Munitions Empire-Chapter 1043: Amend the Rituals of 965

Chapter 1043: Amend the Rituals of 965

“Why is there another meeting?” In the Staff Department, a logistics supply Major General for tank and armored vehicles closed the logistics supply parameter form in front of him and stood up impatiently.

Lately, the frequency of meetings called by the Staff Department had become too much. These past few days he had finally managed to find time to revise the supply parameter form.

This was the fruit of his labor, after all. Every number in this form was an accurate figure derived from exercises, refined by countless revisions to be as close to rational as possible.

This form was the crystallization of many people’s hard work and a treasure worth a fortune. It was the calculation parameter for logistics materials within the Great Tang Empire’s military, an experience that no amount of money could buy…

Should war break out, all logistics supply troops would have to provide logistics support to their responsible units according to this kind of form. This affected the combat effectiveness of the troops, the efficiency of supplies, and the effort to eliminate waste…

Although these values had never been truly accurate, the continual refinement of these values represented progress in the science of logistics supply.

“I don’t know, General Bolton and General Strauss are both going to attend. The meeting will be presided over by Marshal Luff, and I heard Marshal Redman and Marshal Tager will also be there,” said the secretary who came to notify him, reeling off many names in one breath.

Then the logistics supply Major General had no more objections. He gathered his things and hurried to the meeting room at the Wuying Hall.

Upon arrival, he was dumbstruck: What kind of level was this meeting, with almost all military big shots he knew, and even those he didn’t, in attendance.

Not only were there three Imperial Marshals, but there were also commanders from various corps, renowned generals of the Armored Corps, the Commander of the First Armored Division, and at least seven or eight Major Generals from main armored divisions.

Visit freewebnoveℓ.com for the best novel reading exp𝒆rience.

He really couldn’t figure out what all these people were meeting for: At first, he even thought a war had erupted.

Indeed, other than the Great Tang Empire preparing to declare war, why else would so many high-ranking officers be summoned for a meeting at once?

Feeling uneasy, the logistics supply Major General took a seat in the back row, and the younger generals felt somewhat relieved.

Because he didn’t see the Air Force Commander in the conference room. It seemed that the only person in blue Air Force uniform was a Colonel who was a liaison officer, obviously not an indication of going to war.

According to the military action requirements of the Great Tang Empire, if there truly was going to be a declaration of war, the Air Force would definitely have a large number of officers attending. Because they are the vanguard of the attack, the sharpest spear of the Great Tang Empire.

Moreover, only a liaison officer from the Navy was present, although he held the rank of Major General, it was clear that this meeting was not about discussing a declaration of war.

“Hello!” An officer sitting next to him extended a hand, his rank was that of a Major General. The Great Tang Empire had a color-coding system for branches of the military; just by looking at the pink edge of his collar, one could easily tell that he was an Armored Corps commander.

A Major General rank indicated that he should be a commander of an armored corps, or a chief of staff of an armored corps.

The logistics supply Major General immediately reached out and shook hands: “Hello! I am Burlan, a logistics staff member of the General Staff.”

He was from Northern Ridge, considered one of Brunas’s old men. However, he was very young back then and without much military merit. After a year of further studies at the military academy, he took a position at the Staff Department; his career record was actually quite ordinary.

“I am the Division Commander of the 17th Armored Division, Commander Chen,” said the officer while introducing himself.

After exchanging pleasantries, the three Marshals arrived, and everyone stood up to salute: “Long live the Emperor!”

The meeting was presided over by Marshal Luff, who gestured with both hands for everyone to sit down, and then the meeting discussion began: “We have convened this meeting to announce that with technological progress, the combat cover regulations for our armored troops need to be revised.”

“Ah? Again?” Hearing Marshal Luff say this, many generals immediately murmured complaints. As the country with the most advanced technology in the world, many tactics of the Great Tang Empire were constantly changing.

For example, the combat regulations of the Air Force. With the emergence of jet fighter jets, the air combat regulations have also been drastically revised.

The previous practice of deploying formations consisting of hundreds of fighter jets clearly does not suit jet fighters anymore. Now, the Air Force of the Great Tang Empire is reducing the size of its formations to unleash the full potential of jet fighters.

