Conquer Europe from the West

Chapter 83 502nd Airborne Infantry Regiment (Subscribe)

Airborne troops have always been an indispensable part of the modern army.

As someone who was born after the two world wars and witnessed several modern wars, Ryan was very aware of the importance of airborne troops.

An excellent airborne force can often lead a war to a completely different outcome at a critical moment.

Market Garden doesn't count.

Therefore, when Ryan saw Farlan's Republic-class airship, he understood one thing.

The airships in this world will surely become the most useful delivery devices for airborne troops, even after the birth of jet fighters.

Coincidentally, when Ryan was traveling from Stuttgart to Strasbourg, he also happened to meet Warrant Officer Soma Perris from the Second Fleet of the Air Force.

This further inspired Ryan to think that he must build an airborne force in the future.

Now, facing the impending Battle of the Maine, Ryan felt it was time to plant this seed.

Ryan stood beside the map, his hands behind his back, his back straight, and looked at the four generals before him. "In the next few decades, airship forces will become an indispensable air force for every country. This is an inevitable reality."

"During the July Farlan offensive, the Border Defense Battalion of the 02nd Battalion of the Fifth Military District of the Empire, where I served, successfully sank four Republic-class military airships of the Farlan Republic during the resistance."

"After investigation and evidence collection by the military's technical equipment development department, we currently estimate the Republic-class airship's carrying capacity to be approximately 4.8 tons per ship, with approximately cubic meters of cargo storage space."

"Based on our army's current infantry combat weight of 35 kilograms per person and the average soldier's weight of 82 kilograms, an airship of the same class can transport approximately to army soldiers at a time."

"Simply put, as long as we have an airship, we can easily transport an entire infantry platoon to any location, including all their equipment."

Before he finished speaking, Walbeck, who was sitting farthest from Ryan, couldn't help but take a deep breath.

As the person who lacked the most means of transportation, he almost immediately understood the huge potential of Ryan's idea of ​​using airships to transport infantry troops!
He was the chief military officer of the empire in the colonies, with about two regiments under his command.

These soldiers were responsible for a colony with a total area roughly the size of one imperial province, as their equipment only allowed two regiments to maneuver quickly across such an area.

But once the airship troops are deployed according to Ryan's suggestion, Walbeck only needs two airships to easily expand the actual control range of his troops by at least twice!
However, the number of troops required by Walbeck will not change!
He immediately took out the pen hanging on his breast pocket, flicked it twice, and wrote a row of densely packed small words on the paper in front of him, and immediately handed it to Draven beside him.

This made Draven, who was initially only slightly curious about Ryan's desire to take over the airship unit, immediately realize that this was no longer a matter that a junior officer could casually interfere with.

He carefully read the paper that Walbeck wrote to him, his gray eyes sharp as thorns.

"Are your calculations true?" Draven put down the paper in his hand and tilted his head to look at Ryan, but he was talking to Walbeck.

"Absolutely true, Lieutenant General."

Walbeck patted his chest and gave Draven a promise. He also looked at Ryan, his voice excited and obviously respectful. "Captain, I understand your idea of ​​using airships to transport army infantry. It's a groundbreaking idea that can expand the troops' control range to every corner within the airship's combat radius. Very good."

He changed the subject, but the respect in his tone was no less: "But how can you ensure that these soldiers can leave the airship quickly and safely?"

Ryan looked at Walbeck with some surprise.

He had assumed that Walbeck, like most people who heard about using airships to transport troops, would think that they simply wanted to use airships to transport troops behind the front lines and then let the troops advance to the front on their own.

Then he remembered that Wolbeck had actually read and learned about the concepts of motorized and mechanized troops from his conversations with Hellingen and Schubert, and he was immediately relieved.

"That's really a problem."

Ryan was blunt but confident: "According to my idea, airships offer a variety of options for deploying troops."

"The first type is similar to the flares used by General Schubert's artillery regiment."

"Parachute?" Schubert immediately understood what Ryan meant. "No, no, that thing isn't stable enough, and it's not strong enough to support the weight of a fully armored infantryman."

Walbeck nodded immediately and echoed, "The parachutes are made of silk. If they were to be put into large-scale use, such a large number of silk parachutes would be a considerable expense."

"Indeed." Ryan nodded. "Therefore, we can use parachute drop for small-scale troop deployments and rope drop for large-scale troop deployments."

"Rappel? Are you crazy?"

Walbeck's eyes widened, his mouth slightly open, as if he had seen a ghost. "You want the soldiers to descend using a rope?"

Ryan shrugged off his surprise, his voice calm and steady.

"As long as the soldiers are trained, they can succeed. Just like the Empire's current firefighters, because the Empire has many tall Gothic church buildings, they have received training in using ropes to reach the ground from extremely high positions before starting work. This is not a problem."

"Then the airship will have to face enemy firepower." Lieutenant General Draven looked at Ryan curiously, wanting to know how he would solve this problem.

