environments. To address this problem, Lee Power Company has developed a lightweight half-track motorcycle.

It uses a twin-cylinder in-line engine used on large tricycles with a horsepower of 15. The rear half is designed to be a tracked structure, and the front steering wheel is a wheel structure of a half-track motorcycle. In order to reduce weight, the whole vehicle is actually very simple, and there are not many steel plates covering the outside, but this also keeps the weight under 800 kilograms.

Because of its small power, its maximum road speed is not fast, only 40 kilometers per hour... but this speed exceeds that of a large number of fully tracked vehicles.

The improved version of this civilian half-track motorcycle was submitted by Lee Dynamics to participate in the Army's light reconnaissance and transport vehicle bidding.

They increased the power to 25 horsepower using a four-cylinder inline gasoline engine from a sedan.

At the same time, the vehicle's sturdiness was enhanced... but it was still very simple.

These improvements have increased the vehicle's weight to 1.4 tons, with a maximum highway speed of 50 kilometers per hour. It can carry more than 300 kilograms of people or cargo and tow 350 kilograms of cargo.

Of course, the towing weight is just a more demanding data. In fact, if the terrain is ordinary, the towing amount can easily exceed one ton... It’s just that the army requires the towing data on muddy terrain, so the towing data is greatly discounted...

The muddy terrain traction required by the Army means that even if the wheels of the rear loaded carriage are completely stuck in the mud, the tractor can still move forward and drag it...

But more than 300 kilograms are enough, because the weight of the Army's 70mm infantry gun plus the tractor is only more than 300 kilograms, which is very light.

If traction on extreme terrain is not a consideration, the vehicle can also tow the 75mm mountain cannon normally.

When the Army tested the improved military version of the half-track motorcycle sent by Lee Power, it was very satisfied... especially when it saw that this thing could run at a speed of 40 to 50 kilometers per hour on the road, while forcibly pulling a 70mm infantry gun through rugged fields and even muddy and rivery sections.

  My mouth is watering!

Before this, there were actually vehicles with such strong passability, but they were all full-track vehicles, such as the 78 series artillery tractors improved from the tracked chassis, and the ten-ton and even twenty-ton large artillery tractors produced by Tangshan Machinery Company.

There is also a tractor modified from the 150 general-purpose tracked chassis vehicle that is being developed by Huguang Weapons Company.

But these tracked vehicles all have a huge flaw: they are expensive.

The cheapest 78 series crawler tractor costs more than Chu Yuan just for the bare vehicle.

But what the army wants is not the extremely expensive tank chassis, it just a transport vehicle for transporting supplies and personnel!

The tracked motorcycle that Li's Power Company participated in the bidding was priced at only 1,200 Chu Yuan.

  Although this thing looks very simple and doesn't even have a carport and can't shelter from wind or rain, it is cheap!

So the Army simply purchased a batch to conduct various tests!

Not only this half-track motorcycle was purchased, but also several half-track transport vehicles with different load capacities.

The Chu army, which is deployed globally, has a huge demand for this type of half-track transport vehicle... Especially in that hellhole of Eastern Europe, where large tracts of land turn into quagmires during the rainy season. The various existing military wheeled vehicles basically face great limitations in use, and full-track vehicles are too expensive. Moreover, the existing tracked vehicles are actually quite large, and are not suitable for use as troop transport vehicles or light reconnaissance vehicles.

After receiving the order, everyone at Li Power Company was ecstatic... This was the first time their company received an order from the military.

Although they have submitted many models to participate in military bidding in recent years, none of them have been successful...

  In fact, you can't make much money by participating in the supply of military vehicles. The military's purchasing volume is not large, and the price will be suppressed quite sharply!

At the same time, the R&D costs are high and the output is small, which ultimately leads to the embarrassing situation that military vehicles have high costs and low profits.

In fact, the five major automobile companies do not care about the military's orders... The huge share of the civilian automobile market is far from comparable to that of the weapons market... What they care more about is the reputation-enhancing effect brought about by military procurement.

  The military is using our cars, what does that mean? It means our products are of top quality, why don't you place an order for one?

It is this effect that Lee Power values.

Furthermore, the current situation of Lee Power Company is not going well, and it is better to have military orders than not, so they still attach great importance to military orders. After improving the design, they sent two half-track vehicles to the military for testing.

One is a half-track motorcycle.

One is a medium-sized half-track vehicle with a relatively compact body and no armor protection, but it uses a large V-shaped six-cylinder engine. It can be used to transport supplies and to tow various divisional field artillery.

One is a large half-track transport vehicle with a relatively wide compartment and compact seating arrangement. It can carry a fully armed infantry squad for maneuvering at one time.

