The principle of rocket artillery is actually simpler than artillery, and it is also easier to produce, if you count the time of its appearance, rocket artillery is actually earlier than artillery. Hundreds of years ago, when it was still the era of cold weapons, Wan Hu, the genius inventor of the Tang Empire, made a primitive rocket launcher with the simplest rocket principle, although this madman was blown to pieces because he dreamed of flying into the sky, but he was the first person to use the principle of rockets.

The basic principle of artillery is to use explosives or gunpowder to produce high-temperature and high-pressure gas to push the projectile when it explodes, give the projectile an initial kinetic energy, and use the barrel to control the flight direction of the projectile, and maximize the use of the huge energy generated when the gunpowder explodes. In fact, the projectile does not have its own propulsion ability (those that appeared later in the rocket range extender do not count), and the projectile completely depends on the energy of the outside world to fly out of the muzzle.

The principle of rocket artillery is completely different, strictly speaking, rocket artillery does not need a barrel and does not need to use external forces. Rockets themselves have propellant and are generally high-energy gunpowder. The guide device of rocket artillery can be a guide rail, a launch tube, or a stabilizing wing surface using the rocket itself. Therefore, the rocket itself has the ability to propulse, and it does not fly with the help of external forces, but with its own propellant.

The structure of rocket artillery is much simpler than artillery, and the principle is not complicated at all, but the time when rocket artillery is really used on a large scale on the battlefield is hundreds of years later than artillery. It was not until 23 years that the Russian army used rocket artillery on a large scale for the first time in the eastern European theater, and from then on, rocket artillery immediately became a sharp weapon in the hands of the warring parties. However, for a long time, rocket artillery was only artillery on the battlefield of land warfare, and rocket artillery has not had much attraction for the navies of several powerful countries.

An important reason restricting the development of rocket artillery is the accuracy of rocket artillery. After the advent of rifled guns, the accuracy of artillery was greatly improved, especially with metallurgical processes. With the advent of lathe technology, as well as more advanced techniques for the processing of gun barrels, the accuracy of artillery was increasing. On the contrary, because the rocket flies on its own energy, and when the projectile flies, its mass, speed, etc. will change, which will lead to the extremely unstable trajectory of the projectile flight. Before the advent of guidance technology, there was no way to increase the accuracy of rockets.

The question of accuracy is perhaps not very important for the Army, especially in the case of large-scale use of artillery, which can be fully compensated for by the density of fire. On the contrary, in the navy, accuracy is everything, which is the main reason why the navy has stricter requirements for artillery. It is impossible for the navy to dispatch several artillery corps at every turn, and let thousands, or even thousands, of artillery pieces fire at the same time, even the most powerful warships in the world. There are also up to twelve main guns on it. Therefore. In the Navy, it is impossible to replace accuracy with the density of fire. And the navy is dealing with enemy warships, and warships are active targets. Even if there is a density of firepower, it may not be able to hit the enemy, and accuracy is the first requirement of the navy for artillery. In this case, the Navy will naturally not be interested in rocket artillery with extremely poor accuracy.

The inherent drawbacks of rocket artillery do not conceal its natural advantage, namely its extremely high rate of launch and the ability to fire massive salvos without physical limitations, which artillery simply cannot do. Actually, these are the two extremes, and the artillery pursues accuracy. And the ground pursued by rocket artillery is the density of firepower. Generally, a rocket artillery has several, or even dozens of guides, which can launch all the rockets in a matter of seconds, at most tens of seconds, but large-caliber artillery cannot do this at all. In addition, it is precisely because there is no restriction on the barrel, so the weight of the rocket can be made much larger than that of an artillery shell, and the warhead is much larger than that of an artillery shell. In addition, the process of rocket artillery is simpler. Therefore, the chance of failure is smaller, and even if a rocket on one rail ejects a fault, it will not affect the rockets on the other rails, and thus will not affect the use of the entire rocket launcher. These features are not found in artillery.

It can be said that rocket artillery was one of the most ideal fire support weapons that the ground forces could have at that time. On the continental battlefield, the armies of Russia, Germany, the Tang Empire, and the Persian Empire were successively equipped with rocket artillery, and the number was increasing, and the use in the campaign was becoming more and more extensive. Soon, these innate characteristics of rocket artillery also attracted the attention of the Navy, to be precise, the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps needs a lot of ground fire support in the landing operation, which was previously completed by the fleet and the air force, while the Marine Corps only has its own artillery, and it must first let these artillery pieces go ashore before it can be used, and during the period when the Marine Corps goes ashore, all the artillery support must be provided by the fleet. And the pursuit of precision and power of naval guns in many cases can not guarantee the density of firepower.

Obviously, it is rocket artillery that will solve the problem. On the premise that there was a demand, the Marine Corps quickly came up with this kind of "fire support ship" equipped with dozens, if not hundreds, of rocket launchers. These vessels were converted from merchant ships (usually freighters with flat open decks). These ships are under the direct command of the Marine Corps, accompany the activities of the landing fleet, and their large interior space can accommodate a sufficient amount of ammunition, while the flat deck can accommodate a sufficient number of rocket launchers. In the first batch of modified "fire support ships", each of which has 120 to 180 rails on it, and the time of a salvo is only two minutes, and each rocket weighs 55 kilograms and can hit 5 nautical miles away, that is, each ship can launch 120 to 180 rockets weighing 55 kilograms in two minutes, each containing 8 kilograms of high explosives, and these rockets can cover an area the size of a polo field at one time, several "rocket boats" If they are fired together, they can create a "no man's land" within a range of two kilometers long and 500 meters deep.

The scene when hundreds of rockets rose into the sky at the same time was extremely spectacular, and even Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue, two generals who had been fighting on the ocean battlefield for several years, froze their faces with surprise. The sound of the rocket when it lifts off is extremely short and sharp, as if it is a few hundred second kicks at a time during the Spring Festival.

