Munitions Empire-Chapter 925 - The scapegoat of the aircraft carrier’s 848 planes

Chapter 925: The scapegoat of the aircraft carrier’s 848 planes Chapter 925: The scapegoat of the aircraft carrier’s 848 planes Another type that is actually no longer advanced, yet the Tang Army could not find a replacement for, is the Lion-style armored reconnaissance vehicle. The design philosophy of this thing is correct, but it lacked a better successor.

Germany Three’s “Big Eight-Wheeled” armored vehicle performed not too badly during World War II, but because of the defeat, this type of equipment did not continue to develop, and it can basically be said to have lost its lineage.

Soviet-style wheeled armored vehicles could not inherit the role of Germany’s wheeled armored reconnaissance vehicles, and their reluctant use did not offer much performance advantage.

The armored reconnaissance battalions of the Tang Country also fell into danger with the performance improvement of other countries’ armored vehicles.

In the past, the Tang Army’s armored reconnaissance battalions relied on the performance advantage of the Lion-style armored reconnaissance vehicles, even being able to directly charge the enemy’s armored corps.

The short-barreled 75mm cannon equipped on the Lion-style armored reconnaissance vehicle gave it firepower comparable to a Type 4 tank, allowing it to easily destroy the enemy’s armored targets.

But now that’s no longer possible: the tanks of various countries suddenly improved their armor protection, and the cannon on the Lion-style armored reconnaissance vehicle could no longer penetrate these steel beasts.

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This was the trend of the times, low-pressure guns were destined to be replaced in the Tang Army’s sequence, and Tang Mo’s choice was clear: siege warfare might as well be handed directly to tanks since the Tang Army had an adequate number of tanks with excellent performance.

Since the main gun could no longer destroy the enemy’s main battle tanks, continuing to equip such weapons was of little use.

The famed armored reconnaissance battalions of the Tang Army, which once made every unit of the Dahua Empire tremble at the news of their approach, also made their own changes with the shifting environment.

Tang Mo revised the combat manual for the armored reconnaissance battalions, issuing strict orders for these units, which previously had functioned as tank battalions, to avoid direct engagement with enemy forces.

This order effectively restored the main mission of the armored reconnaissance battalions, and these units finally returned to their original primary purpose: reconnaissance.

Following this came the matter of armament selection: the short-barreled 75mm cannon on the Lion-style armored reconnaissance vehicle was removed in favor of a 20mm caliber autocannon.

Such a change freed up a lot of space for ammunition storage, allowing the Lion-style armored reconnaissance vehicle to carry a set of night vision devices and to be refitted with better high-power radios.

The new modifications allowed the armored vehicle to be used at least passably, which was a stopgap measure—since the Tang Army was in a hurry to “phase out” the Type 4 tanks, it was unlikely to find production capacity to retrofit the Lion-style armored reconnaissance vehicles in the short term.

In this nearly mad arms race, no one knew that an experimental plane manufactured by Tang Country broke the sound barrier.

The experimental model of the J-6 fighter jet broke the sound barrier, flying at supersonic speed—this result proved that the previous notion held by many, that it was impossible for flight speed to exceed the speed of sound, was incorrect.

Unfortunately, this result was not made public, so many aircraft design experts from other countries still believed firmly that Tang Country’s planes, no matter how fast, could only reach near-supersonic levels.

Therefore, they believed that as long as they could produce planes with a flight speed of over 600 kilometers per hour, the advantage of the Tang Nation Air Force would no longer exist.

Another experiment conducted on Dragon Island provided the Tang Nation Air Force with more precise striking capability: a brand-new guided concept diminished the role of dive bombers.

With precision-guided bombs like the Fritz X, bombing became more accurate, and long-range attacks made planes safer when carrying out bombing missions.

This brand-new “precision bomb” was carried by a Flying Fortress and successfully attacked a bridge simulation made from mounds of earth, achieving a very satisfactory effect.

The new bombs could be carried by JU-88 as well as by Flying Fortresses and were controlled using a visual guidance mode.

As a result, the Air Force’s Stuka Dive Bombers became somewhat redundant: dive bombing was risky and inefficient, and certainly not as safe and effective as using Tang Country’s version of Fritz X.

So the Stuka, a plane already completely outdated and whose role had been replaced, became another piece of equipment in precarious standing.

The Air Force was preparing to phase it out, as its functions had partly been replaced by the Yir Attack Aircraft and partly by guided bombs; it clearly had little use anymore.

Disposing of these planes could also generate profit through sales to other countries, providing more funds for the Air Force to update to new planes and enter the jet era. After all, this kind of outdated plane that couldn’t even retract its landing gear was long overdue to be swept into the trash heap…

But with this development, the newly established Navy Airmen were left feeling dismayed: if the Stukas started being sold off, what were they supposed to do with the Stukas in their possession?

If they continued to use the equipment themselves, the first problem was identifying friend from foe. What was more distressing was that they didn’t want to continue fighting with equipment that the Army had already discarded.