  In addition, a rainproof and windproof soft shed can be added. In accordance with military requirements, an eight-millimeter thick armor plate is laid on the outside of the vehicle body, which can be used in special circumstances to allow soldiers to curl up in the vehicle body to avoid enemy light weapons attacks.

This thing is quite expensive, the price is over 7,000 Chu Yuan.

Lee Dynamics sent these three models up for selection, and the Army conducted a simple preliminary test. Then the Army's internal military expenditure control committee immediately rejected the large half-track transport vehicle. There was no reason, it was just too expensive... If the price was so high, the Army would be more inclined to purchase one more 784 tank and directly crush the enemy with firepower.

As for ordinary soldiers, they don't need cars to cross the muddy roads. They can just walk...

However, the remaining two types were retained and used as special motor vehicles.

In the future Chu Army's Class A troops, conventional infantry units will use trucks and tricycles, and a small number of these half-track vehicles will be allocated for use in special circumstances and for traction needs.

For example, if a truck is stuck in a mud pit, call a half-track vehicle to come and pull the truck out!

The Military Cost Control Board had different ideas than the rest of the Army, who wanted to allow troops to quickly move through muddy terrain with half-tracks and charge into enemy positions.

  The Military Budget Control Committee thought that this thing could be used as a rescue vehicle, after all, it was cheaper than a full-track rescue vehicle!

This led to the fact that when the army finally ordered this type of vehicle, it was positioned not as a combat vehicle but as a special support vehicle, which is ridiculous.

  Many good things, in fact, will deteriorate to some extent after reaching the army... This is true for tanks, armored vehicles, and now half-track vehicles are no exception!

Further back there were rifles and light machine guns... The army always seemed overwhelmed by the cost.

There are good things but they cannot be used, or in the end something weird is produced.

  Relatively speaking, the procurement of military equipment by the Chu State Guards is much more normal!

Heavy machine guns had long since abandoned water-cooled heavy machine guns and used air-cooled heavy machine guns. At the same time, light machine guns also used 53 light machine guns... Although the 53 light machine gun is expensive, it is easy to use.

When armored vehicles began to appear, the procurement and use of armored vehicles by the Guards were also different from those of the Army.

The Army emphasizes the concept of comprehensive protection and pursues comprehensive protection of light weapons in order to use them effectively in special and complex environments, such as cities.

What does the Guards emphasize? Anti-armor... Yes, anti-armor.

  Against what armor?

Armored Vehicles for the Army and Marines!

So when the Army was working on armored vehicles and tanks with comprehensive protection, weak firepower and mobility, the Guards didn't even look at these broken things, but instead pursued heavy firepower from the beginning!

Although both are light tanks, the Army uses the 783/4 series tank vehicles, while the Guards use the 781 tanks.

The armor protection of the 781 tank also focuses more on the front armor, and the side, rear and top armor are average, but in terms of firepower, it uses a 783mm tank gun, which is enough to penetrate the front armor of the tank when firing armor-piercing shells...

You see, the Army's 781 tank's combat target is not the indigenous people, but the Army and Marine Corps' 783 and 4 tanks.

  The quest is to destroy the Army or Marines tanks on the battlefield!

As for armored vehicles, the army's firepower armored vehicles are, to some extent, a weakened wheeled tank, but the Guards' armored vehicles are different. The Guards' armored vehicles are mainly used for reconnaissance, so they place great emphasis on mobility and have stronger firepower.

Basically, it is not equipped with 8mm machine guns, and the lowest is mm machine gun. At the same time, it is also considered to be equipped with mm machine guns.

As for the 783-ton universal platform, the Army still continued the idea of ​​the 4/ tank, but the Guards' bidding requirements to the Huguang Weapons Company required that this neutral tank be equipped with a powerful tank gun that could destroy tanks of the same level.

Therefore, according to the needs of the Guards, the Huguang Weapons Company made a 55mm long-barreled tank gun with very good penetration capability, enough to penetrate the frontal armor of all contemporary tanks at a distance of 500 meters.

In order to achieve this armor-piercing effect, armor-piercing bullets were specially developed.

Armor-piercing shells are actually a relatively unfamiliar type of shell in the Great Chu Empire... Mainly because there are no external enemies and no need for anti-armor, so for a long time, both the navy and the army have not had any special armor-piercing shells. There are only semi-armor-piercing shells used to destroy various fortifications and buildings, that is, shells that have a certain penetrating ability but will still explode.

The 55mm armor-piercing projectile developed by the Huguang Weapons Company for the Guards is a block of special steel. It relies directly on kinetic energy to penetrate the armor, and then relies on subsequent kinetic energy to kill living targets inside the tank and destroy equipment.

