Chapter 760 It's time to upgrade the truck gun
"Truck gun." Charles gave the answer very straightforwardly.
The First Armored Army has a considerable amount of this stuff, and each division has an artillery regiment with more than 40 guns.
The actual amount of equipment is much larger.
Because in actual combat, both the armored division and the mechanized division found that truck guns have strong firepower, fast rate of fire, and good mobility. For practicality, each battalion will add one or two guns as fire support.
However, Tijani replied: "I remember you said that this motorized division would fight more like infantry, right?"
"Indeed." Charles nodded: "The purpose of forming them is to be able to reach the destination quickly."
"So, we can't just have 75mm guns, General." Tijani handed a staffing table to Charles and pointed to one of the rows and said, "I added two artillery battalions to the motorized troops, equipped with 105MM howitzers captured from the Germans, and I think they are necessary."
Charles instantly understood what Tijani meant.
Armored and mechanized units can be equipped with only 75mm guns because they are mobile units that attack most of the time.
Even if they encounter German 105MM artillery in battle, they will not have much difficulty.
First, use bombers to bomb the German artillery positions, and then the "Saint-Samond" and "Truck Gun" rush forward under the cover of tanks.
Once they got within the range of the 75mm gun, they could use the high rate of fire of the 75mm gun to completely suppress the German 105mm howitzer.
(Note: This is in response to the low accuracy of artillery during World War I. Modern howitzers, especially those equipped with artillery detection radar and aerial detection and calibration, can provide accurate fire coverage. A longer range is extremely critical, and this tactic will not work.)
But motorized troops are different.
They are rarely equipped with tanks and armored vehicles, and cars and motorcycles cannot even enter the war zone, so they need to change to walking when they are 3 to 5 kilometers away from their destination.
In this situation, if their artillery are all 75mm, they will easily be caught in a passive situation where they can be beaten without being able to fight back.
They couldn't even move forward normally when facing the German long-range 105MM artillery.
Even if they reached the destination, the German 105MM artillery could safely fire from outside the range of the 75mm gun as long as they kept their distance.
"Very good." Charles nodded and praised: "You have discovered the characteristics of motorized troops."
Tijani calmly replied: "It's easy to learn this after practicing a few times. It's not difficult."
Then he added: "The key is how to solve these problems, General."
The speed of the 105MM howitzer is the shortest board, which determines the lower limit of the speed of motorized troops.
Charles thought for a moment and gave the answer: "Truck gun, put the 105 howitzer on the truck as well."
Tijani was stunned:
"But, that's a 105MM howitzer, General."
“We couldn’t get it on the truck, it wasn’t just the truck capacity, it was the recoil.”
"How can we make it fire shells at a truck without shaking the frame apart?"
It's time to upgrade the truck gun, Charles thought.
The French army has always been weak in long-range artillery, and it is necessary to upgrade it with trucks to achieve higher combat effectiveness and survivability.
"The truck capacity problem is not difficult to solve," Charles replied. "We just need to increase the engine power."
At worst, we can install the latest tank engine developed by the tractor factory and design a four-wheel drive.
Anyway, he has enough money, and Charles thinks that this is a way to build his own army, and any investment is worth it.
"As for firing on the truck..."
Charles didn't say anything. He took the paper and pen and started sketching.
Before long, a structural diagram of a modern truck gun appeared on paper. Its most important improvement was that the gun carriage supported the ground after being unfolded, thereby reducing the impact of the gun recoil on the vehicle body.
(The picture above shows my country's 155MM truck gun. One of its highlights is that the barrel is much longer than the cab, in order to reduce the impact of the muzzle on the cab when firing at low angles)
Tijani stared at the sketch drawn by Charles for a long time before he said, "Are you kidding? Can it really be loaded onto a truck?"
"Of course." Charles nodded affirmatively.
This is not considered high-tech, as long as the truck's capacity allows it, the only thing left is how many artillery shells the truck can withstand without breaking down.
Tijani rolled his eyes, then said seriously: "General, I think the motorized troops are not yet formed, and we should be cautious in using this unformed equipment."
Charles guessed what Tijani was thinking: "So, we should try it out with the mechanized troops first, and it would be best to equip the mechanized division first, right?"
"Yes, that's what I want to say." Tijani exclaimed: "It's incredible that we have the same opinion..."
He suddenly couldn't continue because he felt the dagger in Charles' eyes.
The next second, he changed direction naturally and smoothly:
"However, I still believe that motorized units are the ones that need this kind of artillery the most."
"Mechanized troops can still win without it, but motorized troops will face survival problems without it."
"From the overall perspective, we must give priority to equipping motorized troops!"
The word "priority" was squeezed out from between his teeth.
Charles said "hmm" expressionlessly: "We have surprisingly consistent views, Major General."
Tijani was speechless and could only stare longingly at the 105mm truck-mounted gun on the sketch.
A beautiful work of art, even though it has not yet been produced.
There is no doubt that mechanized troops and even armored troops need it, which will give them a huge advantage in artillery cover.
Charles didn't dwell on this issue too much, he turned the topic to the purpose of coming here.
"Don't you think there's something wrong with the position we're in?" asked Charles.
Tijani reluctantly turned his eyes away from the sketch and said with disappointment:
"Yes, General, we are blocked by the Meuse River."
"There are also our own people standing in our way."
As he spoke, he drew a rough circle on the map east of the Meuse River. "Eastern Army Group, they are the last army that the parliament can control."
Tijani turned his gaze to Charles, with a look of even some gloating in it.
Will the parliament give way to you?
They would rather you lose the battle.
Ciel smiled softly, "No, Major General, we don't need the parliament to give way. I heard they are already preparing to attack."
"I heard that, too." Tijani nodded. "They can't wait for a victory. But even if they lose the battle, they are unlikely to let you go, General."
If you are allowed to take office and win the battle, you will surpass the parliament and the government.
They are not that stupid.
Charles leaned over to whisper something in Tijani's ear.
Tijani was stunned. He turned his head and looked at Charles in shock: "Is it okay to do this?"
(End of this chapter)
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