Stuka Dive Bombers were sold all over the world, so there were no secrets about their performance: if the Navy’s active aircraft were thoroughly studied by the opposition, who would be accountable for massive losses in actual combat?

Yet, if the Navy also discarded the Stukas, the carrier pilots they had trained with great difficulty would have to start their training all over again, wasting all their previous efforts.

Another problem was: where were the replacements for the Navy’s torpedo bombers and dive bombers?

The Army didn’t need torpedo bombers; conventional bombing missions could be carried out by JU-88s and Yir-2s, precise bombing tasks could be entrusted to JU-88s capable of dive bombing, or be completed by JU-88s carrying the Tang version of Fritz X, so discarding the Stukas seemed inconsequential.

But the Navy only had Stukas, and if those were phased out, then they would need to find a new, versatile type of carrier-based attack aircraft…

Could they really end up using Japan’s carrier-based attack aircraft? Tang Mo found this idea to be extremely repulsive on a mental level. He would rather have both the Dauntless and the Avenger aboard the aircraft carriers than let his Navy use Japanese carrier planes.

This was the stubbornness of a Huaxia soul, a personal vendetta, nothing to do with performance or any such reason!

So, in the end, Tang Mo brought out the A-1 Skyraider, nicknamed “Sky Attacker,” which was a general-purpose attack aircraft extensively equipped by the United States Navy after World War II. Needless to say, its performance spoke for itself.

From any perspective, it could replace the Stuka dive bomber, as the two were simply not from the same era.

The only problem was, like the Type 59 tank and the J-6 Fighter Jet, the Skyraider needed to reorganize production, and completely replacing the Navy’s version of the Stuka would take time.

In the end, after weighing the pros and cons, the Tang Nation Air Force and the Navy Air Force came to a compromise: the Stuka dive bombers would continue to serve in the Air Force until the Navy Air Force had a replacement for the Stuka, and then they would be sold together.

As for the money lost due to delaying the sale, well, whoever insisted on the Navy using the Stukas should take responsibility.

Hmm… Tang Mo was the one responsible, and no one dared question His Majesty The Emperor carrying the scapegoat, so everyone was happy—His Majesty The Emperor was wealthy, after all, and wouldn’t mind a loss of a few hundred thousand!

As for what Tang Country planned to use to replace the ground-licking Yir-2… that brings us to the relative of the “Sixth,” the “Fifth.”

A professional in shooting rockets, which could also drop conventional bombs, and even nuclear bombs, replacing the Yir-2 would be more than adequate. The only downside of the Qiang-5 for Great Tang was that it couldn’t be operated from a ship and therefore couldn’t replace the Stuka. Hence, it couldn’t be the Navy’s first carrier-based jet attack aircraft, which was a pity.

Alas, given Huaxia’s short carrier aircraft development history—equivalent to the brief history of the Lighthouse Country—described graciously as “starting from a high point,” or less generously as “a late start.”

So, to use the carrier aircraft that Tang Mo yearned for, one would have to wait until the era when Tang Country’s mobile phones had widespread adoption. The “Sixth,” “Seventh,” and “Eighth” would miss out, leaving only the hope on the “Fifteenth”…

Who could have imagined, the naval version of the Stuka carrier-based plane that Tang Country secretly produced and extensively equipped was on the list of weapons to be phased out without having participated in a single combat operation.

Of course, no one would have thought that while other countries didn’t even possess carrier-based aircraft, Tang Country was already planning the production of second-generation carrier planes.

On the matter of the Navy’s carrier-based aircraft replacement, Tang Mo also paid the price for his lack of planning in armaments: a carrier-based aircraft was phased out without ever having the opportunity to participate in combat—all of that purchased with real silver!

What was even more frustrating was another piece of Navy equipment: submarines.

They needed an upgrade as well: a large number of the U-boats actually had mediocre performance, with underwater speeds not matching surface speeds, often missing opportunities in battle, and desperately needed to be replaced with more mature post-war submarines.

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But this also required a great deal of time, and deciding how to deal with the decommissioned submarines was a challenging issue.

Bear in mind, the submarines of other countries were still at the initial stages. If Tang Country were to sell its retired submarines, it would greatly improve the submarine technology level of other countries. Conversely, to contend with these sold U-boats, Tang Country would need to increase anti-submarine investment, which seemed to be a case of losing more than gaining.

However, from another angle, as all countries were studying submarine technology, and the basic principles of submarines weren’t difficult to understand, it was only a matter of time before others mastered this technology. So whether Tang Mo sold the submarines or not, Tang Country’s anti-submarine investment was set to increase.

The difference was merely in how much it would increase and when.

Besides, without Dragon Island as a submarine supply base, submarines setting off from the periphery of the Endless Sea couldn’t possibly threaten the shipping routes between Dragon Island and the Tang mainland—at least not without accompanying supply ships.

With this said, Tang Mo was once again troubled by the same question: how long would it take to replace these navy’s U-type submarines?