Compared with following on foot, the more troublesome thing about foot-tank collaboration is the problem of carrying and following.
The biggest problem is that it is unsafe... The infantry is so densely hung on the tank that it looks like a target for the enemy... If a shell or rocket hits the tank casually, it will cause a large number of casualties.
But in actual combat, the infantry cannot be equipped with tanks... For example, if the tank troops want to reach a certain target location quickly, they cannot let the infantry run with the tanks... This does not mean that the infantry will be exhausted, and the speed of the tanks will also be to match the infantry.
And was slowed down.
But there is a solution...the solution is armored transport vehicles.
Armored transport vehicles were produced to solve the problem of protection for infantrymen... The Soviet Union was the first to make a metal truck with a machine gun or something on it. The infantrymen could hide inside and open the back door. They usually transported infantrymen.
Follow the tank forward, and once the enemy is discovered, well-trained infantry can even jump out from behind the running armored vehicle to provide cover for the tank.
To be honest, this is indeed a good way for infantry to follow, and it can provide better cover for the following infantry... Although the thickness and protection capabilities of this armor are generally not high, at least the infantry will not be exposed to bullets and shrapnel
Next. Secondly, the armored transport vehicle itself is also an offensive weapon. It can cooperate with the tank to attack the enemy's infantry... In modern times, the armored transport vehicle has developed into an infantry fighting vehicle. Some infantry fighting vehicles can even match the firepower of tanks.
Comparable.
At this time, our military wants to talk about this armored transport vehicle... It does exist, then it is the Type 63 armored transport vehicle.
However, I did not rush to ask Zhao Jingping for it. The reason is that this kind of transport vehicle was rarely seen on the battlefield of the Vietnam Counterattack... Otherwise, who of our infantry would be so full? If the infantry fighting vehicle does not sit on it, it will carry 59
Hit!
So I first asked Huang Jianfu about this question... He is a tank soldier who has fought on the battlefield. He should have some opinions on this thing.
Sure enough, Huang Jianfu said to me: "Batalion Commander, this thing...is useful even if it is said to be useful, it is useful on flat roads!"
"What do you mean?" I said, "Then armored vehicles can't run on mountain roads?"
"It can, it can..." Huang Jianfu took me to the tank and pointed at the tank wheel and said: "Batalion Commander, look, this is called a road wheel, this is called a supporting pulley..."
Okay, I know about the road wheel. The wheels supporting the belt on both sides of the road wheel are called "supporting pulleys". I just found out.
"This is the role of the supporting pulley!" Huang Jianfu continued: "It is to make the covering belt tight enough. If the covering belt is too tight, the tank will break when it bumps on the mountain road. It is not broken by pressure but by pulling..."
I can imagine this. The crushing is from the top down, from the pressure of the tank. The pulling is from both sides, mainly due to the sudden change in length of the covering belt when running at high speed on a road with a large drop.
"Our tank is okay, it has five pairs of road wheels!" Huang Jianfu said: "In addition, the shock absorber system is better, so it can adapt to the mountain roads in Vietnam. However, the Type 63 armored transport vehicle only has four pairs of road wheels, and the road wheel travel is only
170mm, and its weight is nearly 14 tons. You must know that the 59 only weighs 36 tons..."
I have to admit that what Huang Jianfu said is more professional. For example, I don’t know what the road wheel travel is, but I guess it has something to do with the shock absorbers. Later I found out that it is indeed the case. The road wheel travel is the up and down movement of the road wheel under the action of the shock absorbers.
Space for activities.
At this time, I couldn't understand a little bit, so I said impatiently: "Just tell me straight away. What's wrong with this armored vehicle!"
"On that mountainous road in Vietnam, the cover broke at every turn!" Huang Jianfu said: "And the shock absorbers were not good enough. The infantrymen sitting in it were hit with bruises and bleeding even before the battle..."
"Hmm!" I frowned when I heard this. No wonder I don't see this thing often on the battlefield.
Later I learned that the Type 63 armored vehicle did have this design flaw. This may be because the designer considered that the armored vehicle was lighter than the tank, so he took it for granted to reduce the road wheels or simplify the shock absorber system to save costs. However, he did not expect that this would bring
A series of questions.
It was precisely because these deficiencies were exposed in the self-defense counterattack that our army immediately improved them. This led to the improved Type 63 mass-produced in 1981, and the improvements were just as Huang Jianfu mentioned these shortcomings.
: Increase the number of road wheels to 5 pairs, increase the road wheel stroke from 170mm to 210mm, add three supporting pulleys on each side, and change the 2 pairs of rocking shock absorbers to 3 pairs of cylindrical shock absorbers...that is to say
Almost all are improvements to the shock absorbers.
Okay... It seems that this road is dead. Even if we can get this kind of armored vehicle, if it breaks the belt at every turn on the battlefield, it will only bring trouble to the troops.
So this problem seems to have become a dead end... It seems that I have only two options now, either continue to let the soldiers carry tanks to accompany them, or wait until 1981 for the improved Type 63 armored vehicle to come out.
