Chapter 696 The military’s preparations for war

At the end of 1631, Luhuitou Army Base in Sanya.

Tao Donglai, Yan Chujie, Wang Tom and other senior military officials had a rare gathering together. They were sitting under a temporary tent set up outdoors to watch the amphibious landing exercise conducted by the army and navy at the Luhuitou training ground. Since Annan

After the end of the civil war, the military has not frequently practiced amphibious landing tactics in the past two years. Large-scale actual combat exercises like this, involving two battalions and more than 20 combat ships at once, are a rare big move in recent times.

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Although the top military officials have not announced the purpose of arranging this exercise, veterans who have been in the military for more than three years know that this is a precursor to Haihan launching another foreign war. At present, the entire Hainan Island has basically

Under the control of Haihan, even the Qiongzhong Mountain District, which has been closed off in the past few years, has chosen to surrender to the Executive Committee after being successively wiped out several Li and Miao tribes who opposed Haihan. It can be said that today

On Hainan Island, it is difficult for anyone to stir up big waves. There is no need for Haihan to launch another landing operation on this big island. The possible targets will only be places outside Hainan Island.

"How is the progress of the shipyard's renovation of the landing ship now?" Tao Donglai put down the telescope in his hand and asked.

"Two ships have been modified, and two more will be put on the slipway this week. At least four ships can be modified in the first quarter of next year." Sun Changmi, who was present as a representative of the shipyard, immediately responded: "But the steam required by the Navy

I’m afraid it will be too late to complete the construction of the powered battleship in the first half of next year.”

"Is there not enough slipway?" Tao Donglai asked.

"It's not just the slipway problem." Wang Tom took over at this time: "Because a lot of mining equipment in Shilu was destroyed in the previous riots, and Tian Du's workshop is still rushing to repair this area.

The marine steam engines required by our military have been delayed."

According to the development plan formulated by the Navy, by the end of 1631, the Navy should have six "Dignity-class" hybrid warships in service. However, due to various reasons, the manufacturing capacity of the ordnance industry department failed to meet the needs of the military.

The fourth "Dignity-class" warship was put into service just a month ago, and the fifth ship will not enter the sea trial stage until next month. If everything goes well, it may be put into service before the war in Fujian begins. But the sixth ship is not yet available.

On the slipway, we need to wait for the steam engine manufactured by Tiandu Industrial Zone to be in place before we can continue the subsequent construction steps. Even if we work day and night, it will probably have to wait until the second half of next year before it can be launched.

Although one more ship and one less ship may not have a big impact on the direction of the war in Fujian, the navy will naturally not be satisfied with such a delay. In the force deployment plan recently submitted by Wang Tom to the Executive Committee,

After completing the combat mission to attack Penghu next year, the navy will be deployed at at least six key nodes: Magong Port in Penghu, Fujian, Nangang at the mouth of the Pearl River in Guangdong, Haikou Port in the Qiongzhou Strait, Victory Port, the base camp, Tushan Port in the north of Annan, and Camlan Port in the south.

A combat fleet with the "Dignity-class" warship as the flagship to protect Haihan's sphere of influence in the South China Sea. However, it now seems that this plan may have to make some changes due to the delay in the manufacturing progress of the "Dignity-class" warship. Some changes

The region estimates that it will have to wait until the end of next year to complete the fleet deployment plan proposed by the navy.

Of course, the ambitions of Tom Wang and the Navy do not end there. The current direction of "building more ships and building bigger ships" advocated by the Ministry of Shipping is almost in harmony with the Navy. Although the "Dignity-class" warships still have the capabilities in the current Far East seas

It has certain advantages, but the navy and shipyards are already planning to build ocean-going combat ships with larger tonnage, stronger firepower, and more advanced steam engine propulsion systems. Of course, as for when to start construction, that still has to wait until Wang Tom comes from the executive branch.

The committee needs to have the approval document and budget in hand.

However, the large warship itself is not the most urgently needed ship for the navy. The landing ship that will be rebuilt starting from the second half of this year will be one of the most important vehicles for attacking Penghu in the coming year.

