Alien Arms Empire

 Chapter 608 608 Rocket Launcher

On the Mirage position that was attacked by the Tang Army's new weapons, a soldier felt that he had just crawled back from hell.

He watched helplessly as all the places around him were covered by artillery shells. The huge explosion swallowed up the entire area almost at the same time. This sudden disaster caused most of a regiment of Mirage soldiers to evaporate in an instant.

"Ah! Ah!" The Mirage soldier who was lucky enough to survive screamed in shock, but he couldn't hear his own scream.

　　The wounded people lying on the ground screamed helplessly, but no one cared about their lives or lives. There was billowing smoke and broken limbs everywhere.

From the time the first rocket fell to the explosion of the last rocket, it was only less than a minute.

  But it was obviously different from previous artillery bombardments. This time the artillery-covered assault came faster and caught people off guard.

 In fact, the best effect of shelling is only in the first round. A sudden falling shell can cause a large number of casualties.

 Subsequent bombardment is only to destroy the fortifications, not just to kill and casualty people.

  The advantage of a rocket salvo is that a large number of shells cover the attack area almost at the same time, without giving the opponent time to prepare, and can achieve the maximum killing effect.

 This advantage is incomparable to artillery. If you want to achieve a coverage and destruction effect similar to that of rocket launchers, traditional artillery units can only assemble on a large scale, which is obviously completely unnecessary and impossible.

However, rocket launchers also have their own disadvantages: insufficient attack accuracy, expensive shells, and too little delivery power.

 The lack of attack accuracy can be made up for by technological progress. In another world that Tang Mo is familiar with, the rabbits' rocket launchers are as accurate as missiles.

The expensiveness of artillery shells can only accompany rocket launchers for a lifetime: compared with traditional artillery shells, its propellant is more expensive, and no matter how cheap it is, it cannot compare with artillery shells.

  After all, the propellant of a rocket flies towards the target along with the projectile. After the propellant of the artillery shell is ejected from the shell, the shell is left behind and can be recycled...

 The relatively weak delivery power is also a flaw in the structure of the rocket launcher: in order to increase the range of the rocket launcher, the ammunition volume can only be increased. Therefore, compared with similar artillery shells, the rocket has a larger volume but a relatively smaller warhead.

But this can also be improved: You don’t dare to make the cannonballs that thick and big, right? But rockets can! It can theoretically be made tens of meters long and weigh hundreds of tons! Things that launch satellites, aren’t they also called rockets?

 In fact, in theory, missiles are also rockets, just rockets with a guidance system added.

The Mirage soldiers who had finally survived a round of rocket launchers didn't know that they had been hit by a new type of weapon. They just thought that they might have been greeted by all the cannons of the Tang Dynasty.

One of the surviving Mirage officers straightened the helmet on his head, and when he looked around, he saw a mess on his own position.

 The original trenches were surrounded by bomb craters, and the original bunkers were in ruins. He could still hear ringing in his ears, and not far from his eyes there were soldiers helping his comrades to hold down the bleeding wounds.

Some people were looking for their arms, some were digging for the buried officers, of course some were lying on the ground motionless, and some were kneeling on the ground holding their heads and crying.

The task given to them by their superiors was to hold this position. They had no reinforcements and only a small amount of ammunition. The only thing they could rely on was the position built in front of them.

 But now, it seems that there is nothing. The position here is more like a ruins, and most of the troops that were originally in good order are now missing.

 There was no need to count the losses. Just by looking at the tragic scene in front of him, he could almost guess how heavy the losses of his troops were.

 "My lord! My lord!" The adjutant of the leader of the Mirage Kingdom was lucky enough to survive. He called his commander over and over again with a tearful voice, but could not get any response from the other party.

He actually couldn't hear his own shouting clearly, but he was at a loss and desperately hoped to hear some orders from his captain.

Finally, the annoying ringing in his ears gradually faded away, and the leader of the Mirage Nation in front of him finally heard the adjutant’s call.

 He turned back and looked at his men: "What's wrong? Let the troops seize the time to hide! The enemy's shelling may not be over yet!"

The adjutant reacted and hurried to find the soldier who delivered the order. When he turned around, he realized that the headquarters at the end of the trench behind him had collapsed, and the officers and orderlies inside were gone.

He and his superiors escaped this disaster only by coming out for some air. Eighty percent of those who stayed inside had already died for the Mirage.

