Munitions Empire

The Air Force of the Great Tang Empire not only has fourth-generation fighter jets such as the Yinglong and Flying Shark as its trump cards but is also rapidly enhancing its soft power.

In terms of transport aircraft, the Hercules Transport Aircraftg is somewhat failing to meet the demand, so the Great Tang Empire is producing more advanced and powerful long-range transport aircraft.

Jet transport aircraft! And they are super massive transport aircraft! The famous Il-76 transport aircraft can carry over 40 tons of supplies to locations more than 4000 kilometers away, and airdropping paratroopers is naturally effortless.

Even considering the return fuel consumption, it can fly over 2000 kilometers to deploy airborne troops, and it has relatively low requirements for airport takeoff and landing, and its speed is faster than the Hercules.

Of course, its excellent performance isn't just limited to that; it can also be modified into various special transport aircraft, such as early warning aircraft or refueling tankers.

Although in terms of performance, it seems inferior to the terrifying C-5 transport aircraft of the Lighthouse Country, it wins in versatility, universality, and cost-effectiveness!

Even though Tang Mo believes that the Kunpeng Y-20 might replace the Il-76 in the future, its adequate performance and reliable technology are still trustworthy.

As another "secret weapon" of the Air Force, this type of aircraft has been in service for nearly 100 units. The transport capacity provided by these 100 aircraft is already terrifying.

Additionally, to support cross-sea landings, the Tang Nation Air Force is urgently procuring more of these aircraft, ordering 40 refueling tankers directly during production.

Air refueling, as a newly emergent technology, poses a brand-new challenge for the pilots of the Great Tang Empire's Air Force.

In-flight refueling is actually a very thrilling operation. In the various combat aircraft models equipped by the Tang Army, only the Yinglong and Flying Shark fighter jets have this capability.

Aside from this, only the latest improved models of the H-6 bomber and various new transport aircraft have this function.

Being able to refuel in the air means that an aircraft's range can be increased by at least a quarter! This is simply a qualitative leap for the strike range of the Air Force.

If there are enough refueling tankers to provide air refueling for the Yinglong fighter jets, then these Yinglong fighters can operate 2000 kilometers away, which was simply unimaginable in the past.

Even the Great Tang Empire, to strike targets 2000 kilometers away in the past, could only obediently use expensive ballistic missiles.

Not only is it expensive to use ballistic missiles to strike targets, but the striking accuracy is also very limited. Even the missiles of the Tang Nation have an error of about a hundred meters after flying 2000 kilometers, which essentially makes it impossible to destroy precise targets.

Despite advancements in technology, satellite positioning can provide higher precision for ballistic missiles, but such attacks are still expensive and inefficient.

Another reason why planes are more economical than missiles is the suppression time. Once missiles have attacked, they pose no threat anymore, and even if the enemy has suffered losses, they can continue their operations for quite some time afterward.

But airplanes are different. As long as they still have ammunition, they can continuously control the airspace and conduct ground strikes.

Moreover, with increased loitering time, these planes need not hastily dump ammunition and return; they can leisurely choose their targets, thereby avoiding waste.

Thus, enabling planes to operate 2000 kilometers away is tantamount to reducing attack costs and increasing suppression efficiency.

This is why Air Force powers equip a large number of refueling tankers: they are amplifiers of the Air Force's strike power and are critical functional aircraft.

Equipping a large number of high-performance transport aircraft in a short time, the Il-76 is evidently a good choice. Its production of over 900 units in the world familiar to Tang Mo is telling enough.

The army general, General Feng Kezhi, is unaware of the existence of such aircraft, nor does he know about the Yinglong; therefore, in his eyes, the Air Force probably only has the H-6 and Hercules Transport Aircraft to cover the Steel Rampart area adequately.

Such a weak support force is clearly unsatisfactory for the landing troops, and paratroopers would face unfavorable situations due to a lack of support.

That is why General Feng Kezhi thinks so, but Xiao Yun remains confident; he not only knows that the Air Force is intensively producing the Yinglong and Il-76 transport aircraft but is also mass-producing new ground attack munitions.

With these weapons, the Air Force can essentially promise to give the Dwarf within the Steel Rampart a taste of the Great Tang's shock. The opponent would regret building so many turtle shells because those bunkers at most would only be a pile of decent graves.

In fact, it isn't just the Air Force; the Navy is also doing extensive preparatory work for the landing. The brand-new dock landing ships are just one of many preparations, providing more robust multi-dimensional support for the landing troops.

Firstly, these dock landing ships can launch a large number of armed helicopters, offering more direct, closer, and more accurate strike firepower.

With the support of these helicopters, the landing troops can carry out an integrated assault, avoiding obstacles on the shore and directly engaging in operations behind enemy lines.

And traditional defensive measures pose little threat to these airborne landing troops; once these units of Tang Army helicopters are deployed correctly, the Dwarves' defensive line is as good as breached.

Air and sea coordination, integrated landing; this is a new warfare tactic unprecedented in the past, combined with the Great Tang Empire's electromagnetic and firepower advantages, the Steel Rampart built by the Dwarves actually serves little purpose.

Although there will be losses, and practical operations might encounter many problematic challenges, the Great Tang Empire's tactics are generally ahead of the world by one, or even several, eras; under such circumstances, so-called steel defenses are just a joke.

Even though the Dwarves now know that the Tang Army's target is them, they effectively can no longer reinforce their defenses. Or rather, reinforcing them is pointless.

Increasing the number of coastal defense troops ultimately results only in additional casualties; the actual impact of tens of thousands of troops may be less than that of tens of thousands of landmines.

Of course, the Dwarves dare not use landmines, which violate conventions, because the Great Tang Empire possesses things that they fear even more: Thermobaric Bombs, Incendiary Bombs, White Phosphorus Bombs.

These things are more terrifying against tunnels and bunkers; Dwarves dare not exchange de-banned landmines for the Tang Empire's ability to use various new weapons.

Because the known Tang Army weapons already terrify them, if the Tang Nation brings out something else, what would they do?

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Something came up today, so the second update will be slightly later; everyone can watch it tomorrow morning.