"Damn, who came up with this perverted thing?" Hao Dongjue didn't know how to describe those "rocket ships" in words.

"Surely he's a pervert too." Tan Renhao is not much better than Hao Dongjue, "It seems that the enemy has been shocked more than us." I'm afraid they're still doing it like those things that are on fire in their butts! ”

The rockets flew in the air for about two minutes, and then they landed in a flutter. At this time, most of the officers and men in the fleet were watching the spectacular scene. Hundreds of rockets fell in succession in an extremely short period of time, and the American beach defense positions were immediately enveloped in a sea of fire, and then the entire beach was enveloped in gunsmoke. The fleet's shelling also stopped, and presumably even the observers on the seaplanes hovering over the beach were stunned.

In the hour before the officers and men of the Marine Corps went ashore, the "rocket boats" fired a total of eight salvos, and each time the scene was equally shocking. Equally spectacular. Thousands of rockets exploded on the US defensive positions, and although they were not able to kill many US troops, the US officers and soldiers who were hiding in the underground fortifications like rats were probably frightened.

Just five minutes after the last round of rocket strikes, the landing craft carrying the officers and men of the landing team rushed to the beach, and the second group of carrier-based bombers also arrived over the battlefield, and the fleet channel immediately appeared the shouting of the pilots, probably not knowing what had happened at the beginning, and the diffuse smoke of gunpowder obscured their vision, so that they could not accurately drop the bombs.

In the first 10 minutes of the Marine Corps coming ashore, the U.S. troops did not fire a single bullet. Until more than half of the officers and men of the two regiments of ground marines rushed to the front of the circular fortifications on the beach. Machine guns of the American army. Mortars, and artillery that had not been destroyed, began to return fire, but by this time it was too late.

"Let those 'rocket boats' go down." Tan Renhao was also anxious. Smoke still fills the battlefield, making it difficult for the fleet to find targets, "try to increase the accuracy of the shelling, contact the commander of the landing force, and don't hit your own people with shells." ”

There was no need to talk about Renhao to give an order, those "rocket boats" took the initiative to withdraw from the battle, they carried out a covering fire strike, and now that the marines have gone ashore, it is easy to accidentally injure their own personnel if they carry out this kind of strike, so these "rocket boats" cannot get any closer. I can only go to the back to watch the battle.

The fighting on the battlefield became more and more intense, and the US military's counterattack became more and more fierce. Unable to drop bombs on the US beach's defensive positions, the carrier-based bombers flew to the rear of the US defense line to carry out the bombing mission. At this time, the only thing that could provide support to the Marine Corps was the warships on the sea.

Seaplanes are returning one after another, and the first batch of marines to go ashore have more than 20 artillery guidance groups, whose task is to provide the battleship with more accurate shelling parameters, even if the gunners on the battleship still can't see the situation on the battlefield clearly, with the help of these fire guides, they can still accurately hit the shells into the American pillboxes.

The smoke over the battlefield slowly cleared after eight o'clock. The officers and men of the two regiments of Marines who first came ashore had already rushed into the first line of defense of the American army, and were fighting for every trench with the stubbornly resisting American troops, and gradually uprooting the American strongholds. Most of the officers and men of the Marine Corps fought in squads or platoons.

In a Marine squad, there are generally eleven people (one more than the Army squad), two of whom operate machine guns, three are armed with submachine guns, five are equipped with semi-automatic rifles, and an additional Pyro is assigned to use flamethrowers against enemy pillboxes. A squad is a complete combat team, and the squad leaders must be experienced veterans, and several squads together are a strong combat team.

The landing craft have been withdrawn and are ready to transport the second group ashore. At this time, those amphibious armored vehicles, as well as large landing craft carrying armored vehicles, were already approaching the beach. Several tank landing ships also rushed over, ready to send the carrying tanks to the beach. The landing ship carrying the officers and men of the landing team came to the sea about eight nautical miles from the beach, and the second group of marines was ready on the landing ship. Among these officers and men were three engineer battalions, who were to set up an improvised dock on the beach so that ships carrying artillery, ammunition, and other war materiel could come up and bring equipment and supplies to the beach.

The legion, composed of tens of thousands of officers and soldiers, is like a huge machine, running in an orderly manner. The Imperial Marine Corps is the most elite ground combat unit of the Empire, and its recruitment standards are much stricter than those of the Army.

For the officers and men of the Marine Corps, the seal epaulettes on their shoulders are actually the embodiment of their combat effectiveness, they are the leopards in the sea, ready to rush to land and give the enemy a fatal blow!

The fleet was again approaching the beach, and the shelling mission had been assigned, with each battleship supporting a Marine Corps, and the artillery guides of the Marine Corps providing the shelling parameters.

Tan Renhao is no longer in charge of specific command work, and now that the battle has been in full swing, the marines have gone ashore, and the fleet has become a supporting role on the battlefield, an extremely important supporting role.

The battle for the beach continued until noon, and it was not until the tanks and armored vehicles of the Marine Corps rushed up and two artillery battalions of the Marine Corps had already set up artillery on the beach that the Americans abandoned their defenses in the first two directions. The fighting did not stop there, as the Marines first consolidated their beach positions at a depth of about 500 meters, and then continued to advance inland under the cover of tanks and armored vehicles, extending the width of the landing ground and extending the depth of their defenses.

The HNA bombers arrived at about two o'clock, and the bombers of the Strategic Strike Force flew back shortly after. A third group of carrier-based bombers also arrived in the afternoon to continue to provide support to the Marine Corps. The battleships of Task Force 1 withdrew to the open sea at about 4 p.m., ready to replenish ammunition. The battle on the ground continues.