Munitions Empire

Sometimes things are just so fantastical: Tang Mo’s troops were equipped with M35 helmets, yet they used an improved version of the vest-style equipment.

Since no one in this world had yet used poison gas, the German Army’s distinctive striped gas mask canisters did not make an appearance.

The soldiers from the Great Tang Kingdom used the Huaxia sapper shovel for their tactical digging needs, and their puttees were made of leather, the American version.

Their assault troops carried Thompson submachine guns and M1911 pistols for self-defense, but their rifles were the G43 semi-automatic type and the Mauser Kar98K!

In the choice of hand grenades, Tang Mo ultimately discarded the German stick grenade black technology in favor of the more conveniently carried American-style grenades, but then he equipped his soldiers with MG42 machine guns—a mix of German and American styles, with no clear advantage for either.

All soldiers were equipped with the standard German camouflage raincoats, as well as the classic reversible camouflage smocks used by the German Army in World War II. However, during winter, the soldiers’ standard long coats were modeled after those of the Soviet Red Army.

Due to Tang Mo’s "hobby," this unit had become a true mishmash. Five parts reminiscent of the German Army, three parts like the U.S. forces, and two parts like the Soviet Army.

Though Tang Mo favored German designs for tanks and aircraft, he shifted decisively towards the United States when it came to cars.

Most of the various car models equipped by the Great Tang Kingdom were American models, with the exception of the sedans used by senior officers.

Additionally, the future air force of the Tang Army would also contain a large number of American-style aircraft, such as the B-17 strategic bombers they were already working on and the C47 transport aircraft responsible for logistics.

As a more practical model, the C47 transport aircraft had already begun operations during the mass production of the Camel Fighter and, as of now on Dragon Island, there was already a significant number of C47 transport planes.

When it came to artillery choices, Tang Mo was a true aficionado of American designs, outfitting his units’ artillery with calibers that were 105 and 155 millimeters, Western-style.

The main reason for such choices was Tang Mo’s plan to return to the Huaxia route in the later stages, as the further the technology developed, the stronger and more advanced Huaxia’s artillery became, adhering to the big-gun doctrine.

As for anti-aircraft guns, World War II U.S. Army’s were actually quite average (excluding the Navy’s). Because the U.S. entered the war with air supremacy, their ground anti-aircraft firepower was not particularly strong.

By comparison, the ground forces of Germany, which had been battered by the U.S. Air Force for years and had become well-tempered, seemed to have a strong say in the matter.

The fame of the German Army’s 88mm caliber Flak cannon was excellent, with the only downside being a bit bulky.

Moreover, San Dezi’s various self-propelled anti-aircraft guns were plentiful in variety, and it wouldn’t be a problem to get a few of those.

With the experience and lessons from World War II, Tang Mo would naturally not waste resources on half-track vehicles; he was more inclined to develop fully tracked armored vehicles.

Therefore, the half-track armored vehicles that were active on various battlefields during World War II might never appear in this other world.

In their place, there could likely be a light, armored personnel carrier similar to the M3 or BMP—vehicles that would cooperate with tanks on the battlefield, protect infantry, and enable them to keep up with the tanks’ charging speed.

Factor in the self-propelled guns that supported tank combat, assault guns that covered the infantry in assault operations, and tank destroyers distributed to infantry units...

The force that Tang Mo envisioned assembling had an enormous number of armored vehicles, requiring a staggering production capacity. To fully realize this vision, more time was needed.

Right now, it was all just a vision, far from achievable: Tang Mo currently did not have the spare production capacity to develop infantry fighting vehicles, as this would significantly occupy tank production capacity.

Therefore, Tang Mo could only earnestly focus on motorized units, trying to increase the proliferation of trucks in the troops as much as possible.

This was already a monumental project, as equipping a dozen divisions with trucks to achieve motorization required a truly astonishing number of vehicles.

According to the organization, a division’s vehicular needs amounted to several hundred, not to mention the traction vehicles for artillery regiments, troop transports, logistic supply trucks, ammunition vehicles... The accumulation of so many vehicles meant that it wasn’t excessive for an infantry division to be equipped with thousands of trucks.

By extrapolation, the motorization of Tang Mo’s main units required at least about 20,000 automobiles, with just the parts needed for their maintenance able to fill several warehouses.

This mix resulted in a classic scene that even Tang Mo found ironically amusing: during an exercise on Dragon Island, he witnessed soldiers carrying Thompson submachine guns and wearing M35 helmets covering the slow advance of a Panzer IV tank.

This postmodernist, satirical scene was truly painful for Tang Mo to witness. Some things, once understood, become difficult to bear when mixed in a hodgepodge.

