Britain and the United States had many opportunities to obtain physical anti-tank rocket launchers, and rocket launchers were captured in battles in the South Seas, Burma, the Philippines, and Australia.

However, because a series of battles ended in the defeat of the British and American forces, the sporadic captured weapons and equipment were often abandoned not long after.

It was not until May this year that the two Type 37 rocket launchers seized in Australia, together with more than a dozen rounds of ammunition, were fully evacuated and airlifted back to the United States after a simple survey in Australia.

Soon after, the British also captured several bodies in skirmishes on the front line of the Brahmaputra River, and they were also successfully evacuated.

After the reverse analysis, the Americans immediately figured out the principle of this light and effective infantry weapon, and quickly began the corresponding imitation work.

Because they were about to go to Europe to fight, the Americans, who were in dire need of effective anti-tank weapons, were hungry and thirsty, so they chose to walk on two legs - directly copying the Ming-made bazooka, first solving the problem and then developing their own design at the same time.

The product of the 37 bazooka passed the test a month and a half ago, and was finalized by the Army as the M12 rocket-propelled grenade launcher (RPG), which was mass-produced by General Motors, with 7,500 units and 120,000 rounds of ammunition in the first order.

Correspondingly, Captain Leslie Skinnay combined a hollow-charge warhead with a bazooka of his own design to obtain a new infantry weapon that could be used to great use.

Historically, the captain completed the design of the bazooka in the 40s, but could not find a suitable warhead - because the muzzle velocity of the rocket was too low, the kinetic energy was far enough to penetrate the armor, so it was not until two years later that the famous Bazooka was born.

Now that he had a ready-made reference object, Captain Leslie Skinnay was quick to match the warhead, which did not rely on muzzle velocity, to his bazooka.

By now, his design had attracted the attention of individual U.S. generals, and the Frankford Arsenal was ordered to send a research team to speed up the development.

For Americans with a sense of pride, if the performance is consistent, it is natural to give preference to domestic products.

Looking at the description and calculating the time, Perimeter Feng estimated that the enemy should have almost mastered the hollow charge warhead.

This is not a complicated technology in itself, it is just applied sooner or later, and the Ming army used it a year in advance, so it took advantage of a year.

The response is also very simple, adding additional grilles and armor to the tank can effectively block incoming anti-tank rockets, so that they get stuck between the grilles and cannot properly impact and detonate.

If the conditions are lacking, then temporary stacking of some sandbags, planks, and track shoes can also have a certain effect.

The armor skirt, similar to the H-type of the historic Tank IV, is less suitable.

The characteristics of the hollow charge warhead are that it has the best explosion height, and the penetration depth is the best when it is detonated at a certain distance from the target, and it is worse to detonate again after zero distance impact.

As a result, the armor skirt can be counterproductive - the incoming rocket detonates after hitting the skirt, and the metal jet successfully penetrates the armor that would otherwise be impenetrable.

"Oh? Interesting. Luo Fu browsed the file intently, picked up the teacup and took two sips, "The army said that they wanted to pick a place to build a large training ground, what do you think?" ”

"Training grounds? Comprehensive? ”

"Probably so."

Based on the experience of many previous campaigns, both the military headquarters and the army have found that there were many deficiencies in the previous training and exercises.

After all, many omissions are difficult to detect in ordinary times, and because the troops are stationed in different locations, the training environment may also be very different from the goal, for example, the infantry division stationed in the north is often not suitable for the Pacific theater.

Therefore, many officials and generals felt that it was necessary to open a new large-scale training base, where all units expected to go abroad to fight in the future would receive intensive training.

"It seems that there are still a lot of smart people, so they should do it." Zhou Changfeng patted the table and said thoughtfully: "I have nothing to do for a few days after coming back from this Hawaii fight, and I should find something to do for myself." ”

"Indeed, when it comes to dealing with Americans on the island, no one knows better than you." Luo Fu thought so, and said with a smile: "I guess they will come to you in two days to take the initiative to find your support." ”

As a college student, Zhou Changfeng considers himself to be a very rational tactician, who does not blindly pursue a specific style of play, is impermanent, and adapts to different situations.

At the same time, as a professional latecomer, he can stand on the commanding heights of the history of the time-traveler to examine the current situation more objectively.

The war needs of the Ming Dynasty are very unique, because of the characteristics of the target area, the Ming Army needs to deploy three types of ground forces at the same time.

The first is the force that confronts the British in the South Asian subcontinent, which is more conventional, and can be used in traditional, ordinary infantry divisions, and large-scale armored forces will be difficult to be effective due to the terrible climate and terrain conditions.