Ryan's answer was simple: "We act late at night."

He stood at the table and explained his pen as an airship.

"The airship fleet left its home port late at night and moved from high altitude to the front lines. Once they reached the battle lines, they lowered their altitude, retaining only the power to counter the wind currents."

"Once the airship has descended to a height where the soldiers can be rappelled, immediately release multiple ropes, lower all the soldiers, and immediately leave the battlefield."

These few simple words immediately made Draven nod in satisfaction: "It's a bold plan, but I like it."

Walbeck immediately pressed the issue, "How will you ensure the soldiers' firepower? Your method of deployment will inevitably put the troops at an overwhelming numerical disadvantage. Facing an enemy that outnumbers you several times, how will you ensure the troops can successfully complete their mission?"

He didn't look at Ryan when he spoke. One hand kept scratching the stubble on his chin, and his eyes were fixed on the table, obviously thinking.

But Ryan was prepared.

He reached for his belt and patted where his officer's service gun should be. "Here's this."

Walbeck was stunned for a moment: "Pistol? What's the use of that?"

Ryan wanted to explain, but Schubert stole the show with a loud shout: "You want to use P08?"

"P08?" Walbeck looked at Schubert, who then slammed the artillery-issue Luger P08 pistol he was carrying on the table. "It's a pistol that was only issued to officers and NCOs in recent years. You've been overseas and only returned this year, so it's normal you don't know about it."

But Ryan said: "That's right, but there are some differences."

This immediately aroused the curiosity of everyone present.

They all focused their attention on Ryan, trying to see through his thoughts.

"We need a lightweight gun that can deliver overwhelming firepower at medium and short ranges."

Ren said calmly.

"This gun should use a pistol bullet with lighter recoil, with a theoretical killing range of less than 200 meters, without squeezing out the living space of traditional rifles."

"The gun should have the following characteristics: a firing rate of more than 120 rounds per minute, a 24- or 32-round detachable long magazine, and a weight of less than five kilograms when empty."

"The gun should be easy to produce and use, and have commonality with the Ruger P08 in accessories in the early stages, but over time, this feature can be gradually changed according to the needs of the battlefield."

As he spoke, Ryan walked to Schubert's side and said, "General, can you lend it to me?"

"No problem." Schubert immediately removed the magazine, checked the receiver, and then handed his P08 to Ryan.

Taking the P08, Ryan held it in his hand and raised it sideways in the air. "The new gun should be around 80 centimeters in length, with evenly distributed weight, making it suitable for use in confined spaces like alleys and buildings."

"I think we can ask the factory that produces the P08 to make some modifications to the gun, such as extending the barrel length, adding a front grip, etc., to temporarily meet the troops' demand for new guns."

After saying that, Ryan treated the P08 as a submachine gun and made several movements of holding a submachine gun.

His action initially caused Draven's disdain, but when Ryan began to pull the trigger at a very fast frequency, Draven was immediately shocked.

"Wait, Captain Flig."

He immediately stopped Ryan and said, "You just said, what is the theoretical rate of fire of this weapon?"

"More than 120 rounds! General." "But the firing rate of the P-08..." Draven frowned, feeling as if something was wrong.

Ryan added, "116 rounds, sir."

Draven: "Then why did you say the number 120?"

"Because of the Luger's complex structure, difficulty in maintenance, and high cost, the Empire is unable to provide this weapon system to soldiers on a large scale."

The so-called weapon system is a general term including firearm carrying equipment, firearms, and all accessories.

"You want to equip the entire army with this weapon?" This time it was Hellingen who was shocked.

As a rifleman, he witnessed the entire process of the Imperial Army's development from flintlock rifles to the current fixed-charge bridge-loaded rifles.

He knew very well that the upgrade of infantry weapon systems had been developing towards three aspects: longer range, faster loading speed, and faster firing speed.

The current base range of the Imperial Gw.98 rifle is 440 yards.

Reloading requires the use of a bridge clip, and a skilled soldier can complete the reload in five seconds.

The firing rate is 15 rounds per minute.

But when Ryan said that he wanted a pistol with a firing speed more than ten times that of the Gw.98, a range only half that of the Gw.98, and a bullet capacity more than three times that of the Gw.?

He even plans to equip the entire army with this weapon?
Now it was Hellingen's turn to be confused.

He questioned Ryan: "You should know the weapon data of Farlan, the United Kingdom, and the Empire, right?"

Ryan said firmly, "Yes, that's why I insist even more that our troops should be equipped with this type of weapon in large quantities to ensure their relative efficiency in rapid breakthroughs and sweeps of the battlefield."

"Based on the concepts of motorized and mechanized forces proposed earlier, I believe that all continental nations, including the Empire and the island nation of the United Kingdom, have not yet moved beyond the stage of building battle lines around long-range artillery positions and relying on trench warfare."

