The water tank project has made phased progress, which is naturally gratifying.
However, for the Army, the water tank project is just one of many development projects. Although it has the blessing of the King's attention, the Ministry of War has too many things to pay attention to, so how can it always be remembered, so when the project came to be completed in stages
After hearing the news, General Benoy, who was the director of the Fourth Division of the Army Ministry in charge of military technology research, thought about it carefully after seeing the news from Lieutenant Colonel Valoran.
"Well done, please send an encouraging telegram."
This telegram of encouragement was a commendation from the War Department.
Compared with the water tank project, which was somewhat nonchalant, the Army Department was much more attentive to another project.
The Garcia Army Training Ground is a large training ground for the Army in the north. It covers an area of hundreds of square kilometers and is a large venue capable of conducting division-level and even corps-level confrontations.
Today, a unique exercise is taking place here.
I saw three airships flying slowly in the sky, and behind the airships appeared parachutes unfolding. The white parachutes slowly fell to the ground like dandelions, and in the distance, a group of officers wearing the epaulettes of a general and a colonel appeared.
, holding a telescope and watching its landing intently.
"Your Excellency Minister, what you are seeing right now is the first and second companies of our airborne regiment who are performing parachute missions. They are responsible for priority airdrops to enemy rear areas and carry out missions to attack bridges, transportation hubs, headquarters, and other strategic and tactical targets.
."
Next to Simone, a colonel was explaining to him the Italian paratroopers who were parachuting.
Yes, the paratroopers have already appeared in the Italian Army. This is not a reminder from someone, but a branch developed by the Army itself.
After the airship was successfully developed, the Army purchased several airships. In addition to being initially used for transportation, due to their good carrying capacity and disregard of terrain characteristics, the Army was considering other uses. Among them, the one that excited the Army the most
They are air-to-ground attacks and air transport of troops behind enemy lines to destroy and seize key points.
For ground attack, I have considered mounting artillery on the airship before, but I found it very unreliable. The recoil of the artillery is unbearable for the airship. If I can't fire many cannons, it will cause damage to the airship frame. Finally, I decided to attack the ground.
by throwing bombs
As for the airborne troops bypassing the enemy's defense line and attacking at its weak points, this has to do with the airborne troops in front of us.
This unit was established a year and a half ago, and is headed by Colonel Higgs, who has the most ideas for airborne landings behind enemy lines in the army.
Colonel Higgs led the newly formed airborne regiment for a full year and a half of training. The airships in the hands of the Army have been cooperating with his training for most of the time, and now they can finally be brought out to see the world.
I saw the parachuting soldiers gradually landing one by one. These soldiers immediately merged in twos and threes, gradually gathering together like a river. Half of them quickly occupied the commanding heights of the surrounding mountains and set up weapons alerts.
The other half was quickly cleared in a flat open space. Stones, small shrubs, and scattered trees were all cleared away with the help of the engineer shovels in the hands of the soldiers. Several soldiers immediately took out white cloth and spread it out in the shape of a cross, like a cross.
It is to guide the air. There are three such crosses, each one nearly a hundred meters apart.
After a while, several more airships appeared in front of everyone.
"Minister, the airships arriving so far are carrying the first and second airborne landing companies. They mainly perform airborne landings. Of course, if necessary, they can also perform parachute landings."
Admiral Simonyi replied casually to Colonel Higgs's words, but he was still observing the exercise carefully through the telescope.
The airships arrived very quickly, and soon they came to the cleared airdrop site. Three airships were seen slowly landing on the ground. After the airships landed, the hatches were opened, and groups of soldiers were fully armed under the leadership of officers.
ran out.
The process was very fast, only taking a minute or two. The airship that completed the transportation immediately took off, leaving the landing site for the airship waiting behind.
After the two landing companies landed, except for one company left to defend the landing site, the other three companies quickly attacked and advanced in a formation.
"Well-equipped, well-trained, and well-organized."
A visiting general praised the quality of the airborne regiment's exercises.
No one present had any objection to this sentence, because the Airborne Regiment really deserves this sentence.
Well-trained and well-organized, that's because the Airborne Regiment is originally an elite group drawn from various units. And in the past year and a half, the Army has given whatever it wants, and Colonel Higgs is also capable. How can
Can it be elite?
One more thing: in the airborne regiment, the worst soldiers are first class soldiers, but most of them are non-commissioned officers, and the officers are generally high-ranking and low-ranking. The squad platoon leader is a lot of second lieutenant and lieutenant, and there are even two company commanders.
The rank of major.
The current situation is caused, on the one hand, to prepare for the expansion of airborne troops, and on the other hand, it is also closely related to weapons and equipment. Nowadays, airborne troops have more types of weapons and have higher requirements for officers.
So how high is it?
A squad of airborne troops is equipped with 10 m88 Carcano rifles, that's right, lances. Because of the airborne situation, longer rifles are not easy to carry, so shorter lances are used instead.
In addition to 10 lances, each paratrooper squad also possesses a Revery light machine gun.
That's right, it's a machine gun!
In this era, no country's military has assigned machine guns to squads. Nowadays, they are basically equipped at the battalion and company level, and they are not even equipped to platoons. The airborne troops are the first in history to use them directly in squads in one step.
In addition to one light machine gun for each infantry squad, the airborne troops are also equipped with two Maxim heavy machine guns at the company level. Such a luxurious company firepower configuration will not be outdated thirty years from now.
As for the airborne troops equipped with so much machine gun firepower, it is still necessary to consider the characteristics of their troops. When fighting deep behind enemy lines, if the firepower is insufficient, it will be a waste, so sufficient firepower must be strengthened.
In addition to machine guns, there are currently relatively few artillery pieces available to paratroopers. Currently, in addition to newly developed mortars, the largest artillery piece owned by the airborne regiment is the 75mm mountain cannon.
This is due to the fact that the airship can not choose the location, otherwise their airborne troops would have to use mortars.
The mortar here is the result of the latest development in Italy. It has changed the current base-fired model in various countries. It geniusly adopts a model in which the propellant and the shell are integrated, and the bottom needle is used to impact launch. This change currently weighs several mortars in various countries.
The hundred kilogram mode directly reduces the mortar to tens of kilograms.
Not only has the weight been reduced, but the range has also been increased. Under the guidance of a certain prophet, mortars using spindle-shaped shells can shoot a range of 2,100 meters.
It can be said that such a change is a technological revolution, and in the future, all countries will definitely learn from Italy's approach. Artillery weighing several dozen kilograms can be easily moved by manpower. Although it is not very accurate and consumes more shells, it is highly maneuverable and can shoot in a straight direction.
The advantages are enough.
Italy has currently developed two types of mortars, namely 81 mm and 100 mm. Currently, these two mortars are given priority to be equipped with airborne troops. They are focused on lightness, flexibility, and good range.
In front of the army's top brass, the airborne troops performed very well from landing, raiding the target, and then holding on to wait for reinforcements. The entire exercise was praised, which made Colonel Higgs very happy.
"Well done, the airborne force needs to be expanded. The current number of more than a thousand people is too few. I need you to expand it to six thousand people within five years."
Simone's words made Colonel Higgs immediately suppress the joy in his heart, and he replied loudly. "Don't worry, Minister, within five years we will definitely train 6,000 paratroopers who are more elite than what we have in front of us."