Luckily, Tang Mo was still on Dragon Island, out of sight of the bustling scene near Tongcheng where the 2nd Armored Division was undergoing its equipment overhaul.

The American trucks wobbled to a stop, and the soldiers busied themselves unloading crates of German oil drums from the cargo bed. Parked beside them was an early short-barreled Panzer IV tank, painted with late-World War II camouflage.

Adorned in black collar jackets and heavily cosplaying World War II German armored troops, the soldiers from the Great Tang Armored Corps were distinguished by incongruously white arm-of-service colors...

This unit seemed like an under-researched amateur war reenactment group’s offline meetup, filled with a bizarre sense of dissonance everywhere.

However, apart from Tang Mo, no one else could see it—what seemed strange about the soldiers of the Great Tang Kingdom to other nations was something else entirely.

For example, while the militaries of most nations used uniforms of a single color, the troops of the Great Tang Kingdom dressed like the chiefs of the Beggars’ Sect.

For instance, while other nations were stingy in rolling out metal-consuming helmets on a large scale, the Great Tang Kingdom had actually equipped its entire army with good-looking helmets.

In the case of the Great Tang Kingdom’s soldiers, most of them carried personal defense weapons, namely pistols, something other nations did not issue to regular soldiers on a large scale.

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Of course, there were some countries that had purchased Mauser pistols from Shireck to equip their troops, but those countries were clearly using these semi-automatic pistols as a substitute for submachine guns.

In the eyes of other nations, the Tang Army was mysterious and formidable, radiating eeriness throughout. Subconsciously, everyone avoided the idea of going to war with the Tang Army, as if there were an invisible chain restraining everyone’s limbs.

From this perspective, the dandelion seeds scattered by Tang Mo had already started to take effect. Subtly, they influenced the judgments of high-ranking decision-makers in various countries.

Not provoking Tang Mo had become an unwritten consensus in everyone’s subconscious, and, many times, this consensus was more effective than an army of 200,000.

On the fourth day after Gobur Kingdom deployed tanks to the war, many residents of Dongwan Island witnessed yet another unforgettable scene in their lifetime.

Accompanied by a continuous oppressive droning sound, they saw flocks of objects flying overhead.

These objects were clearly smaller than airships and faster too. In the blink of an eye, those black dots had formed a chevron shape, and then they began to descend, appearing as if they were about to land on the other side of the mountain.

The locals all knew that their new governor had earlier ordered the construction of a peculiar facility on the outskirts of Dongwan City. There, a super-large flat ground had been built, accompanied by towering buildings and warehouses of various shapes...

Now, these omens-of-ill-fortune that could fly were converging in that direction, and a casual count revealed there were as many as a dozen of them.

"Are those dragons?" a farmer on Dongwan Island asked the village chief standing on the ridge, looking up at the planes landing in the nearby military zone with astonishment.

"I heard His Majesty comes from Dragon Island... Dragon Island, presumably home to dragons, right?" another farmer stood up, watching another wobbly plane land, and tentatively asked with a hint of trepidation.

The old village chief gazed at the C47 transport planes landing one after another on Dongwan Island, unable to articulate a rationale. After all, he also did not know what these flying things should be called.

"I’m not sure either, but... that belongs to His Majesty... so we have nothing to worry about, do we? That’s all we need to know," the village chief said after a pause, having thought it over.

That day, a squadron of C47s carrying newly graduated students from Dragon City University arrived at Dongwan. They were to embark from there to Linshui to supplement the teaching staff at Linshui University.

Compared to the earth-shattering debut of tanks on the battlefield by Gobur, the landing of the fleet of planes seemed somewhat subdued.

But those who knew what all this represented understood who was truly changing the world. This marked the first time in history someone had managed to fly across the ocean, a feat that, in legend, only dragons could accomplish.

These aircraft, capable of covering a flight distance of 2,500 kilometers in one go, had already led the entire world by two whole eras, yet to be widely recognized.

In the past, transporting people from Dragon Island to Dongwan Island took about half a year and had to be scheduled during specific months.

Not long ago, reaching Dongwan Island from Dragon Island by ship still required a month-long arduous voyage.

Now, after transferring through airports on several small islands, it took just 4 days to arrive! Such is the power of technology!

No one yet knew these planes had taken off from Dragon Island, crossed half the Endless Sea, and arrived at Dongwan, so everyone was merely shocked, and not dumbfounded.

If they knew the truth, then there would no longer be any doubt about Great Tang Group’s technological prowess, and no one would care about those clumsy steel bodies twitching beside shell craters on the northern battlefield of Gobur.

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