The Guards are clearly telling the Army and Marines that they are targeting you...

Then the Army and Navy Guards snorted coldly, too lazy to bother with these lunatics.

  It's such a serious period and you're still rebelling. That's crazy!

Under the power structure of the contemporary Chu army, especially with the popularization of radio communications covering the entire army, it is too difficult to rebel.

Because with the convenience of communication, the military power of the Chu army was gradually centralized.

In the past, people also said that they would not obey the orders from the king.

But now, with wired and radio communications, if you want to transfer even an infantry company in the home area, you have to write a report and then obtain a complete set of approvals from the Military Affairs Council, the Army General Staff, the Army Group Headquarters, the Army Headquarters, the Division Headquarters, the Regiment Headquarters, and the Battalion Headquarters.

Otherwise the consequences will be extremely serious!

It is slightly more relaxed in overseas areas, but still very strict.

As for overseas war zones, this will be a conventional combat mode, which is not so complicated. Basically, the local military command can decide on the deployment and tactics.

However, although the management in overseas areas is loose, it is impossible to rebel.

  Because these overseas regions, including various administrative regions, do not have any arsenal, not even one!

At the same time, the ammunition reserves in these places are actually very limited. Almost all of the Chu army’s large ammunition warehouses are deployed in the home area, that is, the directly-administered territories.

For example, in Europe, the Chu army’s largest ammunition depot was in Cadiz, followed by a few coastal ports such as Dover.

Even in these directly-administered territories, there is not a single arsenal.

If you want to rebel, your ammunition will soon be used up, and then you will have to face the anti-rebellion troops transferred from the mainland, as well as the overwhelming artillery shells and dense bullets like raindrops.

In all the years since the Chu Army was established, there has never been a full-scale rebellion.

There are many and complex reasons for all this, but it has a lot to do with the independence and mutual checks and balances among the Guards, Navy, Army and now the Air Force.

  This is also the important reason why the Guards have been targeting the army and navy directly in terms of weapons and equipment for so many years, but not the indigenous people.

The Guards' natural mission is to check and balance the army and navy and prevent the generals of the army and navy from having unnecessary thoughts!

Similarly, the army deployed heavy troops around Yingtian Prefecture, and the navy stationed a large number of offshore battleships at the Jiangyin Naval Base all year round to prevent the Guards generals from having unnecessary thoughts.

Once there is any change in the Guards, the army and navy will rush in to protect the emperor... In Lishui, there is always an Army Class A Division in a fully equipped and fully staffed state of combat readiness, with a large number of motor vehicles of all kinds and a large number of train cars in reserve all year round.

Once something happens in Nanjing, this Class A division will be able to reach Nanjing City along the railway line within a day.

The confrontation between the guards, army and navy surrounding Jinling City...actually also led to the Yingtian Prefecture area surrounding Jinling City becoming the place with the most concentrated military forces on Earth.

  Around this place, each branch of the military has deployed nearly 200,000 troops all year round, and then each branch of the military opens its eyes wide and stares at me, I stare at you... and all have telephone lines directly connected to the palace, and accept the emperor's personal command!

No one could mobilize these troops without the emperor's personal order through telephone or special secret telegrams... No imperial edict, handwritten warrant, blood letter, order from the General Staff, order from the Guards Command, etc. would work.

Either the emperor gave the order personally over the phone, or the order was sent via radio using a special code known only to the emperor and the commander of the unit.

  Otherwise, whoever moves will die, and all nine generations of the clan will be exterminated!

At the same time, the military leaders of various troops in Jinling City and surrounding areas are often the generals most trusted and valued by the emperor!

When serving in these key positions, ability is secondary and loyalty is the core factor.

  These are all to ensure the stability of the empire's military structure and avoid turmoil!

However, the long-term confrontation and balance policy, as well as the conflicts between the military services, have actually become difficult to break.

  If the army wants to use the Guards to rebel, you might as well just wipe out the Guards directly, which would be simpler and more straightforward!

Similarly, if the Guards wanted to rebel, they would want the Navy's coastal battleship fleet to remain indifferent and not interfere.

Unless you kill all the high-ranking naval officers collectively, don't even think about it!

Once the Guards rebelled, the navy would dare to send dozens of battleships directly into the Yangtze River to protect the emperor, and then destroy the Guards fleet once and for all... Countless people in the navy felt disgusted when looking at the Guards fleet!

Well, so the Imperial Guards built a large-scale Zhenjiang River Defense Fortress in Zhenjiang, equipped with many 300mm cannons...

The conflicts of interest between the military services that have accumulated over decades are no joke...