It is also advisable to disperse a small number of armored vehicles into an infantry division and take on the task of accompanying support - a tracked assault gun similar to the No. 3 assault gun is most suitable.

The second is to confront the Australian army on the Australian mainland, where the natural environment is more suitable, and the combination of infantry and armored forces can maximize combat effectiveness in Australia.

The armored forces can completely fight independently here, and the Ming army does not have an armored division at present, so it is necessary to speed up the reorganization of the existing tank brigade and turn the draft armored division on paper into reality. Here, a decent medium tank is the most appropriate option.

The third is to confront the US military on many islands in the Pacific Ocean, because the actual combat needs of seizing islands and defending islands are far from each other, and in fact they have to be subdivided into two types of troops.

First of all, it is necessary to flexibly amphibious clusters to seize beaches and make surprise landings and open up landing grounds, which requires good coordination between the sea and the air, and it is necessary to focus on strengthening communication and coordination capabilities, and at the same time equip amphibious tanks with good performance.

In addition, a hoplite division with abundant firepower and complete logistical support units was required to be responsible for defending the island, and sufficient artillery units and self-propelled anti-tank guns were needed to deal a powerful blow to the enemy's landing force.

In a sense, it shows that the military has a lot of academic pressure, and it needs to study, research, and develop several different campaign theories at the same time.

This poses a great test of a country's organizational ability, and those who can be qualified are second-rate countries, and those who can do well are first-class countries, and if they want to become super-first-class hegemons, they must be proficient.

A pressing problem also exposed by the Ming army was the difficulty of coordination and poor communication between the infantry division and the field heavy artillery brigade.

The 36-year infantry division did not contain heavy artillery, and was supported only by a field heavy artillery brigade until the battle, usually one each of a 144mm howitzer battalion and a 112mm cannon battalion.

Although this marshalling mode is convenient for ordinary training and delivery, the temporary assignment often goes wrong, and even makes a lot of jokes because of accent and dialect problems, which has a negative impact on infantry and artillery coordination.

Zhou Changfeng's evaluation is that it seems to be smart and advanced, but in fact it is smart but it is mistaken by cleverness, or honestly return to tradition, adjust the establishment of infantry divisions, and increase heavy artillery units for the division's artillery by default.

In terms of armament, good news followed, in addition to the official production of the Type 40 medium tank, the wooden one-to-one model of the new amphibious tank was also completed.

The Type 35 floating combat vehicles in service are the products of interwar technology, and their performance has long been outdated, so last year the Ordnance Bureau of the Ministry of War issued instructions to speed up the research and development of the next generation of amphibious tanks.

However, Zhou was out fighting for several months, and when he came back, he found that the indicators were not ideal, so he made a decisive cross-ferry, and the indicators set by the Ordnance Bureau at the beginning were greatly changed, so the ongoing design had to be reversed.

Combined with his own experience, the requirements of the perimeter wind for the new amphibious tank are the ability to resist wind and waves with a three-level wind and a wave height of one meter.

The firepower and protection are equipped with an 80mm short-barreled gun, the front of the hull can withstand the American 12.7mm heavy machine gun, and the front of the turret can withstand the long-range fire of the 37mm anti-tank gun.

This type of tank was designed by Yanjing Xunjie Company, which is quite distinctive, and did not adopt the more reasonable rear design of the driving wheel used by the Ming army tank, but put the gearbox and driving wheel in the front of the hull like other powers.

As a result, although the frontal armor of the hull can only withstand 12.7mm machine gun shells, the 37mm armor-piercing shells will be hindered by the gearbox after penetrating the armor, reducing the damage to crew members.

The 80mm short-barreled cannon used is the same as the Type 38 Siege Vehicle, which is actually a vehicle-mounted version of the old mountain gun, which is cheap and easy to use, and is effective against civil fortifications, and can also fire armor-piercing shells under development to hit enemy tanks.

There are two channel propellers at the tail of the tank hull, which can drive the whole vehicle to move forward at a speed of 8km/h on the water, but because the company has designed a special W-shaped toothed track, which greatly improves the efficiency of the track's stroke propulsion, the combination of the two can theoretically make the vehicle reach a speed of 10km/h.

In addition, the Ming Army also put forward a number of needs after experiencing many battles in the South Asian subcontinent and the Australian continent, including various self-propelled guns, aiming to improve the combat efficiency of artillery units.

Zhou Changfeng discussed this situation with Luo Fu for a long time, and the latter, as an expert in motor vehicles, could roughly judge whether it was feasible or not by memory and estimation.