“Based on the latest findings from the technical department, the 1st Armored Division is preparing to experimentally equip a new type of defense armor called Explosive Reactive Armor,” Luff said as he ordered two officers to hang up the blueprints.

He pointed at the blueprints and continued, “This armor can effectively withstand artillery attacks from enemy forces, reducing the risk of tanks being penetrated. However, it’s not perfect. As its name suggests, Explosive Reactive Armor, it explodes when hit by artillery rounds…”

“Next, we will invite related experts to explain its working principles,” Luff stepped aside, handing over the platform to a technician in a white lab coat.

Following that, the technician began to explain the principles of the Explosive Reactive Armor and its operational state.

Soon after, a projector was brought in to show a video from the testing grounds, allowing everyone to directly experience what happens when Explosive Reactive Armor is hit.

“Holy smokes… if infantry were standing nearby, wouldn’t they be done for?” Division Chief Chen shifted in his seat and asked Burlan sitting beside him.

Logistics Supply Major General Burlan nodded in agreement, “If you’re standing next to it, I guess it wouldn’t be any different from catching a hand grenade.”

“Probably even worse,” said Division Chief Chen with some trepidation. “This thing is packed with a lot more explosive than a hand grenade.”

While they were talking, Luff stepped onto the stage again. He interrupted the discussions of his subordinates, saying, “Therefore, we need to establish a new manual for infantry-tank combat cooperation in advance to prevent accidental casualties.”

“The distance that infantry follow tanks must be increased; they can’t be too close,” a general whispered to his colleague.

“Didn’t we already increase the distance last time?” his colleague whispered back. Because of the danger of ricocheting tank rounds causing friendly fire incidents, the Great Tang Empire had already revised the infantry-tank coordination manual once before.

Back then, it was found that soldiers were at risk of being hit by ricocheting rounds if they followed too closely behind a tank, so the Great Tang Empire revised the infantry-tank coordination regulations, specifically increasing the safe following distance.

Although there were still soldiers willing to follow closely behind tanks, those were rare cases. The correct procedure was for infantry to keep a distance of more than ten meters from a tank, to avoid being hit by stray bullets rebounding off tank armor.

Everyone was in heated discussion because the blast radius of a hand grenade is about twenty meters, making the appropriate new infantry-tank separation distance a focal point of the debate.

From an infantry-tank coordination perspective, it’s not always better for infantry to be closer to the tanks, nor is it always better to be further away.

If the infantry is too far from the tank, they can be easily suppressed by enemy fire and get cut off from the tanks. This is a very dangerous situation; infantry casualties will increase, and the mutual support system of infantry covering tanks and vice versa would be broken.

However, if the infantry is too close to the tanks, though the tanks would be safer, the infantry following the tanks would be in danger: on the battlefield, the enemy uses all kinds of weapons to attack tanks. Light weapons that can’t penetrate tank armor will cause bullets to ricochet off the tanks. These stray bullets can easily kill the infantry swarming around the tanks.

Now, an even more dangerous scenario has arisen. If soldiers still crowd around the tanks and an Explosive Reactive Armor is detonated, the surrounding infantry would be wiped out all at once—as a tank decked out in Explosive Reactive Armor is, in a way, like wearing a vest woven from hand grenades.

“If we really were to use this, this… Explosive, Explosive Reactive Armor, then the safe distance for infantry to follow tanks should at least be maintained at around 30 meters,” lamented an Armored Corps Commander.

An officer sitting in front of him immediately turned around to argue, “This is war! How can it be that safe? If we’re 30 meters from the tanks, what’s the point of having infantry? Wouldn’t it be safer to just let the tanks go up by themselves?”

“So what distance do you suggest?” the other countered somewhat unconvinced.

The officer in front gave his answer, “Twenty meters, I think that’s about right!”

“Twenty meters? And if we lose infantry, are you responsible?” the officer behind him retorted sarcastically.

“That officer immediately deflected, “Whose responsibility is that to decide?”

It wasn’t just between them; many others began to argue… The hall was filled with hushed voices.