After hearing what Lieutenant Colonel Leeuwenhoek said, Tangning looked at Kaka with some interest. The Chief of General Staff knew what His Majesty meant, and naturally told him about the two of them.
In the Portuguese local army, every transfer of an officer above the school level requires Kaka's signature.
Once, due to Kaka's negligence, Leeuwenhoek's transfer order was accidentally lost. Leeuwenhoek waited a long time for his transfer order, but the General Staff thought it had been issued. Later, he came to the General Staff Headquarters to find a staff officer in charge of transferring orders. The staff officer was also surprised. Finally, the reason was found to be the Chief of General Staff, and Kaka then met Leeuwenhoek, who was unlucky because of his own mistakes.
In the subsequent conversation between the two, Lieutenant Colonel Leeuwenhoek gave Kaka a good image. Hence their previous conversation.
After hearing that Kaka still made such a small mistake, Tangning had nothing to say about the good luck of Lieutenant Colonel Leeuwenhoek in front of her. However, he was also a man of real talent and learning, and a replacement might not necessarily have a good influence.
"Lieutenant Colonel Leeuwenhoek, I hope you can show us the strength of the 16th Division Artillery Regiment." Tangning encouraged the artillery regiment commander.
"Okay, Your Majesty."
After Lieutenant Colonel Leeuwenhoek answered His Majesty, he looked at Division Commander Williams with questioning eyes. Williams, who was being consulted by his artillery regiment commander, nodded slightly and agreed to start.
The regiment commander ordered his subordinates to start an artillery drill. Following the regiment commander's order, a team of artillerymen pushed six Krupp 75mm mountain guns to the gun emplacement that had been built long ago.
These cannons are of course replicas of the Empire, but thanks to the Germans' step-by-step instruction, the Portuguese cannons are no different from the German ones.
The 75mm guns of the two countries are all 17 times the caliber barrel length, high and low firing range: -7 degrees ~ +38.5/30 degrees, horizontal firing range: 5 degrees, projectile weight: 5.3kg, ammunition muzzle velocity: 300m/s, weight :529kg, maximum range: 5750 meters.
"Two test shots"
Following the command of the artillery company commander, the prepared artillerymen began test firing at the exercise target 5 kilometers away.
"Boom~boom~boom"
The ground was hit by a shell twenty meters away from the target. Seeing that the test results were so outstanding, His Majesty and the Chief of General Staff at the observation platform were very satisfied. Then the artillery fine-tuned the mountain artillery that fired at the boundary, and the target five thousand meters away was eliminated with a few shots.
"It's a good game and I hope I can keep up the good work."
Tangning praised the artillerymen's performance to Division Commander Williams beside him.
After the 75mm mountain artillery battery bombardment drill was completed, the Krupp 75mm field gun pulled by packhorses also entered the field. These artillery pieces are masterpieces of the newly built Portuguese arsenal, and their technical sources are supported by the Brazilian arsenal.
The current bolt form of these 75MM field guns: horizontal wedge type, recoil type: liquid bullet type, 27 times the caliber barrel length, high and low firing range: -12 degrees ~ +18.5 degrees, horizontal firing range: 7 degrees , projectile weight: 6.5kg, ammunition muzzle velocity: 510m/s, weight: 1016kg, maximum range: 7600m.
This time the target was set at a distance of 7 kilometers. As the soldiers prepared, Tangning and others also raised their telescopes to observe the results of the bombardment.
"Two test shots."
Following the field artillery company commander's order, the prepared soldiers fired the field artillery shells that had been adjusted. The results of this test firing were also very good. The shells exploded about 20 meters away from the target. After readjustment, the target was destroyed in just a few shots.
"Very good, now let's see the effect of your 105mm howitzer."
Tang Ning couldn't wait to see the most powerful firepower display in the Portuguese division.
This time the 16th Division did not bring artillery into the field, mainly because the 105mm howitzer was too heavy and had been placed in advance.
The data of this batch of 105mm light field howitzers are caliber: 104.9mm, barrel length: 22 times the caliber, high and low firing range: -10 degrees ~ +40 degrees, horizontal firing range: 4 degrees, projectile weight: 15.7kg, ammunition muzzle velocity: 400m/second, weight: 1380kg, maximum range: 8400.
As the 105 howitzer was ready, Tang Ning and the others saw that the target of this bombardment was across the hill. It seemed that the 16th Division was preparing an indirect target bombardment.
In indirect aiming bombardment, the geodesic unit or position reconnaissance team marks the reference shooting direction of the reference gun with an aiming point, and then each gun calibrates its firing direction according to the reference gun. The aiming point can be set with a vertical mark or a calibrator, etc. It is still a relatively advanced artillery tactic. Tang Ning has only seen them used by the Third Division and two Guards Divisions before. Now the other divisions are still training hard. The 16th Division certainly made him feel that this trick was used. surprise.
As the 105 howitzer was ready, Tangning saw observers on the hill waving flags to the 105 gun crew below. It was still a two-shot test firing, but the effect of this test firing was not that good. The shell hit the target at a distance of 40 meters, and then the firing angle was adjusted twice to complete the target destruction.
"Well done. This indirect shelling opened my eyes." Tangning praised Lieutenant Colonel Leeuwenhoek who came over to report.
In fact, he had seen indirect bombardment in the 18th and 19th Divisions, these two ordinary divisions, and their effects were of course much worse than those of the 16th Division.
However, although the level of those two divisions was worse than that of the 16th Division, in the eyes of Chief of General Staff Kaka and Tang Ning, they were still passable.
"Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty. We will continue to work hard."
Lieutenant Colonel Leeuwenhoek, who received praise from His Majesty, knew that this indirect bombardment of their 16th Division was the best yet.
Although His Majesty the Emperor of the 17th Division has not yet gone, based on his understanding of his colleagues in the 17th Division, the level of his troops is higher than theirs.
His Majesty then watched infantry tactics drills, battlefield casualty rescue and other projects, in which the 16th Division achieved good results. This made Tangning and Kaka very happy, and they both believed that this year's training funds were not in vain.
On the way back, Tangning asked, was Kaka's speech at the 16th Division's infantry shooting training true?
The chief of general staff said to His Majesty with a smile. "Your Majesty, we have to compete with each other in the army to ensure the fighting spirit of the army. However, the Portuguese army is not yet equipped with elites. We can only set a benchmark for them to catch up with."
After listening to Kaka's words, Tangning understood what he meant. This coincided with the army he expected.
Kaka, the chief of general staff, although his actual combat skills have not been greatly tested, his quality is considered to be the highest among the soldiers Tangning has come into contact with.
Kaka's political and military qualities, as well as his most important loyalty, currently make him the most suitable for Portugal. It is not in vain for Tangning to call him over from Brazil to preside over the Portuguese local army.
Tang Ning was a military fan in his previous life, but he was not a senior military fan. He was mainly interested in guns and artillery. As for naval and air force equipment, he only knew a rough idea.
As for the deeper aspects of the country's military establishment and training, Tang Ning only knew what it was and didn't know why.
Tang Ning's major change in the military was to enter the political commissar system. As for the rest, he let the professionals do it.
Tang Ning's requirement for the military is loyalty. Whether it is the political commissar system or serving as the principal of a military academy, it is all to tell the soldiers, who is the master of this country?