This is not good news for a unit that has just been shelled, because the entire unit is still in a state of chaos. Losing command will cause this chaos to spread and make the entire unit become uninhibited. control.

 “Get shelter!” The leader of the Mirage, who had somewhat recovered his hearing, shouted loudly to the soldiers on the distant position. He was really worried, worried that another round of artillery would fall and his troops would disappear completely in an instant.

According to the records of Mirage, on this day, a regiment of defenders stationed in this position was intensively shelled by the Tang army and suffered heavy losses. The total number of casualties was 492, of which almost one-third were reimbursed.

 The record also specifically mentions that the Tang army used a new artillery tactic: it assembled a large number of artillery troops for only a short round of rapid fire, and did not conduct a long artillery bombardment.

By the time rocket launchers became known, it would have been a long, long time after the war ended.

 …

 At the same time, Tiger took back his telescope. He did not go to see the shelling area covered by rocket launchers, but watched the rocket launch site with the technicians.

 This is a brand new experience, an indescribable shocking feeling. As a general, he even felt that just by looking at the momentum of the rocket launcher salvo, the enemy should have been wiped out.

Just imagine what state Napoleon would be in when he saw a Katyusha rocket salvo, and what state Tiger is in now.

 When he was thirty years old, he was still commanding a line of musketeers, using muzzleloader cannons. When he was forty years old, he had already seen rocket launchers...

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he probably wouldn't have believed it himself: He had never had such a fantasy feeling when watching a 155mm cannon fire before. Some weapons are like this, their momentum is exaggerated to the point of being daunting.

For example, muskets may not be more powerful than bows and arrows when they are first born, but with the crackling sound and pieces of white smoke, this thing is more powerful than bows and arrows, and it is comfortable to look at.

 The sight of the impact point is being viewed by specialized evaluators, and there are also valuable video records: the Tang Dynasty’s cameras are nothing new. They were used when Lions I ascended the throne.

“It’s spectacular.” Looking at the launch smoke that has not dissipated until now, Tiger put down the telescope and admired.

“It looks very shocking, I don’t know how powerful it is.” Another general was also deeply impressed by the performance.

"If the actual effect is half as shocking as it appears, there should be no living people on the enemy's position." The accompanying commander of the 1st Armored Division expressed his opinion with a smile.

"That's right. If the power is enough, the enemy should have been defeated under this momentum." Tiger handed the telescope in his hand to the adjutant beside him and nodded.

 These generals came here to evaluate new weapons. Although the Datang Group Security Force is the predecessor of the Tang National Defense Force, it is now two completely different organizations.

Datang Group is the Datang Group, and the Tang National Defense Force is the Tang National Defense Force. Whether to purchase new weapons from the Datang Group needs to be evaluated by the Tang National Defense Force.

 Others may not draw the line so clearly, but what is Tiger’s character? He is famous for being strict and principled in his work.

"The specific damage situation will not be known until the troops capture the enemy position." He said and looked at the technicians on the side: "I am personally very satisfied with the speed of the attack, the continuity is very strong, and the suddenness is very good."

 “Thank you.” Being able to get General Tiger’s comment, several technicians showed smiles on their faces.

Although this weapon was developed under Tang Mo's orders and the technology was also given by Tang Mo, it is a happy thing to be praised by General Tiger.

 Many successful weapons of later generations were complained by soldiers during actual use. Tang Mo could only choose suitable weapons based on his own experience, but he could not guarantee that these weapons would be loved by users.

  To take the simplest example, the Chicago Typewriter Thompson submachine gun is actually not without its shortcomings. It is not much better than the MP40 or Bobosha submachine gun. In some ways, it's even worse.

The design of the Thompson submachine gun makes it almost impossible to use a folding stock, so it cannot be equipped for tank soldiers like the MP40. Its high cost also limits the number of its equipment. Only people with deep pockets like Tang Mo could equip such weapons on a large scale like the US military.

“The 2nd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment has gone up, followed by the 1st Regiment of the 14th Infantry Division.” The division commander of the 1st Armored Division put down the phone and reported the battle situation to Tiger: “The enemy has only sporadic resistance...”

"This is good news." Tiger looked at the technicians of the rocket launcher development team again: "Thank you for reducing the casualties of the frontline troops."

"This is what we should do, or the meaning of our work!" The leading technician said with a smile: "Produce better weapons so that Datang... can continue to win!"

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 (End of this chapter)