Chapter 139 Swarm Tactics

"Colonel Estiny!" Charles turned the subject back to the right track: "You seem to have your own opinion on tanks?"

"You can say that, Lieutenant!" Estiny nodded. "I think it shouldn't just be a pile of weapons, but also a kind of..."

"Equipment that can have an impact at the strategic level!" Charles added.

"Yes, that's what I mean!" Estiny's eyes flashed with excitement.

He used to feel like there was a layer of paper in front of him, and everything he saw was blurry and unclear. But when Charles' words broke through it, the whole world became clear.

"I think the most important thing about it is that it can lead the troops to break through the enemy's defense line!" Estiny was very into it. He used a tray and a coffee cup on the table to start a long story: "Our tanks should be able to cut through the barbed wire and cross the trenches, of course with the help of infantry!"

At this point, Estiny glanced at Charles.

The method of infantry helping tanks cross trenches was also learned from Charles, who used sandbags to quickly fill trenches during the Battle of the Marne, and this method became popular among the people.

Astinhos didn't want to plagiarize like this, but after thinking about it, he found that there was no better way.

Charles looked calm, because this was not his method in the first place, so he just used it. It couldn't be applied for industrial property rights and couldn't bring any economic benefits.

Estiny was relieved when he saw Charles' reaction. He continued to sketch the battlefield on the table with his fingers, as if he had already fought with the enemy in the hail of bullets, with blood and flesh flying everywhere:

"Once our tanks and infantry have passed through the enemy's lines, we should not stop, but gather these scattered forces together to form a whole and continue to move forward!"

"This will allow us to attack the enemy's vulnerable rear, where they are unprepared and vulnerable to our combined tank and infantry forces."

"Then the enemy's logistics will collapse as quickly as an avalanche, and the enemy on the defensive line will lose their combat effectiveness due to lack of supplies!"

…

Charles nodded slightly. This tactic was a bit like "blitzkrieg". Both tactics emphasized attacking the enemy's weak rear in order to ultimately encircle the enemy.

During World War II, hundreds of thousands or even millions of troops were forced to surrender under this tactical attack.

However, it is still different from "blitzkrieg". After all, it is a prototype and does not take air-ground coordination into consideration. In principle, it is still a two-dimensional plane combat.

"I call it 'swarm tactics'!" said Estiny, "because they gather in the rear like bees, and can disperse again to attack different targets when necessary!"

As he said these words, Estiny's eyes sparkled with excitement and anticipation.

He could tell from Charles' eyes and thoughtful expression that he understood and agreed with his tactics.

This is so rare. Charles is completely different from those people like Grevi. This is what Estiny really wants. He realized that he came here for the right reason and the trip was worthwhile!

However, Estinius did not expect that this was just the beginning and he would soon feel the shock from another era.

"So, you're going to use the tanks to cut through the barbed wire?" Charles asked back.

"Of course!" Istiny replied. "If we don't do this, the infantry and tanks won't be able to pass through the enemy lines quickly!"

This was a major highlight of the CA-1 tank designed by Estinis, and one of the reasons why it competed with the Saint-Chamon to win the order: the Saint-Chamon could not cut barbed wire, but the CA-1 could. Many congressmen believed that the two tanks could complement each other, so they bought both.

Ciel only said one thing to silence Estiny: "What if the enemy has a lot of wire nets? One layer after another, like a wire jungle in front of us, will you try to cut it open with tanks as well?"

Estinni was stunned. He had never thought about this problem, but the fact was that there were indeed many "jungles" made of barbed wire on the front line. Barbed wire was the cheapest and most effective obstacle. As long as the enemy had one circle left, they would try to deploy it in front of the position.

Charles asked again: "Or, would you choose to attack from a different position?"

Estinni shook his head. This obviously wouldn't work. If they encountered barbed wire, they could just change positions. The enemy would just need to surround the important breakthrough points with barbed wire.

"But what can we do?" Estiny asked back: "This is the only way to pass quickly..."

"This is the infantry's job, Colonel!" Charles said softly, "You can't expect a tank to be able to do everything. A tank is not a standalone combat unit. It has infantry to support it. There are even artillery and aircraft. If you can think of these when designing it, it will be much easier!"

It suddenly dawned on Estiny that this way the tank would be much simpler. It didn't need to be able to cut barbed wire, attack bunkers, or have a few machine guns to destroy enemy infantry. It was...

"Is it part of a combat unit?" Estiny stared at Charles with wide eyes: "A branch of the army that complements the infantry and artillery?"

Charles nodded. This was a concept in modern warfare: coordination between infantry, tanks and artillery.

But knowing is one thing, and how to implement it on the battlefield is another. Especially in a war where communication equipment is extremely backward, it is very difficult to achieve ideal coordination.

Despite this, planned and step-by-step training can still achieve initial coordination, which is the correct development direction for tanks.

Astinni was silent for a while, imagining this combat mode in his mind.

Previously, when he designed tanks, he was adding to them, hoping that the tanks could do more and have more firepower.

Now they are thinking about reducing the number of tanks, which tasks can be handed over to infantry, which tasks can be handed over to artillery...

Then he exclaimed: "The artillery is not even necessary. It can't hit anything on the tank. Our 75 guns have strong mobility. Why not let the artillery fire on the ground?"

After hearing this, Deyoka looked at Estiny in shock, then turned his gaze to Charles.

During this time, Deyoka and Joseph had been discussing persuading Charles to equip the tanks with guns, which they believed was a serious mistake made by Charles.

After hearing what Estiny said, Deyoka realized that it was probably not Charles who was wrong, and that he and Joseph were trying to convince Charles with their own ignorance.

Charles nodded slightly. At least there was no need for tanks to be equipped with artillery now.

Charles looked at Estiny with a trace of regret in his eyes: "With the artillery, your tanks will either only have a speed of 5 kilometers per hour or 8.5 kilometers per hour. Do you know what this means?"

Astinni suddenly woke up and stood up in shock: "God, they will be used as targets by the enemy's artillery!"

(The picture above shows a CA-1 tank. The pointed nose and fenders on the front of the tank are designed to cut barbed wire)

(End of this chapter)