Currently, Datang Group's tank production factories, including those in Longdao and Tongcheng, only produce two types of tank chassis. One is the hull of the No. 4 tank, and the other is the hull of the No. 2 tank.
The hulls of the No. 4 tank are basically used to manufacture the No. 4 tank, because the army urgently needs this new tank to fill the vacancy, and there is no excess production at all.
The body of the No. 2 tank is still in production, but it is actually intended to be converted into a self-propelled artillery to equip troops.
The Tang Kingdom was the first country in the world to equip self-propelled howitzers, starting with 105-caliber guns, which were quite advanced in technology.
It is precisely because of this new artillery that the armored forces of the Tang Kingdom can ensure that their ground troops have sufficient artillery support when they advance rapidly.
At a time when countries all over the world are worried about being unable to equip a large number of towed howitzers, the troops of the Tang Kingdom are already using self-propelled artillery to eliminate some of the towed artillery. This has to be said to be a leap.
In addition, the Tang Kingdom was equipped with the best military trucks in the world and the largest number of cars, so the mobility of the towed artillery was also well guaranteed.
Despite this, like other countries in the world, the Tang Kingdom, which was unable to complete all mechanization, still retained a large number of war horses in its army.
The cavalry is actually gone, and what remains are the scouts, the signal corps, the transportation corps, and the carriage troops responsible for transportation.
Due to insufficient transportation capacity, the Tang Kingdom's 75mm-caliber field artillery was still pulled by war horses. Most of these artillery were equipped with light infantry units. Due to the expansion of the army, they could only make do with old equipment.
With the expansion of its territory, the total number of troops in the Tang Kingdom has reached an unprecedented height. Now the Tang Kingdom has 20 infantry divisions, with a total number of more than 400,000!
One of the armored instructor divisions does not perform combat tasks and is deployed on Long Island. At the same time, there is also a light infantry division deployed on Long Island to guard the island.
The other two divisions were deployed in Yucheng and Bunas respectively, and one division was deployed on Dongwan Island as a garrison.
The 1st Marine Division was dispersedly deployed on several small islands where airports were built between Long Island and Dongwan Island. The remaining 14 divisions were all in Datang itself.
Among them, the 1st Armored Division and the 2nd Armored Division are both tank divisions with relatively many tanks, and the 3rd and 4th Armored Divisions are both armored divisions mixed with mechanized infantry.
Four of the remaining 10 infantry divisions are motorized infantry divisions, equipped with a large number of trucks, with high mobility and high combat effectiveness.
The remaining 6 divisions are all light infantry divisions. Due to the rapid expansion of the army, the combat effectiveness of the remaining 4 divisions is actually average.
These troops are the troops directly under Tang Mo's disposal - although there are many troops in Beiling that Tang Mo can use directly without any pressure, after all, these troops nominally belong to the Lions Empire.
Today, the Tang Kingdom deploys the six newly expanded light infantry divisions with the lowest combat effectiveness on the border.
Because they had just been expanded and formed, the equipment of these troops was generally average, with fewer cars and more horses. They looked no different from the armies of Chu, Qi, and the Dahua Empire on the other side of the border.
However, it is impossible for these countries to have no eyes and ears on the side of the Tang Kingdom. The top leaders of these countries actually know that the combat effectiveness of the second-line troops of the Datang Kingdom is stronger.
Loew met Nangong Hong in Tang Mo's office. After nodding slightly, he answered the question Tang Mo just asked him: "Your Majesty, you cannot completely control the entire territory of Qi with just four armored divisions."
"Soon, the vast land will force us to split our troops into regiments or even battalions to continue fighting. Then the logistical supply pressure will destroy our troops." Loew told the truth and told the difficulties one by one. Tang Mo listened.
He waited for Tang Mo to digest his words before continuing: "So we must at least arrange follow-up infantry to fill the gaps in the war zone, protect fragile supply lines and maintain public order."
"In addition, we have to beware of the Mirage and the Great China Empire on the flanks. We cannot let them cut off the supply lines of our armored forces from both wings! If the supply lines are cut off, we will be very passive." As he said that, Loew was still at the northern border. Xian made a flanking gesture.
As a staff officer, Loew is now very professional. He has a large staff team behind him and considers issues quite comprehensively.
Almost all details will be calculated repeatedly, and the General Staff, which has a parameter model of the force's operation, has very rich experience in this regard.