When the landing operations were carried out in Annan in the early years, the Navy had already begun to try to use ships with more professional functions to carry out landing operations. However, the technical capabilities of the Victory Port Shipyard were still relatively limited at that time, so the so-called transformations were all done in a small way.

Action. This time, the Victory Port Shipyard's transformation of the first batch of "Exploration-class" warships that were in service in the early years was much more professional.

First, the gun positions on the second deck were removed from the ship and converted into manned bays, so that each ship could carry one more company of troops than before. Secondly, a total of four small boats and corresponding lifting facilities were deployed on the deck.

, the boat can be quickly put down in places where it is inconvenient to dock near the shore, and the boat can be landed by manual oars. Then part of the side of the ship is transformed into an everted structure. When docking at the shore, this part of the side of the ship is lowered outward, and it can serve as a

The springboard between the ship and the shore allows personnel to land in the shortest time, and various baggage materials in the cabin can be unloaded to the shore relatively easily. In addition, the cabins and other equipment on the ship are all based on the requirements of the landing ship.

The function needs to be adjusted a lot in order to shorten the time required to land personnel and materials on the ship as quickly as possible during landing operations.

Of course, these modifications will also weaken the warship itself to a certain extent. On the one hand, the artillery fire output will be almost completely cancelled, and the ship's self-defense capability will be greatly weakened. On the other hand, the modification of the ship's sides, cabins and other parts will affect the structural strength of the hull.

There must be a certain impact. If such a ship is to land in combat, it must be protected by other warships with firepower output capabilities. However, the military believes that such modifications based on combat needs are very necessary.

, so the Navy decided on the transformation plan for eight ships in one breath. These eight ships are fully loaded and can basically transport the personnel of a reinforced battalion as well as weapons and supplies for short-term operations. The military believes that this should be to establish a stable beachhead.

The level required for the position is reached.

Of course, as for whether this newly modified landing warship is easy to use and how it should be used during actual landing battles, this needs to be tested by landing exercises like the current one. Although only two ships have been modified so far.

The landing ship was commissioned as a navy, but this was enough for the officers to figure out basic tactics.

In addition to the transformation of ships, another focus that adults are paying attention to is the new equipment used by the army. When participating in the Annan Civil War, in order to quickly establish bunkers on the beach, a large number of multi-functional flatbed vehicles were built.

, which can not only load and unload materials, but also be connected in a short time to form a simple defense line. Now the structure of this kind of car has been further strengthened. In addition to covering the bottom of the car with a thin iron sheet to enhance the defense capability, the body

Standardized manufacturing has also been achieved, and fasteners to connect the trolleys together and structural parts to support the erection of the trolleys have been added. In this way, it will take more time for engineers to connect the trolleys to form a line of defense during wartime.

Short.

In addition, since the Shilu Mine began to produce copper ore, the military has also benefited from this. A batch of bronze cannons of various calibers have been put into the artillery unit. Compared with the iron cannons installed before, the advantages of bronze cannons are very obvious.

, good ductility, easy to process, fast heat dissipation, not easy to explode, etc. In addition, copper cannons have an incomparable advantage in the field of offshore combat, that is, they are more resistant to corrosion and are not easily affected by salt and high humidity like iron cannons.

rust due to large environment.

The cast iron of this period was not capable of high chamber pressures, and the smelting technology of low-carbon steel was not that good. Although Haihan can be said to be unparalleled in the world in terms of steel smelting technology, its actual realization did not happen overnight. In

Before Haihan's steel production capacity increased to a certain level, using copper cannons can be said to be the simplest and most effective way to improve the strength of artillery. However, in the past few years, Haihan had no stable copper resources, so casting

The number of bronze cannons is extremely limited, and most of the militia equipment is iron cannons. In the year after the Shilu Mine was put into operation, Tian Du's ordnance workshop has cast more than 200 guns of various calibers for the militia army.

Bronze cannons to replace those cast iron cannons that have reached the end of their service life.

"Currently, the battalion participating in the exercise has been equipped with copper cannons, four 12-pound cannons, and four 24-pound cannons. Compared with the iron cannons previously equipped, the shooting speed is now increased by 30%, and the life of the artillery barrels has also been increased.

