Chapter 636 Attention! Armor! (Second update, please subscribe)
Liu Chongjiao and his party continued their "journey to heaven". When they were amazed at this peaceful and prosperous era, they did not know that behind this peaceful and prosperous era, there was actually an undercurrent. At this moment, the Ming Dynasty was still implementing its war preparation plan in an orderly manner under strict confidentiality.
In fact, even if there was no confidentiality, the Ming Dynasty's war preparedness plan would be difficult for the outside world to know - because not many people paid attention to the Ming Dynasty in South America.
Moreover, not many people in the world can go deep into the vast and desolate Patagonia Plateau to explore the military power of the Ming Dynasty. The largest military camp of the Ming Dynasty, Hongfang Fort, is located in the desert of the Patagonia Plateau. Although it is called a fort, it is actually a large comprehensive training base. Tens of thousands of troops are stationed here all year round and conduct training here.
The Ming Imperial Army, uh, the Royal Army would march long distances from their bases here every year for military training and exercises, and the vast plateau was their training ground.
Even if a country is strong, it will be in danger if it forgets to fight.
The army is becoming more combat-oriented, which is the basic national policy of the Ming Dynasty.
Preparing for war is a perfectly normal thing.
On this day, a blue train roared along the track into the Red House Fort. The so-called "Red House" was not even the legendary "red tent", but... a red house. The barracks in the military camp were all red brick buildings.
When entering the military camp, Emperor Zhu of course would not bring a group of female officials, but the Ming Dynasty also had female soldiers! Although the beautiful military uniforms worn by the female soldiers were full of the temptation of uniforms, Emperor Zhu would never take action.
The army!
It is better to keep the atmosphere as pure as possible.
As soon as the train stopped, Liang Shan, the commander of the Southern Theater of the Ming Dynasty, who was the first among the officers standing on the platform, hurried forward, waiting with great anticipation for the Emperor to get off the train.
The car door opened and Emperor Zhu walked out, wearing the uniform of an army marshal as usual.
That’s right, as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the supreme commander of the Ming Royal Army and the Royal Navy, Emperor Zhu also had a military rank - Grand Marshal of the Army, and he even wore a gorgeous grand marshal’s uniform.
But now, the Ming Royal Army has no marshal. Even Sun Hu is only a general. As for Liang Shan, the first commander of the army that attacked Buenos Aires and the commander of the Southern Theater, is only a lieutenant general.
After all, there will still be wars in the future, so we must always leave them some room for promotion.
To the sound of military music, Liang Shan and others saluted.
"Your Majesty, welcome to the Red House Castle."
Nodding slightly, Zhu Xianhai walked up to the other officers as he did in the past, chatting with them one by one and reminiscing about the past. What is the biggest characteristic of the middle and high-level generals of the Ming army? Basically, they are all first-generation immigrants.
They may have limited abilities, but it is undeniable that their loyalty is impeccable, and to them, His Majesty is not just His Majesty, but also their savior!
After a brief chat, Emperor Zhu turned around and asked.
"Okay, let's stop talking today. I'll have another good chat with you guys at the banquet tonight. How about it, are you all ready?"
"Yes, your majesty, we will be at the training grounds in a moment."
Soon, Emperor Zhu got on a Qianlima car. After driving on the road for more than half an hour, the car stopped near a wilderness.
Here, a group of people had been waiting for a long time, including officers in military uniforms and technicians in civilian clothes.
"Your Majesty, Zhu Sihai and Wang Chengxin respectfully welcome His Majesty!"
Zhu Sihai was the commander of the First Armored Division of the Ming Dynasty. During the expedition to France, he commanded an armored brigade to defeat tens of thousands of Prussian troops. He was the commander who was best at mechanized warfare in the Ming Army. In several exercises, his First Armored Division was the spearhead of the attack, and it had repeatedly severely damaged multiple infantry divisions and even infantry armies.
It was also through those exercises that the Ming Dynasty determined its future development goal - armored.
While other countries were still playing around with war horses, the Ming Dynasty had already left them far behind. At least to a certain extent, this is the biggest advantage of being a future person, which can not only bring about technological changes, but more importantly, changes in thinking.
It didn't matter if others disagreed. Since Emperor Zhu had already made the decision, they had to either obey, agree, or...get out.
Emperor Zhu smiled and gave the two men a non-standard military salute, then asked:
"I came here today to take a look at the 'Water Tank' project. I heard that the 'Water Tank' has been put into use?"
"Water tank" is the tank.
Anyone who knows something about the history of modern military equipment knows that tank is the transliteration of the English word “tank,” and its original meaning in English is “water tank.”
In March 1915, two British naval officers designed a "land battleship" based on the American crawler tractor. In order to keep it secret, they named it "tank", which means "water tank" in Chinese.
From then on, the name "tank" became popular.
From the very beginning, tanks were designed to break the stalemate of trench warfare and crush infantry.
After returning from France, Emperor Zhu of course thought of tanks. After all, although armored vehicles performed very well in France and brought land and warships to the Ming Dynasty, armored vehicles... also had times when they got stuck in the mud. After all, they were wheeled armored vehicles, which was normal.
But tanks are different. They were invented for driving in the wild and on muddy battlefields.
Therefore, after returning to China, Emperor Zhu issued the task of developing tanks.
The world's first tank, the Mark 1 tank, weighed more than 18 tons. Such a huge size and weight may be the standard for tanks, but it is definitely not suitable for this era.
Why not?
First, heavy tanks have very high requirements for bridges, and not every bridge can meet their needs.
Second, the structure of heavy tanks is too complicated.
Well, the Mark I tank isn't that complicated.
However, in the eyes of Emperor Zhu, it was still too complicated.
What the Ming needed was a simple, cheap tank that could even be built using existing parts.
How cheap can it be?
Just a little more expensive than a horse and carriage.
Is there such a good thing in the world?
Isn't this just a daydream?
Nothing is absolute. How could there be no exceptions to things in the world?
Standing on the shoulders of historical giants, Emperor Zhu was definitely a very humble person. He liked to learn from great teachers in history and absorb the strengths of all of them.
Given the realities of the 19th century, if one wanted to develop weapons that were ahead of their time, the best people to learn from would be the most typical representatives of poor imperialism in World War II - Japan and Italy.
Whether it is Japan's "Bean Tank", that is, the Type 94 ultra-light tank, or the CV29 light tank produced by Fiat, they are all the best reference objects.
This tank weighs only 1.7 tons, and its armor thickness is only 4-9 mm. Don't underestimate it, it is absolutely invincible in this era. You know, the armor of the "Tiger Armored Vehicle" is not that thick.
An ultra-light tank of such a small tonnage is definitely an epoch-making weapon specially prepared for the Ming Dynasty!
However, after much deliberation, Emperor Zhu still did not choose it.
Because it's... still too complicated!
It definitely does not meet the needs of the Ming Dynasty.
(End of this chapter)
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