Soon, Loew talked about the issue of oil reserves. Once Tang Mo decided to adopt a certain attack plan, the corresponding reserve fuel would have to be transported and hoarded in the corresponding direction.
It is no small matter to ensure that the four mechanized divisions advance together. After the attack is launched, how to capture the enemy's railways and roads, and control the transportation nodes and bridges are all important matters that must be carefully calculated.
If the road conditions cannot keep up, or there are changes, then the subsequent advancement speed, and even the ability to continue advancement, will be affected!
This is just a matter of fuel. To ensure the advancement of the troops, ammunition and food supplies must be considered.
In order to keep the armored forces advancing, the Kingdom of the Tang Dynasty established four specialized truck transport groups. The mission of these groups was to find ways to deliver the materials needed by the frontline armored forces to these armored forces!
It is no exaggeration to say that in ancient wars, it was important for the three armies to move forward before food and grass were used. In modern wars, the importance of troop support is even more important than in ancient times.
These military matters are not Nangonghong's expertise. It was just that he and Tang Mo had reached this point in their discussion, and then Loew was invited to discuss the details of military operations in detail.
In fact, if we only talk about professionalism, Tang Mo is actually not as good as Loew now. Because after all, he now spends more time on macro management, and pure military management is definitely not as good as Loew, who does this work every day.
Listening to Loew listing a long list of logistical support like a treasure trove, which even included gauze, alcohol, and gastrointestinal medicine, Tang Mo had a smile on his face.
His talent reserve has finally achieved some success at this time. His enemies and opponents may not have such professional generals to command their armies.
The gap in weapons can be made up by catching up, but the gap in military concepts and sensitivity to tactical innovation cannot be learned and understood in a day or two!
Tang Mo's military academy graduated a large number of military talents. These people supported the modern army of the Tang Kingdom! They are the soul of the Tang Kingdom’s army!
"So, if I decide to adopt a certain plan now, then a series of subsequent transfers will begin?" Tang Mo asked Loew.
Nangong Hong also realized that if he made a strategic choice now, it would be equivalent to shooting with no chance of turning back.
"Yes, Your Majesty! If we start to allocate supplies to the north, then we cannot change the decision temporarily and allocate the supplies to the south... because it is a big project, and even if we have the support of the railway, we cannot easily do it. .”
"Moreover, there is also the issue of confidentiality..." Loew continued: "In addition, I have not yet mentioned the details of the formation of the follow-up troops."
He coughed, and then continued to explain to Tang Mo and Nangong Hong: "If we choose the plan to attack Chu, then there is no need to continue to expand the armored division. The water network and mountains over there are not suitable for the armored division. operations, so we should form and train more mountain divisions and light infantry divisions to adapt to the terrain environment over there."
"And if we want to attack Qi, then fighting on the plains, according to our theory, armored forces are the most suitable choice, so we can form a new armored division and add two to three infantry divisions as follow-up troops. ..." After a little explanation, he stopped speaking and looked at Nangong Hong and Tang Mo.
After hearing his speech, Tang Mo exhaled slightly - he was still not rich enough to have the strategic materials to fight two wars at the same time!
Only now did he understand how difficult it was for a poor country to fight a war: its fuel was only enough for one strategic adventure, and its soldiers could not bear even one defeat...
Even though he is already the most qualified person in the world to fight the war of wealth, he still feels the huge constraints and constraints brought by reality on him. He seemed to be dancing in shackles, which felt really bad.
In fact, he also knew that he was in Versailles, because he could at least guarantee that his first sword show would be successful! This is already a huge advantage that many kings and emperors have dreamed of.
"I understand everything." After sighing slightly, Tang Mo said to Loew: "Let's continue the army expansion work first, pay close attention to the training of the troops, and I still need to think about the allocation of materials."
There are advantages and disadvantages to going south and going north, and it is impossible for Tang Mo to decide when the war will break out simply by relying on his sixth sense guess.
He just invited Nangong Hong today to discuss whether it would threaten the strategic development of the Tang Kingdom if the Laens Empire colluded with the Dahua Empire. He was not ready to launch a war tomorrow!
Even when he was waiting for Loew to arrive, he had a serious discussion with Nangong Hong about whether it would be feasible to send envoys to make good friends with the Dahua Empire and break up the possible alliance between the Dahua Empire and the Lains Empire. .
After all, it seems to be a wiser choice to unite several allies to reduce some of the pressure on oneself than to fight against the whole world.