At least more than one-third." Yan Chujie watched the artillerymen unloading the artillery from the ship to the shore, and introduced to the colleagues present: "In addition, due to the increased strength of the artillery barrel, the amount of powder can be increased.

To extend the range. Now the range of artillery of the same caliber has increased by a quarter compared to before. It can be said that basically no one in the Far East can achieve cross-fire with us at the same distance, not even the artillery we sold before.

"

"How many more can be installed in the first quarter tomorrow?" Tao Donglai asked with interest. As a traditional advocate of artillery bombardment, he and Yan Chujie both believe in the combat philosophy of artillery supremacy - in front of artillery

, there is no invincible opponent or city that cannot be conquered. If there is, it must be that the artillery equipment is not strong enough.

Yan Chujie responded: "According to Liu Xingli's answer to me, the quality and quantity of twenty guns per month can be guaranteed, and at least sixty guns can be delivered to the army in the first quarter of next year."

Tom Wang coughed dryly and interjected: "Let me correct you. The sixty guns per month mentioned by Engineer Liu Xingli actually include the part delivered to the Navy, and are not exclusively for the Army. According to what we have said before

According to the distribution method, the navy should get 40% of the sixty guns, which is twenty-four. The other thirty-six guns belong to your army."

"No, no, no, you are talking about the arrangements made a few months ago." Yan Chujie immediately retorted: "In next year's landing operation, after all, the Army will be the main force, so this batch of new artillery must be installed in the Army and Navy first.

You can take it easy first.”

"Lao Yan, you are really arrogant!" Wang Tom shook his head repeatedly: "The army will be the main force? Do you plan to let the soldiers swim from Sanya to Fujian? Don't forget that Shibazhi was a pirate. They

We still have thousands of sea ships under our command, can the Army cope with them? If you want to talk about sound power, then I will give way to the Army immediately, and your Army will be responsible for sending out troops in the future, okay?"

Yan Chujie was not that easy to get along with, so he immediately retorted: "Your navy has double-digit artillery on one ship. How many cannons do I have in an artillery company? Sixty cannons are enough for my army to equip several battalions. You

Even if the navy grabs it, it can only equip a few ships, so of course we should consider the army first and then the navy!"

"Stop arguing!" Tao Donglai quickly spoke up to stop the two men from continuing to argue. After the army and navy were separated, competition for limited military expenditures and resources was inevitable. Even Yan Chujie and Wang Tom

There have been many occasions when senior officials in China got into quarrels like this.

Of course, more often than not, such disputes are just a gesture, so that others can understand that the military branch they represent will not easily give up their own interests. Just like these dozens of bronze cannons, in fact, the Army

Which navy is divided into more branches is not the key point, the key is not to give in easily, otherwise the other party will easily get the upper hand next time when allocating resources.

In addition to weapons, some new equipment has also begun to be installed in the troops, and will appear one after another in this exercise and next year's combat plan. For example, the brass telescope produced by the ordnance industry department has been installed in the army at the company level.

, and the captain of every naval "exploration-class" warship or above is issued one. Although the performance of this telescope is far inferior to that of the industrial products brought by the travelers themselves, it is useful for improving the combat effectiveness of the militia.

That being said, it is a very practical tool.

In addition to these standardized equipment, the ordnance industry department also has some experimental weapons and equipment, which will conduct some field tests next year's combat missions to test their combat performance. However, these equipment are still undisclosed.

Black technology will not appear in this exercise.

The entire exercise took a total of two and a half hours from launching an attack at sea to establishing a beachhead position, and some live ammunition was used during the exercise. In addition to senior Haihan personnel, representatives from Annan and Portugal also brought weapons to the guest seats.

They watched the exercise with shocked expressions. Through this exercise, they discovered that the combat capabilities of the Haihan militia had improved to a higher level than a few years ago. If their own army wanted to act as a defender to prevent the Haihan people from landing operations, then

The possibility of victory is slim. Under the sharp long-range firepower of the opponent, the fate of the defensive troops may not be any better than those targets that were shot to pieces.
Chapter completed!