The target customers of Qixiang Automobile Company's two-wheeled cars in the private market are all kinds of young aristocrats, especially those who like to pursue trends.
But their main customers are actually the military.
By the way, among the various types of internal combustion engine vehicles purchased by the military, two-wheeled vehicles and three-wheeled vehicles are the big ones, while four-wheeled private cars and trucks can only be considered the small ones.
Only the two-wheeled vehicles were different, because the Tang Army had already begun to form the first purely mechanized force in human history based on the two-wheeled vehicles and three-wheeled vehicles of the Qixiang Automobile Company.
As for why these two cars were chosen as the means of transportation for forming a mechanical army, it is because both cars have very good passability and can run on country roads.
There are not so many roads for you to travel these days. Even the official roads within the mainland of the Tang Dynasty are actually sandy roads.
The tactical positioning of mechanical troops is to replace cavalry, which requires fast maneuverability and certain cross-country capabilities, so the trafficability of vehicles must be good.
The passability of a two-wheeled vehicle is undoubtedly excellent, and it can be pushed directly even when encountering difficult roads.
Moreover, the structure of the military version is very simple, and simplicity also means reliability and easy maintenance.
It will be cheaper to come here again.
Qixiang Automobile Company's military version of two-wheeled vehicles and three-wheeled vehicles are actually quite cheap. A military version of two-wheeled vehicles only costs more than 1,000 Tang Yuan, and the price will continue to drop with the increase in production.
The three-wheeled vehicle is actually just a non-powered side wheel added to the two-wheeled vehicle, which is used to carry a third soldier or carry supplies or even light mortars.
Moreover, this kind of side wheel is an independent component and can be separated from the two-wheeled vehicle.
According to the needs of the military, any two-wheeled vehicle can be loaded with such side wheels.
At the same time, any three-wheeled vehicle can also remove the side wheels at any time to become a two-wheeled vehicle.
Therefore, these two cars are said to be two kinds of cars, but in fact they are the same thing. The only difference is whether they have side three wheels.
The military has great interest in this kind of two-wheeled and three-wheeled vehicles and has high hopes for them. It believes that this kind of transportation is the most suitable for forming mechanized cavalry troops.
As for those four-wheeled small passenger vehicles, the military only purchased a small number of them as a token, and they were mainly used as command vehicles for generals of mechanized cavalry units.
The Tang Army purchased slightly more trucks, but in fact they were not too many. They were still only assigned to mechanized cavalry units.
From the perspective of the military, the use of this thing is still quite limited. First of all, it needs to be on relatively good roads to be able to play its role in rapid transportation.
Some of the trucks purchased by the military are mainly used to be assigned to the baggage units and artillery units of the mechanized cavalry units. The number is not large. In fact, if the army did not want to build a purely mechanized cavalry unit, it would not even want these trucks.
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This purely mechanized cavalry unit, from the most realistic battalion to a regiment, now has the size of a mixed brigade.
The designation is the First Mechanical Brigade of the Tang Dynasty Army.
However, this purely mechanized force is still an experimental force so far. Its main task is not to fight, but to experiment and explore the war in the mechanized era.
In this regard, Li Xuan did not convene nor prepare to form a large-scale mechanized force in a short time. This thing is too expensive.
On the earth these days, there are no enemies worthy of the Tang Empire's attention. Today's mule-horse troops are already capable of conquering the world. There will be no essential change if a mechanized army is introduced. The Tang Empire is still invincible.
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Today’s Datang military is actually embarrassed!
On the one hand, there are no enemies, but it is still necessary to maintain large-scale troops stationed around the world.
On the other hand, the military equipment of the Tang Dynasty was getting more and more expensive. Back then, a matchlock gun only cost a few Tang Yuan, but now a Union Type II rifle costs more than ten Tang Yuan.
Back then, a smoothbore artillery cost only a few hundred yuan. Nowadays, a steel breech-loading rifled gun, even a 75mm divisional howitzer, costs more than 2,000 yuan, and field guns are even more expensive.
As for large-caliber artillery, they are more expensive.
It would be fine if it were just that the guns were expensive, but the ammunition consumed by these breech-loading guns was also expensive.
The defense industries of the Tang Dynasty were quite ruthless. They dared to charge more than 20 Tang Yuan for a 75mm artillery shell, and even tens or hundreds of Tang Yuan for large-caliber artillery shells.
If a divisional artillery regiment conducts a standard 30-minute artillery bombardment, it can fire 100,000 Tang Yuan worth of artillery shells every minute!
Guns are expensive, ammunition is even more expensive, and with the development of the industrial and commercial economy within the empire, soldiers' salaries are inevitably rising, which has put heavy pressure on the military.
Even though most of the soldiers in the contemporary Tang Empire are compulsory soldiers and receive very small salaries, they cannot support the huge number, and there are still quite a few volunteers.
The Tang Empire had already implemented a military service system that combined compulsory and volunteer soldiers many years ago.
A large number of ordinary soldiers are compulsory soldiers.
According to the latest relevant military service system of the Tang Empire, an ordinary compulsory infantry receives a monthly subsidy of about one Tang Yuan, and other technical arms are higher. This amount of money seems very small at first glance. Well, the fact is
It's quite small. Across the country, the minimum wage in Datang has reached two yuan per month.
However, it is worth noting that after the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty joined the army, all food, drink and clothing were provided for the troops. This Tang Yuan subsidy was a pure subsidy, and no one cent would be deducted.
If an ordinary worker deducts the expenses such as renting a house, food, clothing, etc., he may not be able to have one Tang Yuan left.
After a soldier has served as a compulsory soldier for four years, he can sign up to become a volunteer and continue to serve according to his own wishes. The salary of a volunteer is relatively high.
Because volunteers are basically non-commissioned officers, depending on the type of service, the deployment area, and the length of service, it can cost as little as seven or eight yuan, or as much as more than ten yuan.
Even though the salary of these non-commissioned officers is actually not high for the contemporary Tang Dynasty, their food and accommodation are still fully paid for the troops. Even if they want to spend money, they have nowhere to spend it, so these salaries can be sent home.
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Sending hundreds of Tang Yuan back to my family a year is not a small amount.
Therefore, these people were considered professional soldiers in the Tang Empire and could support their families by joining the army. Many non-commissioned officers would serve until they were in their thirties.