"Therefore, when facing such troops on the battlefield, a unit equipped with high-rate-of-fire short rifles, able to move flexibly in and out of the battlefield, and not easily constrained by enemy artillery threats, will inflict a devastating blow on the enemy's front lines."

This theory was actually proposed based on the characteristics of the Storm Troopers of World War I, but because the airships here are more powerful, Ryan directly came up with the idea of ​​upgrading the Storm Troopers that broke through from the front into a special forces unit that appeared in later generations and relied on helicopters for mobility.

"This method of attacking simultaneously with multiple small groups of troops while the enemy remains unaware of our movements, carrying out decapitation operations against key enemy units, is, in my opinion, the primary method for escaping the quagmire of trench warfare within a certain range."

silence.

There was a long silence.

Whether it was Schubert who was in charge of commanding the artillery units, or Hellingen and Wolbeck who were in charge of front-line command, or the officers of the General Staff including Draven.

They all began to think about the feasibility of Ryan's plan.

The empire's best minds were working frantically. The combat experience accumulated over hundreds of years and their own battlefield experiences were all issuing them the highest level of warnings.

What Ryan said is correct.

They have no doubt about their own judgment.

Schubert, who had taken back his service pistol, began to involuntarily make the same gun-holding action that Ryan had done before. The crisp clicking sounds made by his index finger pulling the trigger repeatedly were like bullets, hitting everyone's heart.

Hellingen and Draven instinctively recalled all the battles they had experienced. In the memories of those times when they personally rushed to the front line and fought with guns, a weapon with the characteristics of a machine gun but capable of being equipped by all infantrymen quietly appeared.

The bullets they fired drew graceful arcs in the sky, quickly and mercilessly harvesting the lives of all enemies within their sight.

The enemy that once required a squad, a platoon, or even a company to eliminate could not even survive five seconds under the attack of this weapon.

As for the range of less than two hundred meters?
In the face of absolute firepower and mobile vehicles using heavy armor, it even becomes an advantage.

Cheap barrels can greatly reduce the cost of weapons to the empire.

The money saved will be turned into more armored personnel carriers.

The Empire will have the fastest troops in the entire continent, able to cross a country overnight and break through any enemy's defenses overnight.

And all this.

It all stems from the man in front of them, the youngest recipient of the Blue Star Musk Medal in the history of the Empire.

A young captain of 28 years old.

Draven began to straighten his sitting posture involuntarily.

He deeply understood the high accuracy of Ryan's judgment of this war, his analysis of the battle situation, and his prediction of the future form of war.

Ryan was far ahead of the hundreds of staff officers in the General Staff. If he could take Moltke the Younger's position in time, the empire would be, and would only be, the ultimate winner no matter what situation it encountered or what war it faced.

"you win."

Suddenly, Walbeck raised his hands and looked at Schubert. "I am willing to withdraw a company of officers and half a regiment of troops from the colony to return home to accept the guidance of Captain Flig."

"This is not the same regiment as agreed upon." Schubert said coldly.

But Walbeck said, "They are all soldiers of the Empire, not those idiots recruited from the colonies. Their education level is at least junior high school, which is more than enough."

Schubert was stunned for a moment, then he remembered that Walbeck's troops did indeed include a number of recruited black-skinned natives: "That's... more like it."

the other side.

The eye contact between Hellingen and Draven also ended.

Draven folded his arms across his chest, his eyes hidden behind his gold-rimmed glasses looking at the paper in front of him. He stroked the slightly yellowed paper with his hands and muttered to himself.

"The Imperial Air Force might be able to allocate two squadrons... The officers of the garrison and reserve forces can be mobilized to form a battalion. If it's the Royal Guard and Cavalry, then there are still two battalions..."

He was thinking about the total number of troops he could mobilize. Although he was a member of the General Staff, as an imperial noble, Draven also had a lot of connections.

Those were his students' troops, and some were reserve troops around the imperial capital.

But Hellingen didn't give Draven time to think.

"Three regiments, two regular regiments and one reserve regiment, not one less!"

Before Draven could come up with an answer, he shouted, "We want elite troops who can be quickly trained and instructed to verify theories, not a bunch of well-connected, self-made soldiers!"

"I need time!" Draven looked at Hellingen, then turned his gaze to Ryan: "Captain, what do you think?"

Ryan ignored Hellingen's aggressive gaze and spoke directly.

"With an airship fleet, a force three times the total number of people transported in a single trip will suffice."

Draven immediately said, "I can provide you with four airships for training and battlefield practice. They're comparable in model and specifications to the Republic-class. Captain, please give me an exact number."

Ryan pondered for a moment, and finally spoke slowly.

"Not counting the two battalions and one assault company I currently command, another battalion of troops is needed."

After saying that, he added another sentence.

"All incoming soldiers and officers must have at least a high school education."

"Have you decided on a name for the troop?" Draven looked at Ryan. He had no objection to Ryan's request.

"502nd Airborne Infantry Regiment."

(End of this chapter)