Munitions Empire

Some things are not easily kept secret, such as airplanes, which require fuel supplies, advanced repair facilities, and more logistical support for the pilots, so airports are generally built in places that are not too remote.

Even for the sake of secrecy, some airports might be located far from urban areas, but an airplane's flight has altitude.

Even tens of kilometers away from the city, if a plane climbs to a few thousand meters in the sky, it might still be seen by people.

However, some things are much easier to keep secret than airplanes. One such thing is another secret weapon from Great Tang Group—tanks!

In fact, after the automobile was developed, the technical difficulty of producing tanks no longer existed.

The technological gap between it and armored vehicles was really just the brainstorm of a track system.

But Tang Mo didn't need time to accumulate; the idea of the track system was already in his mind.

Therefore, if there was enough fuel supply and more powerful engines, Tang Mo could make tanks without any technical difficulties.

In fact, it was indeed without any difficulties that he produced the tank, the ultimate weapon for breaking through enemy lines.

The new tanks were actually quite rudimentary, but Tang Mo's experience allowed this weapon's development to avoid any detours. Experience new tales on empire

He didn't fuss with the kind of tank churns from World War I, nor did he bother with over-the-top long tracks.

Tang Mo directly came up with a more mature tank design, creating something similar to the French Renault Tank's "big tractor".

After all, Tang Mo had not yet started mass-producing small wireless communications equipment, so these training tanks actually didn't possess collaborative combat capabilities.

They were not equipped with proper cannons; they had only a Maxim heavy machine gun for show, which in reality wasn't better than the firepower of its armored vehicle predecessors.

The whole vehicle used a gasoline engine, with the overall length just over 4 meters, and the width barely over 2 meters.

Actually, this was almost an exact copy of the Tank Mark I blueprints, the only difference being that the weaponry was changed to a Maxim machine gun.

The reason Tang Mo didn't directly use the MG13 machine gun was that he had no intention of sending this type of tank into battle, so temporarily using the Maxim machine gun for training soldiers was a compromise to simplify logistics.

Originally the Tank Mark I was equipped with two machine guns; after Tang Mo's modifications, only one was installed, which was actually a deliberate consideration.

Tang Mo's training tank had one more crew member than the real Tank Mark I, the additional person was responsible for tasks akin to those of a commander.

The reason for stuffing an extra person into the tank was to train as many tank crew members as possible.

With such modifications, the internal space was actually a bit more cramped, as an additional person was stuffed in, so this type of tank had a slightly larger turret and thinner armor.

These training tanks had virtually no armor; the thickness of the steel plates on the front, sides, and rear was only 10 millimeters, making the whole vehicle weigh merely 4 tons.

Compared to armored vehicles, their level of protection saw no improvement. In fact, there were regressions at the very front.

However, it was not without merit, because as a training tank, it introduced new technology that accustomed the operators to the basic principles of tanks.

For example, this training tank, also named Tank Mark I by Great Tang Group, utilized an unprecedented track system.

This brand-new undercarriage system, based on idler wheels, towed wheels, guide wheels, driving wheels, and tracks, endowed tanks with incomparable off-road capabilities.

Before seeing this equipment, no one believed that a vehicle protected by thick steel plates could move with such ease in the wilderness.

Therefore, various countries did not place much importance on the development of armored vehicles, mostly just purchasing some armored vehicles for show.

At present, armored assault tactics are limited to advancing quickly along roads with armored vehicles covering trucks and infantry, and their tactical value is not high.

Should they encounter trenches, or simple obstacles, armored vehicles would be rendered ineffective, sometimes even without such impediments, as primitive armored vehicles would mostly break down on their own on the road.

There's no help for it; to ensure the protective capability of armored vehicles, designers would place large amounts of steel plates around the vehicle. These steel plates increased engine load, affected cooling, and naturally raised the breakdown rate.

Automobiles are designed with front grilles directly at the front to enhance cooling efficiency, while professional tanks have their cooling grilles adjusted to the rear of the turret, with openings facing upward.

To improve the cooling effect even further, fans must be added to the engines to accelerate airflow; this all comes from technical experience accumulated bit by bit.

Users would need to adjust the heat dissipation layout based on experience, and it's estimated that finding a reasonable design could take up to one or even three years.