It was impossible to wait until 1981. I could wait for the battlefield but I couldn't wait, so the only option was to let the soldiers carry tanks...
As for the safety issue... The first thing I thought about was whether we could put a motorized infantry unit in front of the tank team for reconnaissance, so as to avoid being ambushed by the enemy.
But the problem is... Just like the problem was exposed on the battlefield, due to the rugged roads in Vietnam, the soldiers had to tie themselves to the tanks, otherwise they would be thrown off by the tanks.
This is absolutely intolerable, because it makes the infantry very clumsy when attacked, without enough reaction time... And it doesn't seem to work without being tied up. If the tank drives all the way down and throws away the infantry, my battalion will
Was he dumped in less than two and a half seconds?
Just when I returned to the headquarters with this concern, Zhang Fan came up to me and said: "Batalion Commander, I have something to report!"
"Say!" Because there were guards around me, I could only pretend to be serious.
"That's it!" Zhang Fan couldn't help pouting when he saw the expression on my face, and said with some dissatisfaction: "The Infantry School has formed another synthetic battalion!"
"What?" I couldn't help but be stunned when I heard this. If another combined battalion was formed...why didn't Commander Zhang tell me first?
"This is not what my dad...is not what Commander Zhang meant!" Zhang Fan explained: "First of all, the senior infantry school students were a little dissatisfied. They said that our first-year students are both tanks and artillery, but they are like this in the infantry school.
I haven't seen anything for many years. So I reported it to my superiors, and with the support of Staff Officer Chen..."
"Chen Jiahao?"
"Yes!" Zhang Fan nodded: "He happens to be a teacher in the fourth grade, so he contacted the Ninth Border Defense Division at the base and asked the senior students to form a combined battalion!"
"Oh!" When Zhang Fan said this, I understood. First of all, most of the senior students have "backdoors." The senior students are all recommended, right? There must be two brushes behind them, so of course their voices
It will have a certain influence. In addition, the commander of the Ninth Border Defense Division is Chen Jiahao's father, and when he heard that it was not a bad thing, he could help the students train, and the Ninth Border Defense Division could also train. So he waved his hand...
Got it!
But... isn't the Ninth Border Defense Division also the unit of Commander Zhang? If Commander Zhang is not allowed... the commander of the Ninth Division will not be able to do it even if he is extremely capable!
So I soon understood that this matter was actually tacitly approved by Commander Zhang. The purpose was to make our two combined battalions compete, that is, to compete with each other.
Damn! I couldn't help but curse inwardly when I thought of this... When Commander Zhang asked me to be the battalion commander, he said there was no pressure and no one would compare with me. This immediately put pressure on me.
"Who leads this synthetic camp?" I asked.
"Chen Jiahao!" Zhang Fan had a slightly unhappy look on his face, as if he was quite dissatisfied with this matter.
I couldn't help but smile when I heard the name. I had already guessed the answer. Chen Jiahao had done me a lot of harm a few days ago, especially when he lost face in front of Commander Zhang and Zhang Fan... You have to know this.
It's his boss, and the woman he admires. No matter what he says, he has to regain the face he lost in this situation!
"Can you still laugh?" Zhang Fan said: "Do you know what kind of soldiers the combined battalion formed by Chen Jiahao is?"
"What kind of soldier is it?" I asked.
"Their infantry says they are infantry school cadets, but in fact only half of them are!" Zhang Fan said: "And they are a company selected from more than 600 infantry school cadets in three years, and then selected from the Ninth Border Defense Division.
The company with the strongest combat effectiveness, the artillery battalion and the tank battalion have also fought and made meritorious deeds, saying they want to be on par with our combined battalion!"
"Is my second company worse than theirs?" I asked.
"The other troops are pretty much the same!" Zhang Fan said, "It's just that the newly joined student company..."
"Don't worry!" I said: "Although they have never fought in a war and have not gone to foot school for a few days, they will soon become combat effective!"
"I hope so!" Zhang Fan said: "The most annoying thing is that Commander Zhang doesn't care about it!"
Listening to Zhang Fan's words, I knew that she must have gone to Commander Zhang to complain, but Commander Zhang fooled her with a random reason. This also proves that my previous idea was right, Commander Zhang also intended to let Chen Jiahao, the synthetic battalion
Compare with me.
Of course, I believe Commander Zhang does not think that there is any personal grudge between me and Chen Jiahao, or that he knows it but is too lazy to take care of it.
I think, in his eyes, Chen Jiahao's army represents the old tactics and combat style, while I represent the new tactics and new style. He wants us to have a collision between the old and new tactics and see.
Which one is better and which one is worse, and then we will decide the direction of reform.
So I immediately ordered Zhang Fan: "You are not allowed to say anything to Commander Zhang again, do you understand?"
"Yes!" Zhang Fan responded helplessly.
I would like to see...whether this Chen Jiahao is really capable of defeating me. (To be continued...)