The first is the self-propelled howitzer, which is modified from the chassis of the Type 38 medium tank, fixed and open the fighting compartment, and is equipped with a Type 34 112mm howitzer with a vehicle reserve of no less than 40 rounds.

The second is the light self-propelled anti-tank gun, which is modified from the chassis of the Type 37 light tank, with a fixed open fighting compartment, and is equipped with a Type 38 48mm anti-tank gun, which is used to strike at enemy armored targets.

The third is the self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, which is also modified from the chassis of the Type 37 light tank, but adopts the design of a rotatable turret, equipped with a twin 20.8mm anti-aircraft gun, and has a reserve of no less than 1,200 rounds of ammunition on board.

Because of the increasing intensity of war, light tanks are destined to become something like chicken ribs. The Type 37 light tank, which weighed 8.8 tons and used a 38.4mm gun, may have been fine in the early stages of the war, but it was also the last chance to shine.

The Ming officers and soldiers did not know that the M3 Stuart would soon appear on the battlefield, and that the infantry of the British and American armies would also have the ability to destroy them, and they would not be helpless as before.

Since the 37th year of Zhichang finalization and mass production, Yanjing First Heavy Machinery Company, Yanjing Xunjie Automobile Company, and Hangzhou Huifeng Tractor Manufacturing Factory have produced a total of 1,185 vehicles, and there are still 230 orders to be completed.

Zhou Changfeng thinks this is a very good chassis, which can be used to make a big fuss - in addition to anti-tank guns and anti-aircraft guns, multiple rocket launchers, recoilless guns, large-caliber mortars, etc. may be tried.

"Oh, this car, it's not used much now, there are still hundreds of vehicles stranded in the factory and port and nowhere to go, and the army plans to cancel the order for the remaining two hundred or so." Luo Fu said disappreciatively.

"Hundreds of them parked? It's also a waste. Zhou Changfeng was surprised.

"There are only a few dozen tanks of all kinds that are completely destroyed every month, and light tanks only account for about half, and this is still when there were consecutive wars before, and now there will only be less."

"It's good that the demand is small, at least you don't have to talk a lot."

The advantage of winning a battle is that the technical equipment lost in the battle can be recovered, and there is plenty of time for repairs.

Damaged tanks are often abandoned, but with the exception of those that were destroyed by fire, most damaged tanks were repaired, allowing the victor to capture many enemy tanks – a situation that was especially common on the Eastern Front in history.

Because of this, from last year to the present, the Ming army has not recorded many tanks as "completely destroyed", but some US tanks have been captured.

Taking the 1st Marine Brigade, which has been transferred to 10,000 miles and fought almost all the battles, for example, the brigade has a total of 14 Type 38 medium tanks in the brigade combat fleet, and 45 damaged tanks have been recorded in the past year, but only 19 tanks have been recorded as completely damaged, and only 19 tanks have been transported to the mainland as a supplement, and the rest of the damaged tanks have been restored and put into service after repair.

As a result, a large number of tanks leaving the factory have nowhere to go, and batches are backlogged in the factory warehouse or the wharf of Tianjin Port, and they may only be loaded and shipped a few dozen units a month, but at the same time a hundred vehicles are off the production line.

In late August, Zhou Changfeng spent several days lobbying lawmakers he thought were more reliable.

The impact of the chaotic supervision of the treatment of officers and soldiers and their dependents is expanding, which naturally attracts the attention of many people.

There are still quite a few people of insight in the Advisory Council, and in addition to the elected members, the 10 special members are relatively better lobbiers, and these people are not politicians in the first place, and they do not need to worry about too many rights in their words and deeds.

In a quaint house in Beicheng District, Zhou and five or six people gathered here.

"These girls are so heartless, it's so chilling, it's sad to hear it." An elderly member of the Chamber of Commerce sighed.

"It's time to give a little restraint, and to consider whether someone is taking advantage of it." The middle-aged man next to him looked suave, he was a member of the Renhe Party.

"This kind of thing must not be spread, otherwise the morale of the army will be dispersed."

"You may not be able to count before you get engaged, but after the marriage contract is decided, you shouldn't say that it will be nullified."

The most angry person at the scene was Yu Jieqiu, a member of the Chinese Party, who knocked on the table with sharp eyes, "How can it be reasonable to look forward to (husbands) making meritorious contributions and enjoying happiness together, but not wanting to take the risk of war injuries?" ”

Everyone agreed.

Zhou Changfeng smiled and said solemnly: "The corresponding regulatory laws cannot be less, otherwise it is meaningless, this aspect of things... I have no right to interfere, I just hope that you will do your duty, please. ”

(End of chapter)

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