Keep in mind, in this world, cars had just been introduced a little over a year ago, and armored vehicles were still a novelty. Many people had never even seen one in person, so where could they get the experience and proposals for improvement?

To be honest, these trendy troops who use armored vehicles are probably nervous just lifting the hood to add lubricating oil, let alone dare to think about 'because of this, therefore that...'

One such training tank could train three members, a driver, a gunner, and a commander to direct the tank.

This essentially made up a complete crew except for an electromechanical officer and a loader, whose training content was relatively simple and could be supplemented later.

So, how many of these training tanks were there on Dragon Island? Currently, there were only five! Yes, just five!

They were all the property of the Great Tang Military Academy, secretly training there while also educating commanders in the basic abilities to operate tanks.

And in the eyes of these students learning to command tanks, their principal was a figure akin to a deity.

Back then, the principal said that in the future, infantry square formations would become completely obsolete. Everyone thought that 'future' would be far off, yet in less than a year, with the needle gun, Great Tang Group's military products had completely outdated the infantry square formation.

Now, any country with even a slight understanding of modern warfare was beginning to phase out infantry square tactics.

Even if they couldn't yet determine what the future infantry tactics would be, they knew that square tactics were utterly without a future.

After that, their principal told them that in the not-so-distant future, trench warfare tactics would also be confronted with new solutions, and the means of offense by the troops would become more diverse.

When they witnessed the tank, this new kind of weapon, they finally understood the true meaning of what Principal Tang Mo had told them.

The new infantry assault tactics were not just about pushing forward with machine guns, not just about the use of hand grenades, nor just about the new offensive tactics born from the use of submachine guns and other modern weapons.

Their principal was talking about an even more terrifying, more effective breakthrough weapon—just like the one in front of them, which could easily cross rough terrain and crush enemy trenches, this new type of combat vehicle!

Tang Mo called this weapon a 'tank', with the notion of turning deep trenches into smooth paths and overcoming the enemy to triumph—a truly great name indeed.

This weapon, known as the 'tank', was countless times better than an armored vehicle, and it gave infantry attacks newer, more powerful support.

Originally, with the advent of trenches, the attacking side suffered greater losses and the defensive side had a clear advantage. Even Great Tang Group's elite troops had to be extremely careful when attacking, aiming to break through enemy trenches as quickly as possible to minimize their own losses.

But now it was different, with this new type of weapon in hand, the attacking side no longer feared trenches or at least could breakthrough them more easily.

During his days on Dragon Island, Tang Mo had advanced Great Tang Group's weaponry system by a significant step, exposing students of the Great Tang Military Academy to a whole new weapon tactical system.

Of course, these students had also visited planes, and they knew that in the Great Tang Group's testing grounds, one new weapon after another was being developed.

The students had come to realize that future wars would become three-dimensional and even more bloody.

They had to stay alert not only for the enemies in front of them but also for dangers from above! They had much more to learn, and they became stronger than those who were not students at the Great Tang Military Academy!

"If we face off directly, deploying 10 tanks... I'm confident I could take down any position in less than a day!" one student lamented while peering through binoculars at a training Tank No. 1 rolling over a hill in the distance.

"That's not necessarily the case! I heard Professor Redman is researching some depth defense system," another student visiting mentioned, putting down his binoculars.

Defensive technologies were of course not standing still either; Great Tang Group had not only developed new weapons like landmines but also obstacles like barbed wire.

With the deep defense theory that Tang Mo shared with Redman, in fact, both offense and defense were advancing rapidly, it's just the rest of the world's military commanders were yet unaware.

They didn't know that planes were about to appear in the skies above battlefields, nor were they aware that tank commanders had been born. They didn't realize that artillery calibers were changing day by day; they also didn't know that at the Great Tang Group's testing range, rocket launchers were no longer a novel concept.

Compared to its decaying competitor Shireck, the technological advancements of Great Tang Group were on a completely different level.

The technology that Tang Mo could casually share as an exchange was what other nations' powers dreamt of—the decisive technology!

What they didn't know was that to make the world adopt his modern technology faster, Tang Mo was deliberately increasing the overall technological level of the world.

If he were to keep things to himself, it would take the rest of the world at least five more years to reach the current level of advancement...